Trump regrets not having added even higher tariffs

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

5 hours ago, SERWIN said:

I drove truck cross country all during the election campaign and I can tell you this. The support for Trump was evident everywhere I went.

The media does everything in its power to hide the massive support for Trump.  His rallies are blowout extravaganzas, standing room only with huge crowds inside the stadium and huge overflow crowds outside the stadium.  Shadowbanning is real.

 

[ronwagn + 6,290]

On 10/2/2019 at 7:12 PM, Zhong Lu said:

The wealthy globalist elites are already ruling the country. 

They have limited control but nothing like in the European Union or many others. We have a great United States Constitution which is protected by the Second Amendment. That fact puts limits on the elites, it all depends on how much direction the people will take from their leaders. 

[Zhong Lu + 845]

When I mentioned "wealthy globalist elites" I was also referring to Trump, as it's quite obvious from his behavior and background that he's wealthy, globalist, and elitist.  But otherwise, yes I agree.  Both the first and second amendment, along with a Congress that always hates the president (Clinton, Obama, Bush, and Trump) are forces that are keeping presidential powers in check.  

The biggest threat to American democracy is the president, because the president is the one individual with the most power.  The greatest counter to presidential power is Congress.  

So all is good right now.  If Warren wins, the same dynamic will continue as long as the Republicans can hold the Senate.

Edited October 5, 2019 by Zhong Lu

[Douglas Buckland + 6,308]

Lu,

You have valid points. The problem occurs when the party of the President ALSO controls the House and the Senate. On one hand, the ‘checks & balances’ mechanism becomes skewed, but on the other hand you don’t have the gridlock in Congress and some work actually gets done. Granted, that work could be deemed positive or negative, but at least something gets accomplished.

Personally I would like to see Congress do something, even if it is wrong! At least then you can actually determine that the course of action was wrong and rectify it. Doing nothing, accomplishes nothing.

[Zhong Lu + 845]

But why do we need to do anything? If I lived in W. Va and I think my life sucks, then sure, I want things to be done.  But even then, I wouldn't vote for a billionaire because anything a billionaire might do is likely to just make things worse for me.  As it stands, my life is pretty good right now, so I would rather have the status quo continue.  

Furthermore, I don't understand why family farmers in Ohio and the Midwest would vote for Trump.  He explicitly said during the election that he was going to put tariffs on China so none of this is a surprise.  Of course, China was going to retaliate, which means that many of them were going to get destroyed in the trade war. This should have been obvious.  For a lot of people who voted for Trump, their lives have gotten worse.  To me, this makes no sense. 

If no one was elected president, or if it was some random dude sitting in the presidency doing absolutely nothing, much of the country (and especially the farm belt) would be doing better today.   

Edited October 5, 2019 by Zhong Lu

[Hotone + 412]

On 10/3/2019 at 10:54 AM, Douglas Buckland said:

Have you actually seen the bridges, roads, railways, etc.... that China has been so ‘freely’ building in Africa? I have and they are crap!

A third party inspection service went to Angola several years ago and determined that the infrastructure provided by China had a five year lifespan!

I haven't been to Africa. The closest example of the impact of Chinese investment, that I observed, would be Myanmar. 

The first time I went to Yangon was in 1998, when Myanmar was still under international sanctions.  I don't think I saw any passenger cars on the streets. Instead of buses, they used open top lorries for public transport.  I was working for a Nasdaq listed technology company and we were invited to sell our software system.  However, at that time there were no commercial computers in the country, and no software engineers or operations technicians.  The universities remained closed by the government after the student rebellion and there was no way to train qualified staff. 

I went back to Yangon 15 years later in 2013. While still a poor, backward developing country, Myanmar's economy was booming.  It was a shock that quality real estate was even more expensive than Manhattan (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-07-29/yangon-more-expensive-than-nyc-sparking-boom-real-estate). 

So I have seen the positive impact of Chinese investment into a poor country.  Like I mentioned, I have not been to Africa, but I believe China has brought positive benefits to countries in that continent. 

The US is a rich country and should try to do some good works like China.  I am sure that US can afford to donate and build some infrastructure for these poor countries and it would be of very good quality.  Don't just complain about China, Action speaks louder than words.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Hotone