Recent Comments

1. 6 days ago on Prickly City

   Unfortunately, Trump does not actually have a bulletproof plan for making Big Macs cheap again. To the contrary, the Republican and his advisers have developed an economic agenda that amounts to a recipe for turbocharging inflation.

   The claim that Trump’s policies would increase prices does not rest on a debatable interpretation of their indirect effects.

   Rather, some of the president’s proposals would directly increase American consumers’ costs by design.

   Here is a quick primer on the likely GOP nominee’s four-point plan for making your life less affordable:

   Step 1: Reduce the value of the U.S. dollar

   ✁

   Their rationale is not hard to understand. Although a strong dollar is good for US consumers, it’s not great for US exporters, as it renders their goods more expensive to potential customers abroad. And since Trump and his former trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, have long sought to boost American manufacturing and shrink the trade deficit, they’re prepared to privilege the interests of the nation’s producers over those of its consumers. ✁

   Step 2: Apply a 10 percent tariff on all foreign imports

   To further boost American manufacturing, Trump and his aides are considering the imposition of a 10 percent tariff on all foreign imports. In practice, this would almost certainly mean that US consumers would pay roughly 10 percent more on all the foreign-made cars, electronics, toys, and other goods that they purchase.

   Step 3: Enact massive, deficit-financed tax cuts

   The Republican Party’s number one fiscal priority in 2025 will be extending the Trump tax cuts. Many provisions of the former president’s 2017 tax package are set to expire at the end of next year.

   Merely preserving those policies will increase the federal deficit by $3.3 trillion over the next decade, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).

   Step 4: Shrink the American labor force

   ✁

   ~

   Vox

   Trump’s team keeps promising to increas

2. 6 days ago on Prickly City

   Donald Trump finished 45th and rock bottom of a list ranking US presidents by greatness, trailing even “historically calamitous chief executives” who failed to stop the civil war or botched its aftermath.

   Worse for the likely Republican nominee this year, his probable opponent, Joe Biden, debuted at No 14.

   “Biden’s most important achievements may be that he rescued the presidency from Trump, resumed a more traditional style of presidential leadership and is gearing up to keep the office out of his predecessor’s hands this fall,” Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus, the political scientists behind the survey, wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

   Rottinghaus, of the University of Houston, and Vaughn, from Coastal Carolina University, considered responses from 154 scholars, most connected to the American Political Science Association.

   The aim, the authors said, “was to create a ranking of presidential greatness that covered all presidents from George Washington to Joe Biden”, in succession to such lists compiled in 2015 and 2018.

   ~

   Trump ranked as worst US president in history, with Biden 14th greatest

   The Guardian

3. 20 days ago on Prickly City

   Naahhh. The MAGAts are working toward a Chinese style ‘democracy’.

   A single party, from where all candidates must belong, with the leader acting as a functional dictator.

   All so the MAGAts can rule, but not govern.

4. 25 days ago on FurBabies

   From the Wiki:

   Peters’s elephant-nose fish (Gnathonemus petersii) is an African freshwater elephantfish in the genus Gnathonemus.

   Other names in English include elephantnose fish, long-nosed elephant fish, and Ubangi mormyrid, after the Ubangi River.

   The Latin name petersii is probably for the German naturalist Wilhelm Peters.

5. about 1 month ago on Prickly City

   There are two main ways to “whip inflation now.”

   One is to raise unemployment / tip into recession.

   The other, is to grow the economy as a whole and grow past it.

   ~

   The U.S. economy grew faster than previously estimated in the fourth quarter, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment in nonresidential structures like factories and healthcare facilities.

   The report from the Commerce Department on Thursday also showed profits rising at a solid clip last quarter, driven by nonfinancial corporations.

   Increasing profits, together with rising worker productivity, could encourage companies to retain their employees, and extend the economic expansion.

   The economy has shrugged off fearmongering about a recession following 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve since March 2022 to quell inflation. Though momentum has slowed, it continues to outpace its global peers.

   The report, which also showed underlying inflation pressures easing last quarter, did not change expectations that the U.S. central bank will start cutting rates by June.

   “The economy is in good shape,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas. “It is operating on a more even keel than during the pandemic and its immediate aftermath.”

   ~

   Reuters

   US economy continues to shine with help from consumers, labor market

6. about 1 month ago on Rabbits Against Magic

   .

   Well, @EgidiusPfanzelter, deleting all your posts that I’ve been responding to is certainly one way to “not get louder.”

7. about 1 month ago on Rabbits Against Magic

   So, no. You don’t understand what “You Shall Not…” means.

   As the story goes, Moses, not his wife or any other female, gave the 10 Commandments to the Jewish tribe.

   And as you know, the men were in charge, and the women were little more than property.

   There was no ‘not including already married men’ exception.

   It was clearly and obviously written with no exception.

   ….And, obviously, the primary leaders of the tribe would have been other married men that the Commandment was written for, since unmarried men rarely had yet to rise to leadership positions.

   Those married men were clearly and obviously the audience that the Commandment(s) were written to and for.

   There wouldn’t have been a reason to include such a Commandment against adultery if the already married men were not committing a “Sin”.

8. about 1 month ago on Rabbits Against Magic

   Then, you don’t understand the word: “You”?

   The Bible and the founding documents (such as the 10 commandments) were not written for an exclusively female audience.

   Per your own argument, they would have been written for primarily a male audience. (Although, I would argue they were for everyone.)

   Therefore, per your argument, ‘“You” shall not commit adultery’ was directed at the men.

9. about 1 month ago on Rabbits Against Magic

   Nahh.

   There’s no need for a Commandment when ’you’re’ not doing anything considered a “sin.”

   You only need a Commandment for when the “sin” is widespread and requires correcting.

10. about 1 month ago on Rabbits Against Magic

    .

    The 10 Commandments – #7 You shall not commit adultery.

    Bible reference – Exodus 20:14: “You shall not commit adultery.”

    ~

    Bible Info

    Ten Commandments List