There's now a skinhead that shows up sporadically at the local transit stops and manically babbles about Trump's plans for America. Today it was all about the "evidence" of voter fraud and how Trump is going to ensure "justice" through incarceration. He also used the phrase "powerful white man" every other sentence.
The voter fraud investigation is so ridiculous. Trump is such an egomaniac, he just can't wrap his head around the fact that he's extremely unpopular with the majority of Americans and basically won on a technicality. We have an issue with our voter base, but it's not fraud. Voter fraud is extremely rare. It's that we have low turnout. Many people are too busy working to vote.
Unfortunately, I think that's what Jeff Sessions (and the next Supreme Court nominee) is for: coming up with whatever convoluted pretzel of legal support required for Trump's accusations. They're going to go for it and see what happens.
This proposed tariff on Mexican products is going to be very interesting to watch. Tariffs are terrible ideas and do more harm than good, but I have a feeling Trump is using it as leverage against Mexico. Its an economic game of chicken and Mexico cannot win. Trump may actually get them to pay for at least some of the wall. I hope its all a bluff, because we all suffer if that tariff goes forward.
Most likely a tarrif on goods would get added into the cost of the item which means American consumers will still pay for it in the end.
Which is exactly the problem. It will be an added tax on Americans, driving up prices, so it ends up hurting both us and Mexicans if sales drop. Tariffs and protectionism are lose-lose.
It's also likely illegal. The U.S. is a member of the WTO etc. and can't just arbitrarily slap tariffs on Mexico.
I actually enjoyed watching the President of Mexico throw a tempur tantrum after being trolled by Trump. Time for him to fix shit in his country so people stop flooding into the US illegally. He acts like his people are entitled to enter the US illegally, take jobs from Americans, bring in drugs and crime, and leech off of US taxpayer money. Fuck him. Mexico is a great example of a country that leeches off the US while giving nothing in return. I hope there's a tariff and that it's so severe that companies stop outsourcing to Mexico.
The net remittance out of the US is $126 billion, 0.7% of GDP. It's not illegal and attempting to challenge this could damage the USA as the safest place to invest globally. Mexican illegal immigration is actually a negative number. More are returning to Mexico than coming into the US. A lot of that has to do with globalization providing them good paying manufacturing jobs at home. If we were to crush or undermine their legit economy, all that is left is the drug trade. That would only open up the floodgates for more illegal immigration. About building a wall, I don't really have a problem with it. A $10 billion wall is an insignificant amount in a multi-trillion dollar budget. It's not the biggest deal and can be his signature legacy. The problem is trying to compel another nation to pay for it. They simply won't, and there is nothing much he can do about beyond cut economic, humanitarian, and counter-narco aid.
Trump signs temporary ban on immigration from 7 Muslim countries: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/trump-syrian-refugees.html
I think it's going to be a complete waste of money. First off if a government project is slated to take 4 years and cost $10 billion you can bet it will take 8 years and cost $40 billion. The Bush fence went way over budget and they only built it in the easiest areas. Independent contractors say $25 billion but my prediction is $40 billion with a $1.2 billion a year maintenance cost and the end result is it won't stop drugs or trafficking any better that the current fence which hasn't stopped anything. Then at some point in the distant future people will say tear down this god awful evil wall and it will cost another $16 billion to tear it down.
I'm not saying it's a great idea or it will be useful. But the wall is only a monetary expense. Maintenance can be defunded later if it proves useless. In the grand scheme of things it's trivial. I think the opposition needs to stay focused on the most damaging and irreversible ideas. Getting pulled towards all sides with his brand of crazy is going to wear them thin. The education secretary is pretty dangerous, for example. She is going to create a 2nd privatized tax payer funded school system with no oversight. It's basically a massive back door expansion of government that engages in direct corporate welfare. I don't think a program like that can be stopped once started. I'd much rather they keep an eye on her and B-movie villain Rex Tillerson, than worry about the wall. I get the feeling that letting Trump have symbolic victories will be important. At least until the post-truth, alternative fact era runs its course.
Trump and his Breitbart cohorts should know better. Terrorists can use all of the same social media and internet recruiting methods to find angry and unstable followers in the United States that they did. They don't actually need anyone to immigrate. A vast resource of crazy is already at their fingertips.
I think there are some nontrivial issues. First, from an ideological perspective, our country has always been against walls. Putting one up looks bad and I think eventually history will say it's a mistake. Then there is the wildlife and environmental disruption. A few years ago the fence caused a flood during a storm and took out a small Mexican town. The fence also separated wildlife from its normal feeding and breeding grounds.
I'd say he didn't go far enough. Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan should be added to that list. We all know what the Religion of Peace is actually about. Finally someone has the balls to do something about it. I hope this sends a message to the Muslim world that we aren't falling for their bullshit any longer and we are done putting up with their crap. Next up drop a tactical nuke or some air fuel bombs on the ISIS capital.
^^ Hopelessly stupid. Guess who's out to destroy democracy in the United States right now? The "Christian" GOP. They've got the next two years to do as much damage to the country as they can and pave the way to autocratic/theocratic rule. Terrorists can only dream of having that power. Shooting up a night club or bombing the Boston marathon is small potatoes compared to what Trump and Breitbart have coming.
Islam is many times worse than the Christian side of the GOP. Islam is deeply incompatible with western democratic values. I do not want fundamentalist Islam or Sharia Law in my country. I see this move as being similar to detaining the Japanese during WW2. It's a necessary step to protect democracy. The last thing we need is to end up like Europe with Muslim rape gangs terrorizing the streets and everyone too pussified and PC to put a stop to it. This was also a large part of why the British voted for Brexit. They don't want these people in their country either.