The (new, straight-from-scratch) Trump thread

[ericbarbour]

Let America have its referendum to be partially ruled by a queeny reality TV sociopath who refuses to leave office.

That's the choice: him, or a crusty old bastard who spent 36 years in the Senate sucking up to corporate types and passing tough-on-crime bills that made things worse. And voting for bombing Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.

You could always vote whoever runs as a Libertarian or Green. Or emigrate to Canada, although things are apparently worse up there, especially if you have to buy a house.....

[journo]

Nikki Haley beat Trump in the Republican primary in my county.

Little appetite for what Trump is selling among even Republicans in my area. I don't even know any Trump supporters this cycle on a personal level, although they are numerous.

[journo]

Virtually everyone I know who was unemployed is now gig working or employed. Yes groceries are expensive, especially if ordered from home, which people are doing much more, but for anyone to argue this 3.4-5% GDP growth quarter or whatever is a relatively bad economy is insane from my point of view.

Most of the vocal Trumpers I've seen blame Biden-era federal gvmt spending for inflation. Assuming that's true (which it is not), Trump spent much more. In fact, to vote for the maximum possible deficit it's probably best to vote Trump for president and Democratic supermajority for congress.

People said I want to go and buy debt and default on debt — these people are crazy. This is the United States government. First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK? So there’s never a default,” --Trump on CNN’s “New Day.”

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/2791 ... nts-money/

[badmachine]

but for anyone to argue this 5% GDP quarter or whatever is a relatively bad economy is insane from my point of view.

then i suppose im insane

must be nice to earn enough to make it in this excellent economy that only an insane person would say is bad. smell you.

[journo]

but for anyone to argue this 5% GDP quarter or whatever is a relatively bad economy is insane from my point of view.

then i suppose im insane

must be nice to earn enough to make it in this excellent economy that only an insane person would say is bad. smell you.

i fail to understand how 3.4-5.2% GDP growth over the last few months comes close to qualifying as a bad economy by any typical measure. Additionally, consumer spending is through the roof and unemployment is at historic lows.

If Trumpers are secretly degrowth people who value economy based on alternative metrics than let me know, but it never appeared so given Trump's obsession with commerce, 401ks, the stock market and GDP.

By every standard measure except the inflation rate (which is 1-2% above normal rn, not 8% when the saudi cartels jacked up the price of oil a couple years ago), this is an excellent economy by typical measures. The fact that the fed raised rates is likely spurring both the current inflation and the relatively good trickle-down economy, which has been the model since the 80s.

I'm all for alternative ways of viewing the economy, to view it through a human lens by valuing people over GDP and profit, but to do that is to reject a system both Trump and Biden buy into. I'm not really aware of any trickle-up candidates. <s>Even among the most nominally trickle-up candidates: Stein and West, their key proposals target middle class (college students) not lower income individuals.</s> Nevermind, Stein is arguing guaranteed housing and healthcare this time around, and it's her first proposal on her website.

[badmachine]

as an insane person, i can only go by how i personally am doing. under Trump i was doing okay even through the first year of coronavirus versus now. you can use whatever metric that you used above but it doesnt help me personally. so i must be insane, right?

[suckadmin]

as an insane person, i can only go by how i personally am doing. under Trump i was doing okay even through the first year of coronavirus versus now. you can use whatever metric that you used above but it doesnt help me personally. so i must be insane, right?

For me I take the fact Trump very specifically promoted a tax law that prevents Californians from deducting their state tax from the fed as a personal assault on my finances. Everything else is far to complicated to pin on the president alone.

[ericbarbour]

Been passing this old video around

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnK164efOB0

Seriously, he probably did destroy his nose by snorting coke in the 70s and 80s, and he probably does have an incontinence problem. His creepy relationship with Ivanka, his sexual "conquests", whatever.

It's all been brought up before--over and over. No one cares.

You and I are far from the only insane people on this boat. It's headed straight for the bridge abutment, so wave your hands in the air and scream "it's not MY fault". It's the American Way.

[journo]

If "good economy" means GDP, I think the economy is doing excellent. If it means "people feel good about their finances", of course it's not a good economy. My guess is due to housing, transportation, and healthcare costs. Those prices have been unreasonably high my entire life. Does either party have a good faith plan to reign those in? Not really.

The housing affordability issue is not something either major candidate talks about that much. 99% of the financial issues my family talks about involves affording a mortgage. On a personal level, my main issue is affording rent or a tiny home. We used to have subsidized housing but whatever they call that here is a joke.

A major reason for the increase in net worth was the stunning rise of home prices during the pandemic. Ultra-low mortgage rates and the work-from-home trend fueled rabid demand for houses and made buyers bid prices up to record levels. Home prices rose 45% between February 2020 and June 2022, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.4

https://www.investopedia.com/americans- ... es-8379568