I'm sorry to hear you feel so negative about things.
Examine every single action Trump is taking in light of the budget deficit. Making Europe take over the Ukraine war? DOGE? Tariffs? It's all about getting the budget back in balance. Because we simply can't sustain a $1.6 trillion annual deficit, which includes $990 billion in interest, on a $5.49 trillion in taxes. The math doesn't work. Do Democrats have a plan to deal with the deficit? If so, I'd love to hear about it. But honestly, I've never even heard it mentioned.
"Do you want a Democratic President forcing Universities to take action against pro-MAGA activists?"
It's not about free speech.
Universities were allowing Jewish students to be harassed, assaulted, intimidated, and classrooms to be invaded and disrupted. They refused to hold students accountable. That clearly violates Title VI of the civil rights act.
They have actively discriminated against Jewish, Asian, and white students in admissions for years. The Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admission policies violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action.
The universities need to change; they need to uphold the law. Withholding their funding is the very least the federal government needs to do to force them into compliance with the law.
I don't consider myself to be liberal or progressive, or conservative, of republican. Trump wins arguments because he a) recognizes there is a problem and b) has a solution. Not the best solution, but a solution. Democrats generally either deny a problem exists or fail to propose any solution at all. Or change the subject.
I'd be thrilled to hear universities tell me how they intend to protect their Jewish students going forward, or how they intend to change their admissions policies to be more race neutral (how about getting rid of legacy admissions, for example?). But all I ever hear is crickets and denials. And no changes.
P.S. China will collapse within 10 years. Count on it.
Ok, I agree with you on some of this - in part. Let's go through it:
1. If Trump was concerned about the deficit then he would not have 10T of tax cuts in his budget. The deficit is a giant problem. Tax cuts won't fix it. And historical note, Congress generally only gets serious about the deficit with a Republican Congress and Democratic President.
2. If DOGE was serious about reducing the deficit they would not have fired all the tax auditors. Those firings are estimated to reduce tax collections by 500B/year.
As to the Universities that allowed all that awful behavior - I agree that it needs to be stopped. First off, a lot of Universities did nip it in the bud. For example Penn & Emory. And yes the others should be held to account.
I just don't want the President driving that. The DOJ has a decent track record of investigating issues like this and then coming up with appropriate consent orders. That's very different from a President threatening all federal funds if the school does not immediately give him everything.
It feels good to see immediate strong action taken. But it's not healthy for a Democracy. We need to remain a nation of laws, not a nation subject to the daily whims of an emperor.
As to China, I'll go with Napoleon who said: "China is a sleeping giant; let him sleep, for when he wakes, he will shake the world." Right now China is playing it perfectly. I think they'll stumble, but they won't collapse.
1) In a business, the last thing you do is raise prices (taxes), your first try at profitability is to lower costs (spending). Not saying that is the right way to do this, but what else is being proposed? Also increasing tariffs is a roundabout way to impose VAT taxes.
2) Estimated. 30% to 40% percent of audits result in no additional tax being owed, and audits already target returns with higher likelihoods of problems. Besides audits are positively old fashioned. AI can audit every return in a few minutes. That is likely what DOGE found - the 80,000 new agents' jobs could be automated.
3) And not all universities are being punished. Not sure what you mean by the president "driving" that. The letter came from the dept of education. After a reasonable time to comply (during which the universities told donors they would find ways to avoid compliance) they decided to cut funding. They could have just complied with the letter they received months ago, or the supreme court ruling from 2023. They chose poorly. It is nice that you agree that some Jewish students were harassed and intimidated, and that doing so was wrong. Most dems won't even admit that much.
4) I don't see how China survives. It not just about tariffs, its's about birth rates, domestic consumption, and Taiwan invasion plans. They have deficits that make ours look like a joke. Tofu dreg construction. Dangerous consolidations of power. I can see a dozen ways China withers, and none where they triumph. But hey, I could be wrong.
If I were in a predicting mood - Trump will cut deals with various countries around the world, and each deal will result in a better trade position for the U.S. Access to the U.S. market is too crucial for other countries for anything else to happen. My guess is trade deals will involve lowering tariffs AND promises to import more U.S. stuff.
Taiwan and Vietnam have already offered a removal of all tariffs, all trade barriers, and increased U.S. imports. Give it three months and we'll be signing deals with both. Both Canada and Mexico have no choice but to fall in line with those deals. And, one by one, all countries will fall in line. What other choice is there? I'd give that a 90% probability of happening. 10% chance we have a worldwide economic collapse.
Actually inflation and unemployment are increasing.
And we've gone from almost all economists predicting no recession (under Biden) to almost all of them either saying a recession is likely or we're already in one.
I'm sorry to hear you feel so negative about things.
Examine every single action Trump is taking in light of the budget deficit. Making Europe take over the Ukraine war? DOGE? Tariffs? It's all about getting the budget back in balance. Because we simply can't sustain a $1.6 trillion annual deficit, which includes $990 billion in interest, on a $5.49 trillion in taxes. The math doesn't work. Do Democrats have a plan to deal with the deficit? If so, I'd love to hear about it. But honestly, I've never even heard it mentioned.
"Do you want a Democratic President forcing Universities to take action against pro-MAGA activists?"
It's not about free speech.
Universities were allowing Jewish students to be harassed, assaulted, intimidated, and classrooms to be invaded and disrupted. They refused to hold students accountable. That clearly violates Title VI of the civil rights act.
They have actively discriminated against Jewish, Asian, and white students in admissions for years. The Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admission policies violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action.
The universities need to change; they need to uphold the law. Withholding their funding is the very least the federal government needs to do to force them into compliance with the law.
I don't consider myself to be liberal or progressive, or conservative, of republican. Trump wins arguments because he a) recognizes there is a problem and b) has a solution. Not the best solution, but a solution. Democrats generally either deny a problem exists or fail to propose any solution at all. Or change the subject.
I'd be thrilled to hear universities tell me how they intend to protect their Jewish students going forward, or how they intend to change their admissions policies to be more race neutral (how about getting rid of legacy admissions, for example?). But all I ever hear is crickets and denials. And no changes.
P.S. China will collapse within 10 years. Count on it.
Ok, I agree with you on some of this - in part. Let's go through it:
1. If Trump was concerned about the deficit then he would not have 10T of tax cuts in his budget. The deficit is a giant problem. Tax cuts won't fix it. And historical note, Congress generally only gets serious about the deficit with a Republican Congress and Democratic President.
2. If DOGE was serious about reducing the deficit they would not have fired all the tax auditors. Those firings are estimated to reduce tax collections by 500B/year.
As to the Universities that allowed all that awful behavior - I agree that it needs to be stopped. First off, a lot of Universities did nip it in the bud. For example Penn & Emory. And yes the others should be held to account.
I just don't want the President driving that. The DOJ has a decent track record of investigating issues like this and then coming up with appropriate consent orders. That's very different from a President threatening all federal funds if the school does not immediately give him everything.
It feels good to see immediate strong action taken. But it's not healthy for a Democracy. We need to remain a nation of laws, not a nation subject to the daily whims of an emperor.
As to China, I'll go with Napoleon who said: "China is a sleeping giant; let him sleep, for when he wakes, he will shake the world." Right now China is playing it perfectly. I think they'll stumble, but they won't collapse.
1) In a business, the last thing you do is raise prices (taxes), your first try at profitability is to lower costs (spending). Not saying that is the right way to do this, but what else is being proposed? Also increasing tariffs is a roundabout way to impose VAT taxes.
2) Estimated. 30% to 40% percent of audits result in no additional tax being owed, and audits already target returns with higher likelihoods of problems. Besides audits are positively old fashioned. AI can audit every return in a few minutes. That is likely what DOGE found - the 80,000 new agents' jobs could be automated.
3) And not all universities are being punished. Not sure what you mean by the president "driving" that. The letter came from the dept of education. After a reasonable time to comply (during which the universities told donors they would find ways to avoid compliance) they decided to cut funding. They could have just complied with the letter they received months ago, or the supreme court ruling from 2023. They chose poorly. It is nice that you agree that some Jewish students were harassed and intimidated, and that doing so was wrong. Most dems won't even admit that much.
4) I don't see how China survives. It not just about tariffs, its's about birth rates, domestic consumption, and Taiwan invasion plans. They have deficits that make ours look like a joke. Tofu dreg construction. Dangerous consolidations of power. I can see a dozen ways China withers, and none where they triumph. But hey, I could be wrong.
If I were in a predicting mood - Trump will cut deals with various countries around the world, and each deal will result in a better trade position for the U.S. Access to the U.S. market is too crucial for other countries for anything else to happen. My guess is trade deals will involve lowering tariffs AND promises to import more U.S. stuff.
Taiwan and Vietnam have already offered a removal of all tariffs, all trade barriers, and increased U.S. imports. Give it three months and we'll be signing deals with both. Both Canada and Mexico have no choice but to fall in line with those deals. And, one by one, all countries will fall in line. What other choice is there? I'd give that a 90% probability of happening. 10% chance we have a worldwide economic collapse.
We'll have to wait and see who's right.
Trump is truly making America Great Again
Just like his first term
Is your memory so short?
Lowest inflation
Best employment
Secure border
Abrams Accords
He will straighten out the horrible mess that the Biden Administration caused
Securing the border is probably the best accomplishment of his first 100 days
Actually inflation and unemployment are increasing.
And we've gone from almost all economists predicting no recession (under Biden) to almost all of them either saying a recession is likely or we're already in one.
March 2025 CPI went down 0.1%
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf
You are delusional. There will be no 2028 election in the sense of previous elections. Maybe in 2048 when Bashar-al-Trump is gone.