Should the US be a Dictatorship?

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Elon now has full control of communications with the entire civil service, and he controls the payment systems of the US Treasury. This thread question can now be considered moot. The US is a dictatorship. I want to thank everyone who participated.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

All federal government websites are starting to be removed and/scrubbed. If only there was a word for when people storm government buildings and end all communication and remove everyone and put themselves in control.

 

[Kaitzilla]

25% Tariffs on Canada
25% Tariffs on Mexico
10% Tariffs on China

Starting tomorrow Feb. 1st

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/31/business/what-how-trump-tariffs-meaning/index.html

President Donald Trump says he will impose his tariffs over the weekend, gambling that taxing American companies for imported goods will ultimately punish the countries that make stuff Americans want — and bring those nations to the negotiating table. But it’s a risky bet that could easily backfire on American consumers and the economy.

In the United States, tariffs typically serve a limited but important purpose: They are intended to grow America’s economy by incentivizing the purchase of made-in-the-USA goods. They accomplish that by effectively penalizing American companies that buy foreign goods with high taxes.

 

[Senethro]

Really? More on Mexico than China? What would the reasoning on that even be?

 

[Kaitzilla]

Really? More on Mexico than China? What would the reasoning on that even be?

It was probably 100% on China but Elon took a 0 off.


I would guess Trump wants to bully Canada and Mexico into concessions like Columbia and then remove tariffs quickly?

China would maybe be long term?

Ugh.
Can Canada join the EU to stop this nonsense?

 

[Hygro]

/r/Conservative has started regularly hitting the front page and it's only ever "I don't understand what The Left is freaking out about. They're unhinged".

 

[Kaitzilla]

Penny Noonan tried to articulate the current zeitgeist in the WSJ today.

Not a bad attempt

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-and-the-collapse-of-the-old-order-policy-politics-eb2fe178

Trump and the Collapse of the Old Order

A disquieting Washington visit leaves me with a sense that America is making a big break from the past.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

Penny Noonan tried to articulate the current zeitgeist in the WSJ today.

Not a bad attempt

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-and-the-collapse-of-the-old-order-policy-politics-eb2fe178

I tend to favor her conclusion that if anyone expects a Trump presidency to come to their constituency's rescue, they've got another thing coming. You are not wrangling this bull lol.

something to remember when inescapably tying yourself to federal funding...

 

[Gorbles]

something to remember when inescapably tying yourself to federal funding...

"never do anything because bad people can do bad things" sure is a take.

 

[Kaitzilla]

I went looking to see if Congress is up in arms yet and willing to put Trump in his place.

Republican congressman suggests some children receiving free school lunches should work at McDonald’s instead

Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia said the freeze on federal aid would allow the government to review all programs, including ones that provide free school lunches to low-income children.

nbcnews.com

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., on Tuesday defended the impacts of the White House's federal aid freeze on school lunch programs by suggesting that some children should be working instead of receiving free lunch.

During an interview on CNN, McCormick praised the move as a way to broadly re-evaluate how the government allocates funding. CNN anchor Pamela Brown noted that Head Start, which helps provide nutritional assistance to low-income children and families, is one of the programs that could be affected. She pressed McCormick on whether he would support cutting funding for free breakfast and lunches.

"Before I was even 13 years old, I was picking berries in the field, before child labor laws that precluded that. I was a paper boy, and when I was in high school, I worked my entire way through," McCormick said. "You’re telling me that kids who stay at home instead of going to work at Burger King, McDonald’s, during the summer, should stay at home and get their free lunch instead of going to work? I think we need to have a top-down review."

Kids sponging benefits off the federal government.

No revolt against the imperial President

 

[Arakhor]

Cultists will excuse any excess from their leader, even if it means shredding their beloved Constitution to do so. I wonder when the voters will start revolting against them.

 

[danjuno]

You think voting matters at this late hour? Cute.

 

[r16]

like never . This was all about it , talking about the power of cancellation . They hate people , those people will do far worse if they return to power , so they should stick to Trump . Like mafia tactics involve getting candidates in serious crimes in really quick so that they would suffer if they were to give up . Jailtime with mafia payment or not ? Simple .

 

[Arakhor]

Well, you guys do have elections every two years, so it matters more than (say) elsewhere, but I was meaning more that the people who voted in these losers and scumbags are likely going to be really angry... and we've already seen what angry people try to do to politicians in the US...

 

[r16]

in Turkish political scene this is being active and the losing side gets to be the passive . They are enjoying "their" supreme leadership crushing "their" enemies , they will not give this up . Nothing will change in two years time .

 

[Angst]

on the tariffs, i was at a loss as to the point. trump said during it that it had nothing to do with concessions. it's just gonna happen.

but here's what it functionally does: it's a tax shift going towards the common consumer, no?

i think the reason for this is really boring. we're gonna see a tax cut for the wealthy in a bit. this actually explains a few random things they did, too. beyond sheer craziness and hate, a lot of this functionally kneecaps federally subsidized income below the plutocrat level. this money will go somewhere. i'm thinking elon. poor guy can only afford one fake path of exile 2 character.

 

[Angst]

Really? More on Mexico than China? What would the reasoning on that even be?

i think you're tongue in cheek here, but yea:

they actually really like trading with china, since it makes the rich a lot of money.

us plutocrats often have deep ties with the chinese market. because it's so domineering.

 

[Ajidica]

The hilarious thing is that, but for oil, we have a trade surplus with Canada.
Plus we buy a lot of ag products from Canada. There is enough inventory in the US to go a couple months without a serious disruption, but if it goes much long, watch food prices go up!

 

[Zardnaar]

The hilarious thing is that, but for oil, we have a trade surplus with Canada.
Plus we buy a lot of ag products from Canada. There is enough inventory in the US to go a couple months without a serious disruption, but if it goes much long, watch food prices go up!

Wouldn't be surprised if it lasts a week.

 

[Verbose]

Trump has been talking about tariffs is he was saying "tribute" – which is isn't – so it won't do anything like what he tells people, and apparently no one gainsays. But if he isn't actually senile already, he must know this? It's bizarre.