From CNN: “Cracks are forming in America’s economy. Trump is a big reason why.” Let’s start with the tariffs game. The Mango Mandarin can’t seem to make up his mind on tariffs or no tariffs. This is messing with a whole bunch of things, businesses and consumers alike. Prices are rising. If you can’t count on tariffs or no tariffs, you have to do the best with what you have. What that is depends on is if it can be afforded. If businesses cannot count on a stable system, they’re going to have to guess. Guessing means balancing supply and demand for the situation Right Now, not later. So, 2 days of tariffs, then having them removed doesn’t do anyone any good. especially when it see-saws back and forth so quickly.
Layoffs are increasing and hiring is slowing. That means a whole lot of people won’t have the money to spend. I’ve been job-hunting for nearly 2 years and have only gotten ONE nibble. My skills were only a small bit specialized, and general skills could easily be adjusted for what a company needs. Think about all the people in the federal government that have been fired, and that turns into more people competing for fewer jobs. Unemployment payments are limited. BOY, are they limited, as I found out, much to my chagrin, after 17 years with my previous company. 17 YEARS.
Then we need to consider inflation. You get less for your dollars than you could before. No wonder people are pulling back on spending. This brings a saying to mind: “Less is more”. Well, less product for more money. Yea. It’s scraping the bottom of the barrel and hoping we have enough, or, the obvious, do without. But how about the people on a fixed income, who need everything they buy – medicine, rent, utilities, food? They *can’t* do without.
How about this “Bigly” immigrant crackdown? That hurts a bunch of different businesses. And it also hurts the people who WERE going to work for them. The labor pool for the farmers and more will be decimated. Immigrants who are here legally pay taxes and buy groceries and rent places to stay. But they’re getting swept up in raids for illegal immigrants because ICE doesn’t care – if you’re there you need to go too, papers or not. Traitor Tot said he was going to crack down on illegals and he is, albeit not to the numbers he had promised. But this really doesn’t come as a surprise.
The Confused Carrot will not admit there is likely to be a recession. Tariffs “will cause a little disturbance”. A little? A LITTLE? Yea, riiiiight. “I hate to predict things like that because what we are doing is very big”. Thanks for nothing, DonOld. You are ignoring the effect it will have on everyone *except* your billionaire buddies. It’s hurt the rest of the country, but as long as the billionaires (remember, tax cuts?) are happy, you are too. Everyone else doesn’t count. The billionaires would not be where they are without our labor. They don’t think about that.
Yet we still have some decent reasons to be positive. Our economy remains strong and resilient when other nations are struggling. Many of the Orangutan’s policies could help. For example, cutting wasteful spending has also gained significant favor with a broad swath of Americans, even if the methods that Elon Musk’s DOGE employs are controversial, at best. Now THAT is an understatement. Companies like stability. Consumers want to make sure they will earn money to come in for what they’ve spent, and/or maybe will be spending. But the some of the things I talked about earlier are having a mostly positive effect. It sticks in my throat to have to admit that because I detest Agent Orange with a screaming passion. Maybe there’s a very little good in him, even if I don’t see it. Of course, that’s a BIG maybe.
And one more positive thing – America’s top economist, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, is not fretting just yet. “Despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the US economy continues to be in a good place,” Powell said at an event hosted by the University of Chicago on Friday. “Sentiment readings have not been a good predictor of consumption growth in recent years.”
So there ya have it. May it not get any worse and may it get better.
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Seriously?? what the hell do you see that is good in this maladministration?
I said maybe and that’s a BIG maybe.
I’m afraid, Susan, that each day really is getting worse. Sphincter Face told us that we should expect disruption and pain. I guess be WE he meant only you and me. But, when his Nazi sidekick is getting creamed at his Tesla dealerships ’cause nobody’s buying, The Big Sphincter says OUR boycotts are illegal! 🤬 Our jobs are disappearing and our money doesn’t go very far at the grocery store, and I may not get my next Social Security check, but Musk is not supposed to suffer!! Well, he could always go back to Africa!! 👋
*facepalm* lolol indeed! Personally I’m quite happy to see it fail!