America - The Official Thread

[jjaisli]

All's well that ends well. Will Trump declare a national emergency to take on emergency powers to thump China in the Trade War? Short of straitjacket, I don't see why not.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/25/tru...war-i-could-declare-a-national-emergency.html

That's pretty shoddy reporting. ALL of the section 301 tariffs (rounds 1, 2, 3 & now (pending) 4) have ALREADY been pushed through under the guise of "National Security". This includes not only the increased tariffs on Chinese products but also steel and aluminum from Asia and the EU, as well as Canada and Mexico (since rescinded). The President does not otherwise have the authority to increase or assess tariffs on imported goods. So essentially, he's ALREADY declared a National Emergency by the very existence of those tariffs.

 

[Dotini]

Bizarre interview. Involves sleeping with Russian spy, Comey, Strzok, government spying on Hillary, Cruz, Rubio and Trump, blockchain, central banking, "Men in Black" and more. Bombshell explosive if true.

 

[TexRex]

I can't imagine that has any resemblance of being legal.

At this point, doesn't that almost guarantee he'll do it?

Historical precedent:

When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal.

Or, to paraphrase, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I would be completely exonerated, okay? It's like incredible."

 

[TenEightyOne]

Trump, the environmentalist. He knows more about the environment, he's done more for the environment. Incredible really. And I mean that.

Spoiler

And the Jane Godley voiceover.

 

[TexRex]

"Collie dogs are gonna be extinct. Nobody talks about them."

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Clean air and water is good. 👍

 

[TenEightyOne]

Clean air and water is good. 👍

Two posts before yours

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Two posts before yours

I wanted to highlight the shoe post.

 

[Biggles]

Trump, the environmentalist. He knows more about the environment, he's done more for the environment. Incredible really. And I mean that.

Spoiler

And the Jane Godley voiceover.

There is something seriously wrong with Trump ... I mean seriously wrong with him. It's not just an act ... I think he believes it! But what is profoundly disturbing is not that Trump is the way he is, it's that millions of people voted for him & still support him no matter what idiocy comes out of his mouth.

 

[Dotini]

There is something seriously wrong with Trump ... I mean seriously wrong with him. It's not just an act ... I think he believes it! But what is profoundly disturbing is not that Trump is the way he is, it's that millions of people voted for him & still support him no matter what idiocy comes out of his mouth.

Would it be too bold to entertain the idea that our society/nation/civilization is under threat of unravelling or other form of reduction? Or is the problem rather less than that?

 

[mustafur]

Politics is like Football, you defend your team no matter what stupid **** they do.

This is how I think most people see it.

 

[Dotini]

Perhaps a stupid bomb has been dropped on the USA? Who would do such a thing?

 

[ryzno]

I don't remember where leaving kids in a car was mentioned recently but I'll leave this here.
*SEVERE LANGUAGE WARNING*!!!

 

[Liquid]

Politics is like Football

You accuse the other team of cheating whilst ignoring your team doing the same things.

 

[mustafur]

You accuse the other team of cheating whilst ignoring your team doing the same things.

It's all the same, tribalism.

 

[Biggles]

It's all the same, tribalism.

However ... the other startling aspect is how Trumpism has completely destroyed the traditional GOP tribe. I don't know what is going to happen in the next GE, but I think it's entirely possible that the Republican party will be destroyed, losing the Presidency, losing more seats in the House & losing control of the Senate. If that happens, there is going to be a bloodbath with the GOP fragmenting into in-fighting factions.

 

[PocketZeven]

Assorted possible factors in no particular order:
- Decline in unions other than governmental
- Reduction of higher paying factory and heavy industry jobs due to outsourcing
- Reduction of jobs due to technologies of automation, digital and computerization
- Change in the nature of jobs requiring more education and less manual labor
- Stagnation of wages accompanied by inflation of prices
- Large expansion of labor force to include women
- Women working for lower wages than men

edi

We have a lot of the big global companies "based" here.

What I mean is... many of the people getting rich at the top of these big global companies are here.

Most of these are also factors that europe has had to deal with. I think capitalism and greed is the main reason why economic growth has benefited the 1% much more then the other 99%

The High cost of Getting a Bachelor Degree which is equivalent to a High School Diploma 30 Years Ago in terms of Income Potential has probably helped as well.
So even if they do get it, they are Financially challenged while they pay it off Hurting purchasing power, it's also absurd that Tuition Fees in America stay with you, even if you go Bankrupt.

Bachelor Degrees should be taught at the Secondary Level imo to counter this.

Has the cost of higher education changed mucht in 30 years?

There is something seriously wrong with Trump ... I mean seriously wrong with him. It's not just an act ... I think he believes it! But what is profoundly disturbing is not that Trump is the way he is, it's that millions of people voted for him & still support him no matter what idiocy comes out of his mouth.

He has been a stereotypical narcissist his whole life. Now he is President and surrounded himself with loyalists. Paired with his age, I think he is definately losing touch with reality. He created this bubble around him that is some kind of alternate reality, where he eventually wants to be Kim Jung Un and the USA as N-Korea.

 

[Danoff]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immi...b80018-c821-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html

Trump says steal private land to build the wall, and he'll pardon any law breaking that happens in the process. Aren't republicans supposed to be in favor of property rights? Nah...

 

[Dotini]

Has the cost of higher education changed mucht in 30 years?

I graduated from the University of Washington in 1971, thereafter enrolling in post-graduate studies. Cost of tuition plus books was about $250/qtr, which I easily paid for selling brushes door-to-door in my spare time. I earned about $8/hr selling brushes - compared to $2.75/hr I earned at an earlier job working in a Boeing factory during the summer. These days, many emerge from the U of W owing tens or even scores of thousands of dollars in student debt. In 1971, my mother bought a home for $20,000. Ten years ago it sold for over $900,000. In 1986 I bought a home for $64,000. Today it is worth near $800,000.

 

[PocketZeven]

I graduated from the University of Washington in 1971, thereafter enrolling in post-graduate studies. Cost of tuition plus books was about $250/qtr, which I easily paid for selling brushes door-to-door in my spare time. I earned about $8/hr selling brushes - compared to $2.75/hr I earned at an earlier job working in a Boeing factory during the summer. These days, many emerge from the U of W owing tens or even scores of thousands of dollars in student debt. In 1971, my mother bought a home for $20,000. Ten years ago it sold for over $900,000. In 1986 I bought a home for $64,000. Today it is worth near $800,000.

Even with inflation correction, that is crazy value creation. I still dont understand why Danoff downplays the role of property owning had in the growth of the wealth gap.

 

[TexRex]

Would it be too bold to entertain the idea that our society/nation/civilization is under threat of unravelling or other form of reduction? Or is the problem rather less than that?

How are you not tired of your seemingly endless ****-stirring and sensationalist claptrap? Are you just bored? Do you feel you're suffering from a lack of meaning and purpose?

 

[Dotini]

Even with inflation correction, that is crazy value creation. I still dont understand why Danoff downplays the role of property owning had in the growth of the wealth gap.

I'll be interested in what he has to say. Idk, but Seattle is probably a bit of an outlier in terms of property valuation.

 

[Eh Team]

Even with inflation correction, that is crazy value creation. I still dont understand why Danoff downplays the role of property owning had in the growth of the wealth gap.

I would say that owning a single property that you live on is a loss, or net zero at best in most cases. If you manage to play the markets all correctly in your life you might be able to net some profit on your home by moving to communities that are about to boom. Once the boom has peaked move to a different community that is projected to boom and over and over. Otherwise your home is just part of the cost of living because by buying and selling in the same area, sure your house gained 50k in value, but so did everyone else's. You have to move away from that area to cash out the value you gained.

 

[ryzno]

Even with inflation correction, that is crazy value creation. I still dont understand why Danoff downplays the role of property owning had in the growth of the wealth gap.

Atlanta didn't have much diversity or a housing market till the '96 Olympics. Since then we have become a cultural melting pot and the housing market went through the roof. Mind you the '08 crash hurt things but, we are back on track and building quicker than ever.
Land is money right now, at least in GA.

 

[mustafur]

It's based on credit availability, back in the day it was more conventional that people paid for their houses in cash or with much higher Deposits for their loans.

With more people now able to get large sums of money, Prices rise, even against wages because it's not really based on that any more.

 

[Danoff]

Even with inflation correction, that is crazy value creation. I still dont understand why Danoff downplays the role of property owning had in the growth of the wealth gap.

As you pointed out already, a lot of that is inflation (anything across the 70s is big). Inflation between the 1970 and now is almost an order of magnitude.$90k in 1970 -> $600k today. Even from the late 80s it's almost a factor of 3.

In some cases, like Seattle, there has been a boom. Late 80s was a good time to buy in Seattle. Prices were squashed due to population declines, and then turned the corner and went straight up from there.

But even someone as rich as @Dotini should expect whatever they pass on to their kids (if they have some) to have dispersed out of their direct family line within 1 generation, 2 generations would be an outlier. I'm not sure why that still needs explaining, since I went over it in great detail earlier.

 

[UKMikey]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immi...b80018-c821-11e9-a4f3-c081a126de70_story.html

Here is a non paywalled version of the story:

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/0...wants-border-wall-painted-black-election-day/

Trump conceded last year in an immigration meeting with lawmakers that a wall or barrier is not the most effective mechanism to curb illegal immigration, recognizing it would accomplish less than a major expansion of U.S. enforcement powers and deportation authority. But he told lawmakers that his supporters want a wall and that he has to deliver it.

Mob rule?

 

[Danoff]

Arlington National Cemetery

Resting place of many civil war casualties. During the civil war, the Union had so many casualties that they ran out of room in existing cemeteries. The US government tasked Montgomery Meigs to select a place for a new cemetery. Meigs had served under Robert E. Lee prior to the war, and sided with the Union when war broke out. He developed a hatred for the Confederacy, so during the war, when asked where a new cemetery should be, he immediately picked the site of Robert E. Lee's former home (pictured in the 2nd photo). He picked it so that the bodies of the dead soldiers that Lee killed could be laid at his doorstep, and close enough that he would never be able to live in his house again.

 

[ryzno]

Mob rule?

Isn't that what we vote politicians for?
To do what they say and what the voters want?

 

[Joey D]

Isn't that what we vote politicians for?
To do what they say and what the voters want?

Well, you do vote for them to represent their district, state, or country, but that's no longer a thing.

What I'm guessing he meant is "my donors support a wall and I don't want to lose their money, so I'm going to support it even if I really don't."