The Trump Presidency 2.0

[ThunderHorse]

Some levity:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886046266599039278

ETA ok for some cereal...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886176995433763188

USAID was funding Lincoln Project idiots? wtf? How is that the correct usage of aid dollars?

 

[Salt USMC]

You act surprised. This tends to happen when you have competent people in DC.

Unlike the puppets who sold us out.

Rubio was the only dude from that nomination clown fiesta where I said “Huh. That’s a pretty good choice.” Glad to see that it’s working out much better than Rex Tillerson. Not bad for a uniparty/RINO/compromised/stooge/insert-other-title type guy

However, we don’t know what guarantees were made to Panama, or what leverage was used against them. I think we’ll have a better accounting of his competence as SecState once those details emerge.

 

[Locksteady]

You act surprised.

Where from the post did you get that?

 

[Cookie_]

Some levity:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886046266599039278

ETA ok for some cereal...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886176995433763188

USAID was funding Lincoln Project idiots? wtf? How is that the correct usage of aid dollars?

If I'm reading this correctly, USAID was giving money to RPA, which gay some money to his project. I pulled a better copy of the image from the tweet.

RPA received hundreds of millions of dollars in non-taxpayer funding and ~27 mil from taxpayers. Kristol got ~10mil from the org, but that doesn't necessarily USAID.


Even if everything is on the up and up here, how we run our foriegn aid still needs a massive overhaul.

 

[Marauder06]

If I'm reading this correctly, USAID was giving money to RPA, which gay some money to his project. I pulled a better copy of the image from the tweet.

RPA received hundreds of millions of dollars in non-taxpayer funding and ~27 mil from taxpayers. Kristol got ~10mil from the org, but that doesn't necessarily USAID.
View attachment 46935

Even if everything is on the up and up here, how we run our foriegn aid still needs a massive overhaul.

I don't understand the intricacies of this situation and am not taking a position. However, the highlighted part reminds me of the discussion about freeing up the billions of frozen Iranian money; "Yeah, but none of that $100 billion (or whatever) necessarily went to Hamas!" Money if money. If it goes to an organization, even if they don't use "that" money for nefarious purposes, they now have the flexibility to use "other" money to questionable things.

 

[RackMaster]

This is a Liberal strategist and explains why Trudeau and his clowns only met with Democrats until this past Friday. They want this trade war.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1886060437457752342

 

[757]

 

[RackMaster]

Apparently Trump talked to Trudeau this morning and will talk again at 3pm.

 

[ThunderHorse]

So I saw someone on the twitter said we already have a DOGE, it's called the Government Accountability Office. And Maybe even the Congressional Budget Office. But no Congress or President has ever actually reacted to GAO or CBO report. They just keep the spice err dollars flowing. DOGE I guess is a GAO with teeth?

 

[DA SWO]

Friend posted this. I thought the last trade agreement eliminated tariffs, but his graphic says they still exist.

 

[AWP]

Everyone talks about the tariffs, but no one is talking about how the threat of tariffs could be a form of a stick-and-carrot play.

 

[ThunderHorse]

Friend posted this. I thought the last trade agreement eliminated tariffs, but his graphic says they still exist.

Not at all. Canada thinks our milk is cheap. They just have a whole lot less cows and this thing call snowdrifts that blanket their country for much of the year. This obviously annoys WIsconsin Dairy producers quite a bit.

Canada routinely violates the agreement on how much they can tariff our milk. Not only have they had Tariffs on our dairy products but they routinely stop shipments.

USMCA Panel Releases Canada Dairy Report

So we sue them routinely. haha.

 

[RackMaster]

Not at all. Canada thinks our milk is cheap. They just have a whole lot less cows and this thing call snowdrifts that blanket their country for much of the year. This obviously annoys WIsconsin Dairy producers quite a bit.

Canada routinely violates the agreement on how much they can tariff our milk. Not only have they had Tariffs on our dairy products but they routinely stop shipments.

USMCA Panel Releases Canada Dairy Report

So we sue them routinely. haha.

Our dairy industry is heavily controlled and subsidized. We have a quota system and protectionist tariffs.

From Google AI because I'm lazy.

In Canada, milk production is controlled through a "supply management" system, where the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) sets national production quotas based on provincial demand, and then provincial marketing boards allocate those quotas to individual farmers, ensuring they produce only within their allotted quota, effectively preventing overproduction and stabilizing prices; this system also regulates dairy imports through tariff rate quotas to protect domestic producers.
Key points about Canadian milk production control:
Quota system:
Each farmer is assigned a specific production quota, which limits the amount of milk they can produce.
Provincial boards:
Provincial marketing boards distribute the national quota among farmers within their province.
Price regulation:
The CDC sets the farm-gate price for milk, which is the price processors pay to farmers.
Import controls:
Strict import controls are in place through tariff rate quotas, allowing only a limited amount of dairy products to be imported at lower tariffs, while higher tariffs apply to imports exceeding the quota.

Canadian Dairy Commission | Canadian Dairy Commission Canadian Dairy Commission | Canadian Dairy Commission

 

[Topkick]

Everyone talks about the tariffs, but no one is talking about how the threat of tariffs could be a form of a stick-and-carrot play.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02/03/us/trump-tariffs

 

[Devildoc]

Everyone talks about the tariffs, but no one is talking about how the threat of tariffs could be a form of a stick-and-carrot play.

In an unusually neutral piece, this morning NPR had a thing about this, the guy said that often what Trump latches onto, seemingly bizarre to most people, is a sound negotiating tactic for him and often gets concessions he would not otherwise get.

Let's see. I am very skeptical of tariffs.

Edited to add, I just saw this: Mexico agrees to deploy 10,000 troops to US border in exchange for tariff pause

Good example.

 

[Dame]

In an unusually neutral piece, this morning NPR had a thing about this, the guy said that often what Trump latches onto, seemingly bizarre to most people, is a sound negotiating tactic for him and often gets concessions he would not otherwise get.

Let's see. I am very skeptical of tariffs.

Edited to add, I just saw this: Mexico agrees to deploy 10,000 troops to US border in exchange for tariff pause

Good example.

Exactly. A lot of the panic is people freaking out over what they think is carved in stone. No such thing with this POTUS. It's all about the art of the deal.

 

[amlove21]

Everyone talks about the tariffs, but no one is talking about how the threat of tariffs could be a form of a stick-and-carrot play.

Trump pauses tariffs on Mexico goods after talk with country's President Sheinbaum

It's almost like- and follow me here- the gorilla of the world is now using the real leverage of the universe's strongest economy in order to protect American interests. The only people crying about this are rich liberarls that are rarely affected by the real cost (crime, inflation) of their ridiculous world view.

We give 50M for condoms to Gaza, they hate us. We drop a couple hundred billion for defense to another country? They hate us. We give food and clothing to the impoverished, dying whoevers... they hate us.

They're going to chant "death to America" no matter what we do, so just turn heel and lean into it. No more foreign aid, tariff the living balls off of everyone we can ctrl + alt + delete if they disagree, move on.

Canada and Mexico make up a whopping 5% of our 15% imports and they are the buffer for our northern/southern border. Get them in line and stop playing nice.

 

[Cookie_]

Something I haven't seen from too many news orgs yet.
It's a double border security deal.
U.S. will work to prevent weapons to Mexico.

“1. Mexico will immediately reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the National Guard to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl,” Sheinbaum wrote, explaining the agreements.

“2. The United States is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico. 3. Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” she continued.

ETA: The link @Devildoc shared makes mention of the firearms agreement, so it is being reported.

 

[AWP]

Something I haven't seen from too many news orgs yet.
It's a double border security deal.
U.S. will work to prevent weapons to Mexico.

I'll bet the ATF was livid when that was announced. "Bad enough we have to work in the office, now they are taking away our slush fund?!"

 

[ThunderHorse]

Trump gets shit done. What's not to like.