The Trump Presidency

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I been wondering lately if "Liberals" in the West were finally infiltrated by the Communists and now we are dealing with that. But since the Wall fell, Russia has gone to the other side of the pendulum and the infiltrators are pissed. Here in Canada, our Liberals openly admit their Marxist leanings and it shows with our current Prime Minister who openly admitted his admiration for the "Basic Dictatorship" of China. His father was openly a Communist sympathizer and spent a lot of time in China.
 
It can't be more difficult. With an 800+ credit score (out of 850), high revenue, positive cash flow and a perfect payment history, I couldn't/can't take a small business loan without taking a second mortgage or paying usury rates to one bank in Utah for a line of credit (that decreases if your cash flow decreases, but never goes back up). The best that I could find over two years of searching was a business credit card with a $5k limit. In businesses under $50M (revenue), and most over $50M, money comes from equity investment not banks.


I'm looking at starting my own business trucking. I'm looking at 20% down and 20% interest for my first truck, even used.
 
That seems pricey as hell. 20% interest??? Who's giving you a loan, a credit card company? Damn. :thumbsdown:

for anyone: Are there still programs out there that give grants/microloans to vets seeking to start small businesses?
 
That seems pricey as hell. 20% interest??? Who's giving you a loan, a credit card company? Damn. :thumbsdown:

for anyone: Are there still programs out there that give grants/microloans to vets seeking to start small businesses?

SBA Microloan program - Microloan Program | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov

There is the SBA Express Program, up to 350,000 - SBA Express | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov which has the fees waived for veterans Loan Fees Waived For Veterans Who Use SBA Express - Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization Easy to get if it's under $50k (non-qualified). A little more difficult over $50k

I have one through Crossroads Small Business Solutions (Crossroads Small Business Solutions - Crossroads) if you need $25k or less I highly recommend them. Ask about the Patriot Express program whichever bank you choose to work with. Here's some info on the program - Patriot Express Veterans Small Business Loans - dummies
 
I'm looking at starting my own business trucking. I'm looking at 20% down and 20% interest for my first truck, even used.

You can almost live in some of the big rigs these days. The first boat I had an alcohol stove, small sink with a hand pump water supply, a porta potty and could sleep four comfortably in the cabin. If I wanted to do it, I could have taken out a 30 mortgage on the dam thing. While not as big, the rigs today are nearly as livable. The interest rate of 20% is outrageous. Take out a mortgage on it:sneaky:.
 
Interesting. It would seem to me that this type of ban is squarely within the President's powers under the Constitution, even though I think it's unnecessary and counterproductive. Might need the Supreme Court to weigh in on this one.
 
/discussion digression start

That seems pricey as hell. 20% interest??? Who's giving you a loan, a credit card company? Damn. :thumbsdown:

for anyone: Are there still programs out there that give grants/microloans to vets seeking to start small businesses?

We're talking trucks that when new range upwards of $100,000, and can go all the way to over a quarter million dollars depending on configuration and intent for working the equipment. Nevermind trailers, which end up starting used good condition at $25,000 and depending on configuration and intended use, can also range into the "dear mother of..." territory easily.

The challenge is that it's transportation industry, and also in that I intend to be leasing my truck and myself on to an existing company (Landstar most likely, although I have 4 friends who have recently gone to a company called Traveloko and are doing very well there). While I will be functionally in business for myself IE doing the freight runs I choose from the options they have available, most likely I will not be immediately "hanging my own shingle" on the freight market with my own DOT numbers, business name, etc. As such, I'm in a grey area and effectively am on my own for my first purchase.

There's additional overhead and headache with running your own DOT numbers though, plus the whole Net 30+ game with regards to payment. As long as I'm getting paid what I feel I and my provided services are worth, I give a shit who's company name is on the door. Hell, I'd pull for Swi... ok I can't say that with a straight face.... but you get my drift.

It also doesn't help that most small business things period are focused around brick-and-mortar businesses. I have no need for that expense as my truck (and trailer, when I purchase my own down the road) will be parked at my mom's house where my stepdad used to park his RV. I don't need an office to do business trucking, I really literally only need a file cabinet at the house, and a printer/scanner plus laptop in the truck. State level SBA's as well as federal seem to all ask about how many jobs your business is going to create. Unless I'm suddenly good in their eyes for say 3 mil, I'm not starting my own fleet of trucks. I may at a later point, but right now my first and primary step is to tap into the market with a larger faucet than the drip irrigation line I currently have as a company employee.

Example of what I'm talking about with that last bit:

Freight load of 20,000 lbs offered at $2 a mile for a 1000 mile load.
$.64 a mile "Truck with engine running" cost, includes fuel, fuel tax escrow, maintenance/repairs escrow
$100 a day just to own the truck, in terms of insurance, payments, etc

2 day trip, so $840 total cost to run the load. Net income, $1.16, or $1,160 for two days work before the IRS gets it's take versus my say for per diem, etc.

Right now, I get $0.38 a mile as a company driver doing over the road trucking. That same 1000 mile load earns me $380.

The truck costs the same to run, if not cheaper for the corporation as they get bulk pricing for the equipment (and it's shit tier fleet spec for bigger companies, bare minimum to just go down the road and make money vs having my own rig and creature comforts) self insure since they've got the dosh, etc etc... so $780 of that load goes to paying all of the corporate goons who basically make less of a benefit and more of a hassle towards operation with regards to my perspective as the operator, and profit to shareholders.

I want that extra $780. I do the same f'ing job, minus having my own name on a title. Why not take the step towards having a little bit more skin in the game, and get that paper?

SBA Microloan program - Microloan Program | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov

There is the SBA Express Program, up to 350,000 - SBA Express | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov which has the fees waived for veterans Loan Fees Waived For Veterans Who Use SBA Express - Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization Easy to get if it's under $50k (non-qualified). A little more difficult over $50k

I have one through Crossroads Small Business Solutions (Crossroads Small Business Solutions - Crossroads) if you need $25k or less I highly recommend them. Ask about the Patriot Express program whichever bank you choose to work with. Here's some info on the program - Patriot Express Veterans Small Business Loans - dummies

These would be an option if I go whole hog and get my own DOT numbers, however there are some benefits with being an lease operator versus full owner operator when it comes to trucking. I'm willing to minimally reduce gross income by pawning off some of the back-office bullshit to someone else, as that's basically what you're doing by being a lease operator in this industry. I am still new to the game, and having a knowledge/client base to draw on from an established company is a good thing. It's like being a subcontractor to a major defense contractor. They get a cut because they're the big dog and know the in's and out's of dealing with the market as it is, but you still make good money providing your piece of the pie.

You can almost live in some of the big rigs these days. The first boat I had an alcohol stove, small sink with a hand pump water supply, a porta potty and could sleep four comfortably in the cabin. If I wanted to do it, I could have taken out a 30 mortgage on the dam thing. While not as big, the rigs today are nearly as livable. The interest rate of 20% is outrageous. Take out a mortgage on it:sneaky:.

I live in my truck every day I'm not at home, which was over the last 30 days.... 26 days, with it not being a straight 29 (This is my first real day home/off since the beginning of February) solely due to lucking out with a load heading from Oregon to California that routed past my house. 80 over the Sierra Nevada's was closed completely to trucks 2 weeks ago due to heavy snowfall, and I simply took a 15 mile detour to park the truck at the truckstop in town and slept/ate at home while waiting for the pass to open. Since I was dispatched for the duration, it didn't count as actual "Home Time" in the system so I got to come home yesterday for the next few days, officially. My phone is on divert to voice mail for any work number until Friday, at which point I will address anything that came up.

The major issue with creature comforts and trucking is that you can't go over 80,000 lbs gross with general freight. That means that your truck, trailer, and cargo cannot exceed 80,000 lbs. Basically, the more creature comforts you have, the more the tractor weighs... The more your combination hauling freight weighs, the less freight you can move in one shot, which limits your loads you can take, and your overall viability and profitability in the long run.

Now, there's a flipside, since most stupid heavy loads actually don't pay well. Beer and Paper, being two prime examples. Anheuser-Busch will literally load you within 100 lbs of maximum gross weight for a delivery, so you have to make sure you have 3/4 tank of fuel BEFORE you show up so you can actually make any headway. They don't even pay any more if you're loaded to the gills and show up with say 1/4 tank (50 gallons or so) so the PITA of having to fuel every 200 miles or less, repeatedly, to make headway, just adds in insult to injury due to the low rates of those loads. Nevermind the accompanying decrease in economy of operation as your MPG suffers when you're loaded for bear, and that affects the bottom line.

You can't take a mortgage out, or mortgage duration. 3-5 years is what you're usually looking at for what could be a $150,000 piece of equipment.

/discussion digression end
 
I agree with this article. I know the right is guilty of things as well. However, I just do not see the two sides as having equal reactions. The left has been more vitriolic about President Trump than the right was about President Obama, IMHO. The left also was much quicker, and more severe, in its criticism of conservatives making disparaging or threatening comments. The inverse has not been true since President Trump won the election. Both sides need to cut the shit and start figuring out how to work together, but at this point the left is more in the wrong with the constant violence and threats of violence.

Violent threats against the president are OK now?

ETA: Now they're threatening Melania. Classy. Bow Wow threatens to “pimp” Melania Trump and “make her work for us” | Atlanta Buzz with Jennifer Brett
 
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Trump's Proposed Budget and a list of Federal impacts:
What's getting cut in Trump's budget

The article above is does a great job of providing an easy to read, comprehensive review of the changes but here is a condensed list from McNews as well:

The 62 agencies and programs Trump wants to eliminate
Trump's budget says hundreds of programs and agencies would be eliminated — with more than 50 in the Environmental Protection Agency. But his first budget proposal identified 62 specifically. The list:

Department of Agriculture
Water and Wastewater loan and grant program ($498 million): "Rural communities can be served by private sector financing or other federal investments in rural water infrastructure, such as the Environmental Protection Agency's State Revolving Funds," the budget says.

McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program ($202 million): Trump's budget says the program — a sort of Third World school lunch project — "lacks evidence that it is being effectively implemented to reduce food insecurity."

Department of Commerce
Economic Development Administration ($221 million): Obama's 2017 budget touted the agency as " the only federal government agency with a mission and programs focused exclusively on economic development." The Trump budget says it has "limited measurable impacts and duplicates other federal programs."

Minority Business Development Agency ($32 million): The White House says this minority business incubator program is "duplicative" of other programs in the Small Business Administration.

Department of Education
Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants program ($2.4 billion): The White House says the program is "poorly targeted and spread thinly across thousands of districts with scant evidence of impact."

21st Century Community Learning Centers program ($1.2 billion): The formula grants to states support before- and after-school and summer programs. "The programs lacks strong evidence of meeting its objectives, such as improving student achievement," the budget says.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant program ($732 million): This financial aid program, known as SEOG, help give up to $4,000 a year to college students based on financial need. The Trump administration says it's a "less well-targeted" program than Pell Grants.

Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program ($190 million): The grants are targeted toward students with disabilities or limited English proficiency.

Teacher Quality Partnership ($43 million): A teacher training and recruitment grant program.

Impact Aid Support Payments for Federal Property ($67 million): Obama also proposed the elimination of this program, which reimburses schools for lost tax revenue from tax-exempt federal properties in their districts.

International Education programs ($7 million): This line item funds a variety of exchange programs, migrant schools and special education services abroad.

Department of Energy
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy ($382 million): This alternative energy research program was established by Congress in 2007 with the goal of funding projects that the private sector would not.

Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program: This loan fund finances projects that combat global warming.

Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program: Helps finance fuel-efficient vehicle research. "The private sector is better positioned to finance disruptive energy research and development and to commercialize innovative technologies," the White House says.

Weatherization Assistance Program ($121 million): The program helps homeowners make their homes more energy efficient with grants of up to $6,500.

State Energy Program ($28.2 million): Gives grants to states to help them work on energy efficiency and anti-climate change programs.

Department of Health and Human Services
Health professions and nursing training programs ($403 million): Trump's budget says these programs "lack evidence that they significantly improve the nation's health workforce." Instead, Trump wants to provide scholarships and student loans in in exchange for service in areas with a nursing shortage.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program ($3.4 billion): LIHEAP helps the elderly and low-income people pay their heating and power bills.

Community Services Block Grants ($715 million): CSBG is an anti-poverty grant program that the White House says duplicates emergency food assistance and employment programs.

Department of Housing and Urban Development
Community Development Block Grant program ($3 billion): CDBG has been a bread-and-butter funding source for local communities for 42 years, totaling more than $150 billion in grants over its history. "The program is not well-targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results," Trump's budget says.

Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing program ($35 million): The affordable housing program supports organizations like the Local Initiatives Support Corp., which the White House says should be privately funded.

Department of the Interior
Abandoned Mine Land grants ($160 million): The Trump administration wants to eliminate a discretionary grant program that it says overlaps with a $2.7 billion permanent fund.

National Heritage Areas ($20 million): These are state-and-federal partnerships to preserve natural, historic, scenic, and cultural resources.

National Wildlife Refuge fund ($480 million): Maintains the Fish and Wildlife Service's 563 wildlife refuges throughout the country.

Department of Justice
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program ($210 million): Four states receive the bulk of the funding from this program, which reimburses states for the cost of incarcerating criminal immigrants.

Department of Labor
Senior Community Service Employment Program ($434 million): SCSEP is a job training program for low-income people 55 and older that the White House says is "ineffective."

Occupational Safety and Health Administration training grants ($11 million)

Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development
The Global Climate Change Initiative ($1.3 billion) was an Obama administration proposal to support the Paris climate agreement. It includes the Green Climate Fund ($250 million), the Strategic Climate Fund ($60 million) and the Clean Technology Fund ($171 million).

Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund ($70 million): The account allows the president to "provide humanitarian assistance for unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs worldwide," but Trump said the mission is best left to international and non-governmental relief organizations

The East-West Center ($16 million): Chartered by Congress as the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, the Honolulu-based nonprofit has a mission of strengthening relations among Pacific Rim countries.

Department of Transportation
The Essential Air Service program ($175 million) provides federal subsidies for commercial air service at rural airports. EAS flights are not full and have high subsidy costs per passenger. Trump's budget says several of those airports are close to major airports, and that rural communities could be served by other modes of transportation.

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants ($499 million): The Obama-era TIGER program funded multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects, but the White House wants to cut existing infrastructure spending in favor of his own $1 billion infrastructure proposal.

Department of the Treasury
Community Development Financial Institutions grants ($210 million): Trump's budget says the 23-year-old program to support community banks and credit unions is obsolete.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Geographic watershed programs ($427 million) like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative ($40 million) and the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Initiative ($14 million): The Trump budget would turn over responsibility for those efforts to state and regional governments.

Fifty other EPA programs ($347 million) including Energy Star, Targeted Airshed Grants, the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, and infrastructure assistance to Alaska Native Villages and the Mexico border.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Office of Education ($115 million), which the Trump budget says duplicates efforts by the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

Independent agencies and commissions
African Development Foundation ($26 million): An independent foreign aid agency focusing on economic development in Africa.

Appalachian Regional Commission ($119 million): A 52-year-old agency focused on economic growth in 420 counties.

Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ($11 million): The agency was created by the Clean Air Act of 1990 and investigates chemical accidents.

Corporation for National and Community Service ($771 million): The agency is best known for its Americorps community service program.

Corporation for Public Broadcasting ($485 million): Supports public television and radio stations, including the PBS television network and, indirectly, National Public Radio.

Delta Regional Authority ($45 million): An economic development agency for the eight-state Mississippi Delta region.

Denali Commission ($14 million): A state and federal economic development agency for Alaska.

Institute of Museum and Library Services ($231 million): Provides money to the nation's 123,000 libraries and 35,000 museums.

Inter-American Foundation ($23 million): Promotes "citizen-led grassroots development" in Latin America and the Caribbean.

U.S. Trade and Development Agency ($66 million): Promotes U.S. exports in energy, transportation, and telecommunications.

Legal Services Corp. ($366 million): A 43-year-old congressionally chartered organization that helps provide free civil legal advice to poor people.

National Endowment for the Arts ($152 million): Encourages participation in the arts.

National Endowment for the Humanities ($155 million): Supports scholarship into literature and culture.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. ($175 million): Better known as Neighborworks America, the organization supports local affordable housing programs.

Northern Border Regional Commission ($7 million): A regional economic development agency serving parts of Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.

Overseas Private Investment Corp.($63 million): Encourages U.S. private investment in the developing world.

U.S. Institute of Peace ($40 million): Government-run think tank focusing on conflict prevention.

U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness ($4 million): An independent agency coordinating the federal government's efforts to reduce homelessness.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars ($11 million): A program to provide scholarships and fellowships in social sciences and humanities.

I have to say, that while everyone will find something to disagree with from the list (a sign that it's equally offensive), overall there are some gutsy moves in the right direction. We'll see how much actually comes to fruition.
 
National Endowmnet for the Humanities funds Warrior Scholar. Glad they are getting the axe...:rolleyes:
 
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