Gary Varvel (Counterpoint) starts us out today with a trusty conservative talking point for Thanksgiving, but, as they say, “That ol’ dog won’t hunt.” Not at this point.
We can debate over whose policies did more to add to national debt, with the understanding that conservatives have a lot invested in the accusation of “tax and spend” while liberals are partial to calling the other side’s policy “Don’t tax but spend anyway.”
It always draws an enthusiastic crowd, but at the moment we’re facing an administration which promises to cut more money from the budget than is available for cutting and imposing tariffs that will increase prices to consumers while cutting taxes in a set of economic moves that analysts say will increase national debt by about $7.7 trillion, more or less.
Given that the analysis linked there contrasted Trump’s plans with those of Harris, whose promises suggested half that impact on debt, this seems like an excellent opportunity for Trumpers to shut up about the topic. The election is over, but the effects are just about to start.
Dear Leader has just announced that he plans to immediately impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico until they shut down our borders with them, end the flow of fentanyl into this country and teach a hippo to tap dance. (I made up one of those.)
I don’t know that it will have a major impact on the national debt, but it’s surely going to have an immediate impact on prices and not just prices of avocados.
In 2023 Canada exported $278.11 million worth of eggs and dairy products to the United States. Add a 25% tariff and explain how this will solve the problem of egg prices.
And to think we used to argue over competing NAFTA proposals.
Alex has a better understanding of things, as you would expect from a strip centered on finance, and notes the potential changes as these Wall Street tyros discuss the hazards ahead.
There’s perhaps an unwarranted assumption here that people in the new administration will have to follow normal conflict-of-interest practices, but, as noted, they might do well to bail out before they work their magic on the rest of us.
The joke here may be in the last panel: There’s little chance of an “if.”
The secondary joke being that those of us with IRAs are gonna have to just hang on and try to enjoy the ride, since bailing out isn’t a reasonable option.
Pedro X. Molina (Counterpoint) notes the futility of waiting for the MAGAts to experience the effects of what they’ve done, and I’d agree that, at this point, they are eager to see destruction.
Howsoever, there likely will come a point at which they can’t afford groceries and, if Trump gets the rest of his Ebenezer Scrooge wish list, they may also not be able to get the help they need to make ends meet or to handle medical issues.
They certainly won’t be able to balance the increasing prices of eggs with their desire to swap out cars every few years, take vacations or get new TVs and other toys.
Will they blame the gummint if it’s a gummint they put into power themselves? Or will they blame the trans community for using the wrong bathrooms?
Bob Englehart suggests that they’ll be delighted to put “wokeness” in its place by bringing back racist team names, but I doubt they’ll agree to stop there, and Making America Great Again seems to include bringing back Jim Crow or at least dropping the concept of diversity in advertising.
For instance, Jaguars start at around $77,900, and they’re imported, so add the cost of a tariff to your planning before proudly declaring that you aren’t gonna buy one because of their ads.
We’re entering a different kind of “woke,” I’m afraid, and waking up to form lynch mobs isn’t a good look.
Pat Bagley wonders why so many people want kids to learn from a book they haven’t read, and teaching kindergartners the basics of a six-day creation seems against both responsible science curricula and American principles of church/state separation.
But while there seems to be little emphasis on the things Jesus said we should do — feed the hungry, visit those in jail and so forth — Bagley notes that the Old Testament offers some lessons that may be more in keeping with what these people want their children to learn.
I’m kinda done talking about Trump’s cabinet picks, at least if, as John Auchter suggests, we’re going to try to do it without being offensive to anyone. There’s a point at which you have to either go bare-knuckles or flee the ring.
Will there be confirmation hearings? Was Matt Gaetz the sacrificial scapegoat, driven out into the wilderness bearing all sin so that the rest of Trump’s picks would be approved?
Jack Ohman (Tribune) completes Pete Hegseth’s collection of tattoos, which already include plenty of white supremacist themes but could use a little more celebration of his sexual prowess.
Hegseth is calling for “an American crusade,” a term which won’t endear him to Muslims, but that’s okay because he’s also calling for us to abandon the Geneva Convention and its namby-pamby rules about what constitutes a war crime. And he’s not too crazy about NATO, either.
Which sounds like it couldn’t possibly become American policy, but bear in mind that we’re also planning to identify and cashier officers who cling to old-fashioned ethics and rules of engagement, and Pam Bondi is also promising to prosecute anyone engaged in investigating and pressing charges against Trump loyalists.
Michael Ramirez (Creators) notes the decline of cable over streaming, though the fact that TV comes into my house from a cell tower rather than on a wire seems kind of trivial.
However, NBC is spinning off CNN and MSNBC and that matters, not because viewers will likely see much difference but because Trump threatened to cancel CBS’s license, which doesn’t exist, proving he knows as little about TV as he does about tariffs.
But Elon is threatening to purchase MSNBC and shut it down. It’s not for sale, but publicly traded companies are vulnerable to hostile takeovers, and, First Amendment or no, our informational systems are thus vulnerable to authoritarian plutocrats.
They’re gonna ask.
And for all those Libertarians and Trumpers who think their investment in gold will save them after their social security and 401ks evaporate, here comes the Great Crypto Heist!
https://prospect.org/power/2024-11-26-crypto-plot-against-americas-gold-reserves/
This scheme makes Auric Goldfinger’s plan to nuke Fort Knox look rather ham-fisted and quaint.
“Do you expect me to talk?”
“NOoo Mr. Bond, I expect you to buy… bitcoin!”
I think they should convert their bitcoins into Beanie Babies. They’re something you can hold in your hand as long as you wear white gloves and put them right back afterwards.
I’ve been talking about this on Facebook, but I’d like to mention that most Sunday color comics sections, and nearly ever comic book published by America’s top ten publishers is printed in Canada using Canadian paper and Canadian ink. Both industries are existing on a razor’s edge already; what will 25% inflation due to them? I’m guessing nothing good.
Midwest farms are highly dependent on Canadian diesel, and John Deere (which makes a huge amount of farm equipment including some specialized types sells more outside the U.S. than to U.S. purchasers so lacks a reason to increase its level of manufacturing here). Increasing the prices of both of those things will drive out small farmers, increase industrial farming (worse land stewards) and increase the cost of core crops.
Egg prices in recent years have been largely driven by bouts of avian influenza, with regions which use local suppliers differing, not by anything any politician has done. That is not to say that a politician could not make it worse as part of the effects of ignoring the horrifically painful lessons from Smoot Hawley about a century ago.
I figured the one good thing we’ll have over the next four years is not having to listen to how bad is the National Debt. Because, of course, with Republicans running the show it’s no longer an issue.