The Trump presidency

[CRI]

Or this
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/25/its-the-pits-the-miners-blues/

I really don't get the fetishisation of American coal miners. Even this article points out the highest number of miners in the 20s was 700,000, down to 140,000 by the 70's, before efforts were made to find less environmentally unsound alternatives.

There were and are still far more people who labour in shipping and transport, manufacturing and agriculture, for example.

 

[CRI]

Shouldn't you be admiring yourself in the mirror, while wrestling a bald eagle and chewing a hamburger?

I have plenty of other hobbies, thanks all the same.

 

[belboid]

I really don't get the fetishisation of American coal miners. Even this article points out the highest number of miners in the 20s was 700,000, down to 140,000 by the 70's, before efforts were made to find less environmentally unsound alternatives.

There were and are still far more people who labour in shipping and transport, manufacturing and agriculture, for example.

"I don't care about them, but if they don't care about me it's because they're racist"

 

[CRI]

The tale of the dictator’s daughter and her prince

How quickly the president's daughter and her husband being at the heart of his administration has been normalised, even welcomed.

Do folks here think this involvement is OK, and if so, why?

 

[killer b]

Do folks here think this involvement is OK, and if so, why?

What an odd question. You already know the answer don't you?

 

[CRI]

What an odd question. You already know the answer don't you?

No, or I wouldn't have asked. You're not obliged to answer. Have a nice day!

 

[killer b]

I can answer: folks here don't think it's ok. Have a nice day!

 

[rutabowa]

I think it's ok.

 

[killer b]

Apart from rutabowa, but I think he's a rothschild. That lot are bang into this kind of shit.

 

[Idris2002]

Apart from rutabowa, but I think he's a rothschild. That lot are bang into this kind of shit.

Spoiler: A Roth's child, yesterday

 

[spring-peeper]

US to slap tariff on Canadian lumber, intensifying trade fight

and so it begins....

PM: Canada-U.S. relationship bigger, more important than any one 'irritant'

 

[CrabbedOne]

xxx

I really don't get the fetishisation of American coal miners. Even this article points out the highest number of miners in the 20s was 700,000, down to 140,000 by the 70's, before efforts were made to find less environmentally unsound alternatives.

There were and are still far more people who labour in shipping and transport, manufacturing and agriculture, for example.

In comparison there were in 06 over 600K folk working as Bank Tellers in the US. Often earning less than miners and increasingly on minimum wage. But there's not much PR value in getting sentimental over the conditions of clerks.

 

[hot air baboon]

no to mention the effect of autonomous vehicles

There are more than seven million people working in trucking and trucking-related industries, according to the ATA — one in 17 working adults in the US.

I really don't get the fetishisation of American coal miners.

... ohh I do ...

 

[belboid]

I am shocked, shocked, to learn that liberals have no real, notion of class or power.

 

[Mab]

Even China is recognizing that coal is choking them . Peeper, there fighting it out right now on cbc. That Banen? idiot is on--the one who Melissa McCarthy does so well.

Hey, wasn't it announced this week that the UK is completely coal free--huge important news.

 

[CRI]

Spoiler: A Roth's child, yesterday

Ahem . . .

Spoiler: THIS is a Roth's Child

 

[spring-peeper]

Even China is recognizing that coal is choking them . Peeper, there fighting it out right now on cbc. That Banen? idiot is on--the one who Melissa McCarthy does so well.

Hey, wasn't it announced this week that the UK is completely coal free--huge important news.

Oh my goodness, MAB!!! Great to see you again - hoping all is well.

Bit late to turn on the telly, but I'll go have a look.

 

[CRI]

xxx
In comparison there were in 06 over 600K folk working as Bank Tellers in the US. Often earning less than miners and increasingly on minimum wage. But there's not much PR value in getting sentimental over the conditions of clerks.

That's true. Well, and look at retail, cleaning, food service and care work. Mostly minimum wage, poor conditions, little job security, rarely unionised, but I didn't hear people in these jobs name checked when politicians talk about reaching out to working class people. These fields employ a higher proportion of women, and men and women of colour though, so . . .

I mentioned the other manual jobs in agriculture, manufacturing, shipping, transport, etc. both because they employ hell of a lot more people than the coal industry ever did and they're traditionally viewed as requiring physical strength and being dangerous. To be fair, equipment and safer practice have removed much of the risk from most manual industries. And, there are plenty of risks to health and personal safety in things like cleaning and care work, but hey . . . let's hear it for the coal miners!

 

[CRI]

no to mention the effect of autonomous vehicles

There are more than seven million people working in trucking and trucking-related industries, according to the ATA — one in 17 working adults in the US.





... ohh I do ...

But, none of the gentleman above are employees of the coal industry. The cowboy is technically an agricultural worker. The construction worker is in the building industry. Both the police officer and soldier are public servants. It's possible the chap in leathers is a motorcycle courier, but he may simply ride for pleasure. As far as I'm aware, being a Native American is not a job, blue collar or white collar!

So there!

 

[CRI]

North Korea’s nukes are a long-term worry, not an immediate crisis. Trump’s belligerence could change that.

Interesting piece on possible outcomes for the US - North Korea situ. Today's the day all 100 senators are called to the white house for a briefing. That's never happened before.

 

[chandlerp]

North Korea’s nukes are a long-term worry, not an immediate crisis. Trump’s belligerence could change that.

Interesting piece on possible outcomes for the US - North Korea situ. Today's the day all 100 senators are called to the white house for a briefing. That's never happened before.

Why the fuck could Trump not go to them instead of making all of them go to the White House? He's a proper lazy cunt.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Bloomberg Trump Fixates on Canadian Softwood. You Shouldn't.

...
When trade bodies get around to ruling, those rulings are often mixed: “Yeah, okay, maybe there’s some subsidy in there somewhere, but you Americans are wildly overreacting, so cool it with the huge tariffs.” Which was basically my take on the dispute in 2004, when I last covered it. Research does not reveal any good reason to revise that view, especially because Canadian stumpage has evolved somewhat over the years. British Columbia now uses auctions in its coastal forest areas, which should tend to drive the price of stumpage there to par with the world market.

We should also note that any subsidy, however bad for American softwood lumber producers, is actually good for the vast majority of Americans who do not work in forestry. This morning, people were throwing wild numbers around about how much a tariff would increase the price of a house or a box spring. I’d take those numbers with a hefty dose of salt, but undoubtedly, they will drive the price of softwood lumber products up somewhat, which means less money in the pocket of you, The Modern American Consumer. So even if American timber producers were completely right and their tariff were warranted, the American consumer would suffer.
...

Horrifically it turns out a lot of Canadian timber is publicly owned and managed. So it's not turning a Godly private sector profit like a lot of more expensive US wood. So unfair!

Of course pleasing Big Timber's US lobbyists by slapping a big tariff on Canadian softwood would not really helping many US workers rather it's propping up the capital that owns the land and pays the lobbyists. It would however be fucking over folk doing construction jobs for instance but then that's something Trump's been doing all his life.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Instead of launching tax reform, Trump could ground it

...
“The fundamental disagreement here is basically over which kind of Reagan-style tax change that Trump is going to embrace,” said Jeffrey Birnbaum, a former journalist and author of a book on the epic 1986 tax reform fight. “Will it be 1986-style reform, which neither raised nor lowered the budget deficit or will it be 1981-style, which was just a reduction in rates and was eventually viewed by both Democrats and Republicans as too deep a cut. It’s clear Trump wants to echo Reagan but we don’t know which version of Reagan it will be.”

For the moment, Republicans on the Hill are trying to stress the areas where they agree with Trump, including a desire to lower and simplify both corporate and individual rates to spur what the party hopes will be much faster economic growth that creates millions of new jobs and lifts wages. But many are signaling that significant differences remain that could prove insurmountable.

“We all agree on the benefits of tax reform and the place we want to land, and the question is how you reach that place,” said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Ryan. “We continue to have productive discussions with the administration about all ideas on the table.”
...

GOP united in backing good old Trickle Down economics. But is it the bloat out the deficit kind of bung to wealthy or not?

Trump dashes in with a first 100 days stunt bill for a comprehensive reform and this likely leads to huge inconclusive bunfight.

 

[chandlerp]

Trump chickens out of demanding funding for his wall in this week's budget bill

Trump backs down on border wall funding - BBC News

Bigly Fail. Sad.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Why Trump is starting a trade war with Canada

...
“Canada is an easy villain,” said Laura Dawson, director of the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center. “They cannot retaliate with the force of a China or a Mexico. It’s not like Canada is going to open up the border and let a whole bunch of Central Americans into the United States. So Canada is a pretty safe target.”

In February, Trump said his administration would be “tweaking” NAFTA in any renegotiation, suggesting that changes would be small.

As it faces that renegotiation, Canada is unlikely to shut off energy exports to the U.S. or make any major retaliatory decisions that could have major blowback for a country of 35 million economically conjoined to its southern neighbor. “Canada is pretty much a known quantity,” Dawson said.
...

My bold, Mexico's Trump card.

Suggests new new timber tariff could add $3.6K to the price of a US house. This is the kind of winning US voters really may tire of.

 

[butchersapron]

How did clinton pay for his 325 mile wall with mexico. Did he bravely demand state funding?

 

[Yossarian]

On Politico Why Trump is starting a trade war with Canada
My bold, Mexico's Trump card.

Suggests new new timber tariff could add $3.6K to the price of a US house. This is the kind of winning US voters really may tire of.

Seems a little short-sighted for a country that's been suffering massive drought issues to pick a fight with a neighbour that has a fifth of the world's freshwater, maybe they've got a secret plan to desalinate the stuff that'll be making Florida even more a swamp in the years ahead.

 

[CRI]

Why the fuck could Trump not go to them instead of making all of them go to the White House? He's a proper lazy cunt.

Amongst other things, yes.

 

[CRI]

Unless he and his team co

On Politico Why Trump is starting a trade war with Canada
My bold, Mexico's Trump card.

Suggests new new timber tariff could add $3.6K to the price of a US house. This is the kind of winning US voters really may tire of.

Ah, but if he and his team convince Americans it's Canada's fault. . .

 

[TomUS]

I really don't get the fetishisation of American coal miners. Even this article points out the highest number of miners in the 20s was 700,000, down to 140,000 by the 70's, before efforts were made to find less environmentally unsound alternatives.

There were and are still far more people who labour in shipping and transport, manufacturing and agriculture, for example.

Deep coal mining is a dying industry and those still employed by it refuse to see it. So they voted for the con man who won't stop "the war on coal" because it doesn't exist. Now they can watch as those coal jobs don't come back and blame everyone but themselves......especially them libs.