Good afternoon! We are back from the beach and I’m/ ready to ramble a little bit after watching CNBC throughout the day. The stock market was up big time following the so-called deal that was made between the United States and China over the weekend. What we have with the latest “big deal” is Trump’s typical modus operandi. Create a chaotic situation. Get people worked up and then come in with a “major breakthrough.” No details. They’ll come later. The press and media will give him the headlines he wants as he and his bro’s sit back and watch the stock market make a big move up while they collect their capital gains. In this case, China and the U.S. have been playing their tit for tat tariff game as Trump announces a 145 per cent tariff on goods from China and they in turn reciprocate with a 125 per cent tariff on U.S. goods. As a result, small businesses stop purchasing their goods from China; ships stop bringing containers of goods, because companies have stopped buying; the media reports dock yards are bare of ships and store shelves will be bare just like pandemic times; and Americans start stockpiling toilet paper and any dolls left on the “Toy” shelves. Trump claims China is beating the door down to meet with us and he is getting exhausted answering the phone calls to please meet. China says he’s full of bull pucky, “We haven’t called and haven’t talked to anyone from the U.S. team.” Finally, we hear there will be a “big meeting” in Switzerland to negotiate the tariffs and we will have to wait in breathless anticipation for the big meeting where we will see the “Art of the Deal” in action. Then yesterday we get the big announcement: “The US and China agree to slash tariffs for 90 days as trade talks continue.” That’s enough, though, to send the markets in an upward frenzy today just like the plan. In the meantime, Under the agreement, the United States would reduce the tariff on Chinese imports to 30 percent from its current 145 percent, while China would lower its import duty on American goods to 10 percent from 125 percent. For all his bluster about not lowering tariffs without major concessions from China, the “stable genius’ once again has backed down. There have been no commitments from China and no guarantee that this 90-day truce will lead to a lasting agreement. Our tariff rate with China before Trump’s tariff war began was 3 percent. After the masterful negotiations over the weekend it is now 10 percent plus the original 3 percent – 13 percent. Remember, the tariff war with China is not cancelled, it’s just postponed for 90 days – so let the confusion and uncertainty continue while the administration moves on and creates the next chaos.
What would be a Monday without a little Trump corruption? This would be the President of the United States basically collecting a bribe from a foreign nation. In this case, a foreign nation that Trump once said was “a funder of terror at a very high level.” That nation would be Qatar and the bribe would be a 400 million dollar “palace in the sky” Boeing 747 to replace the current Air Force One, which he would personally keep at the end of his presidency. From my understanding of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause prohibiting individuals holding office from accepting valuables from foreign officials or nations, this “grift” is a no-brainer. NOT ALLOWED! Don doesn’t agree with me, however, and says only someone “stupid” would turn down an offer like this. Guess what! Even the far-right influencer Laura Loomer is critical of this bribery attempt and says “I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits.” Can you imagine what we would be hearing from the GOP if Biden had accepted something like this? What’s equally troubling is that this isn’t being done behind closed doors, but corruption right out in the open with a smirk of “whatcha gonna do about it, stupid.”
One last thought for the day. ICE currently has about 21,000 agents across the U.S. and Trump wants to add an additional 20,000 to that number. From several videos I have seen there seems to be a strong resemblance of many of these agents to the January 6th insurrectionists. How many of those insurrectionists are now ICE agents getting their ‘jollies’ pulling people off the street and shoving little girls faces into the ground while her mother is being arrested? I will also say that before long, as this action becomes commonplace for viewing on FOX and other outlets, we will have masked men posing as ICE agents pulling women off the streets and putting them into a black Suburban without any thought that this might be an abduction. Trump’s ‘Pizza Gate,’ I guess.
That’s enough for today. I need to go make plans for my stock purchases in 90 days. I’ll watch the market start falling and then when that next “big meeting” is just around the corner, I will stock up. Have a great evening and stay safe and sane.
Mountain Man Musings 