Want to understand what Trump is doing?

We are starting the week with Aluminim and steel tariffs, tariffs on "every country", though we have no idea of how many countries it actially encompasses, a statement that Palestinians will not have a right to return to GAZA, US farmers in a panic because he has cancelled millions of dollars of contracts when Musk shut down USAID and now he has stopped USDA aid to farmers, leaving them tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket on farm upgrades.

Control the food, control the population?

Project 2025 architect Russel Voght over at OMB has just shut down the consumer protection bureau, which was created to protect consumers after the 07/08 crash.

The budget cuts to NIH will have a devistating effect for the entire planet. In my state alone, the research universities stand to lose $525 million and it will affect over 37,000 jobs. That is before the other federal employees start losing jobs as well. Our unemployment system can't handle it. I can't even begin to imagine what medical advances we will miss out on.

Welcome to another week of Trump. Sigh.

You probably know more than I do Allira. I don't care for football and am not much of a sports person overall.

I had crafts to do with my friend yesterday. It was way more fun.

Whitewavemark2

ronib

The Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency Wwm2

An agency is not the civil service.

I guessed that you had muddled it.

But no matter, easily done.

Lots of Civil Service departments became Agencies in the 1990s and early 2000s.

We were still part of the Civil Service.
The CCTA was one such Government Agency.

imaround

You probably know more than I do Allira. I don't care for football and am not much of a sports person overall.

I had crafts to do with my friend yesterday. It was way more fun.

I know they wear big shoulder pads and crash helmets 😯

FriedGreenTomatoes2

He's a disruptor and is disrupting cosy little globalist clubs. Long may he do so.

What is a globalist club?

Switching off aid abroad might be popular initially, but it will have repercussions.
Aid from the USA had strings - any food/ weapons/ medical supplies had to come from America and had to be transported by American carriers.
The " money saving" will result in significant unemployment for people involved.

It will also have signific repercussions on the countries it was going to e.g Aids programmes and that will have a longer term impact worldwide

Yess chocolate, this is devistating to the farmers. They are collectively losing billions of dollars. Many will go bankrupt and lose the farms.

It just popped into my head that if these farms are bankrupt, they will be sold for pennies on the dollar. The land alone in the US is worth a mint, and that is before you count the mineral and water rights.

Billionaires will be buying up the farms and renting the land back at inflated rates.

We are already seeing it happening with homes. Private equity firms are buying up all the homes and then renting them at highly inflated rates by using a software to manipulate prices. The DOJ and multiple states have sued to stop the practice.

ronib

PoliticsNerd what does being American have to do with redundancy? I know of people being made redundant from apparently secure Uk Civil Service jobs and from startups here at the drop of a hat. In these circumstances, new and better job opportunities can present themselves.

Perhaps it is because on this thread we are discussing the effects of Trump's actions? Just a thought

ronib

Wwm2 why do you find this hard to understand? Also being made redundant can lead to improved outcomes.

Good grief

imaround

We are starting the week with Aluminim and steel tariffs, tariffs on "every country", though we have no idea of how many countries it actially encompasses, a statement that Palestinians will not have a right to return to GAZA, US farmers in a panic because he has cancelled millions of dollars of contracts when Musk shut down USAID and now he has stopped USDA aid to farmers, leaving them tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket on farm upgrades.

Control the food, control the population?

Project 2025 architect Russel Voght over at OMB has just shut down the consumer protection bureau, which was created to protect consumers after the 07/08 crash.

The budget cuts to NIH will have a devistating effect for the entire planet. In my state alone, the research universities stand to lose $525 million and it will affect over 37,000 jobs. That is before the other federal employees start losing jobs as well. Our unemployment system can't handle it. I can't even begin to imagine what medical advances we will miss out on.

Welcome to another week of Trump. Sigh.

Don't worry, according to Ronib, redundancy can lead to better things.

The courts have just ruled that Trump is required to unfreeze federal spending money. He was ordered to do so last week, but so far has not.

This is important to watch and will be a clue of what happens going forward.

If he ignores the court order, which is what people think will happen, we then officially have a lawless dictator who will need to be removed.

If he does comply, he will have lost his momentum and upper hand. It will show that he can can be reigned in.

He has caved in tariffs already. We will see.

David49

FriedGreenTomatoes2

He's a disruptor and is disrupting cosy little globalist clubs. Long may he do so.

We really should not underestimate the financial power of Trump and the US. Europe was rebuilt after WW2 and rearmed for the Cold War. Compared with that rebuilding Gaza is straightforward.
He can also make it very difficult for countries that rely on US aid and military support.

You know what, David, if he pays off the 'national debt' as he has said he will. he won't have any financial clout at all because all his money will have gone...

Unless he orders the Federal bank to create a bit more...

If he ignores the court order, which is what people think will happen, we then officially have a lawless dictator who will need to be removed.

How will he be removed? is the interesting question.

How he should be removed = impeachment and conviction.

How it will most likely happen = The Second

Here is where we stand on the court case.

This ruling says that Trump officials violated last weeks court order by refusing to release funds from the Treasury. He has ordered Trump to immediately release the funds today.

We are waiting for Trump/Musk to respond.

What happens if he doesn't? Well, the court will send a US Marshall to the Treasury to force it. Except Trump has control of the DOJ and Pam Bondi can order the US Marshall to not enforce the court order.

He has the Supreme Court, the Military and Congress.

There are literally no guard rails. No enforcement mechanism. Every day ordinary people are going to have to stand up for what is right.

It is getting rather serious this week to be honest. I knew once he was elected we would end up here, I just didn't think it would happen this fast.

ronib

PoliticsNerd what does being American have to do with redundancy? I know of people being made redundant from apparently secure Uk Civil Service jobs and from startups here at the drop of a hat. In these circumstances, new and better job opportunities can present themselves.

I was interested to know how well you know America and their political system ronib. Nothing more than that.

Thank you for such a detailed explanation imaround.

PoliticsNerd redundancy can lead to new opportunities regardless of country… certainly in the Uk, large redundancy payoffs can provide a good cushion to embark on consultancy or freelance work for example. It’s a chance to restart for some. So does America not have such a system? That would be very surprising.

The system in the United States is not designed to absorb 2 million+ people. It will bankrupt state unemployment accounts. And when that happens, people will start to lose their homes, poverty will increase exponentially.

Trump added trillions to the national debt during Covid to help workers who were jobless. We literally could not all survive without the federal governments help. So what do we do when the federal government is the one who is hurting people? He isn't going to open up the coffers is he?

I am not sure what other way I can explain how bad this is going to be.

I think the confusion may lie in severance pay. Is that redundancy pay?

Musk has promised some type of payout for 8 months to those who take any severance. Except the government is only funded through March and neither Musk nor Trump are authorized to use federal funds to pay severance for that many people. Employees have been warned that if they do take a deal, they are doing so at their own risk. It is likely they will never get paid.

Musk did the same thing to Twitter employees and then never paid them.

Now if they all get 8 months severance pay, it would allow for more flexibility and innovation as ronib suggests.

"The White House has designated Mr. Musk’s office, the United States DOGE Service, as an entity protected from public records requests and most judicial intervention until at least 2034, by classifying its documents as presidential records."

We are at a stalemate on the court case. Trump has appealed a temporary restraining order, which really can't be done legally.

Through today, the Courts have intervened on:

Federal funds freeze
14th Amendment Birthright Citizenship
Cuts to the NIS
Resignation Offer to federal employees
Sending Venezuelans to Gitmo

I can't think of a single thing he has done that is constitutional.

Now we wait to see if he complies.

Trump is one of the reasons that the ceasefire is going to break down.

Threatening a population with ethnic cleansing and putting them into massive refugee camps is guaranteed to get a reaction.

Neither Israel or Trump are adhering to the spirit of the ceasefire.

What you are describing imaround does not sound very much like a democracy - either direct or representative.

... more like a Presidentocracy.

I'm sure I'll be reminded that this is what people voted for though - Trump was the democratic choice, so they will be OK with this...

Whitewavemark2

Trump is one of the reasons that the ceasefire is going to break down.

Threatening a population with ethnic cleansing and putting them into massive refugee camps is guaranteed to get a reaction.

Neither Israel or Trump are adhering to the spirit of the ceasefire.

Neither Israel or Trump are adhering to the spirit of the ceasefire.

Would it serve their interests?

Either way, Palestinians are now effectively "owned" to use a slang term. Re-building would require something like a Marshall Plan...

And then there's Hamas... and through what instrument could the re-building take place?

Trump will 'allow' Palestinians to live out their lives "in peace and harmony" (quote) elsewhere and he (effectively) will own the Gaza strip. He knows a bit of prime real-estate when he sees it.

And the decades old conflict will continue.