Getting the Economic Dope Slap

The law of unintended consequences is a frightful thing.

It's possible, with things lining up the way they are, that Wyoming populists are about to get the biggest economic dope slap in the state's history.

Of course, the rest of us will get it too.

Wyomingites drank the populist kool aid and went back for more bucket sized additional helpings.  Shoot, the average Wyoming voter was practically drunk on the stuff, having started imbibing about a decade ago.  In going for Trump, they were voting for a return to an imaginary 1950s, sort of, combined with an imaginary 1930s, combined with an imaginary 1960s.  Full employment for all "real" Americans, none of these Spanish speaking brown folks, a uniting of our economic extractive needs with a concept of science as we want it, not as it is, and the sexual morays of the mid 1970s, really.

Average Wyoming candidate on campaign trail.

Wyomingites don't really want to go back to the past as it really was, particularly on some of the things the way I feel they should be.  Divorce isn't going to be hard to get, for example, and there's not going to be a criminal penalty for screwing around.    No hyperinflation either, and no economic depressions.

Well. . . 

The past so many envision, and there's some truth to the depictions,  and what we imagine we want again, except with tattoos and only the laws we actually like and think we remember.

Donald Trump, fresh from his political recovery thanks to a Democratic Party that couldn't get a clue and the rise of malevolent populism is threatening to throw a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and a 10% one on goods imported from China.  Apparently we can p.o. the Chinese, but not as much as we can Mexico and Canada, safely.

Or maybe not p.o. the Chinese at all. During the campaign Trump talked about 60% tariffs on China.  10% on China combined with 25% on Mexico and Canada actually conveys a trading advantage on  China, while raising the costs of prices at home.

The United States is the largest goods importer of goods in the world.  China was the top supplier of goods imported into the United States, followed by Mexico ($454.8 billion), Canada ($436.6 billion), Japan ($148.1 billion), and Germany ($146.6 billion).

The United States is the world's second largest goods exporter in the world, behind only China.  Canada is the largest purchaser of U.S. goods, around 17%.

That's probably about to change.

What do we import?  Well, darned nearly everything, even food from Mexico.

What do we expert, darned near everything, including even petroleum.

We're going to be paying more for everything, and we're going to be exporting less of everything, as we get hit with retaliatory tariffs.

And that's assuming our neighbors are nice.  They might not be.  If I was the P.M. of Canada, I'd tell Americans living in Canada to pack up and go home.  A lot of them are up there on business.  And I'd end cooperation with the US on defense.

And oil?  Well, the Saudis are seriously threatening to drop the price per barrel to $49.00, which would wipe out most U.S. production.  Again, if I were the Canadians, and the Mexicans, both of which produce a lot of oil, I'd join them.  They probably won't, but that's what I'd do.

So, Wyoming populists, even without retaliation, you are going to pay more for absolutely everything. We all are.

And a lot fewer of you are going to have jobs. Same for us all.

Well, at least you can be happy about deportation. . . and a lot of you will, at long last, be deporting yourselves to your own states.  You'll have to. There won't be any work here.

Blog Mirror: Will China Rise and the US Retreat?

 

Will China Rise and the US Retreat?

2024 Election Post Mortem, Part 2. What's going on?

Well of course, it's hard to tell.

November 11, 2024

And indeed, there are already those, who pollyannish like insist that maybe this time Trump will be different, and not carry through with all his claims, promises, and threats.

I listed to all three weekend shows this week, and they're well worth listening to.  For the most part, with one exception, Democrats have realized that latching on to far left social issues sank them. Even Bernie Sanders seemed to agree.  The exception really seemed clueless.

A scary former Trump ambassador to Japan seemed, now in Congress for Tennessee, seems intent on cutting off all aid to Ukraine.

Susie Wiles will be Trump's chief of staff.

On that, there are already noting how that's "historic" as she's the first woman to be appointed to that role.  No it isn't.  Frankly, once Barrack Obama was elected President most of the claimed "firsts" are really meaningless.

Trump has apparently instructed Republicans in Congress to hold up Biden judicial nominees.

cont:

And now we know the "Border Czar" will be Tom Homan, who in a recent interview with 60 Minutes, supported deporting kids who were born and raised in the US to undocumented immigrants, stating: “Families can be deported together.”

Homan had stated at a Nation Conservatism conference: "Trump comes back in January, I'll be on his heels coming back, and I will run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen. They ain't seen shit yet. Wait until 2025."

How charming.

cont:

Elise Stefanik has been chosen to be Ambassador to the United Nations.

November 12, 2024

Former Green Beret, Florida Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, a China hawk, will be National Security Advisor.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will head the Department of Homeland Security

Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York will run the Environmental Protection Agency.  He's expected to go after environmental regulations, and be hostile to climate policy.

Somebody, or some group, is clearly advising Trump on these picks.  But who is it?  

Marco Rubio will be Secretary of State, a position that he undoubtedly will be unable to retain throughout a second Trump administration.

Russian television, which is presumed not to run items without Putin's permission, ran nude photos of Melania Trump.  This is interesting in that Trump has a weird relationship with Putin, and you have to wonder what the message was supposed to be.

Cont:

Tom Homan:

The illegal animals coming across the border... 31% of women that make their journey get raped by criminal cartels.

Children get raped. I've talked to little girls as young as nine that have been raped multiple times.

These cartels are animals. And that's why President Trump's gonna take 'em off the face of Earth.

[Trump] will use them full might of the United States Special Operations to take 'em out.

 Trump in fact asked about doing something of this nature in his prior term.

Cont:

John Ratcliffe will serve as CIA director.

November 13, 2024

Fox news commentator Pete Hegseth, a National Guard officer, has been chosen by Trump as Secretary of Defense.

Seems like a poor choice.  Maybe even a bit of a scary one.

Former Arkansas Governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee, a very strong supporter of Israel, perhaps even one that might be regarded as extreme on the point, has been chosen as Ambassador to the country.

This will not be good for peace in the Middle East.  Arab Americans who abstained from voting will no reap the fruits of that action, and they'll be bitter fruits.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been appointed to something that will be called the Department of Efficiency.  I don't see this lasting.

These picks look a lot like what a lot of people expected, and feared.

Cont:

John Thune (R-S.D.) will be the next Senate Majority Leader.

Cont:  

Secretary of Defense putative nominee has apparently stated "I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles." Frankly, that's my view as well, and that view is widely shared within the military itself.  This is interesting, however, as this would normally probably be a disqualifying viewpoint.  We'll see if it had any impact on his chances of being confirmed.

We'll also see, of course, if he acts on his view.  A large number of the views Trump expressed in his 2016 campaign of this type never saw the light of day in his administration.

I actually have a long and very old draft of a post on women in combat I've never completed.  I ought to, but now I'm reluctant given that I don't want to be seen leaping on board the incoming administration's bandwagon.

Cont:

Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General of the United States.

My prediction is that even the Republican Senate won't be able to stomach that.

What a joke.

November 14, 2024

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Security.

John Barrasso, Senate Whip.

Gaetz, who was the topic of an upcoming ethics investigation, has resigned from Congress.  

Cont:

When he (Gaetz) was accused of sleeping with an underage girl, there’s a reason why no one in the conference defended him. We all saw videos he was showing us on the House floor of girls he slept with & brag how he would crush ED medicine so he could go all night.

Sen. Mullin, R. Oklahoma.

Cont:

Republican Senator John Cornyn is going to ask the House Ethics Committee to release the findings of the Matt Gaetz investigation.

Cont:

And now RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services.

With this appointment and Gaetz, Heath May put it best.  "Another day, another dumb ass"

November 15, 2024

Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior.

This is again an interesting choice.  Only 3.9% of North Dakota is Federal land.  However, users of Federal land in the West might take some cautious optimism out of this as Western politicians, completely contrary to the views of those they serve, have taken on the land grabbing mindset illustrated  by Utah's effort to grab Federal lands in court, which has been sadly supported by Wyoming.

Cont:

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson regarding the House ethics investigation report for Gaetz:

I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.

Cont:

Governor Gordon Commends Selection of Governor Doug Burgum for Secretary of the Interior 

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon has issued a statement following the announcement from President Trump that North Dakota governor Doug Burgum will lead the Department of Interior.

“I congratulate my friend Doug Burgum and I commend President Trump for his selection of Governor Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. Since almost half of Wyoming’s surface land and 67% of its mineral resources are managed by the federal government, the Secretary of the Interior is integral to Wyoming’s economic well-being and future. It is good that we have a friend in that office.

Doug has a deep understanding of the importance of energy development while maintaining valuable wildlife and outdoor recreation opportunities. He and I have worked together on these issues for the past six years. We see eye-to-eye on the importance of a domestically focused, all-of-the-above energy policy for public lands and minerals. I know personally his love of the outdoors. I am confident that under his leadership, future decisions regarding land management and wildlife issues in Wyoming will not utilize a top-down, DC-driven approach, but rather be made cooperatively, with local interests at the forefront. I look forward to working with him.”

-END-

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November 16, 2024

Karoline Leavitt, age 27, as press secretary.

Cont: 

Chris Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, secretary of the Department of Energy.

November 18, 2024

Mitch McConnell has stated there will be no recess appointments.

November 19, 2024

Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Commerce.

Cont:

Mehmet Oz to serve as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Truly, this is the most pathetic set of appointments, ever.

November 23, 2024

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for Surgeon General.

Pam Bondi to replace Gaetz, who withdrew.

Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary.

Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon for Secretary of Labor.

Scott Turner, for the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

November 24, 2024

Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture.  She's a Texas A&M trained lawyer with an undergraduate in agricultural development.

Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

Rep. Dave Weldon, a Republican from Florida, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Russell Vought, a co-author of Project 2025, to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Last edition:

2024 Election Post Mortem, Part I. What the heck happened?

I was a soldier once. . .

Student Alan Canfora waves a black flag before the Ohio National Guard shortly before they opened fire at Kent State, May 15, 1970.

and never as part of that did I ever imagine being used in the US to round up immigrants.  

I have the strong feeling that if Trump attempts this, there's going to be a lot of men leaving the military, and a drop off of enlistment of epic proportions.  

The Next Trump Administration, Part 1.

Trump's promises:

Trump on his actions upon becoming President.

Like Mein Kampf, this should be taken seriously.