U.S. Politics 2018

[Altair]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mcmaster-bolton-national-security-adviser-1.4588988

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday picked as his new national security adviser John Bolton, a hawk who has advocated using military force against Iran and North Korea and has taken a hard line against Russia.

Trump announced in a tweet he H.R. McMaster, his current national security adviser, was out.

Bolton, 69, who has long been a polarizing figure in Washington foreign policy circles, becomes Trump's third national security adviser in 14 months.

Anyone else ready for a war?

 

[Jarnhamar]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/mcmaster-bolton-national-security-adviser-1.4588988


Anyone else ready for a war?

Well you did want to deploy 

 

[Altair]

Well you did want to deploy 

True.

I'm not complaining.

 

[jollyjacktar]

With all the senior appointments being hacked and slashed in this administration it's really starting to make me think Trump feels he's on The Apprentice.

 

[Altair]

3 NSA in a year.

Clown show.

 

[jollyjacktar]

3 NSA in a year.

Clown show.

It is certainly a revolving door for staffers.  I cannot imagine how anyone might be attracted to serve in this administration.

 

[Jed]

With all the senior appointments being hacked and slashed in this administration it's really starting to make me think Trump feels he's on The Apprentice.

How many Generals, etc. did Lincoln go through before he found somebody who could do the job?  Just sayin'

 

[Fishbone Jones]

With all the senior appointments being hacked and slashed in this administration it's really starting to make me think Trump feels he's on The Apprentice.

I dont know their jobs, I don't know Trumps mind, but heres what I think He's not part of the government for life crowd. He's a business man. You perform to his expectations or you get fired. Not transferred, promoted, or anything else Peter Principle.

If a person in such an important position can't do it, why keep them?

 

[jollyjacktar]

Jed, Recce, both good solid points for sure. 

I am, by nature, not someone who craves attention as one would attract by being part of any administration and this one in particular.  I agree you're either going to fulfill the performance expectations of the boss or you will be let go.  I expect that this particular boss would be very demanding and it might be akin to walking on eggshells with all the added pressure/scrutiny from within and without.  For me, it would be my idea of hell on earth.

 

[a_majoor]

It looks like The Onion has crossed some sort of event horizon and is now reporting reality 

https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2018/03/22/watch-that-little-fcker-squirm-the-onion-just-nailed-facebook-and-mark-zuckerberg-and-omg-lol/

‘Watch that little f*cker SQUIRM.’ The Onion just NAILED Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg and OMG-LOL
Posted at 4:28 pm on March 22, 2018 by Sam J.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

You know life is getting whacky when The Onion and real life begin to blur … take for example this tweet from The Onion about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg.

American People Admit Having Facebook Data Stolen Kind Of Worth It To Watch That Little Fucker Squirm https://t.co/9nLqDzI56F pic.twitter.com/zaRZWMtjmD

— The Onion (@TheOnion) March 22, 2018
From The Onion:

Saying it was ultimately a small price to pay in exchange for the splendid spectacle that has followed, millions of Americans admitted Thursday that they didn’t really mind having their Facebook data stolen if it meant getting to watch that little f*cker squirm. “Sure, it sucks that my private information was confiscated and used in unauthorized psychological surveys—that’s completely inexcusable—but man, looking on as that arrogant piece of sh*t tries to keep it together has been great,” said longtime Facebook user Jerry Boesen of Naperville, IL, adding that he could hardly wait to see the massive pit stains appear on the smug prick’s signature gray T-shirts as he fumbled his way through a series of nationally televised interviews.

 

[FJAG]

How many Generals, etc. did Lincoln go through before he found somebody who could do the job?  Just sayin'

I presume you are referring to the Army of the Potomac so: McDowell, McLellan, Burnside, Hooker and finally Meade. But that was over a period of two years before Meade stuck.  ;D

My problem isn't so much the revolving door that the White House has become but that once again Trump is making my stocks slide and so far hasn't taken credit blame for the fiasco he's creating in the economy. Interesting to see that the most recent spending bill coming out of Congress isn't supporting either his spending increases or his proposed cuts like he wants.

:cheers:

 

[Fishbone Jones]

I presume you are referring to the Army of the Potomac so: McDowell, McLellan, Burnside, Hooker and finally Meade. But that was over a period of two years before Meade stuck.  ;D

My problem isn't so much the revolving door that the White House has become but that once again Trump is making my stocks slide and so far hasn't taken credit blame for the fiasco he's creating in the economy. Interesting to see that the most recent spending bill coming out of Congress isn't supporting either his spending increases or his proposed cuts like he wants.

:cheers:

I know absolute shit about stocks. I'll admit that right now. If I understand, Trump has lowered the value of your stocks. Have I got that right?

Again, I'm just guessing, but isn't CNBC a trusted news provider for years?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/stock-markets-value-under-trump-has-grown-by-6-point-9-trillion-to-30-point-6-trillion.html

It sounds like Trump, according to CNBC, did great but you didnt.

It sounds like a 'personal problem' to me. Or you may want to shit can your portfolio manager.

However, just like I said above, I know crap about it but I can listen and learn.

 

[YZT580]

Or he is heavily invested in the Canadian market.  Between B.C. NDB with the western pipeline, no approval for the eastern line from the PQ, Kate and the fiasco of the Ontario economy and finally Mr. Dress-up and his equal opportunities for all in the unemployment line the Canadian market isn't a very reliable place to invest.  There are bright spots but you have to have nerves of steel.

 

[Altair]

Or he is heavily invested in the Canadian market.  Between B.C. NDB with the western pipeline, no approval for the eastern line from the PQ, Kate and the fiasco of the Ontario economy and finally Mr. Dress-up and his equal opportunities for all in the unemployment line the Canadian market isn't a very reliable place to invest.  There are bright spots but you have to have nerves of steel.

Nope,  after those record gains, the market is reacting very negatively to this trade war nonsense.

Nothing to do with canada. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-financial-markets-20180322-story.html

Stocks plunged Thursday after the Trump administration slapped sanctions on goods and investment from China. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 700 points — and into correction territory, down 10% from a recent high — as investors feared that trade tensions between the world's largest economies would escalate.

The planned sanctions include tariffs on $48 billion worth of Chinese imports as well as restrictions on Chinese investments. Trump said he's taking those steps in response to theft of U.S. technology, and the Chinese government said it will defend itself. Investors are worried that trade tensions would hurt U.S. companies and harm the world economy.

good try. Almost made this about canada and the Liberals,  but this is firmly on trump and America.

 

[Journeyman]

He's not part of the government for life crowd. He's a business man. You perform to his expectations or you get fired.

A significant number of the firings weren't 'government for life' people either -- they tended to have track records of competence, and were brought in to provide well thought-out advice to the President. (Family members excluded, obviously)

With each firing it becomes increasingly obvious that Trump's expectations have always been for 'yes men,' rather than well thought-out advice.  For his advice, he apparently relies on telephone calls to golfing buddies (whose economic benefits from having Trump as President will likely preclude any negative advice), and of course, the wisdom  of Fox & Friends -- which is providing more of the replacement staff.

 

[Altair]

A significant number of the firings weren't 'government for life' people either -- they tended to have track records of competence, and were brought in to provide well thought-out advice to the President. (Family members excluded, obviously)

With each firing it becomes increasingly obvious that Trump's expectations have always been for 'yes men,' rather than well thought-out advice.  For his advice, he apparently relies on telephone calls to golfing buddies (whose economic benefits from having Trump as President will likely preclude any negative advice), and of course, the wisdom  of Fox & Friends -- which is providing more of the replacement staff.

And McMaster is out due to his resistance to military conflict with north Korea.

Bolton will provide no such resistance.

 

[FJAG]

I know absolute crap about stocks. I'll admit that right now. If I understand, Trump has lowered the value of your stocks. Have I got that right?

Again, I'm just guessing, but isn't CNBC a trusted news provider for years?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/stock-markets-value-under-trump-has-grown-by-6-point-9-trillion-to-30-point-6-trillion.html

It sounds like Trump, according to CNBC, did great but you didnt.

It sounds like a 'personal problem' to me. Or you may want to crap can your portfolio manager.

However, just like I said above, I know crap about it but I can listen and learn.

Two problems with your position.

First, the article that you quoted goes back to January prior to when Trump's major stupidity kicked in. At that time the markets were still on a rise, and I'll give you this, some of that was based on optimism about what Trump might do.

Here's a chart of the Dow. You need to click on the "three month" tab and it will show the high it was at at the end of January, and it's bouncy slide since then.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dow+3+month+chart&rlz=1C1ASUT_en-GBCA497CA497&oq=dow+three+month+&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.7332j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Now click on the "five year" tab and it will show you that the growth during Trump's first year was already an ongoing trend for a number of years under Obama. (You might recall that Obama took over at the height of the mess that was going on during Bush's tenure)

Second. It's not just me,; it's everybody. Unfortunately, in the last few months Trump's been on a kick to bring America back to the 1940's manufacturing powerhouse that it was by completely ignoring the realities of international economics. There have been some significant slides since he's been touting his trade war. It's a slide that effects everyone. Yesterday's slide was the fifth largest in the history of the Dow. So, as I said, it's not just me, thank you very much. In fact, by being in US stocks, I'm doing quite well because the Canadian dollar has been tanking which means my US holdings are worth more in Canadian funds then they might have been. All-in-all, I'm doing fine and my adviser knows what he's doing but I could be doing better as could many in both of our countries.

Here's today's outlook:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/markets-tariffs-trade-friday-1.4589493

Short lesson on stocks. They react nervously when the leader of the free world tweets stupid things at four o'clock in the morning. This is exactly why real world leaders don't do stuff like that. They don't let their petulant, childish impulses overrule their common sense.

:2c:  :cheers:

 

[Colin Parkinson]

However the US was losing the global trade war to China and was slowly being made impotent by Chinese trade and manufacturing. The major weakness of the Chinese government is the economy, they cannot afford a tariff war as that will cause unrest in their country. The US could not allow the status quo to continue, imposing tariffs is in a way creating artificial sanctions against yourself and that can and will stimulate domestic industry. With fracking and coal usage, the US is more or less energy independent, an improvement in their domestic manufacturing and a limitation on certain goods being imported, will make the country more self-reliant. As it is the world is growing to dependent on China and they has shown it is quite willing to use that power to it's own advantage. Canada may be forced to choose sides in the not so distant future, if we allow Chinese access to our country unfettered, we may be partly  isolated from a major customer, for one that really does not buy much in the way of value added goods from us.   

 

[Fishbone Jones]

A significant number of the firings weren't 'government for life' people either -- they tended to have track records of competence, and were brought in to provide well thought-out advice to the President. (Family members excluded, obviously)

With each firing it becomes increasingly obvious that Trump's expectations have always been for 'yes men,' rather than well thought-out advice.  For his advice, he apparently relies on telephone calls to golfing buddies (whose economic benefits from having Trump as President will likely preclude any negative advice), and of course, the wisdom  of Fox & Friends -- which is providing more of the replacement staff.

I won't pretend to know what his reasons are or how he communicates with others. Of course there's always CNN for advice right? My input just sounded like a logical reason to me. Perhaps you're right. Or perhaps not. Either way, I can't expect one downturn to make a difference. We'll see if it continues and has further fluctuations. Right now, I really can't get excited about anything US now. Too busy watching Canada committing Seppuku.  :

 

[mariomike]

For his advice, he apparently relies on telephone calls to golfing buddies (whose economic benefits from having Trump as President will likely preclude any negative advice), and of course, the wisdom  of Fox & Friends -- which is providing more of the replacement staff.

Everything else is "Fake News". 

QUOTE

Politico Magazine

"The Washington Post is fake news, he has said in blanket censure. He expresses the same about CNN, NBC, the New York Times and ABC and CBS, often without bothering to stipulate what, exactly, is fake."
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/18/donald-trumps-fake-news-mistake-216480

END QUOTE