Stupid Trump Tricks

Stupid Trump Tricks (with apologies to David Letterman)

        This may be just the first of a series, depending upon just how consistently the current Cheetoh in Chief continues his 4^th grade schoolyard bully act. Because much of the man’s style (?) is talk vice action, it will probably consist primarily of addressing the stupidity which flows like water from his mouth or mouthpieces.

“Being President is costing me $3 Billion annually.”

Where to start on this one? How about the fact that he has not actually removed himself from ownership of any of his pre-White House businesses? If true, this would imply that his two sons, who run the company isolated only from public scrutiny by private consultation, are incompetent. At another level, since Trump, when in charge, has bankrupted 5 times, perhaps it’s best he stay hands off. In either case, even if this statement were true, It pales in comparison to the $27 billion (and counting) in un-budgeted agricultural aid to offset the unsellable soybean crop losses that his tariff policies have cost American farmers. The other possibility is that Trump, as verified by several lenders has consistently considered “His Brand” as a primary component of net worth, instead of the liability it is increasingly becoming, domestically and abroad. Truth is that, had he invested the undeclared and, almost certainly illegally, untaxed almost half a billion his dad shoveled to him before he was out of college, at a mere 6%, he'd have over $8 billion dollars, having done nothing. 

“China will pay the tariffs”

Not going to spend a lot of time on the statement itself, since I have written at length about the basic fallaciousness of such a statement with regard to tariffs, anytime anywhere. Simply put, tariffs are a cost borne by importers, not exporters. Period.

       That said, let’s look at the recent Trump "largesse" of “Holding off on additional tariffs until after the holidays.” Wow, thanks, Donnie! We have to wonder, however, how much of this is really related to the stock market woes accompanying every new tariff announcement. As a student of history, it is a simple matter to reflect on how truly harmful tariffs have been in our short history. Of course, Trump on his bully pulpit has waged a ceaseless propaganda war against China with allegations, some true, some false, some moronic. (as a note on language, “bully pulpit”, as Theodore Roosevelt used it, meant in the British idiom, a “Good”, or “Excellent.” position from which to present. Currently, as Trump uses public media, we see, sadly,  a more base and far nastier meaning which truly approximates the more common meaning of “bully.”

“China has infringed US copyrights” – Yep, true. However, much of the alleged offenses happened 35 or more of years ago, and involved things such as Microsoft’s assertion (true) that the sale of a small number of copies of “Office” had resulted in the software being cloned and distributed widely. Boy, oh boy, it’s a good thing that never happens in the US. Oh wait…! The same is true of the worldwide cloning of various apps, media., etc.

“American’s regard for China has declined significantly in recent years.” – True again, but the reason is primarily Trump propaganda, amplified by the actions of US retailers. 

       Pre-Trump, the average US consumer only cared about being able to purchase products at the lowest prices. Companies which once trumpeted “Made in America” (Walmart, Sam’s, Costco, Kmart, etc) on large signs in every store, made decisions greed driven, to buy cheap, instead of American. China, with low labor costs was eager to provide.

        As an example related to Walmart, a primary offender (if that’s even the right word in an Adam Smith economic model), the world's largest retailer issued Rubbermaid an ultimatum some time ago. “We’ll sell your product, but this is all we’ll pay you for them.” When Rubbermaid responded that they couldn’t produce them domestically and make any profit, Walmart’s inference was that perhaps they should relocate and manufacture where labor is cheaper. (can you say “China”?). This has been repeated with numerous manufacturers and products, and Walmart, whose founder the venerable and visionary Sam Walton, led with “Made in America.” has led the parade of US retailers pushing manufacturing off-shore. Mr. Sam would puke.

        Meanwhile, Trump blames China for responding to a world-wide market economy. Oddly enough, the vast majority of these retail giants in the US tend to be ardent conservatives, all the uber, uber, uber, rich Walton heirs as prime examples. Another such ultra conservative “all American” (not) corporation is Amway, whose daughter-in-law heiress and certified imbecile is, tragically, US Secretary of Education. Today Amway manufactures over 450 products, with major manufacturing facilities in China, India, as well as Nutrilite organic farms in Brazil, Mexico.  Although Amway maintains token  production facilities in the US, they are mum while their standard bearer inflicts unnecessary and ill advised tariffs on China, driving the market like a yo-yo as his daily whim dictates. So what does the man think is the “fix” for this imbalance?

        In a campaign interview in 2015, candidate Trump was perhaps, more open that he intended: "We have to become competitive with the world. Our taxes are too high, our wages are too high. Everything is too high. We have to compete with other countries." Perhaps the saddest part of all this is that his middle and lower class supporters missed the “wages too high part” (or believed that he meant wages for minorities are too high?)