Trade War

Bailouts are back! This time for GOP-voting farmers in red states hurt by ‘Trump Tariffs’ (bribery for votes) (Updated)

by

It was just a decade ago that America’s financial system was in a meltdown and the economy headed into a free-fall.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was a set of programs created and run by the U.S. Treasury to stabilize the country’s financial system, restore economic growth, and mitigate foreclosures in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. TARP was included in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which included the bailouts for large financial institutions, banks, and eventually Chrysler and GM automakers.

Even as the financial system was in a meltdown and the economy in a free-fall, a majority of Republicans in Congress voted against the TARP bailouts. 73 percent of House Democrats voted in favor of the bailouts, compared to 46 percent of Republicans. Despite prodding from Republican President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulson, and House Minority Leader John Boehner’s emotional plea to put country first and vote yes, a majority—54 percent—of House Republicans still voted against the bailouts.

“Let it burn!”

In the Senate, strong majorities of both Democrats (80 percent) and Republicans (69 percent) voted for bailout passage, but with significantly greater Democratic support.

This was the actual birth of the so-called Tea Party movement. The grassroots conservatives who opposed the bailouts later comprised the early Tea Party movement.

Fast forward to today. The Tea Party got the president they wanted in 2016, an abrasive egomaniacal man-child demagogue who promised them a trade war with China.

The trade war that these yahoos voted for is now beginning to adversely impact Republican Party constituencies in red states, i.e., farmers  (agribusinesses). Farmers’ Anger at Trump Tariffs Puts Republican Candidates in a Bind:

As President Trump moves to fulfill one of the central promises of his campaign — to get tough on an ascendant China — he faces a potential rebellion from a core constituency: farmers and other agricultural producers who could suffer devastating losses in a trade war.

Read more

June jobs report and the Trump vs. The World Trade War

by

The June jobs report released today may be the apex of job growth after 93 consecutive months of job creation — the longest streak on record — because today marks the official start of the Trump vs. The World Trade War. As Trump’s trade war starts, China vows retaliation:

The United States imposed the first duties on $34 billion in Chinese goods early Friday, officially launching a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Moments later, the Chinese side fired back, accusing the United States of violating WTO rules setting off “the largest trade war in economic history to date.”

Cadet bone spurs says Trade Wars Are ‘Good, and Easy to Win’, but history says otherwise. “Trade wars are never won. Trade wars are lost by both sides,” Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska has warned. “[I]t will kill American jobs — that’s what every trade war ultimately does. So much losing.” More about this later in the post.

Steve Benen has the June jobs report. Job growth remains steady, but jobless rate ticks higher:

Ahead of this morning’s new jobs report, most projections pointed to totals of roughly 200,000 new jobs last month. Those projections turned out to be correct.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the economy added 213,000 jobs in June, while the unemployment rate inched a little higher, climbing from 3.8% to 4%.

JuneJobs

Read more

A referendum on democracy itself is on the ballot

by

Let’s be perfectly clear: if a Democratic president had done what Donald Trump is currently doing in foreign policy, that president would be the subject of an impeachment proceeding right now as we speak. Republicans would have drafted an article of impeachment for treason, without doubt. But as always, IOKIYAR.

David Leonhardt of the New York Times sums it up nicely. Trump Tries to Destroy the West:

President Trump is trying to destroy [the Western] alliance.

Is that how he thinks about it? Who knows. It’s impossible to get inside his head and divine his strategic goals, if he even has long-term goals. But put it this way: If a president of the United States were to sketch out a secret, detailed plan to break up the Atlantic alliance, that plan would bear a striking resemblance to Trump’s behavior.

It would involve outward hostility to the leaders of Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. Specifically, it would involve picking fights over artificial issues — not to win big concessions for the United States, but to create conflict for the sake of it.

A secret plan to break up the West would also have the United States looking for new allies to replace the discarded ones. The most obvious would be Russia, the biggest rival within Europe to Germany, France and Britain. And just as Russia does, a United States intent on wrecking the Atlantic alliance would meddle in the domestic politics of other countries to install new governments that also rejected the old alliance.

Check. Check. Check. Check. Trump is doing every one of these things.

He chose not to attend the full G-7 meeting, in Quebec, this past weekend. While he was there, he picked fights. By now, you’ve probably seen the photograph released by the German government — of Trump sitting down, with eyebrows raised and crossed arms, while Germany’s Angela Merkel and other leaders stand around him, imploring. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, wears a look of defeat.

Read more

Putin’s puppet pays off big at the ‘G6 Plus One’ Summit

by

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is laughing today at his unimaginable success in undermining America’s role as the leader of the post-war economic order of the liberal western democracies, and undermining the European Union and the Western alliance (and NATO). Putin’s puppet, Donald Trump, the president of the United States, is doing his bidding for him.

What was the G8 Summit until Russia was kicked out after its annexation of Crimea, became the G7 Summit. With Putin’s puppet Donald Trump doing his bidding, it has now become the “G6 plus one” Summit: Allies’ frustration with U.S. mounts ahead of G7 summit:

President Trump is expecting tough talks with U.S. allies Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, and Japan at the G7 summit Friday. Relations are tense after the president put new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum from the European Union, Mexico, and Canada. Those nations are threatening new tariffs of their own on U.S. goods. President Trump tweeted Friday morning: “Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better!”

Mr. Trump’s “America first” mantra has led to policy decisions that have angered U.S. allies. G7 finance ministers met ahead of the summit and described the group as “G6 plus one,” with the U.S. in the rare role of an outlier.

Read more

March jobs report well below expectations, trade war trouble on the horizon

by

Economic forecasters expected another strong jobs report today. That didn’t happen. Steve Benen has the March jobs report. Following February’s highs, job growth slowed down in March:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the economy added 103,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1% for the sixth consecutive month. In both cases, forecasts projected better progress, making today’s report disappointing.

Making matters slightly worse, the revisions for the two previous months – January and February – point to a combined loss of 50,000 jobs as compared to previous BLS reports.

MarchJobs

Read more