Even before he has gotten into office, president-elect Donald Trump is pushing his weakest quality, protectionism.
Associated Press:
Trump said he'd impose a 35 percent tax, called a tariff, on companies that close U.S. factories, cut American jobs, then relocate abroad and try to sell their products back to the United States.
"Please be forewarned prior to making a very expensive mistake," the president-elect tweeted.Anyone want to bet that any company planning to do such a thing would find a loophole in our byzantine tax code?
Regardless, this is the stick. Trump also has a carrot for companies wanting to leave, which consists of major government giveaways (read: tax breaks and government contracts). Most companies will take the free goodies, while you and I foot the bill for it. Fortunately, most manufacturing has already left America, so the bill shouldn't be too bad.
But Trump wasn't done...
CNN:
President-elect Donald Trump has taken a fresh swipe at China just two days after a controversial phone call with Taiwan's president that upended decades of diplomatic protocol.
Trump, in two tweets late Sunday, accused China of keeping its currency artificially low and of military posturing in the South China Sea -- home to a tense territorial dispute.
Did China ask us if it was OK to devalue their currency (making it hard for our companies to compete), heavily tax our products going into..— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016
By the way, regarding that phone call with Taiwan:their country (the U.S. doesn't tax them) or to build a massive military complex in the middle of the South China Sea? I don't think so!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016
Beijing regards Taiwan -- officially the Republic of China -- as a breakaway province and has said it will use military force against the island if necessary. The two sides split in 1949 after Communist victory in the civil war.Time for some TRUTH: Taiwan called Trump, not the other way around. As much as the MSM wants to paint this as some kind of rogue action by Trump, accepting a phone call is called "civil behavior".
The 10-minute conversation with President Tsai Ing-wen, which Trump described as a congratulatory call, was the first time a US president has spoken to Taiwan's leader since Washington established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979.
HOWEVER, those tweets by Trump were clearly provocative. Starting a trade war with China could be economically unhealthy for both countries. We can only hope that Trump is just doing some chest-thumping, because if this is a prelude to action, be afraid.
That is enough republican stupidity for one day. How about the Democrats?
Grabien News:
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that despite Democrats losing the House, Senate, and almost two-thirds of state houses, the American people don't want a new direction.
The California congressman appeared on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday and instead said the issue facing Democrats is simply a failure of communication.
DICKERSON: “The Democratic Party is in a moment of questioning about its identity. You were reelected to lead the Democrats in the House. What do you tell Democrats who want a new direction and then, go to you, what are you going to do differently?”Elitist obliviousness, thy name is Pelosi.
PELOSI: “Well, I don’t think people want a new direction. Our values unify us and our values are about supporting America’s working families. That’s one that everyone is in agreement on. What we want is a better connection of our message to working families in our country, and that clearly in the election showed that that message wasn’t coming through. But we are united in terms of the security of our country, which is our first responsibility. To be smart and strong and not reckless in how we protect the American people, strong in how we protect our economy.”
So the Democrats just lost the White House, and Pelosi sees it as "a failure to communicate". Unfortunately for her, if you remove California from the voting totals, the rest of the country's popular vote went to Trump. So it is quite understandable that San Francisco Nancy might be out of touch with the average American.
To be honest, the values of California and the values of the rest of the country are quite different. So she is either being naive or dishonest when she says, "Our values unify us and our values are about supporting America’s working families." California values global warming alarmism and the welfare state far more than working families. Pelosi can take her rhetoric and shove it up her golden state.
Speaking of California, the Oakland Raiders beat the Buffalo Bills yesterday, 38-24. This is important because:
CSNNE.com:
The Patriots and Raiders and neck-and-neck as the race for home field in the AFC turns for home. And, with four games left, the Raiders are ahead by a nose. The tiebreakers between the 10-2 teams in play currently? Common games followed by strength of victory.If the playoffs were held today, the Oakland Raiders would be the top seed in the AFC.
The first tiebreaker – conference record – is a deadlock as both teams are 7-1 in the AFC (the Brady-less Patriots lost to the Bills back in Week 4.
After conference record, it's the teams record in common games.
So far in common games with the Texans and Bills, the Patriots have gone 2-1 and the Raiders have gone 2-0.
(hat tip to Free Image Gallery for the gif)
If I seem biased in this area, it is because I am a shameless and diehard Raiders fan, since January 22, 1984:
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