The ability to describe the conditions that a statement or belief can be said to be false is what distinguishes science from idolatry and magic. What are the circumstance that determine whether someone is a failed leader? This is not hair splitting philosophy. We have a president who has destroyed the economy destroyed the ability of government to provide basic services. And yet this is ascribed to genius not incompetence. He is a corrupt criminal vindictive individual and yet he is described as G-d's messenger. Please let me know the parameters of competence other than saying if he supports Israel he can do no wrong
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Adam Schiff Calls For Insider Trading Investigation into Trump Over Tariff Pause
https://time.com/7276234/trump-tariff-insider-trading-schiff/
Senator Adam Schiff on Wednesday called on Congress to investigate whether President Donald Trump engaged in insider trading or market manipulation when he abruptly paused a sweeping set of tariffs, a move that sent stock prices skyrocketing.
“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Schiff, a California Democrat, tells TIME. “Family meme coins and all the rest of it are not beyond insider trading or enriching themselves. I hope to find out soon.”
Schiff’s comments regarding a formal inquiry, which has not been previously reported, came soon after the S&P 500 surged more than 9% Wednesday afternoon after Trump announced the tariff pause. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social minutes after the market opened on Wednesday, along with the letters “DJT,” which stands for both his initials and the ticker for his media company.
Stocks Plummet as China Trade War Sinks In
Dow falls more than 1,700 points, Nasdaq sheds over 5%; White House says China tariff is 145%
Trump concedes there may be "transition problems" as markets plunge again following tariff pause
https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-tariffs-cnn-town-hall-04-10-25/index.html
President Donald Trump offered a more sober assessment of the aftermath of his decision to pause some tariffs for 90 days, while convening his Cabinet to discuss next steps.
After taking a victory lap Wednesday, the president on Thursday acknowledged some “transition problems” could be expected – comments that come as the Dow is again tumbling after a historic rally.
“A big day yesterday. There will always be transition difficulty – but in history, it was the biggest day in history, the markets. So we’re very, very happy with the way the country is running. We’re trying to get the world to treat us fairly,” Trump said in the Cabinet Room.
He continued, “We think we’re in very good shape. We think we’re doing very well. Again, there’ll be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end, it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
The president praised his Cabinet, whom he has tasked with plans on how to proceed with trade deals and negotiation with China in what is becoming an intensifying trade war with Beijing.
Wall St Sell Off Resumes As Trump Fails To Soothe Market Turmoil
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-administration-tariffs-eu-china-pause-live-updates-2057911
The Dow plunged over 4.3% points Thursday; S&P 500 fell 5%; Nasdaq dropped 5.9%.
Trump's tariff on Chinese goods now sits at a minimum of 145%, up from the 125% announced Wednesday.
The 145% rate includes an earlier 20% levy tied to fentanyl-related sanctions.
U.S. inflation cooled in March, but economists warn new tariffs could soon reverse that trend.
The U.S. dollar index sank 2%, its lowest since early October.
The EU paused retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods for 90 days, signaling a fragile easing in broader trade tensions.
Fox News Reporter Bursts MAGA Bubble: Trump ‘Capitulated’
https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-reporter-bursts-maga-bubble-trump-capitulated/
A Fox News correspondent had to pump the breaks on the network’s attempts to frame Donald Trump’s sudden 90-day pause on his sweeping tariff plan as an example of his brilliant negotiating prowess.
“Let’s be clear about what happened, who capitulated here and why,” he said on Wednesday. “I don’t want to say this because I am a patriot, I am an American, but it is the White House who capitulated, based on everything I hear and all my sources.
RFK Jr. Has Stunning Response to Cuts to Vital Public Health
https://www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-has-stunning-response-to-cuts-to-vital-public-health/
CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook asked the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday if he had personally approved the more than $11 billion proposed cuts to programs addressing mental health, infectious diseases, addiction, and childhood vaccination. Kennedy, however, alleged that he had no knowledge of them.
Bewildered GOP Had No Idea Trump Changed His Mind on Tariffs
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bewildered-gop-had-no-idea-trump-changed-his-mind-on-tariffs/
The reactions from Donald Trump’s congressional allies proved how little they knew about his decision-making process.
Republican lawmakers may be expressing their relief at Trump’s U-turn on global tariffs—but it appears that none of them knew it was coming.
Trump’s congressional allies were publicly supporting Trump’s erratic tariff decisions as recently as 15 minutes before the president announced a 90-day “pause,” reducing the higher-rate “reciprocal” tariffs to 10 percent for almost all countries, except China.
“I still don’t know what his total strategy is. We know what his goal was... I don’t know what the end game is here,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told CNN.
Trump Blinks on Tariffs, Again, for Now
The President pauses on some tariffs amid a bond rout and recession fears.
President Trump says trade wars are easy to win. Investors think otherwise, and on Wednesday Mr. Trump decided maybe investors are right. After a flight from U.S. assets and a rout in the bond market, Mr. Trump announced a pause for 90 days on the worst of his “liberation” tariffs on most countries, China excepted.
Markets celebrated with a stock-market rally on hope that perhaps Mr. Trump isn’t entirely oblivious to the damage he’s causing. The rout in dollar assets reversed, at least somewhat, and the rise in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased. It would be hard to find better evidence that markets believe the biggest threat to the world economy is Mr. Trump’s tariffs.
The bond rout was scary, with the 10-year yield hitting 4.47% at one point Wednesday, capping the steepest three-day yield climb since 2001. This was accompanied by a decline in the dollar against a basket of currencies. The fire sale on Treasurys and the dollar sent a warning about a loss of confidence in Washington. Investors are demanding higher yields to hold even safe Treasurys, which is the opposite of what usually happens in financial panics.
'Witch hunt': The global right-wing populist rallying cry threatening democracy
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-849474
This is a global movement – a slow-burning insurrection that seeks to replace the checks and balances of liberal democracy with elected autocracy.
The rule of law – meant to protect democracy from the excesses of power – is thus portrayed as a tool of tyranny. And today’s demagogues calculate that majorities will back them, ignorant of or indifferent to the possible abdication of their own basic rights.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Trump Cries Uncle on Tariff Crisis After Market Collapse
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-puts-tariffs-on-hold-amid-market-meltdown/
The freeze comes despite the president’s insistence that he would not back down.
President Donald Trump is backing down on his tariffs and putting levies on most countries on a 90-day freeze amid the global market crisis, he said Wednesday.
But after announcing the astonishing about-face, the president also said he is raising the stakes in his trade war with Bejing by ramping up China’s tariffs to a whopping 125 percent.
Trump Authorizes 90-Day Pause on Reciprocal Tariffs, Stocks Skyrocket
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-authorizes-90-day-pause-reciprocal-tariffs-stocks-skyrocket-2057589
Amid a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course by pausing most of his tariffs on U.S. trade partners for 90 days, while sharply increasing the tariff rate on Chinese imports to 125 percent.
"I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE," Trump said, after recognizing the more than 75 countries that he said have been negotiating on trade and had not retaliated against his latest increase in tariffs.
Speaking to reporters outside of the White House on Wednesday, the president said about this tariff pause, "I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know. They were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid."
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said about the tariff pause, "I hope there's a lesson learned. When you add a bunch of tariffs, you'll lose six trillion in the marketplace. When you get rid of the tariffs, guess what, it comes bounding back."
Trump Urges Calm, Says 'Great Time to Buy' As Markets Convulse Over Tariffs
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-urges-calm-says-great-time-buy-markets-convulse-over-tariffs-2057490
President Donald Trump urged calm and said it's a 'great time to buy' in Wednesday morning social media posts as markets continue to convulse over his tariffs.
The president posted on Truth Social, "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT." He also posted, "BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!"
The S&P 500 slipped 0.7 percent in midday trading Tuesday after a turbulent start to the session. The index, a key benchmark for many 401(k) retirement accounts, swung wildly in the first hour—plunging 0.5 percent at the open, surging to a 1.4 percent gain, and then tumbling back into the red, all within minutes.
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