Posted on 03/15/2016 3:17:52 AM PDT by CutePuppy
In many ways, Donald Trump's political talking points are Orwellian at best. His constant insistence that the U.S. is not "winning" is being repeated with such pneumatic regularity that voters believe it. Or if they don't yet, they may soon.
Whether we are getting killed on trade or being flooded with illegal immigrants, Donald Trump has been making arguments that were, in part, true thirty years ago, but most certainly not today.
The "INGSOC" slogans in Orwell's epic dystopian novel, "1984":
Would fit nicely among Trump's litany of incongruous phrases:
Trump's "truths" are easy to debunk.
For starters, the U.S has the largest economy in the world, 50 percent bigger than China's in nominal terms, roughly equal to that of a combined Europe and considerably larger than Japan's.
U.S. per capita income is roughly $50,000, or 10 times that of China, while our debt-to-GDP ratio is considerably smaller than those of China, Japan and many other developed nations. ..... < snip >
..... U.S. exports have hovered near record levels, a fact that few bother to point out to Mr. Trump. ..... < snip >
..... As for overall trade, which by the way, represents 23 percent of economic activity in the U.S., America's position is getting stronger every day.
..... the U.S. current account deficit with other nations, the broadest measure of trade, is at its lowest levels in decades, only 2.2 percent of GDP. ..... < snip >
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
This article twists the truth and tries to play clever word games. Our trade position improved slightly thanks to cheap oil and a weak dollar
Trade deals have not been favorable to the US for decades. We have indeed given away value in those deals
Trump is NOT big brother the DC political class is
“The U.S. Doesn’t Win Anymore.” See Iran Deal
“China and Japan are killing us on trade.”
Canada - $575.5 billion traded with a $2.2 billion deficit.
China - $598.1 billion traded with a $29.7 billion deficit.
Mexico - $531.1 billion with a $4.6 billion deficit.
Japan - $193.6 billion traded with a $6.6 billion deficit.
Germany $174.1 billion traded with a $6.7 billion deficit.
“Illegal Immigrants are pouring over the border.” ICE Agents: Obama Won’t Let Us Arrest Illegals
Nuff Said???
I take any Legal tax break I can, don’t you?
We are indeed still the largest economy, because of our past which we are still living off of, but we are now consumers and debtors.
Maybe you should think a little more before you post.
We don't. We have about $30B trade deficit with China and we have less than $10B trade deficit with a few other trading partners. How come? Simple - we buy more goods from them than we sell to them. Just like you are running a "trade deficit" with grocery stores, Amazon, phone or cable company, Uber, etc. You want to declare a trade war on them? Good luck and let us know how it works out.
Could it be that their leaders are smarter than ours ?
Could be, or may be not. If you look at their stimulus program (and the resulting GDP deficits, with ghost towns and busted shadow banking) - it was 4 times as large relative to the size of Chinese GDP than Obama's "shovel-ready" stimulus. It is covered in the article, did you read it? And in any case, in relatively free trade, this has nothing to do with the "leaders" — it's supply and demand between companies and consumers of each country. See, for example China's $500 billion mobile shopping mania and China's property market overheats in tier 1 cities, stagnates in lower tiers...
And overall trade deficit is getting smaller as percentage of GDP, as article noted. U.S. economy suffers not from [relatively] free trade, but from idiotic tax code and high rates and suffocating regulations, but Republicans are pretty much on the record to lower rates and reduce the regulations chokehold, while reducing the budget growth and budget deficits.
What about cost of living?
What about it? We have been importing disinflation (mostly from China but also from other Asian and East European countries) for a while, so the cost of living should have been lower than would be otherwise. Currently, robotics and workplace automation and mechanisation will be having similar effect. Also, free trade is exceptionally good at busting the unions, which also lowers the cost of living.
Hey Insana, if that is your real name
Ron Insana's real name is Ronald G. Insana.
The fact is the U.S. is a debtor nation and produces nothing.
Most nations are debtor nations, some have more debt to GDP than the U.S. (e.g., France and Japan), though under the "able" leadership of Obama, U.S. racked up a lot of debt without any benefit to the economy. What does it have to do with Trump, whose cut-and-paste "economic plan" will significantly increase the budget and the deficit?
Manufacturing / Industrial sector in the U.S. comprises 19%, Service sector is 80%, Agticulture is 1%. Taken alone, manufacturing in the United States would be the ninth-largest economy in the world. I don't think that's "producing nothing" but with a better tax code and relaxed regulations there would be less incentive to outsource some manufacturing. BTW, China is fast becoming expensive for off-shore outsourcers, with Vietnam being the main beneficiary for relocation and several other Southeast Asian countries not far behind.
Trump says we have a trade deficit with China...
What Ron Insana really said: It is true that we run trade deficits with several other countries, but as a percentage of GDP, the U.S. current account deficit with other nations, the broadest measure of trade, is at its lowest levels in decades, only 2.2 percent of GDP.
Trump says that our military doesn't win anymore...
That's an issue of civilian leadership / CiC, and willingness to engage the right enemy (Iraq! Afghanistan!), not of military strength.
What Ron Insana really said: The U.S. is also winning militarily, but that's a separate argument. Suffice to say the U.S. spends more on defense than the next 8 countries combined. Can those dollars be better and more effectively spent? Sure. But no military on earth is as strong as our own.
Trump says illegals are pouring across the border...
What Ron Insana really said: On immigration, more illegal immigrants, Mexicans to be specific, have departed the country in the last five years than have entered. The greatest numbers of new immigrants are Asian and Indian, not Hispanic.
One tidbit of info I discovered is,"He was Managing Director of Insana Capital Partners from inception to collapse." And he wants to tell me what's wrong with Donald Trump.
I have a suspicion why it collapsed...
Actually if you'd look a little deeper than the word "collapse" in Wikipedia (which meant "financial collapse" / "credit crunch" / "liquidity crisis" rather than the collapse of his company) you would know that he closed his fund because he — as well as thousands of small fund managers — couldn't raise the money to make running the fund worthwhile for him and his investors. People who invested with Insana Capital Partners actually significantly outperformed the S&P (loss of 5% after fees and expenses, compared to loss of 15% for S&P index at the time of fund's closure) — which was no small feat in 2008, so it was a very decent thing to do for investors. See Running a Hedge Fund Is Harder Than It Looks on TV - NYT, by Andrew Ross Sorkin, 2008 August 18.
That compares quite favourably to Trump, who left a trail of bankruptcies and defaults in just about any Trump-branded business, while siphoning money from these businesses at the expense of investors. "Invest in Trump" and "In Trump we trust" has only been good for Trump himself and Trump Organization (which is a branding, marketing and name licensing company, not REIT / real estate building company). Not surprising for anyone who watched Trump's business activities and court shenanigans for many years. "Art of the Deal" means Trump wins, investors and creditors lose.
In Ego, Obama and Trump Are Two Of A Kind - FR, post #275, 2015 October 25
Trump declared bankruptcy four times, leaving his gullible creditors on the hook for his debts. - FR, post #44, 2015 September 21 (several supporting links included)
What planet is this clown from? Thirty years ago Reagan had pulled us back from the Carter brink and we had prosperity for the next 15 years.
I think that if you read the article you'll find out that's what "this clown" is saying. How is Trump's position on the Obama's handling of the economy is different from other Republicans?
Here is what obama gets wrong: everything - where have you been the past 7 years?!?
What does this have to do with the article or Trump? Or do you conclude that because Obama "gets everything wrong" then it means that Trump "gets everything right" and Trump is the only one who "gets it"? Trump and Obama do agree on many issues, including 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, so I guess it means that Trump is not always right? They are both wrong, of course.
Do Americans agree with the Chinese who consider living in interesting times a curse?
Well, I guess it depends on how "interesting" the times are... And it's the Year of the Red/Fire Monkey. 1908 (R), 1920 (R), 1932 (D), 1944 (D), 1956 (R), 1968 (R), 1980 (R), 1992 (D), 2004 (R), 2016 (?)
Looks like CutePuppy (since 2006) is a Manchurian Freeper. A drive by post.
You mean by this that I don't spend all my spare time (whenever such luxury exists) posting on FR? Let's see how the real "Manchurian" might sound like:
Or so you mean that if anyone posts a news article or editorial that may be critical of Trump and his say-one=thing-today-another-one-tomorrow is promptly moved into the Cheese-Moose-Sister topic that he is "Manchurian"?
I take any Legal tax break I can, don't you?
No, not any. But then again, I don't have an army of tax lawyers.
Why are you wasting my time with your spam?
“What Ron Insana really said: On immigration, more illegal immigrants, Mexicans to be specific, have departed the country in the last five years than have entered. The greatest numbers of new immigrants are Asian and Indian, not Hispanic.”
How good of you to repeat cooked numbers from the DiC
Your arguments play better at DU
What it has to do with Trump is his ending the bad trade deals that constantly are made for the benefit of the world and not the U.S.
Manufacturing / Industrial sector in the U.S. comprises 19%, Service sector is 80%, Agticulture is 1%. Taken alone, manufacturing in the United States would be the ninth-largest economy in the world. I don't think that's "producing nothing" but with a better tax code and relaxed regulations there would be less incentive to outsource some manufacturing. BTW, China is fast becoming expensive for off-shore outsourcers, with Vietnam being the main beneficiary for relocation and several other Southeast Asian countries not far behind.
19% is pathetic!
Yes, improving U.S. regulations and tax code would help as would not letting the U.S. get fleeced in phony free trade deals!
1. You are again confusing trade and trade deficit with one or more countries, with a budget deficit, which is the government spending in excess of government revenue (which results in increasing national debt and which Trump's "economic plan" is going to put on steroids) - they have nothing in common. For example, Japan has trade surplus with the U.S., yet it's debt to GDP is nearly 3 times bigger than U.S.
2. If you think that trade wars or even the threat of them are going to help U.S. economy, or reduce budget deficits, you have little understanding of the basic economic principles or the economic history. I'd recommend excellent book or DVD (4-hours edition) "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson and almost anything by John Steele Gordon.
The issue in these 'free trade deals' is the erosion of U.S. sovereignty.
And this isn't about 'trade wars' it is about ending globalism.
For the last 5 years? I'd like to know the source of that statistic, and some of the other statements you've made. Also, he closed his doors on the eve of the financial collapse, not well into it. Indeed, he was one of the first to tank while other investment banking houses were still in the black.
Seriously? If you want to attack the author, just because you can't dismiss the facts, at least make your assertions and timelines half-way plausible.
1. Insana closed the fund in mid-August of 2008, way past the collapse and forced selling of CountryWide Financial to BoA (January 2008), Bear Stearns to JP Morgan (March 2008), FDIC takeover of IndiMac (now OneWest, part of CIT Group, July 2008) and just a month before collapse of Lehman Brothers (September 2008), forced selling of giant financial institutions like Merrill Lynch to BoA, Wachovia to Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual to JP Morgan etc. - anybody who was watching the markets and the economy since late 2007 knew we were in the middle of the financial collapse.
2. What part of losing 5% when S&P lost 15%, and "liquidity crisis" where nobody could raise additional capital don't you understand?
3. investment banking houses are not hedge funds - article makes the distinction very clear. And could you tell me how many "other" hedge funds or financial institutions (except the very few who were selling short the mortgage-backed securities [MBS] and collateral debt obligations [CDO] via credit default swaps [CDS], like John Paulson, Jeff Greene et al) were "in the black" at the time?
4. So, Insana, the guy who protected his investors from incurring major losses, has less credibility with you than a brand-making celebrity who borrowed $2 billion for various failing enterprises, skimmed hundreds of millions for himself while loading the debt onto gullible >>"Invest in Trump" public and then leaving them broke, while still bragging about his "brand"? The guy who brags about being "charitable" because he "donated" for fat tax breaks some land that he could not develop otherwise, despite years spent fighting it in courts? The guy who wasn't in any shape or form a Republican few years / months ago and was giving donations to liberal politicians and groups (but just like Bloomberg ran for NY mayor on (R) ticket he understands the Stupid Party is a much easier entry point, if you dazzle them with "business success" - BTW, Bloomberg's success is at least legitimate and self-made, not inherited or scammed through shady deals and Wall Street's debt and public market, not that I would vote for him)? The guy who sues or threatens everyone who has temerity to tell the truth about him (imagine him in charge of DOJ)? I could go on and on, but here's his own words on his "successes" - Ivanka: My Dad's Feud With Megyn Kelly Was 'Sensationalized - FR, post #24, 2015 October 15:
Please read again the links I provided, it will help clear the confusion.
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