Trump v Amazon

President Donald Trump giving Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos an earful.

President Trump is at it again.  *sigh*  His mouth is in overdrive, and his brain is in neutral.  His latest target is Amazon, the retailing behemoth.  Da Prez claims Amazon is ripping off the Treasury by not paying enough taxes, and is cheating the USPS, aka the Post Office, by not paying their fair share for shipping. I'm sure his displeasure has nothing to do with the fact that Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which has some very aggressive investigative reporters who have uncovered all sorts of Trump shenanigans.

Trump says Amazon is costing the USPS billions of dollars, financially breaking an already broke Post Office.  The only problem with that is it's not true.  No less than the Postal Regulatory Commission says the USPS makes a profit from its Amazon business, which subsidizes its other services.  In fact, as I recall, Amazon not long ago made a commitment to help keep the USPS afloat by maintaining or even increasing its business with them.  They had an ulterior motive for doing this, of course:  they didn't want to put all their eggs in only FedEx and UPS's basket. 

Now, about the state and federal government treasuries getting short changed.  Umm, President Trump, would you please show us YOUR taxes?  Have you not taken advantage of all the tax breaks YOU were legally allowed?  Of course you have, but somehow it's not OK if Amazon does the same?  

The truth is, Amazon pays state sales taxes on products they sell in those states where they have an actual physical presence.  In other words, if they have, for example, a warehouse or "Fulfillment Center" in a state, they pay that state sales taxes on everything they sell there.  But if you'll pay attention to Amazon's website you'll see that some of the things you can buy there are actually shipped from independent cooperating retailers, and THEY don't pay state sales taxes if THEY don't have a physical presence in the state they're shipping to.  While it does sound like an end run, it's legal.  Don't like the law?  Take a number....our tax code is hopelessly rigged.  And don't look to congress for a remedy.  They're the rig-ers.

If President Trump wants to pick on Amazon, why doesn't he point out all the local businesses they have helped close down over the years?  Why is Amazon allowed to keep buying up other businesses, like Zappos and Whole Foods, hastening its eventual stranglehold on American consumers?  "Economy of scale" is a double edged sword.  Bigger is definitely better....if you're big.  But if you're a small business, not so much.  It seems to me consumers are just unwitting pawns in their "bigger" game. 

S

Is "covfefe" President Trump's vision for America?

Strategy is an overall, general plan to get us from where we are to where we want to be.  Tactics are the specific zigs and zags and actions needed in order to get there.

Leaders have goals that (often) come to fruition after strategies and tactics are developed and executed.  Lincoln preserved the Union, FDR (and allies) defeated Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Reagan saw the US prevail over the USSR, etc.  Can someone please tell me what President Trump's goals are?  Where does he see America's place in the world?  Does he have a strategy to get us there?

During his campaign he said he wanted to repeal/replace ObamaCare.  It appears doubtful that he can pull that off.  He promised a big tax cut.  To do that he needed to slash spending (which meant a new, cheaper healthcare plan), but his proposed budget cuts will likely hurt too many constituencies to get through Congress.  

He promised more jobs, saying those would come when his (now DOA) tax cuts spurred the economy.  All of his announced goals seem to be interdependent, and so far none of the pieces have fallen into place.  This while his party controls both houses of Congress.  That may not last much longer.

Internationally, President Trump seems to have some sort of fascination with Russia, while our closest traditional allies are circling their wagons in response to Russia's increased aggressiveness.  He seems to have something he wants to convey to the Russians, as evidenced by his Attorney General, his son-in-law, and his disgraced National Security Adviser all making clandestine contacts.  For some reason he doesn't want our own intelligence agencies to know what it is he wants to convey, yet wants to use encrypted Russian communications sources to convey it, which are completely compromised.  What gives?  What is his end game?

President Trump has publicly chastised many NATO members for not contributing more.  While that case can be made, there are discrete diplomatic channels that could have been used to make his argument.  Now, feeling humiliated, our NATO allies are taking one step back from us.  Germany's Angela Merkel has gone so far as to say Europe can't depend on us like they once could, and France's President Macron has said he won't obediently fall in line, either.  And now it looks like President Trump will pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, joining Nicaragua and Syria as the only other environmental pariah.  How can we be leaders if we're increasingly self-isolating ourselves?

It seems like President Trump has metaphorically done little more than bounce little steel balls around inside a pinball machine, hoping something good will happen.  So far all he has to show for it is a big TILT!  How long can this go on?  Show us his vision and a strategy to "Make America Great Again".  If he has one, it's incoherent.

S

Poor guy can't buy a break. Well, on second thought, maybe he can.

Noooooooo!

President Donnie John Trump is now interviewing for a new FBI Director after he canned previous Top Cop James Comey earlier this week.  Many sources say Texas Senator John Cornyn is the front runner for the position.

So let's see....Sen. Cornyn is tall, well groomed, distinguished looking, very white....and tall, and.....umm....is not currently under indictment.  That pretty much sums him up.  But he's also NOT just your average, run-of-the-mill Senator.  He's the (Republican) Senate Majority Whip, second-in-command only to Mitch McConnell, which by definition means he's HIGHLY PARTISAN.  Mitch says "jump", Cornie says "how high?"  He loyally does what he's told.  That's how you get to an upper leadership position in either party.

Didn't The Donald supposedly ask James Comey for his loyalty over dinner one evening, and when Comey sidestepped the question, was shortly thereafter fired?  We know in his business dealings President Trump put a high premium on loyalty, which isn't an unreasonable thing to expect in a business setting.  But an FBI Director should show allegiance to the Constitution, not to the POTUS or any other individual.  

 

 Right now President Trump really, REALLY needs an FBI Director who will reign in the police dogs who are hot after him.

Having watched my state's Senator in action for some time now, I'm thinking Mr. Cornyn just might be the whore "yes-man" Team Trump wants to have on their speed dial.

We (The People), however, deserve better.  We deserve an FBI Director who is a seasoned federal prosecutor, a high-level law enforcement officer, or an experienced intelligence guy, someone not in the gravity field of either political party.  Is this asking too much?  Please, no more contaminated political hacks.

S

Dirty Harry lives!

How Donald Trump would like for us to see him

So far in his Presidency Donald Trump is batting 0.000.  By historical standards his first 70-something days have been a bust.  That might all change soon.  Donnie John lambasted Barack Obama for NOT doing anything to punish Syrian strongman Bashar al Assad after he said using chemical weapons would cross his "red line".  Assad did, and O'bama did nothing.

Until recently the US stated position on Syria was that Assad must leave office.  Last week, however, Sec State Tillerson said, no doubt with Prez Trump's approval, that the people of Syria would decide Assad's fate.  Read:  we're staying out of it.  And as no one should be surprised to learn, Assad heard this and felt emboldened to do whatever he wanted.  He chose to hammer some of his people with Sarin gas as a lesson to all those who opposed him....and the world, including Donald Trump, was repulsed.

Today Prez Trump said Assad crossed a red line when he killed innocents yesterday.  What?  Did...did Donnie John just say "red line"?  Whoa!  Let's review:  He's under assault at home.  The legislative agenda he ran and won on has so far struck out.  The wolves are nipping at his heels.  This crisis in Syria is a chance for him to break out and actually do something, and IMO he's just the Gambler to roll the dice.  I think he'll do something militarily.  I think he'll gas up the jets and send them on their way.  

Will it work?  

My extensive military background (zero) says on a micro level, yes.  Yes, we can spank Assad any time we want.  It will risk killing some Russians who are in Syria to prop up Assad, but Russia simply doesn't have the capability, short of all-out nuclear war, to do anything, and they aren't crazy enough to start WWIII over the little Turd al Assad.  Russia's power is greatly overblown at this time....they can talk the talk, but they aren't yet ready to walk the walk.  With the first Tomahawk impact, Assad will likely experience his first of many changes of underwear.  But on a macro level....

HOLD THE PRESSES:  The news just reported (8:20 PM) that the US has launched 50 cruise missiles at Syria.  I guess my point/post is now moot.

Over the next few days and weeks President Trump will be proven either a hero or a goat.  Interesting times.  Stay tuned.

S

Let's put some lipstick on this pig....

For years now we've heard about how our enemies were eating the USA alive via cyber-warfare.  They (N Korea, China, Iran, Russia, Russia, Russia) have been relentless in getting into every nook and cranny where we might hide our intellectual jewels.  They long ago mastered corporate espionage, stealing plans for everything we design and make.  And now they've hacked into our CIA, revealing our most sensitive national security secrets.  They say the most recent WikiLeaks information dump dwarfs anything Edward Snowden ever thought about handing over to the bad guys.

Throughout all this I've wondered, "So what are WE doing to THEM?  Surely we're not gonna just sit still while they bend us over?  Please tell me our nerds are better than their nerds."

Our nerds are better than their nerds.  

Our nerds long ago figured out how to hack into every TV, tablet, cell phone, hearing aid, picture frame, Viagra bottle, and toaster in the world.  Our spooks can listen in on every two-bit terrorist in the sandbox as he whispers sweet nothings into his camel's ear.  The night shift at CIA HQ probably makes prank phone calls to the Kremlin and makes it look like it's coming from Kim Jong Fatty Fat Fat's little pink princess phone on his nightstand.  Yes, we're THAT good!

Now the bad guys have figured out how to get into our secret stuff.  Scary, but at least I now know we have nerds that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, anywhere, anytime.   Game on!  More lipstick?

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The Republican's new health care plan, whatever they care to call it, has already crashed and burned.  They're just putting on a show to make it look like they're at least trying.  Besides Speaker Ryan and Donnie John Trump, virtually no one else wants to be seen anywhere near it.

The Tea Party says it doesn't cut deep enough, that there are still too many poor swine getting gubment freebees.  The Liberals say they aren't about to turn poor people away from getting life-saving healthcare they otherwise can't afford.  Libertarians say "no" to any further "entitlements".  The American  Medical Association and various hospital groups are against it because they say poor people will lose their insurance and will all show up in emergency rooms again demanding to be seen for free.  The Old Folks...er...AARP says its members can't afford premiums 5-times as expensive as the younguns, on and on.

The only ones who like it are the US Chamber of Commerce, because their members will save a buttload, and those making over $200,000 a year who will save an even bigger buttload.

Even lipstick isn't going to sell this wagon load of shit manure.

D....O....A

S

That's right you a-holes...DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!

No, wait....that was the movie Animal House.  Yesterday's big news was from the WHITE House.

It seems that yesterday Prez Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn got ahold of a microphone and said that Iran's recent ballistic missile test violated our nuclear agreement of last year, and that we were putting them ON NOTICE!

Fear and panic in Tehran!

Ummm....what exactly does "on notice" mean, anyway?  Is that like when the big kid on the playground backs a little kid into a corner demanding his lunch money, or more like when the Allied powers in WWII told Adolf Hitler they were going to kick his ass?  Big difference!

Kinda makes you wonder....well, me at least....if this was just another of President Donald Trump's knee jerk reactions to something he didn't like.  I would hope that if he approved of putting someone "on notice" he would have thought it through carefully, discussed it with the Defense Dept, State Dept, the CIA (if they'll take his call), our allies (if we have any left), etc, and put together a realistic, tiered plan of action.

Then he should have sent word via diplomatic channels to the Iranians, explaining that we expect them to abide by all the terms of our agreement, no exceptions, and lay out what will happen if they don't.  But that doesn't appear to be what happened.  The Iranians light off a missile one day, and Trump sent Flynn in front of a hot mic the next to threaten them.  

I'm no diplomat or military guy, but I have to wonder if either State or Defense can put together a detailed plan of action like that in just one day?  I agree that we need to call the Iranian's hand on this treaty violation, but there's a right way and a wrong way to do it.  He can still pursue his agenda without leaving a trail of wreckage behind.

America's new Fire Chief...er...Secretary of State (as of last night) Rex Tillerson, has his hands full delivering flowers to many of our decades-long allies who his Arsonist-In-Chief boss has already torched in just his first two weeks in office.  IMO the Republican Party needs to assign a minder to make sure President Trump takes his daily meds.
  

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And how about those buffoons in Congress?

2016....Senate Democrats are outraged....OUTRAGED!....when Republicans won't vote and confirm President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court.  "Republicans are despicable scum!"

2017....Senate Republicans are outraged....OUTRAGED!....when Democrats threaten to sabotage President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court.  "Democrats are despicable scum!"

How can they, Democrats and Republicans alike, look us in the eye and lie like they do?  If we look up, that thing we're seeing is the underside of the bus both parties have thrown us under.

S

LATE EDIT:  Could "On Notice" be Prez Trump's green light code for the Israeli's to go get 'em?  Heehee....hold my beer!

Ever hear of the "chicken tax"?

Back in the late 1950's US agriculture figured they could package frozen chicken and sell it in Europe, which was finally recovering from WWII.  European-raised chicken was expensive, more than most people could afford, but the imported American frozen chicken was affordable and sold very well.  Too well according to German chicken farmers, who asked their government for a tariff on imported American chicken in order to protect themselves.

The US said, whoa, whoa....not so fast.  This was back when Volkswagen's first began pouring into the US.  In fact they became cult cars....everyone wanted a beetle, or the even more oddball VW bus.  Seeing they were on a roll (pardon the pun) VW decided to chop the back off a VW bus and put a pickup truck bed there instead....home-run, right?

To retaliate for Germany's tariff on American chicken, the US imposed a 25% tariff on foreign-made trucks sold here.  This became known as the "chicken tax" and it exists to this day.  Tit for tat, that's invariably the way tariffs work out.  This shut down VW pickup sales instantly....with a 25% tariff they were then waaay too expensive. We lost chickens sales, they lost truck sales.  Lose-lose.

Fast forward half a century and it looks like the US is threatening a similar trade war with Mexico.  

"Pay for 'The Wall' or we'll tax your stuff being imported into the US by 35%."  

"No, wait, make that 20%."  

"Hold on, we're still doing the math....we'll get back to you...."

For the record, we sell several hundred BILLION dollars worth of "stuff" to Mexico every year, much of it components that are incorporated into the products they sell back to us.  In other words, if we put a tariff on their stuff, we're also killing the demand for (some of) the products they're buying from us.  This is simple Economics 101.

The Mexicans won't even have to pass a retaliatory tariff on American products because we'll already be shooting ourselves in the foot.  By putting a punitive tax on Mexican goods, we'll be costing AMERICAN jobs, too.  DUH!

All this for a border wall?  Have you ever heard of a wall that can't be climbed over or tunneled under?*  A wall might work in Israel because they have a soldier every 50 feet (slightly exaggerated) to watch their wall.   (Maybe we should just contract our southern border security to Israel?)  

We need to de-couple "The Wall" from NAFTA, and then respectfully renegotiate NAFTA.  Come on Prez Donnie John Trump.  Slow down and THINK.

S

*  Where there's a will, there's a way:  Foreign auto makers finally figured out a way around the chicken tax.  Ford/England, Mercedes, and others began shipping truck assemblies (complete cabs, beds, etc) to the US, then simply bolting them together in a US warehouse.  

Mercedes sent "passenger" vans here, then took out the seats, put in solid panels to replace the side/rear glass, and then sold them here as cargo trucks/vans, minus the tariff.  The removed seats were then sent back to Germany to be re-installed in the next batch of "passenger" vans being sent here, over and over. 

The End Is Near! Or not.

Our long awaited presidential election is finally over.  I've heard all the gloating from the winning side, and the moaning from the losing side.  Here's my pragmatic take on where we are and where we might be going:

Some seem to be holding out hope that enough of the Electoral College electors will at the last minute change their vote from Trump to Clinton to enable her to be declared the winner.  Technically possible?  Sure, and tonight's winning lottery numbers will be....

Protesting is fine.  It's a way to show those in power that all the people matter, and that even the losing side must somehow be accommodated, too.  But violence is stupid.  It just makes the protesters look like a bunch of kooks.  Lets stay away from that, OK?

I'm personally very concerned when one party controls the House AND the Senate AND the White House.  IMO neither party should ever be given that much power.  Our Founding Fathers envisioned "checks and balances", but this current monopoly of power gives us neither.  Those among us who can still think straight should hope the Democrats gain control of one house of Congress in the midterm elections in 2018.

I've heard it said many times that the job (the office of President) shapes the man, meaning that once taking office and the new President sees what all the job entails, he will put away his rose colored glasses and deal with reality.  Trump once famously said that he knew all about ISIS, more than the generals even, and that he would "bomb the hell out of them".  (ISIS, not the generals *snort*)  Now that he's getting intelligence briefings and sees what is really going on in the world, and learns all about the ramifications of even a tiny misstep, I'm hopeful he'll choose his words and actions more carefully.

I believe it was in his party acceptance speech that he said something conciliatory about the LGBT community.  He received a polite response from the delegates, for which he thanked them.  I don't think he has intentions to pull their rug out from under them.

He's going to build a wall.  Right, and I'm going to be an astronaut.  Increased border security, sure, which isn't a bad thing, but the expense and logistics and material/manpower issues that would be required to build his wall are just beyond reach at this time.

He's going to have an undocumented alien roundup and send them all home.  Who's going to do the rounding up?  Where are we going to hold them awaiting their deportation?  Do they get their day in court?  Do they get a court appointed attorney?  Will there be any lawsuits/injunctions to stop him?  How long will all that take to clear the courts?  Always remember the old saying, "The wheels of Justice turn slowly".  Some sort of compromise will have to be worked out involving registration, work permits, etc.  Again, the job will shape the man.

Trump said just yesterday that he might keep parts of Obamacare.  I think he's already figured out that literally declaring it null and void can come back to bite him in the butt.  To do that would send our entire health delivery system into turmoil.  He might see to it that it's heavily amended, which it desperately needs, and to save face he might declare the new improved plan Trumpcare, but who really cares?  (The people already know it was President Obama who started the health care reform ball rolling.)  The important thing is the people will have access to the care they need.

On and on....he'll soon realize that words, and actions, have consequences.  Consequences that he really won't want to deal with.

S 

Our runaway freight train

I just heard on the news that President-elect Trump will need to hire 4,000 new people to staff his administration so he can "hit the ground running" on January 20.  This is normal.  All presidents hire their own people for key positions.  Obama did it, George W did it, Bill Clinton did it, on and on.

But here's the problem:  They're just putting their people at the helm of already dysfunctional departments of government.  For as long as I can remember candidates have promised to "fix" the government, then get to Washington and appoint their people, who proudly put their names on the doors....but then little of substance ever changes.

The departments are so vast they just chug along on their own inertia.  It's like a 2-mile-long freight train.  It's hard to make it go faster, it's hard to stop it, and it's impossible to steer it.  Every new president just puts his engineer up front to monitor the same old gauges.

Consider this....by almost any measure the Department of Veterans Affairs is broken.  It exists to extend benefits, primarily health, disability, and education benefits, to our former service men and women.  There have been complaints about the long wait times and often poor care at VA hospitals since I was a little boy, and any correspondence with them for anything often takes weeks or even months.

The current Sec of Veterans Affairs, Robert McDonald, is the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble.  His predecessors were Eric Shinseki, James Peace, and Jim Nicholson, all retired military officers, and Anthony Principi, a government lawyer.  Four of the five no doubt think like bureaucrats. And by definition the career civil servants over each sub-segment of the VA are also bureaucrats.  Is it any wonder they can't fix it?

Can anyone think outside the box?  Could we break up this massive department into smaller groups of specific disciplines, then put recognized experts in those disciplines in charge?  No more career bureaucrats, no more political cronies.  A lawyer shouldn't run a medical school, and an engineer shouldn't run a museum, right?

"Fix" does not mean just re-shuffle the same old worn deck.

S