I'm baffled that I don't see many challenges to the emergencies declared that these executive orders stand on, given how preposterous things such as "Imposing Duties To Address the Flow of Illicit...
I'm baffled that I don't see many challenges to the emergencies declared that these executive orders stand on, given how preposterous things such as "Imposing Duties To Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border" are. I know California challenged this one based on the legality of using that act to impose tariffs, but why are there no challenges to the scope and validity of the emergency itself? I feel like I need to say this every week; the government of the United States is supposed to be structured such that there is a balance of powers where congress has "power of the purse" to limit the executive branch, and this clearly is not the case when the executive branch can wreak economic havoc this quickly.
Team loyalty is a hell of a drug. Pressure for Republicans in Congress to stand up will have to come from the base and independent voters before anything will be done by the red majority on...
Team loyalty is a hell of a drug. Pressure for Republicans in Congress to stand up will have to come from the base and independent voters before anything will be done by the red majority on Capitol Hill.
Over the next year, tariff driven inflation, Medicaid cuts, bad optics from extreme immigration enforcement, the lurking Epstein files are all baked into the mix politically.
We already have Town Hall meetings with voters screaming at Republicans because of the big beautiful budget bill.
Most people are not politically aware but they know their grocery bill and their health care costs.
To misquote John Carmack, the justification for the "emergency" is like the story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but its not that important.
To misquote John Carmack, the justification for the "emergency" is like the story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but its not that important.
The general public is going to be pissed about this. Frankly, I'm happy to see it. Online shopping volume is terrible for the environment and such a massive contributor to waste and personal debt....
The general public is going to be pissed about this. Frankly, I'm happy to see it. Online shopping volume is terrible for the environment and such a massive contributor to waste and personal debt.
I might go as far as to say "wake up, sheeple" lol. This is the government you elected.
It will be an annoyance to the people who haven't learned from the dozen other times they've bashed their own head against a wall. It will be the end of hobbies and small businesses for many...
It will be an annoyance to the people who haven't learned from the dozen other times they've bashed their own head against a wall.
It will be the end of hobbies and small businesses for many people who would never have voted Republican. Any sort of maker community is entirely fucked.
Electronic components? Those haven't been something you could source from the US since the 70s, and they're so basic and cheap they're basically not worth importing without de minimis.
3D printing? Forget it.
Sewing related things? Cloth mostly comes from Vietnam or Cambodia.
And that's to say nothing of all of the industries that import materials for things in small batches and make things to order. Temu or whatever is an absolutely minuscule part of everything this change will blow up, and it will have nasty economic effects and further harm the mental health of people who already hate republicans.
It absolutely sucks, but I'd ask any and all of my hobbyist friends how seriously they take their democracy and what amount of their free time they spend as a citizen. Normal people rely on the...
It absolutely sucks, but I'd ask any and all of my hobbyist friends how seriously they take their democracy and what amount of their free time they spend as a citizen.
Normal people rely on the gears of society to function so that they can have hobbies, and personally, I think it's long overdue that most of us make contributing to our communities a proper pastime.
If that means that we take a break from imported wool, collecting single board computer handheld games or kitting out our home theatre, then so be it.
Sweet - I don't think it's an either or conversation. Why not contribute to that community and volunteer for local elections. I'd hazard the guess that most people are doing the former and not the...
Sweet - I don't think it's an either or conversation.
Why not contribute to that community and volunteer for local elections.
I'd hazard the guess that most people are doing the former and not the latter.
Suppose someone is already politically informed active, and is overall overwhelmed and tired of where things are going, while the avenues that should make a difference are stonewalled by people...
Suppose someone is already politically informed active, and is overall overwhelmed and tired of where things are going, while the avenues that should make a difference are stonewalled by people who ignore and dismantle them. Your proposal is to...celebrate taking away things that make existence bearable to them, and harm to the economy that will make their life even harder, because you feel entitled to even more from them?
That's a lot of people right now, and this sort of mentality is doing them active harm.
Not really. I'm not celebrating the predicament we're all in - it's not good for anyone. That said, it's an opportunity for everybody to focus on what they can do for their community and their...
Not really. I'm not celebrating the predicament we're all in - it's not good for anyone. That said, it's an opportunity for everybody to focus on what they can do for their community and their country.
I suppose that some people are politically active and informed, and while that's great for the small percentage that are, it's not even what I'm talking about. I'm saying that people need to spend their time helping others. Volunteering.
That may be along the lines of what you meant, but to me, politically active means cause specific activism and supporting (whether by keyboard,on the street or through organizations) movements that they care about. More soup kitchens, more community associations. Help people get their basic needs met first.
By and large, people with jobs, kids and hobbies don't do this work. Broadly, getting people to spend their time on these tasks is like pulling teeth, and this level of civic apathy has been increasing for generations.
There's a crisis of loneliness, neighbors across North America who've never met each other, low voter turnout and an identity crisis about how to get out of this partisan mess. This is a silver lining opportunity to put down the hobbies, branch out from hyper-specific Discords and connect with the people around us for a greater purpose.
I'd say that's something worth looking forward to.
Gonna have to disagree with you pretty hard here. People with kids and jobs use hobbies as a small reprieve from the pile of shit that is day to day life. Losing one of the few vices that people...
Gonna have to disagree with you pretty hard here. People with kids and jobs use hobbies as a small reprieve from the pile of shit that is day to day life.
Losing one of the few vices that people with kids and jobs have, and telling them "good, now you have time to spend more time fighting your friends and family" is a weird stance.
Not suggesting otherwise. Everybody should and will have hobbies no matter the tariff situation, but what they may not have is loads of underpriced stuff being delivered to their front doors. On...
Not suggesting otherwise. Everybody should and will have hobbies no matter the tariff situation, but what they may not have is loads of underpriced stuff being delivered to their front doors.
On that front, focusing your hobbies around your community isn't a net negative. I'm not suggesting that everyone give up their lives to work full-time in a soup kitchen at night, what I'm saying is that we have too much stuff and cheap access to stuff that it's neutering our desire and interest in contributing to our local communities.
This would only affect D2C sales from overseas. For things like electronics components, or 3D printing plastic, if you were buying them from, say, Amazon, they were already paying import taxes,...
This would only affect D2C sales from overseas. For things like electronics components, or 3D printing plastic, if you were buying them from, say, Amazon, they were already paying import taxes, since if they were imported to a warehouse they weren't applicable for de minimis anyway. Things like cloth are not really going to be affected unless you were buying small batches of rare fabric directly from a manufacturer.
What it'd harm more is overseas makers who sell to consumers in the US directly.
Trump can't afford to bleed a large number of followers unless he somehow achieves military dictatorship or successfully hacks the election. His margins were small to begin with. Every time one of...
Trump can't afford to bleed a large number of followers unless he somehow achieves military dictatorship or successfully hacks the election.
His margins were small to begin with. Every time one of his policies angers a subset of the voting public it makes me very happy and slightly more hopeful.
That is an enigmatic statement. Edit Regardless of whether Trump can be elected again, his popularity will effect races for Congress in less than two years.
That is an enigmatic statement.
Edit
Regardless of whether Trump can be elected again, his popularity will effect races for Congress in less than two years.
I'm baffled that I don't see many challenges to the emergencies declared that these executive orders stand on, given how preposterous things such as "Imposing Duties To Address the Flow of Illicit Drugs Across Our Northern Border" are. I know California challenged this one based on the legality of using that act to impose tariffs, but why are there no challenges to the scope and validity of the emergency itself? I feel like I need to say this every week; the government of the United States is supposed to be structured such that there is a balance of powers where congress has "power of the purse" to limit the executive branch, and this clearly is not the case when the executive branch can wreak economic havoc this quickly.
Team loyalty is a hell of a drug. Pressure for Republicans in Congress to stand up will have to come from the base and independent voters before anything will be done by the red majority on Capitol Hill.
Over the next year, tariff driven inflation, Medicaid cuts, bad optics from extreme immigration enforcement, the lurking Epstein files are all baked into the mix politically.
We already have Town Hall meetings with voters screaming at Republicans because of the big beautiful budget bill.
Most people are not politically aware but they know their grocery bill and their health care costs.
I gotta make me a shirt "Hey how those egg prices doin?"
To misquote John Carmack, the justification for the "emergency" is like the story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but its not that important.
The general public is going to be pissed about this. Frankly, I'm happy to see it. Online shopping volume is terrible for the environment and such a massive contributor to waste and personal debt.
I might go as far as to say "wake up, sheeple" lol. This is the government you elected.
It will be an annoyance to the people who haven't learned from the dozen other times they've bashed their own head against a wall.
It will be the end of hobbies and small businesses for many people who would never have voted Republican. Any sort of maker community is entirely fucked.
Electronic components? Those haven't been something you could source from the US since the 70s, and they're so basic and cheap they're basically not worth importing without de minimis.
3D printing? Forget it.
Sewing related things? Cloth mostly comes from Vietnam or Cambodia.
And that's to say nothing of all of the industries that import materials for things in small batches and make things to order. Temu or whatever is an absolutely minuscule part of everything this change will blow up, and it will have nasty economic effects and further harm the mental health of people who already hate republicans.
It absolutely sucks, but I'd ask any and all of my hobbyist friends how seriously they take their democracy and what amount of their free time they spend as a citizen.
Normal people rely on the gears of society to function so that they can have hobbies, and personally, I think it's long overdue that most of us make contributing to our communities a proper pastime.
If that means that we take a break from imported wool, collecting single board computer handheld games or kitting out our home theatre, then so be it.
What if I contribute to my community through a local maker space that needs 3D printing, sewing, and electrical equipment?
Sweet - I don't think it's an either or conversation.
Why not contribute to that community and volunteer for local elections.
I'd hazard the guess that most people are doing the former and not the latter.
Suppose someone is already politically informed active, and is overall overwhelmed and tired of where things are going, while the avenues that should make a difference are stonewalled by people who ignore and dismantle them. Your proposal is to...celebrate taking away things that make existence bearable to them, and harm to the economy that will make their life even harder, because you feel entitled to even more from them?
That's a lot of people right now, and this sort of mentality is doing them active harm.
Not really. I'm not celebrating the predicament we're all in - it's not good for anyone. That said, it's an opportunity for everybody to focus on what they can do for their community and their country.
I suppose that some people are politically active and informed, and while that's great for the small percentage that are, it's not even what I'm talking about. I'm saying that people need to spend their time helping others. Volunteering.
That may be along the lines of what you meant, but to me, politically active means cause specific activism and supporting (whether by keyboard,on the street or through organizations) movements that they care about. More soup kitchens, more community associations. Help people get their basic needs met first.
By and large, people with jobs, kids and hobbies don't do this work. Broadly, getting people to spend their time on these tasks is like pulling teeth, and this level of civic apathy has been increasing for generations.
There's a crisis of loneliness, neighbors across North America who've never met each other, low voter turnout and an identity crisis about how to get out of this partisan mess. This is a silver lining opportunity to put down the hobbies, branch out from hyper-specific Discords and connect with the people around us for a greater purpose.
I'd say that's something worth looking forward to.
Gonna have to disagree with you pretty hard here. People with kids and jobs use hobbies as a small reprieve from the pile of shit that is day to day life.
Losing one of the few vices that people with kids and jobs have, and telling them "good, now you have time to spend more time fighting your friends and family" is a weird stance.
Not suggesting otherwise. Everybody should and will have hobbies no matter the tariff situation, but what they may not have is loads of underpriced stuff being delivered to their front doors.
On that front, focusing your hobbies around your community isn't a net negative. I'm not suggesting that everyone give up their lives to work full-time in a soup kitchen at night, what I'm saying is that we have too much stuff and cheap access to stuff that it's neutering our desire and interest in contributing to our local communities.
This would only affect D2C sales from overseas. For things like electronics components, or 3D printing plastic, if you were buying them from, say, Amazon, they were already paying import taxes, since if they were imported to a warehouse they weren't applicable for de minimis anyway. Things like cloth are not really going to be affected unless you were buying small batches of rare fabric directly from a manufacturer.
What it'd harm more is overseas makers who sell to consumers in the US directly.
Trump can't afford to bleed a large number of followers unless he somehow achieves military dictatorship or successfully hacks the election.
His margins were small to begin with. Every time one of his policies angers a subset of the voting public it makes me very happy and slightly more hopeful.
This is all assuming Republican voters connect the effect with the cause. I'm not sure they will ever take responsibility for their actions.
Democrats can win with only independents on their side.
We'll see what happens.
Clumsy, idiot autocrats are the best kind!
I mean I don't really think he cares about his election chances one way or the other.
If he didn't, Republicans wouldn't be trying for this mid-cycle redistricting.
That is an enigmatic statement.
Edit
Regardless of whether Trump can be elected again, his popularity will effect races for Congress in less than two years.
He cares in an abstract way. He generally doesn’t concern himself with details though.
Previous discussions can be found here.