Kamala Harris Victory Thread- Our new President

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/09/13/politics/china-tariffs-biden-trump

I mean biden did not undo a number of trumps tariffs in fact he increased them.

Okay, the core point here is that Biden's tariff policy towards one particular nation raised average tariffs on US imports by less than 1 percentage point. It might have been questionable economic policy, but it at least ostensibly targeted a geopolitical rival and sensitive sectors.

Trump's proposal would raise tariffs by at least 10 percentage points, which would obviously be much more impactful. It would target America's allies and adversaries alike. It is basically guaranteed to trigger widespread countervailing tariffs against US exports.

For all the potential faults of a Harris government, declaring a trade war on the rest of the global economy was not on the agenda.

[brainbomb]

Tariffs are rife with misinformation. What people dont understand is that a tariff hurts an importer first. The American importer of goods sees a tariff on a product making it more expensive for them to bring in. This does force the other country to find a new buyer or they lose out on selling their goods. This doesnt guarantee someone in America is going to benefit by getting better prices because this just makes the item more expensive in general.

Take shrimp as an example. One reason Red Lobster is doing badly is because imported seafood from Indonesia and Thailand is pricing higher to increase profits. This used to be how restaurants like Red Lobster could have better profit margin.

The dimwit economist hears this and says; lets put a tariff on all seafood from Asia so that everyone in America is only buying American seafood. It should be obvious that this is not a solution and all that really does is level the playing field to say our horribly priced seafood is now the same price or slightly better than Asian (what should have been cheaper) seafood

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

To add to your point above, Penn State economists estimated that US tariffs on imported sugar come at an annual cost of $826,000 to consumers per job saved in the sugar industry.

There is a weak edge case argument in favour of tariffs as a trade negotiation tool against flagrant rulebreakers, or to discourage long-term economic ties with ideological rivals. Beyond that it's just bafflingly stupid economic policy.

[brainbomb]

There are ways to offset 20% tariffs on Mexico. Trump wants to pressure Mexico into shutting down the flow of immigrants to the border with a threat of a 20% tariff on all goods. One of the biggest things we get from Mexico is oil. We import a shit ton of Oil from Mexico; more than any other country now. But at the same time Trump wants to drill every hole in the ground imaginable until the earth is stained black with oil. This isnt an exaggeration this guy is weirdly obsessed with oil, with obliterating the arctic and turning it into a giant oil field. He supports fracking and drilling with minimal regulation or EPA involvement.
Simply put his solution to punishing mexico in a trade war is to also wipe out the environment for however many dollars it can save to
Consumers.

Robbing peter to pay paul; while a planet already choking and dying from fossil fuels gets put into hospice care. Thats business for these people.

[brainbomb]

Voters dont care unless they are environmentalists. The only pro clean energy candidate in this race was old man biden who did the barest minimum to help anything. Climate change deniers tend to be people more obsessed with money than facts. The only facts they consume are profit and loss.

[kingofthepirates]

How the bloody hell did Europe manage to rule most of the world???

Depends on the time period, but having some of the best technology relative to the rest of the world was probably a decent chunk of it.

[brainbomb]

What Trump should do is overturn the 2020 election so that his current presidency gets voided due to term limits

[MajorMitchell]

Catastrophe!!!
The Democrats failed to solve a fundamental problem they have.
Outside well-educated elites, they are losing relevance with almost all.other demographic groups in the USA.
They failed to have a "I will give you change on immigration, on fixing corrupt government authorities & boost your wages, save your jobs" D imple message and simple policies on these things

Pointing at Trump and calling him a racist Rapist & having Hollywood elites endorse you didn't fkn work, did it?

[MajorMitchell]

The key battle ground states.. Republican vote increased
In most demographic groups except well educated women
Non college educated women voted Republican and for Trump
Go figure that one out
I can't except to think.of propaganda and stupidity with selfishness

[learnedSloth]

I hate to indulge your weird interludes Sloth, but what the heck are you even talking about here lol?

Europe used to have some Christian purpose? Is this some endorsement of the Christianizing aspects of colonialism? Maybe you just felt like sharing your recipe for sweet-and-sour revelation sauce?

That wouldn't answer Octavious's question, would it?

The colonies made sharing the gospel easier at the time, but I don't think the settlers were made invincible by technology, nor do I believe that it was due to competent leaders:

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.
34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
36 At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellers and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me.
37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
(Daniel 4)

[MajorMitchell]

Please Learned(?)Sloth leave the satire to the comedian (and actor) who can do satire properly like a Good Christian Pedophile Priest.

I had to go back and find the question posed by Octavious that you purport to have answered by pasting a pile of irrelevant and illogical fiction

Paraphrased, the question is
How the fuck did Europe rule the world? (for a few centuries)

Now I am disinclined to remedy the fkn ignorance of a proselytising pestilential fool
Instead I will.make the fkn observation that;
Religious fkwits should not involve themselves in politics
Separation of State & Churches
You fkn clown
Or, if you do want to mix your religion and politics...
Go live in a fkn theocracy
Iran has a good theocratic Dictatorship
The Taliban are about your fkn interllectual level LSloth
Or the Vatican
Take your fkn pick but in a democracy, keep your fkn Religious beliefs PRIVATE!

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I hate to indulge your weird interludes Sloth, but what the heck are you even talking about here lol?

Europe used to have some Christian purpose? Is this some endorsement of the Christianizing aspects of colonialism? Maybe you just felt like sharing your recipe for sweet-and-sour revelation sauce?

That wouldn't answer Octavious's question, would it?

The colonies made sharing the gospel easier at the time, but I don't think the settlers were made invincible by technology, nor do I believe that it was due to competent leaders:

This remains so confusing to me. So you were saying that European supremacy in centuries past had something to do with their Christian observance? And not in some cultural "Protestant work ethic" way, but because it endeared them to a God who intervened on their side?

It seems to me that modern Europe better lives up to Christian ideals than they did back then, despite being less explicitly religious. A German in the 2020s is almost certainly more Christ-like in their tolerance and respect for others than their fervently religious ancestors. And besides, hundreds of years of religious conflict and success in the terrible project of colonialism hardly feel like things God would give as a reward for ostensibly greater religious observance.

And if the success of a nation/civilization is a product of divine intervention and a reward for correct religious observance, how could one explain the great success of many non-Christian places? China under the CCP is certainly having a moment. Genghis Khan had a good run. The Aztecs were on a roll for a century or two before Colombia and Cortez.

[Jamiet99uk]

LearnedSloth is like a chatbot that has been created for the sole purpose of spouting forth irrelevant Bible quotes at every opportunity.

[worcej]

So, why did so many people vote for Donald Trump?

Came here to see something like this asked and the responses of some of you - looking forward to the catchup lol

[worcej]

Most people dont have that level of knowledge about the supreme court. They dont monitor how old judges are and what judges are nearing retirement. Its a very politically party line topic to vote on and only the most well informed individuals tend to even understand how that works.

Trump gets support from people who think dems control the weather and all dems want is to give illegal aliens sex changes. Try telling those people they should vote democrat because gay marriage might get repealed

Just going to say that reducing the voters for Trump down via descriptions like this is a major part of why Democrats handily lost this election.

[worcej]

A ton of states had ballot measures to address abortion and the results were underwhelming across the board. Female voters this election were forecasted to be the main driver of the democrat agenda and overwhelmingly pro abortion candidates lost to economy first candidates. People who championed abortion being a fundamental right lost everywhere; and the ballot measures meant to make abortions fully legal also did not pass in many cases.
The movement itself was not nearly as full of energy as was advertised. States had a chance to shrug off the supreme courts decision to ovetturn it and call this round 1; but this whole thing either took a backseat or flat out just failed in popularity.

Alot of this is due to abortion being popular only in cities and very denounced in rural america. City voters were apathetic, voted on split tickets, or didnt send a very clear indication of how they actually felt about abortion even in exit polling

IMHO, you're close here but miss the more obvious conclusion that abortion was the 4th most important issue for voters and Dems did fuck all to address the top 2.

[worcej]

Honestly I think it's the sort of talk Brainbomb is making here that caused democrats to lose.

When you assume that the other side is completely daft and only votes for who they do because they're stupid illogical nincompoops... you'll find that you might just have entirely overlooked every single reason for voting they way that they do, and thus you won't actually confront their reason for voting or offer alternatives that they care about.

It's also rather unwise to assume that the very people who are feeding this country and putting in the backbreaking work to keep it running are all stupid. Turns out people don't like it when you call them garbage, especially when society's functioning relies upon their jobs.

100% agree here - Democrats have talked down or labeled Trump voters as stupid/Nazi/Racists/Anti-women for years.

[worcej]

I still don't see an answer to the basic question so let me boil it down even more simply:

1. Do a significant number of Trump voters realise he is a serial liar, and just don't care?

1.a: If "Yes", why don't they care?
1.b: If "No", why don't they realise he is a serial liar despite a vast weight of widely-reported evidence?

2. Black people, Latino people, and women, in large numbers, appear to have voted for Trump. Why would non-white people vote for someone who is on record as a racist? Why would women vote for a rapist?

I think you should watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0eq7VNCcYY

To be clear - that's a legit video but is also NSFW due to language.

[worcej]

Yeah, didn't see my conclusions too strongly expressed here, so here I go.

Fundamentally, the Democratic party's platform was established as this:

1. We're not Trump. He is bad.
2. We're going to protect reproductive rights.
3. We're joyful and loving. Life is good.

Here's the problem - none of this is actual policy positioning or addressing the top two voter issues, which were the economy and immigration. Look at this exit polling data from the seven battle ground states (NC, GA, PA, MI, WI, AZ, and NV) on the economy and how those people voted to notice how obvious this was:



The key takeaway was an overwhelming amount of people thought Trump would handle the economy better than Harris. We can go back and forth on Trump's policies not being good nor helpful, but the difference is that people heard him say that he's going to do something when Harris never said anything about what she was going to do or even try to sell America on that things are better than they think it is.

And this doesn't even begin to cover the fact that the Democratic party was roasting and laughing at Trump's campaign strategy of targeting demographics outside of their base. Republicans have made inroads on the Latino community for several election cycles (this is why FL is not a swing state anymore FWIW). Trump also doubled his support in black males (10% to 20%) which is huge considering Democrats always just assumed they never would and did no real outreach towards them.

2. Black people, Latino people, and women, in large numbers, appear to have voted for Trump. Why would non-white people vote for someone who is on record as a racist? Why would women vote for a rapist?

So much of your posts Jamie comes from the educated mindset (because you are) and what your priorities are are vastly different than the average American who's witnessing their living situation get worse over the course of this administration. Democrats did fuck all to campaign on policy and focused on social issues, which ultimately people don't care about when they're concerned about how to afford to live and crime, which is like-it-or-not tied to immigration.

Well many of those people who voted Trump also think the media overplays up his supposed racism and authoritarianism. They prefer his policies and ignore his overall remarks.

The media has universally been seen as biased and constantly at war with Trump, unless it's Fox News. We heard for weeks leading into the election that Trump was going to lose and that Kamala would carry the swing states - and like 2016, I do believe this over-hyped and terribly incorrect prediction of a tight race kept some Democratic base at home and electrified the Republican base.

[worcej]

One thing also not mentioned yet is the shocking turnout of the young white male vote for the republican party. There could be a whole dissertation on this one, but my summary is that Democrats/Liberals have done a brilliant job talking down to this base about their privilege and how they're issues are not as important as DEI and abortion while Republicans have focused on acknowledging their problems.