A thought on Afghanistan

[Elixir]

Ok, US Steel workers are getting a nice bonus. Maybe you should also credit the CHInuh Virus as well...

To do that, he'd have to admit that it's really The Trump Virus.

 

[Jarhyn]

Ok, US Steel workers are getting a nice bonus, but nuttin about correlation in the article. Maybe you should also credit the CHInuh Virus as well...

Impact of tariff:
https://www.brookings.edu/policy202...nefit-american-workers-and-national-security/

While estimates vary, economic analyses suggest the average American household has paid somewhere from several hundred up to a thousand dollars or more per year thanks to higher consumer prices attributable to the tariffs.
<snip>
Yet, overall, when economists have attempted to add up the net effect of Trump’s tariffs on jobs, any gains in importing-competing sectors appear to have been more than offset by losses in industries that use imported inputs and face retaliation on their foreign exports. And even those jobs that have been created have come at great cost: studies suggest American consumers paid about $817,000 in higher prices attributable to the tariffs for every job created in the washing machine industry and $900,000 in the steel industry. While policy interventions to support manufacturing jobs may be warranted, there are cheaper ways to do so.

Steel prices and causation thinking, and a real Democratic/Biden driven infrastructure big bill should help as well, and far more than tariffs:
https://fortune.com/2021/07/08/steel-prices-2021-going-up-bubble/

"What happened, which is similar to lumber, demand during COVID-19 was stronger than first anticipated because of switches in consumption patterns. Instead of paying for experiences and vacations, they were buying a new lawn mower, buying a new car, or white goods like appliances—which are steel intensive," Thorsten Schier, a metals expert at Fastmarkets, tells Fortune.

Yeah, like how hard is it to just pass a nice bill like "let's build some bridges", and designate the use of US steel in the projects. If the industry needs to expand or update, include spending on factory improvement or rebuild.

Build American infrastructure. Part of that infrastructure can itself be steel refineries as much as the bridges

 

[Elixir]

Yeah, like how hard is it to just pass a nice bill like "let's build some bridges", and designate the use of US steel in the projects. If the industry needs to expand or update, include spending on factory improvement or rebuild.

Build American infrastructure. Part of that infrastructure can itself be steel refineries as much as the bridges

I think that was Trump's intent from day one. But it turned out that grifting and grafting was a lot harder than he thought, being under the magnifying glass as president.
Even getting GSA to grant Great Wall no-bid construction contracts to his unqualified donor buddies attracted too much attention.
So he focused on other ways to raid the treasury.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Yeah, like how hard is it to just pass a nice bill like "let's build some bridges", and designate the use of US steel in the projects. If the industry needs to expand or update, include spending on factory improvement or rebuild.

Build American infrastructure. Part of that infrastructure can itself be steel refineries as much as the bridges

I think that was Trump's intent from day one. But it turned out that grifting and grafting was a lot harder than he thought, being under the magnifying glass as president.
Even getting GSA to grant Great Wall no-bid construction contracts to his unqualified donor buddies attracted too much attention.
So he focused on other ways to raid the treasury.

That's what I like about USA. American voters are very sensitive about corruption and don't mind whistle blowing their leaders when they are naughty. It's something they should be proud about, and I suspect, is the reason for USA's ongoing powerful position in the world.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

China's silk road? This ignores the existence of airplanes and the Internet. China doesn't need Afghanistan to have presences in the Middle East or Africans nations like they already have. And Afghanistan isn't really that close to the Middle East... road wise. That is kind of part of our problem.

But I see the alt-right, Biden is in the pocket of China mantra has stuck with RVonse.

Railway is by far more economical than airplane transport. Especially for heavy goods. A large barrier to a cross continental train connection is the red tape. Not everything China does is evil. I think this sounds like an awesome initiative. Obviously this will also benefit China. But it will of course benefit any country along the route.

The problem is China finances these things and then takes control when they can't pay the bills. That's why people don't like the belt and road initiative.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

100 Agreed! I can remember a junk dealer who actually got locked out of his new home by the IRS. They had yellow tape strapped over the door of his home and the only proof that the IRS had of tax avoidance was that he could not have possibly bought such a thing with what he had reported on his return. Why don't we do this with our politicians who are millionaires on a $150k salary?

Salary isn't the only source of income. You can't compare the public salary to spending and say there's tax evasion. However, when you see spending completely inconsistent with the total income on the 1040 you know something's up. And the IRS isn't going to jump to seizing a house--that would only come after they pointed out the problem and asked him to fix his returns and he didn't. To draw that kind of reaction his spending must have been seriously out of line with his returns. IRS trouble usually means either you were cheating or you made a mistake. (But note that how much the IRS comes asking for is often wrong. You report $99 in interest, they report $100, the IRS will say you're $100 short in reporting, they won't recognize it's really $1.)