. . .
K “I do not think that even Trump knows exactly what he thinks. Is he a nationalist or a globalist? He has slipped Panama, Canada and Greenland into the public discourse. Yet the Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan quagmires are expanding and exploding and may consume him and his administration.”
J “Vegas, the French Quarter and the LA Fires raise issues that are hard to put in perspective.”
. . .
K “I have been wrong about what is called the ‘economy’ year after year after year after year. However, I maintain that the Debt Black Hole is now too far out of control and will haunt and hobble his administration.”
J “Extending the tax cuts will cost the public fisc something like 500 million dollars in each of the next ten years. That will add up.”
K “Inflation will continue for the foreseeable future.”
J “Enacting tariffs will turbo charge inflation without necessarily spurring American manufacturing and production. Any new plants will be automated. Stay tuned. Inflation may be the major election issue in 2026.”
. . .
J “I keep reminding and reassuring myself and others that he will break every one of his major promises. He will not even propose making Social Security payments non-taxable. No way. His billionaire boys may reduce the actual payments. He will not make overtime payments and tips non-taxable. No way. He will abandon the voters who will be even angrier at and more frustrated with the system.”
K “I don’t disagree. I told someone that his election postpones the revolution. From another perspective, we are better off if he does break some of his promises. Judging by his Cabinet nominees, he is breaking his promise to end the many wars of choice.”
. . .
K “During the election, I saw some hope and change in the Kennedy Gabbard wing of the Trump Machine. However, Tulsi Gabbard’s recent volte-face is the clearest reveal that reform is impossible. You surely saw that she changed her stance regarding the unconstitutional government program that she once sought to repeal as she now fights for survival and confirmation. So much for ending the section 702 authority that allows the government to track conversations involving foreigners without a warrant.”
J “You should have known. The real Trump 2.0 is emerging. Don’t forget that many of the foreigners are engaged in illegal and dangerous activity.”
. . .
K “Let’s circle back at Thanksgiving and see if three phenomenon emerge this year. Expanding wars. Galloping inflation. Deepening recession.”
J “And metastasizing restiveness. Let’s revisit the topic on November 24 or so.”
K “World War III is now accelerating and this week in Romania.”
J “Stay tuned.”
. . .
K “Looking and listening to others, I sense that many are disquieted and enervated by the uncertainty.”
. . .
[See the e-commentary at Time To MAAA: Make America America Again? (September 30, 2024).]
Bumper stickers of the week:
Make America ??????? Again
Expanding wars? Galloping inflation? Deepening recession?
“We’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somali, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.” Wesley Clark
Stay tuned.
e-commentary 