Day: April 14, 2025

Does He Watch The Polls?

Polls are notoriously wrong these days…..but after some of the pull back Donny has done on his policies does indicate that at least someone in his inner circle of corrupt officials pays some attention tom them.

The consumer is not happy with all the game playing from Donny and the thugs….

Consumer sentiment in the United States continued its sharp plunge this month under President Donald Trump as Americans grew increasingly concerned about the prospect of a job-destroying recession in the near future—fears fueled in large part by the administration’s erratic tariff policies.

The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, released Friday, found that U.S. consumer sentiment plunged 11% at the start of April compared to last month, a decline that was “pervasive and unanimous across age, income, education, geographic region, and political affiliation.”

That’s according to the survey project’s director, Joanne Hsu, who said that “sentiment has now lost more than 30% since December 2024 amid growing worries about trade war developments that have oscillated over the course of the year.”

Friday’s assessment shows that overall consumer sentiment has fallen to its second-lowest level since the early 1950s.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/consumer-sentiment-plunges

Part of the problem is the cost of food….like the eggs….

For the third straight month, U.S retail egg prices have hit a record high, despite falling wholesale prices, no bird flu outbreaks, and President Donald Trump’s campaign promises—and recent misleading claims.

On Thursday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI) reported the average retail cost of a dozen eggs rose from $5.90 in February to $6.23 last month.

Trump also said that egg prices “are going down more,” a statement that contradicts not only recent trends but also his own administration’s Food Price Outlook, which forecasts a 57.6% increase in egg prices for 2025, with a prediction interval of 31.1%-91.5%.

Recent record egg prices have largely been driven by an avian flu epidemic that has forced farmers to cull over 166 million birds, most of them egg-laying hens. However, no farms are currently reporting any bird flu outbreaks.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/record-egg-prices

While Donny continues his waffling and babbling his approval rating is taking a nose dive….

President Donald Trump is not well-liked, and, according to new polling, few Americans understand why anyone would approve of the job he’s doing.

…

Recent approval polls show Trump sliding: He’s 13 percentage points underwater in a recent YouGov survey, 12 points underwater in a recent Quinnipiac poll and 5 points in the tank in the notoriously pro-Trump Rasmussen poll.

According to YouGov: “Trump’s net job approval is down 14 points since the first Economist/YouGov Poll after he took office this year, when 49% of Americans approved of him and 43% disapproved.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/04/11/trump-approval-rating-tariffs-groceries-polls/83036443007/

His, Donny’s, tariffs are dooming him in his push to become president for life….the polls illustrate just how pissed the peasants are getting especially with higher and higher food prices….

In the wake of President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on dozens of countries, a vast majority of voters (72 percent) think the tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy in the short-term, while a smaller majority (53 percent) think the tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy in the long-term as well, according to a Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pea- ack) University national poll of registered voters released today.

For the short-term, 72 percent of voters think the tariffs will hurt the U.S. economy, while 22 percent think the tariffs will help the U.S. economy.

97% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 44% of Republicans all believe that tariffs will harm the economy. Considering that the tariffs have been dialed back but aren’t going away, that seems like a pretty big problem remaining for Republicans.

https://www.politicususa.com/p/new-poll-bombshell-trump-and-republicans

In case you have not noticed Donny has been waffling lately on the tariffs…..is that a good sign or is he just trying to calm a sleeping beast?

This will be interesting to keep a sharp eye on in the coming days and weeks.

Jeez!  I love this stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How Big Of A Threat Is China?

This is a companion post to my previous post on Hogsbreath (Hegseth) statement about the Panama Canal and the news of troops being sent to Panama for ‘training’.

All this threatening talk got me to thinking and I wanted some info on just how big is the world threat from China.

I mean we hear all about their influence in Panama and their desire for Taiwan and the whole of the South China Sea and we already have heard about the punishment of tariffs of 145%….but really just how big is the China problem?

I decided that I would look beyond the MSM and its echo chamber and past the rhetoric of the politicians and especially the Donny Show and go to some academics that actually look at the world around us.

Which country is the greatest threat to the United States? The answer, according to a large proportion of Americans, is clear: China.

Half of all Americans responding to a mid-2023 survey from the Pew Research Center cited China as the biggest risk to the U.S., with Russia trailing in second with 17%. Other surveys, such as from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, show similar findings.

Senior figures in recent U.S. administrations appear to agree with this assessment. In 2020, John Ratcliffe, director of national intelligence under President Donald Trump, wrote that Beijing “intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically.”

The White House’s current National Defense Strategy is not so alarmist, referring to China as the U.S.’s “pacing challenge” – a reference that, in the words of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, apparently means China has “the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the power to do so.”

As someone who has followed China for over a quarter century, I believe that many observers have overestimated the country’s apparent power. Recent challenges to China’s economy have led some people to reevaluate just how powerful China is. But hurdles to the growth of Chinese power extend far beyond the economic sector – and failing to acknowledge this reality may distort how policymakers and the public view the shift of geopolitical gravity in what was once called “the Chinese century.”

https://theconversation.com/is-the-united-states-overestimating-chinas-power-220014

Then there is this from the Foreign Policy website…..

It has become a cottage industry in Washington and in parts of Europe these days to highlight all the many ways in which China threatens U.S., Western, and Asian interests. Politicians, military officers, and pundits take turns describing the dangers posed by Beijing’s “expansionist” and “aggressive” military, “implacably hostile” ideology, “predatory” economic and tech policies, and “insidious” overseas influence operations.

Despite shunning the Trump administration’s habitual use of most of these inflammatory adjectives, U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken nonetheless depict Beijing as challenging the entire “rules-based order that maintains global stability” and as the major focal point of a global struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, which is now, according to Biden, at an “inflection point.”

Such language echoes the premise of various strategy documents of the Trump administration and the speeches of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: that the United States is now locked in a strategic, great-power rivalry with China that overshadows any other foreign (or even domestic) threats or concerns facing the country.

China Doesn’t Pose an Existential Threat for America

Without depending on the opinions in a MSM site and by looking at what professionals, not a pack of overpaid amateurs that have no idea what is happening, have to report I ask again….Is China really the threat that is promoted?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Panama Next?

We have all heard the lame ass rhetoric from Little Donny about the Panama Canal, right?  well this clueless POS, the amateur, at the War Department has jumped on the bandwagon and made a bold statement.

“China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. [A]nd China will not weaponize this canal. Together, we will take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence.” Those were Pete Hegseth’s fighting words on Tuesday during his visit to Panama—the first by a US defense secretary in more than 20 years—in which Hegseth met with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino. During his visit, Hegseth warned about the “ongoing threats” from China regarding the Panama Canal, which President Trump has hinted about “reclaiming,” reports Axios. More on Hegseth’s trip and its implications:

  • Making nice: Per Politico, despite Hegseth’s harsh words regarding China, he played “carrot, not stick” when it came to how he talked about the Central American nation. “Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective, and most lethal fighting force in the world,” Hegseth said Tuesday in a presser.
  • More hints of partnership: He added, per Axios: “The United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades.” Bloomberg looks at the interaction similarly, calling Hegseth’s tone toward Panama a “cooperative” one.
  • A discrepancy: Despite the seemingly conciliatory stance in terms of Panama, there was one important variation in two versions of a joint statement put out by the US and Panamanian governments after Hegseth and Mulino conferred. The Daily Beast notes that in the Spanish version, the following line appears: “Secretary Hegseth recognized the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas.” That line is omitted from the US version.
  • Mulino’s take: His government’s statement after the Hegseth meeting aside, the Panamanian leader has issued past denials that China holds any sway over the canal. “We aren’t going to speak about what is not reality, but rather those issues that interest both countries,” he said in February, per the AP. Mulino has agreed, however, to allow for an audit that would be shared with the US of Beijing-operated ports at the canal, which the US fears may be being used for surveillance purposes.

Just how much control does China actually have in Panama?

And now US Troops are headed to Panama….

U.S. troops are now set to deploy near the Panama canal for military training, exercises and “other activities,” as per a new joint deal with the Panamanian government.

The deal, seen by AFP on Thursday, comes as an apparent concession to President Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to retake the major global trade route from Panama if it failed to reduce or axe fees it charged to American vessels passing through there.

“We’re going to take [the canal] back, or something very powerful is going to happen,” Trump alleged in early February.

Notably, the deal walks back previous assertions by Hegseth, who posited on Wednesday that the U.S. could, “by invitation,” even “revive” military bases previously used in Panama to “secure [its] sovereignty.” Instead, American troops will be deployed to Panama-controlled facilities — though some of these facilities will be American built-ones, erected in Panama decades ago when it still occupied the canal zone.

“Panama made clear, through President Mulino, that we cannot accept military bases or defense sites,” Panama’s security minister, Frank Abrego, explained in a Wednesday appearance with Hegseth.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/troops-panama/

In true bullying form….Donny and his butt boyz are threatening the world (damn near) to get6 what they want.

Now just how much does China control in Panama or is this just using a very convenient ‘enemy’ to try and get their way?

This pathetic!

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”