Day: November 18, 2025

Will Your Check Be In The Mail?

For some time now there has been rumblings of some of the money raised by tariffs would be returned to the population….maybe even you.

Now there is the vague promise of them being issued next year…..

President Trump said Monday that Americans could see $2,000 tariff dividend checks as soon as mid-2026, putting a timeline on a proposal he has floated several times this year. The president said the payments would go to individuals with moderate incomes, but the plan would require congressional approval—an outcome far from certain, according to previous remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “We’re gonna be issuing dividends later on, somewhere prior to … the middle of next year, a little bit later than that,” Trump said, per the New York Post.

The cost of the proposed dividend is significant. Analysts estimate that even limiting the checks to low- and middle-income individuals could push the price tag well above $200 billion, a sum that exceeds total tariff revenues collected by the government in fiscal 2025 and amounts to about half of what’s projected for fiscal 2026, Axios reports. A payout of this size, especially so close to the 2026 midterm elections, could have major political implications, effectively putting large sums of money into voters’ hands just as they head to the polls. There’s also concern that such a payout could fuel inflation—a risk highlighted by the inflationary effects of previous stimulus checks.

“The middle of next year”?

That ought to be about the best time for the bribe to be effective in repairing his lost support and placate the masses.

Is this a ploy for the midterms?

Or will something come up that would delay the checks…..I don’t know Congress for instance?

Any thoughts on this new attempt by Donny?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let’s Look At The Tariffs (Again)

I still do not know how any person breathing can think that these tariffs are a good thing…..brain damage is the best I can come up with……

According to Donny the US has raised billions in tariff cash….The U.S. collected $195 billion in tariff revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, which ended in September. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget noted that the total was a 150 percent increase from 2024.

Let’s look at what these tariffs are doing for the average person…..

The Trump administration’s tariffs are on track to cost the typical household an average of $2,400 per year, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Moreover, the typical small business that imports products already faced more than $90,000 in tariff costs from April 2025 to July 2025 alone; they are also reporting revenue losses of about 13 percent, which will annualize to $100,000 if tariff costs continue to mount at this rate. These costs are only the beginning of the toll that Trump’s turbulence will take on businesses and consumers in the months to come.

…

Businesses and consumers crave predictability. From frequent and inconsistent announcements on tariff policy to trying to politicize historically independent institutions such as the Federal Reserve and the BLS, the Trump administration has made turbulence and uncertainty the drivers of its economic agenda. This chaos is imposing real costs across the economy, and it will threaten the nation’s long-term economic growth if the administration does not change course soon.

All that cash that has been raised is basically being paid by the American consumer in higher prices.

It is that simple.

WE cannot cover tariffs without writing about what the economy as a whole is doing under these restrictive policies….

Deploying the same methodology that Republicans used to track cost increases under former President Joe Biden, JEC Democrats found that the average US family is spending roughly $700 more per month on basic items since Trump took office in January, pledging to bring prices “way down.”

“While President Trump claimed that he would bring down prices, the reality is that Americans have seen their costs soar even higher since he took office,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the JEC’s ranking member. “As families across the country spend more to pay their bills and put food on the table, Democrats and Republicans should be working together to lower costs. Instead, President Trump is pushing ahead with reckless tariffs that continue to fuel inflation and drive prices up even higher.”

In some states—including Alaska, California, and Colorado—average families are spending over $1,000 more per month to maintain their living standards as costs continue to rise, in part due to Trump’s erratic tariff regime.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/inflation-under-donald-trump

So the economy sucks and job growth sucks as well and those were a couple of the selling points on tariffs that would improve the economy.

But yet Uncle Don tells the American  people that he has solved the inflation problem.

President Donald Trump announced in September that, despite ample evidence to the contrary, “We have almost no inflation anymore.”

The president explained that he has “already solved inflation” for America, and that is evidenced by the fact that “costs are down.” GOBankingRates breaks down the reality of the situation and what that means for your wallet.

The data (and the everyday costs they reflect) tell a different story. As reported by CNN, the annual inflation rate is at its highest level (2.9%) since January 2025, and that consumer prices continue to raise.

What does that mean for you? Essentially, it means that you’ll continue paying more at checkout for the time being.

https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/trump-says-solved-inflation-what-it-means-for-you/

So far there has been no good news on the tariffs front…..and yet there are those that continue to believe that they will improve their station in life…..and that just illustrates how ignorant the American people are on the subject of tariffs and the economy.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

American Crisis–2025 Edition

Back in the dark days of the American Revolution things were not going well and the forgotten founder took it upon himself to make a change….and he, Thomas Paine, wrote the American Crisis.

His pamphlet opens with some strong words….

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth.

For those interested in what he had to say…..https://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/c-01.htm?

Fast forward to today and the anger, division, hatred, etc is making our way of life in crisis….and the schism between the people is getting wider by the speech.

The people are starting to believe that democracy is not working….

Pessimists appear to outnumber optimists these days, with a new poll showing most Americans believe democracy “is not working,” among several other jarring findings.

The new Quinnipiac University Poll released on Tuesday found 53% of citizens believe American democracy is not working right now, compared to 41% of Americans who believe the system is going fine.

Those on the left, unsurprisingly, were much more likely to say the figurative house is burning down, with 74% of polled Democrats saying “the system of democracy in the United States is not working”; only 22% of Republicans said it is not working, and 74% of GOP voters said there is no problem at all.

SHOCK POLL: Majority of Americans Believe Democracy ‘Isn’t Working’

This division is nearing to zone where it will be difficult to repair…..the political hatred is at boil….

Tune into American politics today, and you’ll hear something far more sinister than simple disagreement. The language has escalated: political parties trash talk each other—blaming rival parties for policy failures or even for causing incidents with national implications.

And reducing polarization and “partisan animosity”—the distrust and hatred of the other party—is remarkably difficult, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences evaluating past attempts.

“As long as political and media systems reward outrage with votes and viewership—stoking division—any individual-level effort to depolarize is up against a powerful, unending tide,” says senior author Sean Westwood, an associate professor of government at Dartmouth and director of the Lab.

“This isn’t a problem that can be fixed at the grassroots level alone.”

https://phys.org/news/2025-09-easy-political-hatred.html

It is getting to the point where Americans are starting to believe that violence could be inevitable….

Almost 80 percent of Americans believe the U.S. is in crisis and more than half are concerned that political violence will worsen in the coming years, a new poll has found.

In the wake of recent seismic events, including the assassination of MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk, a poll by Quinnipiac University showed 79 percent of voters agreed that the country was “in political crisis,” while 18 percent said it was not.

Along party lines, 93 percent of Democrats agreed, as did 60 percent of Republicans.

“The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed,” said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.

In addition to the perceived political crisis, the poll also showed that an overwhelming majority, 71 percent, considered politically motivated violence a “very serious problem” in the U.S., with 22 percent believing it to be a “somewhat serious problem.”

The survey noted a jump from a previous Quinnipiac University poll on June 26, when 54 percent thought politically motivated violence was a very serious problem, and 37 percent thought it was a somewhat serious problem.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/america-political-crisis-violence-poll-b2833247.html

So is political violence acceptable?

A new poll from YouGov has found that 20 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, commonly known as Generation Z, think that political violence is sometimes justified.

Respondents were surveyed on September 11, a day after right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University. A total of 2643 US adults were interviewed as part of the study.

The findings mean that members of Gen Z are more in favor of political violence than any other group.

Millennials were the second-largest group, with 14 percent of people aged 30-49 stating it could sometimes be justified.

Meanwhile, just 8 percent of 45-64-year-olds and 3 percent of people aged over 65 said that political violence was sometimes acceptable.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/political-violence-gen-z-kirk-trump-poll-b2833734.html

What does this say about the youth of this country?

NO seriously what does this mean for our country and system as a whole?

And the beat goes on……America needs a kick in the ass just as it did back during the Revolution…..either come together or lose everything we have worked for for a couple hundred years.

I will do my part and I ask anyone worried about our country do the same….we can make a difference if we try.

Do what you can…..and DO IT NOW!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”