Trump

[Dan]

Obviously both affect cost/price structures.

Let's say it takes 2 people to process your order at McDonald's and their wages go from $8/hr. to $15/hr, a difference of $7/hr. If they process 100 orders in an hour, that would be $.14 per order to make up the $14/hr difference. Your $5 Value meal just bumped in price to $5.14. Probably closer to $5.20 since profits would be taken on the increased costs. That's a 4% increase. That extra $.20 you pay gets 2 people off of government assistance.

Compare that to buying a computer. The computer has something like a $400 cost for imported components (all of them) and you currently pay $500 for it. The 20% tariff adds $80. Now your computer costs $600. ($400 x 1.25 = $500. $480 x 1.25 = $600). That's a 20% increase in your cost.

Of the additional $100 you pay, $20 is profit and the other $80 goes - where? To the U.S. Treasury. That means you just paid $80 in, essentially, taxes in order to buy your computer. And another $20 in profit to the marketer.

Even with the tariff, it will still be cheaper to manufacture the computer, smart phone, television, etc. overseas, unless US wages are decreased to near the levels of the current countries of origin (mostly China). Factory workers in China average around 55,000 yuan/year, which is the equivalent of $8,300.

Trump is moving his production out of China and into Ethiopia because Chinese labor costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years. Ethiopia is much cheaper.

I'm no HR expert, but the cost of an emplyee is more than just wages paid to that employee. There are other costs such as social security, healthcare and other payroll taxes that the employer must absorb.

[jdshock]

Trump's Muslim ban doesn't apply to several countries where he has business interests. Trump supporters pre-election were adamant Clinton was in the pocket of Saudi Arabia and that Saudi Arabia was obviously an evil country. Now, they are trying to come up with reasons Suadi Arabia, Egypt, etc. should be excluded from the ban.

[Kung Wu]

Seems like a good place to start.

lol

[shock]

Trump's Muslim ban doesn't apply to several countries where he has business interests. Trump supporters pre-election were adamant Clinton was in the pocket of Saudi Arabia and that Saudi Arabia was obviously an evil country. Now, they are trying to come up with reasons Suadi Arabia, Egypt, etc. should be excluded from the ban.

No, the clinton foundation had taken huge donations from several governments when it looked like she was a shoe-in for president. If they were involved with the humanitarian efforts of the Clinton Foundation, wouldn't countries still be donating instead of letting the CF dry up, pretty much wasting the former contributions?

Furthermore, the Clinton way of doing business and the Trump way of doing business are vastly different. The Clintons got rich post-fame and because of political service. Their first big money grab was when Bill outlawed R-12 in favor of R-134a. The makers of R134a were on the verge of bankruptcy when the Clinton Administration swooped in and outlawed R-12. It kept fairly quiet and didn't effect anyone too much. They just had to simply buy their product from a different source. It required no change to existing A/C equipment. What they didn't tell you was buying a massive amount of stock in R-134a was one of the Clintons first forrays into Wallstreet. Wouldn't it be nice to buy stock in a one of the only companies that make the only alternative to a substance "harmful to the enviornment" and happen to have the power to unilaterally ensure the overnight boom in your otherwise stupid investment?


Tell me again how Trump uses the Oval Office to make himself rich.

[wsushox1]

So, the National Security Council re-alignment doesn't scare anyone?

[ShockingButTrue]

No, the clinton foundation had taken huge donations from several governments when it looked like she was a shoe-in for president. If they were involved with the humanitarian efforts of the Clinton Foundation, wouldn't countries still be donating instead of letting the CF dry up, pretty much wasting the former contributions?

Furthermore, the Clinton way of doing business and the Trump way of doing business are vastly different. What they didn't tell you was buying a massive amount of stock in R-134a was one of the Clintons first forrays into Wallstreet. Wouldn't it be nice to buy stock in a one of the only companies that make the only alternative to a substance "harmful to the enviornment" and happen to have the power to unilaterally ensure the overnight boom in your otherwise stupid investment?


Tell me again how Trump uses the Oval Office to make himself rich.

That's why that witch lost. "Lock her up!"

[shock]

So, the National Security Council re-alignment doesn't scare anyone?

I survived 8 years of Obama. Nothing scares me anymore.

[SB Shock]

So, the National Security Council re-alignment doesn't scare anyone?

Trump national security team is very solid, even McCain admits that.

The reorganization was bound to happen. We think of the NSC from TV being this small group of men and women sitting around the table advising the president. Actually the National Security Council has become a 400 member bureaucracy that many were complaining had gotten to big and need to be reformed. So big that Obama didn't really use the NSC and would bypass them for his tighter circle for important decisions (NSC wasn't involved in the Iranian Nuclear deal).

The specific issue that McCain has complained about is with the JCS/DNI being optional at NSC meetings. I believe it has been clarified that the JCS and the DNI are invited to attend any meeting they have, but their extended staff are not invited unless there is specific direct invitation is extended. It looks like it meant to try and streamline decision making, probably less leaks.

[shockmonster]

Trump's Muslim ban doesn't apply to several countries where he has business interests. Trump supporters pre-election were adamant Clinton was in the pocket of Saudi Arabia and that Saudi Arabia was obviously an evil country. Now, they are trying to come up with reasons Suadi Arabia, Egypt, etc. should be excluded from the ban.

You call it a Muslim ban but don't mention Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Azherbijan, Etc. etc. You are not mentioning many Muslim countries that are neither in the ban nor are countries where there is a Trump golf course.

[1979Shocker]

I survived 8 years of Obama. Nothing scares me anymore.

I, myself, did pretty good during the Obama 8 years. I didn't lose my job. I didn't have any big tax increases. If anything, they went down slightly. I didn't have any big consumer increases (food, utilities, etc.). My 401k increased significantly (about 200% or so), which doesn't even include what I put into it.

If Trump stays in office for 8 years and the market goes up another 200-250% like it did during the Obama 8 years, then I'll be satisfied.

That 200-250% increase in the stock market depends on who you talk to. In a poll taken by PPP last year, the question was asked if the stock market went up or down during Obama's 8 years in office. The results are interesting. When they broke out the results into the different groups, the majority agreed that the stock market went up, except for one group. That group were Trump voters. Only 41% of them thought the stock market went up during Obama's 8 years.

It's even worse if you look at unemployment. 67% of Trump voters think that unemployment increase during Obama's 8 years, while 20% think it decreased.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2016/12/trump-remains-unpopular-voters-prefer-obama-on-scotus-pick.html

[jdshock]

You call it a Muslim ban but don't mention Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Azherbijan, Etc. etc. You are not mentioning many Muslim countries that are neither in the ban nor are countries where there is a Trump golf course.

The best part about your post is that Trump has hotel deals in place in Indonesia and Azerbaijan.

I don't really know what the point of your post is, though. Do you think it should be a wider net? Should we be including countries like Malaysia that have literally never been included in a discussion surrounding things like 9/11? I just don't get how you can be irrationally afraid of Syrian Muslims but think Saudi Arabian or Egyptian Muslims are all good.

[Eric]

Facts no longer matter. Say what ever you want and there will be people who believe it.

[John Higgins]

Trump didn't choose the 7 countries, Obama did. His administration passed the Visa Waiver Program and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. If you read Trump's executive order the only country listed is Syria. You ask why is Saudi Arabia not listed? The Trump administration wanted this ban implemented immediately and those 7 countries had already passed congress with travel restrictions. If you were to add Saudi Arabia or others it could be held up for months on the floor. Implement what you can right now and add to it later if needed. This had nothing to do with conflicts of interest on Trump's part.

[ShockingButTrue]

Trump didn't choose the 7 countries, Obama did. His administration passed the Visa Waiver Program and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. If you read Trump's executive order the only country listed is Syria. You ask why is Saudi Arabia not listed? The Trump administration wanted this ban implemented immediately and those 7 countries had already passed congress with travel restrictions. If you were to add Saudi Arabia or others it could be held up for months on the floor. Implement what you can right now and add to it later if needed. This had nothing to do with conflicts of interest on Trump's part.

Good call.

[jdshock]

Trump didn't choose the 7 countries, Obama did. His administration passed the Visa Waiver Program and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015. If you read Trump's executive order the only country listed is Syria. You ask why is Saudi Arabia not listed? The Trump administration wanted this ban implemented immediately and those 7 countries had already passed congress with travel restrictions. If you were to add Saudi Arabia or others it could be held up for months on the floor. Implement what you can right now and add to it later if needed. This had nothing to do with conflicts of interest on Trump's part.

Why would Trump's executive order have been held up on the Congress floor?

Edit: do you mean that the travel restrictions gave the president authority to use an executive order to ban all travel from those countries? That's a very interesting point, if so.