4 ms·

There is no logic to it. It's just the US going insane and Americans nodding along. https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/04/02/no-vat-isnt-a-tariff-but-the-us-would-b

by lysace 2y ago

There is no logic to it. It's just the US going insane and Americans nodding along. https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/04/02/no-vat-isnt-a-tariff-but-the-us-would-benefit-from-adopting-it/ https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/04/02/no-vat-isnt-a-tariff-but... https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/news/are-value-added-taxes-a-barrier-to-trade/ https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/news/are-value-added-ta... https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/31/as-trump-reciprocal-tariffs-near-economists-say-vats-arent-trade-barrier.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/31/as-trump-reciprocal-tariffs-... etc, etc. The only reasonable reply as a consumer and/or cloud-service purchaser: Economic wide-scale boycott of the US.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
[flagged]
- tempestn 2y ago
  Half the voting population voted for Trump. Twice. You can't really paint it as a fringe minority.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    Oh, I’m not letting them off the hook. I’m just saying that these policies are broadly unpopular outside a specific slice of the Republican Party. That’s relevant to lawmakers wondering about their job security in 2026.
    - roenxi 2y ago
      That is missing the big picture. The US has a debt & deficit problem. There is no consensus policy on how to deal with it [0] and every slice of the population wants to handle it differently (generally by picking a different slice of the population to bear the burden). The federal government tried printing money and that was a big contributor to the Biden administration getting voted out. Somewhat unfairly, but oh well. It wasn't working very well and the political appetite isn't there right now to be associated with monetisation. Reducing the size and scope of government is being debated, but realistically the appetite doesn't seem to be there either. Now the administration are going to try taxing foreigners. It probably won't go well either. This is the US political process seeing a major problem and cycling through options to check for alternatives other than raising taxes on a voting constituency. None of the revenue raising ideas have widespread support - they all harm the economy and they're all going to have specific subsets of the population that support them. Pointing out a particular subset isn't particularly useful. [0] I suspect there is a consensus on the debt part - don't pay it - but that still leaves the deficit to sort out.
      - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > This is the US political process seeing a major problem and cycling through options to check for alternatives other than raising taxes on a voting constituency It’s the political process using a known problem to distract people. There is no intent to not take any new revenue or budget savings and convert it into more spending and/or tax cuts. We don’t have anyone in the government serious about deficit reduction. That’s clear in the policy proposals being put forward.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- brabel 2y ago
  I am not from the US but calling out a specific race, besides a specific gender, seems really messed up. You know, just swapping the races you don't like doesn't make you not a racist. Can't you guys get past the "race" issue, please?
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > calling out a specific race, besides a specific gender, seems really messed up One of the bright notes of the last few elections has been the racial depolarisation of politics in America. That said, we’re not in the endgame. You can still predict partisan (and subpartisan) affiliation by race plus one or two factors. Which is why we poll on that basis. In this case, there is one demographic that provides MAGA economic policies with oxygen. It falls along a specific race, gender and education axis—I don’t think it’s inappropriate to comment on that. > just swapping the races you don't like doesn't make you not a racist Sure. I don’t see how pointing out what a specific demographic did (qualified with a partisan lens) is derogatory.
- eterm 2y ago
  They're supported by every person who isn't taking action to stop it.
  - DangitBobby 2y ago
    Should we be going to the capital with guns or...?
    - blacklion 2y ago
      > Should we be going to the capital with guns or...? I always thought, that it is second amendment for, not for shooting is schools and malls.
      - 4ggr0 2y ago
        [dead]
    - tempestn 2y ago
      No, but at this point there should be mass protests. Deporting innocent people to El Salvadoran prison for life without due process? If people aren't (at least figuratively) up in arms about that, then what?
      - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > there should be mass protests Protests in blue cities will do nothing right now. We need to field candidates in primaries against complacent democrats. And we need protests in red districts (and apparently at Tesla dealerships, given that’s setting Musk off).
- zitsarethecure 2y ago
  My elderly next door neighbor told me she voted for Trump because she thought that's what her (now passed away) husband would have wanted.

by lysace 2y ago

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

[flagged]

tempestn 2y ago
Half the voting population voted for Trump. Twice. You can't really paint it as a fringe minority.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  Oh, I’m not letting them off the hook. I’m just saying that these policies are broadly unpopular outside a specific slice of the Republican Party. That’s relevant to lawmakers wondering about their job security in 2026.
  - roenxi 2y ago
    That is missing the big picture. The US has a debt & deficit problem. There is no consensus policy on how to deal with it [0] and every slice of the population wants to handle it differently (generally by picking a different slice of the population to bear the burden). The federal government tried printing money and that was a big contributor to the Biden administration getting voted out. Somewhat unfairly, but oh well. It wasn't working very well and the political appetite isn't there right now to be associated with monetisation. Reducing the size and scope of government is being debated, but realistically the appetite doesn't seem to be there either. Now the administration are going to try taxing foreigners. It probably won't go well either. This is the US political process seeing a major problem and cycling through options to check for alternatives other than raising taxes on a voting constituency. None of the revenue raising ideas have widespread support - they all harm the economy and they're all going to have specific subsets of the population that support them. Pointing out a particular subset isn't particularly useful. [0] I suspect there is a consensus on the debt part - don't pay it - but that still leaves the deficit to sort out.
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > This is the US political process seeing a major problem and cycling through options to check for alternatives other than raising taxes on a voting constituency It’s the political process using a known problem to distract people. There is no intent to not take any new revenue or budget savings and convert it into more spending and/or tax cuts. We don’t have anyone in the government serious about deficit reduction. That’s clear in the policy proposals being put forward.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
brabel 2y ago
I am not from the US but calling out a specific race, besides a specific gender, seems really messed up. You know, just swapping the races you don't like doesn't make you not a racist. Can't you guys get past the "race" issue, please?
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > calling out a specific race, besides a specific gender, seems really messed up One of the bright notes of the last few elections has been the racial depolarisation of politics in America. That said, we’re not in the endgame. You can still predict partisan (and subpartisan) affiliation by race plus one or two factors. Which is why we poll on that basis. In this case, there is one demographic that provides MAGA economic policies with oxygen. It falls along a specific race, gender and education axis—I don’t think it’s inappropriate to comment on that. > just swapping the races you don't like doesn't make you not a racist Sure. I don’t see how pointing out what a specific demographic did (qualified with a partisan lens) is derogatory.
eterm 2y ago
They're supported by every person who isn't taking action to stop it.
- DangitBobby 2y ago
  Should we be going to the capital with guns or...?
  - blacklion 2y ago
    > Should we be going to the capital with guns or...? I always thought, that it is second amendment for, not for shooting is schools and malls.
    - 4ggr0 2y ago
      [dead]
  - tempestn 2y ago
    No, but at this point there should be mass protests. Deporting innocent people to El Salvadoran prison for life without due process? If people aren't (at least figuratively) up in arms about that, then what?
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > there should be mass protests Protests in blue cities will do nothing right now. We need to field candidates in primaries against complacent democrats. And we need protests in red districts (and apparently at Tesla dealerships, given that’s setting Musk off).
zitsarethecure 2y ago
My elderly next door neighbor told me she voted for Trump because she thought that's what her (now passed away) husband would have wanted.