What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[grumbler]

(snip)
  Sure, Donald.

The Donald is following an old pattern to the letter:

A new CEO was hired to take over a struggling company. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. "Open these if you run into serious trouble," he said.

Well, three months later sales and profits were still way down and the new CEO was catching a lot of heat. He began to panic but then he remembered the envelopes. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read, "Blame your predecessor." The new CEO called a press conference and explained that the previous CEO had left him with a real mess and it was taking a bit longer to clean it up than expected, but everything was on the right track. Satisfied with his comments, the press – and Wall Street – responded positively.

Another quarter went by and the company continued to struggle. Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, "Reorganize." So he fired key people, consolidated divisions and cut costs everywhere he could. This he did and Wall Street, and the press, applauded his efforts.

Three months passed and the company was still short on sales and profits. The CEO would have to figure out how to get through another tough earnings call. The CEO went to his office, closed the door and opened the third envelope. The message said, "Prepare three envelopes."

[Jacob]

Jesus Christ. What a pathetic courtier even as a joke.

Graham is the spineless coward on earth.

Admit it:  if this had been posted by The Onion, you'd have laughed.

Yeah, on the face of it it is comical, yes.

The problem is that humour is also a political tool. There's the whole cycle where something stupid and evil first appears as a joke, then as an idea only fringe idiots believe for real, then it's a proposal, then it's a tenuous and contentious policy, and eventually it's the new status quo.

Admittedly, this particular thing is not going to happen. But it still feeds the narrative of Trump's "divine right" to rule, which already is disturbingly present in his rhetorical push towards dictatorship.

[crazy canuck]

(snip)
  Sure, Donald.

The Donald is following an old pattern to the letter:

A new CEO was hired to take over a struggling company. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. "Open these if you run into serious trouble," he said.

Well, three months later sales and profits were still way down and the new CEO was catching a lot of heat. He began to panic but then he remembered the envelopes. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read, "Blame your predecessor." The new CEO called a press conference and explained that the previous CEO had left him with a real mess and it was taking a bit longer to clean it up than expected, but everything was on the right track. Satisfied with his comments, the press – and Wall Street – responded positively.

Another quarter went by and the company continued to struggle. Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, "Reorganize." So he fired key people, consolidated divisions and cut costs everywhere he could. This he did and Wall Street, and the press, applauded his efforts.

Three months passed and the company was still short on sales and profits. The CEO would have to figure out how to get through another tough earnings call. The CEO went to his office, closed the door and opened the third envelope. The message said, "Prepare three envelopes."

Yeah, I love that one

[Zanza]

President Donald Trump wants the oil and gas industry to "drill, baby, drill" in pursuit of his energy dominance agenda, but the companies involved in the actual drilling and servicing of wells have instead taken a beating during his first 100 days in office.

U.S. crude oil prices have fallen below $65 per barrel, down more than 20% since Trump's second term began, making it unprofitable for many companies to boost production, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

https://news.google.com/read/CBMipAFBVV95cUxNb25RNW5GSnl2eHVwR0pFMjFfVm9fS1Npc1VDYnlvYktuU2I5RHJuREhpOW5pblhhSkFpMThYLWs5cTVQY3VtN3ZQU2VNS01mNU5TX0xsdEZ6NGp2dTdtSnpuZnNiSWM2b3pnNzZGZG5HN1I2VWxqZnYwQkJ4R1lvRHh5Ry12c3JyMk4xUFllZHlreUxqS0hfU1pDNjV3YVF1bUgwR9IBqgFBVV95cUxOc0ktOHFULXJRR1RHenZFWXhTSHFiWnJBeVlNUDNSbl9nUUVKbzA2MmRYWXV3RHJwcnh4VUctVDNQYnR6d1lEU19WMEk0NVRwMUZFbWtDekJDY1ZlaUJ0eWZzZFFHQXFxVm0xbHVxX21SeEFBcWtPOE42XzljTGhZa3JDZHU3UUpKMlNJSXYwRWdKV1d4NEVfdC1yWjJjbmVtLXM3MUhkaHRCdw?hl=en-GB&gl=GB&ceid=GB%3Aen


Is there any sector in the US that profits from Trump? Private prisons maybe?

[The Minsky Moment]

It was often pointed out during the campaign that Trump's pledges to vastly expand US oil and gas production while also pledging to reduce oil and gas prices were inconsistent.  The US is a higher cost producer than most of OPEC, especially for marginal demand barrels, so lower prices will almost always suppress US-based production.

That's what you get when you pick the UPenn grad who skipped all his classes.

[Valmy]

I never understood the "drill, baby, drill" for that reason. So you flood the market with oil and gas, tank the price, and make it unprofitable to drill? Seems dumb.

I mean, I like it because it fucks over Russia and company. But it seems bad as an energy policy.

[Tamas]

I never understood the "drill, baby, drill" for that reason. So you flood the market with oil and gas, tank the price, and make it unprofitable to drill? Seems dumb.

I mean, I like it because it fucks over Russia and company. But it seems bad as an energy policy.

It's got to be one of the owning the libs thing. Lefties want to go green energy? Then drill baby, drill!

[Valmy]

It's got to be one of the owning the libs thing. Lefties want to go green energy? Then drill baby, drill!

Oh for sure. I just never understood why big petroleum supports these politicians who are advocating for policies that actively hurt their interests.

Big oil does great under Democrats, always have.

[Solmyr]

Jesus Christ. What a pathetic courtier even as a joke.

Graham is the spineless coward on earth.

Admit it:  if this had been posted by The Onion, you'd have laughed.

Yeah, on the face of it it is comical, yes.

The problem is that humour is also a political tool. There's the whole cycle where something stupid and evil first appears as a joke, then as an idea only fringe idiots believe for real, then it's a proposal, then it's a tenuous and contentious policy, and eventually it's the new status quo.

Admittedly, this particular thing is not going to happen. But it still feeds the narrative of Trump's "divine right" to rule, which already is disturbingly present in his rhetorical push towards dictatorship.

The problem is also that the right these days has turned joking into a defense for saying batshit insane stuff. They say something crazy, and if it's not taken well, they screech "I'm joking, can't you take a joke?".

[The Minsky Moment]

I never understood the "drill, baby, drill" for that reason. So you flood the market with oil and gas, tank the price, and make it unprofitable to drill? Seems dumb.

The oil cos will back any deregulation that lowers their costs by at least a penny.  So if drilling on national park land allows them to access barrels for a few cents cheaper than somewhere else, sure they will back that.  It doesn't mean overall production will increase.

[The Minsky Moment]

Without Trump's fight against Fentanyl one in three Americans would be dead by now! 

She didn't say *human* lives.
A single human being probably has a least that many microbes and such in their body.

[Savonarola]

  Now that would be caesaropapism. 

Although I think they're doing it wrong; Eric should be the pope and Don Jr. the heir apparent - like Leo X and Piero the Unfortunate respectively.  (Oh and I have a great idea how to resolve that crisis and improve public morality at the same time  .)

[The Minsky Moment]

Quotations from bond investors attending a meeting with Trump's chair of Council of Economic Advisors

"He got questions and that's when it all fell apart. When you're with an audience that knows a lot, the talking points are taken apart pretty quickly."

The US dollar's role in international markets gives the US a lot more leeway, but there definitely is a Liz Truss-sized credibility gap in the markets.