A short video I did from work April 4th immediately caused a response from a #NeverTrump follower. But first, the first thing I thought of when he engaged in this worse case scenario the DAY OF the tariff war against China — because this was all about getting our allies to be fairer with us with their own markets as well as getting them on the same page against China — were the price of eggs. (POWERLINE – April 4th is when I posted this April 2nd story on my sites FB):
Democrats thought they had a great issue in the high price of eggs, due mostly to avian bird flu. In January, they were touting record-high egg prices as proof of the failure of Trump’s administration–even though the figures released in January were for December, before Trump’s inauguration.
Weirdly, the Democrats’ harping on eggs has continued even as the price has plummeted, as in this LA Times column, published on March 8:
As their party struggles to navigate the early days of Donald Trump’s second presidency, some Democrats are convinced that their road to recovery lies in the price of eggs.
Instead of leaning into Trump’s tear-down of the federal government or his alliance with billionaire lieutenant Elon Musk, they’re steering to what they perceive as the everyday concerns of Americans — none more important than grocery prices and eggs in particular.
U.S. egg prices hit a record average of $4.95 per dozen in January, surpassing a previous record set in January 2023, according to federal data.
Meanwhile, what has actually happened to the price of eggs:
What was it that cartoon villains used to say? Curses, foiled again! It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for the Democrats. They apparently are left with no better strategy than torching Teslas.
I also posted this graphic March 14th with this comment:
- If the Left thought the argument in February was effective – egg prices being higher than when Trump took office – what does that do to the argument now that egg prices are lower slightly than when Trump took office? (FYI, egg prices will rise temporarily as we get into April. BTW, if you do not know why, have a kid, or go to church. Preferably both.)
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Similar to the idea above… Tim Walz is having an aneurism today. But the upside is that his states investment portfolio is involved in Tesla stock:
Which brings me to my #NeverTrumper thorn. Here is his day-of comments with mine:
JIM G: How bad will it have to get before you admit that Trump’s tariff’s are absolutely foolish? How much of a YTD decline in the Dow, S&P 500, or Nasdaq would make you admit that he doesn’t understand basic economics? Give me a number. Would a 25% decline be enough?
RPT:uhm, okay… you got me. One day in. I give up. 😆
JIM G: how many days we’re into the tariffs (1 day) or into the new administration (over 2 months now) is irrelevant. Give me a number at which point you would say, “Uh oh. Maybe he doesn’t know what he’s doing. This is really bad.”
RPT: let’s see where we are at after 8 years of Vance. 😉
JIM G: you can’t answer my simple question, can you? Why would anyone want 8 years of Vance? That would be adding more lies, incompetence, arrogance, pride, and foolishness on top of the lies, ignorance, foolishness, and lies we already have had with Trump.
RPT: you are in the minority of #NeverTrumpers
The best way to express what happened is by comparing it to something that happened in elementary schools when my boys went. There was a time when my sone could bring invites to his birthday party to a few friends. But school administrators said this was unfair, so the new rule was the birthday child had to invite the entire class.
The same with wanting to checking China’s ambitions and hurting them in their war against us. Because they are part of the World Trade Organization, the United States just couldn’t raise tariffs against China alone. So we had to raise tariffs on the world. (This of course had it’s benefits as well with countries wanting to have free trade for reals.) But as soon as China responded with tariffs of their own, the U.S. had carte blanche to deal with China as we see fit.
So, the stock market and DOW have made some comebacks already… this will be a long term goal to fight China’s war with the West. So ups and downs will be expected. But the immediacy and not understanding the goals and pigeon holing the outcome literally in the first days is – well – someone with TDS would do.
A good book on the whole issue?
For more than forty years, the United States has played an indispensable role helping the Chinese government build a booming economy, develop its scientific and military capabilities, and take its place on the world stage, in the belief that China’s rise will bring us cooperation, diplomacy, and free trade. But what if the “China Dream” is to replace us, just as America replaced the British Empire, without firing a shot?
Based on interviews with Chinese defectors and newly declassified, previously undisclosed national security documents, The Hundred-Year Marathon reveals China’s secret strategy to supplant the United States as the world’s dominant power, and to do so by 2049, the one-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. Michael Pillsbury, a fluent Mandarin speaker who has served in senior national security positions in the U.S. government since the days of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, draws on his decades of contact with the “hawks” in China’s military and intelligence agencies and translates their documents, speeches, and books to show how the teachings of traditional Chinese statecraft underpin their actions. He offers an inside look at how the Chinese really view America and its leaders – as barbarians who will be the architects of their own demise.
Pillsbury also explains how the U.S. government has helped – sometimes unwittingly and sometimes deliberately – to make this “China Dream” come true, and he calls for the United States to implement a new, more competitive strategy toward China as it really is, and not as we might wish it to be. The Hundred-Year Marathon is a wake-up call as we face the greatest national security challenge of the twenty-first century.
