The Trump Presidency

[jfb]

Yee - and let me stress this - ha:

New York (CNN Business)US stocks opened sharply lower on Monday as investors grew concerned that the emergency policy measures by global central banks over the weekend meant the economy is in much worse shape than previously believed.

Instead of soothing the markets, another emergency interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve had the opposite effect.
The S&P 500 opened down 8.1%. The index hit a circuit breaker after falling more than 7%. Trading is now halted for 15 minutes.
The Dow opened 9.7%, or 2,250 points, lower and the Nasdaq Composite fell 6.1%.

And as soon as the market stands up again, bloodied and broken after falling off a 300 foot cliff, the sonafabitch will be right there to take credit in all caps.  Because that's just what he is. 

[Zakalwe]

And as soon as the market stands up again, bloodied and broken after falling off a 300 foot cliff, the sonafabitch will be right there to take credit in all caps.  Because that's just what he is.

And his supporters and cheerleaders will whoop and holler about what a great guy he is. The cognitive dissonance is strong in them.

[gillianren]

And Gods forbid the money they pump into the market could instead go to making sure low-income people can actually stay home without worrying about being starving and homeless--they're even planning to still go ahead with SNAP cuts.

[Peter B]

And Gods forbid the money they pump into the market could instead go to making sure low-income people can actually stay home without worrying about being starving and homeless--they're even planning to still go ahead with SNAP cuts.

Just to provide a point of comparison, one part of the Australian Government's stimulus program is $750 payments to people on benefits - unemployed, pensioners and carers. Sure, it's a small part in comparison to the part helping businesses to keep people employed. But it's hard to see what would happen with that $750 other than...it's going to get spent, and generally spent locally, which will help local businesses: by and large the recipients of this handout aren't people looking to top up superannuation accounts, they're people with essentially no savings and the money will help pay a few bills and let them top up the pantry. (And remember, Australia has an essentially conservative government.)

[gillianren]

I'm on Social Security disability.  There are two types, SSI and SSDI.  SSI is for people without much work history, and it's the version I'm on--and I get $750 or so a month myself.  Which is definitely not enough to pay for my expenses.  I forget what my share of the money would've come to, but I definitely could've used it.

[Bryanpoprobson]

Meanwhile in la la land.

[grmcdorman]

This upsets me. Up until this crisis, I've been mostly eye-rolling at the antics of Trump and his coterie, but now with his plans for "back to normal" (hah) by Easter he's basically planning to kill vast numbers of people - and I'm in Canada, one of the two the countries most directly affected by his madness. And his approval rating is high (well, for him, at around 46%). This is insane.

And in that picture, the people around the man (don't know him, I assume he's something like the Governor of Florida?) are not practising the social distancing required now.

:shudder:

[JayUtah]

And in that picture, the people around the man (don't know him, I assume he's something like the Governor of Florida?)...

It's a scene from the movie Jaws.  They've closed the beaches because of the shark, and the locals are anxious to get back to business as usual.  The man in the picture is the mayor.

[grmcdorman]

Ah. I wouldn't have known that, I've not seen the movie (and it's not the sort that would appeal to me). The ironic thing is that fictional mayor is actually saner than some of the idiots in power now; a shark doesn't exponentially increase the number of its victims over time. Trump's "packed churches at Easter" is basically "let's see how fast we can make it spread". :mad:

[JayUtah]

Ah. I wouldn't have known that, I've not seen the movie (and it's not the sort that would appeal to me).

The shark looks pretty fake.

[gillianren]

The shark is actually barely in the movie, because it didn't work very well.

[smartcooky]

Ah. I wouldn't have known that, I've not seen the movie (and it's not the sort that would appeal to me).

The shark looks pretty fake.

Yeah, Marty McFly agrees...

[MBDK]

Yeah, Marty McFly agrees...

True, in words, but then why was he cowering and screaming in terror?  Just sayin'...

[jfb]

Ah. I wouldn't have known that, I've not seen the movie (and it's not the sort that would appeal to me).

The shark looks pretty fake.

It does now.  45 years ago it looked real enough to give me nightmares for weeks.

It is a damned good movie, though, and well worth watching.

Something that didn’t make it from the book to the movie is how mobbed up the town council was, and how that played a role.  IIRC, Mayor Vaughn was up to his eyeballs in debt, and Brody and his family were directly being threatened over his wanting to close the beaches.

Which feels strangely relevant now.

[Obviousman]

How long before Trump boasts that they have more COVID-19 cases than anywhere else in the world?