Summations Only

There's a good editorial in today's New York Times (The Peculiar Populism of Donald Trump) that explains how the left lost its working-man's base. As people grow more affluent their concerns evolve from the basics of living to less immediate concerns like the environment and LGBT rights, and the left evolved right along with them, to the point where they no longer seemed to represent the concerns of the working man.But Trump doesn't represent the working man, either. His populism *feels* like it speaks for the common man, but in reality all Trump promised was to make the United States the baddest-ass country in the world, one that would be respected or else. This evidently has some strong appeal, but it contains no economic promise.How fast will the common man wake up? Will it happen when his insurance disappears? When his fishing streams disappear? When a highway rumbles through his back yard? When his clean water dries up? Who knows. Trump is a populist with an amazing ability to convince people he's on their side.--PercyEdited by Percy, : Grammar.

In some unexpectedly good news on the foreign affairs front, Trump says he will not lift Russian sanctions until Russia leaves the Crimea and stops destabilizing the Ukraine, and that Israel should stop expanding West Bank settlements beyond current boundaries because it hurts the chances for peace, and that sanctions on Iran would be about the same as those planned by the Obama administration.There's hope for this administration, perhaps, at least in foreign affairs?--Percy

The Republicans keep failing to learn history and the rest of the country keeps paying for it. The 2008 financial meltdown was just the most recent crisis, and it happened for reasons we know very well because they've happened before: insufficient cushions built into the financial system.While the reasons for each crisis differ, that there will be financial crises is one thing we can be sure of. That's why we have laws about financial reserves that the Republican periodically role back, forcing us to relearn the lessons of the past all over again, that robust financial institutions are essential to a strong and healthy economy.Banks are required to keep on hand a certain percentage of deposits as insurance against stresses in the financial system, and those reserves are not available for making loans or employing in other money-making ways, so Banks would prefer to dedicate as few funds to reserves as possible, but it was lack of sufficient reserves that caused the financial crisis of 2008.Now the Republicans in congress are working to roll back Dodd-Frank, the set of financial rules the Obama administration put in place to restore faith in the financial system that collapsed due to the mortgage security scandal. Who knows when the next financial crisis will come, but we can be sure that it *will* come because there's always another financial crisis, and when it does we'll again be just as vulnerable as we were in 2008. And who will pay for it? Not the financial fat cats, that's for sure. We'll pay for it again in the form of government bailouts, just like we did in 2008.--Percy

Just a brief topic reminder: this thread is to be a rational and fact-based discussion of the Trump presidency, not a left vs. right wrangle.--Percy

But this is a great example of why Trump worries so many. The large increase in the national debt as a percentage of GDP during the Obama years (continuing a trend begun during the Bush administration) was made necessary by the bailouts, stimulus programs and assistance programs put in place after the financial collapse, which occurred because of Republican rollbacks of Glass-Steagal regulations during the Bush years, and which was the worst recession since the Great Depression.The 2008 financial collapse made clear the necessity of regulations like Glass-Steagal, and so they were replaced by the Dodd-Frank regulations during the Obama years, but Trump wants to roll them back, exposing us to the risk of another financial collapse in the future. I think the decline in new business starts is less a result of regulations than of the lack of availability of loan money. The Dodd-Frank financial controls are in part responsible because they force banks to carry greater reserves, making less money available for loans, particularly for the more risky loans associated with new businesses. The rollbacks Trump envisions should make loan money more available, but it also exposes us to greater risks of financial stresses bringing on another collapse. I hope the rollbacks are done carefully. I don't hate Trump either. He's scary because he's uninformed, undisciplined, uncaring, vindictive and impulsive, characteristics made all the more clear by his incredible record during his short time in office. He's caused turmoil, fear and confusion in almost everything he's done, foreign affairs and immigration in particular. Trade is another area where Trump is so scary. Trade is not a problem, it's a benefit. Free trade makes all countries wealthier. It is a true dilemma that our high wages cause low-skill manufacturing jobs to flee overseas to lower wage venues, but high wages and low-skill jobs cannot coexist. Low-skill manufacturing jobs will only stage a comeback in the US when Americans begin accepting $4/hour wages, and I don't think anyone sees that happening anytime soon. Trumps attacks on free trade will only make economic conditions worse. Certainly they will cause higher prices. Well, yes, he did, but grant me some hyperbole in making a point. Certainly what he viewed as making America great again was a big part of his message, given that it was his campaign slogan and all. Is that what you think Trump is doing when he's insulting and terrifying allies, escalating tensions, and stranding helpless families overseas? Maybe you didn't hear, but House Republicans, on the assumption that Trump will sign the bill, passed legislation wiping out the Stream Protection Rule that prevents coal companies from dumping slag and waste into rivers and streams. Trump's dismal first couple weeks didn't happen because of the news media. It doesn't take the news media to show Mr. Bombast and Ignorance for what he is. I grew up in New Jersey across the water from New York City - I'm very familiar with Trump from way, way back, and his recent behavior as both campaigner and president give me no reason to change my mind.--Percy

Yes he speaks his mind, not only without filters but without knowledge. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to detect his many demonstrations of ignorance and lack of experience. It's why his administration has already caused an incredible amount of turmoil within the White House, within the country, and around the world. Trump's reality show experience has given him the ability to play to an audience but not the knowledge and skill to run a nation.This has already become so painfully obvious that no one, Trump supporter or not, can pretend it hasn't happened. Anyone who is unaware that this is no way to run a country isn't deserving of an opinion. Ruling by decree is what happens in dictatorships, and causing turmoil and tension through simple ignorance and naivet is what happens when a charlatan is given the reins of power, witness Berlusconi in Italy.Is what's going on with the Trump administration what Trump supporters really want to see? These are the acts of someone who makes them feel like the country is in good hands? Has there ever been a presidential performance like this in the history of the country? Well, yes, Nixon, but not until he began being confronted with the problems of Watergate. (It's interesting that Nixon lost the presidency because of a break-in at DNC headquarters, and now no one gets punished when thousands of confidential DNC emails are released.) A sad commentary.--Percy

Trump has backtracked on the timetable for replacing Obamacare, but that's a good thing. In a Sunday interview he said that it would take until the end of the year and on into next year to replace Obamacare. He said it would be a "wonderful plan." (Trump: ObamaCare plan could take until next year)But will Obamacare become a financial albatross to the government before then? Sign-ups are down already this year, probably in reaction to Trump's earlier declarations that it would be replaced quickly. Diminished participation might make Obamacare financially unsound.--Percy

You would have done well to look up Glass-Steagal before replying. The 2008 financial collapse did not occur because rolling back Glass-Steagal reduced the size and scope of government. It happened because Glass-Steagal placed reserve requirements on banks (it did other things, too) to ensure the stability of the financial system across good times and bad. When bad times came in the form of the mortgage security fraud the financial industry had insufficient reserves to shore itself up and had to be bailed out by the government. The 9/11 terrorist attacks were not economic events, though naturally there were financial repercussions. There was no financial collapse associated with them. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were both victims of the financial collapse and only minor perpetrators, which occurred because of speculation by banks on mortgage-backed securities. The ratings agencies were also culpable, giving mortgage backed securities far higher ratings than they merited, causing banks to calculate lower reserves than they actually needed, and to be able to justify those reserve levels to regulators. I think you're confused. Glass-Steagal and Dodd-Frank are financial laws, not environmental. I don't want to get into an argument concerning Frank's degree of culpability in the collapse of mortgage-backed security market, but will note that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were minor players. The big players were mortgage companies like Countrywide. As demand for mortgage-backed securities increased at banks, companies like Countrywide tried to fill the demand by writing low-doc and no-doc mortgages whose values tended to be overstated compared to the actual values. Trump should be given credit for following through on campaign promises, but he's doing it incredibly clumsily. The turmoil he's causing in immigration and foreign affairs is not manufactured by the news media. It is very real. We have to live in this environment for a long time, so we'd better keep it clean. We breath the air fed by coal smoke, and we drink the water where big coal dumps it's waste. To be economically viable coal must develop cost-effective ways of cleaning their smoke and cleaning up their waste. Trump made the news regularly in the tri-state area where I grew up. He made the news when he discriminated against black tenants. He made the news when first he built casinos in Atlantic City and later abandoned them. I formed my opinions of Trump long, long ago, and nothing he's done since would cause me to change those opinions. He's arrogant, opinionated, uncaring, divisive, and cares about no one but himself.--PercyEdited by Percy, : Grammar.Edited by Percy, : Clarify writing at end of 5th paragraph.

At a minimum it was reported in both the New York Times and CNN, front page stuff. I see that even Breitbart news reported it.Trump lies. We should have buttons made up.--Percy

Glad to hear it. Your comments about the environment and about financial collapses not being associated with a reduction in regulation made it seem like you hadn't a clue, and you still seem to be having trouble grasping the significance of Glass-Steagal and Dodd-Frank. Both included the same goal of increasing reserve requirements to create a financial cushion for banks so they wouldn't collapse during hard times. Instead of reading the bills why don't you read the summaries at Wikipedia. It didn't show up in the aggregate. Here's a graph of GDP/capita. Look at the difference between what happened after 9/11 (nothing) and what happened after the 2008 financial collapse (major downturn): The point is that Glass-Steagal prevented things that had been typical of recessions (what they called panics because of things like runs on the banks, which we don't see any more because of financail regulations). But Republicans rolled back key provisions of Glass-Steagal, and within a few years we had the mortgage-security driven financial collapse. Dodd-Frank was put in it's place to prevent a recurrence, and now Republicans want to roll back Dodd-Frank. Not a good idea. The topic was Glass-Steagal, Dodd-Frank and financial regulations that prevent financial collapse. While environmental regulations put financial burdens on industry, there's no connection to financial collapses. And we need the environment to be clean - we have to live here. Well, now you're just making things up. There was no government pressure. The driving force for the mortgage security frauds was demand by banks for more paper, and that demand came from clients who couldn't buy enough of this profitable supposedly low risk paper. There's not much you can disagree about. Trump already has a record like no president before him. You can't deny the turmoil he's caused in immigration and foreign affairs, and now he's causing confusion in healthcare, too. Are they going to kill Obamacare or replace it. Whatever they do, are they going to do it now, later this year, or next year? The sign up period for the next year is now - what are people supposed to do? And you know this how? Especially the "charitable things that never get reported." Uh, because of his narcissism?--PercyEdited by Percy, : Typos.

Has Trump no sense of propriety, no sense of presidential dignity and decorum?Apparently not, because now, after going after judges, the media and even photographs, he's going after...Nordstrum. They dropped the Ivanka Trump line. It wouldn't be surprising if T.J. Maxx and Marshalls were next on Trump's wrath list, as last week they took down all Ivanka Trump signs and moved her products out with the other merchandise on the floor.I think many were hoping that Trump would undergo some sort of period of on-the-job training and gradually grow if not into the presidency at least closer to it, but the early signs are not good. We all expected Trump to push conservative positions and policies, but also that he would abandon his clownish campaign persona and proceed presidentially with forethought instead of blundering about like a catawampus warthog. He seems doggedly determined to frenetically and serially flub and muff.--Percy

A week or so ago Trump ordered the Labor Department to review the Obama rule requiring financial advisers to make customer interests their top priority above any other considerations (though approved last year it has yet to take effect). In the meantime, in response to a third court challenge another judge has found the rule valid, but now Trump has ordered an additional 180 day delay of implementation of the rule while inviting public comment. Compared to other Trump actions, this seems a measured and sensible approach.The financial industry objects strongly to the rule because they believe it would negatively influence their ability to give advice to clients who cannot pay for it because agent income could only derive from the financial instruments they sell (fee-based mutual funds, annuities, etc.), so agents might decline servicing such clients. This sounds to me like an excuse to give bad financial advice to poor clients, and so I hope public comment on the Obama rule is positive.--Percy

The regulation requires that agents make potential remuneration to themselves a secondary rather than primary consideration. Their client's best interests should be kept first and foremost. It's intended to prevent the abuses that occur when agents sell investment vehicles that make them a lot of money without regard to their client's financial well being. Look up boiler room.If that still doesn't make sense then maybe I'm not explaining it well enough. It was just in the news over the past few days so there should be little difficultly looking up news articles that explain it better than I can. Try this one: Labor Department may seek delay of fiduciary rule: report--Percy

Speaking fees for politicians, ex or not, are part of the whole milieu of effects of the value of political influence. Speaking fees for ex-presidents, which would be Clinton, W Bush and Obama (I assume the elder Bush's health keeps him off the speaking circuit), are in the $100,000 range.--Percy

You're focused on the symptoms while I'm focused on the disease. If political influence were not so valuable then we wouldn't have symptoms like the high value of lobbying/lobbyists and of methods of establishing political connections. It isn't that I'm not concerned about high speaking fees for politicians because of course I am, but they're a symptom, not a cause. We need change that makes the saying "The best government money can buy" less true.--Percy