Barackface: 16: Democracy

World War III Is Unnecessary
Grounded Greatness: The Case For Smart Surface Transit In Future Cities
The Garden Of Last Debates (novel)
Deported (novel)
Empty Country (novel)
Trump’s Default: The Mist Of Empire (novel)
The 20% Growth Revolution: Nepal’s Path to Prosperity Through Kalkiism
Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy
The $500 Billion Pivot: How the India-US Alliance Can Reshape Global Trade
Trump’s Trade War
Peace For Taiwan Is Possible
Formula For Peace In Ukraine
A 2T Cut
Are We Frozen in Time?: Tech Progress, Social Stagnation
The Last Age of War, The First Age of Peace: Lord Kalki, Prophecies, and the Path to Global Redemption
AOC 2028: : The Future of American Progressivism

Democratic Innovations: Reforming Representation and Governance https://t.co/XRTweKTFTx @sarahana @AOC @BernieSanders @ewarren @ZohranKMamdani @mm1124 @MiraPagliNair @_waleedshahid @saikatc @RepAOC @IlhanMN @RashidaTlaib @JamaalBowmanNY
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) July 16, 2025

Trump shares more details on his seemingly blatant plan to rig the 2026 elections

Reporter: Are you calling for a complete redraw of the Texas congressional map?

Trump: No, just a very simple redraw—we pick up five seats. A couple of other states where we will pick up seats also. pic.twitter.com/H2vDiB0ndE
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 15, 2025

Trump’s Trade War Is Starting to Raise Prices
Candace Owens to MAGA: Trump Thinks You’re ‘Stupid’
China's global popularity rises as US stumbles
Tim Cook is the best kind of CEO: Boring
White House eyeing five-seat GOP pickup in Texas in midterms as part of redistricting push

Forget TACO. Trump Is Winning His Trade War. The 90-day mark came and went a week ago, and there has been just one deal, with Britain, and concepts of deals, with Vietnam and Indonesia....... Trump himself never subscribed to this. He has been clear and single-minded about his goal: He wants tariffs, the higher the better. Whether that is achieved unilaterally or via deals is secondary. ....... But he never relinquished his 10% “baseline” tariff on almost all imports. When he first floated such a tariff on the campaign trail, it seemed like a worst-case scenario. Today, many trading partners now see that as a best-case scenario. ........ Including his tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, the average effective tariff on all U.S. imports as of July 2 was 13.4%, according to JPMorgan Chase. That’s below the April 9 peak, but well above the 2.3% last year, and the highest since the 1940s, before the U.S. and its allies set up the mechanisms to bring down world trade barriers. ......... Today, he leads the world’s largest economy with the largest military. Everyone else needs the U.S. more than vice versa, and Trump assumes that he can thus dictate terms and that others have to live with them. ........... Many of those checks and balances and norms are now gone. Trump claims the authority to raise tariffs on anyone and anything indefinitely for virtually any reason under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law intended to sanction adversaries such as Iran or Venezuela. One court has declared his use of it illegal; that decision has been stayed. ....... The absence of retaliation gives Republicans in Congress, who don’t share Trump’s fondness for tariffs on allies, less ability to oppose him. ........ For Trump, another disadvantage of deals is that in theory both sides are expected to abide by them. But Trump disdains such constraints and enjoys moving the goal posts. He hit Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs to make them crack down on fentanyl and illegal migration. They did, and Trump has threatened to raise tariffs further. He might consider new deals no more binding than his first-term pacts. .............. So Trump, at long last, has his tariffs, a free hand to raise them and little pressure to roll them back. But is that necessarily a good thing? Trump’s tariffs haven’t caused the feared recession, but nor have they yet to spark a manufacturing renaissance. Much of the tariff money pouring into Treasury comes out of the pockets of American companies and consumers. ........

Markets weakened Tuesday on signs tariffs are starting to show up in consumer prices.

...... Previous presidents pursued freer trade not because they were bad at deals but because for all its flaws, it made U.S. companies and workers more productive, consumers better off, and other countries (with the notable exception of China) more invested in U.S. leadership. Trump might emerge a winner from his trade wars; it remains to be seen if the U.S. will as well.

Warren warns Trump’s policies could lead to another economic crash
Elon Musk Fired 6,000 USDA Workers — The U.S. Is Now Confronting a Threat from Invasive Species and Financial Fallout
Millions told to halt outdoors activity in 7 states
After widespread slowdown, Port of LA import surge is a sign Trump’s ‘whipsaw’ tariffs sparked ‘one last’ stockpiling push, executive director says
The Brazilian rival to Boeing and Airbus warned that Trump's planned 50% tariffs will hit it as hard as COVID-19

The Palestinian Football Association has confirmed the killing of young Al-Sadaqa Club player, Zuheir Al-Hajj Ahmad, in a recent Israeli strike on Gaza.

With his death, the number of Palestinian footballers killed since October 2023 now exceeds 440. pic.twitter.com/dsytctL8LT
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) July 16, 2025

Barackface

Pages

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

16: Democracy

Markets weakened Tuesday on signs tariffs are starting to show up in consumer prices.

No comments: