President Trump, A Formidable Candidate In 2024 Republican Primaries: Golden/TIPP Poll

[spookyturtle 9,465]

18 hours ago, LIBrty4all said:

I have no idea what Trump said about the election.  I know what I saw.  Go watch 2000 MULES and get back to me about a "legit" election.

No one rises to his level without some corruption (yes, I know, that's a VERY judgmental statement, but I believe it to be true of MANY rich folks.  Even Pelosi, though she's nowhere his level).  He is a NYC contractor/builder, not a true politician.  And as such, while I'm sure he has committed his fair of sins, I have ZERO confidence in 98% or more of our politicians the past 20 years or so.

Consider that he was fought against, lied about, and hated nearly every say of his term, mostly by dems, but even by some in his own party.  But in spite of that, here are some things he did.  Not included in this short list is the donation of his entire salary for the good of our nation.

https://www.nationandstate.com/2021/01/20/25-top-accomplishments-of-president-donald-j-trump/ 

I hate to use a cliche, but you reap what you sow. Yes, he donated his salary, for his own good. It probably made him 10x the amount he gave up. Ego, personal gain for himself and his wealthy friends.

[Dashinka 24,487]

30 minutes ago, spookyturtle said:

I hate to use a cliche, but you reap what you sow. Yes, he donated his salary, for his own good. It probably made him 10x the amount he gave up. Ego, personal gain for himself and his wealthy friends.

Isn’t that pretty much par for the course for the elite in DC?

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,370]

2 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

I hate to use a cliche, but you reap what you sow. Yes, he donated his salary, for his own good. It probably made him 10x the amount he gave up. Ego, personal gain for himself and his wealthy friends.

Btw good to have you back. It's good to have another moderate MOR here albeit you pull to the left sometime.

 

Fully agree Trumps is a self absorbed #######, but his policies were actually pretty moderate for a Republican president. I did not like him on a personal level and thought he said very un presidential stupid things, but most of his polices were spot on.  He was ok with amnesty if we closed the border 1st. Only sane policy. 

 

He was all about trying to bring jobs on shore, get us out of foreign wars and build energy independence.  What could be wrong with that.

 

Why would Biden shut down an ECO friendly pipe line that would deliver millions of gallons a day in favor of tankers that will burn massive amounts of fossil fuel and be much more prone to leaks.

 

[MarJhi 958]

2 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

I meant this was a Trump/GOP thread. There are other threads discussing Biden. 
 

Agreed, the vaccine was developed while Trump was President and promoted by Trump. That is a fact that seems to be overlooked. 
 

Gas prices are through the roof. Big oil is making record profits again. 
 

Grocery prices are atrocious, and the pack sizes are shrinking while the prices are increasing. Groceries have put a bigger hit on my budget than gas prices. And the gas prices suck. Lots of shortages at the supermarkets, too. 
 

I think this is much more than a US problem, it’s worldwide. Biden has nothing to do with the chip shortages in Taiwan and Trump had nothing to do with them when the supply was plentiful. The effects of Covid worldwide had a lot to do with what we are experiencing.

 

What happened to the supply of labor?  At least here in New England, there is a massive shortage of help. Where did everyone go? Literally every business large and small is looking for help. I work in construction, can’t find a truck driver for a job that pays $35-40 per hour. Can’t find mechanics/technicians. This includes companies like Caterpillar, Cummins, etc. 

The food prices that put a bigger hit on your budget than gas prices is a direct result of the gas prices. If it cost more to move the groceries through the supply chain then that fuel price increase gets passed on to the consumer at the grocery store. 

 

As for the labor shortage,  that's because a lot of people were paid to sit at home and many have not come back. Also, people were given an ultimatum about the vaccine, either take it or be let go. 2 weeks ago, some of the airlines had to cancel a bunch of flights because they "ran out of pilots", maybe they shouldn't have pushed the unvaccinated ones out. For the first time since the 70s the US Army has dropped the high school diploma or GED requirement because they can't meet their recruiting goals. The deadline for National Guard troops to be vaccinated passed the other day, now 40,000 Guard troops risk being let go. 

 

[spookyturtle 9,465]

15 minutes ago, MarJhi said:

The food prices that put a bigger hit on your budget than gas prices is a direct result of the gas prices. If it cost more to move the groceries through the supply chain then that fuel price increase gets passed on to the consumer at the grocery store. 

 

As for the labor shortage,  that's because a lot of people were paid to sit at home and many have not come back. Also, people were given an ultimatum about the vaccine, either take it or be let go. 2 weeks ago, some of the airlines had to cancel a bunch of flights because they "ran out of pilots", maybe they shouldn't have pushed the unvaccinated ones out. For the first time since the 70s the US Army has dropped the high school diploma or GED requirement because they can't meet their recruiting goals. The deadline for National Guard troops to be vaccinated passed the other day, now 40,000 Guard troops risk being let go. 

 

I’d like to know how the people sitting at home are surviving. The extra $600 a week unemployment benefit ended in July of 2020. That was 2 years ago. The extra $300 ended in September of 2021. No one out of work since 2020 or 2021 can still be collecting unemployment. I’d be curious to know how many people lost their jobs because of vaccine mandates. 
 

Obviously just about everything is affected by the cost of fuel. And here in New England, a lot of homes are heated by oil. Heating oil prices are currently about $3 gallon higher than they were 2 years ago. Another big hit to the paycheck. 

[spookyturtle 9,465]

1 hour ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

Btw good to have you back. It's good to have another moderate MOR here albeit you pull to the left sometime.

 

Fully agree Trumps is a self absorbed #######, but his policies were actually pretty moderate for a Republican president. I did not like him on a personal level and thought he said very un presidential stupid things, but most of his polices were spot on.  He was ok with amnesty if we closed the border 1st. Only sane policy. 

 

He was all about trying to bring jobs on shore, get us out of foreign wars and build energy independence.  What could be wrong with that.

 

Why would Biden shut down an ECO friendly pipe line that would deliver millions of gallons a day in favor of tankers that will burn massive amounts of fossil fuel and be much more prone to leaks.

 

Shutting down the pipeline was a poor decision. We should have been energy independent a couple of decades ago. Remember the oil embargoes back in the 70’s? That’s when we should have started to plan for energy independence. And we still haven’t. Too much money to be made. Alternative energy sources will get a huge boost when the last drop of oil is pulled from the ground. Oil companies could care less about us, it’s all about the profits. Why would they sell oil for $75 barrel when they can get $150? Oil is the life blood of the developed world. And a lot of it comes from “enemy” sources. 

[MarJhi 958]

46 minutes ago, spookyturtle said:

I’d like to know how the people sitting at home are surviving. The extra $600 a week unemployment benefit ended in July of 2020. That was 2 years ago. The extra $300 ended in September of 2021. No one out of work since 2020 or 2021 can still be collecting unemployment. I’d be curious to know how many people lost their jobs because of vaccine mandates. 
 

Obviously just about everything is affected by the cost of fuel. And here in New England, a lot of homes are heated by oil. Heating oil prices are currently about $3 gallon higher than they were 2 years ago. Another big hit to the paycheck. 

I think many of those who stayed home decided that they liked staying home even though the free money dried up. Like many who started working from home, they don't want to go back,  even if it means they move in with their parents.

[MarJhi 958]

7 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

Oil is the life blood of the developed world. And a lot of it comes from “enemy” sources.

And now we have a president who is funding the enemy sources when we could instead be energy independent as we were 17 months ago.

 

The alternative energy sources you spoke of will come in time, but they just aren't ready yet. But if you can be in on the ground floor and have the political power to wipe out the competition (fossil fuel industry) you can make millions/billions/trillions. They are trying to force us onto the alternative sources a couple of decades too soon because they are going to get paid, so who cares if inflation goes through the roof for us peasants. 

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,370]

20 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

Shutting down the pipeline was a poor decision. We should have been energy independent a couple of decades ago. Remember the oil embargoes back in the 70’s? That’s when we should have started to plan for energy independence. And we still haven’t. Too much money to be made. Alternative energy sources will get a huge boost when the last drop of oil is pulled from the ground. Oil companies could care less about us, it’s all about the profits. Why would they sell oil for $75 barrel when they can get $150? Oil is the life blood of the developed world. And a lot of it comes from “enemy” sources. 

Would you sell something for 75 bucks if you could get 150 for it. I would not. Basic economics 101. A new  Sienna van is almost impossible to find right now. We had one available.  A guy from Hollywood FL saw it on line. He offered 6k over MSRP after we told him we only wanted to sell to local customers.  We agreed and he arranged transportation. He did not have to buy it. His choice. It's called basic economics.  I was glad he did cause I got the deal and made bank. 

 

My new truck has an msrp of around 64k. Same 2022 model used with low miles is averaging 73k used at Manheim auction.  We are selling them for 5k over MSRP because you can buy it new and flip it for 9k. Markets determine prices not companies. 

[spookyturtle 9,465]

1 hour ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

Would you sell something for 75 bucks if you could get 150 for it. I would not. Basic economics 101. A new  Sienna van is almost impossible to find right now. We had one available.  A guy from Hollywood FL saw it on line. He offered 6k over MSRP after we told him we only wanted to sell to local customers.  We agreed and he arranged transportation. He did not have to buy it. His choice. It's called basic economics.  I was glad he did cause I got the deal and made bank. 

 

My new truck has an msrp of around 64k. Same 2022 model used with low miles is averaging 73k used at Manheim auction.  We are selling them for 5k over MSRP because you can buy it new and flip it for 9k. Markets determine prices not companies. 

Exactly. So why do people think if we produced more oil the price would drop? It will be sold to the highest bidder. 

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,370]

33 minutes ago, spookyturtle said:

Exactly. So why do people think if we produced more oil the price would drop? It will be sold to the highest bidder. 

Because more oil on the market equal lower prices not to mention the cost of transportation is pretty high so that means buying local is much cheaper. 

[spookyturtle 9,465]

1 hour ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

Because more oil on the market equal lower prices not to mention the cost of transportation is pretty high so that means buying local is much cheaper. 

Do you think that would be the case considering the rising demand from China and other countries? Do you think the American oil companies would flood the market with oil to drive prices down? I don’t. Corporate greed.