Political Posts

[Gregmal]

Meanwhile, in California they are elated because contrary to popular belief, they’re thriving…no exodus of capital, businesses are booming, homeless problem solved, crime at historically low levels, and Harvey Weinsteins old sidepiece’s husband has formally declared his intention to run for president lmfao!

Edited October 26, 2025 by Gregmal

[NnnnotSoSmart]

18 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Meanwhile, in California they are elated because contrary to popular belief, they’re thriving…no exodus of capital, businesses are booming, 

If it wasn't for Silicon Valley, California would be doomed.  A large number of Tech leaders have seen the graffiti on the wall (see quotes above) and are moving more toward the right.  Some have left but many remain.  On the one hand I'm hopeful there will be significant change in CA, on the other hand I've also recently become aware of Dietrich Bonhoeffer 's theory of stupidity:

 

"There are human beings who are of remarkably agile intellect yet stupid, and others who are intellectually quite dull yet anything but stupid. We discover this to our surprise in particular situations." ....end quote like politics.

https://www.onthewing.org/user/Bonhoeffer - Theory of Stupidity.pdf

Edited October 26, 2025 by NnnnotSoSmart

[cubsfan]

39 minutes ago, NnnnotSoSmart said:

The longtime senile king/emperor Biden was shoved out when the grand charade could no longer be perpetrated upon even the lowest IQ cohort of Americans.  

 

Oh man, that says it all...even when the people that ignore politics figured it out..

[moneyball]

4 hours ago, NnnnotSoSmart said:

Capitalism is fundamentally important to the United States—it's the engine that has made the US the world's largest economy (with a GDP exceeding $27 trillion in 2023) and a global leader in innovation, from the Industrial Revolution to modern AI and space exploration. 

 

Without it, the US would likely lack the dynamism that has lifted living standards, reduced poverty (from over 20% in the 1950s to around 11% today), and enabled consumer choice. 
imf.org +1

 

Proponents argue it's the "greatest economic system ever" for empowering individuals, fostering self-interest that benefits society, and outpacing alternatives like socialism in wealth generation. 

 

I'd argue the Biden administration was anti-capitalism.  Here's what business leaders have recently said about Trump's pro business policies:

 

John Stankey (AT&T Inc. (T) CEO):

• "I would even say the alignment of those policy things that are going on right now, the direction that’s occurring, and the lack of friction in getting some changes done, is even more significant than when the Telecom Act of 96 was passed." 
• "Thanks to the policies in this legislation, we intend to invest more rapidly in next generation networks."
  Context: Stankey highlighted tax provisions in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," projecting $6.5–$8 billion in cash savings (2025–2027) to fuel fiber and 5G expansions, calling it a pro-investment accelerator.

 

Marc Bitzer (Whirlpool Corporation CEO) :

• "However, once the already announced tariffs fully kick in, this will turn into a significant tailwind for Whirlpool as a domestic producer." 
• "No matter how you look at it, Whirlpool, with its 10 large US factories, is a net winner of a new tariff policy." 
• "The tariffs will finally help create a level playing field for Whirlpool." 
• "The new trade policies are finally putting an end to these disadvantages and will level the playing field."
  Context: Bitzer emphasized tariffs closing loopholes exploited by Asian competitors, positioning Whirlpool (80% US production) as a major beneficiary.

Lourenco Goncalves (Cleveland-Cliffs Inc CEO:)

• "The Trump administration has prioritized two sectors: steel and automotive. That are critical to the strengths of our economy, to the resilience of our supply chains, and to United States national security." 
• "We appreciate that and fully expect that the administration will keep in place and enforce the Section 232 tariffs." 
• "The import data that has been published thus far makes it very clear that the 232 tariffs are having a positive impact not just on steel, but also on the automotive sector." 
• "It will be one of the biggest accomplishments of the Trump administration when we look back in three or four years into the future. It will be the resurgence of automotive production in the United States."
  Context: Goncalves credited 50% tariffs on imports (e.g., from Canada and Brazil) for rebounding steel volumes and curbing unfair trade, directly boosting Q2 results

Bill Ackman (Pershing Square CEO): "Trump has been the most pro-business president we’ve ever had... It’s been an incredible Presidency."

 

Lisa Su (AMD CEO): "The incredible work that your administration has done to support the semiconductor industry… the amount of acceleration that we’ve seen just in the few short months that the Administration has been in place — we’re so grateful for that support."

 

Sundar Pichai (Google CEO): "The AI moment is one of the most transformative moments any of us have ever seen or will see in our lifetimes, so making sure the U.S. is at the forefront — and I think that your Administration is investing a lot already. The AI Action Plan, under your leadership, I think is a great start, and we look forward to working together — and thanks for your leadership."

 

Greg Brockman (OpenAI President): "We’ve been just very impressed with how this Administration has really embraced AI. In addition to the most massive infrastructure building in history… There has been a choice of whether to approach it with optimism, and I think that that’s what I’ve really seen from this Administration, so I just wanted to say thank you for that."

 

Sergey Brin (Google Co-founder): "It’s a real incredible inflection point right now in AI and the fact that your Administration is supporting our companies instead of fighting with them — it’s hugely important. It’s a global race and I think we’re at the cusp where these AI models are about to become profoundly useful… so we’re very grateful for your Administration’s support."

 

And yet many here on this board call him a "moron".  Ok, got it.

 

What is the incentive for any of these folks to say anything to the contrary?

[Gregmal]

5 minutes ago, moneyball said:

What is the incentive for any of these folks to say anything to the contrary?

Probably nothing considering policy finally makes sense…..or are we gonna act like/insinuate it’s some big conspiracy theory that business leaders are praising pro business policy? 

Edited October 26, 2025 by Gregmal

[Spekulatius]

Business leader go where the money is and they know that they need to placate Trump. That’s why Zuck said, Meta would spent $600B in the US which imo is never going to happen.

The BBB is an incredible windfall for business but not for the average Joe. Of course when CHTR goes from paying $1.5B in taxes to paying zero because of bonus depreciation, they will love it - who wouldn’t? What tax break will the average Joe get, maybe a few breadcrumbs here and there which are more than made up by degrading public services and benefits. I expect that trends like this are going to continue:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-16/top-10-of-earners-drive-a-growing-share-of-us-consumer-spending?embedded-checkout=true

 

There is capitalism and there is crony capitalism and now we have more of the latter than the former.

[Gregmal]

Imagine being anti tax and then getting a government that wants to slash taxes and having pundits be like “how come they ain’t protesting lower taxes”…..LMFAO…

Edited October 26, 2025 by Gregmal

[cubsfan]

They never give up.  Trump is going to crash the economy, unleash uncontrollable inflation, destroy the US with tariffs..... never ends.

 

Yawn.

[John Hjorth]

16 hours ago, Parsad said:

Hi John,

 

It was actually from "It's a Wonderful Life"..."Remember, no man is a failure who has friends."  Cheers!

 

Thanks, Sanjeev [ @Parsad ],

 

I recognized it immedially, when you reposted it here. Thank you! -And it's just soo true!, if one cares to really think deeper about it!

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

-Now I'm only in need of a recapitulation of the definition of an optimist from @Spekulatiuss  board signature back then, and I'll be whole, healed again, from what I've lost!  - Something [also] wise about believing in miracles! - lol!

[NnnnotSoSmart]

2 hours ago, moneyball said:

What is the incentive for any of these folks to say anything to the contrary?

Integrity?  But I get your point.  Many of them censored Trump and his followers during the Biden disaster.

[John Hjorth]

I'm sorry to say, the real, basic issue with this topic here on CofB&F  and the posts it's containing, is this :

 

 

The 'down-to-the-rim truth' may likely be that your posts [including my own here!] in this topic, may not have moved as much as one American vote!

 

-We simply need to get along - for the sake of CofB&F - , despite our different political observations!

 

However, the topic, to me, is still very contributing, educational, because it's also about culture, sentiment etc.

 

I just hope we can agree to do better going forward!

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

, so, peace! - Who on Earth are spending their precious [unrecoverable] time [no matter age!] on hoarding [digital] enemies, adversaries? -Life really is just too short for that!

[Parsad]

8 hours ago, DooDiligence said:

Anybody listening to Bessent try to bullshit Americans on Face the Nation this morning?

 

 

 

That video is done pretty damn well!  That being said, you can still do that in the U.S....you can't do that in Russia, North Korea or China...that would probably get you arrested in India too.  So we can make fun of Trump all we want...freedom of speech while at risk, still exists in the U.S.  Cheers!

[LC]

8 hours ago, NnnnotSoSmart said:

And yet many here on this board call him a "moron".  Ok, got it.

 

Swing-and-a-miss!

You missed the best quote from Trump's little AI-rendezvous!

 

 

[LC]

21 minutes ago, Parsad said:

freedom of speech while at risk, still exists in the U.S.  Cheers

For now- as Cornelius Fudge corrected the one and only Albus Dumbledore (yes, I think children's tales are well-placed for the discussion in this thread), laws can be changed! 

 

 

 

[Marco Van Basten]

7 hours ago, RichardGibbons said:

 

So strange--I remember it very differently.

 

My impression was that Biden left because of mental degradation as a result of aging, and Obama was term limits.  Odd that even something that seems so clear cut to me could be perceived so differently.

Do you remember the bitter people clinging to guns and religion?  

[Marco Van Basten]

5 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

Business leader go where the money is and they know that they need to placate Trump. That’s why Zuck said, Meta would spent $600B in the US which imo is never going to happen.

The BBB is an incredible windfall for business but not for the average Joe. Of course when CHTR goes from paying $1.5B in taxes to paying zero because of bonus depreciation, they will love it - who wouldn’t? What tax break will the average Joe get, maybe a few breadcrumbs here and there which are more than made up by degrading public services and benefits. I expect that trends like this are going to continue:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-16/top-10-of-earners-drive-a-growing-share-of-us-consumer-spending?embedded-checkout=true

 

There is capitalism and there is crony capitalism and now we have more of the latter than the former.

Spek, 45% of NYC's population is on Medicaid.  Public services are degrading because we are wasting our money on supporting those who refuse to work.  When public contracts get awarded due to race/religion/sexual orientation - as is often the case, you don't expect degradation of public services?  When government employees cannot be fired for bad performance, what do you expect?  

[John Hjorth]

10 hours ago, NnnnotSoSmart said:

... And yet many here on this board call him a "moron".  Ok, got it. 

 

This, @NnnnotSoSmart,

 

You've [to me, personally] got this materially wrong. Incumbent POTUS related name calling in this topic from the left side is pretty obvious, evident.

 

It may eventually appear pretty evident what he [POTUS] is aiming at, he's pretty hellbent,at least to me personally,  and damn good at achieving what's on his mind, assessed so far. Sanjeev [ @Parsad ] earlier in this topic has dubbed POTUS 'street smart'. I personally think it fits very well.

 

I personally think it would a be a huge mistake to underestimate what he's actually capabable of acheiving.

 

Please don't let your own line of thinking here get influenced by biased posts here in this topic, and please stay faithful, loyal to your own personal values.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

There is it to me personally certainly more to this than [just] name calling POTUS 'moron'.

Edited October 27, 2025 by John Hjorth

[lnofeisone]

46 minutes ago, Marco Van Basten said:

Spek, 45% of NYC's population is on Medicaid.  Public services are degrading because we are wasting our money on supporting those who refuse to work.  When public contracts get awarded due to race/religion/sexual orientation - as is often the case, you don't expect degradation of public services?  When government employees cannot be fired for bad performance, what do you expect?  

This is such a bad statistic to anchor around without additional context. Yes, 45% of NYC population is on Medicaid. 27% of that number are children under 18. 13% of that number are adults over 65. 5% are adults with disabilities in 21-64 age range. These aren't people who are "refusing to work." So roughly, 50% of the 45% number is about 20% of total NYC population who can actually work. Of that, 8% report not working or unable to find jobs. So you are talking about 134,000 people of 8.4M who are not working or roughly ~2% of population. 

[DooDiligence]

Well, a lot of people who've been close to him had similar opinions,

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/04/trumps-insults-idiot-woodward-806455

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/25/election-trump-staffers-john-kelly

 

but I guess a million flies can't be wrong.

Edited October 27, 2025 by DooDiligence

[LC]

Wasn't it Trump who said "smart people" don't like him? I think the shoe is on the wrong foot!

 

 

Meanwhile, some domestic terrorists have finally been caught red-handed disrupting peaceful protests:

 

[NnnnotSoSmart]

1 hour ago, John Hjorth said:

 

 @NnnnotSoSmart, I personally think it would a be a huge mistake to underestimate what he's actually capabable of acheiving.

 

Please don't let your own line of thinking here get influenced by biased posts here in this topic, and please stay faithful, loyal to your own personal values.

 

Ya think...?  

Trump Reaches Trade Pacts With Southeast Asian Nations

The U.S. will exempt some products from tariffs in exchange for lower levies and purchases of U.S. goods across Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam

https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/trump-reaches-trade-pacts-with-southeast-asian-nations-e51b3627?st=1v7V2P&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 

U.S. and China Reach Trade ‘Framework’ Ahead of Trump-Xi Meeting

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/26/us/trump-news?unlocked_article_code=1.wk8.5FXh.l3CluW7eqBOB&smid=url-share

 

For those those who have not read it (assuming you're not suffering from TDS) I'd recommend Trump's book:

https://www.amazon.com/Trump-Art-Deal-Donald-J/dp/0399594493

“Donald Trump is a deal maker. He is a deal maker the way lions are carnivores and water is wet.”—Chicago Tribune (before it went woke)

 

Explains a great deal on how/why Trump operates the way he does. 

 

P.S. If the facts change I'm willing to change my opinion.

 

Edited October 27, 2025 by NnnnotSoSmart

[adesigar]

Do you mean the book written by Tony Schwartz? 
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_the_Deal

 

[Parsad]

Extreme left or extreme right...they still love their country!  Cheers!

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/respect-president-ilhan-omar-defended-181320319.html

[Marco Van Basten]

12 hours ago, lnofeisone said:

This is such a bad statistic to anchor around without additional context. Yes, 45% of NYC population is on Medicaid. 27% of that number are children under 18. 13% of that number are adults over 65. 5% are adults with disabilities in 21-64 age range. These aren't people who are "refusing to work." So roughly, 50% of the 45% number is about 20% of total NYC population who can actually work. Of that, 8% report not working or unable to find jobs. So you are talking about 134,000 people of 8.4M who are not working or roughly ~2% of population. 

What are you talking about?  Even if one takes your numbers as correct, (hard to believe that 2.5% of all adults in NYC between 21-64 are disabled), 25% of the population is 2.05MM. (0.55*45%).    So there are 2.05MM adults between 18 and 65 in NYC who are not disabled on Medicaid.  It is clear that none of these people actually has a full time job.    Anyone who works full time in NYC ($16 minimum wage) at 40 hours per week, earns $33.3K per year, which makes the person not eligible for Medicaid.  Working 3 hours a week, is NOT working.   

[Red Lion]

18 hours ago, Spekulatius said:

Business leader go where the money is and they know that they need to placate Trump. That’s why Zuck said, Meta would spent $600B in the US which imo is never going to happen.

The BBB is an incredible windfall for business but not for the average Joe. Of course when CHTR goes from paying $1.5B in taxes to paying zero because of bonus depreciation, they will love it - who wouldn’t? What tax break will the average Joe get, maybe a few breadcrumbs here and there which are more than made up by degrading public services and benefits. I expect that trends like this are going to continue:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-16/top-10-of-earners-drive-a-growing-share-of-us-consumer-spending?embedded-checkout=true

 

There is capitalism and there is crony capitalism and now we have more of the latter than the former.

Bonus depreciation encourages growth capex which I would think certainly has some benefit to the average Joe in terms of the job market. Dare I say trickle down economics? 
 

The average Joe actually doesn’t pay much in taxes, so tax cuts are almost always going to benefit actual taxpayers (corporations and the top 20%) more than the average Joe.