Robert Ariail for January 04, 2017

Of course, he’s shooting explosives down a coal mine shaft…..filled with miners.

Uh, the back blast would also kill him. But Trumpy doesn’t care about collateral damage, which is another little “problem” with him.

Guess we won’t be buying all that cheap Chinese stuff at Walmart anymore…. what a shame…. almost as good in quality as IKEA!

Some T Rump supporters are beginning to smell the coffee.

Trane was a joke; Ford, not so sure. If Americans were more concerned with where their stuff came from, it wouldn’t be an issue.

That totally illustrates my opposition to The Rump. His trade tariff “ideas” would start a trade war that would send every economy in the world into a tailspin that would make the Great Depression look like a Sunday School class picnic.

If we give money to the struggling coal industry, they’re gonna automate to reduce overhead and try to be competitive with lower cost alternatives.

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We can keep the big box stores full of American made goods if the American workers are willing to pay a lot more or willing to work for a lot less … not much choice in a capitalist society.

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Training? The American politicians gave up on the American workers a long tine ago.

My company is affected by this sudden cancellation. Here’s something to consider: The plants in Mexico have been planned out already and equipment bids from American companies accepted. Some of the that equipment is already in the process of being built, and Ford is for us usually a dependable, if very demanding, customer. In general, companies are happy to get such Ford work even though it means turning orders from other companies.

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The overhead cranes that my company is now making for Ford Mexico are well underway, specially designed and engineered for the new plants. The machining and assembly work was supposed to occupy us for many months, taking up a great deal of production capacity and floor space. Now what? Will Ford pay adequately for work so far done? Will they compensate us for loss of work we turned down to accommodate Ford’s delivery date demands. Usually that isn’t in a contract to the extent that small companies recover fully.

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Several American companies that build equipment requiring long-range planning will be hurt by what is essentially a dog and pony show. Nothing here in this publicity stunt is as it seems on the surface. Inevitably, jobs gained in one place will be lost in other places, usually small places that can’t turn their production plans on a dime. That’s often the way these things work, especially with big companies as customers. It’s a gamble, and big business runs the casino.

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That’s one person’s personal perspective on this affair.

So far the number of jobs “saved” is highly questionable. Train kept 800 jobs at that plant and still laid off 1200 at another plant in the area. The Ford deal is not all that clear either. The only thing that is clear is Trump takes credit for anything that looks like he is keeping his promise. The US is five percent of the world population, that means our biggest markets are not in the US. An isolationist policy will only hurt the American worker. Making economic decisions based on ideology rather than market needs never works.

Let’s see, all you IDIOTS!Trump says he will TAX imports from GM, etc., DRIVING UP PRICES!Meanwhile, HIS “beautiful” products are STILL made OVERSEAS. and he WILL NOT bring them back!Yeah, I know, HE will no longer control HIS companies!I hope you’re willing to pay out your A** for all those tariffs The Donald believes will bring prosperity to America.If I were the Pres of GM, I’d tell that orange haired idiot, I’ll show you mine, if YOU show me YOURS!, and HOLD TO IT!And I DO mean his TAXES, his JOBS, etc.

The U.S. is a trading nation with prosperity dependent upon exports. The U.S. needs fewer trade restrictions, not more. Egotistical neophytes who think they can load the rules in their favor are in for a rude awakening.

Trump isn’t even serious about limiting imports or imposing tariffs on companies leaving the U.S. How is Trump going to inhibit the ability of US companies to seek the lowest cost of production, be that in the US or elsewhere? Do you think Trump is going to limit choices for American consumers? Produce hardships for US manufacturers and significantly increase prices on goods? Is this what Trump’s America is going to be? Maybe if we focused on engineers, scientists, mathematics and other similar practical occupations, we’d be ready for this isolationism. As it is, these plans will just destroy our buying power and leave companies open to automate everything. Maybe the robots will get a raise?

How is the American worker catching the back-blast from the trade tariff “bazooka”? (Always check your back-blast area before firing rockets at anything)

It’s clear that Trump is taking credit for things that were already in the works before he boldly tweeted about them. He even claims credit for consumer confidence figures that were announced in October. He’s also very proud of empty gestures from companies that are playing him like a jukebox.

Two points I’d like to make.

First, it is clear that Trump has not the faintest idea of the far-ranging implications of his trade policies. It is hard to imagine that someone so limited in outlook and the ability to see consequences of his actions is being given the keys to the car, so to speak.

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Second, although I think it will be interesting to see how the Finnish UBI works out, I also think that how it is implemented will be of vital importance. People need to feel needed, they need to feel that what they are doing makes a difference. I worry that UBI could feed a feeling of not being needed or of importance to the society. At the same time, I do recognize that we need to be sure that those who cannot work (because of age or disability) do not “die in the street”, so to speak. Here are a couple of links that I think cover the subject well:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/opinion/dalai-lama-behind-our-anxiety-the-fear-of-being-unneeded.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/17/opinion/when-work-loses-its-dignity.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

It is widely accepted that Mexico is popular with car companies because of low wages. However, it has recently been pointed out that Mexico has bilateral trade agreements with 44 nations, representing half the world’s auto market. Cars built in Mexico can be exported there tariff-free. In contrast, the US has such agreements with only 20 countries representing 9% of the world market available tariff-free. So the incoming administration’s solution? More tariffs to lower that 9%, eliminating more US jobs. Corporations have no concept of patriotism. In effect these corporations are their own non-geographical nations. They set their own foreign policies (helped occasionally by free use of US troops and bailouts). Geographical nations make their citizens pay taxes; non-geographical nations pay their “citizens” wages. When the two conflict, where is the loyalty going to lie?

Get rid of gasohol, and you’ll help us all. It is hard on engines, and increases repair frequency. It raises the cost of gasoline, and decreases fuel efficiency. It raises the cost of food, because it raises the cost of corn, and makes it more expensive to feed cattle, chickens, and hogs. The only people it helps are the corn growers and politicians.

“Country of origin” used to say actually what country. Bushco changed that to North American Content, so that Chrysler, GM and Ford could hide that most of ther production was in Canada and Mexico. Kia, BMW, VW all buld more of their production in the US than the “big three”. Most in the southern “right to work” states where they crowded out the union workers, just like Boeing!

so bobby knows nothing about international trade // that is ok he is just a toonist

Liar Trump is insane.

old crows are greedy and dumb