Quick Shout: Aluminum Prices Are Down, Not Up

Despite the Aluminum Tariffs, Aluminum prices are DOWN 4%. People are surprised, I’m not! Lots of money coming into U.S. coffers and Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2018

IT MAY WELL BE A SHORT TERM EVENT. IT MAY EVEN BE AN ANOMALY. REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT IS, THE FACT IS THAT ALUMINUM PRICES ARE DOWN, NOT UP, SINCE PRESIDENT TRUMP IMPOSED A 10% TARIFF ON IMPORTED ALUMINUM.

And POTUS is right to tout this, and to point that out, as he indeed did in a recent tweet.

I said a while back, after so much hoopla surrounding the president's decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs that he knows what he is doing, and that when you get right down to the brass tacks of the matter...

Tariffs are not what this is all about. (If You Think Steel Tariffs Are About Steel Tariffs...You Are Missing the Point)

It is being reported that aluminum prices are down 4% since Trump announced he would impose the tariffs. I also said that you shouldn't be surprised that not everyone gets what these tariffs actually wish to achieve...

And beware anyone selling anything made out of steel or aluminum will gouge you with no foundation whatsoever for what they are doing—that they will do this based solely on the IDEA that all tariffs are bad, and that the only logical conclusion can be that tariffs will drive prices higher.

And yes, there is historical data to suggest that that could well be the case if what Trump wished to achieve was only to impose a tariff.

And as I said, that's not what his intention was at all. In the most basic of terms what I said was that Trump's intent was to level the playing field, force bad players to play fair, and more importantly to open a dialogue.

Like I said before, any prices on the end product are simply false increases. Reactionary increases. And pure gouging. The president has this, and I think it will be clear on all fronts when all is said and done that the market will stabalize, jobs will be left intact, and all of this chatter that we're creating a trade war and sinking our own ship will prove to be...

A pack of jibberish.

Trump Is NOT An Idiot!

IN NO WAY IS MY INTENT TO BE COMBATIVE HERE, FOLKS. But as I troll around the Internet in the usual places like Twitter and Facebook, there is just the annoying assertion by a good number of people, and on both sides of the aisle (with the bulk of it of course pouring in mostly from the left and the lamestream media) that somehow President Donald J. Trump is an idiot.

This, folks, cannot be farther from the truth.

Look, I have said multiple times that I do wish our president would tone down his Twitter antics a bit. But I have also said that the person Donald Trump is today is the same Donald Trump he was before he became President of the United States.

The thing here that needs to be pointed out, that gets sorely missed by many making this assertion, are the multitude of accomplishments this president has achieved and to point out that what he has done in his first year in office is actually rather historical. If you think it's just the economy he has done well with, you're just not paying close enough attention to what's actually happening in our government, and with this current administration.

He's an idiot? He's not a leader? Really? What planet are you living on?

Now, don't get mad at me for being so blunt here. Just read on and hear me out. Because I think it is important for you to be more than aware of why I think that President Trump is not only not an idiot, but is also a strong leader. Because the truth is that there is more than enough that is positive that's happening in the White House, and unless you are tuned into Fox News, you aren't going to hear the half of it.

• Border crossings are down 70% since Donald Trump took office.
  
• MS-13 gangs are under heavy fire from the Justice Department.
• Deportations of illegal aliens is on the rice, and law enforcement officials in ICE and Border Patrol have been strengthened.

Even if we don't have good immigration reform right now, the fact is that more is being done than has been done in many, many years and across many past administrations to simply enforce existing laws on the books. This should make throngs of American citizens, including legal immigrants, very happy. This means less crime, less drugs entering the country, less burden on the American taxpayer for welfare and other benefits some illegals receive, and more jobs available for legal citizens across the country.

• ISIS has been seriously depleted in their numbers.
• Citizens of Iran are making an uprising in their country with the full support of the administration, and sanctions are WORKING.
• North Korea is quieting down at least a LITTLE BIT, and have even reached out to South Korea in a way they have not before. I think Kim Jong Un is getting the message it might be better not to mess with the U.S. Something they would not have considered in the past administration.

The truth is we have actually seen some stability forming in the Middle East. When you reduce the power of ISIS and build coalitions with other Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and Israel, it puts more pressure on the bad actors in that region to reconsider what they are doing, and it also empowers the people to push back harder against bad regimes and terrorist groups who make want only to maintain unrest and make the average citizen's lives miserable.

I am not going to say that North Korea having a small part in the Olympics is any sign that Rocket Man still does not have a strong desire to lob missiles and strut his "might" wherever he can. But it is a start. It is also something I am not certain we would have seen had Hillary Clinton won the election.

Now you might have noticed I have said nothing at all so far about the economy. Why? Because it is the obvious accomplishment—even if even that is seriously under reported by the lamestream media. But clearly you have historic lows in both Hispanic and black unemployment, more and more jobs being created, repatriation of overseas money, bonuses and wage increases, and of course an exploding stock market.

And everything I have mentioned herein is just a small slice of what he's accomplished. The bottom line is that if you think that Trump is an idiot or not a leader, you may want to consider your own intelligence and perhaps schedule a psychiatric exam rather quickly. Your mental health may be in jeopardy.

From Shitholes to DACA

THE DEMOCRATS WILL OBVIOUSLY STOP AT NOTHING TO TRY TO DENIGRATE AND DENOUNCE THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. And the latest accusation made against President Donald Trump that, in talks over DACA, referred to some foreign nations as shitholes is just another glaring example of this.

Whether or not the statement was actually made, to my mind, is not necessarily the issue. Granted, it is a bit of a poor statement to make. But, if you are thinking of it in more realistic terms, is it really that far from the truth?

The people of these countries, if the statement was made, is not what the president probably was referring to in any event. If the statement was made, it was more of a direct statement against the governments of these countries which defile their populace, and place their lives into chaos such that they potentially become less than desirable in their attitudes, and potentially even their impact in other communities in which they may become a part...

SUCH AS THE UNITED STATES IF THEY COME HERE.

Is it really racist to make such a statement? I don't think so. It merely points out the obvious in more ways than one. And what about the situation in, for example, Muslim countries. Are these people products of their environments? Their upbringing? Their religious and government leaders?

YES.

And so their attitudes toward life, liberty, economic status, societal contribution and any number of other things is influenced by the attitudes of their leaders, and the conditions in which they live in their own countries. If we make a statement about this it is not a racist statement. It is a simple observation of what are largely verifiable facts.

Democrat senator Dick Durbin of Illinois made remarks that he couldn't believe such racist and vile remarks had ever come from the Oval Office at any time in America's past history. But the reality is that there have been well documented reports of rather racist remarks made by even Lyndon B. Johnson. And certainly there had to have been rather colorful language even in the early days of the Office of the President, such as before the Civil War—granted, those were different times and this is now 2018.

But one can imagine what may have been more than a few comments during the Civil Rights Movement.

NONETHELESS, UNIMPORTANT.

The real reason the dems are launching, yet again, attacks against the president is because—and people should FINALLY be getting around to understanding this—trying to paint a narrative that the president is racist, vulgar, unfit, and even mentally unstable. None of which are particularly true. They so badly want this to be the reality that they will go to every length to make it seem apparent.

DO I APPRECIATE IT IF THE PRESIDENT ACTUALLY SAID THIS? Like I said before I think if he did, it was a very poor choice of words, even if I believe the underlying point of that statement would have some truth to it. Do I think it ultimately matters if he said it?

Look, if we weren't concerned over the content of the emails between Clinton and her cohorts which were actually downright mean, and if we weren't concerned with the events of Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, or four dead Americans in Benghazi, and all of the events leading up to those events which actually harmed people, I think the entire narrative trying to be forced down our throats about this are made moot.

The president is working with highly combative and uncooperative democrats who have no other desire but to discredit and disparage the president at every opportunity. In the DACA talks I would be absolutely shocked to learn that dems were not engaged, in some form or fashion, in making every effort to lead the president into a snare just so that they could come back afterwards and make a public stink about the effect without reporting the cause.

What's more, perhaps even if the statement was not made in the manner in which it has been implied, the question is still a good one. Yes. Exactly. If they, the democrats, are so determined and adamant that these people deserve to be here and stay here, tell us why. Drop the rhetoric and touchy-feely garbage and actually come up with a compelling reason in favor of their argument that we should have a different thought about the program, the people, and the benefits or lack thereof of the whole thing.

Really, at some point the democrats need to just move on, get back to the work of the American people as the president is trying to do—and quite frankly just grow the fuck up. Their temper tantrum has gone on long enough and it is getting more than a little old—and quite frankly is terribly distracting.

Something, however, tells me that the democratic party, still not able to fully comprehend their dramatic loss in 2016, is incapable of being the adult in the room.

The Jeb Bush Coffin Nail?

Jeb Bush likes to call the desk in the Oval Office the Big Boy Desk. It's a term that actually grates me a bit since, in its own way, it simply feels like it's a bit pompous, and serves to belittle not only the other candidates on the stage, but the American people as well.

Granted, all of the candidates have their way of using certain phraseology that serves to belittle under the radar. Donald Trump of course interestingly feels no need to hide it. But considering where Jeb Bush stands in the presidential race, and what I think is a clear sense of entitlement that he should be, if not the nominee, certainly the next president, coming from him it sort of sounds to me more like (choose your favorite crybaby voice), "I'm 'posed to be president, wa-wa-wa. It's my turn! My turn, my turn, wa-wa-wa!"

So this latest little turn of events, which I find absolutely hilarious on it's merits, that Trump bought Jeb's campaign website after Bush failed to renew it—no small detail by the way when you want to be president in the Internet age—says one thing to me. A Big Boy would have paid attention to such an important detail.

Of course, Bush will say it's not his fault. He'll say that he left the management of his website to someone else. And in the grander scheme of things that's probably true of all of the candidates. I am not going to chide Bush for this little tidbit. But at the end of the day while delegation of tasks is the nature of the beast, and a tenet of leadership, delegation does not mean total separation. Part of delegation is monitoring closely to make sure that those who tasks are delegated to are actually getting them done.

As president, with lives and livelihoods at stake through decision making and policy, this would seem to me to be pretty damn important.

Do we want a president to be removed from pieces and parts of the process? Do we want a president who, in the light of a certain turn of events might sit before the American people in a Kenneth Lay/Jeffrey Skilling sort of way, "I'm just the CEO, I have no way of knowing what is going on in my company."

As for Trump buying Bush's website, I think it does tell us one thing. The details. How engaged is Trump in the campaign? He's focused. He's got people in place to really nail down the details he needs to know in order to keep his campaign on focus. Bush might tell you that the campaign trail is grueling and tiring, and it therefore may be easy to miss such a thing as a website renewal. But then how would Trump not miss it?

At the end of the day I think Jeb Bush is simply making it all too clear to the American people that he does not want to be president for the good the country. He does not want to be president because he wants to fix a broken country. He simply wants to be president because he wants to make his daddy and big brother proud of him. Jeb Bush is not a failure by any stretch of the imagination. But it seems to me, in a very childish sort of way, Jeb feels like he's the one Bush in the Big Boy House that hasn't risen to the highest office in the land—and that leaves him, in his own mind, as a failure. The one at the Thanksgiving dinner table in the Bush house that will always be the other Bush.

That's not a reason to be president.

I think Jeb Bush needs to simply concede that even in a legacy family like the Bush's, not everyone can be president. His numbers don't indicate he's got a chance in hell of even winning the nomination. He needs to drop out of the race and let the others have more time to get their message to the American people.

Please clap?

Walker Missed The Point On Exit

When your chips are down, you have to know when it's time to step away. Rick Perry did it. And now Scott Walker. And I think he was right to do it. The truth is that while his campaign started off with good fanfare, it simply fizzled out. I actually had high hopes for him when he stepped into the race simply because I liked him as Governor of Wisconsin, and liked what he did for the state—he will continue to do well in his return to his old job. For that reason I thought he could do well as president too.

I voted for him twice in the three elections held in four years, and the only reason I did not cast my vote in his favor in the last one was because I had left the state.

The thing that bothers me in his exit are his comments regarding the "front-runner," basically insinuating that Donald Trump is sucking all of the oxygen out of the room and making it difficult for more traditional GOP candidates to take control of the race. Rick Perry said as much in his own exit, neither one of them referring to Trump by name. Both of them encouraged other weaker candidates to step aside and make way for someone to knock out Trump.

My problem is that Trump, while abrasive and very much unlike any presidential candidate we've seen with such strong support, is at the top because right now he's running a successful campaign that is capturing the attention of a great many in the voter field of the republican party, even if the establishment is not so captivated. While it is true that at this stage of the game the candidates are essentially auditioning for the establishment to decide their fate rather than the American people as a whole, at the end of the day the American people are what matter. Not the establishment. And as it stands right now the American people are supporting Donald Trump.

Love him or hate him the people are speaking loud and clear. The old way of doing things has become tired, things are not getting done, and a good many of the "traditional" candidates are not acting like they really want to change anything for the better. That's why they are lagging in the polls. It has nothing to do with Trump. It has to do with what the American people want.

Whether or not Trump would make a good president is still up for debate. You could say the same for how long he'll stay on top, and whether or not he'll actually win the nomination. Either way, what I think the other candidates need to focus on is not how to knock out Trump per se, but to fundamentally understand why he's on top and bring the same message to the American people in that more "positive" manner that they would prefer. In a way when Rick Perry and Scott Walker make these kinds of comments, what they are really telling the American people is that they don't want the wishes of the voters to be considered here. Again. I think this actually helps Trump. It helps any of the three candidates that are less traditional to stand out as anti-establishment, and signals that just maybe they'll bring a sea of change to Washington that is badly needed and wanted.

I put those three as Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Chris Christie. And by the way, if you like Trump, Christie may well be the man to support since he has a similar personality and style as Trump, but also has just enough decorum to balance it out. Something I think Trump lacks.

I am not suggesting that Scott Walker was wrong in his exit speech. What I am saying is that I think part of his failure in garnering more support for his campaign is that he simply missed the point. His comments make that all too clear. If one thing rings true this time around, I think for the first time in a very long time whoever steps into the White House ultimately is the people's choice.

Let's just hope it's not one of those on the other side. If you think voting for Trump is crazy, voting for anyone on the other side right now is as nuts as playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun. Yeepers!

President Obama Has the NCAA Covered, But the Rest of the World Is Screwed

Normally I would have no problem with the President of the United States taking a vacation, going to play golf, or picking the brackets for the NCAA. Let's face it. Being President of the United States is a tough job, and if anyone has followed presidents through the ages, one thing is definite.

These guys always look much older when they leave office than when they take office.

But with President Obama it has always been something done at the wrong time, in the wrong context, and it seems to me that his priorities are simply not in the right place. Ever. The man misses many of his daily intelligence briefings according to most reports, did not show up for a conference after France had one of its publishers attacked by extremist Muslim supporters, and left for a fundraiser in Las Vegas the day after an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi which left four Americans, including the ambassador, dead. He went to play golf the next day after journalist's heads were chopped off by ISIS. And he and his wife have taken extravagant vacations during the worst economic times in our history since the Great Depression. Some of that even on the taxpayers' dime.

Not to mention the fact that while the economy is improving, albeit slowly, and not due to any of his economic policies, it is still in the tank for the most part due to his lack of any sound economic policies, Israel remains under serious threat, Iran is close to obtaining nuclear weapons, and ISIS has grown in strength and numbers with no strategy to speak of from this president on really any of these issues. And quite frankly, no leadership.

The world has always looked to the United States, for better or for worse, for leadership and a firm handle on world issues. Despite a significant reduction in power the world over since Obama took office, we are still the superpower. And so the world looks to the President of the United States as sort of a leader of the free world by proxy. Obama is turning a blind eye to everything that is pertinent and important, and seems to always focus on what is trivial.

Like announcing his brackets for the NCAA.

Who cares? Who cares about the NCAA and who cares what President Obama thinks about that? Who should care? And with all of this turmoil and violence and angst the world over what message does this send again to the rest of the world about where his priorities are? And since he is the man who "leads" this country, what does it tell the rest of the world about where our (the United States') priorities are? Moreover, what does it tell our enemies?

Our president is asleep at the wheel. The people of the United States are also asleep at the wheel. No one is paying attention to the world. The people of the United States are paying attention to trivial stuff like the NCAA and are infatuated with a man who cares little about being president, and cares all too much about being the coolest guy in the room.

It seems to me like what sort of got us into a bit of trouble back during Pearl Harbor when the Japanese thought that we were an easy target, just sitting back and enjoying the American dream with little regard to everything else horrific happening around the world around us. Back then it was quipped that a sleeping giant had been awakened. These days I am not so sure that there is any sleeping giant at all. We are simply a country of people who have no idea where the country is, what the world is doing, and what the issues of the world are.

The fact that we are not calling our president out on these issues is very telling of the mindset of many Americans. Ask someone on the streets about Benghazi, for example, and the response you will get is something like, "Is that a band?" or "Ben who?"

The president can do all of the fun stuff when the times dictate that it is possible to do so. He can be a man with the people when it serves the times. But the fact is that we are not in a peaceful world, and the entire world (at least the free world) is under threat, ISIS is acting like the Nazi regime, we have real and present dangers before us, Netanyahu is left with virtually no U.S. support from serious threats, and more dangers become more and more apparent each and every day. The president should not have the time to focus on the fun stuff with the world in such a state. He should be focused on leading the country, and leading the free world, letting terrorists know that the United States will not stand idle, will support its allies to the full extent it can, and will hunker down and do the work that the president should be doing.

Like Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin often said regarding national politics when asked, he said he had to focus on his own state's affairs first and foremost. That was his focus. That was his priority. If the President of the United States is asked about his NCAA bracket picks, his response should be something akin to Jim Mora. "Playoffs?"

There are much bigger issues the world over to deal with, worry about, and focus on. And right now that is where President Obama needs to have his head. Not on basketball. If we want to know how sports will fare we can ask Mike & Mike or Boomer & Carton. The president needs to be focused on how the world will fare and how the United States will fare. And if the NCAA is the top of the news as it applies to the president, we should all be worried. Very worried.

It's great he's told us about his brackets. But we still don't know what his strategy is to defeat ISIS, nor what really happened with the IRS scandal, and most especially what happened in Benghazi...among the short list of course.

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© 2015 Jim Bauer

Birther Argument Will Bear No Fruit

Amazingly, this is an argument that still continues on. There are still plenty of folks pondering the question as to whether or not President Obama was born here in the United States—questioning whether he's even eligible to be the president.

It is an argument that no doubt will find its way into the campaign circles by some. I think the entire birther argument, however, is one that will bear no fruit.

Look, I fully grasp the importance of the "why" for some people. The position of the president is no small matter. This is arguably the most powerful position in the entire world. Still, in the grander scheme, as things stand right now, I think the question has about as much merit as the question that was posed as to whether or not George W. Bush was really the president based on the election, and the fact that the courts ultimately made the final decision.

Whether we love it or hate it, President Obama is the president of the United States. So was Bush. So, rather than focus on the birther argument, we need to focus on the issues.

There is the thought that some pose that perhaps the White House is trying to hide something. A lot of documents and other things have been sealed. True enough. Why would the Obama administration want to keep the records sealed? Because it means if we are talking about the question of where the president was born, we won't be talking about the issues that very much need to be at the fore of every campaign discussion we have. Make no mistake, those who cite the birther argument will very quickly be labeled wack-jobs, and guess what? That will stick before anything else does.

That will bear fruit for the democrats. That will bear fruit for the Obama administration's campaign to remain in office in 2012.

I want to be very clear about this. The birther question is one for history to take a look at. It has no place in the upcoming debates. Nor does it have any real basis for discussion in my opinion. And again, it will absolutely detract from the real issues that plague us.

We've frankly got much bigger fish to fry if you ask me.

If you want Barack Obama back in office in 2012, make the birther argument the top issue in the campaign. He'll win. I guarantee it. Focus on the issues of his presidency, and he'll be out. Mark my words.