By Michael Woyton
For all of those who voted for a man who was convicted of 34 felonies, a man who has bankrupted a casino and more, a man who has nothing but scorn for veterans and admiration for people who beat up cops on Jan. 6, you voted for this and you own it.
It should have not come as a surprise that the morning after President Donald J. Felon announced massive tariffs on U.S. imports that Wall Street isn’t send flowers and fruit baskets to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Stocks tumbled Thursday morning at the opening of Wall Street, after global markets slumped overnight, according to reporting in the New York Times.
Around 11 a.m., the S&P 500 fell more than 4 percent, “a huge drop for the index,” the Times said, “echoing sharp declines in Asia and Europe as investors balked at the tariffs.”
“Balked”? Sounds more like the investors did a lot more than balk.
The Dow fell 1,500 points, per CNBC, with the NASDAQ dropping more than 5 percent, before midday.
Even the 10-year Treasury yield fell to its lowest level since October after the tariffs were unveils.
Full disclosure: I’m definitely not well-versed in the financial market, but I sure as hell can tell red from green when I look at the Stocks app on my iPhone.
At this point, it seems as if the grifter-in-chief’s “Liberation Day” will only liberate more money from people’s pocketbooks.
On Wednesday, the tariffs were announced in a Rose Garden ceremony. All countries will have at least 10 percent tariffs, with higher rates for 60 countries or trading blocs with high trade deficits with the United States, CNN said.
China will be the hardest hit, with a 54 percent tariff. It is the second top exporter to the U.S. behind Mexico and has vowed to retaliate.
Again, for those in the nose-bleed seats, tariffs will have an effect on what consumers pay for goods; tariffs will, either in part or entirely, come out of Americans’ pockets, according to economists.
That is a far cry from what the president has been saying all along, that the countries and companies importing their goods and products will pay the tariffs and the government will just reap the benefits.
Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he believes the new tariffs will be the “largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history” and “could cost families up to $3,500 a year,” AL.com reported.
Of course, the sycophants in the administration are all over the TV machine saying how brilliant the mayor of Mar-a-Lago is and how it will all work out in the end, never mind the short- or long-term pain it causes anyone other than the super wealthy.
Commerce Secretary Howard “Seniors Won’t Complain If They Miss A Social Security Check” Lutnick said the country is going to see “a whole lot of growth” in the fourth quarter.
We just started the second quarter, FYI. So there’s going to be a time lapse?
If the goal of the “mad king” is to tear down the government and the economy — likely both from Putin’s playbook — then he is right on target.
He is also being helped by a Congress the majority of whose members are more than willing to turn their responsibilities over to the executive branch.
Congress must rein in the felon-in-chief soon or this country will be in a recession or worse.
And the wound will be self-inflicted.
Find and follow me on BlueSky through this link.
Lead art: Screen grab from CNBC
On Second Thought 