"Thank you once again President Trump, for putting America first. I know the headwinds have been strong against you sir, but you are on the right track. Least wise, the patriots and citizens believe so. MAGA!"
It is no secret that Donald Trump loves airplanes. He has had his own private jet for years. It is also no secret that Donald Trump loves this nation's military. He loves the superior military equipment which is made here. One of his favorite platforms, is the F-35 Lighting which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Yes, it is one heck of an airplane.
Before I go much further, a few words about this magnificent airplane. It has been in service since 2015 (Marines), 2016 (Air Force), and plans to be in service this year for the Navy. The life cycle cost for the 2,663 planes to be built and maintained until 2070, is a whopping $1.5T. Do I think the F-35 will last until 2070? Heavens no! It will be replaced with a hyper-sonic, almost invisible, "no pilot required" platform. At that point in time, the F-35 will have gone from "super duper" to a relic of aviation history.
But right now in 2018, it is still "super duper". And like I said, the President loves this thing. Yesterday, the President wanted to have a "Built in America" showcase event at the White House. Why? To show off some of the wonderful things this country builds. So, he asked Lockheed Marin to bring over one of the new F-35 fighters. Why did he really do it? To blunt some of the fears that a trade war will be harmful to our country.
Well, the F-35 looks pretty, but does it work? This year, for the first time, the F-35 saw combat. One of the our allies which bought the F-35 is Israel. The IDF has used this platform in combat and the reviews coming back from the field have been stellar. At this point in time, the F-35 has absolute air superiority.
Getting back to the "Made in America" show from yesterday. There is nothing wrong with buying more items which are made in the USA. Many, many years ago (some oldies might remember this), when Japan started flooding our market with cars, Detroit started to feel the pain and the pinch. Bumper stickers were made which said "Buy a foreign car and help 10 Americans lose their jobs". Although mostly UAW folks who displayed that bumper sticker, some non-union folks had them also.
I don't want to sound like an isolationist, but I sure the heck am not a globalist either. I like buying American goods. Maybe a bit more pricey than buying foreign (China) goods, I have yet to be burned by poor product quality when doing so. The quality problems American manufacturing once had, have been cured by many years of Deming and ISO-9000 type training.
Thank you once again President Trump, for putting America first. I know the headwinds have been strong against you sir, but you are on the right track. Least wise, the patriots and citizens believe so. MAGA!
Pretty hard to buy American when nothing is made here anymore.
ReplyDeleteAlso difficult to follow the Presidents suggestions when his Trump branded products are made overseas (and his daughters). SAD
And Canada just created a new cabinet level position of Export Trade. Guess they are taking Trump seriously and will find new markets for goods that no one will buy from us anymore. SAD
DeleteAnd no Space Force! Excellent!
ReplyDeleteAnd, Ivanka Trump is shutting down her fashion line of dresses, shoes and handbags! What a great day.
ReplyDeleteShe's going to focus on her White House duties such as sitting behind and to the right of daddy whenever the cameras are on. Special.
The federal government will dole out up to $12 billion in "temporary relief" to struggling farmers who have been hurt by President Donald Trump's tariffs and trade war. A "one time" program to bridge the gap from now until the new deals are done. Uh huh.
ReplyDeleteIt's not enough they already are subsidized and their crop insurance is subsidized, now we have to make sure their profits are subsidized.
What a way to run a country.
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said the president’s policies are “going to make it 1929 again.”
Delete“You choose a war of choice, which is what this trade war is, and then you say afterward, let’s just solve it by buying people gold plated crutches?" Sasse told NBC News. "The farmers and ranchers of America, they don’t want crutches, they want to work."
“The key would be to open up new markets,” Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said. “Farmers like to say, ‘trade not aid.’"
And Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., called the program "welfare."
“Instead of offering welfare to farmers to solve a problem they themselves created, the administration should reverse course and end this incoherent policy,” Corker said.
A tariff is a tax. We have a policy now that is taxing the American consumer and then bailing out U.S. farmers with welfare. I don't get it, I don't agree with it,
DeleteTrust your lying eyes!
ReplyDeletePres. Trump says "this is the time" for tariffs: "This country is doing better than it's ever has before, economically...It's all working out. Just remember: what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."
Now the bad news, the 9th Disrict Court (snowflake court) ruled that the 2nd Ammendment gives a person the right to carry a.gun in public. This will end up in Supreme Court and could be a game changing case for the anti-gun folks.
ReplyDeleteNow if we could just do something about the overwhelming disadvantage of regulation and taxes, the US could compete with ANYBODY. I know, companies I work for have done it.
ReplyDeleteSure hope regulations can be reduced along with taxes, as it will take years to recover from losses created by steel and aluminum import tariffs.
DeleteAnd the dotard doesn't seem to be backing down just yet, even if the face of overwhelming evidence they won't work (or because of the overwhelming evidence).
And it's hard to find an industry benefiting.
I asked my broker and he screened the S&P 900 for companies that could be affected by the Trump tariffs, concluding that aerospace and machinery companies like Raytheon and Rockwell Automation could outperform. Few others.
One of my biggest fears is foreign companies with significant US sales will dodge tariffs by building factories in the US. Like Samsung and LG. Factories would be state of the art, lots of robotics and automation, a few jobs and all profits going home to Asia. Maybe that is Trumps master plan.
DeleteWe already have that with Toyota, Nissan, lots of others. If the tariffs bring the jobs here, that is a very good outcome.
ReplyDeleteThe reason are steel and aluminum companies cannot compete is because Japanese and other factories ARE "state of the art" but our regulatory environment won't permit US makers to upgrade. At one point, the newest US steel plant was older than the oldest Japanese steel plant, for example.
Trump is trying to level the playing field with the tools he has to force the negotiations.