Bill Owens
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Mr. Trump has blinked on the China tariffs without any confirmation that China blinked before he did which it turns out was false, based upon China’s statements completely denying that any discussions were underway. Is a fake blink better or worse than a real one?
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China has decided to halt critical earth metal exports as the trade war intensifies. These critical raw materials include minerals and magnets which could have an adverse effect on automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies, military contractors and others around the world. This could be a real pressure point and create significant issues for the United States.
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The constant refrain of waste, fraud and abuse from Republicans and particularly from DOGE has been ongoing since at least 2009 with the emergence of the Tea Party. It is essentially nonsense.
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It appears that Mr. Trump’s numbers are moving, and I think it is important to remember that he received slightly less than 50% of the popular vote, which means there are a significant number of people in opposition to him which certainly could account for the movement of his job approval rating downward.
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It has been reported that household income growth is slowing, which poses a risk obviously to consumer spending and more generally to the economy given the fact that consumer spending represents in the range of 65% of our GDP. This taken together with rising inflation, rising food costs, rising gas prices, all does not trend well.
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Senators Murkowski and Collins, as well as Mr. Thune and Congressman Zack Nunn are all trying to find a way around the various Executive Orders that may injure their States or Districts. How long will Trump put up with that?
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Mr. Trump’s announcement that the US would own Gaza and develop it as a resort was discussed recently with the King of Jordan who uncompromisingly rejected it. Mr. Trump’s threat to reduce aid to Jordan and Egypt, as he wants them to provide refuge for the Palestinians, including a permanent place to live, did not impact the King’s response.
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The Trump administration’s freeze on scientific research and the withdrawal from the World Health Organization and other attempts to stifle continuing research by denying grants, etc. is difficult to fathom. It is unclear what the purpose of these moves are other than to be disruptive and assuming some belief on the part of Mr. Trump that the scientific community is part of his enemy list. Our collective health is in danger.
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The questions that all Americans will have to answer is has Mr. Trump kept his promises, and secondarily, is my life better as the result of kept promises, or, if the promises have not been kept, is my life better?
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So, where are we on the campaign promises? I’ll comment on a few of them. Raids have gone forward in Chicago, Atlanta and New Jersey, but they are small and merely create a façade to satisfy his supporters.