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Featured Replies

6 minutes ago, immamac said:

This is where everyone keeps being confused. Trump can't read. His IQ is seriously probably in the 70s, he's barely functional. 

Everyone around him this time are all full blown retards. This is what complete stupidity looks like, everyone keeps trying to explain it away as evil, no these people are just complete morons. 

It really sucks that you've dug in hard with this talking point. 

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These "stupid" people systematically assisted in destroying values and morality in the country in just under a decade. 

 

Trump is stupid but this is definitely stupidity on purpose. It costs him nothing to tank the economy. His followers don't seem to give a shit that their retirement accounts are being purposefully destroyed to settle scores with other nations over our trade deficit. He can grift his way to more money. It's just amazing how snowed all the rubes out there were who voted for him. 

Just to give you a glimpse, I have an old friend who has gone full-on amped-up MAGA, "if Trump does it, it is by definition genius."  To give you a feel for the take of the MAGAs on tariffs, some of his social media takes:

Quote

Ask the chat, “How has the middle class done in America in the last 50 years financially?”
That’s why we need tariffs.

The $5k suits w/pronouns in bio are so out of touch w/‘Murica they think the middle class is thriving.
THAT’S privilege!

Duty free "de minimus" shipping is being cut from ALL countries as soon as our tech can track it.

He also posts about how our "golden age" was from 1776-1913, when we had no income tax, and we had many tariffs.   He talks about the fiscal health of the government (which is debatable), but UTTERLY ignores the health (real and economic) of.....the fucking PEOPLE.  For much of that "golden age," our life expectancy was in the high 30s to 40s.  Post WWI?  We saw it nearly fucking DOUBLE.  Per capita GDP?  Since 1820, most of our peer nations have seen a ratio rise of around 12-16X.  The US?  21.7X.

Like it or not, a global economy, with the US projecting both soft and hard power, brought us incredible wealth, stability, and prosperity.  While things HAVE gone partially awry in the past decades, it's not because we have global trade partners and don't have massive tariffs.  And even "gone awry," we are still immensely better off than we were in this yearned for "golden age."  It's fucking madness.

1 minute ago, mdmost said:

Trump is stupid but this is definitely stupidity on purpose. It costs him nothing to tank the economy. His followers don't seem to give a shit that their retirement accounts are being purposefully destroyed to settle scores with other nations over our trade deficit. He can grift his way to more money. It's just amazing how snowed all the rubes out there were who voted for him. 

Pretty sure the way they see it, they were screwed anyway, so why not tear down the entire system?

 

Just now, David Dennison said:

Pretty sure the way they see it, they were screwed anyway, so why not tear down the entire system?

 

I guess. I'm not sure why they think it will be built back to benefit them. But that's really the point, they're fucking morons. 

12 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

They might not be the smartest people in the world, but they aren't stupid.

 

 

 

 

Just now, mdmost said:

I guess. I'm not sure why they think it will be built back to benefit them. But that's really the point, they're fucking morons. 

I don't know why anyone thinks any Republican cares about anything but making the rich richer.

1 hour ago, wild_turkey said:


I think Trump does a lot of things that are clearly stupid, but I don’t think you can blame this entirely on stupidity. That would imply that he has somewhat good intentions for the long term of our country, and that his methods are merely flawed because of his own lack of understanding.

While the lack of understanding part is likely somewhat true, I don’t think the good intentions part is at all true. I think this is someone who is deliberately destroying our country. That is not stupidity. That is an evil person achieving exactly what they set out to do.

I think you give him too much credit

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Cross posting this from DT for clarity on how fucking stupid the admin thinks (knows) America is.

 

The USTR formulas had nothing to do with VATS or tariffs at all, just a simple ratio reflecting a bilat trade deficit.  Its Exports to US- Imports from US/Imports from US.
 

image.thumb.jpeg.39e1316c095e15ba51d1936dbe56c89b.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.b29d0f740bb9836bb573b563c02942a7.jpeg

 

They added some smart-sounding Econ terms and expressed them with Greek symbols to make this look complex and smart.  They fixed the value of epsilon at 4 and the value of psi at .25, ensuring that they will cancel each other out.  A laughable and transparent attempt to just make this simple formula look informed and analytical because they trust Americans won’t check and if they do, they’ll be too innumerate to replace the Greek symbols and do the simple task of multiplying an integer with its reciprocal and see that they just added some fucking chrome hubcaps onto their clapped out Altima equation.

They are absolutely right. 

We are 100% going to have to learn all of the stupid lessons the hard way.

Touch the hot stove, stick a fork in the electrical socket, put your dick in crazy, use "password" as your password.....ALL the stupid.

I've been trying to find a bright side.  What I've come up with is "rebuilding/reconstruction of a society is a massive undertaking that takes decades," so, at least my kids will have a mission and purpose for the rest of their lives.  Clear the rubble, and slowly rebuild....something....somewhere.

9 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Cross posting this from DT for clarity on how fucking stupid the admin thinks (knows) America is.

 

The USTR formulas had nothing to do with VATS or tariffs at all, just a simple ratio reflecting a bilat trade deficit.  Its Exports to US- Imports from US/Imports from US.
 

image.thumb.jpeg.39e1316c095e15ba51d1936dbe56c89b.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.b29d0f740bb9836bb573b563c02942a7.jpeg

 

They added some smart-sounding Econ terms and expressed them with Greek symbols to make this look complex and smart.  They fixed the value of epsilon at 4 and the value of psi at .25, ensuring that they will cancel each other out.  A laughable and transparent attempt to just make this simple formula look informed and analytical because they trust Americans won’t check and if they do, they’ll be too innumerate to replace the Greek symbols and do the simple task of multiplying an integer with its reciprocal and see that they just added some fucking chrome hubcaps onto their clapped out Altima equation.

They are absolutely right. 

 

Shit like this is why I cannot give them the benefit of the doubt over any supposed stupidity. They're doing this with the intent to deceive. It's deliberate self-destruction.

12 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Cross posting this from DT for clarity on how fucking stupid the admin thinks (knows) America is.

 

The USTR formulas had nothing to do with VATS or tariffs at all, just a simple ratio reflecting a bilat trade deficit.  Its Exports to US- Imports from US/Imports from US.
 

image.thumb.jpeg.39e1316c095e15ba51d1936dbe56c89b.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.b29d0f740bb9836bb573b563c02942a7.jpeg

 

They added some smart-sounding Econ terms and expressed them with Greek symbols to make this look complex and smart.  They fixed the value of epsilon at 4 and the value of psi at .25, ensuring that they will cancel each other out.  A laughable and transparent attempt to just make this simple formula look informed and analytical because they trust Americans won’t check and if they do, they’ll be too innumerate to replace the Greek symbols and do the simple task of multiplying an integer with its reciprocal and see that they just added some fucking chrome hubcaps onto their clapped out Altima equation.

They are absolutely right. 

Even if there was a reason to try to balance bilateral trade with every country on earth, setting a tariff rate equal to the % of trade imbalance is just pulling a number out of your ass.  That's not how any of this works.

23 minutes ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Cross posting this from DT for clarity on how fucking stupid the admin thinks (knows) America is.

 

The USTR formulas had nothing to do with VATS or tariffs at all, just a simple ratio reflecting a bilat trade deficit.  Its Exports to US- Imports from US/Imports from US.
 

image.thumb.jpeg.39e1316c095e15ba51d1936dbe56c89b.jpegimage.thumb.jpeg.b29d0f740bb9836bb573b563c02942a7.jpeg

 

They added some smart-sounding Econ terms and expressed them with Greek symbols to make this look complex and smart.  They fixed the value of epsilon at 4 and the value of psi at .25, ensuring that they will cancel each other out.  A laughable and transparent attempt to just make this simple formula look informed and analytical because they trust Americans won’t check and if they do, they’ll be too innumerate to replace the Greek symbols and do the simple task of multiplying an integer with its reciprocal and see that they just added some fucking chrome hubcaps onto their clapped out Altima equation.

They are absolutely right. 

Every person with a shred of math / economic sense after reading the admin's explanation:

insanely-idiotic-things-ive-ever-heard.g

7 minutes ago, WBT said:

Even if there was a reason to try to balance bilateral trade with every country on earth, setting a tariff rate equal to the % of trade imbalance is just pulling a number out of your ass.  That's not how any of this works.

have you met the people currently in charge?

9 minutes ago, WBT said:

Even if there was a reason to try to balance bilateral trade with every country on earth, setting a tariff rate equal to the % of trade imbalance is just pulling a number out of your ass.  That's not how any of this works.

*half of the trade imbalance

  • Popular Post

NSIAP. It looks like the adults in charge may have used AI to come up with this horseshit tariff rate calc.

 

image.thumb.png.cda8cdeca5e2846182be4c2d72d2cee7.png

 

Love this guy and assume he's a Surly poster in spirit. 

Edited by SmokeyTheBear

5 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

have you met the people currently in charge?

The adults?

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I think it’s important to point out that Congress could absolutely stop this if they had a spine… but they do not.

6 minutes ago, The Royal We said:

NSIAP. It looks like the adults in charge may have used AI to come up with this horseshit tariff rate calc.

 

image.thumb.png.cda8cdeca5e2846182be4c2d72d2cee7.png

GIGO.  The problem is the target - saying that "eliminating the trade deficit" = "an even playing field." That's just a gross oversimplification. 

 

NEWS: Whirlpool Corp. announces Iowa's largest layoff of 2025 in Amana manufacturing facility. Nearly 1/3 of the company’s workforce in the Iowa facility will be let go due to current market conditions.
 
 
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Given the trillions of Dollars these tariffs will generate for the Treasury, do we still have to file taxes this year?

Asking for a friend.

Just now, DixonHur said:

Given the trillions of Dollars these tariffs will generate for the Treasury, do we still have to file taxes this year?

Asking for a friend.

 

You do.  I did.  But Elon and his superfriends don't need to bother.

5 minutes ago, 6th Street said:

 

 

NEWS: Whirlpool Corp. announces Iowa's largest layoff of 2025 in Amana manufacturing facility. Nearly 1/3 of the company’s workforce in the Iowa facility will be let go due to current market conditions.
 
 
·
60.7K
Views

Winning

A massive economic downturn right as the temperatures warm up. What could possibly go wrong. 

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Lutnick is proving to be a bigger clown than Peter Navarro.  That's saying something.

Listen to this podcast.  Lutnick comes off as the mastermind behind the tariffs, DOGE, getting Elon to volunteer, and a number of other Trump administration policies. Oh and he idolizes Trump.

2 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

 

You all keep bashing Trump, but he's literally able to bend time to his will and transport us all back to the 19th century.  That's what is called omimpotents, libtards!

1 minute ago, Surly Bevo said:

A massive economic downturn right as the temperatures warm up. What could possibly go wrong. 

When the temps get high, bullets fly.

9 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

Given the trillions of Dollars these tariffs will generate for the Treasury, do we still have to file taxes this year?

Asking for a friend.

The Good News: there is nobody left at the IRS to go after you if you don’t file

The Bad News: you won’t have a job so taxes are the least of your worries. Also, the federal employees at social security who every year calculate your best 35 year Social Security earnings increase have all been laid off.  Don’t go to your local office, it’s been shut down.  Don’t call the toll-free number, those lazy stay at home bastards have all been fired and so you don’t have to hold for them to deal with your problem.

The Good News: expect a really, really high, COLA interest bump in 2026. 

The Bad News: the COLA will not cover cost increases on your fixed income. Attention younger citizens - to get through this the new full retirement age has been bumped to 74.

Edited by Gatorubet

1 hour ago, immamac said:

This is where everyone keeps being confused. Trump can't read. His IQ is seriously probably in the 70s, he's barely functional. 

Everyone around him this time are all full blown retards. This is what complete stupidity looks like, everyone keeps trying to explain it away as evil, no these people are just complete morons. 

Why Dont We Have Both GIF

22 minutes ago, SmokeyTheBear said:

 

Love this guy and assume he's a Surly poster in spirit. 

He also has the looks of one 

1 hour ago, immamac said:

I haven't dug in on anything, the first go around everyone told us loud and clear how fucking stupid Trump was. Like smart people who said holy shit this guy is stupid. 

This time there are no smart people, only idiots. 

Ya know, I think I'm finally coming to understand why you tolerate so many trolls on surly. You think it's mutually exclusive to be either an idiot, or to be a cruel and awful person. There tends to be a lot of overlap in that venn diagram, home skillet

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-tariffs-trade-war-stock-market-04-02-2025/card/volkswagen-will-include-import-fee-on-tariff-hit-cars-gd7JKHLHnjl3vdrZnrUD
 

Volkswagen will add an “import fee” to the stickers on its cars that are affected by the 25% vehicle tariff, the German automaker told its dealers.

In a memo to retailers Tuesday, VW also said it has temporarily halted rail shipments of vehicles from Mexico, and said it would hold at port cars arriving by ship from Europe. It called the move a temporary adjustment, and said it would work with logistics companies “to optimize vehicle movement once the tariff situation stabilizes

Stabilizes is the key. Is anybody sure these tariffs will still in force in a week? A month? A year?

The whole thing is so surreal. It almost feels like performative art mocking the concept of a trade policy.

Just now, Valmy77 said:

Stabilizes is the key. Is anybody sure these tariffs will still in force in a week? A month? A year?

The whole thing is so surreal. It almost feels like performative art mocking the concept of a trade policy.

I'm pretty sure that's exactly what it is.  There is an unseen/unspoken motive involved with wanting to send the world into a recession if not depression.

7 minutes ago, Valmy77 said:

Stabilizes is the key. Is anybody sure these tariffs will still in force in a week? A month? A year?

The whole thing is so surreal. It almost feels like performative art mocking the concept of a trade policy.

I wager by next Friday we'll have not only the first country's response but several others will have followed suit. No reason it would take longer.  And then we'll see a reduction in our tariffs.

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