Trump Redux: The Death of Democracy, or Overblown Hyperbole?

[Trollheart]

That Grassley bill is dead on arrival. In the unlikely event that it passes one or both houses, Trump will veto it, and there aren't enough votes to override the veto.

Sure, but at least they're doing something, instead of just standing around with their dicks in each other's hands.
The men are as bad.

[Lisnaholic]

Does anybody think this Presidency has more transparency than the previous?

I feel we exited smoke and mirrors to in your face.  Agree or disagree with policies, I think it's good to know the objective.

^ I'm afraid that I strongly disagree with your (bolded) sentiment.

A case in point: the economy under Biden's guidance (that you label "smoke and mirrors") :- https://www.economist.com/special-report/2024-10-19

The American economy: The envy of the world
Special reports - Oct 19th 2024
The American economy has left other rich countries in the dust. Expect that to continue, argue Simon Rabinovitch and Henry Curr

Just six months later, the economy under Trump:

^ Nice clear objective on display here: Trump behaving like a kid who so hates the idea of sharing his breakfast with his siblings, he's gonna sh*t in his bowl of cereal to teach them a lesson.

With Biden's admin, there was less signal, but also a lot less noise. With Trump's admin, there's more signal, but also much more noise. 

The problem with the signalling from the Trump admin is that it's mainly censored BS. Ideology is replacing science on topics like global warming and vaccine efficacy. There's no transparency at all regarding, for example, detailed stats on "waste and fraud" either pre-Musk or post-Musk, as demonstrated by his absence from this laughably titled "DOGE oversight committee": "Where's Elon Musk ?!":

____________________

Trump's signalling on tariffs is based on figures just as obviously false as his famous map showing a rerouted hurricane:



Just to debunk the top line in his chart : "The Cato Institute said the 2023 trade-weighted average tariff rate from China was 3%, not the 67% the administration said it was." Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/04/trumps-tariff-rates-for-other-countries-larger-than-word-trade-data.html

In my view, a photo op with false figures is not "signalling" of any real value at all.
...and here's Rachel Maddow on the possible genesis of Trump's obstinacy on tariffs:-

Trump is a conman, a felon and a guy who, afaik, never does adequate research before mouthing off as if he knows what he's talking about - hence "ingesting disinfectant", or "windmills" (because he doesn't know what a wind turbine is called) causing cancer, and numbers that jump from 3% to 67% before they are presented to the American people.