He has no desire to exterminate any particular group. And he has no apparent plan for America. His only goal seems to be his own glory, power, and wealth.
Yes Bill, president Trump is unlike any other in history, as most presidents are. Those of you who constantly knock him are blind to the facts of the good that has come from having a man who actually loves America more than his party. Yes, Trump was once a liberal, supporting mostly democrat candidates. He saw how destructive his party became, and not only the damage they inflicted on his city, state and nation, but the entire world. Globalism, socialism and communism is the New Democratic Party. A Godless system of corruption, incompetence and insanity that worships demented people over our creator. Yes Bill, the majority of the world now wants peace over war, law over lawlessness, honesty over lies, capitalism over crony government, sovereignty over globalism and freedom over government control. If President Trump continues this agenda, not only will the entire world benefit, but America will be great again 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Is it “good for America” if the government spends more than it takes in?
Is it “good for America” if private businesses are being taken over by government? Isn’t that a “hostile takeover?”
Is it “good for America” if government, for whatever reason, encourages dissension among its people?
Is it “good for America” to abandon the founding principles which have led to its prosperity and the attempts of its peoples to live by those principles?
Yes, I know, most of us have thought or said that Trump is “better than the alternative.” It isn’t anti-Trump or anti-American to question both the intentions and the actions of all the principal actors, those dancing on the stage and those behind the curtain.
Yes rkf, it’s all part of the restructuring of an extremely broken system that has been totally corrupted for many decades, beginning with the introduction of the most corrupt Federal Reserve. Every step now is required to rebuild and restore our country. It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s much better than the alternative. So sit back and enjoy the ride, because it’s going to be a little bumpy for the next few years, but will smooth out once thousands of democrats and RINOS are behind bars 😊🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Steve L, why not work for fixing a system that is intended to work for everyone. Why do you dogmatists insist on putting opponents in jail? Ever since the Magna Carta in 1215, the world has been moving, admittedly not as quickly as someone like me and (I hope you) would like, toward peaceful reconciliation of differences. It's true that both sides have to bend, sometimes one more than the other. But re-adopting the alternative that you seem to support of moving back into the pre-1215 age of absolute rulers, sieges, genocides, etc. is not only totally insane, but is probably opposed by everyone capable of sitting down and thinking about it for a few minutes. Of course, Donald Trump, is incapable of doing such thinking--unless he were to be sitting on the other side for those few minutes. Just give him time.
Just would like him to be a bit more subtle and slightly more humble, but I'm afraid that train has left the station. I know he doesn't care but the Western world's leaders don't appear to have much respect for his mannerisms. Deals between countries start with relationships and respect and I'm not too sure there is a lot of of that being displayed these days.
Steve, so Trump wants peace? First, congratulations and thank you, Mr. Trump for naming the Department of Defense for what it really is and has been since 1950, the Department of War--creating with our other hate mongering agencies countless wars nearly 30 million dead foreigners. By the way, he and his hypocritical minions refer to the 500 billion dollar increase as "defense spending". Portraying Trump as a "Peace President" is quite a stretch.
The truth is that Trump has supported and continues to support the slaughter, starvation, etc. of 7 million people in Gaza and the West Bank. His peace deal in Gaza is completely phony (disarming the 70,000 already killed population while leaving the killers in full possession of their arms and turning half of Gaza over to Israeli settlers). He has bombed Iran, Syria, Yemen etc. at the behest of Netanyahu who envisions Jerusalem as THE global capital. His veto of every peace-making initiative in the United Nations assures future conflicts against the rest of the world, which as you correctly state, "wants peace over war".
But both Reagan and Trump brought their "Democratic" big spending with them to the Republican Party. Ronnie almost tripled the national debt and that debt increased by $2.4 trillion in 2025.
And Trump, our candidate for "peace and prosperity" and eliminating the $37 trillion debt, proposes adding to that debt by giving our war machine another $500 billion each year. Oh, I forgot, he'll get it from tariffs paid by now-impoverished Americans left with no alternatives.. What a genius!!
Trump is disingenuous. He said whatever was necessary to get elected.
Now in office, he's acting according to his desires; not to many of his pre-election pledges much less to our Constitution.
He shoots from the lip and is now responsible for getting a blue color worker fired for complaining aloud Trump's refusal to release the Epstein files.
Amazing that No King rallies occurred not all that long after he was inaugurated.
Amazing too that he acts as if he was not simply in charge of just the Executive Branch of our government but as the planet's policeman.
And his interest in Greenland is beyond baffling. We have long had a militarynpresence there and can easily acquire rights to mine for critical minerals.
We don't need steal Greenland from a NATO ally any more than we need to make Canada the 51st state.
As a dissatisfied citizen, I continue to be astounded that this convicted criminal is able to act with negligible restraints.
He doesn't see it because he hates Trump. As you stated in your other comment, the charges against him were basically bogus. They were actually a minor offense, past the statute of limitations, and could only be resurrected by using a false claim that his actions were meant to somehow influence the election. The whole thing was a sham according to experts on the law.
So, are you disappointed in all the deregulation under the Trump administration, in the trillions of dollars coming back to the US in terms of investments, in the incentives to develop energy including nuclear, in closing the border, etc., etc.? You can't think of any commendable decision as you say. For someone who doesn't hate Trump, you certainly have a list of grievances while not acknowledging any of what I mentioned. And your idiotic out of context comment about impeachment as if the first two weren't politically motivated by the Democrats and a third will only be the same if the Democrats gain power in the House. But someone who thinks the bogus 34 felony counts in a jurisdiction that is well over 90% Democrat by a prosecutor who ran on the platform to get Trump, is valid says he doesn't hate Trump. I'd like to see what you'd write if you actually (in your mind and by your definition) hated Trump.
And, if the country survives Trump's assaults on particularly important aspects of our Constitutional Government, we hope the shams of both sides will be eliminated.
Yes brother, trying to explain logic and reasoning to a group of individuals who can’t even give an answer on what constitutes a man or a woman is as useless as their understanding of reality 🤔
Angry, we do see the things you point out and both your truth and that particular court process serve to highlight the importance of our public officials not being corrupt or corruptible. How do we achieve this? I hardly think that Trump is on that path.
True, Jimm, but the location and prosecuting attorneys' ability to preselect probable jurors' judgments/decisions played major roles. I think we have to acknowledge the reality of metrics existing in other (virtually ANY other?) jurisdictions that would have produced a different decision. I must admit that at the timeI was prejudiced on (objecting to) this procedure and decision. Maybe I should have know better.
I pardon you in sadness. Your reaction implies that you are an acolyte of our would-be king who has exacerbated the divisiveness plaguing civil discourse
Bongo Bill's column today is downright hilarious if not bordering on the absurd. Bongo totally ignores the Democrats' weekly, if not daily, absurdities and focuses on Trump. Is Trump's 10% cap on credit cards ridiculous to anyone that advocates and understands the dynamics of a free market? Well, sure it is. The question is not does he have the authority to do this, but why is he even saying it. He's saying it because he is a populist and he is reflecting most people's attitude that the 30% rates are unfair. The Democrats are proposing all sorts of free stuff every day in order to convince the public they are looking out for them. So, Trump feels he has to publicly counter this by showing he has their backs also. What do you think no tax on tips or overtime was about. The 10% cap will go nowhere but it serves Trump's purpose to convince the people that think the government should look after them that he's got their back. But clueless commenters like Bill take him seriously (or pretend to) just so they can bash him. The major downside to some of Trump's actions is that once these things are proposed, the Democrats will glom onto them when they get into power and do much worse. The only answer is to not let them get into power by not voting for them.
John, wouldn't it be great to have a president who instead of proposing bandaids line credit card interest caps addresses the causes of our problems? Why has consumer credit card debt exploded from negligible in 1960 to over $1.2 trillion today? Do you know of any politicians who address the causes of this and present actual solutions?
You mean a president that is deregulating the economy, bringing trillions of dollars of investments into the country, incentivizing energy development, closing the borders, etc., etc., etc. All of which Trump is doing. I don't see you discussing any of these issues. Don't be so myopic.
I'm specifically talking about consumer debt nothing else. Why did consumer debt go from negligible to $1.2 trillion from 1960 to 2025? Is it a positive thing to have a debtor nation? Great for the Banksters and the White Shoe Boys on Wall Street. Neither party addresses this issue. But if your guy is so great for the economy why did the national debt increase by $2.4 trillion last year?
Sorry. I like stirring the pot. But I do wonder how MAGA fanboys reconcile the "Greatest Economy" with an increase of $2.4 trillion in the national debt.
The problem with credit card debt is that most of these debtors could never have, and probably should never have, qualified for a traditional loan with reasonable interest rates.
CC companies have dangled the proverbial carrot in front of these poor fools realizing that interest rates, fees and penalties are of no interest to the borrowers. Only the acquisition of more goods and services is of importance.
I have watched consumers in convenience stores buy snacks and sodas with CC’s. Perhaps they do pay it off by the end of the month….maybe.. but most don’t and that’s when and where the problems begin.
Maybe DJT is just trying to protect many consumers from this self created peril.
I understand that a lot of people get into credit card debt spending foolishly. But look at these figures: The average credit card balance per household was roughly $500 in 1980. As of late 2025, the average household balance is estimated between $9,326 and $10,951.
I just find it amazing that anyone can say this is "The Greatest Economy Ever" when both consumer and government debt are exploding and the administration is demanding the Fed suppress interest rates even further.
BB-There is no doubt that Trump id doing things differently than previous administrations. Why repeat the administrations of the last 50 years; it would be more of the same with no results; let’s see what happens in the next few years. If I am wrong in choosing Trump, I would vote for someone else. As far as you, being a Pharmacist, I would recommend a laxative strong enough to clear up your mind OR maybe a stick of dynamite??
As always. Bill makes astute comments about what Trump isn't and makes us wait until tomorrow for the climax. Bill balks about matching Trump with Hitler because he doesn't target one specific group as Hitler did. However, Trump does targets ONE group: the "weak", which for Trump is everyone and everything else. He starts with the obvious weakest--immigrants seeking a better life--and rapidly moves up the chain to include the strongest--the US judicial system and every other country in the world. He finally includes his own strongest supporters (e.g., MTG) and appointments (e.g., Bolton and Powell). His only loyalty is to his own erratic, egotistic self. Everyone else--all of us and all of them--are "weak" when contrasted with this super-Hitler. Fortunately, persons with that level of arrogance collapse, as Louie 14th, die or kill themselves. Trump has no chance to accumulate enough glory, power and wealth to satisfy himself, but WE won't be able to avoid having to pick up the pieces after the soon-to-come-end.
Congratulations, btw, to Canada and China for their automobile deal yesterday.which will soon end American car buyers' loss of trillions by having to pay in artificially high automobile prices. Maybe ALL the "pieces" won't be so bad, after all!
We shall see. Calling something the Department of war does not necessarily mean we are a warring nation. It does create some kind of deterrence. Trump does not target a group of poor immigrants (for which I am one), he targets corrupt thieving criminal immigrants; a very big difference. AP
Abe, thank you. Except that the US doesn’t need deterrence: Canada, Mexico, Greenland or any other country is not going to attack us. No one objects to targeting thieving, criminal immigrants, but he has gone far beyond that and has turned our law enforcement into murderous masked thuggery.
It's so interesting that bill has long since stopped talking about the peasant, he employed at his High altitude vinyard and winery. I do miss the renovation of the home and the rebuilding of the gypsy trailer.
Of course , these wonderful posts were only acceptable during the obama and biden administration. Everything was good.Let's talk about that new stone fireplace. Please? TDS.
BB stated in his missive today: "But it is beyond us to say what the great man really is" Seriously? For the past two years you have said that he is a self- centered "big man" who is an authoritarian by nature and clownish in his behavior and who is constantly self-aggrandizing and enriching himself and his family at the expense of good governance. So yes Bill, it is certainly not beyond you.
“His only goal seems to be his own glory, power and wealth.” That’s not revelatory. It is who he has been his entire adult life. As BB notes, Louis XIV did much for France including building Versailles. That wretched excess contributed to France’s bankruptcy and the French Revolution. But take heart; centuries later, Versailles has likely paid for itself with tourist dollars. For now, taking a “if you can’t beat ‘em, follow them and invest according approach” seems a reasonable strategy. And perhaps a few hundred years from now the gilded White House will generate big bucks for whatever America will then be.
Let’s extend no buybacks to all equities. Great idea. They used to be illegal. They should be illegal again. It’s a start. What’s not to like.
The 200 billion is not new. In fact, the GSEs have been buying MBS for over a year. It hasn’t made much difference in rates. The 200 billion is what remains of their statuatory cap put in place post GFC. Trump is basically telling them to speed it up.
It’s fruitless. And a bad idea. The govt shouldn’t be in the housing market at all. But if your going to be critical, get the facts correct.
Exactly. Stock buybacks were illegal until 1982. Another gift from CONservative superstar Ronnie Raygun. He also gifted vaccine manufacturers with legal immunity from civil lawsuits.
Indeed. He also conspired with Volcker to change the way CPI had been calculated since the 1950s. He did this for two reasons. One, because the Carter era inflation was killing SS, as COLA adjustments were hitting double digits. So they wanted to tamp that down.
Second, at that time 42% of retirees got a defined pension benefits,employer provided. And both govt and private pensions at that time were inflation adjusted and the CPI was used as the benchmark. So the big corporations were putting pressure on Reagan to do something to help them.
I was a lawyer for ATT. I still recall that in 1980 our pay increase was 14% because we got what the union got and the union increases were tied to CPI. So with that and a performance bonus the increase was almost 25%.
Damn. Those were some good days. Plus we had way better music. LOL.
Wake up Bill, you’re way out of line! Do you read the comments? If it wasn’t for your partners, you’d be writing only to the idiots that think Obama was a great president.
Don't hold your breath in RINOS placed behind bars. Trump cozies up to Lindsey Graham while condemning Thomas Massie. Massive is consistently ranked higher than Graham by conservative organizations. When you look up RINO in the dictionary there is a picture of Lindsay and his deceased partner John McCain. Speaking of rebuilding our country Trump is considering taxpayer subsidies for US oil companies to rebuild Venezuelan infrastructure, he's also considering cash payments bribes for Greenlanders.
Actually, FDR's bank holiday and expropriation of the gold in 1933 were fairly sketchy acts by EO. So there are domestic precedents for Trump's "unprecedented" (NOT) EO's. Desperate times produce desperate measures. Glad to learn that unlike the new NY City mayor and various "progressive" allies who moan for Gaza and Maduro and Good while being MIA for protests of the massacres in Sudan and Iran, he is not sympathetic for the HAMAS exterminationist program "now being globalized to intimidate. torch, bomb and, where possible murder Jews in a neighborhood near you".
Maybe more examples of domestic precedents of sketchy POTUS EO's in times that were or at least were deemed to be desperate times would be more illuminating as BB chronicles Trump's sketchy EO's and the often-sketchy acts of Congress. One might almost pity the elected magistrates left holding the bag full of skunks bequeathed to them by predecessors who decided to kick the can down the road, except they struggled so hard to get elected, and are now reaping the benefits. The ones who could run again but are choosing to "pursue other interests" are the most prudent, leaving us with "the rest". Isaiah 57 is a good read from time to time.
Every time I read this article I see Bill’s contempt for Trump even though the results of his presidency are truly making America better! Who doesn’t want to deport illegal immigrants?
Only a sliver of the population brainwashed by the “Elites” who desperately want to retain power through corruption and election fraud. President Trump is cutting off the elites fraudulent schemes. They are panicking as they are being exposed and resorting to every means possible to deflect from the obvious. We the majority see it and applaud it. MAGA
The republic is lost fellow readers. Get used to it. With this president’s example following presidents, if they exist, will just follow Trumps lead since no one believes in law nor morals anymore. Can’t wait to see what king Mamdani will do when he follows king Trump. Cheers
I agree that Trump only cares about his own self gratification. Lowering interest rates for ONE year is somehow beneficial? He wants Greenland to block an emerging Chinese trade route (reactive). Does anyone believe he cares about natural resources that won't be on line for a decade? It's all about improving his negotiating position with Xi Jinping. If he can steal Venezuelan and Iranian oil, he will be remembered as the person who saved America. Oil is peaking globally and he who owns the largest reserve is King.
Back in the seventies, Bank interest rates were capped at 12% for everything - loans & cards; but with inflation reaching 18%, the banks convinced our government to lift the lid on interest rates; but our government did not install a sunset cause on lifting those interest rates. So when the inflation finally subsided the banks kept those excessively high rates (up to 26%) which had previously been considered "mob interest rates"! So if our government or congress will not force interest rate reduction - Who will? Trump is attempting to achieve sanity to interest rates. The Bank HOGS need to be put in their place. The interest rate feeding frenzy must be bought to a halt!!!
Yes Bill, president Trump is unlike any other in history, as most presidents are. Those of you who constantly knock him are blind to the facts of the good that has come from having a man who actually loves America more than his party. Yes, Trump was once a liberal, supporting mostly democrat candidates. He saw how destructive his party became, and not only the damage they inflicted on his city, state and nation, but the entire world. Globalism, socialism and communism is the New Democratic Party. A Godless system of corruption, incompetence and insanity that worships demented people over our creator. Yes Bill, the majority of the world now wants peace over war, law over lawlessness, honesty over lies, capitalism over crony government, sovereignty over globalism and freedom over government control. If President Trump continues this agenda, not only will the entire world benefit, but America will be great again 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Is it “good for America” if the government spends more than it takes in?
Is it “good for America” if private businesses are being taken over by government? Isn’t that a “hostile takeover?”
Is it “good for America” if government, for whatever reason, encourages dissension among its people?
Is it “good for America” to abandon the founding principles which have led to its prosperity and the attempts of its peoples to live by those principles?
Yes, I know, most of us have thought or said that Trump is “better than the alternative.” It isn’t anti-Trump or anti-American to question both the intentions and the actions of all the principal actors, those dancing on the stage and those behind the curtain.
Yes rkf, it’s all part of the restructuring of an extremely broken system that has been totally corrupted for many decades, beginning with the introduction of the most corrupt Federal Reserve. Every step now is required to rebuild and restore our country. It’s not going to be perfect, but it’s much better than the alternative. So sit back and enjoy the ride, because it’s going to be a little bumpy for the next few years, but will smooth out once thousands of democrats and RINOS are behind bars 😊🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Steve L, why not work for fixing a system that is intended to work for everyone. Why do you dogmatists insist on putting opponents in jail? Ever since the Magna Carta in 1215, the world has been moving, admittedly not as quickly as someone like me and (I hope you) would like, toward peaceful reconciliation of differences. It's true that both sides have to bend, sometimes one more than the other. But re-adopting the alternative that you seem to support of moving back into the pre-1215 age of absolute rulers, sieges, genocides, etc. is not only totally insane, but is probably opposed by everyone capable of sitting down and thinking about it for a few minutes. Of course, Donald Trump, is incapable of doing such thinking--unless he were to be sitting on the other side for those few minutes. Just give him time.
😳 Yes Mr Ed, I do love and appreciate your honesty, but 😳 that’s all I can say about that….
Just would like him to be a bit more subtle and slightly more humble, but I'm afraid that train has left the station. I know he doesn't care but the Western world's leaders don't appear to have much respect for his mannerisms. Deals between countries start with relationships and respect and I'm not too sure there is a lot of of that being displayed these days.
Steve, so Trump wants peace? First, congratulations and thank you, Mr. Trump for naming the Department of Defense for what it really is and has been since 1950, the Department of War--creating with our other hate mongering agencies countless wars nearly 30 million dead foreigners. By the way, he and his hypocritical minions refer to the 500 billion dollar increase as "defense spending". Portraying Trump as a "Peace President" is quite a stretch.
The truth is that Trump has supported and continues to support the slaughter, starvation, etc. of 7 million people in Gaza and the West Bank. His peace deal in Gaza is completely phony (disarming the 70,000 already killed population while leaving the killers in full possession of their arms and turning half of Gaza over to Israeli settlers). He has bombed Iran, Syria, Yemen etc. at the behest of Netanyahu who envisions Jerusalem as THE global capital. His veto of every peace-making initiative in the United Nations assures future conflicts against the rest of the world, which as you correctly state, "wants peace over war".
Like Ronald Reagan once remarked, "I didn't leave the democrat party, they left me".
But both Reagan and Trump brought their "Democratic" big spending with them to the Republican Party. Ronnie almost tripled the national debt and that debt increased by $2.4 trillion in 2025.
And Trump, our candidate for "peace and prosperity" and eliminating the $37 trillion debt, proposes adding to that debt by giving our war machine another $500 billion each year. Oh, I forgot, he'll get it from tariffs paid by now-impoverished Americans left with no alternatives.. What a genius!!
I think you are living in an alternate universe, ala Fringe.
Trump is disingenuous. He said whatever was necessary to get elected.
Now in office, he's acting according to his desires; not to many of his pre-election pledges much less to our Constitution.
He shoots from the lip and is now responsible for getting a blue color worker fired for complaining aloud Trump's refusal to release the Epstein files.
Amazing that No King rallies occurred not all that long after he was inaugurated.
Amazing too that he acts as if he was not simply in charge of just the Executive Branch of our government but as the planet's policeman.
And his interest in Greenland is beyond baffling. We have long had a militarynpresence there and can easily acquire rights to mine for critical minerals.
We don't need steal Greenland from a NATO ally any more than we need to make Canada the 51st state.
As a dissatisfied citizen, I continue to be astounded that this convicted criminal is able to act with negligible restraints.
...although there is legitimately much dis-satisfaction with Trump.
Labeling him a "convicted criminal" only reduces the weight of the charge.
As it was a kangaroo court that dug deep to convict, the alleged crime in question, and the players all with dirty hands.
It was a politically charged conviction.
Seems other players like Hillary and Eric Holder are guilty of considerably more egregious offenses and more often...
As a private citizen, Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records; counts which constitute criminal conduct.
Trump was convicted on all counts on May 30, 2024.
He is now the first U.S. president to have been convicted of a felony.
...all true, however thinking folks look beyond that of "claims" and "politics".
Weighing the actual perceived offense and how insignificant it was to the U.S. well being.
Whereas offenses committed by other politicos have cost millions and cost lives.
How do you not see this?
He doesn't see it because he hates Trump. As you stated in your other comment, the charges against him were basically bogus. They were actually a minor offense, past the statute of limitations, and could only be resurrected by using a false claim that his actions were meant to somehow influence the election. The whole thing was a sham according to experts on the law.
I don't hate Trump.
I like his decisiveness but hate his actions.
I didn't vote for him but neither did I vote for his opponent.
I was keenly disappointed when he made the deficit worse. Frankly, I can't think of any commendable decision he's made to date.
And I'm especially angry at the Democrats who allowed Biden, a man suffering from obvious cognitive deficiencies, to stand for re-election.
Both political parties gave voters terrible choices.
My forecast: Trump will make history by being impeached by the House a third time but will be acquitted by the Senate.
So, are you disappointed in all the deregulation under the Trump administration, in the trillions of dollars coming back to the US in terms of investments, in the incentives to develop energy including nuclear, in closing the border, etc., etc.? You can't think of any commendable decision as you say. For someone who doesn't hate Trump, you certainly have a list of grievances while not acknowledging any of what I mentioned. And your idiotic out of context comment about impeachment as if the first two weren't politically motivated by the Democrats and a third will only be the same if the Democrats gain power in the House. But someone who thinks the bogus 34 felony counts in a jurisdiction that is well over 90% Democrat by a prosecutor who ran on the platform to get Trump, is valid says he doesn't hate Trump. I'd like to see what you'd write if you actually (in your mind and by your definition) hated Trump.
And, if the country survives Trump's assaults on particularly important aspects of our Constitutional Government, we hope the shams of both sides will be eliminated.
Yes, former presidents have committed egregious acts that have caused enormous harm. Obama even authorized the assignation of a US citizen.
None however took office with a felony conviction as part of their record. Trump's conviction, at a minimum, revealed his disdain for civil conduct.
Lester Holt was the 2025 winner of the ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism.
His ensuing comment;
"The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in.
That the sun sets in the west is a fact.
Any contrary view does not deserve our time or attention."
-
I point this out because Lester believes other perspectives are in fact irrelevant.
Ignoring that on the poles there is no west.
Oblivious that the Sun sets in other directions on other planets...
-
Journalists should never ever think there is nothing more...
-
Lester concludes NOT giving equal weight to two sides... does indeed reflect the world we live in.
Simply because Lester won an award that makes him correct?
-
As with Trump, because a bias group of politically motivated opportunists awarded him a felon, you believe that is correct too...
Yes brother, trying to explain logic and reasoning to a group of individuals who can’t even give an answer on what constitutes a man or a woman is as useless as their understanding of reality 🤔
Angry, we do see the things you point out and both your truth and that particular court process serve to highlight the importance of our public officials not being corrupt or corruptible. How do we achieve this? I hardly think that Trump is on that path.
I tend to agree with you on this one Ed.
Trump has learned well from the blue team...
True, Jimm, but the location and prosecuting attorneys' ability to preselect probable jurors' judgments/decisions played major roles. I think we have to acknowledge the reality of metrics existing in other (virtually ANY other?) jurisdictions that would have produced a different decision. I must admit that at the timeI was prejudiced on (objecting to) this procedure and decision. Maybe I should have know better.
That's true: it was a kangaroo court--the type that Trump now wants to copy from New York and put all over the country.
Pardon me , but you’re an idiot.
I pardon you in sadness. Your reaction implies that you are an acolyte of our would-be king who has exacerbated the divisiveness plaguing civil discourse
Bongo Bill's column today is downright hilarious if not bordering on the absurd. Bongo totally ignores the Democrats' weekly, if not daily, absurdities and focuses on Trump. Is Trump's 10% cap on credit cards ridiculous to anyone that advocates and understands the dynamics of a free market? Well, sure it is. The question is not does he have the authority to do this, but why is he even saying it. He's saying it because he is a populist and he is reflecting most people's attitude that the 30% rates are unfair. The Democrats are proposing all sorts of free stuff every day in order to convince the public they are looking out for them. So, Trump feels he has to publicly counter this by showing he has their backs also. What do you think no tax on tips or overtime was about. The 10% cap will go nowhere but it serves Trump's purpose to convince the people that think the government should look after them that he's got their back. But clueless commenters like Bill take him seriously (or pretend to) just so they can bash him. The major downside to some of Trump's actions is that once these things are proposed, the Democrats will glom onto them when they get into power and do much worse. The only answer is to not let them get into power by not voting for them.
John, wouldn't it be great to have a president who instead of proposing bandaids line credit card interest caps addresses the causes of our problems? Why has consumer credit card debt exploded from negligible in 1960 to over $1.2 trillion today? Do you know of any politicians who address the causes of this and present actual solutions?
You mean a president that is deregulating the economy, bringing trillions of dollars of investments into the country, incentivizing energy development, closing the borders, etc., etc., etc. All of which Trump is doing. I don't see you discussing any of these issues. Don't be so myopic.
I'm specifically talking about consumer debt nothing else. Why did consumer debt go from negligible to $1.2 trillion from 1960 to 2025? Is it a positive thing to have a debtor nation? Great for the Banksters and the White Shoe Boys on Wall Street. Neither party addresses this issue. But if your guy is so great for the economy why did the national debt increase by $2.4 trillion last year?
As I've said before, try commenting to someone who appreciates what you have to say. I'm not interested.
Sorry. I like stirring the pot. But I do wonder how MAGA fanboys reconcile the "Greatest Economy" with an increase of $2.4 trillion in the national debt.
I wouldn't know. Why don't you find some and ask them.
Carter,
The problem with credit card debt is that most of these debtors could never have, and probably should never have, qualified for a traditional loan with reasonable interest rates.
CC companies have dangled the proverbial carrot in front of these poor fools realizing that interest rates, fees and penalties are of no interest to the borrowers. Only the acquisition of more goods and services is of importance.
I have watched consumers in convenience stores buy snacks and sodas with CC’s. Perhaps they do pay it off by the end of the month….maybe.. but most don’t and that’s when and where the problems begin.
Maybe DJT is just trying to protect many consumers from this self created peril.
I understand that a lot of people get into credit card debt spending foolishly. But look at these figures: The average credit card balance per household was roughly $500 in 1980. As of late 2025, the average household balance is estimated between $9,326 and $10,951.
I just find it amazing that anyone can say this is "The Greatest Economy Ever" when both consumer and government debt are exploding and the administration is demanding the Fed suppress interest rates even further.
BB-There is no doubt that Trump id doing things differently than previous administrations. Why repeat the administrations of the last 50 years; it would be more of the same with no results; let’s see what happens in the next few years. If I am wrong in choosing Trump, I would vote for someone else. As far as you, being a Pharmacist, I would recommend a laxative strong enough to clear up your mind OR maybe a stick of dynamite??
🤣
As always. Bill makes astute comments about what Trump isn't and makes us wait until tomorrow for the climax. Bill balks about matching Trump with Hitler because he doesn't target one specific group as Hitler did. However, Trump does targets ONE group: the "weak", which for Trump is everyone and everything else. He starts with the obvious weakest--immigrants seeking a better life--and rapidly moves up the chain to include the strongest--the US judicial system and every other country in the world. He finally includes his own strongest supporters (e.g., MTG) and appointments (e.g., Bolton and Powell). His only loyalty is to his own erratic, egotistic self. Everyone else--all of us and all of them--are "weak" when contrasted with this super-Hitler. Fortunately, persons with that level of arrogance collapse, as Louie 14th, die or kill themselves. Trump has no chance to accumulate enough glory, power and wealth to satisfy himself, but WE won't be able to avoid having to pick up the pieces after the soon-to-come-end.
Congratulations, btw, to Canada and China for their automobile deal yesterday.which will soon end American car buyers' loss of trillions by having to pay in artificially high automobile prices. Maybe ALL the "pieces" won't be so bad, after all!
Ed:
We shall see. Calling something the Department of war does not necessarily mean we are a warring nation. It does create some kind of deterrence. Trump does not target a group of poor immigrants (for which I am one), he targets corrupt thieving criminal immigrants; a very big difference. AP
Abe, thank you. Except that the US doesn’t need deterrence: Canada, Mexico, Greenland or any other country is not going to attack us. No one objects to targeting thieving, criminal immigrants, but he has gone far beyond that and has turned our law enforcement into murderous masked thuggery.
It's so interesting that bill has long since stopped talking about the peasant, he employed at his High altitude vinyard and winery. I do miss the renovation of the home and the rebuilding of the gypsy trailer.
Of course , these wonderful posts were only acceptable during the obama and biden administration. Everything was good.Let's talk about that new stone fireplace. Please? TDS.
Can someone translate that for us outsiders?
I will. Clearly, you're a newbie. Previous posts were not vitriolic or political.
BB stated in his missive today: "But it is beyond us to say what the great man really is" Seriously? For the past two years you have said that he is a self- centered "big man" who is an authoritarian by nature and clownish in his behavior and who is constantly self-aggrandizing and enriching himself and his family at the expense of good governance. So yes Bill, it is certainly not beyond you.
“His only goal seems to be his own glory, power and wealth.” That’s not revelatory. It is who he has been his entire adult life. As BB notes, Louis XIV did much for France including building Versailles. That wretched excess contributed to France’s bankruptcy and the French Revolution. But take heart; centuries later, Versailles has likely paid for itself with tourist dollars. For now, taking a “if you can’t beat ‘em, follow them and invest according approach” seems a reasonable strategy. And perhaps a few hundred years from now the gilded White House will generate big bucks for whatever America will then be.
Let’s extend no buybacks to all equities. Great idea. They used to be illegal. They should be illegal again. It’s a start. What’s not to like.
The 200 billion is not new. In fact, the GSEs have been buying MBS for over a year. It hasn’t made much difference in rates. The 200 billion is what remains of their statuatory cap put in place post GFC. Trump is basically telling them to speed it up.
It’s fruitless. And a bad idea. The govt shouldn’t be in the housing market at all. But if your going to be critical, get the facts correct.
Exactly. Stock buybacks were illegal until 1982. Another gift from CONservative superstar Ronnie Raygun. He also gifted vaccine manufacturers with legal immunity from civil lawsuits.
Indeed. He also conspired with Volcker to change the way CPI had been calculated since the 1950s. He did this for two reasons. One, because the Carter era inflation was killing SS, as COLA adjustments were hitting double digits. So they wanted to tamp that down.
Second, at that time 42% of retirees got a defined pension benefits,employer provided. And both govt and private pensions at that time were inflation adjusted and the CPI was used as the benchmark. So the big corporations were putting pressure on Reagan to do something to help them.
I was a lawyer for ATT. I still recall that in 1980 our pay increase was 14% because we got what the union got and the union increases were tied to CPI. So with that and a performance bonus the increase was almost 25%.
Damn. Those were some good days. Plus we had way better music. LOL.
Ronnie was a fan of star wars technology too.
Should have put him into orbit as an early warning system for planet earth !
Musk can join him as well !
Wake up Bill, you’re way out of line! Do you read the comments? If it wasn’t for your partners, you’d be writing only to the idiots that think Obama was a great president.
So true. But unfortunately, I think it's way too late for Bongo Bill to wake up.
Don't hold your breath in RINOS placed behind bars. Trump cozies up to Lindsey Graham while condemning Thomas Massie. Massive is consistently ranked higher than Graham by conservative organizations. When you look up RINO in the dictionary there is a picture of Lindsay and his deceased partner John McCain. Speaking of rebuilding our country Trump is considering taxpayer subsidies for US oil companies to rebuild Venezuelan infrastructure, he's also considering cash payments bribes for Greenlanders.
Actually, FDR's bank holiday and expropriation of the gold in 1933 were fairly sketchy acts by EO. So there are domestic precedents for Trump's "unprecedented" (NOT) EO's. Desperate times produce desperate measures. Glad to learn that unlike the new NY City mayor and various "progressive" allies who moan for Gaza and Maduro and Good while being MIA for protests of the massacres in Sudan and Iran, he is not sympathetic for the HAMAS exterminationist program "now being globalized to intimidate. torch, bomb and, where possible murder Jews in a neighborhood near you".
Maybe more examples of domestic precedents of sketchy POTUS EO's in times that were or at least were deemed to be desperate times would be more illuminating as BB chronicles Trump's sketchy EO's and the often-sketchy acts of Congress. One might almost pity the elected magistrates left holding the bag full of skunks bequeathed to them by predecessors who decided to kick the can down the road, except they struggled so hard to get elected, and are now reaping the benefits. The ones who could run again but are choosing to "pursue other interests" are the most prudent, leaving us with "the rest". Isaiah 57 is a good read from time to time.
Every time I read this article I see Bill’s contempt for Trump even though the results of his presidency are truly making America better! Who doesn’t want to deport illegal immigrants?
Only a sliver of the population brainwashed by the “Elites” who desperately want to retain power through corruption and election fraud. President Trump is cutting off the elites fraudulent schemes. They are panicking as they are being exposed and resorting to every means possible to deflect from the obvious. We the majority see it and applaud it. MAGA
The republic is lost fellow readers. Get used to it. With this president’s example following presidents, if they exist, will just follow Trumps lead since no one believes in law nor morals anymore. Can’t wait to see what king Mamdani will do when he follows king Trump. Cheers
I agree that Trump only cares about his own self gratification. Lowering interest rates for ONE year is somehow beneficial? He wants Greenland to block an emerging Chinese trade route (reactive). Does anyone believe he cares about natural resources that won't be on line for a decade? It's all about improving his negotiating position with Xi Jinping. If he can steal Venezuelan and Iranian oil, he will be remembered as the person who saved America. Oil is peaking globally and he who owns the largest reserve is King.
DTS…..Maybe all you liberals will take a TDS vaccine since you love vaccines so much.
Back in the seventies, Bank interest rates were capped at 12% for everything - loans & cards; but with inflation reaching 18%, the banks convinced our government to lift the lid on interest rates; but our government did not install a sunset cause on lifting those interest rates. So when the inflation finally subsided the banks kept those excessively high rates (up to 26%) which had previously been considered "mob interest rates"! So if our government or congress will not force interest rate reduction - Who will? Trump is attempting to achieve sanity to interest rates. The Bank HOGS need to be put in their place. The interest rate feeding frenzy must be bought to a halt!!!