For much (most?) of our history federal income came exclusively from tariffs, and the President is very fond of evoking that era. It would not be unprecedented for it to happen again.

Can’t argue with the moderation given the slant of this community (I landed here from “All”), but I continue to maintain I’ve been posting in good faith.

Have a blessed day.

People should be free to come and go and work and play anywhere they want, anywhere on the planet.

So, for example in a neighborhood, everyone is free to live in whichever house they please, with no obligations for maintenance or utilities (i.e. the duties and responsibilities of citizenship). How would that work out?

First, naturally, people would head to the nicest house on the block. Eventually, it would get too full and too dilapidated so people would move to the next nicest house, and so on until the “niceness” of each house reaches an equilibrium point where there is no longer incentive to move because the next house is just as nice (or not) as the one you’re living in.

Should anyone try to “fix up” a house and succeed, theirs will become the nicest house on the block, attracting everyone to move in. Very quickly, their effort will be negated and everyone will move back out since it isn’t nice anymore.

The only stable equilibrium for this system is one in which all houses are equally miserable, and getting even worse. That’s why houses have locks, and that’s why countries have borders.

Then you’ll love this one: I saw a post with a map of the Gaza Strip overlaid with the Buc-ee’s logo. Someone replied:

From the River to the Sea, Buc-ee’s Buy One Get One Free

But on what basis do people support illegal immigration?

Sure, the average Mexican citizen would probably live a better life as an American citizen, but so too would the average American citizen live a far better life as a Swiss or Monegasque citizen. Do all Americans have the right to move to Switzerland and enjoy the privileges of citizenship?

Should NGOs be flying Americans to Monaco and putting them up in the Hotel de Paris? Where does it end?

Far better to bloom where you’re planted, in my humble opinion.

All the old consumer goods would fall apart because they’re built to fail and non-repairable, so you’d need to buy new ones anyways.

Take that, Communists!

/s

It may seem cruel, but this is the price we have to pay for a Disneyland in the Middle East.

/s, in case it wasn’t achingly obvious

Trump’s been pretty loud about the External Revenue Service eventually supplanting the IRS.

If you don’t think he’s serious about tariffs, you aren’t paying attention.

Nissan has manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Mississippi that Tesla may want to get ahold of. In exchange Nissan gets enough cash to survive a while longer until they decide how to waste it.

(DAE remember the Leaf? Shit was dope. What the hell happened?)

Rumblings from Trumpland (and the odd post from Musk) point to the long-term goal being a vastly simplified tax code and commensurately smaller IRS.

Biden seemed content to keep hiring more IRS agents.

A surprising number of people switched to Trump after the DNC and DWS stabbed Bernie in the back.

Is it reasonable to grow the enforcement bureaucracy ad infinitum in order to keep pace with an exponentially more complicated tax code, or might we be better off simplifying things a little?

How do you equate the view that

Some people are American citizens and some people are not. American citizens decide who becomes an American citizen. People who “break into” America without permission will be removed from America.

with

American citizens believe that non-American citizens are not people

?

Looks like Tesla’s next up to bat. Imagine, the union of the two least reliable car brands! The Japanese government simply will not let Nissan die (or become Chinese).

Financial Times: Japan to court Tesla on Nissan investment in exchange for US factories

Nissan

Never forget

borders are dehumanizing

Could you expand on this?

whales

You mean the big shots with their undeclared tips and their Venmo payments?

Without prejudice for or against the research in question (most may be worthy, but some could be spurious), this is 100% in keeping with his promises to the American people.

Everyone is shocked you’re get exactly what it says on the tin.

The Overton Window keeps shifting.

Apple-FBI encryption dispute

My recollection was erroneous, as I can’t (easily) find evidence of them rolling over. But the devices in question still got unlocked, so in the end it didn’t matter whether Apple (openly or surreptitiously) cooperated.

American citizenship is not a universal Human Right. At least that’s what most Americans believe.

As long as the country purports to be democratic, their views ought to be respected, however fringe they may seem by some standards.