Trump’s overt betrayal of his base is astounding. Campaigning on ending the Ukraine conflict in one day and promising lower prices for Americans, Trump has done little if anything to relieve his countrymen of a rising cost of living as living standards continue to deteriorate and the Ukraine war intensifies, the recent summit in Alaska with Russia and meeting with European allies afterward, all in the name of peace, provided cover for escalating the conflict.
Most people identified as middle or lower classes in the United States can barely get through a week without reaching for a credit card to pay everyday expenses. Food prices have remained high and continue to increase. Rents are outrageous and buying a home is almost completely unattainable for anybody making less than $100,000 a year.
Late Thursday, President Trump approved an $825 million arms sale to Ukraine that will include extended-range missiles and related equipment. Trump's timing on this latest betrayal could not have been better, right before a three-day weekend celebrating slavery labor.
The Trump administration has also close the de minimus exemption on shipments coming into the United States. For years, packages coming into the United States valued at under $800 were exempt from tariffs. That will no longer be the case. The new policy places tariffs on all shipments into the U.S. unless they are under $100 and identified as "gifts." Good luck with that.
Inbound postal supply lines are beginning to experience bottlenecks because of the tariff collection issues, including Asia's Korea Post and SingPost, halting standard parcel services. Japan also warned of delays. In Europe, Norway, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, and the UK are suspending or limiting services. Deutsche Post/DHL halted all business parcels to the U.S. via postal networks. Shipments through Australia to the U.S. have been paused as well. FedEx and UPS are fighting a logistical nightmare from the new tariff fees, as their businesses specialize on small packages.
In effect, U.S. consumers will henceforth pay higher prices for imported food and goods because of the tariffs and added shipping and compliance costs. Companies that specialize in small packages, like DHL, have already halted shipments to the United States
Consumers and small businesses will suffer and trade will decline. American consumers of some products need not worry about higher prices because there won't be any available on the empty shelves of the few retailers remaining open.
At the same time the federal government will collect more taxes and congress will waste it on bailouts, the MIC, militarized policing, more lawfare, and tax breaks for the already wealthy campaign contributors.
The BEA announced the latest statistical lie Friday morning, the Personal Consumption Index, the Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge (because it is the least accurate).
From the same month one year ago, the PCE price index for July increased 2.6 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 2.9 percent from one year ago.
For the month of July, Real PCE, +0.3; PCE price index, +0.2; PCE price index, excluding food and energy, +0.3. Annualized, the so-called "Super Core" PCE (Services less Shelter) rose to 3.32%. Apparently, neither President Trump nor Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pay much attention to these numbers, as Trump has urged - and Powell now appears willing to comply - the Fed to lower interest rates.
Politicians and bankers come from the same cloth. They all lie, all the time.
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