There are certain things that need to be completely overhauled, such as the healthcare system and the tax structure. But the thought of everything else being destroyed keeps me up at night!
I think we can Anne. I don’t think of “the US being destroyed” as one hard, tangible event (maybe you don’t either). Everyday, things are being destroyed or sabotaged around us, and the fight won’t be easy, but the pushback will & must persist. It's like a chronic condition that we must keep giving the US a shot of medicine to battle. For me it’s a very fine line between staying vigilant/acknowledging the seriousness of our situation vs running for the hills, screaming that the sky is falling (which I find very unhelpful & corosive). Perhaps I was getting too emotionally “high” off of our many wins last month, but if that momentum can stick, we can become a mighty pain in MAGA’s ass & become a bigger one over time. I guess my point is hang in there, but don’t let defeatism overtake you!
Sorry, all, I seem to have injected more gloom into this chat than I meant to. I merely wanted to underline the importance of accelerating the growth of our pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement. The stakes are high. We have lots of signs that that movement is growing in power.
Fantastic interview & spot on. I have been following Robert Reich & Paul Krugman for decades & they have been saying this all along, too. Tying tariffs to the international global order is essential to our understanding of our geopolitical position.
Every newspaper in America ought to put the price of eggs, gas, healthcare insurance etc etc on their front page. With a comparison to the prices when President Biden left office.
Hi, Simon. One correction. Paige Cognetti (Scranton’s current mayor) is running in PA-8 (my Congressional district) against the fraud, poser, and Trump bootlicker one-term Rob Bresnahan.
Malevolent is a perfect adjective for the MAGA movement. “Movement” is another word to highlight because it’s not just Trump but all the people in his circle who are working to take down America. If Trump died today, we’d still have his dedicated circle to fight. Trump is a delusional old man, a loser who is the front for the MAGA assembly in the background which has a firm grasp on their plan to run the world. I think of them as the “Trump” whisperers. Luckily, as you suggest, Americans are recognizing the smoke and the peril. We will not stop fighting to turn the tables and take them down.
This week I have been forwarding information and contacting my federal and state reps to add my support to them for pushing back on tariffs and on Trump’s abandonment of Ukraine and NATO.
Perhaps it's time for media and the rest of us to use the word RECESSION and tie it to flat wages, tariffs, deporting immigrants etc. Considering that Rob, Janet Yellen & Paul Krugman are agreeing that we're in a RECESSION seems to be what the American people need to hear. As he said, you're not kidding the people.
I did payroll for years and would have to report to the Dept. of Labor (state and federal) back when we did it manually. When we switched to processing payroll online with ADP, they handled reporting the data.
My dad was in construction when I was in high school and remember how hard it was for him in his 50's to find work during the 1970's. I remember him saying when construction dries up, the country is in big trouble. My cousin's partner was just laid off last week. He's in his late 50's.
yep dems need to be loud: its a recession! for the holidays! the job losses are staggering. and if u lose your job in this recession, you wont be getting another one any time soon. so more foreclosures, repos on cars, kids not going to college, evictions, etc etc. the DNC just needs to put on social media the facts! the numbers! people will get it. and just keep repeating/updating it over and over again.
Great conversation. I see this a bit differently, although with the same outcome.
First, I posit that Trump is a simplistic thinker. He has the instincts of a bully to go for weakness, but I don't see him as someone who thinks (or cares) about the larger geopolitical implications of his actions. Second, Trump is a sadist.
Combine these two things and tariffs, which were suggested to him by crackpot Peter Navarro, are the perfect way for him to indulge his sadistic impulses. He can inflict cruelty with the flick of his wrist and on a whim. I think that he enjoys seeing the videos of migrants being tackled to the ground by ICE agents, but he isn't the one doing the tackling. So it's pleasurable for him, but not nearly as exciting as inflicting the pain himself. Tariffs give him enormous control and pleasure. So it must have been a horrendous psychic injury to have his own senators vote against him!
Behind Trump are the Project 2025 folks who want to destroy the American order. Trump is tailor made for them because he has some kind of magical sway on a large part of the public, a sway they cannot achieve with their dark malevolence. Trump is PT Barnum, and they can manipulate him to some extent.
this makes me want the DNC to do a weekly "Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood," except for the people destroying the country. A deep dive into RFK, Steven Miller, Vought, Linda McMahon, Vance, Mike Johnson, the rest of Project 2025 stooges.
While there is a lot in here I agree with I think it is naive to think that he did not understand that the tariffs were an instrument to undermine the global system America had imagined and built. Every foreign leader who has met with him has explained the damage they are doing to our standing in the world and in their countries. As I say in my essay from Friday unraveling all of the levels of our global power and influence has become a central project of Trumpism, and the tariffs may be the single most significant part of that project.
As we've seen now with the NSS Trump and his team seem intent on unraveling all the levers of power of the West, now including launching an assault on the European Union itself. It is time that we started coming to terms with Trump aligning himself with Russia and its long standing goal of dismantling the US led global order, the West, NATO, the EU, NAFTA, the global trading system, the WHO, USAID - all of it.
It's so horrifying! I watched a great video with Heather Cox Richardson and Mark Elias yesterday, and she asked him what we can do to stop this. He said there were two main points: 1) we should all be calling our elected officials (check!); and 2) we should all be using what he called our town squares. He said that HCR has one of the biggest megaphones in the world, but that she just started out as a regular person. We all need to be information warriors in our own circles.
What you're saying is SO important, and it's so breathtakingly horrible and antithetical to America as we commonly understand it that I don't think John Q. Public has really begun to grasp what is happening. People know they're not happy with inflation, the cruelty of ICE, the ACA rates, the destruction of the East Wing, etc., etc., but I don't think they're seeing the full picture. That's why what you're saying is so important.
Fair point. I suppose I'm arguing that his motivation is not some Machiavellian scheme but rather the joy he gets from inflicting cruelty and undoing things that others hold sacred. Ultimately it doesn't matter since the end result is the same: the destruction of America as we know it. I completely agree that the tariffs are central to the scheme, and they're also Trump's favorite toy. He can remake America's standing in the world like a maestro, and I think that wielding that power is like a drug to him.
Krugman has some posts on this. I think he has one planned for tomorrow. Exact same topic, and trying to understand how people respond politically.
He also has on his substack today a REALLY GOOD discussion with an MIT professor about the economics surrounding AI. It is important. It scared the shit out of me to be honest. It makes one want to rethink their investments.
Wouldn't Trump be horribly ashamed in front of the whole world if he would eliminate the tarrifs? He would be admitting failure....something he never does.
Why is T doing this to weaken the US? I think he doesn’t care about the country at all. He doesn’t think he will have a political future beyond this term, he just wants to steal as much wealth as he can for his friends and his family for as long as possible.
I wish an article , or better, a tv show, would articulate what you guys are saying. Ordinary people do not get how serious this is…. The opposite of making America great. That is such an important message.
Millie Polli Haskell....Reporting-first, I just finished watching the excellent conversation Simon and Rob had. It gave me a clearer understanding of What, How and Why our Country is in Dire need for a New President!!! Maybe Santa Clause will make it happen!! I know that's not possible and as Simon says, we are "Proud Plucky Patriots" of the Hopium Community, and to Win, we have to Fight! I called Sen. Scott and Rep. Luna. On weekends no one is there. Actually, never at Sen. Scott's. I Read "Our Five Part Agenda" to both. I DEMANDED VERY, VERY, VERY LOUD that they "ACT UPON OUR FIVE PART AGENDA"
It lays out in detail how the tariffs combined with the tax cuts for the wealthy are destructive for the country and will lead to skyrocketing interest rates, and the fact that Trump would probably cut Medicare and social security before raising taxes on the wealthy.
They also talk about how Trump is withdrawing America from the international theater and damaging our world standing and how they are undermining economic data that would reveal the detriment to our economy. And they don't even mention the crypto scam that I believe will undermine our currency.
I'd like to believe that we can do that before the US is destroyed.
might be a photo finish! if we could get the house back now due to several repubs quitting the house, that would speed things up considerably!
There are certain things that need to be completely overhauled, such as the healthcare system and the tax structure. But the thought of everything else being destroyed keeps me up at night!
I think we can Anne. I don’t think of “the US being destroyed” as one hard, tangible event (maybe you don’t either). Everyday, things are being destroyed or sabotaged around us, and the fight won’t be easy, but the pushback will & must persist. It's like a chronic condition that we must keep giving the US a shot of medicine to battle. For me it’s a very fine line between staying vigilant/acknowledging the seriousness of our situation vs running for the hills, screaming that the sky is falling (which I find very unhelpful & corosive). Perhaps I was getting too emotionally “high” off of our many wins last month, but if that momentum can stick, we can become a mighty pain in MAGA’s ass & become a bigger one over time. I guess my point is hang in there, but don’t let defeatism overtake you!
Sorry, all, I seem to have injected more gloom into this chat than I meant to. I merely wanted to underline the importance of accelerating the growth of our pro-democracy, anti-Trump movement. The stakes are high. We have lots of signs that that movement is growing in power.
Fantastic interview & spot on. I have been following Robert Reich & Paul Krugman for decades & they have been saying this all along, too. Tying tariffs to the international global order is essential to our understanding of our geopolitical position.
Every newspaper in America ought to put the price of eggs, gas, healthcare insurance etc etc on their front page. With a comparison to the prices when President Biden left office.
"Affordability is a Democratic hoax"
Yeah, good luck with that one two-dolls... 25 47
Terrific interview. Very deep dive and informative. Will be using pieces of this when I call my reps tomorrow and this week.
Hi, Simon. One correction. Paige Cognetti (Scranton’s current mayor) is running in PA-8 (my Congressional district) against the fraud, poser, and Trump bootlicker one-term Rob Bresnahan.
Fixed it! Thank you
Malevolent is a perfect adjective for the MAGA movement. “Movement” is another word to highlight because it’s not just Trump but all the people in his circle who are working to take down America. If Trump died today, we’d still have his dedicated circle to fight. Trump is a delusional old man, a loser who is the front for the MAGA assembly in the background which has a firm grasp on their plan to run the world. I think of them as the “Trump” whisperers. Luckily, as you suggest, Americans are recognizing the smoke and the peril. We will not stop fighting to turn the tables and take them down.
This week I have been forwarding information and contacting my federal and state reps to add my support to them for pushing back on tariffs and on Trump’s abandonment of Ukraine and NATO.
Perhaps it's time for media and the rest of us to use the word RECESSION and tie it to flat wages, tariffs, deporting immigrants etc. Considering that Rob, Janet Yellen & Paul Krugman are agreeing that we're in a RECESSION seems to be what the American people need to hear. As he said, you're not kidding the people.
I did payroll for years and would have to report to the Dept. of Labor (state and federal) back when we did it manually. When we switched to processing payroll online with ADP, they handled reporting the data.
My dad was in construction when I was in high school and remember how hard it was for him in his 50's to find work during the 1970's. I remember him saying when construction dries up, the country is in big trouble. My cousin's partner was just laid off last week. He's in his late 50's.
yep dems need to be loud: its a recession! for the holidays! the job losses are staggering. and if u lose your job in this recession, you wont be getting another one any time soon. so more foreclosures, repos on cars, kids not going to college, evictions, etc etc. the DNC just needs to put on social media the facts! the numbers! people will get it. and just keep repeating/updating it over and over again.
Great conversation. I see this a bit differently, although with the same outcome.
First, I posit that Trump is a simplistic thinker. He has the instincts of a bully to go for weakness, but I don't see him as someone who thinks (or cares) about the larger geopolitical implications of his actions. Second, Trump is a sadist.
Combine these two things and tariffs, which were suggested to him by crackpot Peter Navarro, are the perfect way for him to indulge his sadistic impulses. He can inflict cruelty with the flick of his wrist and on a whim. I think that he enjoys seeing the videos of migrants being tackled to the ground by ICE agents, but he isn't the one doing the tackling. So it's pleasurable for him, but not nearly as exciting as inflicting the pain himself. Tariffs give him enormous control and pleasure. So it must have been a horrendous psychic injury to have his own senators vote against him!
Behind Trump are the Project 2025 folks who want to destroy the American order. Trump is tailor made for them because he has some kind of magical sway on a large part of the public, a sway they cannot achieve with their dark malevolence. Trump is PT Barnum, and they can manipulate him to some extent.
We need to be attacking both in our arguments.
this makes me want the DNC to do a weekly "Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood," except for the people destroying the country. A deep dive into RFK, Steven Miller, Vought, Linda McMahon, Vance, Mike Johnson, the rest of Project 2025 stooges.
While there is a lot in here I agree with I think it is naive to think that he did not understand that the tariffs were an instrument to undermine the global system America had imagined and built. Every foreign leader who has met with him has explained the damage they are doing to our standing in the world and in their countries. As I say in my essay from Friday unraveling all of the levels of our global power and influence has become a central project of Trumpism, and the tariffs may be the single most significant part of that project.
As we've seen now with the NSS Trump and his team seem intent on unraveling all the levers of power of the West, now including launching an assault on the European Union itself. It is time that we started coming to terms with Trump aligning himself with Russia and its long standing goal of dismantling the US led global order, the West, NATO, the EU, NAFTA, the global trading system, the WHO, USAID - all of it.
It's so horrifying! I watched a great video with Heather Cox Richardson and Mark Elias yesterday, and she asked him what we can do to stop this. He said there were two main points: 1) we should all be calling our elected officials (check!); and 2) we should all be using what he called our town squares. He said that HCR has one of the biggest megaphones in the world, but that she just started out as a regular person. We all need to be information warriors in our own circles.
What you're saying is SO important, and it's so breathtakingly horrible and antithetical to America as we commonly understand it that I don't think John Q. Public has really begun to grasp what is happening. People know they're not happy with inflation, the cruelty of ICE, the ACA rates, the destruction of the East Wing, etc., etc., but I don't think they're seeing the full picture. That's why what you're saying is so important.
Fair point. I suppose I'm arguing that his motivation is not some Machiavellian scheme but rather the joy he gets from inflicting cruelty and undoing things that others hold sacred. Ultimately it doesn't matter since the end result is the same: the destruction of America as we know it. I completely agree that the tariffs are central to the scheme, and they're also Trump's favorite toy. He can remake America's standing in the world like a maestro, and I think that wielding that power is like a drug to him.
Putin's Lackey. Does he have the Bubba tapes? Explains almost everything about our foreign policy.
The Trump administration: cold, careless, cruel and corrupt.
Thanks, I'm going to listen later.
Krugman has some posts on this. I think he has one planned for tomorrow. Exact same topic, and trying to understand how people respond politically.
He also has on his substack today a REALLY GOOD discussion with an MIT professor about the economics surrounding AI. It is important. It scared the shit out of me to be honest. It makes one want to rethink their investments.
Wouldn't Trump be horribly ashamed in front of the whole world if he would eliminate the tarrifs? He would be admitting failure....something he never does.
Why is T doing this to weaken the US? I think he doesn’t care about the country at all. He doesn’t think he will have a political future beyond this term, he just wants to steal as much wealth as he can for his friends and his family for as long as possible.
I wish an article , or better, a tv show, would articulate what you guys are saying. Ordinary people do not get how serious this is…. The opposite of making America great. That is such an important message.
Millie Polli Haskell....Reporting-first, I just finished watching the excellent conversation Simon and Rob had. It gave me a clearer understanding of What, How and Why our Country is in Dire need for a New President!!! Maybe Santa Clause will make it happen!! I know that's not possible and as Simon says, we are "Proud Plucky Patriots" of the Hopium Community, and to Win, we have to Fight! I called Sen. Scott and Rep. Luna. On weekends no one is there. Actually, never at Sen. Scott's. I Read "Our Five Part Agenda" to both. I DEMANDED VERY, VERY, VERY LOUD that they "ACT UPON OUR FIVE PART AGENDA"
Following to my Dem Congressional Delegation. Feel free to send to yours especially if they are Republicans:
Please have one of your staffers view the discussion between Simon Rosenberg (Hopium Chronicles) and Dr. Robert Shapiro regarding the Trump plan to bring down the American economy: https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/affordability-how-trump-has-made?utm_source=podcast-email&publication_id=1223483&post_id=180816789&utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&utm_content=watch_now_button&r=6u3wik&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
It lays out in detail how the tariffs combined with the tax cuts for the wealthy are destructive for the country and will lead to skyrocketing interest rates, and the fact that Trump would probably cut Medicare and social security before raising taxes on the wealthy.
They also talk about how Trump is withdrawing America from the international theater and damaging our world standing and how they are undermining economic data that would reveal the detriment to our economy. And they don't even mention the crypto scam that I believe will undermine our currency.