Since the consensus appears to be that this is a self-inflicted injury that could be reversed at the stroke of a pen, how large does the injury have to be before it’s impeachable.
intercst
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Sit back and watch, the mid terms are going to be a blow out. Everyone is seeing that the Republicans are bad for their wallet.
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“Policy” is not an impeachable offense. If “policy” intentionally, or unintentionally, causes the stock market to crash, it may be bad policy, but it is not a “high crime” or “misdemeanor”.
Steve
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My suspicious brain is wondering how many in Congress and the Executive branch are short right now.
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The markets would have failed either way. Housing and bonds are next.
As there is no definition of what is a “high crime or misdemeanor”, the statute is open to whatever interpretation the House and Senate give to it. The most recent impeachment, for example, was of a Cabinet Secretary (the first in over a century) in 2024, when Republicans charged him with not policing the southern border adequately.
Impeachment is inherently a political process, not legal. If the House wanted to make “causing the stock market to crash because of over-expansion of unauthorized Presidential powers a misdemeanor”, they could.
With this many Republicans aboard the SS Titanic they won’t, of course, but it is theoretically possible.
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I hope so, but you may be underestimating the power of the c u l t, and the ability of a party in control of all branches of government to manipulate outcomes.
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Most of the response so far is political. Lots to worry about as usual but much depends on how other countries respond. Will they raise their tariffs? Will they negotiate lower tariffs?
Companies had advance notice. Time to investigate their exposure, build inventory, and decide how to respond.
Real numbers are likely to take a month or two. Until then mostly speculation.
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Everyone was surprised. Smart people were expecting reciprocal tariffs, that’s not what they got. Instead, we’re dealing with tariffs based on trade deficits. That’s very different, and demonstrates a fundamental Three Stooges mentality of this administration.
You don’t negotiate with the Stooges. You pull back, and look for other partners who won’t randomly poke you in the eye.
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“I am offering wonderful deals. Amazing deals”.
No such thing.
Who did this?
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As the prosecution said, four years ago, wrt inciting an insurrection “if this is not impeachable, nothing is”. The guilty vote didn’t reach 67. The vote for impeachment of President Yoon was 68%. 204 out of 300. Seems the percentage of guilty votes required is not excessively high, but the cult was too strong in 2021.
Steve
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It is for conviction. Fout Presidential impeachments, zero convictions. Only 17 judicial impeachments and just 8 convictions in our entire history. There have only been 8 neer do wells in history? Please.
I was referring to the percentage of votes against the person being impeached.
The terminology and process is different between US and S Korea. In the US, the trial is in the Senate. In S Korea, the decision is rendered by the Constitutional Court. Last week, the Korean Court convicted Yoon, by a vote of 8 to 0. It would have been interesting if TFG had been tried by the Supreme Court, rather than the Senate.
Steve
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A few examples of the bull that is circulating (presumably for max political spin).
Iphone price will increase to $3500. I suspect the manufactured cost of the iPhone is abt $300 to $400. 35% tariff increases cost $100 to $140. Plus this only applies to iPhones sold in USA. International sales are not impacted.
Poor will pay most of the burden. The basics like food, fuel, housing, utilities are not impacted by tariffs. Yes, cars, lumber, blue jeans, and t-shirts may cost more. Those are not day to day expenses.
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You think the Wall Street Journal is writing stories to anger Trump? Really?
Here’s the iPhone. Here’s the iPhone With Tariffs.
Take a look at this iPhone 16 Pro. Your cost, for the 256GB version, is $1,100. The cost of all the hardware inside—aka the bill of materials—was about $550 to Apple when the phone was introduced, says Wayne Lam, research analyst at TechInsights, which breaks down major products. Throw in assembly and testing and Apple’s cost rises to around $580. Even when you account for Apple’s advertising budget and all the included services—iMessage, iCloud, etc.—there’s still a healthy profit margin.
Now factor in the newly announced [tariff for goods from China], which currently totals 54%. The cost rises to around $850. That profit margin would shrink dramatically if Apple didn’t up the price. And you don’t become a [trillion-dollar gadget company] by charging for things at cost.
So what about that American-made iPhone? Wouldn’t it at least save on tariffs? Apple would still pay levies on the device’s many imported parts. Plus, a manufacturing move to the U.S. would be “a massive, mammoth undertaking” that would take years
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Years ago Steve Jobs explained to Obama, “Even if US labor was free, we wouldn’t be able to build an iPhone in the US. The US lacks the infrastructure and trained manpower to do it.”
intercst
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That was the point I was making in another thread. There is no consumer electronics industry in the US anymore. The Sec Commerce blathering about thousands of people driving tiny screws in iPhones shows he is out of touch. There are however, large industrial bases for cars and home appliances. The new dishwasher I bought in 2020, is a Whirlpool. It came with a big “made in America” sticker on the front. I had a new HVAC system put in the condo in 2018. All Bryant. Furnace made in US. A/C was “hecho en Mexico”.
This is the sticker that was on the dishwasher.
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Ok, $300 is a much closer figure for tariff impact on an iPhone. That is still much less than the $2400 price increase.
Yes, it comes down to how much margin Apple is willing to eat to keep price down. And that may well depend on what competitors like Samsung do.
We shall see what happens as markets adjust to the new circumstances.
The same discussion applies to every product impacted by tariffs. Will they maintain their margins, what will competitors do, and how will customers react?
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Plus, a manufacturing move to the U.S. would be “a massive, mammoth undertaking” that would take years
They’ve had 20 years. Meanwhile…
Apple invested at least $275 billion in China since 2016, according to new report For some, it’s an eye-watering amount of money. For Apple, it’s the cost of doing business. Apple invested at least $275 billion in China since 2016, according to new report - CNET
Nobody needs a high-end iPhone. Apple might just have to suck it.
No doubt there are other examples of companies and product that are actually compelling. This one isn’t.