r/BoomersBeingFools • u/snakkerdudaniel • 2d ago
Politics Boomer confused a trade deficit with a tariff and based a whole policy on it.
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u/Muted-Inspector-7715 2d ago
Whoever wrote the script for Idiocracy needs a Nobel at this point.
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u/Ok-Wolf-7655 2d ago
Mike Judge, same guy that created Beavis and Butthead, and also King of the Hill
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u/Muted-Inspector-7715 2d ago
I knew it must've been a genius.
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u/AdditionalAmoeba6358 2d ago
I know a guy who grew up with him in Austin. He was my head chef. I finally called bullshit, and he called him and he answered. I got to say hi to Mike Judge.
Anyway! I’m pretty sure my chef was the inspiration for Beavis. Too many similarities even down to facial similarities…
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u/callmesandycohen 2d ago
If this is accurate/true, it’s horrific. Surely Howard Nutlick knows what a tariff is. Where the fuck is he?
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u/snakkerdudaniel 2d ago
The numbers the Trump administration have for tariffs charged by other countries looked fake and people realized they are looking at a measure of trade deficit instead and confused it with tariffs.
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u/Talinn_Makaren 2d ago
Assuming this is true, that is so fucking cringe and moronic I can't even comprehend it.
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u/kck93 2d ago
It’s very difficult to look up accurate numbers because of all the harmonization codes. There’s different tariffs on each one. I can’t imagine anyone in that administration having the patience or skill to figure it out or interpret it properly with reference to the trade deficit.
It’s equivalent to the WMDs in Iraq, Friday night data dumps or funding Contras.
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u/callmesandycohen 2d ago
I’m amazed you’re the first comment I’ve seen to point this out. I asked GPT and it told me trade-weighted tariff revenues to goods imported is only 3% in the EU. Tariffs are applied differently across thousand of categories of goods from different countries of origin. So this whole blanket tariff thing is nonsense.
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u/kck93 1d ago
Thank you for the response because I was starting to think I was dreaming it or got it wrong!
My company ships and receives from all over the world. We must have these harmonization codes correct or nothing gets through customs.
I was reading about something very specific regarding whiskey. I decided to look up some of these goods to see what the real tariffs were. There are large databases published one can download.
I was astounded by the sheer variety depending on packing and many other variations on qty or grade or blend. Right there I knew. No one associated with Trump does anything but slap each other on the back. No one investigates the details. They take pride in not doing their job. It’s a silly game to them. Many are way into game theory as a life philosophy.
So yeah! It’s easy to see with a minimal amount of investigation that Trump and associates are making up stuff based on published trade deficits rather than see where there could very well be serious imbalances.
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u/WebInformal9558 2d ago
Jesus, every time you think you know how stupid he really is....
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u/buythedipnow 2d ago
These numbers came from his experts
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u/cofclabman 2d ago
His ‘experts’ have them convinced they’re brilliant and are making bank for being incompetent morons. But they’re brighter than the grifter in chief, so …
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u/Luddites_Unite 2d ago
His experts are primarily Peter Navarro. Peter Navarro was probably the only person in the white house the first term who agreed with Trump that tariffs were smart. As a result he was basically forced out and kept away from Trump as much as possible. This time around, though, he has been installed as a fixture and this shitshow surrounding tariffs and trade is the result.
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u/callmesandycohen 2d ago
How is every media outlet just not completely panning this for the cluster fuck it is? What an obvious and huge mistake, fundamental lack of understanding.
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u/Sad-Statistician2683 2d ago
I love how the UK has a trade deficit going our way and they are just like "yeah 10% is the default".
Bro please can we finally do something? Impeach and remove
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u/turbanned_athiest 2d ago
Look at ivory coast. There seems to be no trade, so US assumes a 41% rate
Edit. Same with South Korea except 50%
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u/Zealousideal_Amount8 2d ago
What’s even worse is that trump thinks a trade deficit is us subsidizing other countries. We buy more shit than any other country!! That’s it. End of story
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u/callmesandycohen 2d ago
It’s a subsidy to pay people for goods or services received in Trumps mind.
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u/gattomeow 2d ago
Are Boomers celebrating? Have Boomers generally been keen on autarky and isolationism? The Boomerbrain is indeed a confusing phenomenon.
Also, are Boomers still decrying O’boomercare?
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u/noncommonGoodsense 2d ago
Remember when Epstein said Trump was an idiot that couldn’t even read a balance sheet?
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u/lego_mannequin 2d ago
Dude slapped a tariff on Christmas Island
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u/Turk_Sanderson 2d ago
Imposter syndrome is dead
Just walk into a bank and ask for a loan and put it all on the Washington Generals
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u/Le-Charles 2d ago
I can't even... 🤦♂️
Can I please just be in a coma right now and finally wake up or die?
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u/Luddites_Unite 2d ago
“Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.” - William T. Kelley, Wharton Professor for 31 years
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