Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on CBS News to counter the false information being spread by Margaret Brennan on behalf of Wall Street corporations. The topics of interest surround China and tariffs.
Let me clarify for the audience that does not follow closely. Tariffs are paid by the importer based on the wholesale price of the product as delivered by the exporting country depending on the exporters’ tariff rate. Tariffs are NOT LEVIED/PAID based on the retail price of the product as sold to the consumer.
Example: A pair of Denim Jeans made in China for Guess Brand. The Chinese manufacturer sells the jeans to Guess Brand for $10 a pair manufactured. Guess sells the jeans at retail in the USA for $100 (a $90 gross profit).
A 50% tariff on China means the jeans cost Guess Brand $15 instead of $10 (an $85 gross profit). A 50% tariff on Guess brand jeans, that retail for $100, changes the cost to the retail brand by $5.
Multinational corporations who have off shored their production and manufacturing to China are the ones screaming about tariffs. Ultimately in the final analysis, President Trump is exposing corporatism, multinational corporate vultures; he is not necessarily just exposing China.
In the example above the company makes $85 gross profit as opposed to $90 gross profit on the pair of jeans if they do not raise the retail price. They don’t raise the price because their profit margins are already ridiculous, and that’s why consumer prices do not go up. A 50% direct tariff on Chinese goods only marginally hits the multinational corporation. American consumers need to understand this dynamic better. WATCH:
[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to ‘Face the Nation.’ We begin today with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Good morning and thank you for being here.
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There’s so much to get to. I want to start with China, because the Defense Secretary just said there’s an imminent military threat from China to Taiwan. Days earlier, Secretary Rubio said he’d aggressively revoked Chinese student visas. On top of that, you have curbing exports to China. Trade talks you said with Beijing are stalled, and President Trump just accused China of violating an agreement, and now says no more, ‘Mr. Nice Guy.’ Are you intentionally escalating this standoff with Beijing?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, I don’t think it’s intentional. I- I think that what Secretary Hegseth did was remind everyone that during COVID, China was an unreliable partner, and what we are trying to do is to de-risk. We do not want to decouple Margaret, but we do need to de-risk, as we saw during COVID, whether it was with semiconductors, medicines, the other products we are in the process of de-risking.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Making the United States less reliant on China, but at the same–
SEC. BESSENT: –Well, and the whole world. The whole world, because what China is doing is they are holding back products that are essential for the industrial supply chains of India, of Europe, and that is not what a reliable partner does.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So is that like- what specifically is President Trump saying when he says they are violating an agreement? Because it was the one you negotiated in Geneva earlier this month. And what’s the consequence for that?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, we will see what the consequences are. I am confident that when President Trump and party Chairman Xi have a call, that this will be ironed out. So- but the fact that they are withholding some of the products that they agreed to release during our agreement- maybe it’s a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it’s intentional. We’ll see after the President speaks with party chairman.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s critical minerals, rare earths. Is that what you’re talking about?
SEC. BESSENT: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, the President has said a few times that he was going to speak to President Xi, but he hasn’t since before the inauguration. Beijing keeps denying that there was any contact. Do you have anything scheduled?
SEC. BESSENT: I believe we’ll see something very soon, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have a conversation with your counterpart or Lutnick with his counterpart at the commerce level?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, I think we’re going to let the two principles have a conversation, and then everything will stem from that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, spoke this week at an economic forum, and he gave this read on Beijing.
[SOT]
JAMIE DIMON: I just got back from China last week. They’re not scared, folks. This notion they’re gonna come bow to America. I wouldn’t count on that. And when they have a problem, they put 100,000 engineers on it, and they’ve been preparing for this for years.
[END SOT]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Have you underestimated the Chinese state’s backbone here?
SEC. BESSENT: Again, Margaret, I hope it doesn’t come to that. And Jamie is a great banker. I know him well, but I would vociferously disagree with that assessment, that the laws of economics and gravity apply to the Chinese economy and the Chinese system, just like everyone else.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But when you were last here in March, we were trying to gauge what the impact of the standoff with China and with the tariffs on the rest of the world would do for American consumers here at home. At that time, you told us you were going to appoint an affordability czar and council to figure out five, you said, or eight areas where there will be some pain for working class Americans. Where are you anticipating price increases?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, thus far- we wanted to make sure that there aren’t price increases, Margaret. And thus far there have been no price increases. Everything has been alarmist, that the inflation numbers are actually dropping. We saw the first drop of inflation in four years. The inflation numbers last week, they were very- the- pro-consumer. We’ve–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, but you listen to earnings calls just like we do. You know what Walmart’s saying, what Best Buy’s saying and what Target are saying of what’s coming–
SEC. BESSENT: But Margaret, I also know what Home Depot and Amazon are saying. I know what the South China Morning Post wrote within the past 24 hours that 65%- 65%- the- of the tariffs will likely be eaten by the Chinese producers.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So are there five or eight areas that you have identified, as you said back in March, where American consumers will be able to have lower prices, or should be warned of higher prices?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, a lot of it’s already working its way through the system. So we’ve seen a substantial decrease in gasoline and energy prices. So that’s down 20% year over year. We’ve seen the food prices go down, these notorious egg prices. Through the good work of President Trump and Secretary Rollins, egg prices have collapsed. So we’re seeing more and more. And what we want to do- the- is even that out across the all sections of the economy. So inflation has been very tame. Consumer earnings were up 0.8% last month, which is a gigantic increase for one month. So real earnings minus low inflation is great for the American people, and that’s what we’re seeing.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But you know, because when you met with the Chinese earlier this month and you went down from the 145% tariff down to about- it’s like 30%. 30%’s not nothing, that tax on goods coming in here. Retailers are warning of price hikes–
SEC. BESSENT: Well, so–
MARGARET BRENNAN: When you go back to school shopping, things are going to cost more.
SEC. BESSENT: But Margaret, some are and some aren’t. Home Depot and Amazon said they’re not.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Home Depot and Amazon aren’t where you go for your back school shopping, when you buy your jeans, when you buy your crayons, and you buy all those things that parents–
SEC. BESSENT: I don’t know about you, but I do it online at Amazon. This isn’t an advertisement for Amazon. And guess where most of the Halloween costumes in America get bought? At Home Depot. So that’s just not right. There’s a wide aperture here. Different companies are doing different things. They are making decisions based on their customers, what they think they’re able to pass along to their customers, what they want to do to keep their customers. And I was in the investment business for 35 years, Margaret, and I will tell you earnings calls- they have to give the worst case scenario, because if it- if they haven’t and something bad happens, then they’ll be sued.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It’s not always the worst case. It’s the most probable case–
SEC. BESSENT: –No, no, no–
MARGARET BRENNAN: as well–
SEC. BESSENT: –No, no, no. No, they have to give the worst case.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So Walmart- there was just a piece published with the conservative strategist Karl Rove. I’m not asking about politics, because he is a political strategist, but he went in on the math here. And he points out that Walmart has a profit margin of less than 3%. He says, ‘If it does what Mr. Trump says, eat the tariffs, it can’t break even. It can’t absorb the cost of an imported pair of kids jeans with a 46% tariff on Vietnam, a 37% tariff for Bangladesh, or 32% tariff on sneakers from Indonesia. Other companies are in the same pickle.’ So should companies cut back on the amount of goods they have on their shelves or just on their profitability?
SEC. BESSENT: That- that’s a decision company by- by company, Margaret. And I had a long discussion with Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, and they’re going to do what’s right for them.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But for consumers, the reality is there will either be less inventory or things at higher prices, or both.
SEC. BESSENT: Margaret, when we were here in March, you said there was going to be big inflation. There hasn’t been any inflation. Actually, the inflation numbers are the best in four years. So why don’t we stop trying to say this could happen, and wait and see what does happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Just trying to gauge for people planning ahead here, one of the things the President said on Friday is that he’s going to double the tariffs on steel and aluminum up to 50%, effective June 4. How much will that impact the construction industry?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, I think- I was with the president at the U.S. Steel Plant in Pittsburgh on Friday, and I will tell you that the President has the- reignited the steel industry here in America. And back to the earlier statements on national security. There are national security priorities here for having a strong steel industry.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But do you have a prediction on how much it’s going to impact the construction industry, for example?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, I have a prediction on how much it’s going to impact the steel industry, and you know, again, we- we’ll see there are a lot of elasticities that- you know this is a very complicated ecosystem. So is it going to impact the construction industry, maybe. But it’s going to impact the steel industry, the- in a great way. The steel workers, again, were left on the side of the road after the China shock, and now they’re back that the- they are Trump supporters. And when I tell you that it was magic in the arena, or it was actually at the steel plant that night, that these hard working Americans know their jobs are secure, there’s going to be capital investment, and the number of jobs is going to be grown around the country, whether it’s in Pittsburgh, whether it’s in Arkansas, whether it’s in Alabama.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about this big tax bill that worked through the House, is going to the Senate next. In it is increase or suspension to the debt limit that you need delivered on by mid-July. How close of a brush with default could this be, given how massive some of the Senate changes are expected to be to the other parts of the bill?
SEC. BESSENT: Well, first of all, Margaret, I will say the United States of America is never going to default. That is never going to happen. That- we are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You have more wiggle room if they don’t deliver this by mid-July? I mean, how hard of a date is this?
SEC. BESSENT: That- we don’t give out the X date because we use that to move the bill forward.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Sometimes deadlines help force action, as you know, particularly in this town, sir, that’s why I’m asking. The President did say he- he expects pretty significant changes to this bill, though, so that affects the timing of it moving. What would you like Republican lawmakers to keep? What would you like them to alter?
SEC. BESSENT: Again, that’s going to be the Senate’s decision. Leader Thune, who I’ve worked closely with during this process, has been doing a fantastic job. And Margaret, I’ll point out, everyone said that Speaker Johnson would not be able to get this bill out of the house with his slim majority. He got it out Leader Thune has a bigger majority, and this is with President Trump’s leadership. So–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –There’s no red lines for you in there of just don’t touch this you can, you know, tinker with that.
SEC. BESSENT: Well, I- I think that they’re not necessarily my red lines. The President has the- his campaign promises that he wants to fulfill for working Americans. So no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans for American made automobiles.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So those have to stay in.
SEC. BESSENT: Those have to stay in.
MARGARET BRENNAN: JP Morgan’s Dimon also predicted a debt market crisis. ‘Cracks in the bond market’ was what he said. You are considering easing some regulations, you’ve said, for the big banks. How do you avoid that bond market crisis he’s predicting, spreading and really causing concern, particularly with all of the worries about American debt right now?
SEC. BESSENT: So again, I’ve known Jamie a long time and for his entire career he’s made predictions like this. Fortunately, none of them have come true. That’s why he’s a banker- a great banker. He tries to look around the corner. One of the reasons I’m sitting here talking to you today and not at home watching your show is that I was concerned about the level of debt. So the deficit this year is going to be lower than the deficit last year, and in two years it will be lower again. We are going to bring the deficit down slowly. We didn’t get here in one year. We didn’t get here in one year, and this has been a long process. So the goal is to bring it down over the next four years, leave the country in great shape in 2028.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know that the Speaker of the House estimates this is going to add four to five trillion dollars over the next 10 years, and there’s that debt limit increase.
SEC. BESSENT: Well again, Margaret, that’s CBO scoring.
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s the Speaker of the House.
SEC. BESSENT: No, no, no.
MARGARET BRENNAN: He said it last Sunday on this program.
SEC. BESSENT: The- he said that’s the CBO scoring. Let me–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –No, he said that sounds right.
SEC. BESSENT: Let me tell you what’s not included in there, what can’t be scored. So we’re taking in substantial tariff income right now, so that there are estimates that that could be another 2 trillion that we are the- pushing through savings. So you know my estimate is that could be up to another 100 billion a year. So over the 10 year window, that could be a trillion. President has a prescription drug plan with the pharmaceutical companies that could substantially push down costs for prescription drugs, and that could be another trillion. So there’s the four.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Treasury Secretary Bessent, we’ll be watching closely what happens next. ‘Face the Nation’ will be back in a minute, so stay with us.
[END TRANSCRIPT]
Thank you for posting the transcript, so we do not have to watch/listen to the audio/video.
Yes, thank you Sundance and all.
Yes, Yes, so correct . . I think it’s so funny (or nauseating) how this air-head pretends she knows something.
That’s too bad. Because the video is priceless at several points where the Secretary’s quick and well-focused replies shredded Brennan’s exaggerations and distortions. Each time it wound up with Brennan literally stuttering and stammering trying to find a substantive comeback – which failed delightfully. 😆
Secretary Bessent was ON POINT and had his anti-BS armor ready in this interview. It’s well worth watching him send all of Brennan’s BS right into the woodchipper.
Thanks for the description. In that case I might take the time to watch it.
I usually get snippets of my comedy mixed with news watching 55 minutes of Gutfeld! during the week, which is the only time I put on FNC.
I can’t stand Brennan either but wound up laughing at her fumbling in this clip. Enjoy!
I will listen after 11 pm when “Pipe Dreams” is over.
A two hour program on the local PBS classical music station that features recorded organ music played on instruments from around the world
I’m a fan of extra big old church pipe organs. YouTube has a bunch of recordings.
https://www.pipedreams.org/
http://www.blockmrecords.org/bach/
Free downloads of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, recorded by Dr. James Kibbie on original baroque organs in Germany, are offered on this site.
Click Familiar Masterworks to begin with a selection of audience favorites.
Click Catalog for a list of all works.
Click Search to find a specific work, collection or venue.
Pages for individual works offer:
MP3 download
AAC download
Full uncompressed audio download (large files, high-speed access recommended)
Link to organ specification
Registration
Click Download in Groups to download multiple works in MP3 format with a single click.
This project is sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance with generous support from Dr. Barbara Furin Sloat in honor of J. Barry Sloat. Additional support has been provided by the Office of Vice-President for Research, the University of Michigan.
On-site recording: Christian Cerny, Leipzig, Germany
Editing and mastering: David Lau, Brookwood Studio, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Thanks DI. I’ll check these out later today…
Agree GB. It’s delightful to see the panic from Brennan and other gaslighters like her squirm under the pressure of positive economic data being published supporting Sec Bessent and POTUS Trump’s admin to trounce the globalist allies in their attempts to sway public opinion.
Their window for making false claims is closing so their panic is increasing.
Brilliant move by POTUS to play economic improvement report during Oval Office press conference before the spin began.
At the end, MARGARET BRENNAN: Treasury Secretary Bessent, we’ll be watching closely what happens next.
No thank you, no respect for his position. I’m beyond tired of the MSM.
I think he gave as good as he got but it’s painful to watch these given the numbers this Administration is putting up in such a short time. President Trump is ticking off all the right people for the longterm betterment of America.
I keep getting that feeling from 2019 where all the opposition was saying there was no stopping President Trump with his economic numbers so good and then we got slammed with the plandemic.
Head on a swivel, everyone, we know they will stop at nothing to take our President and our nation down.
Yes. And…as far as I’m concerned, the world does not stop turning based on what either Walmart or Home Depot do. Also, as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a good look when POTUS’ cabinet members act like it doesn’t matter what Walmart does.
He may indeed shop his school supplies on Amazon but he’s mistaken if he assumes that his shopping choice determines what happens next in terms of public perception.
It’s great that inflation numbers are down but I am living the PNW dream in Oregon where gas and food prices are still high, and for the administration to use numbers in a way that ignores that fact is not a good look.
Oh, well. I got a major pile of yard work done yesterday, picked some roses, and (once again) didn’t have any mosquitoes at any time–and won’t–major benefit of living in this local Mediterranean climate where the calla lilies, roses, and gardenias are blooming. I’m grateful and blessed. But don’t tell me it’s raining when the dog pees on my shoe.
Competition and alternative choices will nullify the tariff impact at the consumer level while at the same time force all companies to innovate and become more efficient. That efficiency includes significant onshoring. That innovation increases quality for a lower price. Tariffs will lower the deficit / debt and reduce the rate of inflation.
The way it now, big companies monopolize, rent seek, financialize, inflate, abuse the U.S. consumer and buy jeans for $10 and sell it for $100.
💖
I recall hearing the same arguments in the 70s as I labored toward advanced degrees in economics.
We’re bound to hit the abstraction of perfect competition eventually!
I always enjoy your sucinct post.
Exactly, we’ve been paying Monopoly Prices!
And we get monopoly service.
Simple as that.
And we’ve already got socialized medicine too, that’s why you can’t get an appointment with the doctor for 8 months, and it’s a traffic jam in the hospital. Do you remember when we used to see this in other countries and think how pathetic it was? Wake up!
Again, if tariffs were that bad for the countries that enact them why do they keep charging them? This is like “carbon pollution.” Chinese carbon pollution is ignored by the climate nuts, but US carbon pollution is always protested.
Your main complaint of high costs is because you live in Marxist Oregon. Bessent isn’t telling anyone how to shop for school supplies, he is saying if you shop around you will find some great deals.
I live in the same state, behind Communist lines, and have practically no complaints at all, with one exception. I miss the rain. It’s finally stopped for the summer season.
Cost of living for a poor elder, and I live substantially below the poverty line on less than a grand a month, is not uncomfortable at all. There is no sales tax, power is obscenely cheap, fuel isn’t bad, no smog, property taxes have a scheme similar to CA in that they’re limited, and plenty of water means food and animals can be produced locally to supplement one’s diet.
Plus, I can look out the living room window and have a forest of trees feet from the house with ocean breezes blowing by.
I guess that underscores the reality that everyone’s experiences are different. If I need or want to carry, I can do it openly. If I want to buy a machine gun, I can, and I can shoot it right in my back yard. If my neighbors want to run their beach buggies unmuffled at all hours of the day or night, well, they do. Sounds of freedom
You chose to live there. Take the bad with the good. Gas prices are determined by STATE AND LOCAL taxes to a very large extent. Complain to your politicians there, not to Trump.
I don’t have calla lillie’s here in Texas but I DO have diesel fuel below $3/gallon and gasoline even cheaper thanks to Trump, Abbott, and a state legislature that isn’t controlled by libtard environmentalists.
Correct…Florida is pretty horrible…paid 3.17 today outside of Tampa….
I’ll pray for you while you are endure that beautiful weather, sunny beaches, and ocean view. 🤣
Paid $2.49 a gallon this morning at Costco in upstate South Carolina.
I just returned to FL from visiting CA and some other Western states. $3.17 is awesome compared to those states!
One of the few times I’ll concede the adage “it’s all relative” has merit.
“You chose to live there.”
I have known people attempting geographic relocation for economic reasons and it has not worked out for them.
People have complicated and intricate lives.
Everyone cannot pick up and move to their Paradise and inferring that they can is disingenuous and unrealistic.
Besides, for some of us – this is a reality:
Colossians 3:1-4 KJV
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
[2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
[3] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
[4] When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Deplorable – thank you. I put that message in my memory box many, many years ago…”ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ….”…sometimes I notice that I don’t cooperate with those realities comfortably….thank you. Humility is needed. So often. Stumbling through.
Your welcome.
I would like to live somewhere else, too. But this world is not my home and my testimony and influence are more effective here than starting over some where else.
2 Corinthians 5:18-21 KJV
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
[19] To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
[20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
[21] For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Wasn’t condemning her. She made a choice. My point was life is expensive there for various reasons. It’s also beautiful there with mountains, forests, and near the sea.
None of that comes free. Everything has a cost.
I have relatively cheap fuel and utilities, but no ocean or mountains to enjoy and 100° stifling temperatures sometimes.
Appreciate what you have. Don’t blame others for what they DIDN’T take from you.
Help me understand what you mean by “…for the administration to use numbers in a way that ignores that fact…”.
Thank you kindly …. in advance.
She means that those who choose to stay in Communist blue states are still suffering because of punitive taxation/regulation in those states. And she’s whining for President Trump to “do something.”
We all have a choice. Choose to be a victim and whine about it, or choose to take charge of your situation and, with God’s help, improve your situation.
Maybe leave Oregon.
I and my family are NY because of my Mom. I will stay with her no matter what.
NY has a swamp as deep or deeper than DC. It is beyond corrupt and NYC makes the choice the rest of are stuck with. Buffalo and Albany don’t help either.
Bold is my response to 8shiraku:
I thought his cheerful presentation of the administration’s perspective gave slight attention to the fact that, even if all those things were true, the aggregate impact of positive consequences would not noticeably address the reality of persistent high costs in some areas.
I thought his cheerful presentation was based on an assumption that presenting partial data that supported the desired policy message would dilute the presence of prices in some areas of the country that did not reflect those positive consequences.
I am implicitly accused in some comments of mixing apples and oranges in order to “complain”. (I did not complain in my comment. I expressed opinions and presented reality-based information).
I think his statements either deliberately or casually mixed apples and oranges in terms of a discussion about results.
I voted for POTUS Trump three times and will continue to vote for him every time his name is on the ballot. That specifically does not mean that I have to clap like a seal at every specific thing that comes out of the administration. I don’t do debate very well, or do defending myself very well, so when those who think I’m supposed to clap like a seal criticize my opinions and observations, I have a hard time responding.
Neither do I do very well with unkind projections that it was my choice to move to Oregon. The admins and Sundance are the only ones reading here who know why I moved to Oregon. Even if it was “my choice”, does that mean that I (and no other Oregonian) can make observations that may not include every single piece of data that the reader of the comment expects? That’s silly and adolescent, and if that’s anyone’s expectations, they need to read Jeff Childers, every day, because he will not disappoint. How does anyone reading here know what options or reasons I had for moving to Oregon? (that is not addressed to you, 8shiradu)
I could, but won’t, say to the next Floridian who loses everything in a hurricane, “Oh, well. You chose to live there. Tough beans.” Or to the next Californian whose child is murdered by an illegal alien, “Oh, well. You chose to live there. My sympathies…..” Or to the next family whose mother/sister in New Orleans is raped by an American citizen, “Oh, well., you chose to live there.”
I responded to John before I read that.
Great response.
(I live in NY)
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/06/01/learn-this-secretary-scott-bessent-outlines-status-of-u-s-china-trade-conflict/#comment-11825258
As a fellow Beaver, no worries. We each have our experiences. God grants us life and free will. I am thankful for the gifts He has given me.
I wouldn’t trade where I live and love for anything, Communists and all. They pretty much leave me alone. The Trump flags work like holy water on vampires, so far.
“The Trump flags work like holy water on vampires, so far.”
Thats a riot Creekside – I got a good laugh and hope it stays that way and doesn’t bring you any trouble.
I sincerely wish President Trump would call out NYS, California, Jersey, Oregon and others for the high taxes…..
I think that is what he meant to do with the SALT deduction situation his first term. It was a way of pointing out that red states are propping up the ridiculousness in blue states. Between his stance on crime, support for LEO and border policy, I think he thought it may help turn the tide in some blue state strongholds.
It’s disconcerting that the BBB rewards blue state fiscal lunacy and punishes red state (some) fiscal restraint.
It really is not fair federal taxes are used to prop up fiscal insanity in blue states.
Sharon, none of this is aimed at you specifically.
I was trapped in CA for a very long time and my quality of life was appalling. When the chance presented itself, I gladly relocated into a more sane region but am ever vigilant as bad behavior that is rewarded in blue states loves to drift into squishy red states.
Best wishes.
Blue states in particular are suffering economically but then you already know that
Sundance already told us the Blues would drag their feet and lag behind.
Still voting Cascadia Subduction Zone.
Clean Slate for the West Coast!
Democrat states will always have the sucking sound. Forever….
I went shopping yesterday and I was giddy with the decreasing food prices. I went to multiple stores.
Walmart however has not moved lower. My guess is they are simply choosing not to pass it on to the consumers.
Your state has a high gas tax.; They hate oil and gas.
My grocery prices are down w/eggs less than $2 dz.
My gas is $2.30
Sorry but west coast is messed coast
The diesel fuel tax in Oregon is about 4 cents a gallon less than in California and the gas tax is substantially less.
However, and this is a big, there is no sales tax in Oregon. Imagine buying a 50,000 dollar vehicle from a private party and paying no sales tax. Now, if one buys a vehicle from a licensed dealer, one might get hit with a 1/2%, yep, .5% vehicle tax. However dealers often eat that. When I bought a new vehicle carrier trailer back in ’23, no sales tax and a five year title and registration was about 225 bucks.
Cost of living is relatively cheap in Oregon, especially when compared to California. Insanely cheap. Trust me, I lived in and had a manufacturing business in California, living there for about sixty years.
Without patriots living behind the lines in Communist states, those states will be lost permanently. In order to change hearts and minds we need to be here.
Sharon.. the price level rises EVERY YEAR no matter who is President.. ya know that right… ???!!!
Cummulative inflation under biden (That means the inflation rate summed or compounded) from 2021 until Jan 2025 is like 27% …. THAT WAS A LOT……. Inflation slowing just means prices are going up at a lower rate…. Don’t count on deflation … which means prices across the board go down… that rarely happens and we don’t want that to happen either.
Yes, I see your point, hg. I was clumsily trying to reference many charts and comments I have seen in recent months that illustrate lower prices across the nation, except for certain pockets on the west coast and east coast.
I’m 81 years old. I know those things. I’ve been consciously watching it since the year Goldwater was running for POTUS.
Like I said, I don’t do very well in the give and take sometimes. Thank you.
I’ve noticed it before and notice it again now–we are SUCH a mix of people around this great campfire, trying to have conversation that is both informed and dynamic.
Still cold and rainy in my area of NYS.
Gas prices, heating oil and other items including many food items have not come down, especially meat. Eggs have finally gone lower but not to what they were before.
During Trump 45, my youngest’s main seizure med went from $4,000 per 30 day supply without insurance to $10,000 with no insurance. Price with insurance went from $40 per 30 day supply to $90. Generic is not possible….they never work, we end up in the ER which is beyond insane for costs.
I think the policies in your state affect your experiences to a great degree. People living in blue states are more likely to be demoralized because those in power at the state or national level are not in the least incentivized to care about us, their constituents, but rather they are only concerned to represent themselves. Oregon is one of the most far left states in the country, as is my state, Massachusetts. I empathize with your concerns. Gas prices have gone down here, but food prices (not eggs, though) are still pretty high.
Also change is going to take time. This is a time of transition.
Lastly, do you think things would have been better had Kamala Harris been elected?
feeling
Crossfire Hurricane 6: The KoronaKampf Revival
2019
Make 2026 2016 Again
Atlanta CDC Employees Express Anxiety Over Trump’s Win (Nov. 9, 2016)
“Trump might appoint public health leaders who may not be in total support of mandatory vaccinations, pointing to Dr. Ben Carson or Florida Governor Rick Scott. Another CDC worker said her job collecting data is partially funded through the Affordable Care Act.
https://www.wabe.org/atlanta-cdc-employees-express-anxiety-over-trumps-win/
“Tariffs are paid by the importer based on the wholesale price of the product as delivered by the exporting country depending on the exporters’ tariff rate. Tariffs are NOT LEVIED/PAID based on the retail price of the product as sold to the consumer.”
My now 91 yr old father spent the majority of his working career as a truck driver.
Working part time (allowed) after his Teamster’s FT retirement, one of his loads came across the Peace Bridge between Buffalo, NY & Fort Erie, ONT.
The load consisted of polo or golf shirts made in China and going to a major US retailer.
At inspection, the customs paper work was reviewed. It included the cost of the goods. The customs official shared with my dad the figures.
I cannot remember the exact figures, but the importer paid something like $2.50 -$5.00 per item.
The manufacturer suggested retail price for these golf or polo shirts was $80.
So it just goes to show you what these profit margins are.
Obscene, IMO
My dad was a Manufacturer’s Rep for his whole career – he was the “middleman” who represented a handful of American factories, making specific products (in his case, artificial Christmas trees, ornaments, lights, holiday decorations) which he then “pitched” to stores throughout the Pacific Northwest. (The famous Shiny Brite ornaments were probably his biggest client.)
For every order he wrote, he would get a small percentage of the total cost, so he worked hard to get orders, at both large chain stores, and small independent ones as well. I started working for him, part time, when I was 12 years old, doing paperwork and putting together the catalogs that he would distribute to the “buyers” at all of the stores. He was a great salesman, who knew the owners of the factories well (most were in the Rust Belt states – Pennsylvania, Ohio, Upstate New York), and spent years building relationships with the buyers, who knew him to be fair, honest, and responsible. I knew what the profit margins were on those American made product, and for the most part, they were fair, and provided a decent living for everyone up and down the supply chain.
So many things changed in the late 80s/early 90s, after NAFTA, because many of the factories went out of business – the big global companies took their designs and sent the work to China, where crappy knock-offs could be made by people earning slave wages. American jobs dried up and big box stores undercut everyone on price by buying poorly made foreign products in such bulk that no one could compete. My dad’s business, which he had worked years to build up, was decimated, and most of the stores that he sold to were shuttered, leading to ever more American jobs being lost. It was a vicious cycle and I absolutely believe that if we do not reverse it NOW, it will be forever lost, along with everything that made this country great!
Us down to earth blue collar people instinctively knew Ross Perot was correct when he said NAFTA would be the giant sucking sound of U. S. manufacturing jobs disappearing.
On the way to our Sunday service this morning, my brother and I were just reiterating the industrial factories and businesses that used to be in WNY and have disappeared during our adult lifetimes.
Perot was a watershed for my personal change in heart regarding government. A wakeup call. I didn’t realize it at the time but looking back, yep, that’s when my war against government began.
I lived my life as a blue collar grunt in a hot shop manufacturing and repairing parts for ag and industry for nearly 40 years. I know the China game well. I was out in the survival food shed this morning gazing at some of my old stock of U.S. sourced specification steel tube and chrome plated hardened rod I kept from that time. I have tons of it. Guns or plowshares, it all depends on the need. My skills can be used for many things.
There is a big difference in quality American made steel from decades ago vs. the cheap dung imported from Chyna.
The welders can tell the difference right away.
It is not an exaggeration to say we are fighting for our lives. We don’t have any second chances left.
These folks only closed recently. Truly miss them
https://www.recordonline.com/story/business/2005/12/20/locally-made-perfect-pines/51109146007/
Oh, that makes me so sad! Christmas was such a magical time for so many of us and stores like this were what kept it alive for the generation…I would have LOVED going to this store and probably would have recognized dozens of items that my dad repped, back in the day!
Yes and that’s why they went to China in the first place. The elites in this country have done very well. Notice all the expensive boats, second houses, and mansions in CA FL, and the East coast?
The Secretary is not quite right. Tariffs are in fact levied on the transaction value, not the wholesale value. Yes, he was just using more familiar language to make a point. But for CTH readers:
The transaction value is the amount paid or payable.
If there is no transaction value, say for example that there was an exchange of product, or a warranty replacement, then the dutied value is the amount paid or payable on the same or similar goods as sold in the normal course of commerce in the country of origin.
If neither of these methods apply, a CBP import specialist will appraise the shipment (that’s the old way).
The inspector should not have shared that information.
How can a retail value be determined before an item is sold? Many things are sold below the “Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price”, not to mention sales.
I think my father may have mentioned that the custom’s inspector told him he was not suppose to share the figures on the customs paper work.
My father is busy today and might not be able to recall everything anyway.
and the states collect full sales tax on the full retail price, despite a “20% off” mail in coupon. So just reducing the price from $100 to $80 would raise the savings to $22 in a 10% sales tax state like Illinois
The Dems will claim this is just a false ‘retailer-State conspiracy’?
What ticks me off royally is getting hit with sales tax on the combined item cost PLUS being charged sales tax on the shipping cost as well.
Since when is “shipping” a physically tangible item?
Not an expert, but I think this sales tax on items from out-of-state violates the U.S. Constitution regarding trade between the States.
Back in the 1970’s, I remember large groups of state “tax stickers” plastered on the cabs and sleepers of the long haul 18 wheelers. Some court decision got rid of them a few decades ago.
Noting the commentary by members upthread to a poster from Oregon, I opined as a fellow Beaver that we have no sales tax.
However, I also remember, having lived in CA for sixty years, when Amazon developed a ‘presence’ in the state, and started charging sales tax on consumer items delivered in the state.
I surrendered my SR DH (yeah, I’m that old) number when I left the state. That’s a resale number with BOE, also now changed in name. It was known as Board of Equalization in my work life as a business owner. It means I didn’t pay sales tax on materials and parts bought for inventory and to be resold, either to other businesses (mostly) or to end users (and taxed).
Glad that part of life is over.
Buyer and seller agree on a price. It may fall within a range of normal wholesale values. It may fall outside of the range. In fact it could actually be a normal retail value, where the importer will resell the merchandise for an even higher price. Or it could simply be retail purchases, for non commercial use. Thus, most, if not all, countries use transaction value. When goods are entered for consumption (a customs entry is filed for entry into the commerce) there will be an entered value which will be different. For example, the transaction value included shipping, and this amount can be subtracted. Also, the currency exchange rate will be that from the date of export.
Yes, customs officers must avoid violating the privacy act and the business secrets act.
As far as determining what the retail price will be, this is not a customs/import issue, unless the goods are being “dumped”. Then an investigation will be conducted (at least under Trump ) and anti-dumping duty will be assessed.
“Then an investigation will be conducted (at least under Trump ) and anti-dumping duty will be assessed.”
That did not happen when former Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) tried to restart the Buffalo China company in Buffalo, NY.
The elegant Secretary Bessent…unflappable and always patient with the slowest learner in the class (who can’t remember the March lecture).
That would be you, Margaret.
Snarlgret.
The MarxMerdia is a fully integrated element of the Derp State, which MUST BE DESTROYED!!
D’accord, Cariad.
Avec l’aide de Dieu Tout-Puissant 🙏🏻
💀🙏💀
Maybe Margaret needs to get some CEO’s of consumer product companies in for interviews and badger them about eating the tariffs and helping the American consumer.
Neither Karl Rove nor the harridan are capable of referring to the President as “President Trump.” That is usually the tell for a virulent strain of TDS.
I look forward to the pending publication of the ‘Trump Edition’ of the DSM!
TRS.
Trump Revelation Syndrome.
“He revealed us!
Let us therefore rage!!”
And yet some of us still screw the pooch by talking about Bidung like he was our President. Spit. Spit. Spit.
The fact that she referred to Karl as a “conservative” was funny. RINO Rove.
TDS
Orange Man Trump is a brand.
If you’ve met one uniparty-con, you’ve met all the UniCons.
Nation building crusaders are cloned at the NED factory like autopence.
NeverMAGA Inc. is a cottage industry of TDS influencers from NeverTrump 1.0.
https://x.com/newsmax/status/1590942906499891200
Orange
Man
Great
Orange
Man
Brawn
(Trumpzilla)!
Yes.
Old but classic video.
A Rally favorite.
The Chariots of Fire segment is priceless!
I laughed my head off through this entire video!!!!!!
The more pundits like Margaret are wrong, the more people will stop listening to them and start realizing they are having the wool pulled over their eyes. Win – win for MAGA!
pundits
“86 CBS” – Fake Noose Comey
Fake news announces itself by omission, knowingly or unknowingly.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114600275865437119
Why has the FBI failed to investigate J6 gallows builders?
https://rumble.com/v3w0kev-why-has-the-fbi-failed-to-investigate-j6-gallows-builders.html
Her condescending tone really grates on the ears… Secretary Bessent really schooled her with the”Now, Margaret” there you go again 😂😂😂
It is really impressive how Secretary Bessent keeps his composure when being attacked by the MSM adversaries. He doesn’t go off tangent and specifically addresses the insufferable Brennan’s points. Doesn’t go for a homerun- just the facts. Line from the movie Moneyball– “He gets on base.”
China is in bigger financial difficulties than many realize.
China Is Broke: $50 Trillion Debt Collapsing China’s Entire Economy, Citizens Turn Against CCP – Prepare For Change
If citizens can coordinate, and be willing to be uncomfortably divergent from their usual path of existence, we can economically destroy both China and the American corporations which are using it to subvert our own economy.
It’s up to us, and IMO, also the good citizens of China.
I view good citizens as white blood cells which attack the infection of Chinese Communism around the planet and restore moral health to the once moral and robust Republic we love.
Working for the enemy and buying their goods and propping them up with our own debt and savings and investment with an eye on personal profit without regard to the larger picture keeps their juggernaut rolling.
I implore gentle readers to ask themselves if their lives are healthier today than a decade ago, two decades ago, three decades ago. Myself I can go back nearly seven decades and examine personal history. Of course, each person describes ‘health’ for themselves, base on their personal priorities in life.
I offer this on a Sunday, remembering my treks to our local church to participate in old fashioned Latin Mass. Nothing unique, the church was next to the school I attended during the week after getting up at 4am to fold and deliver the local newspaper. How was life then? Perfect? Nope. I daresay it was healthier. By a lot. Why is that? Examining the reasons provides in my opinion needed introspection. God bless.
“If citizens can cooperate… ” That is the key.
For example, we can make it a priority to shop at stores that don’t raise prices.
That’s a good suggestion. I can contribute my version. I haven’t been in a ‘store’ since August of 2023.
Today, just now, I had ‘lunch’ with tortillas that are nearly two years old and cheese nearly the same and rehydrated meat and some greens I picked out of the yard since I live in the forest. I call them ‘forest tacos’.
Instead of buying ‘paint’ to paint the porch steps I’m combining paints I saved from my past life in California into a ‘color’ that will work just fine to protect the wood.
Where those tacos were stored, in used cans which formerly contained freeze dried survival food, was built out of repurposed and reclaimed materials. Siding and roof? Old corrugated steel. Windows? Reclaimed sliding glass doors I’d saved from an upgrade to my CA home 30 years ago. I saved… everything.
That’s how I do it. My lab equipment came from Japan and Korea since it’s nearly impossible to find anything built in the U.S outside of Fluke, which I have. I drive a 40 year old diesel pickup. Very reliable.
Finding citizens to cooperate is a challenge, as you correctly point out. Most people could care less about anything which even in the slightest impacts their comfortable lives. I respect that. Freedom of choice granted by God. How do we change those hearts and minds? This is why I read the Treehouse because gentle readers here are generally a lot smarter about that than I am.
Another reason tariffs don’t always raise prices for the consumer is because often the importing country (mainly china), are required to eat the tariff themselves. In the scenario Sundance used about jeans, another likely scenario is Guess just tells China we aren’t paying more for the jeans so go spit. China then has no choice but to sell them at $10 and eat the $5 tariff out of their own bottom line……since they probably made the jeans for $3 anyway. China must produce even if it means eating the tariff themselves
Yes China could export the goods with a landed duty paid price to the importer and not change the price at all. China eats the tariff. With China manufacturing in a huge slump, China may eat much of the tariffs to keep some factories running.
This will be decided by the US having good trans shipment enforcement. China is shipping merchandise all over to evade the tariffs.
Yep!
I meant to say exporting country
This bit was priceless:
“Brennan: The reality is, there will either be less inventory or things at higher prices, or both.
Bessent: Margaret, when we were here in March, you said there was going to be big inflation. There hasn’t been any inflation. Actually, the inflation numbers are the best in four years.
So, why don’t we stop trying to say this could happen, why don’t we wait and see what does happen.”
Remember when Hermes threatened to raise the price of its 50,000 USD handbag to 55,000 USD due to “Trump Tariffs”?
Being curious, I tried to learn what the markup is on Hermes handbags. Data is all over the place, but apparently the production cost of a Hermes bag is between 800 and 1,400 dollars.
Taking the higher estimate, Hermes already charged 35 times the production cost for its 50,000 dollar bag.
Ignoring the fact that none of the production cost is tied to US goods or manufacturing, a 10% increase of 1400 dollars would “bring” the production cost to 1,540 dollars. Yet Hermes threatened to raise the price 10%, a 5,000 dollar increase. Subtracting the $140.00 from $5,000, Hermes was attempting to gouge another 4,860 dollars from its US customers on a item that it was already making a profit margin of 40,600 dollars on, for a new profit margin of 45,600 dollars.
The people being fleeced by Hermes are the same over-credentialed, beach friends gaggle of women who blindly support the political system fleecing them in nearly every other aspect of their lives. But I suppose money carries its privileges.
Therefore, I have zero pity for them.
$50,000 for a PURSE? The mind boggles.
As a wealthy friend used to tell me, the problems are the same just the numbers are different.
Math got all messed up there.
The original profit margin is 48,600.
The new profit margin would be 53,460.
That still means a profit margin increase of 4,860.
I have this picture in my mind :
Every Sunday during President Trump’s Administration , Margaret wakes up and thinks to herself ,
‘This is the Sunday I am going to be Right’
😆😀😄😅😁😂☺
She must be making the Big DollarBucks ,,
Why else would she go out there , Sunday after Sunday , and make an ass of herself ?
Entertainment at its Finest 😊
A stopped clock is right once a day, but Margaret is never right!
Twice a day if it has Hands.
She probably buys the $50,000 purse…
People like Brennan make beaucoup bucks. Her salary is likely in the neighborhood of a million and maybe more given the interviews they give to her.
Sundance, this article should be posted more often.
The media has brainwashed Americans about tariffs for decades.
This article is simple and to the point.
Is Margaret so stupid that she does not realize that these guys are making her look bad? She continues to think she is intelligent enough to embarrass them. What a dummy.
The “elitists” have been admiring and adoring the leftist Fascist/Communist/Socialist/Totalitarian regimes constantly over the decades. They consistently predict their success and are constantly confused at their collapse. The talking heads aren’t worth the time out of your lives to watch.
The soi-disant elites created those tyrannies and many before and, they hope, to come.
Such is their nature.
I love it when you give a nice simple example that anyone can read and figure out especially when it points out the crux of the issue. I really like it when you show how we have been ripped off all these years and why Wall street fights so hard to keep status quo. Do likewise now with calculations of goods under the NAFTA/USMCA and China components. Keep it simple, pablum feed me, you have my permission.
Scott’s best answer of the “interview.”
https://x.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1929217603190284300
Who are the primary controllers of CBS? the Intelligence community?
The MarxMerdia is a fully integrated element of the Derp State, which MUST BE DESTROYED!!
Autrement dit, oui.
Every time I see someone school Margaret Brennan, I can’t help thinking of the old Saturday Night Live sketch with Jane Curtin and Dan Ackroyd playing newscasters, and Ackroyd’s classic comeback to anything Curtin said.
She seems to be on the edge of her seat asking desperate questions of him and making stupid predictions… I have a feeling she will have to eat those questions & predictions in the future…
I chose to listen because I like listening to Bessent, but oh my goodness I think I rather be tied to whipping post than have confront Margaret…she tries her devil best to make everything absolutely hopeless and impossible
LOL Bessent it throws it right back
Devil Best.
Perfect.
It’s funny how establishment conservative “free market” economists suddenly forget free market principles when it comes to tariffs. Assuming businesses seek to maximize profits, if they could simply raise prices whenever a tariff increased, they would have already done so prior to any tariffs. Whether businesses will raise prices in response to tariffs depends on profit margins and how sensitive demand is to price increases. They might just have to accept lower profit margins.
“President Trump’s protection of the American economy through the implementation of protectionist principles with regard to trade is nothing less than an extension of his desire to protect America’s sovereignty.”
Protectionism: The Jewel in the Crown of Trumponomics
https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2025/04/protectionism-jewel-crown-trumponomics-joseph-pearce.html
I love listening to Secretary Bessent. He’s so matter of fact and patient. Ms. Brennan is just a nasty, negative old hag. The queen of doom and gloom.
I have friends in indie publishing who routinely import books from Chinese printers at the cost of, say, $10 each, then sell that same book for $75-$90. They’re all crying and screaming about how a 50% tariff – this raising their cost to $15 – is unsustainable and will put them out of business. I guess a $60 profit as opposed to $65 is anathema to their business model.
Meanwhile, they literally have payment plans for books. People paying in installments to buy yet another LotT-but-with-adult-content book to sit on their shelves and never be read…
We’ve gotten way too addicted to cheap goods. It’s devalued everything. It’s warped our view of reality. And I don’t have a whole lot of sympathy left.
SEC. BESSENT: So again, I’ve known Jamie (Dimon) a long time and for his entire career he’s made predictions like this. Fortunately, none of them have come true. That’s why he’s a banker- a great banker. He tries to look around the corner.
🤣 🤣 🤗
How many times did this intolerable woman utter ‘but…’ then followed by lies and obfuscation?
So glad my hearing and vision wasn’t hijacked by this lame-brain by he name of Margaret…haven’t watched in a decades and that makes me happy.
Plus, Margaret is married to an Islamic so there’s that..
Bc Karl Rove, a ‘conservative’, has been right @everything🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Does Margaret think we gAf what canned ham says?
Brendan’s tendentious mischaracterization of the effect of Trump’s economic policy is completely maddening. She attacks the effects of the policy in the worst possible way because the legality and the morality, ie, national security, job creation, etc. is unimpeachable. So, the only play is fear mongering of devastating economic consequences – and there are none.
We will be richer, restore our technological prowess, and, quite simply, working good, substantial jobs. She cannot fight that argument and so she lies.
She is a liar. She lies on behalf of globalist. She has no honor, no pride, no integrity.
She is a whore for the moneyed elite.
I guess maggie thinks we can’t go back to school without China… a good reason for tariffs to make the stuff ourselves because I had no problem going back to school in the 70s and 80s without China products.
sheesh! she is dense
Scott Bessent is so articulate. He makes it sound so easy. He must have been an excellent professor when he taught.
Brennan on the other hand…
She is insufferably stupid, condescending, and rude — all at once!
And let’s not forget that the Chinese factory makes 200% more of those Guess jeans and then sell them to the rest of the world for $25, which is why they can produce the official Guess product for $10, which is all factored into their production price.
Very good details, SD. Also check out Spencer P Morrison’s work. Tariffs are about choices; the importer has the choice to raise prices or not.
Check out steel(and aluminum) prices from 2018-2020 after tariffs; both dropped 23% and still today.
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/steel
Watching Scott Bessent do point – counterpoint with ANY interviewer is time well-spent! Margaret Brennan made absolutely NO headway with CBS positions … he is always extremely well-prepared and closely involved. He represents “We the People” very well; we are so blessed to have him serving our Country.
It just never fails to astound and disgust me how, in the middle of Team Trump and many of us fighting for this Republic’s existence, CFR board member and $1-2m per year salaried vapid globalist ChatterBot Brennan is mincing her cosmetic-caked piehole about the price of crayons…and completely avoiding issues like US ability to manufacture steel.
If this larger financial and policy mess doesn’t get sorted, there won’t be opportunities for children to use crayons. I say that as an early GenXer born late in my parents’ life, and having heard my mom’s stories about growing up in the Great Depression. Crayons were the furthest thing from her mind as a child. She was too busy with her three sisters scrounging for bits of coal that fell off coal cars at the nearby freight rail line.
And knowing that the likes of MARGARET–who grew up near the coal country that produced that coal in PA, but who has zero connection to any of that–are bashing around the mediascape, trying to whip up the clueless about such trivia, and knowing the kind of PR-flack hypnosis/brainhack operations in place…
…it makes me wish Bessant and the others wouild just stop using these outlets. Just cut them cold/dead. Stop legitimizing their existence. There are plenty of ways to get the word out now, and ask/answer/address questions about REAL issues. Rather than having to waste time–and all of our attention–on malicious kakistomouthed nonsense about “Well, Jamie Dimon looked into HIS Magic 8 Ball, and saw this thing–what do you think about his fantasy, and how it will End Life On Earth As We Know It?”
From a standpoint of knowing how much there is to do, and how little time, I resent that Bessent and others waste their precious time with these droids. I resent seeing for the quadrillionth time the contempt in which MARGARET and her handlers hold me and mine.
I also resent the insult to my intelligence, patience, and overall equanimity required to skim these interactions, to see what MSM lies I can expect to come out of the pieholes of various people I know in daily life.
Like the ones I told back in March and April that, no, they probably would not see “massive consumer price hikes because Trump tariffs.” The ones screeching about the price of MUH EGGS. And when I pointed out that hundreds of millions of sweet laying hens were brutally slaughtered–using the excuse of Muh Virums–to produce shortages and price hikes, and blame, DJT, their reply was that that couldn’t be true because they saw on the news that Bird Flu was going to kill us all in a few days, plus we all needed to get stabbed by Pharma just in case, and have I gotten MY stabs yet? (They well know that I haven’t.)
Now that there have been no Consumer Price Hikes Because Trump Tariffs, they just vomit up the latest MSM crap about how the Massive Consumer Price Hikes [TM] are YET TO COME. With BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING.
MUH CRAYONS!
Having vented all this I’d like to thank SD for making the transcripts available. I can skim-read them in a few minutes rather than wasting precious time and equanimity on the likes of this CFR globomuppet. I am so tired of the entire literary genre of “news” and “Erase the Nation.”
Take that, Sister Margaret!!
[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning and welcome to ‘Face the Nation.’ We begin today with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Good morning and thank you for being here.
SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: Morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But…but…but….but….but….but….but….but….but….but….
etc. etc. etc.