No worries - Trump is running the country just like he did his casinos
Talk of higher prices, lower credit ratings and a looming recession is just silly. Right, Howard?
By Sam Bellamy
Former casino operator and six-time bankruptee Donald Trump is doing a fine job with the economy. There is no cause for concern, people.
Oh, you might have heard that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was blocked last week by renegade Republicans. (Yes, that’s its official name, although GOP members on the House Ways and Means Committee, splurging on commas, call it the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”)
This delay in passage is mostly a squabble over Medicare cuts not being deep enough and the cap on state and local tax deductions for wealthier homeowners not being high enough. Wholesome stuff, in other words. They’ll work it out.
Speaking of hearing, for those of you who might be worried, the bill – OBBBA, is it? – still includes the elimination of a $200 tax on gun silencers that, shamefully, has been in effect 101 years. (Never mind smart alecks like Rep. Steven Horsford, a Nevada Democrat who groused, “Who asked for this — was it the assassin lobby?”)
Getting rid of gun silencers will cost a mere $1.4 billion over 10 years, which is, as the American Firearms Association notes, “nothing more than a crumb dropped from the King's table.” (By that, the association meant that the bill doesn’t go far enough and should deregulate silencers and get rid of both the ATF and the 1934 National Firearm Act.)
In another important step, Republicans are also 86ing (by that, we mean “getting rid of”) a 10% excise tax on tanning bed salons that included in the Affordable, Care, Act, which was pushed through by Barack Obama, who – you’ll remember – is black and therefore unqualified to make decisions on such things. Eliminating this tax will cost $600 million over 10 years. (No word on potential tax relief for President Trump’s orange-tan-in-a-bottle. Maybe next year.)
Together, these two tax cuts would cost $2 billion, which some of you might contend would be better spent on, say, food assistance programs for children in financially struggling families. But don’t fret – Republicans are shifting a lot of those welfare-ish costs to the states, who should be have plenty of time and money left over from performing duties that used to be handled by FEMA. (Here’s an idea – feed the kids after a hurricane or a wildlife. As Big Balls might say, “DOGE!”)
So, that’s a quick recap of the big and the beautiful, which would add an estimated $3.7 trillion to the national deficit. A King’s scraps, really.
In other good news, the trade deficit widened to a record $140.5 billion in March as retailers scurried to import goods before Trump waged his tariff war on the world.
Naysayers continue to claim that these tariffs will cause food shortages and drive up consumers costs in the United States, but last week Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick scolded us to not buy “the silly arguments that the U.S. consumer pays” for the tariffs.
Lutnick is something of an authority on silliness, having warned us in March that Trump’s trade policy “is not chaotic, and the only one who thinks it’s chaotic is someone who’s being silly.”
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is being silly, unfortunately. During an earning calls last week, he said the giant retail chain – which claims 90% of Americans as customers – will soon have to begin raising prices to offset tariffs. In the video below, Wall Street Journal reporter Sarah Nassaeur explains that these increases could be spread across many items to avoid jacking prices up too far on some imported goods.
"We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible,” McMillon said. “But given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins."
To this, Trump offered a carefully thought-out, well-reasoned argument: “Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices throughout the chain. Walmart made BILLIONS OF DOLLARS last year, far more than expected. Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, ‘EAT THE TARIFFS,’ and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I’ll be watching, and so will your customers!!!”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he has since spoken to McMillon and that the Walmart chief told him the chain would eat the tariffs. McMillon was just giving the “worst case scenario” to investors. No big deal. Don’t even bother checking your receipts.
Similarly, Bessent also assured that us there’s nothing to Moody’s Ratings downgrading the U.S. credit rating last week from Aaa, the highest level, to Aa1. The United States has held the top rating since1949. So, not very long at all.
“Who cares?” Bessent said. “Qatar doesn’t. Saudi doesn’t. UAE doesn’t. They’re all pushing money in.”
Indeed.
In their announcement, analysts at Moody’s said a succession of presidents and congressional leaders had failed to get the nation’s finances in order and added, "We do not believe that material multi-year reductions in mandatory spending and deficits will result from current fiscal proposals under consideration."
That’s just silly. Right, Howard?