Trump crash stonks, Republicans run away
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Despite his administration being laser-focused on deregulation and upper-class tax cuts, Trump’s idiotic trade war continues to tank markets as the country heads straight for recession:
Stocks tumbled on Tuesday as President Trump’s broad tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China reverberated through global markets, intensifying investors’ concerns over the health of the economy.
The S&P 500 fell as much as 2 percent, before losses moderated in the afternoon and the day ended down 1.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index briefly dropped into what is known as a correction — a drop of 10 percent or more from its recent peak — before investors appeared to “buy the dip,” prompting a modest recovery in afternoon trading.
The selling on Tuesday was broad based, with roughly 80 percent of the stocks in the S&P 500 lower for the day. That was true even after the afternoon rally, with the recovery propelled by some of the largest tech companies like Nvidia and Alphabet, which have a large impact on the overall index’s value because of their size. Out of 11 sectors, tech was the only one to end the day higher and it was only by a fraction of a percentage point.
Sharp declines on Wall Street in recent days have wiped out the gains made since Mr. Trump’s election victory in November, as investors’ hopes of deregulation, business-friendly policies and restraint on tariffs have given way to fears over the potentially damaging impact of the levies that went into effect on Tuesday.
As for whether Trump’s lickspittles think that manipulating GDP figures can stop people from noticing that they suddenly have a lot less money as stuff is getting more expensive and their employment positions become more precarious, the proof of the pudding is in the eating:
The chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm told Republican lawmakers Tuesday to stop holding in-person town halls amid a wave of angry backlash over the cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the NRCC chair, delivered the message inside a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private remarks.
Trump on Monday dismissed the town hall uproar — much of it trained on the sweeping cutbacks made by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency — as being the work of “paid ‘troublemakers.’” Many other GOP leaders have adopted a similar tack, asserting that the protests Republican lawmakers have encountered have been concocted by Democrats and do not reflect genuine voter anger over the Trump cuts.
“There are people who do this as a profession, they’re professional protesters,” Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the meeting. He said he thought it was “wise” to not “play into that” and added that tele-town halls were a good option for members to hear from their constituents.
Liberal advocacy groups have played a role in publicizing the GOP town halls, but there is no evidence to suggest they have paid people to attend.
Democrats immediately slammed the GOP over Hudson’s advice, with Rep. Theresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) saying Republicans “are afraid of their constituents” and a spokesperson for the top House Democratic super PAC calling them “cowards.”
“If you’re going to have the audacity to raise prices and rip away health care from millions of Americans, you should at least have the courage to face your constituents,” said the spokesperson, CJ Warnke of House Majority PAC.
The populists!