More tariffs, fewer pennies and you are fired!

Trump is imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico. I am still not sure why. However, last year nearly 4 million cars and trucks were imported from the two countries which is about 22 percent of total US vehicle sales. What is weird is that the tariff is not a comprehensive one. Japan and Korea are not included meaning a likely shift by US consumers from Ford and GM to Honda and Hyundai. Only Trump apologists understand the logic behind such an action.

No more bad penny?

Did you see where Trump ordered Treasury to stop making pennies? Does this mean that the remaining pennies will be hoarded and become objects of desire by numismatists? That’s hard to imagine since there are 240 billion pennies in circulation. Trump said it was because the cost of making a penny was 3.7 cents meaning that the Treasury loses about $85 million a year producing pennies. He said “Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

Does this mean that Trump has no cents? Do we still have penny arcades and penny loafers? Somehow quarter arcades and dime loafers just don’t sound right. What about half dollars from heaven? A quarter for your thoughts? A dime saved is a dime earned? A pretty quarter? In for a nickel, in for a pound? The Beatles would now sing “Dime Lane” and Lionel Richie will croon “Nickel Lover”.

What about all the millions of goods whose prices end in 9 cents? I have always thought that the pricing was psychological making the good seem a bit cheaper. It’s not just Walmart and Home Depot pricing either. I saw a luxury car sticker of $99,999.99! Look at gas prices. Why do they always end in 9 cents? Locally unleaded regular is selling at $2.89.9 cents. Diesel is $3.39.9 cents. How is it going to feel when you see that gas is $2.90 and diesel is $3.40? I guess all prices will be rounded up. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have eliminated pennies rounding to the nearest 5 cent and ten cent.

So if Trump wants to get rid of pennies because of the costs it got me wondering how much does it cost to produce the other coins? Lo and behold it costs a whopping 14 cents to make a nickel! However it only costs 6 cents to make a dime, 15 cents to make a quarter and 34 cents to make a half dollar. So if the object is to save money then then the nickel must go. Then we will no longer get nickeled and dimed to death.

You are fired!

Is there anyone in the federal government that Trump cannot fire? He is moving to terminate the USAID and leave in place only 600 of its 10,000 employees. His acting CFPB director has shut down all operations and told the Fed that he will not request any funding going forward. The CFPB has a budget (acquired from the Fed) of $823 million and has 1,781 employees. Trump has dismissed the advisory boards of all the service academies asserting that they have been “infiltrated by woke leftist ideologies.” So bye bye to the boards at West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. Trump also fired the commandant of the Coast Guard Academy, Admiral Linda Fagan. In a statement the Department of Homeland Security said Fagan was terminated for reasons involving a lack of leadership and concerns over border security and recruiting. “Adm. Linda L. Fagan has been removed from her position. She was terminated because of her leadership deficiencies, operational failures, and inability to advance the strategic objectives of the U.S. Coast Guard.” Trump has – for now – left in place the commandants of the other service academies. Do you think the Coast Guard commandant was a DEI hire?

Trump fired the head of the Office of Special Counsel – the government’s whistleblower agency – responsible for guarding the federal workforce from illegal personnel actions. He fired the chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority which oversees federal labor disputes. He fired the three democrats on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Boards. He fired the head of TSA and members of the Aviation Security Committee. Bye bye to the general counsel of the NLRB. He fired two democrat commissioners on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He terminated members of the Merit Systems Protection Board. How many boards are there? He fired the National Archivist. He fired the board of the Kennedy Center and named himself as chairman. Trump was displeased with the Kennedy Center putting on drag shows and following a woke agenda. However, it would be difficult to find instances in which the LBGTQ agenda is not present in any of modern plays, movies, and fiction. He replaced two senior ICE officials citing a need for accountability at the agency. Accountability? He should have fired all the top brass at the Pentagon too.

Whew! There is more to come. Stay tuned.