Opinion PINO - Populist In Name Only

[Mr Holmes]

That's right lady and gentlemen, I'm talking about the Orange Ogre, Glumf.

Exhibit A: Tariff exemptions

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-nvidia-microsoft-breathe-huge-173900215.html

The ever-growing U.S. tariffs on imports from China won’t bite Big Tech so badly after all, after the Trump administration late Friday laid out significant exemptions from its wider trade war that include smartphones, laptop computers, chips, and more.

The exemptions, published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, amount to a huge break for tech giants such as Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), and Microsoft (MSFT), and for the broader tech industry, even as uncertainty persists over the direction of President Donald Trump’s trade war.

I was listening to Breaking Points and they reported Nvidia paid $1,000,000 for a seat at a fund raiser right before this exemption was rolled out. So basically if you have money to throw around you can get an exemption. But smaller companies are going to still get hammered. Its going to be another upward transfer of wealth. Possibly worse than what we saw with the Covid lockdowns.

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Exhibit B: Cutting off funding for universities because he is a cuck for Israel.

Trump restricts federal research funding, a lifeblood for colleges

After decades of partnership with the U.S. government, American colleges are facing new doubts about the future of their federal funding.

apnews.com

Perhaps no school is more vulnerable than Johns Hopkins University, which received $4 billion in federal funds, close to 40% of its revenue, according to the analysis. Much of that went to defense research, paying for projects like missile design, submarine technology and precision tracking systems in outer space. Billions of dollars also went to medical research for topics such as immunology and transplants, aging, neuroscience and mental health.

Johns Hopkins is facing an antisemitism investigation, which threatens its federal money, but already it has been feeling the effects of cuts to research grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. Earlier this month, it announced 2,200 layoffs.

There are probably some valid reasons to try to facilitate change at some of these institutions, but protesting the zionists isn't one of them. Its disgusting how cucked the Republicans are. It really makes you wonder what they have over them.

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Exhibit C: DOGE harassing grannies for their social security checks.

No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits

Elon Musk claims to have found rampant fraud in the Social Security Administration. There’s a much simpler explanation.

www.wired.com

https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/trump-administration-doge-activities-risk-ssa-operations-and-security-of

• Launching rhetorical attacks on Social Security programs, including false claims of massive fraud — providing a pretext for actions that could undermine eligible beneficiaries’ access to benefits.
• Engaging in deep cuts to staffing, new restrictions on phone-based services for the public, and “agency-wide . . . restructuring” and “massive reorganizations” of SSA that are neither well thought-out nor wise — all of which threaten SSA’s ability to serve seniors and people with disabilities effectively while providing a potential excuse for privatizing key services.[3]
• Jeopardizing the reliability of SSA’s systems, including through the sharp reduction of staff with technical expertise of systems that serve some 73 million people, or 1 in 5 people in the United States, each month.
• Threatening the security of people’s personal information by giving untrained DOGE political appointees unprecedented access to sensitive SSA data.

When I heard Vivek and Musk were going to try to reduce waste and fraud, I was somewhat optimistic. You would think the Pentagon Budget would be a gold mine of waste and abuse, but of course they're going after grannies' checks that they paid into their entire lives.

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Exhibit D: Increasing military spending and threatening war all over the world

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/07/hegseth-trump-1-trillion-defense-budget-00007147

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged a first ever $1 trillion defense budget proposal on Monday, a record sum for the military.
Trump, during a press event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the upcoming budget would be “in the vicinity” of $1 trillion.

So much for investing back into our own country for a change, but I guess Israel will be happy. They'll be even happier if we start a war with Iran - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...o-middle-east-as-trump-threatens-to-bomb-iran

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Exhibit E: Fucking with our public lands.

Public lands, private profits: Inside the Trump plan to offload federal land

Critics warn that the Trump administration’s plan to transfer public lands could enrich wealthy developers while eliminating access for everyone else.

grist.org

The Trump administration is poised to begin offloading public land, achieving a long-held conservative goal of reducing the government’s footprint in the West. Federal agencies manage around 640 million acres, or about 28 percent of the nation’s land, an invaluable resource Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has called “America’s balance sheet.” His membership in a luxury real estate club in Montana provides an apt example of how private interests stand to profit from federal lands.

So basically they want the land to be turned into summer homes for wealthy people.

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Exhibit F: Siding with Musk on H1 Visas

Trump says H-1B visa program is 'great' amid MAGA feud over tech workers

Trump allies, including Elon Musk, vigorously defended the program to other MAGA adherents this week.

www.nbcnews.com

President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on a simmering feud among MAGA allies over H-1B worker visas, telling the New York Post that he supports the program, according to the outlet.

Trump told the New York Post that he has “always liked the visas.” The H-1B visa program allows employers to temporarily hire non-U.S. citizens for highly skilled jobs.

I personally work in Tech and feel strongly on this topic. So strongly that I teamed up with known commie @deviake to speak up against it. This was just a way for wealthy business owners to stifle wage growth and maintain a class of highly dependent workers. In my personal experience the work coming from H1 Visa holders was sub par and I call bullshit on us needing them.

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Exhibit G - "Charles Schwab made 2.5 billion today"

Officials make explosive allegations as Trump brags about enriching billionaires​

President Donald Trump first sent markets spiraling with his tariffs. Officials say what he did next broke the law.

www.masslive.com

That day, on April 9, Trump bragged that he had made billionaire Charles Schwab a lot of money.

“This is Charles Schwab. It’s not just a company; it’s actually an individual,” Trump said in a video released on X by White House staffer Margo Martin. “He made two-and-a-half billion today and he made $900 million. That’s not bad.”

While everyone else was left wondering what was going to happen next with the on and off liberation day tariffs, it would seem some billionaires got a heads up. Great job looking out for the little guy.

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Exhibit H - "Trump to interview BlackRock's Rieder for Fed chair role"

Trump to interview BlackRock's Rieder for Fed chair role, Fox Business reports
U.S. President Donald Trump will interview BlackRock Inc's chief bond investment manager Rick Rieder on Thursday as a candidate to lead the Federal Reserve, Fox Business Network reported on Monday, citing unidentified administration sources.

www.reuters.com

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Exhibit I - Massie says US 'under siege' by Roundup maker Bayer to avoid herbicide liability
MSN

"All three branches of this government is under siege by lobbyists and lawyers from a German company named Bayer. They spent over $9 million lobbying the executive branch and the legislative branch so that they don't have to be liable for any damages that their herbicide causes," Massie said on the House floor.

The executive order called the herbicides "crucial to the national security and defense, including food-supply security, which is essential to protecting the health and safety of Americans." It also calls for "immunity" for domestic manufacturers of the herbicide.
Click to expand...

Trump signed executive order to give Monsanto immunity.

Inb4 I'm called a TDS riddled far-right libtard nazi.

 

[curryjunkie]

Meh , you've spent years defending him while being told what a worthless cunt he was, are we supposed to cheer your awakening?

 

[wlu.29]

I knew a guy named Pino, he runs a "legit" paving company that he inherited from his father

 

[Siver!]

I don't think he's a "populist in name only" since a major part of modern populism is simply telling people what they want to hear.

Of course there's got to be ground work. "Population B is evil" is a prerequisite. Population B can be anything, it just has to be demonized hard enough.

I'm guessing you're referencing an old school definition of populism that revolves around "the people vs the elite"?

It's not that straightforward anymore. Populism is just pandering to widely held ignorance at this point.

 

[no fat chicks]

Good on for avoiding the sunk cost fallacy and hopping off the train!

 

[Osculater]

I like pinot noir than pinot grigio

 

[AWilder]

this is what you voted for...

this will be especially funny to see how the usual maga crowd reacts to one of their own leaving the cult

 

[Deorum]

That's right gentlemen, I'm talking about the Orange Ogre, Glumf.

You reacted to a post I made yesterday that I found kind of eyebrow raising, and now it makes more sense. Trump's defective limp dick EO's are not what I'm concerned about (and I've explained why), but I've been keeping a close eye on the GOP Recon bill that is working its way through Congress. The President has no authority to sell off significant parcels of public land by executive fiat (although interestingly, he can add more via the Antiquites Act of 1906). The power rests exclusively with Congress via the Property Clause in Article 4, Section 3 and must be granted.

 

[Mr Holmes]

Meh , you've spent years defending him while being told what a worthless cunt he was, are we supposed to cheer your awakening?

Don't you live in Ireland or something?

 

[Mr Holmes]

this is what you voted for...

Actually I didn't.

 

[essie]

Welcome to the resistance buddy. Keep an eye on your email for instructions on your new pronouns, and give your Soros check about 3-5 business days to arrive.

 

[Osculater]

Actually I didn't.

 

[AWilder]

Actually I didn't.

 

[essie]

To address this more seriously I think that actual populism doesn't really have enough support to be maintained on a large scale but right wing populists should still mostly be happy with Trump as he is a bulldozer for a lot of their social issues. It's hard to think of another president who can accomplish his agenda as effectively and he absolutely has gone for a flooding the zone approach so there is going to be a mixed bag for anyone who isn't just a blind follower of his. But still if you are on the right and favor populism he is managing to dismantle the left's hold on media, culture and education.

Walz was talking about how to best approach all the damage Trump has done and he explained it like a car with a bad engine. Trump has now taken the engine out of the United States and while that is horrifying for us on the left it does also represent an opportunity to replace it with something even better. So I guess the question for the populist right is do you want the engine to just be taken out and that is a good end goal, effectively crippling the role of government or do you want a true believer to come in and install something even more radical?

I fear that whoever is in power after Trump, and if I had to bet due to his stranglehold on media and money it will be a MAGA disciple, is going to be even more off putting to their opposition. There is a real chance for a left wing populist to come in here and install some truly radical stuff. I don't think it's most likely outcome but a return to milquetoast establishment politics seems extremely farfetched.

 

[Mr Holmes]

Welcome to the resistance buddy. Keep an eye on your email for instructions on your new pronouns, and give your Soros check about 3-5 business days to arrive.

Don't tell Peter Thiel.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Totally representative of the left. If you arent in 100% agreement with their side, you support Trump.

 

[essie]

Totally representative of the left. If you arent in 100% agreement with their side, you support Trump.

I know it's lazy to just do but what about but Liz Cheney voted with Trump 92 percent of the time in congress and was ousted by vote from her party because she was against Jan. 6th. I think when it comes to actual punishment in party the Republicans hold people who don't support their side (MAGA) 100% to the fire at a much higher degree than Democrats. There are huge ideological differences among elected Democrats whereas in order to be an elected Republican now you have to be fully behind Trump.

 

[curryjunkie]

Totally representative of the left. If you arent in 100% agreement with their side, you support Trump.

Oh look, another " centrist" has entered the chat..

 

[AWilder]

Totally representative of the left. If you spend 100% of your time on a karate forum supporting trump, you support Trump.

ftfy, until today of course.

 

[HereticBD]

I know it's lazy to just do but what about but Liz Cheney voted with Trump 92 percent of the time in congress and was ousted by vote from her party because she was against Jan. 6th. I think when it comes to actual punishment in party the Republicans hold people who don't support their side (MAGA) 100% to the fire at a much higher degree than Democrats. There are huge ideological differences among elected Democrats whereas in order to be an elected Republican now you have to be fully behind Trump.

I think a big problem with her, is that you could tell she was trying to maintain relevancy after picking a fight she shouldn't have in a seemingly opportune time, and put all her eggs into a basket of "Maybe I can be a Liberal hero, now that Trumpism is dying?". She read the tea leaves wrong, and suffered for it. A lot of Republicans did the same after Jan 6th.

They hopped off of a boat that had a hole in it, and misjudged how big it was. Only the smart ones jumped back in once they used some duct tape to patch it up. Ted Cruz was the guy helping them back in, while saying "I get it."

The ones who didn't? Well, they end up like Liz Cheney.