2017 May 26 « Dr Alf's Blog

English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



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Vox takes a hard-look at US growth outlook and concludes that Trump’s budget assumptions are for the fairies.

Trump’s budget assumes 3 percent annual growth. Why that’s extremely unlikely, explained. – Vox

The thing is Trump is trapped by his own rhetoric. In the campaign trail, he promised 4% growth, which this article shows is totally speculative. But poor, white, less educated, unemployed, under-privileged people voted for Trump.

Trump is struggling on many fronts concurrently but what’s clear is that the prognosis for America is looking increasingly worrying. Trump can’t deal with the evidence because it challenges his credibility. Let’s hope that Trump does not look to Fascist leaders for inspiration. Look at Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany.

For the moment, the checks and balances are still working. Perhaps the risk of impeachment will keep Trump in check?

Thoughts?



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This is a recommended read from Amy Davidson, published in the New Yorker. She argues that Trump’s world view seems to combine a distaste for Islam with a predilection for monarchs — for anyone with a decent palace, really.

Source: At NATO Headquarters, Trump Fails Another Leadership Test – Amy Davidson- The New Yorker

Significantly, Trump did not reaffirm Article 5 of the NATO treaty and he was very blunt about European countries paying their fair share to NATO. Trump called for NATO to fight terrorism and surprisingly, immigration.

Trump comes across as an intellectual light-weight, prone to slipping on bananas. Most importantly, other leaders recognize the importance of constant praise to fuel his ego.

The NATO conference will also be remembered for the film clip on social media of Trump physically shoving the Prime Minister of Montenegro aside, so that Trump could be at the front of a group photo. In a school photo, the behaviour would be described as that of a bully.

What ever happened to the US that was the beacon of liberty and believer in the American Dream?

Thoughts?