Governor Branstad Leaving Iowa (Colo, Chelsea: contractors, military, dangerous)

[atler8]

Originally Posted by duster1979

Well, there was Billygate.

Washingtonpost.com

That was one episode that I'd completely forgotten about.
Billy was easily influenced & manipulated (sometimes by the press) and was rather a simple Georgia farm country type of persona.
His love for beer didn't help him to keep a clear eyed evaluation of his own conduct & it's ramifications for his brother in front of him. However that Libya thing ever came about in the first place, I do know that it brought the wrath of brother Jimmy down upon him and deservedly so.

[atler8]

Mr. Branstad is going to have his hands full from day 1!!!
Are you folks following the daily developments in the relations between the U.s. & China & how they are approaching a precipice for the type of trade war, etc. that we've not had with them since relations were opened between us by Nixon & Chou En-Lai?
On the one hand they hold a TON of our debt which is problematic but on the other hand they depend on us as buyers to keep their workers busy.
This today from the Wall Street Journal is worrisome, in particular for a farm state such as Iowa.

http://Trump team’s threats to...s. Cheng said.


To retaliate, China also could make use of informal trade barriers—making health claims against American food products, for example—that are highly technical and difficult to counter in the WTO but hurt U.S. exporters, some experts said. … “Even if U.S. companies move back to the U.S., it doesn’t mean manufacturing jobs will come back since U.S. companies will use automation to save money,” said Ms. Cheng

Then a brief analysis from elsewhere:
The Chinese are not going to mess around with Trump’s threats, they’re going to respond, and they’re going to respond where it hurts. The ever Republican farmers who are already suffering low crop prices, are about to learn the lesson that willful ignorance of a candidate and an entire party is going to have a high price. The same will hold for the white working class in those Midwestern states that ignored the racism, the threats on religion and millions of people, the suffering to millions of others they knew was coming, and instead voted for a “change”, wink wink, nudge nudge.

To put it mildly, this has all come about before trump has even taken office and is directly the result of his twitter-fueled foolish bating of another superpower. Combined with the hard-edged tone from most of his hard-edged advisors & prospective appointees, the Chinese have been taken by surprise and are countering in a similar sharp fashion of saber rattling. Not a good omen good for stability on the political, economic & peace fronts.
"Elections have consequences" is how the quote goes, folks which is something that we're about to find out if we didn't know it already & Mr. Terry will be our man in Beijing. Good luck to him!

[funksoulbro]

Hope Americans like Ramen. That's what we'll all be eating once Trump starts a trade war and shreds our economy.

There's the smart way to reform trade deals and ensure America gets a better bargain...

...Then there's dumb way to pretend you know what global trade is about, and end up doing more damage to American workers. Trump has decided beating his chest like a gorilla is better than careful planning. Terry Branstad should have fun cleaning up all his messes.

[Nema98]

Doubt Branstad will run for Governor again. Why would he? He has been governor far longer than anyone, at least consecutively.

[Dport7674]

Much ado about nothing, Trump and China. Our economies are so dependant on each other that nothing will change. Trump says what he says just to get his base all 'trumped' up.

The newspapers love it because they get to write "what if.." doomsday articles.

[mofford]

Merry Christmas !!

Please enjoy this last Christmas with Terry Branstad as our governor. It is a time to thank the lord for our state's greatest natural asset, Governor Branstad, and for the bounty that is the state of Iowa. Thank you Jesus for the wind, the corn, the hogs & heifers, and the hens that lay the golden eggs. Let's appreciate the good things, high fructose corn syrup, ethanol gas, and the beautiful new bakken oil pipeline that crosses our state. In time, this pipeline will eliminate the last remaining share of middle east oil that needs to be imported to the US. Thank you Governor Branstad for not obstructing progress of this greatly needed national infrastructure project.

However, I was not all that thankful for Billy Carter, after the influence peddling to Libya, that guy was a sleaze. I understand how the beer and the pee was used to further the man's reputation, but not the influence peddling.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Dport7674

Much ado about nothing, Trump and China. Our economies are so dependant on each other that nothing will change. Trump says what he says just to get his base all 'trumped' up.

The newspapers love it because they get to write "what if.." doomsday articles.

Agreed. People are in full Trump meltdown and he hasn't entered office yet.

People earlier in the thread called this a horrible appointment, which it clearly isn't.

Let's face it folks, remember the birthers? Well we've got a new batch of insane people to take their place for the next 4-8 years.

[funksoulbro]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

Let's face it folks, remember the birthers? Well we've got a new batch of insane people to take their place for the next 4-8 years.

Remember who championed the Birther Movement in 2012?

That kind of hateful paranoid craziness will now be running our country.

[capitalcityguy]

I'm all for taking power and money out of DC. That said, we don't have a monarchy so no President "runs our country". I think if more people would remember that, we wouldn't have so many meltdowns over election results.

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

I'm all for taking power and money out of DC. That said, we don't have a monarchy so no President "runs our country". I think if more people would remember that, we wouldn't have so many meltdowns over election results.

I hear people tell me that the Founding Fathers are turning in their graves over the election of Donald Trump. And others who tell me that the Founding Fathers are turning in their graves over the sort of entrenched establishment that a Clinton victory would have represented.

The truth of the matter is, what probably has the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves more than anything is the perception that the President has so much power that people really care that much who holds that office.