[Hoot Gibson]

Was the tax rollout silky because it dealt only with the American people? The tariff apparatus which deals with a number of nations, many of whom having leaders with a sense of arrogance and even entitlement, was put in place to serve the same purpose as an employee disciplinary file. As in that case, eventual termination is up to the substandard employee. After all, the standards are already set and since it was his own choices that brought about the threat of termination, so too can his choices cement his position.

But America cannot negotiate with people who're used to laughing all the way to the bank, while our own leaders shrank back like snowflakes at the slightest sign of aggression or bravado. We let the situation get so far out of hand that it was our own timidity and lethargy which guaranteed us, that righting the ship would be painful. Another point I keep hearing is that Trump will piss everybody else off and they will retaliate. I believe this has to be done now because in putting things off even further things can only get worse as we just continue the slide. So I say bring it. We fly over middle America in more ways than one. Trump's point is that nobody gives a flip about a middle class that was once the backbone of America, to instead become an emaciated ghost of it's former self. How did that happen? Barack Obama and his fundamental transformation and redistribution of wealth. For example, in 1996 the labor participation rate was 83.8%, now it's 62.7%. And most home owners don't have enough equity left to do any more refi's. They're in hock up to their eyebrows.

Further, while cushy state retirement plans continue to rob tax payers of basics such as decent roads, most private pension plans are recovering from crisis status. But only thanks to a resurging stock market, increased wages and hundreds of thousands of new jobs each quarter. But the work is just started and frankly, where were all these economic geniuses who BTW backed Barack Obama's ridiculousness, when we were in free fall over the last 16 years? For my part unless or until I see actual mistakes come to fruition, I am content to let the man work.

The stock market and consumer confidence soared in response to Trump's tax reforms and regulatory roll-backs. Most reputable economists do not support high tariffs, so we can expect a steady stream of negative economic news from the media.

I believe that Trump should have given the economy time to gather a head of steam before he proposed a tax hike and stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. IMO, Trump followed a couple of great plays with some unforced errors.