Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Trump out after Amazon and the Chinese Strike Back
Date:	4/2/2018 2:20:05 PM

I'm not sure why Trump (and Bernie Sanders) have taken out after Amazon, except that Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post.  I like Amazon, I am a Prime Member and I wish I had bought their stock right after the IPO.  He says they are taking advantage of the Post Ofiice, but I tend to think that they are saving the Post Office.  Does Trump realize that most people now get their bills electronically?  And most people use email for their correspondence?  Bernie doesn't like Amazon because he says it is "too big".   I say it is creating jobs for thousands of people.  We know that Trump hates the Washington Post, hates Bezos who owns the Post and Amazon.  

So as we knew would happen, China has put a tariff on certain goods from the U.S.   The farmers will be screaming about the tariff on pork.  The market is reacting to both.  

I have to say, that Trump makes me a bit nervous when he decides to make policy on the fly.  Like saying that DACA is off the table.  Like saying we're pulling out of Syria.  I also don't like to hear that he is considering going without a Chief of Staff and a Communications Director.  I really don't want to see him in an echo chamber of his own voice and those more hawkish.  There are articles making the rounds that Bolton will force Mattis out.  I think Trump needs some outside influences who don't always agree with him.  

And now we have school children kneeling during the National Anthemn.  No doubt they got the idea from the NFL.  We have out of control High Schoolers who think they are changing the world.  They don't care if they get into college, because they think they are doing national security work.  As far as I know, nothing has changed from their efforts, any more than those of us who protested Viet Nam changed anything either.  

Name:	Lifer -	Reply
Subject:	Trump out after Amazon and the Chinese Strike Back
Date:	4/3/2018 6:04:59 AM

Hound go. You know that each and every package. Amazon  sends USA is subsidized to the tune of $1.70 on average. So when I order a new phone case today for about $10, Amazon gets a 17% subsidy. How is that right? 

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Trump out after Amazon and the Chinese Strike Back
Date:	4/3/2018 12:18:55 PM

Amazon doesn't save the $1.70...you save it. If the cost to ship you the case goes up $1.70, they will add it to your cost of the shipping charge. 

If you buy any product in volume, you expect a lower price. All large shippers including mail order prescriptions get a break. Without large shippers, the Post Office will close many branches. 

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Trump out after Amazon and the Chinese Strike Back
Date:	4/3/2018 4:56:08 PM

The post office claims they have been running at a deficet for years.  I think without Amazon and online shopping in general, they would be out of business.  If they are losing $1.70 on every package they handle for Amazon, then they out to negotiate a better contract for themselves.  There is a lot of waste and inefficiency in the way the Post Office operates.  But they scream like mad when anyone talks about privitizing  them.  

Name:	GoneFishin -	Reply
Subject:	Trump out after Amazon and the Chinese Strike Back
Date:	4/3/2018 8:02:26 PM

Trump needs to do his job. He has so little understanding of how to raise rates...

"One of the Postal Service's biggest immediate obstacles to raising prices might be Trump. That's because the body that sets postal rates, the nine-member Postal Service Board of Governors, has only two serving members and lacks a quorum to make decisions. The board cannot raise rates without Trump nominating political appointees to fill the remaining slots, O'Rourke said."

Can you imagine what a private company would charge to deliver a first class letter from Dadeville to San Franciso?

Keep in mind the Post Office now delivers to rural  areas that UPS and FEDEX do not. Currently, UPS and FEDEX bring packages across country and hand hem off to the Post Office to deliver to rural areas.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Why should he nominate anyone?
Date:	4/4/2018 8:29:35 AM

The Democrats in the Senate are slow walking hundreds of appointees.  Heck, we can't even get a vote on the Ambassador to Germany despite having been voted out of committee twice.  He can nominate but the Senate has to confirm or turn them away.  Instead they are using this stupid Senate rule for 30 hours of debate for each and every nominee.  

Name:	phil -	Reply
Subject:	Why should he nominate anyone?
Date:	4/4/2018 8:52:09 AM

I say he should nominate 100s of people and let congress spend the 30 hours all over the place.  If they were so swamped with nominations they would cut that crap out when they had to spend the long hours to get it done or they would not be able to spend their time passing a raise for themselves and other crappy legislation.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Trade wars are never won
Date:	4/4/2018 9:24:47 AM

I get Trump's disgust with our trading partners and maybe all this is a strategy to get them to the table to negotiate more fair access to their markets, but at what cost?  The fact is all tariffs do is increase the cost for goods that we purchase and always results in retaliation.  If some government subsidizes an industry then we benefit from lower prices.  However, this comes at a cost as we lose jobs and entire industries.  It is a complex problem and there are no easy answers but tariffs are not the right solution.

As for Amazon, I don't know what the President is hoping to accomplish with his criticism of the company.  I'm a free market guy and while I don't like Bezos' politics he is offering a service that people apparently want.  I too am an Amazon prime member (even if the "free shipping" part is a scam).  Seems like Trump is following Obama's lead and is trying to pick winners and losers.  That should be left to the markets and is not the proper role of government.

Name:	alatraveler50 -	Reply
Subject:	Trump out after Amazon and the Chinese Strike Back
Date:	4/4/2018 11:58:33 AM

When Amazon gets their drone delivery program going USPS will lose a lot more than they lose with Amazon's discounted rates. 

I wonder what the rates that FedEx and UPS have negotiated with USPS are!  I have ordered a number of small items which are shipped by FedEx/UPS but are deliverd by USPS.