If you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar just say the cookies are yours. After that just go down the narcissist playbook.

I said it first in the last line of my first comment…

Hey Jess. Love what you do. Let’s be careful with these statements. S&P500 was down 18% in 2022. We are down 8% (11% including futures) YTD. I expect it to be much worse soon and agree on the sentiment. The full effects of tariffs aren’t clear yet, and I know there are other measures of economy.

Then the move should be to identify those specific risks, provide government support to stand those up, and then (maybe) tariff imports. The tariff on automobiles actually aligns to this idea. Tariffs on textiles that are cheaply produced and could easily be brought up here hurt more than help.

I have been starting to ask people in these debates “why do we want to bring back manufacturing jobs?” They never seem to have a compelling answer.

We also know that many companies that aren’t as impacted by the tariffs will increase their profit margin because their competitors are less competitive. Steel domestically made can either be 25% cheaper than competition or raise prices 25% for more profit.

Appeasement. In their view they aren’t rolling over and dying. They are trying to survive a big risk to their business. They might think they just need to survive 4 more years to the next administration. Some might just support these causes and are using this as cover to support them.

Trump is singling out law firms he views as opposed to him and targeting their security clearances and access to government buildings. This limits their ability to take on business that is government related. They are responding by offering pro bono (free) legal support to Republican causes

Can we reclaim “when the looting starts the shooting starts”?

Isn’t he more helpful to Republicans as a Democrat for now? He can be an icon of Democrat corruption but still has a chance to win reelection in NYC because a Republican doesn’t stand a chance.

What are the steps for a couple to successfully merge their finances? Specifically, we are two high earning professionals who have good handles on money such that merging finances feels like some loss of autonomy. We are still a year from getting married so we have time to build the groundwork.