Friday, September 20, 2024

With Credit Card Pitch, Trump Campaign in Kitchen Sink Mode

Steve Benen: Donald Trump managed to roll out a new idea this week, announcing that he wants to impose a temporary 10% cap on credit card interest rates. I haven't the foggiest idea what proposal Trump might come up with next, but with 46 days remaining before Election Day, it's a safe bet the list will be long and nonsensical.

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"With Credit Card Pitch, Trump Campaign in Kitchen Sink Mode"

I'm holding out until Hair Furor ponies up Melania and Ivanka at my place wearing french maid outfits.

#1 | Posted by censored at 2024-09-20 12:28 PM

#1

So, tomorrow...

#2 | Posted by Corky at 2024-09-20 12:31 PM

We've reached a point in the presidential race in which the Republican, frustrated by his standing in the polls, fearing a possible defeat and feeling increasingly desperate, is starting to blurt out all kinds of ideas without vetting or forethought.

Earlier this week, for example, Trump published an item to his social media platform vowing that he'll cut consumers car insurance bills in half. Can he do that? No. Does he have any meaningful ideas about pursuing such a goal? No. Has he mentioned it since? No. Will anyone remember this a month from now? Probably not.

And therein lies the point. Trump continues to bombard the public with panic-stricken proposals - I'm using the word "proposals" loosely - not because he intends to implement them, but apparently because he thinks they might help squeeze a few more votes out of people who don't know better.

Remember the plan for free IVF? How about defraying the costs of child-care expenses with imaginary tariff money? What about the proposal to amend the 25th Amendment? Or the avalanche of multitrillion-dollar tax cuts that collapse under minimal scrutiny?

At one point in June, he even talked about eliminating the Department of the Interior for reasons that didn't make any sense, and he apparently forgot about it soon after.

If you take Trump's desperate turn into Orange Santa Claus at face value, there's little doubt that he feels this election slipping away from his stubby little fingers as nothing he currently does or says is blunting Harris' unmistakable continuing rise in swing state polling, sometimes over and above the 50% threshold.

Where are all the righties decrying Trump trying to "buy votes" by promising people "free things" from government? Strange, the threads were full of outrage when Kamala Harris advocated using existing anti-price gouging laws to stop corporations and grocery wholesalers and retailers from building their record profits on the unwitting backs of consumers under the guise of merely passing along higher costs due to inflation that they exacerbate themselves.

Yet here we are, with Santa Trump. Ho-Ho-Hold on here. Should government be used to regulate business and finance in the manner Trump proposes, or are price/rate settings an area best left to our markets to determine?

Inquiring minds want to know.

#3 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-09-20 12:36 PM

Trump's credit card idea just means most people will no longer qualify for credit.

#4 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2024-09-20 04:49 PM

trump credit cards next?

#5 | Posted by Tor at 2024-09-21 12:36 AM

This would be awful. Through my Amex Platinum, I get far more benefit than I pay for. I don't think that would be possible if Amex wasn't making money on people who carry high balances and pay high interest rates.

The Centurion Lounge is free for me because someone else has chosen to pay for it.

#6 | Posted by madbomber at 2024-09-21 05:35 AM

The Centurion Lounge is free for me because someone else has chosen to pay for it.

So you receive a tangible benefit actually paid for by someone else who necessarily doesn't receive the same benefits as you?

Hmmmmm. There's a word for that, which escapes me at the moment. Can anyone else remember what this is called?

#7 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-09-21 08:08 AM

Can anyone else remember what this is called?

Get ready for a lecture.

#8 | Posted by REDIAL at 2024-09-21 08:25 AM

"Freeloading"

#9 | Posted by Doc_Sarvis at 2024-09-21 08:38 AM

"Opportunistic grifting" ?

#10 | Posted by shoeless at 2024-09-21 08:48 AM

"Steve Benen: Donald Trump managed to roll out a new idea this week, announcing that he wants to impose a temporary 10% cap on credit card interest rates.*

* Until he gets elected President, at which time, credit card interest rates will retunr to their previous egregious levels and charges made furing this 10% "inteest rate recess" will be billed at their previous rates. So Charge baby, charge!" And use that credit to give as much as you cannot afford yo Donald Trump, LLC.

#11 | Posted by danni at 2024-09-21 09:59 AM

Donald Trump and his stated policies and complaints about the economy, womens rights, GLBTQ rights have become such an obvious appeal to racists, bigots homophobes, xenophobes, etc that he has lost the ability to pretend to be a serious human being. He has truly transformed himself into the SNL charicature of himself and provokes nothinf except ridicule, in short, Donald Jpke Trump is what his middle name is....He is a ---- Joke! He will never regain any semblance of dignity again. Whe his pivture is displayed on any screen; TV, cell phone or even wide screen movie theatre it will cause laughter. No one, especially not Melania, will ever be able to see his image with a straight face; she ca try but she won't be able to do it!

#12 | Posted by danni at 2024-09-21 10:12 AM

Note to Kamala Harris campaign; the best moment of her campaign was in the debate when that utter fool talked about pets being stolen and eaten; Her laugh, at that moment, should be in every campaign commercial she runs from now till the election.

#13 | Posted by danni at 2024-09-21 10:17 AM

Hey? You want a recession? a depression?

Donald Trump apparently does! The moment his ridiculous idea lands in the boardrooms of every lending institution and credit STOPS!the Trump depression will begin at that moment. Herbert Hoover will look like a liberal! The guy is now so unhinged that when his name is spoken it will now be a pinch line!

Two Jewa go into a bar; Baryender sks what will you have? One of them says a Donald Tromp please. Laughter ensues!
Two Beautiful Christians go into a bar. Yhr bartender asks what will you have? And don't ---- say a Donald Trump! Laughter ensues!

Good joke for you: Donald Trump! Laughter ensues!

#14 | Posted by danni at 2024-09-21 10:36 AM

Trump's on his way to saying, "F&&$ it! NO TAXES ON ANYONE ... EVER!!"

#15 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-09-21 02:51 PM

Trump economy 10weed taxes but that idea wouldn't sell in America so we just renamed it inflation and then blamed it on the next administrationl i.e: Biden. So today; SURPRISE! he wants to do the exact same thing again.

"Trump's on his way to saying, "F&&$ it! NO TAXES ON ANYONE ... EVER!!"

Yes. and that would turn the dollar into worthless paper. The government has to have a source for something of real value but when the 1%, who have most of the money, are unwilling to return a portion to the government even their own money becomes worthless; Germany 1930.s so they elected a right wing tyrant who made the people work for nearly free so that the rich could keep all of their worthless money. So Hitler did then what Pitin is doing now. Invade another country and steal their wealth. This only works though until the victim nation runs out of wealth to steal and then the aggressor nation has to invade another victim nation and the cycle will keep repeating until someone stops the addressor which is what the U.S. is trying to do in Ukraine right now but Ukraine only has so many men to sacrifice in this war. NATO needs to step up now and reinforce the Ulrainians with both war materials but also troops or elsw Russia's unqurnchable thirst for unearned wealth will motivate Putin to invade more of Europe. We've all seen this movie before but some of us (Republicans) didn't learn anything. The Russian demands for wealth will not just atop; they have to be stopprd! That's going to be expensive but waiting longer wpn't make it cheaper! Probably the only wealth in Russia that could be tapped to repay the world is their oil' which means, Putin amd the evil oligarchs who caused this war bt stealing all the wealth of Russia and leaving the people to starvr and freee in winter but, just as Czar Nicholas learned, the hard way, today's oligarchs will also have to learn.....starting with Putin hanging in Moscow and probably a bloodbath of the o;igarchs similar to th e "reign of terror" during the French Revolution.

#16 | Posted by danni at 2024-09-22 02:39 AM

@#16 ... Germany 1930.s so they elected a right wing tyrant who made the people work for nearly free so that the rich could keep all of their worthless money. So Hitler did then what Pitin is doing now. Invade another country and steal their wealth. This only works though until the victim nation runs out of wealth to steal ...

A cogent observation.

And a good explanation of why Pres Putin seems to be trying to take over the more industrial areas of Ukraine, i.e., Donbas.


But I do have one request for you.

Paragraphs.

Please try to hit that carriage return key every once in a while when you're posting long comments.

:)


#17 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-09-22 02:57 AM

"The Centurion Lounge is free for me because someone else has chosen to pay for it.

And how long do you think it will remain free for you if somehow Trump could issue an executive order reducing interest rates to 10%?

zzzzzwhy does Donald want to take away your free benefits? Hmmmm????/ Cuz he's desperate???

#18 | Posted by danni at 2024-09-22 03:44 AM

"So you receive a tangible benefit actually paid for by someone else who necessarily doesn't receive the same benefits as you?"

100%.

Amex Platinum. If you travel, it's almost a necessity.

It's $650 per year, with an additional $175 for each authorized user.

I think the cash benefits alone are more than that.

#19 | Posted by madbomber at 2024-09-22 04:16 AM

I think the cash benefits alone are more than that.

I'm well aware. Since I don't travel internationally - except to the Yucatan peninsula for vacations - I have the top-tier Southwest card, since they fly almost everywhere I need to go direct from Indianapolis. And that includes $75 cash back, and 4 reimbursed boarding upgrades each year ($40 each) that exceed the annual cost of the card at $149.

My daughter started working as a traveling nurse last year and I had her get the same card. I spoke to her yesterday and she's visiting her brother and sister and their families in Salt Lake City for the weekend. I asked her how much her flight was and she said "$12. And I've got over 100K points too," due to the opening bonus offer she took advantage of.

#20 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-09-22 08:51 AM

I would highly recommend the Platinum card to anyone who travels. It may seem pricey, but it's like buying a $650 gift car that is worth $1000.

I don't know the life of a traveling nurse, but when lunch at an airport is going to cost you $30, going into a lounge and getting a decent dinner might be the most cost effective option.

#21 | Posted by madbomber at 2024-09-22 09:49 AM

The other thing it offers is reimbursement for Global Entry, Clear, and TSA pre-check. I've not been through Indianaoplis, but catching my connection out of Detroit would be far more painful if I had to go through passport control.

#22 | Posted by madbomber at 2024-09-22 09:51 AM

I second that, Madbomber. That and all the benefits. My Walmart+ is paid for by it, which gets me free Paramount+. Additionally there's $240 in digital subscription/year I get, which pays for Sirius, New York Times, and part of my Disney+ streaming. $200 in airline credit (thanks for the seat upgrades!) and $200 in hotel credits (AMEX hotel limit IIRC). There's way more to it than I thought there'd be. My net out-of-pocket cost works out to be around $80/year - not $695.

Plus I've been using the airport lounges a lot more. That shower on the way to **** was just what I needed!

#23 | Posted by YAV at 2024-09-22 09:56 AM

I don't know the life of a traveling nurse,

The travel part is kind of a misnomer. My daughter wants to be a pediatric/NICO ER nurse and there are only 2 hospitals left in Indy that haven't shuttered these departments due to them not being profitable as others. And the one she worked for doesn't train their personnel for the responsibilities they expect them to take.

So she decided to take contracts for 3-6 month increments in other cities. The benefit is the living/per diem that hospitals pay which is non-taxed income. She keeps her house here, and leases it out to other nurses working in Indy for more than her mortgage amount, so she pockets quite a bit of money for a 26 year old.

I think one of my cards (likely Chase Sapphire) will reimburse for TSA Global Entry, but I already purchased it when I got my passport years ago. The way I travel internationally, the only place it's ever been markedly faster than the regular lines was in Philly when an ice storm caused rebooking of my return from Cancun.

Usually flying back into Indy, Cincinnati, or through Charlotte from Mexico, it's only my single flight going through customs, so the longest wait is for the baggage to reach the carousel, not dealing with the customs agents checking re-entry paperwork and credentials.

#24 | Posted by tonyroma at 2024-09-22 10:10 AM

Amex Platinum. If you travel, it's almost a necessity.

I retired to a very beautiful, untouristed semi-rural area in NE Thailand. When I feel like it go to Bangkok on Thai Airways for 76 bucks RT. My favorite 5 star hotel is right on the Chao Phyra river, I get a corner view for 78 a night.

Rountrip to Singapore 177.00, Tokyo 319.

Tonight I cooked myself chicken with a garlic, shallot, Parmesan/reggiano cream sauce. I got the veggies by motoing out to the night market.

Almost a year out, I feel light years from America. I rarely speak English unless it's to another farang. Travel was great before, but this is a whole new life.

For me, the joy is where I'm at.

#25 | Posted by zarnon at 2024-09-22 10:28 AM

The smelly orange pedo is vowing to make vaping great again. Lol

thehill.com

#27 | Posted by reinheitsgebot at 2024-09-22 11:22 AM

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