Rant #3,894: Money (That's What I Want)

Enough with the snow. We are still getting hit, but let's talk about something else--

We all heard that late last week, the Supreme Court voted down President Trump's tariff plan.

I say "big deal," because it really doesn't impact the consumer. 

You will not be getting a rebate on what you have already purchased that were affected by the tariffs.

Prices aren't going to automatically go down; they will pretty much stay the same, or even rise.

The Supreme Court decision has absolutely nothing to do with new cars or on metals, so if you are planning on buying a new car sometime in the near future, you are still going to be paying higher prices.

And the President has alternative tariff plans, so he isn't done trying to enforce these taxes on foreign countries.

Just prior to his State of the Union address, he enacted a worldwide tariff of 10 percent. He wanted 15 percent.

The Supreme Court decision did impact the stock market, or least right away, with a huge rise upon closing on Friday afternoon, so if you have money in there, you did benefit to an extent ...

And then a few days later, the uncertainty with the tariffs pushed the market down.

But you know the stock market--

One day's rise is wiped out by another day's plunge.

So what does it really all mean for the average consumer?

Not too much, really.

It really is more important that the President lost in the Supreme Court with a 6-3 margin, meaning that some of his own Supreme Court appointees voted against him.

This proves that the President does not control the voting in the Supreme Court, and that the body can vote on its own independently of the President, even if they were appointed by him.

And that is the way the Supreme Court is supposed to work to begin with, and that is the Supreme Court that we all want.

I think that that is more far reaching and interesting related to this tariff business, that a couple of the members of the court went against the President, the very commander in chief who appointed them to this role.

But back to the dollars and sense of the tariffs ...

Do you really think that manufacturers are going to automatically reduce prices because the President's original tariff plan went kaput?

There is still so much concern with the tariffs, especially since the President has said he is pivoting to Plan B.

He hasn't given up on this plan just yet, and probably, you just know that if Plan B doesn't work, there will be a plan C and D and ...

That is how a businessman works, and Trump is, first and foremost, a businessman.

I understand why he imposed these tariffs to begin with: to try to equal the base of trade with our trade partners, who he claimed had had the upper hand when it came to the manufacture and trading of goods for decades.

But I think that putting so many tariffs on so many countries at once completely backfired, and it did so because the people paying the price were average consumers, who saw prices skyrocket at the grocery store, among other places.

When the general public feels it in their own personal pocketbooks, they aren't going to be too happy, and whether the move was right or wrong--or somewhere in the middle--the little guy was getting it, and getting it you know where, and that is never going to sit right with the general public.

NEVER.

So with one tariff plan scrapped and another--and possibly even others--on the way, so many of us remain in limbo on this thing, and it is not going to ease--

Now or in the near future.

So don't let it all tax your mind too much--

We are going to pay for this, and pay for it one way or another.

Maybe the President can figure out a way to put a tariff on the snow ...

Mother Nature ...

Are you listening?