donald trump

Secretary DeVos Thinks 2020 Might Be the Perfect Time to Step Down

Written by adminMay 10, 2019

During the Education Writers Association conference, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was asked a simple question about her future. The question was, if President Trump wins a second term, will she commit to serving another four years? That is a promise she wasn’t ready to make. It’s almost sounded as if she’s had enough.

DeVos is currently one of the longest-serving cabinet members to President Trump. While most others have disappointed the president in some capacity, she has remained in her spot. But it appears as if remaining loyal to this president comes with a lot of exhausting bagging. That includes keeping up with the constant negative press.

“I’m not sure my husband would be okay with that,” DeVos said during the Q&A portion of the Education Writers Association conference in Baltimore. “I never imagined I’d be a focus of your coverage. I don’t enjoy the publicity that comes with my position. I don’t love being up on stage or on any kind of platform. I’m an introvert.”

DeVos and Trump

One of the main reasons why DeVos has remained unscathed has to do with President Trump’s main focus. Education hasn’t been a large priority for him. That also means Trump hasn’t taken many steps to help push through DeVos’ “school of choice” platform. Her other ideas include offering tax credits for scholarships.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans have supported any of her ideas so far. That may be a large factor in her wanting to leave the position. If no one cares about education, why bothering continuing to try? Right now, both parties seem more interested in fighting over immigration and the economy. Even the border wall and infrastructure is getting more play than education.

DeVos is also frustrated with reporters and how they mischaracterize her ideas. During her speech at the association on Monday, she claimed her name was being used as “clickbait”. “As much as many in the media use my name as clickbait or try to make it all about me, it’s not,” she said. “Education is not about Betsy DeVos nor any other individual.”

Improving Teachers Pay

Another buzzworthy moment during DeVos’ speech included her shot at the current head of the American Federation of Teachers. She doesn’t think teachers are being paid nearly enough, forcing them to walk out of classrooms. If more teachers are leaving and protesting, then that hurts the students more than anything.

“We think, I think, teaching as a profession should be a highly honored and respected profession and I think it’s been de-professionalized in many ways,” she said. “And I think great teachers … perhaps should be making at least half as much as what Randi Weingarten does at half a million dollars a year.”

Whether DeVos leaves most likely depends on her relationship with President Trump. He may decide to coax her to stay by putting more emphasis on education during his potential second term. We’re still over a year away before the 2020 election, so anything can happen at this point.

Written by adminMay 31, 2018

Credit & Debt Settlement

We’ve been doing our best to keep track of the tariff situation, as we know it will mostly impact the consumers of products than it will any one country.

After the U.S. and China seemed to cool down talk of a trade war, Trump isn’t backing down asserting his desire to improve the balance of trade he says has been unfair for so long. While he was able to successfully negotiate with China, the same can’t be said for the EU.

Last Thursday, Trump’s team and European officials made one last attempt to negotiate a deal in Paris, but it isn’t looking promising, potentially damaging trade relationships with European countries and inflaming tensions with our allies.

According to France’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire: “Global trade is not a gunfight at the OK Corral. It’s not about who attacks whom, and then wait and see who is still standing at the end.”

You can tell Europe is frustrated with the prospect of tariffs set to take place on aluminum and steel before the end of this week. It doesn’t appear a new deal will be struck beforehand, but the determination will be whether Europe thinks Trump will actually go forward with his plans.

He wants to impose tariffs of 25% for steel and 10% on aluminum in an attempt to force companies that use cheaper, foreign steel and aluminum to buy from the U.S. instead. So far, President Trump has only focused on Asia, giving our allies a reprieve, which expires at the end of the week.

The fear of everyone else not named Donald Trump is that a retaliatory trade war with Europe is the last thing the global economy needs, especially now when things have been on the upswing for the most part.

If the tariff goes through, and a new deal can’t be made, it’s expected the Europe will impose tariffs of their own. Peanut butter, orange juice, and other U.S.-made products are on the list the EU has threatened will receive tariffs if Trump goes through with it.

“This will only lead to the victory of those who want less growth, those who don’t think we can develop our economies across the world. We think on the contrary that global trade must have rules in a context of multilateralism. We are ready to rebuild this multilateralism with our American friends,” said Le Maire

Trump hopes that tariffs will help spur American economic growth and has rallied against unfair trade deficits since he started campaigning. But French President Emmanuel Macron has a different idea.

“Unilateral responses and threats over trade war will solve nothing of the serious imbalances in world trade. Nothing. These solutions might bring symbolic satisfaction in the short term. … One can think about making voters happy by saying, ‘I have a victory, I’ll change the rules, you’ll see.’”

His belief is tariffs won’t help. It might bring a short boost in economic success, but due to the higher prices and retaliatory tariffs, eventually someone is going to lose their job, leading ultimately to higher unemployment.

Written by adminMay 23, 2018

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We’ve extensively covered all the news going down between China and the U.S. A trade war between the two economic superpowers is not a good idea for anyone. China knows that, as does the United States.

President Trump, once again, seemed to apply just enough pressure to get the outcome he desired. His first victory came over North Korea, who agreed to end the Korean War and step across the DMZ at the behest of Trump’s critics who warned his tactics would lead to a nuclear war.

Now, China also appears to be bowing to pressure from President Trump, agreeing not only to end threats of a trade war, but also to purchase “massive amounts” of agricultural products from U.S. farms.

China also agreed to sit down and create a new deal promising to address the massive trade deficit between them and the U.S., a problem President Trump has railed against since his campaign.

According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, this increase in agricultural products should total an additional 40%, which is amazing news for farmers who were worried a trade war would severely hurt their income.

Stocks and Oil Prices

When news first broke that China and the U.S. were soon to be embroiled in a fight, it frightened a lot of investors. Stocks fell sharply after months of historic growth. Now that news of the trade war being behind them and new deals are in place, stocks rose early Monday morning, as did the price of oil.

For the first time since 2014, the price of oil hit the $80 per barrel mark.

OPEC and Russia agreed to cut supply, as well as promised economic sanctions on major oil producer Iran that has many experts believing we’ll see oil prices cross the $100 mark this summer, but now that the trade war talk is cooling, moods are shifting. Some of the pressure on the market is now going away.

“Both sides plan to work on implementing agriculture and energy purchases and to continue to negotiate on manufacturing and service trade, bilateral investment and intellectual property protection in coming months,” said U.S. bank Morgan Stanley.

Now that the U.S. and China are on the same page economically, it can only mean good things for both countries. Trump certainly has a way with getting things done, even if his methods make everyone else nervous.

Written by adminMay 14, 2018

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We all know how fickle gas prices are. I used to joke every time they rose that someone must’ve hiccupped in the Middle East.

When Trump decided this past Tuesday that it was time to end the Iran nuclear deal, we as Americans either supported or opposed it based upon our knowledge of the situation and political affiliations, but we didn’t think about the other ramifications this might play out – and one that could severely hit our pocketbooks.

Now, the important thing to know is this: this U.S. gets no direct gas import from Iran, but many of our allies do. These are the same allies who have blasted Trump in the past several days for his decision to cut the nuclear deal, probably more out of personal interest.

One country who holds a lot of cards in this situation is China. 1/3 of all of Iran’s gas output is guzzled by China, and where China falls in this whole situation will play a major role in future fuel prices.

In fact, if you haven’t noticed yet, the prices have already surged up merely on rumor of Trump’s well-guessed decision to cut ties with Iran. While it doesn’t directly tie in with where America gets its fuel, any drop in the global supply will ultimately ratchet up the prices.

With China being Iran’s number one customer, this doesn’t bode well for the relationship of the two countries who are already deadlocked in an impending trade war. The situation will become grave indeed if the Trump administration decides to impose sanctions on countries who continue to help Iran.

Our European allies, who also seem quite frustrated with Trump’s decision, also seem less likely to play along. But even if they do, undoubtedly to keep Trump happy, sanctions on Iran won’t be as impactful if the U.S. can’t get China on board.

The last time Iran was under sanctions before the nuclear deal was created by the Obama administration, Iran just churned out more oil to beat any economic hit they might’ve taken.

China went from buying 420,000 barrels per day to around 481,000 barrels. Just before the nuke deal was about to expire, they dramatically increased their imports to around 700,000 barrels per day earlier this year in expectation of the deal to fall through.

Recently, OPEC and Russia made a deal to cut oil supply, along with Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. The uptick in the U.S. economy means the demand for oil is back on, and now increased volatility in the Middle East may just create the perfect storm for another hot summer with higher gas prices.

Bank of America, along with other experts, are already predicting a return to $100 barrels of oil this summer, which will do nothing but put increased pressure on nearly every industry that is still recovering from the decade-long recession.

Written by adminMay 9, 2018

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One of President Trump’s big promises on the campaign trail was to reform the prescription drug industry. For most Americans, the cost of lifesaving prescription drugs is way too high.

We already know that these companies value profit over lives. All we have to do is look at the recent case of EpiPen, who raised the price of their pen to unfathomable levels.

The cost of epinephrine per box: $1
What EpiPen rose the price to: $699

Why did they do this? The answer is simple: profit. Despite the protests and the anger this caused, the manufacturers defended their position. They proved they didn’t care about the numerous people who depend on this product to save their lives.

This is just one example. It was such a huge issue that Trump vowed to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Why Americans wish he had tackled this problem sooner in his administration, it was finally announced that he will release his strategy this week.

Alex Azar, Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that the president’s approach will be to take a ‘tough stance’ on drug makers. This declaration alone led to the stock of these major companies to fall.

According to Aetna, one of the country’s largest insurance providers, the cost of prescription drugs rose in price nearly 25% over the last four years, with the prices already been too high to begin with. This is why Trump made the cost of drugs an important issue during his campaign.

Here are some of the issues expected to be brought up in the coming days:

Price Rebates

When you look at the dealings between drug makers and insurance companies, you’ll start to see how they prop each other up. Drug companies will give large discounts to insurance companies, but many wonder if those same discounts are passed down to the consumer.

In most cases, they’re not. Trump’s plan hopes to change that by ensuring more of the discounts is given to the people, especially those on Medicare.

Promoting Increased Competition

President Trump continues to strongly believe that increased competition between drug companies will force them to lower the cost of drugs to stay competitive.

Once a new drug is released by a major manufacturer, generic drugs aren’t far behind, so the Trump team hopes to allow for faster review of generic drugs to get them into the market quicker.

For example, if a competitor to EpiPen kept the price at $1, then consumers have options and EpiPen is less likely to obscenely raise their prices.

They also plan to identify more drugs as over-the-counter medicines to make them easier to obtain without having to get a doctor’s prescription, saving consumers times and money.

These are just a few of the ways Trump plans to tackle the drug industry. We look forward to seeing what the rest of his ideas are in making prescription drugs cost effective for everyday Americans.

Written by adminApril 30, 2018

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After President Donald Trump announced he would place tariffs on steel and aluminum to spur on growth in the American markets, several countries freaked out and promised to retaliate with tariffs of their own.

Wall Street reacted accordingly as stocks dropped over 700 points in a single day to the news that the U.S. may soon be embroiled in a trade war.

The main concern has to do with the world’s two largest economies battling it out for supremacy, which would almost certainly leave other countries destabilized and fighting for air.

While the idea of a trade war is unsettling, there’s a chance that Trump isn’t too serious about keeping tariffs up for long. Instead, he might be pushing for better negotiations on a trade deal he’s touted since the campaign trail.

It’s a tactic that has proven to work so far.

All one has to do is look at the North Korea situation. Trump’s aggressive tone had many fearing that WW3 was about to break out any moment, but instead, it brought both sides to the negotiating table. For the first time in over 60 years, the Korean War has officially ended.

In an effort to avoid a trade war with China, a war the U.S. can’t afford to have as its economy recovers from a decade-long recession, Trump has sent a team of experts to Beijing with the goal of leaving with a compromise deal that helps both sides.

Trump tweeted last week that he believes a deal will get done, but some aren’t as optimistic. His team needs to be united on the tenants of the deal to make negotiations simpler, but those he did send don’t seem to be likeminded about what needs to get done. It consists of both free trade advocates as well as trade hawks…two sides who rarely agree on anything.

Chris Krueger, the managing director of the Cowen Washington Research Group, isn’t optimistic about the deal.

“This sets up a bizarre situation where the US team may spend most of the talks negotiating among themselves. It’s hard to picture more unique Trump officials.”

Trump himself believes sending a team with diverse ideas is a great thing, but one is left to wonder, with a recovering economy, if now is not the time to leave it to chance. This is the best chance we have at preventing a trade war, so sending a team that isn’t in agreement won’t be likely to solve the problem.

At the end of the day, a trade war can send the American economy back into a recession and destroy the massive positive movement we’ve seen under the Trump administration so far.

Hopefully the president’s aggressive tactics don’t lead us down that road.

Written by adminApril 16, 2018

Credit & Debt Settlement

The United States is on the verge of a trade war.

In March, President Trump slapped a tariff on steel imports from China and other countries to promote job growth in the steel industry here. The consequences of such a move has doubled the price of steel in a matter of days.

Charlotte-based company Howard Steel has reported to Fox Business that the price of steel started rising the second the announcement was made and changed with each passing day.

“As soon as they even talked about a tariff, we were getting price increases, and they were rapidly going up,” Howard said. “What you bought one day, three days later, even that price had gone up. There was nothing consistent. We still haven’t reached the apex, and I don’t know where it’s at,” said James Howard, owner of Howard Steel

Right now, steel costs around $.68/pound, which is up dramatically from $.38 before the tariffs were announced.

Howard says the tariff is good in theory, and promoting American industry is usually a source of pride for companies like his, but in the end, the price increase is just going to be passed down to the consumer.

“The way I feel about it, in theory it’s a good idea, but I hate to say this, sometimes we can be our own worst enemy, and there’s a little bit of greed that goes through there. Anytime you get these price increases, and the orders are still coming in, well they’re just going to give you another price increase,” he said to Fox Business.

China’s Retaliation

The country hardest hit by these tariffs, other than the United States itself, is undoubtedly China. China is where we bought most of our steel previously, impacting the industry here in the States. Now that industries are buying American steel again, it’s hitting China’s pockets fairly hard.

That’s why China retaliated almost immediately, announcing that they will slap their own tariffs on 106 different U.S. exports, such as soybeans, whisky, and cars. They plan to target as much as $50 billion worth of our products, which is scaring literally everyone else into believing a massive trade war between the world’s two largest economies is only about to heat up.

And they’re right.

Trump Targets Chinese Tech

Throughout his campaign, candidate Trump promised to fight back against what he called ‘unfair trade deals’ the U.S. has with numerous countries, like China and Japan. He says we’ve been at a disadvantage and losing billions in trade deficits for decades.

The steel tariffs were just the first part of Trump’s plan.

Next, he says, the focus will be on China’s tech industry as a means of punishment for technology transfer policies that hurt the U.S. Trump hopes to hit $60 billion worth of ‘largely high-tech’ products within the next few months.

Which China continues to improve their technology manufacturing to boost their economy, perhaps Trump is looking to take a swing at the market to remain a global technological superpower.

Not all hope is lost, though.

According to Robert Lighthizer, a U.S. trade representative since the Reagan Administration, it’s an old tactic to announce tariffs to force both parties to the table for renegotiation.

In the end, no one wants to see a trade war that could ultimately hurt both economies. And where the U.S. and China goes, the rest of the world will follow. Hopefully this is nothing more than a negotiation tactic that will lead to better and improved trade relations between the U.S., China, and everyone in between.

Written by adminFebruary 27, 2018

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Real estate mogul. Billionaire. Reality TV star. President of the United States. Donald Trump goes by a lot of titles, and whichever side of the political arena you’re on, I’m sure there’s a lot more you can say about this man. Currently, Mr. Trump is America’s most polarizing character and no one knows what he’ll say or do next.

But, if it’s one thing Trump seems good at doing, it’s slapping the TRUMP name on things to sell his brand. If you were to visit Trump Tower in New York City, you’ll see gift shops stuffed full of items and souvenirs with his name stamped on there somewhere. While Trump loves to promote his brand, he’s not always successful at doing so.

Here are 10 of Donald Trump’s worst business failures:

1) Trump University

Let’s get the most well-known failure out of the way. Trump, a knowledgeable businessman, thought he could add to his fortune by teaching others the art of the deal. In 2005, Trump University was born. Because the college was never accredited, many students (who, in some cases, paid as much as $35,000 to take the course), felt the whole thing was a fraud.

Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General, sued Trump in 2013 on the basis of fraud. The case was eventually settled in 2016 after then President-Elect Donald Trump agreed to pay $25 million in settlement fees.

2) Trump Vodka

So, what happens when a man, who claims he doesn’t drink, tries to get into the alcohol business? Well, it goes belly up. Trump vodka, released in 2007, was supposed to become “the most popular drink in America”, but didn’t even survive two years on the market. It disappeared, never to be heard from again.

3) Trump Airlines

Everyone has seen Trump’s famous plane on TV with his name covering the fuselage, but his plane wasn’t intended to be the only one. After Eastern Air Lines went belly-up, Trump bought the airline for $365 million to provide first class accommodations to businessmen and women traveling between New York, Boston, and Washington D.C.

The idea didn’t get too far. Trump ended up selling the company to USAir after it defaulted on its debts.

4) Trump Steaks

Another popular talking point during the 2016 election was Trump Steaks. In 2007, Trump decided to hop into the beef game with business partners QVC and Sharper Image. They claimed to sell “a taste of Donald Trump’s luxurious lifestyle”. The partnership lasted a while until 2014 before dying out completely.

5) Trump Mortgage

What does a real estate mogul know about real estate? Well, you’d think a lot, but Mr. Trump made a bad mistake. One year, the future president decided to start his own mortgage company, claiming that the real estate market would be strong for a ‘very, very long time’. The problem? It was 2006. Two years later, the housing market collapsed, killing Trump Mortgage.

6) Trump Magazine

Do the super-rich and famous have time to sit down and read magazines? That’s the audience Trump was going for when he launched Trump Magazine back in 2007. What many people considered “wealth porn”, the magazine was full of things the average reader wouldn’t associate with, such as reviews for mega yachts, expensive watches covered in jewels, how to make over your private jet, and so much more.

The magazine’s number one model? Donald Trump himself. He featured in a lot of the images and ads himself, making it an Ode to Trump. The magazine was done just two years later in 2009.

7) Trump: The Game

If you were tired of just being moderately rich playing Monopoly, you could try your hand at Trump: The Game. This was a game just like Monopoly where the various players attempt to one-up each other by buying/selling real estate and becoming the Trump of the game. Partnering with Milton Bradley, the game didn’t meet expectations and later disappeared.

8) Trump Casinos

Everyone knows that Donald Trump owns casinos all over the country, except when they start to go downhill. After Trump Casinos filed for its 3rd Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Trump claimed that he has nothing to do with that business, and that all he’s done is slap his name on the building. He later resigned as head of the Trump Entertainment wing of his empire.

9) GoTrump.com

Not even online booking giant Travelocity could keep GoTrump.com from going under. This site was meant to serve as a search engine for luxury flights, but it didn’t even last a year.

10) Trump Beverages

Trump has made a few attempts at selling beverages. We talked about Trump vodka earlier, but he also tried his hand at Trump Ice (bottled water) and other types of beverages. He filed for a trademark of the name “Trump Fire”, but never did anything with it. Same with Trump Power. They were non-alcoholic drinks, but the whole plan was later scrapped.

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has had his share of both success and failure. Most entrepreneurs fail many times over before finally making it to the big time. Either way, we can’t blame the man for trying!

Written by adminFebruary 15, 2018

Student Loan Consolidation

Ever since President Trump took office back in 2016, his mission has been to cut the budget down as low as it can go. With that, we’ve seen a lot of (often beloved) programs face reductions or end up on the chopping block itself. We all remember the worry PBS had over losing federal funding, as well as crucial services like Meals on Wheels.

Now, it appears as if student loan programs are next.

According to President Trump’s proposal, he hopes to drastically reduce loan repayment plans for students who qualify based on their income, increase the government’s pressure on students not paying their loads, and cut the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program altogether.

This is troublesome for the 5.7 million students who hoped to graduate with help from the government to pay off some of the loan debt that threatens to crush them without the programs. As college becomes increasingly expensive, students are looking for more options to help them enter the work force not burdened by tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of debt.

The new plan won’t just cut programs, but will also drastically reduce the number of repayment plans. Before, you could choose between 4 plans that considers your income, but the bill hopes to cut down the options to just one, capping the payments at 12.5 percent.

It’s Not All Bad News

There are aspects of the bill that are appealing, including the idea to expand Pell Grants to cover other training programs that tend to be short-term. These are the types of jobs that will always be in need, so the Trump Administration felt it was important to extend grant access to those students as well.

The plan will also offer loan forgiveness for undergraduate students in 15 years, verses the current plan that waits 20. Those five years can be a lifesaver for anyone still struggling almost two decades later. The higher-end degrees will have to wait 30 years for loan forgiveness to kick in for them.

While the plan wouldn’t kick into gear until July 1st, 2019, as of right now, it’s just a plan and will most likely undergo a transformation as it makes its way to lawmakers. Who knows what the final bill would look like, but it’s certainly worth paying attention to, especially if you were looking forward to receiving the help.

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