Aquila89 wrote:
He has access to the greatest intelligence apparatus in the world, and he's still saying the same idiotic nonsense he used to say a few years ago.
According to Trump, the great intelligence apparatus in the world is between his ears. He knows more than the generals, says,
"I know more about the big bills. … (Inaudible.) … Than any president that’s ever been in office. Whether it’s health care and taxes.”, and generally
figures he has the highest IQ.
It also seems that he could run USPS better than anyone.
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-wa ... q2-2017-12"Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer?" Trump tweeted on Friday morning.
[...]
The deal also benefits USPS in many ways. While the agency posted a net loss of $2.1 billion in the most recent quarter, its package delivery is a profitable service, unlike its letter delivery. With this in mind, it makes sense that USPS would want to strike a deal with one of the biggest players in e-commerce, even if that would mean giving the company a better deal.
The article points to other articles which figure Amazon pays $1.46 per package less than it would without the deal. Yet, the package delivery chunk of USPS is profitable. This looks like Trump's giant business brain at work, again.
Let's say he somehow orders USPS to charge Amazon more (because Trump seems to think he's in charge of everything). Amazon would pay more, but not the magical $1.46 more, because they will strike a deal with another carrier who is happy to have the significant cash-flow injection. USPS would lose a good chunk of cash-flow, and the package business would be less profitable,
especially over time (because that cash flow allows a carrier to invest in making the business more efficient). This is why retailers like Wal-Mart can actually get below-cost deals with suppliers; without the cash-flow, the supplier can't build their business into a large-scale operation to recover profitability from deals with other retailers. It is a big retailer playing hardball, but guess what - that's business.
A recent example of Trump appearing to believe he has absolute power can be found in the NYT interview he did.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/29/politics/ ... index.htmlAsked whether the investigation into 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email server should be reopened, Trump makes a case that such a move could be within his purview.
"What I've done is, I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department. But for purposes of hopefully thinking I'm going to be treated fairly, I've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter," Trump told the Times.
NB: emphasis mine
If he really thinks DoJ is something he has an absolute right to do what he wants with, USPS is minor.
Excerpts of the rest of Trump's interview with the NYT are here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/us/p ... erpts.htmlThere's way too much to unpack all at once. I will say it's a shining example of why Trump's advisers (including his lawyers) really, really need to keep him as far away from reporters as possible. The best-case scenario for them would be to never, ever, leave Trump alone, never let him make a phone call, or otherwise use a phone, without adult supervision.
I'll just leave the final excerpt here:
TRUMP: We’re going to win another four years for a lot of reasons, most importantly because our country is starting to do well again and we’re being respected again. But another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes. Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times. So they basically have to let me win. And eventually, probably six months before the election, they’ll be loving me because they’re saying, “Please, please, don’t lose Donald Trump.” O.K.
Yeah... erm... yeah.
A quantum state of signature may or may not be here... you just ruined it.