Half of Republicans want a strong man president: imagine that, but got a beef? Lots of luck.

A message to the half of Republicans who want a strong man president: Imagine if you got a beef? (not the kind you eat; you can't afford that; but a gripe.) You are out of luck if Trump has already achieved his goal of being the strong man he craves to be, and imagine what happens if you no longer have freedom of speech or the ability to gripe, if grocery prices do not come down. Still, government figures claim otherwise; if the president or his family gets rich, you suspect it's due to corrupt practices, or if someone in your family is laid off because of Trump's tariffs, or loses health insurance, you would either be ignored or told to shut up for fear of appearing disloyal to Trump himself.  Whatever you do, do not put it on social media or in writing. It may haunt you later.

Update: 9/29/2025 This is why I write what I write. Married to a refugee from Eastern Europe..and having spent long family visits in his homeland during the time when dictators ruled..I see Trump acting like them. I fear for the future..and I wish this on no one. We are there now.

usatoday.com

These people grew up under dictators. They're worried about what's happening here.

Continuing with original post. There is a libertarian streak in the right side of the political spectrum that would like to object to government suppression of even hate speech. That was one of Charlie Kirk's main positions: freedom to even to use hateful speech toward those of whom you disapprove.  If Trump had his way, if you were one of those who objected to Trump's suppression of such freedoms,  you would either be ignored or told to shut up for fear of looking disloyal to Trump himself.

If you believe that Trump will lower grocery prices, and then tells you he has already done it,  when you darn well know how much stuff once cost and now what it costs, and you want to object, you will either be ignored or told to shut up because you would look disloyal to Trump himself. Fooling yourself, the alternative becomes that you will keep the faith that prices and inflation will decrease in 6 months to a year, even though the policies that caused the problem will remain unchanged.   That takes a heap of faith so long as tariffs remain on imports, and vegetables rot in the field for lack ot migrant farm workers, or the cost of coffee goes wild, or parts for an ailing imported car go nuts, or you lost your health insurance or your local hospital, don't dare complain, for fear of looking disloyal to Trump himself.If you start complaining about the burden of student loans, and Trump opposes any relief, don't you dare complain for fear of looking disloyal to Trump himself.

If you grumble that Trump seems to be enriching himself and his family,  using his pwerful position to market and coherse or bribe with state national security computer chips thrown into incentives, or it appears that your tax break is a laugh while those who do not need a break get a big one, don't you dare complain for fear of looking disloyal to Trump himself.

If you grumble about the closing of a plant and got laid off or removing a space command facility to a more loyal state due directly to Trump's policies, don't you dare complain or fear of looking disloyal to Trump himself.

For God's sake, do not put your disloyal gripes on any social media. It will come back to haunt you, as Trump believes in revenge and retribution for anyone who dares to disagree, whether you are a bigwig, an elected official, or a little guy. The favors only go to the loyalists.  The fear goes to those who are only thinking of complaining. You will have to put up or shut up. Loyalty to Trump is first and foremost.

Then welcome to the brave new world of Trump, the strong man.  You may already be there.

Trump has a 43 percent approval rating per recent polls. If it is a question of democracy vs dictatorship/authoritarianism, 55% of registered Republicans want a strong man president...which is the question one poll asked. If that is the case, if I had the general feeling...not an exact estimate, but between 30% and 35% of all voters were hard-core MAGA, and the 15 percent are either unengaged, squishy, self-interested business types. Poll by NY Times 9/30/2025: Trump has support of about 90% of registered Republicans...consistent and unchanged in the summer.

The puzzle: Why does Trump continue to consolidate and energize his base instead of reaching out to add to his base? By using fear and favor and cheating, he can afford to ignore the popular vote. My guess is that he thinks that by lies, threatening with military suppression, overt racism, anti migrant mass deportation, and suppression, and limiting the ability of targeted opposition demographic groups to vote, using methods to federalize elections, and above all, political gerrymandering, he can tip the vote to him. If so he does not have to worry about the 55-plus who would turn up on election day to comprise the popular vote.

Survey data on "strong man" leader preferences

Bright Line Watch/Washington Post poll (February 2025): Accelerated transgressions in the second Trump presidency | Bright Line Watch  Summary courtesy of Google AI

• "About half of Republicans surveyed said that a strongman government that doesn't "bother with Congress" was at least a "fairly" good way of governing.
• The poll found that 55% of Republicans whose allegiance was primarily to Donald Trump (rather than the Republican Party) viewed a strongman government positively.
• This group of Trump-first supporters was also the least enthusiastic about democracy."
• Trump Fed appointee downplays rising grocery prices — even as inflation hits 3-year high
• The U.S. is losing thousands of manufacturing jobs, analysis finds - CBS News
• GOP Colorado House members vote for moving CyberCommand to AL - Google Search First no, next yes, but help us mitigate the damage, Pres. Trump.   Estimated loss to Colorado $One billion moving space command to Alabama: Space Command's departure from Colorado will cost the state hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars
• In Giant Deals, U.A.E. Got Chips, and Trump Team Got Crypto Riches - The New York Times
• Student loan borrowers may face 'enormous tax liability' amid Trump administration delays: union
• Charlie Kirk's Own Words on Hate Speech Used Against Pam Bondi - Newsweek
• 
  

Buyers beware: con men and billionaires at work updated through 3/22/2025

Update: 3/22/2025 Here is why billionaires and oligarchs should not be in charge of federal human services. This should be shown whenever there is a discussion of Social Security service reductions due to chainsaw Musk. It isn't just Musk. It's the whole Trump regime.

msn.com

'Real America' Won't Mind If They Miss a Social Security Check—Lutnick

"Only a 'fraudster' would care if they miss a

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: What's the big deal about democracy? Who cares?

Continuing with original post:

Buyers beware: if you bought Trump's campaign line about grocery prices and eggs and gas at the pump, he cares not a twit about consumers. He never had powers to roll back grocery prices or even gas at the pump.(crude oil supplies and price per barrel are set in world markets controlled by international cartels) You were conned. He does have the power to raise consumer prices and he thinks he has the power to end protections from financial institutions screwing consumers. He guts the CFPB that protects you from bad-acting financial institutions, raises costs of living by high tariffs, and favors business interests so far in every instance. Trump has admitted consumers will feel the pain from tariffs, but "it will be worth it".Worth it for whom? Not the consumers. For investors, maybe. His announcement regarding a 25% tariff increase for steel and aluminum will further hit consumers with higher prices. Trump's latest tariff plans on steel, aluminum and other imports are spreading uncertainty - ABC News.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/02/10/trump-vs-cfpb-russ-vought-orders-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-to-stop-work/ So what now. Here is what those innocent doze boys have done: engineered the largest data breach of personal data held in the Treasury computers. Good work boys. And today, we learned as the Consumer Finance Protection Agency was being shut down, we got invaluable private consumer data and information. Good work, boys. Four young staffers working under Elon Musk gained access to highly sensitive personal data held by a consumer protection agency before shutting it down. Musk allies given access to private consumer data before shutting down agency: sources

Billions and billions of fraud, shouts Musk...he's got the receipts. One was not an 8 billion dollar contract; it was revised to a 8 million contract ....Typo....Musk. It was caught in an audit and corrected in 2023. Is 125 years old getting Ssoi checks? er that, too, was found in 2023 because it used an obsolete coding system (COBOL) that a geek friend of mine would have been picked up by a second-year IT student...and that Musk and his hackers didn't understand that was "hilarious". Here's the 2023 1875 audit report A 2023 Social Security audit regarding the year "1875" primarily found that a significant number of records contained inaccurate data, often using "1875" as a placeholder for missing birth dates, leading to an inflated count of extremely old beneficiaries receiving benefits, which ultimately concluded that the system needed improved data quality checks to prevent such errors from occurring.

Key points about the "1875" audit finding:

Data inconsistency:

The "1875" date was frequently used in records where a person's birthdate was missing, creating a large number of seemingly very old recipients in the system.

System limitations:

This issue likely arose due to coding limitations in the Social Security system, where a missing date field might default to an arbitrary year like 1875.

Impact on calculations:

While not representing actual beneficiaries, this data inconsistency could skew calculations related to program costs and demographics.

What the audit concluded:

Need for data quality improvements:

The audit highlighted the necessity for enhanced data validation procedures to identify and correct inaccurate birthdates.

System updates:

Recommendations were likely made to modify system coding to prevent automatic "1875" entries when birthdate information is missing.

Are 150-year-old Americans receiving Social Security checks ...

1 day ago — For that reason, under some coding systems, a missing value for a date will default to 1875 — which in the year 2025 prod...

Poynter

What is Social Security?

What is Social Security? Designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement. needs-based program...

Social Security Administration (.gov)

Show more

Are 150-year-old Americans receiving Social Security ...

Poynter

https://www.poynter.org › fact-checking › social-security...

1 day ago — The explanation for apparent 150-year-olds receiving checks could relate to arcane coding practices, experts said.

poynter.org

Poynter

Poynter is a nonprofit media institute and newsroom that provide

White House budget director Russell Vought ordered wider access to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau materials by staffers working for the so-called Department of Government Efficiency over the weekend before agency chief operating officer Adam Martinez ordered all its employees to stay home for the week, reported Bloomberg News.

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Musk's return on investment in Trump has just begun

The 'more sinister' reason behind Musk's attack on consumer protection | Opinion

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Wise up, consumers, to the price of eggs and gas at the pump updated 2/3/2025..

Wise up, consumers, to the price of eggs and gas at the pump updated 2/3/2025..

 Wise up, consumers.. Trump gets an egg on his face and an oil glut. Blaming Biden for inflation and then wondering why grocery prices cannot be reversed by executive order is a bit like when your car won't start; you blame a dead battery when the starter is the problem. So you buy and install a new battery and then wonder why the car still does not start. It's like the price of eggs issue/ If you blame the wrong reason for price increases, fixing it becomes a problem. Drill baby drill is not the issue, either. We already have too much crude as a glut, which makes drilling uneconomical for the industry.

2//9/2025: Inflation rate at the end of the Biden administration: 2.9% https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

2/2/2025 Update There will be political fallout from the Trump's tariffs: Trump says Americans could feel 'some pain' from tariffs as he threatens more import taxes | AP News Do you really think fentanyl is more painful than inflation and higher grocery, housing construction, gas at the pump prices? This is going to hit MAGA voters in the gut, but "keep the faith, baby", it will all make America Great again. MAGA voter: did you sign on for pain? This happened on and because of Trump's watch.

White House Reacts to Rising Egg Prices and Shortages, blaming Biden for inflation is total BS, blaming the wrong problem, but making a lot of noise may mask Trump's inability to fix it , while using it to score political points.  It ignores the egg industry price gouging excess profits record and the current bird flu epidemic that caused the price hike as Trump took office the second time, as well as trying to pin the blame on Biden for inflation, which is equally bogus. Pointing their fingers fixes nothing. They can't fix it, so they use the opportunity to make political hay and try to excuse an embarrassment ...or egg on his face, so to speak... with hokus pokus..

While cultural and racial issues motivated many voters for Trump in 2024, some fell for the line that the reason grocery prices inflated was due to Biden's economics. Inflation was under 3 percent when Biden left office in January. Taking the average of inflation over 4 years is intellectually dishonest because it fails to give him credit for what he acheived. This under 3 (2% is optimum) is what Trump has got at the beginning of his second term from Biden. What happens now is on him.

Let's go back to the Biden years when the price of eggs because the cause celebre. Remember? It wasn't Biden. It was COVID causing supply chain shortages as industry revived what had been put on ice (Remember the empty toilet paper shelves and videos of shipping containers piled up on docks?). Consumers had COVID government money in their pockets and plenty of jobs and back to work to buy and pent-up demand. as retail stores reopened. Immediately after the pandemic ended.Corporate greed was a factor as some masked unjustified price hikes by blaming Biden. High corporate profit, especially by the egg industry, was evidence of their strategy. (Also, bird flu is causing the current spike in egg prices, not Trump) One of the first campaign promises Trump broke after being elected was to say it was too hard to roll back grocery prices. He warned he couldn't do it, but he was only honest about that after he got elected.. He deceived so many. To keep the drum roll going, Trump media allies are hawking Biden's fault to divert attention from Trump's own admitted predicted failure. Wise up, consumers.

The same can be said about "drill baby drill" to bring gas at the pump prices down. First, the problem is not a lack of crude oil. Biden's policies increased drilling so much that the oil industry cannot find enough customers to buy it at the price that it is now. There is a glut of crude oil available. Pumping more oil is not the problem. FYI: Presidents do not set the price by barrel; it is set internationally by cartels. Those who believed Trump's line that Biden was to blame is a cover for Trump's campaign line, "Drill baby drill." Drilling more crude was not the problem, baby. The adjustment to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the attempt to adjust to the loss of that supplier to Europe was as much at fault and still ongoing. Nonetheless, as Biden left office, gas at the pump prices was under $3 a gallon. Wise up consumers.

There are signs consumers are beginning to wise up, per the Wall Street Journal, as consumer confidence measures drop in January. U.S. Consumers Lose Confidence at Start of Trump’s Second Term

Consumers are in for more education about grocery prices if Trump carries through with his tariff plans and they learn more about gas prices at the pump if he clamps tariffs on oil coming from Canada. Stay tuned.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/business/energy-environment/oil-trump-drill-baby-drill.html

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Trumps-Oil-Plans-Meet-Market-Glut-in-2025.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/03/29/countrys-largest-egg-producer-saw-profits-surge-718-amid-shortage

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/11/trumps-achilles-heels-unintended.html

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-bs-of-drill-baby-drill.html

This avian flu thing is beginning to sound familiar.  Egg shortage 2025: Prices expected to rise throughout the year

Cracking Down on Egg Industry’s Excuses: It’s Price Gouging | Farm Action   in 2023."The egg industry blames avian flu and inflation for increasing egg prices. These problems are certainly real — about 43 million egg-laying hens were lost due to the avian flu through December 2022, and input costs for producers have increased. But this begs the question — how are egg companies raking in so much money in light of these costly strains?"

Major Trump campaign promises evaporate. The list keeps growing. updated 12 29 2024 1/11/2025

 

Major Trump campaign promises and other rhetoric voters relied on have evaporated even before Trump has been sworn in. The list keeps growing. First, Trump could roll back grocery prices, but he knew or should have known he did not have the power to do it. Tariffs will raise prices to consumers, passed on to them, despite every economist in the world telling him that he was wrong: China would pay for them, he claimed. Now he says he"can't promise it consumer won't pay". Other issues that have already been backtracked or neutered are the Biden crime family-related prosecutions, the ending of H-1B visas, and the immediate ending of the Ukraine war (before he was even sworn in).

No surprise here. Gullible voters traded in a democracy to a wannabe dictator/oligopoly for the price of eggs (symbolic for grocery prices.) Let's see how that plays out.

Gullible voters? Trump thinks he could play you. Grisham: Trump ‘knows he can basically say anything and his base will believe’   His concept of common sense is what promotes him and his oligopoly of the rich, not the same as the rest of us.  Modern day dictators have gained the power they seek because they have used modern technology to spin and mind control their way to their position. "The central goal remains the same: to monopolize political power. But today’s strongmen realize that in current conditions violence is not always necessary or even helpful. Instead of terrorizing citizens, a skillful ruler can control them by reshaping their beliefs about the world. He can fool people into compliance and even enthusiastic approval. In place of harsh repression, the new dictators manipulate information. Like spin doctors in a democracy, they spin the news to engineer support. They are spin dictators. How Do Dictatorships Survive in the 21st Century? | Andrew Carnegie Fellows | Carnegie Corporation of New York

Trump Is Walking Back His Biggest Campaign Promises Before Taking Office This article contains documentation regarding cutting government spending, ending the war in Ukraine, and reducing grocery prices.

Here is what Trump is promising to do on Day One: Here are things Trump has promised to carry out on Day 1 of his presidency

Trump vowed to declare a national energy emergency as soon as he takes office — here's how he might do it     Bottom line: not much he can do other than reverse the LNG limit on exporting liquified natural gas.  We already have a surplus of oil over demand, so increasing drilling would have no immediate impact.  The same goes for building new refineries and pipelines.  He does not have the power to roll back environmental laws by executive order. He can lobby Congress to do so or not honor the Paris climate accord, but that is symbolic  and no guarantee given the narrow margins in the House. Price of gas at the pump is mostly determined by foreign oil cartels via their set price and drilling quotas of members. Even if we increase drilling, that is likely offset by reducing drilling elsewhere as part of the cartels' attempt to keep prices they want by controlling the supply. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: The BS of "drill baby drill"; makes unnecessary useless

In shift, Trump downgrades soaring rhetoric on campaign promises Interesting that this article called his lies campaign soaring rhetoric. Not only does he backtrack on bringing down grocery prices, or tariffs impacting consumer prices, he also is backtracking ending Ukraine war immediately. Trump says Russia-Ukraine peace may be harder than Middle East

This one went south: the Biden Crime family. The FBI informant confesses he lied about Hunter and his father being bribed by a Ukrainian energy company. https://apnews.com/article/alexander-smirnov-guilty-plea-biden-informant-fbi-62a3b7acce0345303f812ca6d0206b10

Under pressure from his oligarch pals, he also just backtracked on certain visas extended to tech related foreigners(H-IB Visas) in spite of his promises. Trump says H-1B visa program is 'great' amid MAGA feud over tech workers

Left on his agenda are gas at the pump prices (He does not control oil per barrel prices; the international cartel does; "drill baby drill" was a great campaign slogan, but unattached to reality.) Stopping inflation is another empty promise. Tariffs will raise consumer prices; labor shortages will also be caused by mass deportations and add to inflation. Stay tuned on these issues and promises.

Trump was poised to inherit a strong economy. Then things got rocky and he added to the uncertainty.

MAGA will not feel this now. Just wait until the predictions come true to those who voted for Trump because they wanted lower grocery and gas prices and blamed Biden for inflation. Then they will get it.... or at least "we told you so" will have some meaning. Until then, this is just laying the groundwork to be able to say, "We told you so." Trump will try to excuse or blame others as he always does when things go south. The resistance needs to keep his feet to the fire and stick the blame on him when that happens: DJT

Here is the benchmark by which to judge Trump's measure of his success: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/is-donald-trump-inheriting-the-best-economy-in-history/ar-BB1rfC8Z?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=b5ba93218a514cd38504c43abdda7e04&ei=7

Pardoning the patriots of January 6? JD Vance says people who committed violence at the Capitol riot 'obviously' shouldn't be pardoned Is off script or is this a signal of Trump backpedaling.

msn.com

Trump was poised to inherit a strong economy. Then things got rocky and he added to the uncertainty