Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

~~~

General John Kelly: "He said that, in his opinion, Mr. Trump met the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator if allowed, and had no understanding of the Constitution or the concept of rule of law."

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Did anyone ever image hearing these un-American words from an ex-POTUS and candidate?

 

Trump is the only politician in my lifetime who ever uttered such unconstitutional and, IMO, treasonous words.

This country, especially the MAGAs and the media, has become numb to the avalanche of the unspeakably perverse, fascistic sentiments Trump spews on Twitter and at his rallies.







PS. Where's our friend, skudrunner? Has he seen this?



Trump brags about wanting to raise taxes on the middle class: “We are going to [create] a system of taxes. We call it positive taxation… Nobody's ever seen what we're doing. A combination of taxes and tariffs”

42 comments:

possumlady said...

While I know that he could still win, I was smiling reading that post as you can almost smell the fear coming from it!

Shaw Kenawe said...

He's conditioned his MAGA supporters to the point where they just listen or read this garbage, slack-jawed, and then cheer his next Kim Jong Un-like pronouncement about his fantasies of stripping Americans and corporations of their constitutional rights. His benumbed cultists applaud and wait for the next promised assault on their liberties.

skudrunner said...

I did see that but I also saw this from The Hill "There is hardly an issue where Harris hasn’t insincerely changed her position to get ahead, just as there is hardly a biographical detail about her running-mate that hasn’t been embellished or fabricated. But Harris’s lies about Donald Trump are the worst of all.
To play the clips of Trump talking about Charlottesville could lead viewers into discovering how Trump said, “And I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.” Once that lie is uncovered, the whole gig is up.
You place a lot of faith in what is said by the media but most of the attacks contain partial quotes.

I thought the democrats never saw a tax they didn't like so if what you say about trump raising taxes on the middle class is true you should be thrilled. The democrats have wanted to go after the "rich" since obama but have come to realize that is their money pit so they never act. They either don't understand or won't admit that they cannot tax the rich anymore than what the rich pay unless they completely overhaul the tax code. They don't understand that taxing corporations is taxing everyone and gives off shore manufacturing a huge boost.
Fear works so stay on it.

Mike said...

More tRUMP gobbledygook.

Les Carpenter said...

Trump is both clueless and useless.

A floundering, bumbling, and quivering pile of orange fear.

He knows what we know. That he's wholly incompetent and completely unfit to be President.

We know it. He actually knows it. Yet his cultists stick with him.

As he burrows deeper into his very own version of reality.

We have been witnessing his deterioration and decline for some time.

I anticipate his self destruction to be complete shortly after the election if not before.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Reporter: (Inaudible) "… both sides, sir. You said there was hatred, there was violence on both sides. Are the --"

Trump: "Yes, I think there’s blame on both sides. If you look at both sides -- I think there’s blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it, and you don’t have any doubt about it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say."

Reporter: "The neo-Nazis started this. They showed up in Charlottesville to protest --"

Trump: "Excuse me, excuse me. They didn’t put themselves -- and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group. Excuse me, excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did.
You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name."

Shaw Kenawe said...

The quote you provided from "The Hill" was written by Derek Hunter. It was NOT the opinion of "The Hill." Derek Hunter was a Heritage Foundation political consultant, and along with TUCKER CARLSON, was a co-founder of The Daily Caller! IOW, a far-right Trumper! Hardly a neutral writer on Trump. In any event, Trump DID SAY THERE WERE FINE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES!

And if you refuse to see Trump for the neo-fascist that he is, here's another piece of evidence: Trump had a private dinner at Mar-a-Largo with Nick Fuentes, about whom, it was reported, that Trump said :"He gets me!"

Do you know who Nick Fuentes is and what he stands for?

Fuentes is an American far-right political commentator and live streamer who is known for his white supremacist, misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic, and Islamophobic views. A former YouTuber, his channel was permanently terminated in February 2020 for violating YouTube's hate speech policy. FUENTES ALSO PRAISES ADOLPH HITLER.

That's who Donald Trump hosted at his home and bout whom Trump said, "He gets me."

Why you, skudrunner, feel the burning need to defend Trump, is a mystery. There is ample evidence that he is a thoroughly unAmerican neo-fascist who just recently declared that people in America who disagree with him should be sent to prison.

You are one of those hypothetical people who, if asked by a flight attendant if you'd like a poop sandwich with glass shards in it or the chicken salad, you'd ask how the chicken salad is prepared!

Shaw Kenawe said...


"Donald Trump vows to lock up political enemies if he returns to White House

Former president says he would have ‘no choice’ but to lock up opponents ‘because they’re doing it to us’"


Maybe that's your idea of what America stands for, but it is NOT an AMERICAN VALUE OR LAW AT ALL. Yet you continue to demonize Kamala Harris who is a law and order prosecutor vs. Trump who has been telling Americans that he wants to imprison anyone who disagrees with him. And you also, over the years, have denigrated Barack Obama, a former POTUS and a former professor who taught CONSTITUTIONAL LAW.

I understand fully which side of our American heritage you favor.

skudrunner said...

Ms. Shaw, So it is your belief that there were not good people on both sides which IMO is untrue. I don't defend trump for who he is but I do defend the lying leftist of which kamala is one of the biggest plus she has not accomplished anything as VP.
No matter who wins little will change because most of it is political rhetoric. They will huff and puff and blame the other side. Do you really believe there will be an increase tax on billionaires who put the winner in power. Do you really believe trump will throw the illegals out or as stated or he will jail his opponents. You know better but can't admit politics is nothing but a crooked power game and the American people are the pawns and the politicians are the king and queen.

Shaw Kenawe said...

" I do defend the lying leftist of which kamala is one of the biggest plus she has not accomplished anything as VP."

Funny how you accuse VP Harris of being one of the biggest liars, but I do not recall reading those words from you about Trump. Ever. And he has 30,000+ documented lies JUST WHILE BEING POTUS, and not counting the lies he's told since he lost the 2020 election.



PS. Read the Constitution about the duties of the VPOTUS. VP Harris has done exactly what a VPOTUS is supposed to do. Apparently you and many others don't know what those duties are, but have no problem showing us that fact.

And you ignore her very impressive accomplishments: elected San Francisco DA, elected California Attorney General, elected US Senator from California, elected VPOTUS.

Donald Trump, OTOH, was a reality show performer and a failed businessman who cheated on all three wives and never held elective office for anything, and knows nothing about how American government works nor our Constitution on which our laws are based. Those were HIS accomplishments when Americans elected him as POTUS in 2016.

VP Harris is eminently qualified for the presidency.

You have a cynical view of all politicians. That's a shame.

As O. Wilde once said of cynics: They know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Les Carpenter said...

skud cannot bring himself to utter the words, Trump has shown himself to be a liar and is therefore untrustworthy.

Why is that?

Is it because he is, in principle, supportive of the agenda Trump supports. He only disapproves of Trump's antics is all.

He will vote Trump/Vance. There is no doubt about that at all. Which is fine. But spewing, without a shred of credible proof, the drivel he does about President Biden and his remarkably positive presidency, as well as the unsubstantiated bs he burps out about VP Kamala Harris is only indicative of wilfull ignorance.

Ego and clinging to reified beliefs and illusion is the major reason for longing to go back to "the good old days".

Sam said...

I never thought I'd hear him say "pussy grabber" or mimic a handicap reporter or say to a debate interviewer that it was coming out of her wrong hole. The guy is a slime ball. If my country wants him as president, I will just have to live with that.

BB-Idaho said...

Vice Presidents - Trump wanted to hang his. I wonder what would have happened next if the 'polite congressional visitors" DID hang him? As for Skud's
'crooked power game', Trumpubllcians make it look like child's play.

Dave Dubya said...

Once again MAGA Skud tries to DEFEND TRUMP!

"Do you really believe trump will throw the illegals out or as stated or he will jail his opponents."

Remember "Lock her up"? He asked his DOJ to go after her, but they sensibly told him there was no reason to do that.

Skud will certainly IGNORE the facts, but here is a PARTIAL list of Trump's attempts to WEAPONIZE the DOJ and Ukraine against people he hates:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/16/vance-falsely-claims-trump-didnt-go-after-his-enemies/?utm_campaign=wp_fact_checker&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_fact

Vance falsely claims Trump ‘didn’t go after’ his enemies

We identify a dozen examples of Trump demanding probes, but they all fell short because of lack of evidence.

Sought investigation of Hillary Clinton. The report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III documented that Trump in 2017 pressed then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to “un-recuse” himself from overseeing the election campaign investigation so he could order an investigation of Clinton.

Scolded Justice Department for failing to investigate Clinton. In both a radio interview and on Twitter in 2017, Trump urged an investigation. “People are angry,” he tweeted. “At some point the Justice Department, and the FBI, must do what is right and proper. The American public deserves it!”

Called for investigations of Clinton and the debunked Uranium One conspiracy theory. A U.S. attorney was tapped to start the probe in late 2017, but it ended in 2020 with no action.

Demanded an investigation of the Clinton Foundation. Little Rock prosecutors in 2018 issued a grand-jury subpoena for foundation records. The case was closed without charges just days before Trump left office.

Demanded an investigation of former president Barack Obama over debunked “Spygate” claims. “I hereby demand, and will do so officially tomorrow, that the Department of Justice look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes — and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!” Trump wrote on Twitter in 2018. Various probes found no evidence.

Told the White House counsel in 2018 that he wanted to order the Justice Department to investigate Clinton and former FBI director James B. Comey. The counsel refused, saying Trump had no authority to do so. The Justice Department under Trump conducted two investigations of Comey related to leaking, but no charges were brought.

Sought Internal Revenue Service investigations of Comey and McCabe. John F. Kelly, Trump’s second White House chief of staff, told the New York Times that Trump repeatedly sought IRS probes of the two former FBI officials. Both men were selected for a rare and highly intrusive audit by the tax agency, at a time the agency was headed by a Trump appointee, but the agency insisted they were randomly selected.


Dave Dubya said...

MORE for Skud to IGNORE:

Attacked former secretary of state John F. Kerry on Twitter in 2018 for having contacts with Iranian diplomats, suggesting he had violated the Logan Act, which prohibits negotiations with a foreign government by unauthorized citizens. Almost immediately, the Justice Department ordered prosecutors in Manhattan to investigate Kerry.

In 2018 on Twitter, demanded that the attorney general investigate a long list of subjects (such as the Clinton Foundation) and several people, including Clinton, Comey and McCabe. After the release of Mueller’s report in 2019, then-Attorney General William P. Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the origins of the FBI probe into Trump’s alleged Russia connections. The probe eventually included examination of Clinton and her inner circle, and how law enforcement agencies handled allegations of corruption at the Clinton Foundation. The Durham probe was a bust, with every case going to trial ending in acquittal.

Pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation of Biden, who was planning to run for president. A rough transcript of a July 2019 phone call showed that Trump made eight distinct requests for assistance in a Biden investigation.

Threatened to prosecute Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger if he refused to help Trump “find” the necessary votes to overturn his loss of the state to Biden. “It is more illegal for you than it is for them because you know what they did and you’re not reporting it,” Trump told Raffensperger in a 2021 phone call. “That’s a criminal, that’s a criminal offense. And you can’t let that happen.”

By any reasonable measure, this list shows that Trump did “go after” his political opponents — but he was notably unsuccessful in winning any prosecutions. His political opponents often had to hire lawyers, sit for interviews and cough up documents. But to Trump’s frustration, no crimes were uncovered that warranted prosecution. Durham did manage to obtain one relatively minor guilty plea but failed twice when he went to trial — and none of the people charged by Durham were significant enough to be considered Trump’s political opponents.




Les Carpenter said...

If skud put even half the effort accessing verifiable facts and truth that you guys do skud would be a liberal.

But he'll just keep the same sources playing the same loops in his mind and he'll remain the loyal useful one.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Here’s a fact that skudrunner will never give acknowledge because it is favorable for the Biden- Harris Administration:

"The cover of The Economist now describes the American economy as the envy of the world. To put that in political terms The Economist is saying that the Biden economy is the envy of the world."

Les Carpenter said...

No one supporting the Orange Meance will acknowledge the truth cotained in the Economist's article.

But I hope Trump comes out and trashes the Economist now. Putting his twisted spotlight on the truth.

BB-Idaho said...

Trumpeconomics - selling $3 Chinese Bibles for $66.49. PT Barnum is chuckling. Rumor - the spectacular Trump watches were not made in Switzerland, but more down north of Korea.

skudrunner said...

Les, Me becoming a liberal will not happen but neither will me becoming a republican or a democrat. I am a fiscal conservative to the core and both parties have no desire to reign in spending and only care about their power and wealth.

Ms. Shaw, The American economy is the envy of the world unless you can't afford food, housing, insurance and suffering through the harris inflation blitz.
Billionaires, like economists, think everything is great but they live outside the normal sphere of most of us. I'm still waiting for her to say how she is going to lower the cost of all the things she caused to rise. Actually I would like to see her answer any question instead of evade and spin.

You state the role of a VP is a nothingburger but she is taking credit for pushing through biden's disastrous agenda and further dividing the country. We do need a Reagan type to pull the country together but the two incompetents will just further divide the country

Dave Dubya said...

Come on man.

Skud: "...Neither will me becoming a republican or a democrat."
(Yet he regurgitates Republican lies, false accusations, and talking points exclusively.)

" I am a fiscal conservative to the core and both parties have no desire to reign in spending and only care about their power and wealth."
(Skud IGNORES the fact since Clinton Democratic presidents LOWERED deficit spending while Republican presidents RAISED it.)
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/

Naturally, like all Republicans Skud BLAMES Kamala for post-pandemic GLOBAL inflation. Yup , it's ALL her fault. Does he admit inflation is way DOWN? HELL NO! He's a damn Republican PARROT!

Skud BLAMES her for "pushing through biden's disastrous agenda and further dividing the country", but NEVER admits how Trump's hate and lies are what drove a damn VIOLENT INSURRECTION!!

He'd "like to see her answer any question instead of evade and spin".
Where the hell has he BEEN the past couple weeks?

I'll tell you where Skud has been. He's been evading questions and spinning Republican propaganda.


Grey One talks sass said...

"Reign in spending" I've heard from skuds comments for a very long time. If he was indeed a fiscal conservative as I also claim to be he'd support the Harris/Walz ticket as they have a plan, a very good plan which helps the middle class without trashing the deficit - which is only an issue when the Democratic party hold the purse strings. All the bipartisan economic agencies rate the Harris/Walz plan as less expensive as the Trump plan (tariffs, tax cuts for the wealthy). Interesting that skud just can't bring themselves to vote for a woman.

Our economy is the envy of the world skud. The freaking world which went through the same pandemic as we did, only we had Biden/Harris at the wheel who listened to the economists.

By the way, please provide facts for where/when Harris took total credit for the Biden admin successes? Without receipts I don't believe you skud and I don't have to because you've been caught in this lie before.

Back to my point, the spending packages the Biden admin endorsed did so much for the American people, expanded rural internet, created jobs, and a metric ton of infrastructure items that had been long ignored by the Republican party. You can't just build a thing and then refuse to pay for maintenance. Well I guess you can if you are working in cahoots with the dictators of the world who want to see the USA fail.

Do you want the USA to fail skud? I ask because you are sitting at the table with those who do want to ensure the USA fails. You know the saying, nine Nazis are sitting at a table and you (claiming not to be a Nazi) sit down with them. How many Nazi's sitting at the table? Ten skud, the answer is ten.

No exceptions on this. I don't have to like you skud but I'll defend to the death your rights. Nazis just want rights for themselves and death to anyone who disagrees with them. Do you see the difference now?

OT - I did read that the GOP is running out of cash. Hmmm, I wonder where all the money went? No, I don't wonder. Tennis shoes, watches, and bibles don't just buy themselves. When Team Trump loses again the only folks responsible are the ones in the mirror.

Shaw Kenawe said...

I just read that the supermarket chain, Kroger's, has admitted to hiking prices on groceries so that it made billions off the backs of Americans. The price gouging by American corporations is what contributes to high prices, not the Biden Administration. Do you understand that no president has the power to tell corporations what to charge their customers and clients? Do you understand that?

A president will have few options to significantly or quickly lower food costs, though voters believe otherwise.

"VP Harris called on Congress to pass a federal food price gouging ban as part of an economic policy speech she gave in August. Her proposal would largely mirror a bill Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroduced earlier this year, which would empower the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to penalize companies that try to use their market leverage to attempt to sell goods or services “​​at an excessive price.” But it would leave it up to the FTC to define what qualifies as “excessive.”

VP Harris also pledged that, as president, she would empower the FTC to help enforce the legislation and carry out other antitrust enforcement. "
--Politico

Shaw Kenawe said...

Skud: "You state the role of a VP is a nothingburger but she is taking credit for pushing through biden's disastrous agenda and further dividing the country. "

VP Harris takes credit because it was her tie-breaking vote as the president of the US Senate that allowed the Biden administration's programs to become law. So yes, she can take credit for that.

Skud: "We do need a Reagan type to pull the country together but the two incompetents will just further divide the country."

HOW MANY TIMES MUST YOU BE TOLD THAT THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION WAS ONE OF THE MOST CORRUPT IN POST WAR AMERICA? Fact. And you think we need another corrupt Republican administration to fix what's wrong with our country? Or are you being willfully obtuse in ignoring the fact that a senile Reagan oversaw a corrupt presidency ?

"Scandals of the Ronald Reagan administration

The presidency of Ronald Reagan was marked by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment or conviction of over 138 administration officials, the largest number for any president of the United States."
--Wikipedia

Just reminder so you can examine your flagrant partisanship which you always deny:

Former President Obama had a scandal-free 8 years, as opposed to Ronald Reagan's scandal-ridden administration.

NO! We don't want another Reagan-like scandal-ridden administration, nor do we want another Trump-like anti-American, neo-fascist administration.

You have always denigrated the Obama administration but yearn for a return to a Reagan-like scandal-ridden one.

Do you ever examine your beliefs and consumption of misinformation?

I just don't understand how you can pretend that what I wrote above is not true.

Dave Dubya said...

Shaw,

You ask Skud, "Do you ever examine your beliefs and consumption of misinformation?"

He won't answer, but I can. To examine ones beliefs requires an open mind. It's not in the nature of the authoritarian personality. Being "willfully obtuse" is. This is how he is eager and able to regurgitate Republican propaganda and to ignore facts we show him. No critical thinking required. It's his safe place.

Shaw Kenawe said...

I guess that is the only logical explanation for skud’s longing for the return of a corrupt Reagan-like presidency. Skud has never acknowledged the fact that Reagan’s was one of America’s most corrupt presidency in modern history. He pretends, by ignoring objective reality, the truth, and longs for another Reagan presidency, instead of a corruption- free Obama- type administration.

I guess I have to accept the fact that our friend Skud is willfully obtuse.

Les Carpenter said...

Kroger's came clean. Bravo for them. Will they lower their artificially high prices? Likely not. It's a wait and see game.

Every other corporate greed machine has done the same as Kroger's.

Imagine the BILLIONS raked in inOBSCENE PROFITS. Paid for by all of us.

It's not the government. It's the corporate greed that is hurting Americans.

Les Carpenter said...

It's simple, when distracted by all the noises of the culture, when always attempting to be "in control", always maintaining attachment to disproved yet reified beliefs, maintaining aversion to proven demonstrations of success (Biden/Harris), and willfully ignoring verified credible truths yields the skuds and MAGA's of the country.

It is, afterall, their very own illusions and delusions that they function and live their lives by.

skudrunner said...

Less,

April 30, 2024: Kroger's net profit margin was 1.43%, which is in line with the industry average of 1.6%.
July 31, 2024: Kroger's quarterly profit margin was 1.37%

How dare they make obscene 1.43% net profit. Most companies couldn't operate at these margins. What would you deem as an acceptable profit, corporate greed.

Dave Dubya said...

Now Skud is defending Kroger's price gouging to compensate for inept corporate management.

The employees know it.

https://www.comparably.com/companies/kroger/executive-team

The Kroger Executive Team is rated a "D-" and led by CEO Rodney McMullen. Kroger employees rate their Executive Team in the Bottom 10% of similar size companies on Comparably with 10,000+ Employees. The Finance department and the IT department are more confident in their Executive Team, while the Customer Success department and employees who have been at the company 2 to 5 Years think there is room for improvement. Out of their 5 competitors, Whole Foods Market, Costco, Walmart, KMart, and Safeway, Kroger's score ranks in 6th place.

Les Carpenter said...

See skud how this works? Two views widely different. Shaw, whose data I generally trust says one thing. Your data, lacking receipts, paints a different picture and "feel".

So, what to do?

Row row row your boat gently down the stream,

Merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream.


The corporate greed in America could be shifted to benefit humanity and improve the opportunity for millions to have a better life. But no, better billions get used to provide opulence for the few at the top of the food chain and multi billionaires dollar corporations.

Good for you skuddy that you're in bed with the delusional beliefs that corporations and billionaires are your friends concerned about your welfare or that of others. Their not. Never have been. Likely never will be.

Profit is fine. Obscene profit concentrated in the coffers of billionaires and multi billion dollar corporations another. For many holding your belief system enough is never enough.

Have a nice day skud.

Dave Dubya said...

Reporter: "Let me ask you, Mr. President, why did you wait so long to blast neo-Nazis?"
Trump: "I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long."
Reporter: "Forty-eight hours."
...Reporter: "Do you think that what you call the alt-left is the same as neo-Nazis?"
Trump: "Those people -- all of those people – excuse me, I’ve condemned neo-Nazis. I’ve condemned many different groups. But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch.

The fact that Skud agrees with Trump that the "Unite the Right" rally organized by neo-Nazis and white supremacists had "very fine people" among them tells me Skud's sympathies lie with THEM. Skud is a "very fine" person by the that standard.

The fact Skud can't acknowledge who organized and attended the rally tells me he doesn't care. He just wants to defend Trump. The fact that the white supremacist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers met with Trump's white nationalist lieutenants Roger Stone and Mike Flynn on January 5, 2021 is another point Skud will ignore.

Trump himself told the racist Proud Boys to, "Stand back and stand by". So, they stood by, waiting for their chance to serve their Fuhrer on J6.

Not that “Very Fine Person” Skud sees anything wrong with that. If he did, he would have been agreeing with us all along that Trump is a criminal and insurrectionist.

“Very fine people” just can’t see it, as if they’re willfully obtuse…or worse yet, racist white nationalists and fascists.

Shaw Kenawe said...

This fact won't budge skudrunner because he's impervious to facts. He's more dedicated to dislike all things liberal/Democratic than dedicated to seeing facts, IMO.


"What was admitted

Kroger's Senior Director of Pricing, Andy Groff, testified that the company raised prices for milk and eggs above the rate of inflation."


Kroger. Yes, Kroger admitted to price gouging during a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hearing in September 2024.

skudrunner will continue to not believe facts, and that is what Americans are up against in this election. Certain Americans believe in their "feelings" about the best economy post-COVID in the world, instead of facts.

skudrunner said...

Les, My figures are from Microtrends and federal filings and I do not see where Ms. Shaw provided any data other than they admitted raising prices above inflation. They did not say gouging and IMO I think that was her IMO.

The great thing about competition is you don't have to support just one company because you can go elsewhere.
BTW, What do you consider acceptable net margins for companies and I guess you consider 1.47% obscene?

Les Carpenter said...

It depends on the size of the business, it's gross sales of goods, and or services.

For the business doing 30 million before taxes a 1.4% profit is likely insufficient to even consider saying in business.

On the other hand a 1.4% profit for a muti billion dollar multi national business is likely obscene. Depending on the amount reinvested in the employees and maintaining the businesses infrastructure so to speak.

In a nutshell it depends on each individual circumstances and one size never fits all. IOW more information is really needed.

But generally, there is plenty of greed and nefarious business practices being engaged in by huge corporations and even some smaller companies probably.

What is important to remember is this: for a market to be, and remain free, it must be regulated. Otherwise monotheistic interests squeeze out the competition.

possumlady said...

"The great thing about competition is you don't have to support one company because you can go elsewhere." What about the tens of thousands of people that live in "food deserts" and don't have the means to go anywhere else. Or those folks living out in rural areas that have to drive 30, 40, 50 miles just to get to one grocery store? And if the Biden Administration didn't pause the Kroger/Albertson merger, that would have stifled competition even more.

Also, profit margins are the only indicator in grocery profits. According to Marketwatch: "There are other financial metrics to take into consideration, said Peter Zaleski, an economics professor at Villanova University.

He gave this example: Let’s say you buy a grocery store that costs $5 million, and you purchase it as if you’re buying a home. You’ll make a 20% down payment by investing $1 million and borrowing the rest.

Now let’s say the store generates $15 million in sales over one year, and you pull in a profit of 1%, or $150,000. But as a percentage of the value of the store, which cost $5 million, the profit rate of return is 3%.

“That sounds a little bit better. But it’s still not making us excited,” he said. “Except remember: We didn’t invest $5 million, we only invested a million. So on our million-dollar investment, it’s a 15% rate of return.”

So, he added, there are three rates of return to pay attention to: There’s a profit percentage that’s a return on those sales — 1% in the example above. Then there’s a return on the asset (3%) and the return on equity (15%).

And don’t forget, grocery stores are selling a ton of items, especially produce.

“Sure, we’re only making 1% profit, but it’s worth our while to be in this business because we make it up in volume,” Zaleski said. "

possumlady said...

Should read "profit margins AREN'T the only indicator..."

skudrunner said...

PL, You are talking ROI not profit so they are two different measures. I doubt you will see many Kroger stores in food deserts. Food deserts would love to have a Kroger because of competitive prices.

Les Carpenter said...

Hate auto spell and AI.

Monopolistic, not monotheistic.

Les Carpenter said...

The dream of corporations is MONOPOLY. It's why government must step in and squash them, cutting or keeing them down to size. Smaller and local ownership is FAR preferable.

skudrunner said...

Les, Smaller and local is far preferable but economy of scale works better for the consumer. How has Walmart, Target and Amazon achieved so much. It is called economy of scale to have lower prices which is good for everyone. I am a proponent of small business because I was one but realize the need to mega companies in certain areas. I am not convinced the dream of corporations is Monopoly but they do try to represent shareholder value. There are monopolies like the IRS and Post Office but I wouldn't call them efficient or caring about their customer. One of he largest corporations is Amazon who provides exceptional customer service and keeps prices competitive.

Les Carpenter said...

Monopoly (the goal of all corporations) only works better for the BUSINESS. Greed is the namesake of many large Corporations. Especial in "Christian" American and European capitalist societies.

You've bought the narative, I did for FAR to many years. I'm so glad I recognize the truth of corporate America's motivation and efforts. I now will spend the remainder of my time on the planet this time out speaking AGAINST corporations and unbridled greed.

I 've been where you're at and it is nothing i am any longer interested in. Capitalism will ultimately destroy itself the result of selfishness and greed.

I'll do my thing, you do yours. It always takes two to tango so to speak.