The United States Heartland China Association, a seemingly benign, not overtly Communist organization, took Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken on a trip to China, and he only tweeted four boring pictures!
Mayor TenHaken probably just didn’t want the Chinese Ministry of State Security hacking his phone and lifting his Congressional campaign plans, and he didn’t bother to buy a burner phone in country.
But Mayor TenHaken did bring us back this column in which he repeats the clunky catchphrase the USHCA probably handed out to all delegates—”The message from the delegation and me was that the workforce and innovation needed for business and cultural relationship success lives in the U.S. Heartland”—and lists as his first big lesson from the trip that his guy Trump’s trade war isn’t helping anybody:
First, the trade tensions with China affect us all. Every business I talked with—from drone manufacturers to poultry processors—discussed their desire to see a swift end to these trade tensions. For South Dakota, our agricultural community has felt this impact more than any other population. The sooner it is resolved, the better it will be for the Sioux Falls and South Dakota economies. I know our federal delegation is working very diligently on this matter, and I am confident in a timely resolution [Mayor Paul TenHaken, press release, 2019.11.25].
The mayor’s sop to our do-nothing members of Congress is another opportunity to remind everyone that physics says work = force × distance. If Thune, Rounds, and Johnson haven’t moved the trade situation with all their talk (and they haven’t), then they haven’t really done any work.
Mayor TenHaken also calls for opening our doors to more Chinese-owned companies like Smithfield Foods, which is doing a bang-up job of topping off the DENR’s coffers to pay for some of the waste it dumps in the Big Sioux River.
Mayor TenHaken doesn’t mention Hong Kong or other Chinese threats to democracy and human rights, but he offers a little sidewise criticism in his interview about his junket with KELO Radio:
“There’s a lot of egregious acts that happen in China and visiting there for trade and economic development purposes is not a stamp on all things China,” says TenHaken [Mark Russo, “TenHaken Talks About China Trip,” KELO Radio, 2019.11.25].
The Chinese, of course, can also speak of egregious acts that happen in America under the Trump Administration… which is why it’s all the more important for us to maintain America’s global moral authority by electing people who act morally.
Plugging into the global economy is a fait accompli, and it won’t be désaccompli absent some great cataclysm. Global interdependence checks conflict—do you really want to start bombing the people making your iPhone… and do the Chinese really want to start bombing the people who buy them? If Mayor TenHaken can use his office to remind his fellow Trumpists that trade wars are dumb and shouting America First! doesn’t make sense in a world in which we are all in it together, then more power to him.
But next time, Paul, bring a disposable camera. We want more pictures!
Cory, I love this: “The mayor’s sop to our do-nothing members of Congress is another opportunity to remind everyone that physics says work = force × distance. If Thune, Rounds, and Johnson haven’t moved the trade situation with all their talk (and they haven’t), then they haven’t really done any work.”
The force should be that of a foot at the end of a swinging leg, and the distance should be as far up Thune’s, Rounds’ and Johnson’s ass as that foot can go. Maybe that swift kick will dislodge their heads.
Cory, I think you are speaking my language ;^).
What we need now is less torque, more of the integral of the Lagrangian between two different times (also referred to as the action in classical mechanics).
Excellent points, Mr Pay. Imagine if school kids could have this for PE, there would be a lot of running and kicking going on.
The problem in that scenario Mike is if you are the kickee instead of the kicker. And sooner or later the kicker will become the kickee if they keep kicking.
Standing up for yourself is OK. But going out of your way to do the kicking (on the playground, in politics, in trading discussions) is usually counterproductive.
School kids kicking pols in the behind for exercise is a win win for both. Kids get the exercise they need and pols get the butt kicking they deserve, over and over and over….
I want to support Don’s and Mike’s call for vigorous ass kicking. I believe it will be far more effective than Economic Oaf’s vanity trade war.
Tis the season for non-violence…
TenHaken should take someone with a good national and international reputation.
“The pose became a symbol of swaggering American excellence and righteousness, in a political era with precious little of either. By some cosmic symmetry of the universe, after more than two years of the U.S. getting humiliated by its cartoon-villain president, this petite lesbian soccer player with punk-rock hair and a talent for rejoinders had suddenly become America’s redeemer.
“It was in that moment when Megan Rapinoe, star women’s-soccer player, became Megan Rapinoe, American superhero, on the side of truth, justice, and extremely accurate free kicks.”
From GQ.
is.gd/p2XZPe
For some strange reason, I am having flashbacks to the EB5 days.
I would like to know if anyone TenHaken met with also hosted Bollen and Benda back in the good days. Did TenHaken also get a go-go-bar stopover in Manila?
Actually, they probably had to be careful as to who they met with fearing that some Chinese nationals would show-up asking for either their green card they never got, or their $500,000 back. Maybe Morrie arranged the meetings. ;-)
http://madvilletimes.com/2014/12/2014-man-of-the-year-in-south-dakota-politics-richard-benda/
Yes, we would like to build an even larger holding barn now, Mr Mayor.
It’s getting worse for rural USA.
“The [Minnesota] state Department of Health reported that its Farm and Rural Helpline has seen an increase in calls and visits to its website. The state has increased its efforts to raise awareness about the resources and the Legislature this year approved funding to add another rural mental health specialist as farmers attempt to ride out a turbulent year.”
is.gd/7G0eji
Are SD’s 3 Congressional stooges doing anything, anything at all, to help struggling and suffering SD farmers and the small town businesses that depend on them?
Same source.
“I get calls from farmers themselves, I get calls from spouses of farmers, siblings of farmers, I get calls from people who work in the ag industry who have picked up on a warning sign in someone and they just want to know in their meeting what they should say or what they should do,” McConkey said. “This harvest has just been a nightmare.”
Monica McConkey, licensed psychologist specializing in rural mental health and provider of free counseling and referral services in Minnesota.
President Trade Wars Are Easy is crumbling under his own stupidity. I guess he didn’t know his dumb idea would have consequences. He’s caving, as he’s done so many times, on his “hard line.” (Another one of his phrases we should never believe.)
“The move was the latest acknowledgment by the Trump administration that its trade policies have threatened to cause financial pain for American companies. President Donald Trump has often downplayed the domestic effects of his tit-for-tat dispute with the second-largest economy, arguing that it’s necessary to win fairer trade agreements.”
Markets Insider
is.gd/PSY6lX
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-15/trade-deal-s-95-billion-commodity-centerpiece-already-doubted
China has agreed to buy around 30 billion dollars worth of ag an d ag related products, but the deal is only for two years and doubters are doubting any deal at all until they see a significant rise in shipments to China. I think drumpf got taken to the cleaners again.