Kentucky learns that you get what you vote for

An adjustable bed maker in KY is laying off 100 employees--half of its workforce. In an NPR broadcast interview, the company's general manager said that the raw materials, including steel bed frames and wood, had become too expensive, because they are imported from Canada and are now tariffed.

A bourbon manufacturer in Kentucky is laying off 112 employees because, according to their CEO, Canadian sales are down 80%, due to a combination of Canadian retaliatory tariffs and a broad reluctance on the part of Canadians to buy American goods.

What struck me is after I heard these two stories on NPR, I went searching for local news stories on the same topic. There were plenty. But not ONE of them mentioned tariffs, or Trump, as the cause of this economic pain. The favorite weasel phrase used was "challenging global economic conditions."

I prefer "an insane asshole, rapist, and narcissist antagonizing our closest trading partner and neighbor and imposing idiotic economic policies that hurt everyone and benefit no one except himself."

Do you think that this reluctance on the part of Kentucky news outlets to put the blame where it belongs is due to fear of "retribution" or a continuing, undying loyalty to MAGA?

I grew up in Louisville. Back then, the Courier-Journal concistently won awards as one of the top newspapers in the country, and it was relatively progressive. But that was before it was acquired by Gannett.

Kentucky has a highly-regarded Democratic governor who was recently re-elected, so it's not a typical red state (like Indiana, where I (unfortunately) currently live). (I know, I know, it also repeatedly elected Turtleman and nutcase Randy Paul to the Senate.) I guess all this is to say that I think, like most mainstream media, many editors are terrified of being labeled liberal. So they reduce their coverage to "he said/she said" as opposed to "this is what happened/what the other side said is a lie."

you failed to mention this point:  

In January 2024, the company’s board of directors approved a restructuring plan that included the elimination of between 900 and 1,000 jobs and the closure of multiple facilities. Leggett & Platt also operates a manufacturing and production plant in Leitchfield. There has not been a WARN notice filed related to the Grayson County operation.

So this adjustable bed company was already in bankruptcy but that's Trump's fault, mmm hmmm?

Bourbon?  Ha, they are in the midst of a wrecking ball of massive oversupply issues, which aren't just a 10 month problem, this is the devil's juice they made years ago when they expected the boom to continue after covid.

I take your stories with the same grain of salt that I do David's bullcrap, its all skewed far left or far right.

Andy Beshear was interviewed for that same NPR segment (this was a good half hour of programming devoted to this one topic). The words he chose were carefully modulated so as not to cast aspersions or blame on Trump or MAGA while at the same time, laying out a path for listeners to draw that conclusion on their own. I was impressed at how deft he was, and this answered my question of how the hell a Democrat could get elected governor of a state stuffed to overflowing with drooling MAGA goobers. He evidently appeals to both sides.

And thus, there is talk of him running for President in 2028. He sidestepped the direct question but didn't rule it out. It seems logical, that the Democrats really can't win without converting SOME MAGAs, so they need someone who knows how to appeal to them.

Not MY stories, dumb fuck. This was all on NPR. But as always, you can base your beliefs on what you want to believe.

If you think Trump's ragging on Canada and idiot tariffs aren't hurting Kentucky industries, well...all I can say is, you have TDS.

Damn another Indiana person that makes four of us. I lived on the Indiana side of Louisville for 2 years back in 89 & 90. I can remember the days when Indiana was a purple state. 

At times, I've considered moving to both Louisville and Indianapolis, because of the lower cost of living and the intrigue of living in an area I've never experienced before--I hadn't even visited, except for a trip to the Caverns. What turned me off was the atrocious weather--you get spoiled, living in California--and later, those states' horrid, awful, stupid fealty to Trump and MAGA. Yet, I'm given to understand that both cities are more purple than the dead-red countryside.

So I'm curious--is that the case, or if I moved there, would I find myself constantly surrounded by drooling idiots wearing red baseball caps and T-shirts with a picture of the ugliest man in the world on them?