KEVIN TRACY: Good morning, everyone. Due to the economic downturn, some of the staff have volunteered to use their PTO in order in order to help us keep things operating in the black here at KTracy.com as we wait to see what impact the new tariffs have on us. Carl is still in the basement keeping the server running, but Rachel, Francesca, and Dr. Dickson are all out. I know you're all aching to ask me about the tariffs, but I have a couple of things I'd like to announce first.

As you have likely noticed, my eBay store is back online and slowly adding inventory from new-old-stock clothing items that Katie has had for years totally unused. As of right now, I'm adding about 5 items a night and hope to keep up that trend. As you may recall, I shuttered my e-Bay business back in 2022 when I sold the KTracy Manor and temporarily moved into a family property until Katie and I could get married. The biggest hang up to getting it started again was a severe lack of outlets in the basement of our new home; which made powering all of the lights, cameras, computers, scales, vinyl cutters, and heat presses very difficult to manage. Earlier this month, I got to work trying to remedy this and finally managed to wire something up to get us the power we need at the KTracy Palace. It's only temporary, but it's getting the job done. The main reason it hasn't been a link to the e-Bay store on KTracy.com yet is because Katie is going to become more involved and we're discussing rebranding the store. If that happens, the link to the store will change and there will be a bunch of dead links throughout the site if I don't go back and change them all. Anyways, the links are coming. Please be patient.

Additionally, I made mention that I was about to start working on an icon of the Last Supper. This project is temporarily on hold and likely won't be ready by Holy Thursday, as I had hoped. There's just too much going on with trying to get the e-Bay store back online, getting the garden ready for spring, and our plans for hosting Easter lunch at the KTracy Palace for almost twice as many people as we had last year. With that, I'm ready for your questions. Go ahead.

MARK DANELLE: President Trump’s new 10% tariffs are destroying global trade, and prices for imported goods are skyrocketing. Are you personally devastated that your secret stash of fancy French Brie is now too expensive, or do you blame Trump for single-handedly ruining your charcuterie nights? How will you cope without your elitist snacks?

KEVIN TRACY: You know, this question kind of ticks me off. You're asking this question in such a way that would make people think that I'm out of touch with the average American and Hoosier. Look, there's nothing elitist about cheese. It's been eaten by common folk for millennia and, yes, I like French Brie a lot, just like some people like American, Queso, Cheddar, and Pepper Jack. Will I be cutting down on my intake of cheese imported from France? Yes. But you know what? In the long run, that's going to be a sacrifice worth making to eventually make America wealthy again. Next question. Don't make it idiotic.

SARA LIVINGSTON: Indiana Governor Mike Braun’s facing heat from transgender Hoosiers over his gender order. As a so-called ‘proud Hoosier,’ do you think Braun should just surrender and let everyone pick their own bathroom, or are you too busy guarding your own toilet to weigh in on this critical issue?

KEVIN TRACY: Are you talking about Mike Braun signing an order preventing the mentally ill victims of this trans menace from changing their gender on their birth certificates? If it was a critical issue in the state of Indiana, it's not now because Governor Braun fixed it. Nobody cares about protestors anymore, anyways. The progressives at these protests of a dozen mentally deranged and chronically ignorant people are all bought and paid for and everyone finally knows it.

JOHN HINKLEMEYER: A little while ago, President Xi Jinping of China extended a public invitation for you to come visit China. However, now that China’s doing live-fire drills near Taiwan and the U.S. is puffing its chest about it, or are you still planning to go and solve world peace over dumplings? How does it feel knowing your trip might spark an international incident?

KEVIN TRACY: I appreciate the offer of President Xi Jinping, but I don't think I would have been solving world peace over dumplings inside a Chinese prison. Even if my safety were assured, I would never allow myself to be used as a prop of Chinese Communist Propaganda. Thank you for giving me the chance to state publicly my RSVP of that "invitation."

TIFFANY BATES: U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz had a spicy town hall in Westfield, Indiana, recently. Did you show up to yell at her about why she hasn’t fixed everything yet, or were you too busy whining on KTracy.com about us ‘evil progressives’ to talk to your own congresswoman?

KEVIN TRACY: Victoria Spartz is not my Congresswoman, so that's why I wasn't there. Apparently, that didn't stop a lot of loud mouth idiots from out of her district from showing up to make fools of themselves and create some negative press in the liberal media. Spartz is doing a good job for the Hoosiers in the 5th Congressional District and she's representing them really well. Elon Musk is leading the DOGE effort to cut government spending, something everyone fully expected Trump to do based on his campaign promises. Likewise, Representative Spartz also campaigned on cutting the pork. She's doing her job by letting Elon Musk and DOGE do their job. With regards to the Signal Chat fiasco, it was embarrassing and lessons were learned. Ultimately, no lives were lost, no intelligence assets are compromised, and we should all just be thankful that this was an opportunity for learning and improving security in the future. The outrage expressed by the fringe radical left here is just ridiculous.

ROBERT WILSON: Trump’s administration is slashing thousands of federal jobs, even at health agencies. Are you panicking that the CDC won’t be spending as much time on KTracy.com with so many fewer employees? Are you ready to become a self-proclaimed virus expert, or will you just blame us for the chaos?

KEVIN TRACY: I suspect these former CDC employees who got fired were more likely to be watching pornography on the job than obsessing over my website. HHS Secretary RFK Jr is doing a good job working with DOGE to cut out the redundancy in his agency and the departments under him. If you want to talk about chaos, look at what happened during COVID. That was chaos, and if there's ever another pandemic, only significantly more dangerous than COVID, millions of lives are going to be lost because too many Americans have simply said, "Never again."

TAYLOR BROWN: Trump’s tariffs are jacking up clothing prices—jeans, shoes, everything! As a self-styled fashion guru, are you going to protest by wearing only American burlap sacks, or will you keep strutting in your foreign threads like some globalist snob?

KEVIN TRACY: Katie actually makes most of my fashion choices for me. However, with the tariffs now coming into effect, I think we'll be buying fewer clothes for me. In the meantime, I'll just be wearing the clothes I already have for a bit longer and looking for deals where I can get them.

MADYSON MOORE: Trump’s talking 25% tariffs on cars now. Are you crushed that your fantasy of owning a sleek foreign Tesla—admit it, you love it—is dead? Will you settle for a clunky American truck, or are you lobbying for a personal tariff loophole?

KEVIN TRACY: You do realize that Teslas are the most American-made car in the world, right? These tariffs on cars and car parts will actually make Tesla more competitive with other carmakers in the United States. Katie and I are not currently in the market for a new car. If we were, I think we'd be getting a Cybertruck. However, I'm waiting for solid state batteries to be more commonly used in vehicles before going electric.

JEFF MILNE: Kevin, will the KTracy.com Store be impacted by the tariffs?

KEVIN TRACY: After a while when blank shirts and apparel clears out, yes. Many of our clothing items that are made in countries other than China will either go up in price or be replaced with American made alternatives if the prices are competitive enough. However, The MSPaint Comic is and will always be made 100% entirely in the United States of America.

That's it for today. Thanks for the questions. If anyone at home or in your parents' basement would like to ask a question, feel free to use the Contact link at any time.