Trump can only do this because Congress gave Presidents this power, as I explained in the a post yesterday. Congress can take it back at any moment. Given the minuscule Republican hold in the House, that means that every GOP representative is literally and personally responsible for these tariffs and their consequences. Every single one. High prices? Rep. X is responsible. He or she could end this but they’re not. A 401k that might flatline before you do? Thank Rep. X. They could end this but they’re supporting it. It’s crystal clear and has the benefit of being true.
This commentary from the editor of Talking Points Memo lays out the clear and compelling case for Democrats to go on the attack against the Republican backers – that is to say, basically all Republicans – of Trump's bonkers tariff crusade. What's not clear, amazingly, is whether the Democrats will have the brains or the courage to do it.
Tariffs are one of the many policies on which Congress has abdicated over the decades, handing more and more power to the executive branch. As the author points out, Congress could easily take that power back if it had the slightest inclination – and given that the Republicans are fully in charge, it's entirely on them to either do it or not.
If you are represented in the House by a Democrat, please call his or her office and forcefully request that the member wake up to the policy and political case for putting the responsibility for this disaster right where it belongs: on Trump and his Republican toadies. If a Republican currently holds the seat, call your local/state Democratic party headquarters and find out who plans to run next year – and then contact that person (or people) with the same request to get on this issue, loudly and publicly, right now.
We know that the Democrats have been acting like children lost in the wilderness. Time to find out whether they're going to be actual grownups.
By the way, most political journalists are ignoring this context. If they were explaining how Congress could recapture the authority it gave away, it might make a difference. Since most of them show no signs of doing their jobs, it's on the rest of us.
Already in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson has moved to prevent any vote from occurring. He pushed through a provision that essentially sidelined a Democratic effort to force a vote on the Canada tariffs, and he could do much the same for Trump’s latest tranche of “Liberation Day” duties. Democrats, meanwhile, said they are exploring options — including a possible discharge petition — to force a vote in the House.
I'm flagging this Politico story because the news organization – which leans toward the right in its coverage – had the courage here to post an honest headline. It's better than anything I've seen in the New York Times or other "mainstream" media outlets, though I haven't done an exhaustive search.
On the incredibly-crappy-media front, this headline from the New York Times is an absolute classic in the genre of credulous journalism:
"Why Did Trump Spare Russia from New Tariffs," the pretend Paper of Record asks before doing stenography for the Trump regime. The administration's answer is risible and ridiculous, and the article only hints at that.
It is no different from a mob boss moving into town and sending his thugs to every business on Main Street, roughing up the proprietors and asking for protection money so they don’t get pushed out of business. Trump believes that the U.S. is indispensable enough that it can intimidate every country on Earth by, well, asking for protection money, which would take many forms: curbing migration, taking in more U.S. farm exports or weapons systems, reducing industrial capacity in China and forcing more consumption, buying long-dated U.S. debt on the cheap, siding with a war strategy against Iran, literally anything the White House wants. Trump now has a tool by which he can achieve whatever goals he conjures up, or simply have his leg-breakers beat the global economy to a pulp. It’s a mentality fit for someone repeatedly linked to organized crime.
This American Prospect commentary makes the best case for logic – however grotesque and perverted the logic may be – in the Trump regime's tariff assault on the rest of the world. It's a protection racket and it could work.
It also invites almost pure corruption. When you consider that Trump is by far the most corrupt president in American history – there's no close second – that part of this immense scam gets more obvious.
Countries and corporations will come begging for favors. The price will be political and financial. It seems a given that at least some of the money that flows corruptly in coming months will end up in the bank (or impossible-to-trace-or-tax cryptocurrency) accounts of Trump, his family, his apparatchiks, and his other collaborators in sleaze.
Hey, another opportunity for some journalism – and a reminder of the vital role whistleblowers will have to play in the near future. Following this money will be difficult, but essential.
Once we make sense of his preferences for the post-liberal order, Trump’s treatment of Canada—but also of Russia, Greenland, and others—begins to make a lot more sense. Trump’s approach to the international system is a strange blend of neo-feudal hierarchy with transactional politics guided by five principles: dominance of great powers, conditionality of alliances, weaponization of trade, irrelevance of institutions, and personalization of diplomacy.
As this fascinating New Republic article notes, it is folly to believe that Trump has the intellect or knowledge of history to be pushing this craziness as a coherent policy. But the oligarchs pushing his regime to wreck our system, economy, and moral standing – part of their long project for the rich to take over everything – plainly do believe it. And they are equally plainly the puppet masters behind Trump and (even more so) Vance.
The "principles" do have a certain consistency, however – and they collectively make sense if you believe political and corporate leaders will always be evil. Certainly the ones running America today fit that label.
As the headline says, the "vision" here is deeply dystopian. If it prevails, humanity is in for decades of cruelty, destruction, and death. We can still avert it, but time grows shorter.
This newsletter is a compendium of the reporting and commentary that best explains the America's political, economic, and social conditions – and, most important, how we can find a way back from the dark days ahead. You will rarely find anything here from the New York Times or Washington Post or any of the other Big Journalism companies that failed us so completely during the 2024 elections and are now sucking up – even more than usual – to Donald Trump, his cult, and corporate oligarchs. My focus will be on smaller, more honorable outlets (and individuals). I hope you'll support them with your attention and your money. For more details, please read my About page.
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