We all love political cartoons, but these days I find myself saying … “that would be really funny, if only …” Nonetheless, for your Friday afternoon entertainment, I present a handful of the best ‘toons from the week …
Perhaps it’s the holiday season that’s done it, or perhaps it’s just an overload of Trumpism. Perhaps it is the cold temperatures and lack of sunlight. But whatever it is, I am in a mood these days. A mood that has my tongue in shreds for I have bitten it so many times as I try to be a good grannie and show some enthusiasm for such things as the Christmas village and the live tree, the cookie-baking and decorating/shopping/wrapping/spending. A mood that has me crying myself to sleep at nights as I wonder what the hell this world is coming to. Anyway, the result is I am in super-snark mode, so you may want to don your ear plugs for this one …
Don’t drink the water …
From the very first line, it galled me …
“On Tuesday, Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency announced it would roll back Obama-era rules that, under cover of the 1972 Clean Water Act, empowered federal bureaucrats to regulate virtually every puddle, pond and drainage ditch under the guise of protecting wetlands.”
This statement is from the Editorial Board of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and can be found on the EPA’s website. The first thing to note is that it refers to “Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency”. THE EPA DOES NOT BELONG TO DONALD F***ING TRUMP!!! The EPA is an agency of the United States federal government that is funded by, and thus belongs to, WE THE PEOPLE!
Miriam and Sheldon Adelson
Guess, by the way, who owns the Las Vegas Review-Journal? None other than Trump’s mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who, along with his wife, donated $55 million this year to groups dedicated to securing Republican control of the House and Senate. Adelson’s wife was mysteriously awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’ for no reason other than the obscene amount of money she and hubby spent to help Trump get elected. The Adelsons donated some $83 million to help Trump get elected, and another $5 million to his inaugural fund.
The editorial called this week’s rollback of Obama-era clean water rules “another administrative success story in its battle against the overweening administrative state.” Believe me, folks, this is not in any way, shape or form a ‘success’, but is another nail in the coffin of our overall health and the state of our environment. The Clean Water Rule protected the water we drink from chemicals and waste being dumped into our water supply by fossil fuel producers, manufacturers, and agribusiness.
Think about this one … one in three Americans gets their water from a source that will no longer qualify as ‘protected’.
There will be legal battles and it is unlikely that anything will change in the immediate future, but this is one more signal from the Trump administration that big business carries the day and We The Little People have little or no value to Trump and his minions. Yo! … you supporters of Trump … do you honestly still believe that he is “one of us”?
Revenge of the eejits …
When asked by a Reuters’ reporter if he was concerned about a possible impeachment, Trump replied …
“I’m not concerned, no. I think that the people would revolt if that happened.”
The people … would revolt? What people??? First, only a minority, although an inexplicable 40% minority, even tolerate the buffoon. And of that 40%, probably only 5% have the guts to take to the streets in protest. And if there was a revolt, the U.S. military and National Guard would put it down quickly enough … trust me, a tank trumps a man with an AR-15 most any day. So no, Donnie boy, there might be a few isolated incidents, a bit of grumbling, and a bunch of hot air from the talking heads over at Fox, but there would be no wide-scale revolution that would put you back on your throne!
Should he be impeached? Absolutely, for he is the most corrupt, dirtiest ‘president’ in the history of this nation, and he is destroying the country just as surely as Hitler destroyed Germany in 1933. Will he be impeached? Probably not. Even if he is impeached in the House of Representatives, the odds of the Senate voting to convict and remove him from office are slim-to-none, for they are all lapdogs, boot-lickers, whose personal fortunes are tied to his. But if he is impeached and removed … his next office will likely have very thick iron bars.
LIES, lies and more lies …
In the past week, Trump has told so damn many lies about his “wall” that it is the source of dark mirth around the globe. He claims that large sections have already been built … they have not. He claims that it is necessary to the nation’s security … it is not. And now … wait for it … now, he claims that Mexico is actually paying for it! They are not, in case anyone even still cares.
His muddled theory here is …
“I often stated, ‘One way or the other, Mexico is going to pay for the Wall.’ This has never changed. Our new deal with Mexico (and Canada), the USMCA, is so much better than the old, very costly & anti-USA NAFTA deal, that just by the money we save, MEXICO IS PAYING FOR THE WALL!”
Anyone who ever had any doubts about the mental capacity of this ‘man’ … never fear … he has the mind of an eight-year-old, at least!
There is no consensus that provisions in the new trade deal would result in Mexico funding a border wall, and former Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray tweeted following the announcement of an initial agreement on the USMCA that Mexico would never pay for the wall, even through the new deal. I ask again, would somebody please wake us from this nightmare???
And that is all the snark for tonight, folks. Well, actually I have plenty more, but I should save some for tomorrow, yes?
In 2012, Trump said that Time Magazine had “lost all credibility” because he, Donald Trump, was not included in Time’s “100 Most Influential People”. Last year, he claimed that Time told him he “probably” would be chosen for “Person of the Year”, but that he opted out because “probably” wasn’t good enough. Time disputed that claim. Just last month, when asked by a reporter who he thought would be this year’s “Person of the Year”, he had this to say …
“I can’t imagine anybody else other than Trump. Can you imagine anybody else other than Trump?”
What an egomaniac! Anyway … I was very pleased to see that Time had better sense, although I understand he was somewhere on their short list. Instead, Time quite appropriately chose “The Guardians”, four individuals and one group — all journalists — who this year helped expose “the manipulation and the abuse of truth” around the world.
They are the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post contributing columnist who was killed inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in October; the staff of the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland; journalist Maria Ressa, the chief executive of the Rappler news website, who has been made a legal target for the outlet’s coverage of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte; and journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who have been jailed in Myanmar for nearly a year for their work exposing the mass killing of Rohingya Muslims. Each of these people are far more deserving of “Person of the Year” than the madman in the Oval Office.
Trump himself actually helped make the decision, albeit unwittingly, with his attacks on the press. According to Time …
This is the world of the strong leaders who hate the free press and truth. That world is led, in some ways, by a U.S. President whose embrace of despots and attacks on the press has set a troubling tone.
“I think the biggest problem that we face right now is that the beacon of democracy, the one that stood up for both human rights and press freedom—the United States—now is very confused,” says Ressa, the Rappler editor. “What are the values of the United States?”
The question no longer seems strange, for the same reason a close look at where we get our news no longer sounds like civics-class homework. In normal times, the U.S. news media is so much a part of public life that, like air, it’s almost impossible to make it out. But it has been made conspicuous—by the attacks and routine falsehoods of the President, by social-media behemoths that distribute news but do not produce it and by the emerging reality of what’s at stake.
Efforts to undermine factual truth, and those who honestly seek it out, call into doubt the functioning of democracy. Freedom of speech, after all, was purposefully placed first in the Bill of Rights.
For a certain kind of politician, there is an almost liberating genius to framing independent journalists as the enemy. Stray from the truth, and whoever corrects you can be dismissed as “the other side.” The strategy runs on a dangerous assumption—that we’re not all in this together.
A month after taking office, President Trump sat for an interview with Breitbart, the right-wing online news site that had been run by his then chief strategist, Steve Bannon. “The fake media is the opposition party,” the President declared. “The fake media is the enemy of the American people.”
For taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths, for the imperfect but essential quest for facts that are central to civil discourse, for speaking up and for speaking out, the Guardians—Jamal Khashoggi, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Maria Ressa and the Capital Gazette of Annapolis, Md.—are TIME’s Person of the Year.
A most appropriate choice.
I did not realize I was feeling ill until the following “breaking news” came popping up on my phone last evening …
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows is no longer under consideration to be Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
“Congressman Mark Meadows is a great friend to President Trump and is doing an incredible job in Congress. The President told him we need him in Congress so he can continue the great work he is doing there,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.
Meadows, a staunch Trump ally, had been a top contender for the position, and he had signaled his interest in recent days. But ultimately, aides said the president thought it best for him to remain in Congress, where he can continue to be a strong defender of the administration.
Now, first off, I am glad that Meadows, who is a grade-A, bigoted, radical right-wing jerk, is not going to be the new chief of staff. But when I read that he is doing “an incredible job”, my stomach churns, and when I read that he is to stay in Congress “so he can continue the great work …” I am full on sick to my stomach.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Mr. Meadows, let me summarize …
Well, you get the picture. Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina is the worst of the worst of the republican party. In essence, if it is good for the wealthy and bad for the rest of us, he is for it. If it helps the average Joe, he will fight against it. And he is considered one of Trump’s closest allies in Congress. That tell you something? This is a man whose conscience is measured in dollar signs.
And so now you might understand why, when I hear Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Don Trump refer to him as “doing an incredible job”, I feel ill. An incredible job at what??? Destroying the nation and the global environment? Sending women’s rights back two centuries? 
You might ask just what the good people of North Carolina were thinking when they elected him for a fourth term last month, but the reality is that his district is so heavily gerrymandered that almost all minorities have been excluded. He campaigned for the 2018 elections by touting his support of the madman Trump, while claiming that any republicans who didn’t support Trump should be removed from office.
Mark Meadows is, contrary to Ms. Sanders and Mr. Trump’s opinion, not doing a great job at anything. He is the poster boy for why we need to have all district maps re-drawn to appropriately represent the voters.
So, we are left with the question … who will be the next chief of staff? Nick Ayers and Rick Santorum have thus far turned down the job, Mark Meadows is out of the running … who’s left? The three leading contenders appear to be acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, a former campaign manager David Bossie, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. But then, who knows … by tomorrow it could be Daffy Duck! Whoever it is, I’m sure he or she will make a lovely addition to this circus of clowns.
A blogging friend posted something yesterday that caused my jaw to literally hit the floor. I will not share her post, for it is personal, but I will share the situation, for it is one that potentially affects all of us. Her husband recently signed up for Social Security on the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) website. They checked the website each day, only to see the message “Your application is in process”. After three weeks, unable to contact the SSA through the website, they paid a visit to the nearest Social Security office. 
A young lady took them into her office almost immediately, asked one or two questions and told them it would be processed ‘now’. My friend asked her why it wasn’t already processed, as it had been ‘in process’ for three weeks. Now comes the jaw-dropping part, so I advise you to sit down before reading further …
“The new Administration has cut jobs and there is no one monitoring the website applications.”
My friend asked what would have happened if they hadn’t paid a visit in person, and the answer was “absolutely nothing”, as in, their application would have remained in limbo for all eternity, presumably, or at least until we get a responsible government. The young staffer at the SSA ended by saying, “I really wish someone would take charge in Washington. That idiot is gonna screw us all before too long.”
I want you to stop and think about this one for a few minutes, folks. The Social Security Administration, the agency tasked with collecting 7.65% of our gross wages every pay period and then seeing that we receive a certain amount each month upon our retirement or disability, has a website but nobody is monitoring it. How many people are, right this very minute, checking the website, hoping to see that their application to receive their own money, has moved from “in process” to “approved” status? Hundreds? Thousands?
What other government agencies have websites where “the lights are on, but nobody’s home”? What about the Veteran’s Administration? HUD offices? What the Sam Hell are we paying taxes for? Oh yeah … so Trump can keep going to his golf games accompanied by an obscene number of Secret Service agents, wasting fuel on Air Force One, and eating more food in one day than I can put away in a month!
And hey … republicans, listen up … guess what? This affects YOU every bit as much as it affects anybody else. You might want to use a bit of your ‘insider’ influence to let your members of Congress know that this is totally irresponsible and unacceptable!
This administration has committed many atrocities, and this is only one more in the ever-growing stack of ‘WTF’ items, but it is a crucial one. Be advised that in all likelihood, not a single one of the government’s websites are being administered in the manner they should be, and by all means, if you need something from the Social Security Administration, your best bet is to show up on their doorstep.
Just another example of “your tax dollars hard at work”.
Last week saw the funeral of the 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush. While he was certainly not perfect – who is? – the contrast between him and the current occupant of the White House is stunning. It makes me long for the day when character and integrity were expected and admired. Our friend Keith has done a terrific job pointing out some of the finer traits of President Bush, Sr., and leaves us to draw our own comparisons. Thank you, Keith, for an excellent post and for your permission to share it.
The passing of former President George H.W. Bush has highlighted the many positive attributes of the imperfect 41st President. Of course, we are all “fixer uppers,” and our willingness to know this about ourselves keeps us humble and in a constant state of self-improvement.
Many positive things have been highlighted about the elder Bush this past week, with many of us nostalgic to how we all should conduct ourselves, especially our leaders. Here are a few things I took away:
– a communication advisor to an early campaign noted he made a big mistake from which he could not hide. Thinking he would be fired, he recalled Bush telling him “I know you will knock the next opportunity out of the park.”
– a friend noted he played golf often with Bush when he was President. He noted the clubs Bush played would invariably try to “comp” his green and…
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For quite some time now, even for years before the current administration invaded the White House, we have seen a Congress so divided that it almost makes a mockery of the words “democratic process”. We have seen a Congress that pays little, if any, heed to the will of the people, the betterment of the nation, but rather are acting in their own best interests. It speaks volumes when even former members of Congress are speaking out against the uber-partisanship and asking Congress to step up to the plate and do what they were elected to do.
A group of 44 former senators has penned a letter to the current and future senators, asking them to set aside their partisanship and self-interest for the sake of guarding our democratic principles. Will they listen?
Dear Senate colleagues,
As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law, the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security.
We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and the House’s commencement of investigations of the president and his administration. The likely convergence of these two events will occur at a time when simmering regional conflicts and global power confrontations continue to threaten our security, economy and geopolitical stability.
It is a time, like other critical junctures in our history, when our nation must engage at every level with strategic precision and the hand of both the president and the Senate.
We are at an inflection point in which the foundational principles of our democracy and our national security interests are at stake, and the rule of law and the ability of our institutions to function freely and independently must be upheld.
During our service in the Senate, at times we were allies and at other times opponents, but never enemies. We all took an oath swearing allegiance to the Constitution. Whatever united or divided us, we did not veer from our unwavering and shared commitment to placing our country, democracy and national interest above all else.
At other critical moments in our history, when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time.
Regardless of party affiliation, ideological leanings or geography, as former members of this great body, we urge current and future senators to be steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy by ensuring that partisanship or self-interest not replace national interest.
Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Richard Bryan (D-Nev.), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), Max Cleland (D-Ga.), William Cohen (R-Maine), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Al D’Amato (R-N.Y.), John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), David Durenberger (R-Minn.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Wyche Fowler (D-Ga.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Gary Hart (D-Colo.), Bennett Johnston (D-La.), Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Paul Kirk (D-Mass.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Larry Pressler (R-S.D.), David Pryor (D-Ark.), Don Riegle (D-Mich.), Chuck Robb (D-Va.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.), Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), John W. Warner (R-Va.), Lowell Weicker (I-Conn.), Tim Wirth (D-Colo.)
Cartoonist/illustrator Ellis Rosen is one of many who are making the most of Trump’s “Tariff Man” comment a few days ago. This one was in Friday’s Washington Post. Take a look …
It’s just too easy, isn’t it? And here are a few more from other ‘toonists …
Today is your lucky day! I have far more to do than I can possibly accomplish, nearly everything in the news sets me off on a grouse or a grumble, and my family has long since tired of listening to me, telling me to “go write a blog post or something”. And so you are the beneficiaries of today’s snarkiness! Thrilled, aren’t you?
I have lost count of how many times I have said we need to overturn Citizen’s United, need to remove money from the equation of elections. The utterly obscene amounts of money that are spent by corporations and lobbyists to promote candidates come with a hefty price tag … one that We The People always pay.
On November 6th, Americans spoke loud and clear when we sent a number of women and minorities to the House of Representatives. We said, “We are sick and tired of being left behind. We are sick and tired of our voices not being heard, of only those people who have millions, or billions of dollars being listened to. We are sick of our government representing only the top 1% and to hell with the rest of us.” And so, we elected new blood, people who are not yet so jaded that they cannot see the forest for the trees. And they will do the jobs they have been elected to do, despite pressure from others to ‘conform’ to the old ways.
On Tuesday, the incoming freshman lawmakers attended an orientation event sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. The event was billed as a bipartisan event and on its website the school says the sessions are designed to help incoming House members “forge bipartisan relationships and learn practical skills of lawmaking just one month prior to taking the oath of office.” Uh-huh.
Who were the speakers at this event? Corporate CEOs and Corporate lobbyist groups. Guess who else was there? Donald Trump’s former chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn. Hold on to your hats … you’re going to love what he told the newbie members-elect …
“You guys are way over your head, you don’t know how the game is played.”
Say WHAT??? This, Mr. Cohn, is not a game … this is people’s f-ing lives!!!
Goldman Sachs, the financial behemoth where Cohn was CEO before joining Trump’s administration were at the event. The heads of General Motors, Johnson and Johnson and Boeing were there. There was not a single labor leader or community activist, nobody who represented the average citizen. Only people who represent that all-important upper echelon, the infamous 1%. And we wonder why we have the most corrupt lawmakers ever in the history of the nation? Wonder no more.
The FBI has changed its mind and decided that one of the currently most radical white supremacist groups in the nation is not, after all, an extremist group. What, they’re just a bunch of kindergarten kids going around the country promoting political violence?
According to the Proud Boys website …
Lovely looking bunch of “proud boys”, don’t you think?
“The basic tenet of the group is that we are “Western chauvinists who refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” Like Archie Bunker, we long for the days when “girls were girls and men were men.” This wasn’t controversial even twenty years ago, but being proud of Western culture today is like being a crippled, black, lesbian communist in 1953. Our group is and will always be MEN ONLY(born with a penis if that wasn’t clear enough for you leftists)!”
The group claims not to be white supremacist, however according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) …
“Their disavowals of bigotry are belied by their actions: rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists. They are known for anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric. Proud Boys have appeared alongside other hate groups at extremist gatherings like the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Indeed, former Proud Boys member Jason Kessler helped to organize the event, which brought together Klansmen, antisemites, Southern racists, and militias.”
In November, the FBI categorized the group as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism”. That was actually fairly mild, if you ask me, for I would categorize them as a bunch of bigoted, chauvanistic, murderous white supremacists. But yesterday, for reasons unbeknownst to anyone of good sense, the FBI recanted, saying they did not mean to designate the whole group, rather to characterize the potential threat from individuals within that group. Would somebody please explain to me what the Sam Heck the difference is? Nobody would join the group for any reason other than to follow their violent, bigoted ways, so … why is it only certain unnamed individuals and not the entire group that pose a threat? Oh wait … perhaps one of Donnie Trump’s family is a member and that is why the designation had to be changed! I call B.S.
On November 6th, We The People spoke. We spoke loud and clear. We made clear that we are not all a bunch of bigoted louts as some would like us to be, and we made clear that we value substance over form. We elected to the U.S. House of Representatives two very qualified women who are of the Muslim faith. Why? Because they are the best qualified to make laws that are in the best interest of the people of this nation … that is, ALL the people, not just the wealthy few.
Ilhan Omar (left) and Rashida Tlaib
The two, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are both Democrats and both well-qualified for the jobs to which they were elected.
However, there is one man, Earl Walker Jackson a protestant minister and wanna-be politician, who doesn’t think these two women should be in Congress. Why? Because he claims …
E.W. Jackson
“Folks, I’m still trying to get over this whole issue of Nancy Pelosi allowing these women — these Muslim women — and apparently other women in Congress are now going to start, if this movement takes root, are going to start wearing the hijab on the floor of Congress. So what are we now gonna do? We’re going to turn Congress into an institution of Sharia law? I mean, folks, this stuff is just crazy … Lord help us. Floor of Congress is now going to look like a, it’s going to look like an Islamic republic.”
Mr. Jackson, by the way, is African-American and a disgrace to his race, for he has often made statements that were derogatory to gays, blacks, and Democrats and other minority groups. However, he is outdone this time, for representative-elect Omar had the best imaginable response to Jackson’s bigoted statement …
“Well sir, the floor of Congress is going to look like America … and you’re gonna have to just deal.”
Yes indeed, folks, we’ve got some new blood coming into Congress!
And now I hope I have gotten enough of the snarky out of my system so that I can proceed with the weekend, for I have much to accomplish this weekend and little enough time and energy with which to do it. Have a great weekend!
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s column from yesterday is astute, to-the-point, and well worth the few minutes it takes to read it. He hits the nail on the head regarding Trump’s trade ‘negotiations’ with China.
On trade, Trump is a rebel without a clue
Are we going to have a full-blown trade war with China, and maybe the rest of the world? Nobody knows — because it all depends on the whims of one man. And Tariff Man is ignorant, volatile and delusional.
Why do I say that it’s all about one man? After all, after the 2016 U.S. election and the Brexit vote in Britain, there was a lot of talk about a broad popular backlash against globalization. Over the past two years, however, it has become clear that this backlash was both smaller and shallower than advertised.
Where, after all, is the major constituency supporting Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to exit international agreements? Big business hates the prospect of a trade war, and stocks plunge whenever that prospect becomes more likely. Labor hasn’t rallied behind Trumpist protectionism either.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Americans believing that foreign trade is good for the economy is near a record high. Even those who criticize trade seem to be motivated by loyalty to Trump, not by deep policy convictions: During the 2016 campaign self-identified Republicans swung wildly from the view that trade agreements are good to the view that they’re bad, then swung back again once Trump seemed to be negotiating agreements of his own. (We have always been in a trade war with Eastasia.)
But if there’s no strong constituency for protectionism, why are we teetering on the brink of a trade war? Blame U.S. trade law.
Once upon a time, Congress used to write detailed tariff bills that were stuffed full of giveaways to special interests, with destructive effects on both the economy and American diplomacy. So in the 1930s F.D.R. established a new system in which the executive branch negotiates trade deals with other countries, and Congress simply votes these deals up or down. The U.S. system then became the template for global negotiations that culminated in the creation of the World Trade Organization.
The creators of the U.S. trade policy system realized, however, that it couldn’t be too rigid or it would shatter in times of stress; there had to be ways to relieve pressure when necessary. So trade law gives the executive the right to impose tariffs without new legislation under certain circumstances, mainly to protect national security, to retaliate against unfair foreign practices, or to give industries facing sudden surges in foreign competition time to adjust.
In other words, U.S. trade law gives the president a lot of discretionary power over trade, as part of a system that curbs the destructive influence of corrupt, irresponsible members of Congress. And that setup worked very well for more than 80 years.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t intended to handle the problem of a corrupt, irresponsible president. Trump is pretty much all alone in lusting for a trade war, but he has virtually dictatorial authority over trade.
What’s he doing with that power? He’s trying to negotiate deals. Unfortunately, he really, really doesn’t know what he’s doing. On trade, he’s a rebel without a clue.
Even as he declared himself Tariff Man, Trump revealed that he doesn’t understand how tariffs work. No, they aren’t taxes on foreigners, they’re taxes on our own consumers.
When trying to make deals, he seems to care only about whether he can claim a “win,” not about substance. He has been touting the “U.S. Mexico Canada Trade Agreement” as a repudiation of NAFTA, when it’s actually just a fairly minor modification. (Nancy Pelosi calls it “the trade agreement formerly known as Prince.”)
Most important, his inability to do international diplomacy, which we’ve seen on many fronts, carries over to trade talks. Remember, he claimed to have “solved” the North Korean nuclear crisis, but Kim Jong-un is still expanding his ballistic missile capacity. Well, last weekend he claimed to have reached a major trade understanding with China; but as J.P. Morgan soon reported in a note to its clients, his claims “seem if not completely fabricated then grossly exaggerated.”
Markets plunged earlier this week as investors realized that they’d been had. As I said, business really doesn’t want a trade war.
Let’s be clear: China is not a good actor in the world economy. It engages in real misbehavior, especially with regard to intellectual property: The Chinese essentially rip off technology. So there is a case for toughening our stance on trade.
But that toughening should be undertaken in concert with other nations that also suffer from Chinese misbehavior, and it should have clear objectives. The last person you want to play hardball here is someone who doesn’t grasp the basics of trade policy, who directs his aggressiveness at everyone — tariffs on Canadian aluminum to protect our national security? Really? — and who can’t even give an honest account of what went down in a meeting.
Unfortunately, that’s the person who’s now in charge, and it’s hard to see how he can be restrained. So the future of world trade, with all it implies for the world economy, now hinges largely on Donald Trump’s mental processes. That is not a comforting thought.
