This is unfortunate. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., brought to the floor a bill to reject Trump’s use of the “national emergency” to use executive power on tariffs. To the best of my understanding, this was to stop the action of applying tariffs to all countries. It would bring the power back to Congress, where they belong, and get them back under control, instead of Trump just making random decisions whenever the mood strikes him. From, of all places, Fox News:
The Senate failed Wednesday to pass a resolution rejecting President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff agenda, as several Republicans signaled beforehand they favored halting the relatively new levies, and Vice President JD Vance was called in to break an ensuing procedural tie. The disapproval resolution failed 49-49, with three Republicans joining all Democrats present in attempting to throw a wrench in Trump’s tariff plans.
Damn. This would have been the right thing to do. After looking at some of the latest tariff changes, nothing makes sense! *All* countries are going to take a hit. And *why* is he so intent on clobbering Canada and Mexico? He redid NAFTA and put a new agreement in place. So why in the hell is he being ridiculous now? The tariff increases are going to hurt manufacturers in the US just as much as the other 2 countries. But of course, Trump’s tariffs hurt 99% of America, and it doesn’t seem to matter to him. What a crock.
One tariff critic told reporters earlier Wednesday that the disapproval motion sent “the message I want to send” that tariffs must be more “discriminatory.” “You know, there was an old-fashioned conservative principle that believed that less taxes were better than more taxes,” Rand Paul said. “That if you tax something, you got less of it. So that if you place a new tax on trade, you’ll get less trade.” Paul said the Constitution forbids taxation being implemented in a way that circumvents Congress and laid out why he thought that was the case today.
This is spot-on. With Trump’s tariffs, we are getting fewer things. We likely will have to pay higher prices, too. They’ve already started creeping up. Trump thinks he is bringing all this money into the US, and the people will benefit. As you already know, that’s quite wrong. Any regular person could see that. But Trump won’t, and likely can’t, with the way his mind works.
Let’s not forget about the Big Ugly Bill. Trump wanted to reward the oligarchs with tax cuts. Well, he did, so we have that to look forward to, on top of tariffs. They get more, we get less. We certainly get even less with these nonsensical tariffs in place. It’s already showing. I’ve been trying to find bird seed, of all things. Neither the Kroger grocery store nor Walmart has it. I’m almost positive the majority is an import. Ukraine exports sunflower seeds, just as an example.
“An emergency has been declared, as the Senator from Virginia remarked,” Rand Paul said. “Everywhere, there’s an emergency everywhere. Sounds like an emergency everywhere is really an emergency nowhere.” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., had previously balked at Trump’s tariffs on Canada, saying that while fentanyl proliferation is an emergency as the president declared, it is not one that is germane to Canada. Schumer commented on the ultimate result, saying Republicans “voted to keep the Trump tariff-tax in place. They own the Trump tariffs and higher costs on America’s middle-class families.”
Indeed, they do. They also own the Big Ugly Bill. They own Trump’s random tariffs because they didn’t vote to stop it. I know I’m blaming Republicans for these things. At least Democrats *tried* to stop Trump. As usual, it failed. Republicans are too terrified to do the right thing. We *attempted* to do the right thing.
Friends, if you can help us with a small donation or an ad-free subscription, it would be appreciated. We are attempting to get through a year of depressed traffic and make it to 2026, where the grass will hopefully be greener due to the midterms. Thank you. Ursula
