Protective Tariffs

Trump’s Admiration For Presidents Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, And William McKinley! :(

Ronald 27 Comments

Donald Trump has demonstrated a fixation with three past Presidents–Andrew Jackson (1829-1837); James K. Polk (1845-1849); and William McKinley (1897-1901).

All three of these Presidents had accomplishments worthy of being recalled, but all three also had major shortcomings.

Jackson is rated number 21; McKinley number 24; and Polk number 25 in the American Political Science Association Survey in 2024.

Jackson fell 12 points in rank; McKinley 3 points in rank; and Polk 6 points in rank from nearly a decade earlier, in 2015.

In the last C Span Presidential Survey in 2021, Jackson was number 22, down from 18 and 13 in earlier rankings

McKinley was number 14, up from 16 and 15 in earlier rankings.

Polk was number 18, down from 14 and 12 in earlier rankings.

Jackson has had major problems in historical rankings with growing recognition of the “Trail of Tears”, the forcible removal of five Indian tribes from the South to Oklahoma in the 1830s. Also, Jackson was a vehement supporter of slavery, and worked to prevent abolitionists from being able to send their antislavery literature through the US Mail system. The corrupt spoils system began under him, and he was infamous for his terrible temper and killing of a number of people through gun duels. And yet, Donald Trump admires him, and promoted him in the Oval Office during his first Presidential term.

Now, in his second term, Trump has promoted James K. Polk, whose imperialistic bent, “Manifest Destiny” led to more gaining of territory than anyone except Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase. War with Mexico added the whole Southwest, and a treaty with Great Britain divided the Pacific Northwest between Canada and the United States. And Polk promoted slavery, and like Jackson, owned hundreds of slaves

Also, William McKinley has fasinated Donald Trump, with his McKinley Tariff in 1890, when McKinley was in Congress, which led to the “Panic of 1893”, the worst economic downturn until that time frame. And then, McKinley promoted going to war with Spain (Spanish American War), with the US gaining the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, a sphere of influence over Cuba, and separately, annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. So McKinley, just like Polk, was a clearcut imperialist.

Trump and his fixation with tariffs finds McKinley fascinating, despite the truth of the Panic of 1893, and both Polk and McKinley and their imperialistic bent fascinate Trump, with his stated interest in taking back the Panama Canal; making Canada the 51st state; taking Greenland away from Denmark; and wanting US involvement in the Gaza Strip.

Trump State Of The Union Address: Highly Divisive And Lies, Lies, Lies! :(

Ronald 14 Comments

Donald Trump gave the longest State of the Union speech ever delivered last evening, about 9,900 words lasting about 100 minutes, surpassing Bill Clinton’s State of the Union speech in 2000.

The speech was highly, extremely divisive, unusual as Presidents usually try to promote a sense of unity when giving the State of the Union address, even with the opposition party, but instead Trump was gloating about his victory, which he exaggerated regarding its magnitude.

Trump, as usual, lied, lied, and lied some more, distorting and exaggerating reality, facts, and truth.

Trump lied about Joe Biden’s record, calling him the worst President in US History (which was an example of projection about himself).

Trump also took a dig against Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the primary promoter of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that became law under Barack Obama, but now is on the chopping block.

Trump also claimed that there are people over 100 years of age, up to 300 years old, who are collecting Social Security, a clearcut attack on that program that has existed for 90 years since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. There is fear that Social Security may not be paid in future months, due to the claims of waste, fraud, and abuse that are totally preposterous, and with layoffs of civil service employees in that agency.

Trump also promoted the idea of seizing the Panama Canal and taking over Greenland from Denmark, which will antagonize Latin America and NATO respectively, as Trump promotes “imperialism”.

Watching the smirks of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance was infuriating, as the nation clearly is evenly divided, but there was no interest in crossing the aisle and promoting cooperation, with the Congress more divisive and the majority unconcerned about compromise and negotiation.

Trump’s promotion of tariffs with Canada, Mexico, and China will raise the cost of living dramatically, and soon, and goes against the record of history, that tariffs are counterproductive.

Plaudits to newly elected Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, who gave the Democratic response to the State of the Union, and introduced herself to the nation as a legislator who should be respected and paid attention to in the future of the Democratic Party.

The battle ahead for the average American taxpayer and families will be a long, bitter struggle, but the Democrats must not sit on the sidelines, but instead march, demonstrate, organize, and vigorously fight with every bone in their bodies against the extreme right wing tilt of the Republican Party, which has repudiated so much of their heritage over 170 years of their history from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan!

83rd Anniversary Of Pearl Harbor, And Donald Trump Foreign Policy Views The Greatest Threat Since Then!

Ronald 7 Comments

Today is Pearl Harbor Day, the 83rd Anniversary of the Japanese attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which brought America into World War II.

Isolationist and “America First” mentality had brought America into a naive view about world affairs, and America was caught off guard.

We are now in danger of that occurring eight decades later, with the isolationist and supernationalist mentality of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans.

Just as many public figures before 1941 made excuses for Japanese aggression in the Pacific and Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Europe, to our detriment, now we have Donald Trump and his lunatic followers who would rather “trust” authoritarian dictators than to enforce alliances against them.

So we have apologists for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, who wish Ukraine to just surrender.

And we have belief that other authoritarian dictators around the world can be our “friends”, while moving toward aggressive reactions to our territorial shared neighbors of Mexico and Canada, and are ready to use protective tariffs, which were a major cause of the Great Depression against major trade partners other than Mexico and Canada.

And the signs are that after having formed NATO in 1949 which kept the peace and promoted stability in Europe, as well alliances with Asian nations that did the same, that now we are ready to repudiate such alliances, and promote being close to authoritarian leaders around the world.

This is pure suicide and insanity, but Donald Trump and his minions are totally ignorant and clueless on international affairs and national security.

And we seem ready to put a dangerous woman, Tulsi Gabbard, in charge as Director of National Intelligence, who has cozied up to Vladimir Putin and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, undermining our ability to defend our nation.

The prayer is that America will wake up from the repeat of history of 80-90 years ago, and secure American national security, but the likelihood is just the opposite, to the detriment of all Americans!

Donald Trump’s Insane Tariff Policy: An Economic Disaster If Ever Enacted!

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Donald Trump is proposing massive tariffs on foreign nations and their goods, particularly China, without realizing such a policy is a true economic disaster!

History tells us high protective tariffs, as for instance under President Herbert Hoover nearly a century ago, with the Smoot Hawley Tariff of 1930, helped make an economic downturn escalate into a full scale Great Depression!

Back then, hundreds of economists took out an ad in the NY TIMES, pleading with Hoover to veto such action, but he paid no attention, and it caused his demise to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Presidential Election Of 1932.

What Trump clearly does not understand is that it is middle class and working class Americans who will suffer the most, as prices of all kinds of imported goods will rise 20 percent or more, adding massively to the cost of living.

Trump is ignorant on economics, along with many other areas of knowledge and policy, and were he elected and able to accomplish his crazy economic ideas, it could lead to another Great Depression!

So the Presidential Election of 2024 is crucial on economic policy, as it is on so many other issues!

From Ronald Reagan To Donald Trump: Complete Tranformation Of Republican Party!

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The Republican Party of Ronald Reagan has completely transformed in the 40 years since, and has become alien to the beliefs of conservatives, due to the impact of Donald Trump.

Ronald Reagan believed the Soviet Union was a threat to world democracy, while Trump and MAGA supporters are openly pro Russian Federation, as well as friendly to North Korea and China, and also other authoritarian regimes around the world. So Trump and his supporters are isolationists, and do not give a damn about Ukraine.

Ronald Reagan believed in free trade, but now Donald Trump and his ilk promote protectionism, and pledge rise in tariffs if he elected, which would increase the cost of living for all Americans.

Roneld Reagan believed in supporting immigration as a strength of America, while Trump and his supporters are nativists, who wish to prevent all immigrants from anywhere but Europe.

The historical Republican Party is now dead, only kept alive by a small number of old line Republicans, who wish for a return to the ideals of Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan had many faults and shortcomings, but it is clear he would not support the Donald Trump controlled Republican Party!

A Century Ago Revived: Isolationism, Protectionism, Nativism!

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It has been a century since three “isms” were promoted, that undermined the United States!

We had the rise of Isolationism in the 1920s and 1930s, after World War I, a very powerful movement, particularly among Republicans, which became a major challenge for Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal.

This author and blogger wrote about this in his first book–TWILIGHT OF PROGRESSIVISM: THE WESTERN REPUBLICAN SENATORS AND THE NEW DEAL (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981).

We also saw the rise of Protectionism, the idea of high protective tariffs, which was pursued by Republican Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.

Hoover, in particular, pursued this with the Hawley Smoot Tariff of 1930, which made the emerging Great Depression only multipled in 1930 and after, and this despite hundreds of economists taking out newspaper ads, appealing to Hoover to reject higher tariffs.

And we also had nativism, with the passage of extremely restrictive immigration laws in the 1920s under Calvin Coolidge, discriminating against Catholic, Jewish, and Asian immigrants, an apology that led to great human tragedy during the 1930s and World War II.

Now, we have Donald Trump and the Republican Party pursuing the goal of Isolationism (unwillingness to back Ukraine in its war with Russia, weakened support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and expressing doubts about supporting the sovereignty of Taiwan against mainland China)!

And we have Protectionism rearing its ugly head, with Trump promoting the idea of 10 percent tariffs on all foreign goods, which will raise the prices to American consumers, causing major rises in the cost of living!

Finally, we have Nativism, with the pledge of Trump to deport up to 11 million migrants, both undocumented immigrants and others who are not citizens of the United States, bringing back memories of detention camps promoted by Trump in his first term, including separation of children from their parents!

America cannot allow these old “isms” to become government policy again, as we need to learn from mistakes of a century ago!

Historic Moment For Vice President To Turn Against President: Extremely Rare!

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Former Vice President Mike Pence has FINALLY stopped being a sycophant to Donald Trump, after being obsequious to the former President since his selection to be Vice President in the Summer of 2016.

Pence has been weak all along, but finally said he did his constitutional duty by counting the Electoral College votes in the Presidential Election of 2020, a ceremonial duty, with no power to challenge the official vote count.

This IS an historic moment, for a Vice President to turn against the President, extremely rare!

The only public times were Aaron Burr against Thomas Jefferson in 1801, after Burr created a constitutional crisis over whether he or Jefferson was to be President, due to a so called “tie’ in electoral votes; and John C. Calhoun against both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, the two Presidents he served as Vice President, over the issue of the protective tariff and states rights, secession, and nullification.

Also, but more veiled, not obvious publicly, Charles G. Dawes had disagreements with Calvin Coolidge: John Nance Garner broke with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 as he sought to succeed him; Al Gore separated himself from Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky Scandal as Gore ran for President in 2000; and Dick Cheney had growing disagreements and a growing breach with George W. Bush in Bush’s second term after 2005.

Also, more veiled was Thomas Marshall not being informed about Woodrow Wilson’s health after his stroke; Lyndon B. Johnson being mistreated by Robert F. Kennedy under John F. Kennedy’s Presidency; and Hubert Humphrey forced to support the Vietnam War under Johnson after 1965, later stated as a very difficult time for Humphrey.

Rural America Being Harmed By Trump’s Tariffs

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Rural America is Donald Trump’s major base.

The 20 states that backed Trump the most in percentage of votes in 2016 are also the most rural states in the nation.

Only a few middle sized cities exist in this group of 20 states:

Missouri—St. Louis and Kansas City

Tennessee–Nashville and Memphis

Indiana–Indianapolis

Louisiana–New Orleans

Kentucky–Louisville

These 20 states also have the most people engaged in agriculture and coal mining, and both are areas of the economy heavily suffering from lack of concern by Donald Trump, with the protective tariffs that hurt soybean and corn farmers, as well as other areas of agriculture, and the dying coal industry, where coal miners are petitioning for protection of their hard earned pensions, but having no response from the Trump Administration.

So rural America, trying to hold back the future of an urban and suburban America that has the dominant part of the population, is suffering mightily from a Trump Presidency which does not give a damn about them and their future.

So the question arises whether even in these states, or some of them, will there be a rebellion against Trump as he seeks reelection!

Donald Trump Declares Trade “War” On European Union, Canada, Mexico: Suicidal For Consumers, Workers, Corporations

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Donald Trump has declared a trade “war” on the 28 nations of the European Union, as well as Canada and Mexico.

This protectionist binge will be suicidal for consumers, workers, and corporations.

It will cause rapidly rising inflation in consumer prices; loss of employment in many industries and agriculture; and add billions of dollars in costs to corporations, which will lead to price increases and worker layoffs.

Along with the massive backtracking on the Dodd-Frank Act regulating Wall Street banks after the Great Recession of 2007-2009, it will bring about another Great Recession in the next year, and possibly worse, a return of the conditions of 1929 under Herbert Hoover, leading to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, and a great worsening of the Great Depression that affected America for an entire decade.

It will also cause the NATO alliance to fray at its edges, as the European allies, and particularly the major ones–Great Britain, France, Germany–will retaliate against the nation that they used to look to as their leader.

And our relations with our neighbors–Canada and Mexico–will be the worst in a century, and undermine global security and stability.

And the Republican Party, while complaining privately, will show no ability to stand up to Donald Trump, and fight him, and their party will be permanently damaged by their cowardice!

Tariffs And Republican Depressions: Benjamin Harrison, Herbert Hoover, Now Donald Trump?

Ronald 1 Comment

Protective tariffs made sense in the time of Alexander Hamilton and the time of Henry Clay.

But in the late 19th century, big business corporations were able to create higher tariffs that were detrimental to the American worker, consumer, and economy, with the assistance of the corrupt Republican Party of the period.

In 1890, under Republican President Benjamin Harrison, we saw the passage of the McKinley Tariff, named after the future President, and it undermined the economy and contributed to the disastrous Panic of 1893, which affected the nation until 1898.

In 1930, months after the Stock Market Crash, Republican President Herbert Hoover, ignoring the pleas of hundreds of economists, signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which caused a great worsening of the developing Great Depression.

As the decades went by, most Republicans and intelligent Democrats realized that high tariffs were not good, and free trade agreements developed in the 1990s.

Some far left liberals and some far right conservatives joined forces to fight this, and now Donald Trump has declared the inception of “Tariff Wars”, which will bring down the American economy, harm consumers and farmers, and cause unemployment to rise.

Trump is alienating the whole world–including China, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and more–and instead will destroy the economic lives of millions of his own supporters, if he is not stopped from his crazy, lunatic actions!

Assuming we cannot stop what he is doing, the Republicans will suffer a blood bath, that will put the Republican Party in the dustbin of history.

It is time for Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and the Republicans in Congress to show some “cajones”, and turn against Trump before he totally destroys the nation economically, and takes unto World War III against North Korea, who would be helped by China, and Iran, who would be helped by Russia.