Don’t expect too much depth at the “watercooler, especially from your proglodyte coworkers. They’ve got their talking points. Hands off (something), Trump is wrecking the economy, free Palestine, and oligarchs.
Not their oligarchs. And no one is allowed to “Free Palestine” from Hamas. And I guess all that waste, fraud, and abuse are the price we must pay to have social security and Medicare. Hands Off! Oh, and Democrats are now the party of free trade.
When did the Democrat Party become a supporter of free and fair trade? The correct answer is during campaign speeches, briefly circa Trump 1.0 when he said ‘Tariffs’ (before his economic plans saved America), and then again when he was inaugurated and did what he said he’d do if elected.
Impose Tariffs.
Tariffs Tariffs Tariffs!
All of a sudden, Democrats claim to care about “free” or “fair” trade because they think it is the opposite of whatever Donald Trump is doing. They said it would end the economy, make life for Americans miserable that this shadow tax would make everything unaffordable. I think they are recalling what they did that got Trump elected.
More than Tariffs
Republican Strategist Scott Jennings reiterated what we reported on yesterday. Countries are lining up to make better trade deals with America because of the Tariff threat (over 75 at last count).
The other part of the deal is making the tax cuts permanent and maybe even, if I were them, cut the capital gains tax and offer to slash the corporate tax rate and see if you can get any Democrats to join,” Jennings said. “Because I’m amused by the Democrats who are all of a sudden free traders and for lower taxes. Well, if you‘ve got Democrats who would like to reduce the taxation on corporate activity, let’s see how serious they are. Cut capital gains, slash the corporate income tax rate. I find it amusing that everybody talks about the `08 crash. No one ever mentions that in 2022, the S&P was down 20, and the NASDAQ was down 33, and I don’t remember any of these Democrats being in hysterics when the market fully crashed in 2022.”
Democrats are crying about free trade, which is not something they are known for, so it is amusing to watch, but zero-zero tariffs are neither free nor fair trade. Ask your watercooler buddies about foreign currency manipulation, government loans, unnecessary regulations that drive up the compliance costs of US goods, underpaid or slave labor, VAT taxes, and government financial support that suppresses prices to dominate market share. These and other factors are at play to find a trade balance before getting to tariffs. These other nations have them, and they add to the cost of goods, create trade surpluses and deficits, and America has been on the losing end when we could be winning.
Europe has already agreed to zero-zero Tariffs, but like large chunks of their cities, that’s a no-go. The EU has a long list of other barriers that need to come down or at least get negotiated toward balance, and Trump’s tariffs are leverage. [Mike Rogers and I talk about this in tonight’s installment of GrokTALK!] And that leverage is real. Most nations can’t lose the US market and the value in their trade surplus if they have to pay tariffs. But Trump isn’t limiting the discussion to trade.
Historically, tariffs have always been used as protectionist tools (e.g., Smoot-Hawley) or revenue generators (in the pre-income-tax period). But Trump saw something every other president missed: he’s wielding tariffs as a universal negotiation tool, forcing countries to come to the table, not just to talk about widgets and steel, but to extract much broader concessions on things like military cost-sharing, tech regulation, currency manipulation, and who knows what else. ..
No U.S. president has ever simultaneously negotiated with the entire planet over everything — not just trade, but security guarantees, foreign aid, market access, immigration enforcement, energy deals, pharmaceutical policy, and so on— and done it openly, using tariffs as the primary pressure mechanism, rather than through military force, strings on IMF loan, CIA black ops, soft power, or covert destabilization.
Negotiations might focus on creating jobs in the US by building factories to produce those goods here. A deal could require partners to stop the shenanigans that make US goods too expensive on foreign shores, including reducing tariffs, VAT, and regulatory barriers.
As for taxes, a plan to address immediate needs domestically passed the US Senate last week and is currently in the US House. It’s not perfect, but it prevents a massive tax hike … that Democrats want. They all voted against renewing existing cuts, preferring to let them expire (because it would be awful for the economy, which could be politically good for them).
I keep saying Democrats hate you (with receipts). They couldn’t care less about trade equity, which isn’t difficult to prove. Just ask them about it while they are getting ready to torch a Tesla or to fight for terrorist rule over “Palestine” (in the Middle East, or the Town in Ohio). They hate women (trans agenda), they hate kids (public schools and the trans agenda), they hate American minorities (why import new ones), and they hate Jews.
And they don’t care about balanced trade. They don’t want to grow jobs, or make your life great again, or even just livable. They want you to be homeless, poor, and dependent, if the criminals or their public health policy don’t kill you first.
