lwr32 said:

s.metcalf said:

plalonde said:

... and it's just the beginning. I would probably also be hidding on my golf course 

Trump spent about 21% of his first term playing golf, with each of his golfing trips costing the taxpayer millions of dollars.  He did so, and continues to do so in his second term at a similar rate, all while having lambasted Obama and Biden for ever going anywhere (even though they did so far less), and sacking thousands of government workers in the name of government efficiency or for not pledging blind loyalty to him.  His hypocrisy is unfathomable, yet millions of Americans refuse to see it, believe it, or care.

He won’t fix the drug epidemic either, because that would involve fixing poverty, disadvantage, declining living standards and increasing inequality, none of which he has any interest in doing.  His only concern is his own wealth, power and ego, and that of his nearest enabling henchmen (and women).

And how often was Obama on the golf course?

lwr32 said:

AppleZulu said:

"And, those same advisors came up with the faulty formula that the president applied, that has nothing to do with tariffs applied by countries importing US goods. 

According to CNN, the 54% tariff that China has responded to, was made by dividing a given country's trade deficit by its exports to the US. Then the resulting figure was divided in half."

This should not go by without being noticed. The Trump administration claims the tariffs are "reciprocal," but since reciprocal tariffs would require complex, nuanced and detailed calculations, they instead chose a simple, unrelated formula they pulled out of their proverbial a$$ so they could quickly make up some numbers to use for their tariffs. It's important to understand that these are not brilliant stratagists playing three-dimensional chess to steer the ship of state, but morons falling all over themselves to implement whatever the Big Guy wants. "Signal gate" from last week further demonstrated this. These are all the proverbial D-students who put more effort into figuring out how to cheat on tests in high school than they ever did in trying to actually pass them. I mean, think about it. If they hadn't cheated, they wouldn't have even been D-students. 

So Apple's stock price, your 401(k), and the price of just about everything are all being screwed up because the Big Guy wants to create chaos with tariffs, and the people he hired can't be bothered to find someone who can figure the math to actually do the thing that they claim they're doing. They are (to use another high-school metaphor because it seems so on-the-nose) "fixing" international trade by setting off cherry bombs in the boys' bathroom toilets.

So it’s ok that the US pays high tariffs for imports but when trying to even the playing field, it’s not alright for the US to raise our tariffs?  Yet, it’s ok when the left raises tariffs but when the right does it, it’s not ok?

China and other countries will get tired of paying our tariffs at some point and will negotiate with Trump. 

ilarynx said:

foregoneconclusion said:

ilarynx said:

foregoneconclusion said:

The governor of California is going to call Trump’s bluff by ignoring the federal tariff and negotiate directly with other countries on tariffs. Seems like a decent strategy considering that the Trump tariffs are entirely dependent on the claim that the national debt has created a national emergency that gives the president the power to levy tariffs. In other words, the White House is likely violating the law and California is going to respond in kind.

Not an option, according to the Constitution. 

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly says, “The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, … but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”

I strongly recommend reading the U.S. Constitution. Frequently. You can't preserve, protect, or defend, something you don't know. 

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs

LOL...are you aware of the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act? That was a bill that passed Congress and was signed by Hoover. Notice that it's CONGRESS that is levying the tariffs and not Herbert Hoover. Which means Trump doesn't have the power to levy tariffs under the Constitution either. The current administration is trying to claim that the national debt has created a national emergency that gives him the power to do it himself. But that is obvious b.s. considering Trump wants to make the $2 trillion tax cut from 2017 permanent + add trillions more in new tax cuts. All of that will explode the national debt to new heights. 

Basically CA is saying "if you're going to pretend to have the authority to negotiate tariffs by yourself then we're going to pretend that we can do that as well". 

First, "infamous" Smoot-Hawley tariff?

Second, everything I posted was accurate. No governor can negotiate with other countries on tariffs as per the Constitution. The Executive branch cannot implement the tariffs (as you noted), but it can enforce the laws/tariffs passed by Congress and approved by the Executive branch. 

The current administration is trying to claim that the national debt has created a national emergency that gives him the power to do it himself. But that is obvious b.s.

True. 

Basically CA is saying "if you're going to pretend to have the authority to negotiate tariffs by yourself then we're going to pretend that we can do that as well". 

Well, that "two wrongs make it right and/or ok" approach is a bad and dangerous approach with respect to the Constitution. Also, the current regime has declared an emergency as per:
 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The act allows the president to declare an emergency under the National Emergency Act (NEA) and then use his extensive economic powers to regulate or prohibit imports. The CRS says that President Trump was the first chief executive to use this act in February 2025, when he announced tariffs on Canada, China, and Mexico. The emergency stated by the president can be terminated at this request, or by a joint resolution of Congress.
 - https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/how-congress-delegates-its-tariff-powers-to-the-president

Improperly or not (it IS improper, objectively), Congress has the power to rescind the declaration. The current Republican controlled congress won't do that though. They've found a gap in the checks-and-balances between the 3 branches our Founders created, and are exploiting that to intentionally cause harm to the nation. Vlad couldn't be happier. 

ilarynx said:

foregoneconclusion said:

The governor of California is going to call Trump’s bluff by ignoring the federal tariff and negotiate directly with other countries on tariffs. Seems like a decent strategy considering that the Trump tariffs are entirely dependent on the claim that the national debt has created a national emergency that gives the president the power to levy tariffs. In other words, the White House is likely violating the law and California is going to respond in kind.

Not an option, according to the Constitution. 

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly says, “The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, … but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”

I strongly recommend reading the U.S. Constitution. Frequently. You can't preserve, protect, or defend, something you don't know. 

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs