27 Comments
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Ed Pearson's avatar

Really appreciate the thorough history lesson.

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Margaret Bryant's avatar

Once again a good explanation and analysis from you, Gabe. Trump seems to be expert at convincing people to go along with his schemes of using other people’s money. None of this will affect Trump and other wealthy people. They will be able to weather “the little bit of pain,” no problem. Ordinary Americans will be tightening their belts even more.

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Amy Omnivore's avatar

Look at Gabe, pulling a Heather Cox Richardson! Great post - an insightful political throughline.

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Michael's avatar

Thank you for the history lesson. As I sit here in the desert of southern Arizona, drinking my coffee and watch the value of my 401k evaporate, I am, in some ways, glad that I am 72 and won't have to deal with this foolishness for many more years. (Just the humble opinion of of an old retired chief.)

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Michael Kupperburg's avatar

Grassley can afford the offense, same as McConnell, neither one will be in a re-election campaign.

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susanus's avatar

Then they both better get to work.

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Michael Kupperburg's avatar

Look for it, unfortunately, they will need at least two others, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are both likely, but until it happens, also assuming all the Democrats agree, we won't know how far they are willing to go.

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Barbara Fox's avatar

Trump has betrayed America.

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Fletcher Bolsover's avatar

REALLY??? What did old Joe's handlers do for you?

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susanus's avatar

They provided a robust economic recovery from the Pandemic, for one thing. And for another they observed the rule of law. They did not extort or bully their opponents. They did not falsely incarcerate innocent people in El Salvadoran prisons. They did not eviscerate everyone’s 401-k plans. They did not threaten Social Security. They did not fire hundreds of thousands of people with no severance. Gosh, the list goes on and on and on. It may seem boring to you that the Biden administration provided a solid economic and social foundation for the country. We had come to expect that. But it’s worth a lot. A huge lot. But now that that foundation has been blasted away and we are all in free fall we can finally appreciate just how good we had it.

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Fletcher Bolsover's avatar

Every point you mentioned about what Joe, his string-pullers, and administration did/didn't do can be argued by me and probably a few other readers of this essay.

I'm sure you want to bring back brain-lost Joe's form of government because it was just great. You are going to be surprised in the months to come. - hang on to the strap.

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David Hopper's avatar

Thank you, Gabe, for your thorough and fascinating history of tariffs. Your newsletters are invaluable. Keep up the great work.

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Wendy🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🌈's avatar

Posted it in our daily roundup. The Jerome Powell commentary on how the Tariffs are going to screw the economy were classic. https://thistleandmoss.com/p/friday-roundup-from-russia-with-love

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susanus's avatar

Love the history lesson Gabe. Good work!

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Michael D Bray's avatar

Excellent article! The historcial context is very helpful and brings a lot of the current tug and pull into focus.

Mike Bray

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The Quill & Musket's avatar

I hope you agree that this would be a welcome place to share an op-ed I’ve released a touch early:

https://thequillandmusket.substack.com/p/trumps-tariffs-part-two?r=4xypjp

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susanus's avatar

Drank the kool-aid did you?

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Patty S.'s avatar

As always, great report, Gabe.

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Michael Cunningham's avatar

"...that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the U.S." Gabe, even if Vietnam cut their tariffs on it's U.S. imports to zero it still wouldn't get rid of the goods trade deficit with Vietnam of $123.5 billion (2024 numbers), so wouldn't they still be subject to Trump's tariff under the formula you showed yesterday? I find it hard to see how Vietnam could switch it's imports from it major trading partners (China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) to U.S. products that are likely more expensive to start with and certainly would be more expensive to be shipped to Vietnam. Am I missing something?

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susanus's avatar

Besides I don’t believe Vietnam offered to lower their tariffs on US goods to zero. Trump also posted that Warren Buffet had said that his tariff moves were genius. Buffet denies that he ever said any such thing,

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chrisattack's avatar

We are 37T in debt with a 2T annual deficit. Time to try something new. Everyone hates taxes but we do need the money. Thinking that this will ultimately be hugh success. Vance 2028!

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Michael's avatar

Have you looked at the budget the Republicans in the Senate are proposing? Doesn't get close to balancing the budget.

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Fletcher Bolsover's avatar

What POTUS balanced our budget since WW I??? Clinton came close by raiding Fort Knox. What the hell do you expect in three months??

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susanus's avatar

Stability. Predictably. Sanity. That’s what I expect from my government. Not destructive shenanigans like these.

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Fletcher Bolsover's avatar

When was the last time you used your memory bank to determine the last time the US government was stably, predictable, sane, and not using destructive shenanigans??? When was the last time every US government department was audited, including our gold stash at Fort Knox. Do you have any idea who might have the gall to do this way over due process without carrying about the whining, bitching and moaning...to get the job done???

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Michael Cunningham's avatar

Time to try something new. How about cutting spending (like is being done) AND raising taxes? Cutting tax revenue, $4T/10y as proposed, is projected to be much greater than the cuts to government spending, so the spending cuts are not going to eliminate the annual deficit or the overall debt.

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susanus's avatar

Drinking the Kool-Aid can be damaging to your health.

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