Republican Rand Paul just lashed out against Trump‘s tariffs: “Tariffs are simply taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices.”
Trump's Policies
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Republican Rand Paul just lashed out against Trump‘s tariffs: “Tariffs are simply taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices.”
Trump signed orders imposing the tariffs.
President Trump on Saturday followed through with his threat to impose stiff tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, setting the stage for a destabilizing trade war with the United States’ largest commercial partners.
From Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump signed three executive orders placing tariffs of 25 percent on all goods from Canada and Mexico, with a slightly lower 10 percent tariff on Canadian oil exports. Mr. Trump also placed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
A White House official told reporters on Saturday that the executive orders would also contain a retaliation clause, so that if a country tried to retaliate with tariffs on U.S. products, it would face tariffs.
Ordinarily, tariffs are used to correct a market imbalance, particularly if a country is subsidizing its exports. But these levies are aimed at pressuring Canada and Mexico to end the flow of migrants and drugs into the country, as well as punishing China for its role in the fentanyl trade. At various moments Mr. Trump has declared that he is not interested in negotiating over the tariffs, and that companies that want to avoid them should move their manufacturing to the United States.
President Trump on Saturday followed through with his threat to impose stiff tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, setting the stage for a destabilizing trade war with the United States’ largest commercial partners.
From Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Mr. Trump signed three executive orders placing tariffs of 25 percent on all goods from Canada and Mexico, with a slightly lower 10 percent tariff on Canadian oil exports. Mr. Trump also placed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods.
A White House official told reporters on Saturday that the executive orders would also contain a retaliation clause, so that if a country tried to retaliate with tariffs on U.S. products, it would face tariffs.
Ordinarily, tariffs are used to correct a market imbalance, particularly if a country is subsidizing its exports. But these levies are aimed at pressuring Canada and Mexico to end the flow of migrants and drugs into the country, as well as punishing China for its role in the fentanyl trade. At various moments Mr. Trump has declared that he is not interested in negotiating over the tariffs, and that companies that want to avoid them should move their manufacturing to the United States.
Musk's claim is alarming, but I need to see more proof and/or details than his word. Trump's predilection for self-serving lies preclude giving his administration the benefit of the doubt.
NYT gift link
Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Full Access to Treasury’s Payments System
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.
Relevant to Musk's claim:
In a process typically run by civil servants, the Treasury Department carries out payments submitted by agencies across the government, disbursing more than $5 trillion in fiscal year 2023.
Former officials said the onus was on individual agencies to ensure their payments are proper, not the relatively small staff at the Treasury Department, which is responsible for making more than one billion payments per year.
Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Full Access to Treasury’s Payments System
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.
Relevant to Musk's claim:
In a process typically run by civil servants, the Treasury Department carries out payments submitted by agencies across the government, disbursing more than $5 trillion in fiscal year 2023.
Former officials said the onus was on individual agencies to ensure their payments are proper, not the relatively small staff at the Treasury Department, which is responsible for making more than one billion payments per year.
Ronald Reagan: “Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies; they are our allies.
We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag.”
Ronald Reagan could not be a member of today's Republican Party. He'd be much too liberal for them.
Bernie Sanders: "We are living in an unprecedented moment in American history. We are looking at a rapid growth of oligarchy. We are looking at a rapid growth of authoritarianism. And I fear we're looking at a rapid growth of kleptocracy as well."
BRENNAN: I'm sorry, can I follow up on what you just said. You want to authorize "purging" of State Department personnel?
REP. BRIAN MAST: DEI has been a priority over, let's say, diplomacy.
DEI is the boogeyman Trump and the Republicans are using to justify these actions.
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NBC News has confirmed reporting by The New York Times that FBI personnel have been given a survey asking them questions about their participation in January 6 cases. And also that the head of the New York field office sent a message to colleagues saying: “Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy.”
Trump on the Panama Canal: "We're gonna take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen."
Washington Post gift link
Rubio threatens Panama’s president over canal, saying status quo is ‘unacceptable’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is arguing that the presence of two Hong Kong companies and other Chinese firms violates a treaty Panama has with the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panama’s president Sunday that the status quo at the Panama Canal is “unacceptable” and, absent “immediate changes,” would require the United States to take unspecified measures.
Rubio’s confrontational language, detailed in a State Department summary of the meeting, did not specify whether the United States would consider military action, but said the presence of two Hong Kong-based companies and other Chinese firms around the canal “is a threat.”
“The current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” Rubio said.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has said that giving control of the canal back to the United States as President Donald Trump has demanded is “impossible.” Trump’s demands have been widely seen as an opening negotiating position to secure lower fees for U.S. goods passing through the canal or closer cooperation on migration.
I'd like more details, but I agree that limiting Chinese influence in our hemisphere is a vital mission. Whether that's the ultimate goal here remains to be seen.
Rubio threatens Panama’s president over canal, saying status quo is ‘unacceptable’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is arguing that the presence of two Hong Kong companies and other Chinese firms violates a treaty Panama has with the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panama’s president Sunday that the status quo at the Panama Canal is “unacceptable” and, absent “immediate changes,” would require the United States to take unspecified measures.
Rubio’s confrontational language, detailed in a State Department summary of the meeting, did not specify whether the United States would consider military action, but said the presence of two Hong Kong-based companies and other Chinese firms around the canal “is a threat.”
“The current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” Rubio said.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has said that giving control of the canal back to the United States as President Donald Trump has demanded is “impossible.” Trump’s demands have been widely seen as an opening negotiating position to secure lower fees for U.S. goods passing through the canal or closer cooperation on migration.
I'd like more details, but I agree that limiting Chinese influence in our hemisphere is a vital mission. Whether that's the ultimate goal here remains to be seen.
Panama officially ends its 2017 Belt and Road Initiative agreement with China and plans to void existing deals. This comes after Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited and demanded Panama to reduce China's "influence and control" over the Panama Canal.
Wow. Who would’ve known? Why wouldn’t the biden-harris “administration” have done this?????
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