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What Republican on Capitol Hill is going to explain to Mr. Tariff Man that his whacked-out trade war with Canada, Mexico, China and soon the rest of the world is going to drive the country into recession—or worse.
Does Donald Trump even know that Americans are the ones most impacted by tariffs? He seems to believe that our trading partners are going to shell out for the tariffs with the proceeds going directly into the coffers of the US Treasury.
But we are smarter than that. According to a CBS/YouGov poll, 73 percent of Americans say tariffs are going to result in higher prices.
They are a tax on the American people, especially on those in the lower income brackets. A majority of the poll’s respondents oppose placing tariffs on Canada (62 percent), Europe (60 percent) and Mexico (56 percent).
We were hoodwinked. People elected Trump president to deal with inflation, which he promised to slay on Day 1—apparently after he ended Russia’s war invasion of Ukraine. They didn’t vote for Mr. Tariff Man.
The private sector supported Trump’s candidacy because it thought he would roll back federal regulations and extend the 2017 tax reform package. It didn’t vote for Mr. Tariff Man.
Trump is following in the footsteps of Joe Biden. People voted for Biden because they wanted to calm things down in the aftermath of the chaos of the first Trump administration. We wanted a "normal" president.
We didn’t vote for a guy who thought he was the reincarnation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the midst of The Great Depression.
The American Rescue Plan Act was Biden’s mini-New Deal. It provided a whopping $1.9T in economic stimulus with the monies going for COVID-19 relief and infrastructure spending. That hefty financial boondoggle fueled the fires of inflation and eventually doomed Kamala Harris.
Similarly, Trump was elected to reduce inflation. His tariffs will spark it.
The president on March 11 promised to double the Canadian steel and aluminum tariffs to 50 percent, and to drive the country’s auto plants out of business.
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have either manufacturing or assembly complexes in Canada. When I last checked, GM and Ford are still American companies. Chrysler is part of Amsterdam-headquartered Stellantis.
Trump’s tariffs on Canada are madness. There's no way to spin it.
Starry, starry night. There’s a line in the New York Times that explains the GOP’s obsequiousness when it comes to all things Trump.
Many Republicans relate to Trump “more as starry-eyed fans than as governing partners,” wrote NYT's Annie Karni and Jonathan Swan.
GOP Congressmen show up at meetings with Trump “armed with stacks of merchandise for him to sign for their friends and constituents.” How pathetic.
Wall Street Journal columnist Gerard Baker takes an edgier approach, calling Republicans members of the “sycophant caucus.”
He wants to know “what history will make of them if they don’t speak up now about the wanton vandalism to the country they were elected to protect.”
Don’t hold your breath, Gerry.
What happens to the idea of checks and balances when the majority of the Congressional branch are nothing more than fanboys and fangirls of the executive? The answer: nothing good.
What the heck.... Southwest Airlines is dropping its “bags fly for free” policy, which separated it from other carriers and generated much goodwill for the carrier over the years.
Southwest says it will still offer free bag options to its “most engaged customers,” which are “Rapid Rewards A-List Preferred members” and “Business Select” fares.
The “peasants” will have to shell out a yet undetermined fee to check their bags.
The bags fly for free policy was the No. 3 reason—after price and schedule—that people selected Southwest.
Eliminating that policy makes Southwest just another faceless airline. It offers a great opportunity for Southwest's competitors to snap up some of its former fans and customers.
A huge PR opportunity looms for a firm that is willing to take some heat by promoting Immigration & Customs Enforcement... Disgraced New York mayor Eric Adams couldn't wait to make another pilgrimage to Israel to stick it to his successor Zohran Mamdani... Hats off to Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett for writing his always engaging and witty annual reports over the years.
The ADL plans a Mamdani Monitor to track down any whiff of antisemitism from the policies and appointments made by his administration. It should have given him a chance to live up to Election Night promise... Brendan Carr, Alden Global Capital, Alphabet, Meta and Elon Musk make Reporters Without Borders' roster of Press Freedom Predators.
Andrew Cuomo's political career is not dead yet... Steve Bannon says Republicans should learn from Zohran Mamdani and his Working Families Party and Democratic Socialists of America, instead of mocking them... Internet advertising model is on the way out, says Tim Berners-Lee... Gannet rebrands as USA Today Inc. What about its other 200 papers?
Thomas Jefferson warned about the dangers of an imperial president who would deny an election loss in a bid to cling to power. Sound familiar?... Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says reporters don't need his permisson to take a photo of the Pentagon's 9/11 memorial, as long as they are not on the job... Kirkland and Ellison lawyers need some negotiating tips. 
Shareholder activitism is poised to hit an all-time high for 2025... Kamala Harris’ “107 Days” reads like an autospsy of her failed presidential run. Democrats need to look forward, not backward... The Reagan Foundation dishonored The Gipper by providing PR cover to tariff-loving Trump.
