* Erik’s Editorial: The Guilty Parties Who Put American Democracy At Risk In The Name Of Donald Trump

US White House upside down (public domain).

I do not fault stupid people for making the stupid decision to elect Donald Trump in 2016.

I do fault smart people for making stupid decisions. These include:

1. Senators who voted to acquit Donald Trump in his no-witnesses-allowed impeachment trial, including primarily Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell:

* Impeachment of Donald Trump (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Donald_Trump#Acquittal

* Mitch McConnell (2020-02-05)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell#Impeachment_trial

2. Members of the GOP who voted to disenfranchise voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – before, during, and AFTER the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol – including Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jody Hice (R–GA-10), Mo Brooks (R–AL-05), Scott Perry (R–PA-10), Josh Hawley (R–MO), and Louie Gohmert (R–TX-01).

* 2021 Storming Of The United States Capitol (2021-01-06)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_storming_of_the_United_States_Capitol

* 2020 United States Presidential Election Electoral College Count (2021-01-06 – 2021-01-07)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_Electoral_College_count

3. Donald Trump’s cabinet, who could have invoked the 25th Amendment to remove POTUS at any time:

* Cabinet Of Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Donald_Trump

4. Social media, including especially Facebook and Twitter, for allowing their social networks to be used as platforms for hate speech.

* Donald Trump On Social Media (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_on_social_media#2021

5. Mainstream media, including especially CNN (on the left) and Fox News (on the right) for not doing their jobs – asking questions until they get answers – and allowing POTUS to lie unchecked.

* Veracity Of Statements By Donald Trump (2017-01-21 – PRESENT)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veracity_of_statements_by_Donald_Trump

6. Lawmakers at all levels, for failing to fix bad laws and for failing to enact good laws. Changes that must be made going forward include:

Limiting POTUS power:

  • Executive order power must be limited.
  • All cabinet members (acting/interim/actual) must be confirmed by Senate.
  • Treaties and tariffs must be the role of Congress so that POTUS cannot engage in trade wars.
  • War Powers Act must be updated to limit POTUS power to deploy the military.
  • Special Counsel Act must be updated to make clear that POTUS cannot fire special counsel.

Writing better and new laws:

  • Impeachment Act of 2021, to define how impeachment is conducted, including the requirement to have witnesses.
  • Follow the lead of The Restatements Of The Law project (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restatements_of_the_Law) and codify major SCOTUS cases, including especially Roe v. Wade.
  • Fix the Census.
  • Fix immigration.
  • Fix SCOTUS processes, such as limiting appointments to 2 per POTUS with the number of SCOTUS justices fixed at the number of Federal Circuits (currently 13).
  • Election reform, including who is qualified to run for POTUS and that tax forms must be disclosed to do so.

Just to name a few.

Stupid people, bad laws, and lies got us into this mess.

Smart people, good laws, and the truth can get us out of this mess.

LAW >> MAN.

#FailedPols
https://www.failblog.com/

Trump Says His New Tariffs Will Have America Raking in the Money

Donald Trump is patting himself on the back because of the wealth he thinks his tariffs on China are bringing the U.S. Beginning on Monday, September 24, the Trump administration will impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of consumer products from China. Unlike the previous Trump tariffs on aluminum and steel, Trump’s latest round of tariffs will directly impact everyday products that Americans buy, such as furniture, lamps, and car parts.

Trump stated earlier this week at the White House that “China is now paying us billions of dollars in tariffs.” He went on to say that the Treasury Department was collecting “tremendous amounts of money, which is great for our country.”

In reality, write David J. Lynch and Damian Paletta of The Washington Post, “Tariffs are taxes that are paid by Americans who import goods from abroad. Through the end of August, the administration had collected nearly $22 billion in revenue because of its new tariffs, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.”

American importers will begin paying an extra 10 percent tariff for items that are impacted. By the end of 2018, that tariff will increase to 25 percent.

Even if Trump’s tariffs are not exactly bringing in huge piles of wealth to the U.S., at least Americans will hardly notice any price increases in consumer goods, or so says one mega-wealthy Trump official. Wilbur Ross, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary, says that Americans won’t feel the price increases because they’ll be spread across so many products. Or at least the increases will be miniscule (Miniscule probably means something slightly different to Ross, who, in 2016, according to ThinkProgress, was worth $2.9 billion).

Even if Americans do end up suffering a little from price increases, though, what’s a little pain, in the grand scheme? Donald Trump thinks that Americans, in their great loyalty to Trump, are so eager to place sanctions on China that they’ll be happy to endure a little hardship by paying more for things.

On September 18, Trump tweeted, “China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me. What China does not understand is that these people are great patriots and fully understand that…..”

Not all right-wingers, however, support the idea that Trump’s tariffs will benefit Americans. Some project that for those who benefited from earlier tax cuts, the tariffs will cancel out those gains. In addition, current American wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation. With additional costs resulting from Trump’s tariffs, Americans’ buying power will decrease even more.

Wilbur Ross makes case that consumers won’t notice price increases | CNBC [2018-09-18]

Will American consumers pay the price for Trump’s tariffs? | Fox Business [2018-09-18]