RAG Perspective: An American Pro-Liberty Conservative: 2026

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Post #7588 M: Weekend Update; Trump's War With Iran Is Unjustified and Unpopular; Corrupt Prosecutor Caught Bullying Teacher

Quote of the Day

The person who says it cannot be done

should not interrupt the person doing it.

Chinese proverb

Weekend Update

Trump's War With Iran Is Unjustified and Unpopular

Corrupt Prosecutor Caught Bullying Teacher

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Clay Jones via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1963 Top 1009 Hits

Candy Girl - Four Seasons

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Post #7587 M: Trump Iran War Address Cold Open; Larry Johnson Predicts Trump’s War on Iran and Exposes the Lies It’s Built On; Dumb BLEEP of the Week

Quote of the Day

What is a weed? A plant

whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trump Iran War Address Cold Open

Larry Johnson Predicts Trump’s War on Iran and Exposes the Lies It’s Built On

Dumb BLEEP of the Week

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Jeff Danziger via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1963 Top 100 Hits

The Monkey Time - Major Lance

Monday, March 2, 2026

Post #7586 M: NYC has 1000’s of empty apartments. You'll never guess why; Trump's Speech Was Disborbing; McClanahan on The State of the Union that Transformed America

Quote of the Day

People will try to rain on your parade because they have no parade of their own. - Jeffrey Gitomer

NYC has 1000’s of empty apartments. You'll never guess why.

Trump's Speech Was Disborbing

McClanahan on The State of the Union that Transformed America

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Bill Bramhall via US News

Musical Interlude: 1963 Top 100 Hits

Days Of Wine And Roses - Henry Mancini

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Post #7585 Social Media Digest

Facebook

X/Twitter

I have to admit: I thought my ancestral homeland would win the Olympic hockey gold medal. But the US rallied to win in overtime for just the third time overall and its first since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 22, 2026

You can't make up how stupid voter ID trolls like Musk are. First of all, payroll taxes are mandatory up to $184.5K of annual income. Second, and Musk can never remember this, first-time voters in every state must provide ID when they register or vote for the first time. pic.twitter.com/lc0Z1wQKIv
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 22, 2026

Musk failed reading comprehension. This is employment. We are talking like I-9 paperwork, not voting.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 22, 2026

Well, they wouldn't be fooled by The Man From D.R.U.M.P.F. pic.twitter.com/mvF4gpsNGe
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 23, 2026

CNN has a new low job approval for Trump, about 36% overall, and another 10 points down among independents. He's running out of time to turn his Titanic before hitting this fall's midterm iceberg.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 23, 2026

The Trumper tantrum over Trump's fake authority to raise taxes on Americans contradicts his fake populist base. Recall, part of what led to the income tax was a progressive critique of tariffs as regressive, borne by lower-income Americans. Trump's tactics kill US sales. pic.twitter.com/ABmvQ51ibv
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 23, 2026

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trumpkin judicial whore, is attempting to censor Trump's indisputable criminality in the theft and insecure protection of classified documents. Judge Cannon shifted the argument away from Trump's misconduct to Smith.https://t.co/vNdEIUD8k1
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 23, 2026

Nope. I, unlike Trump, understand the term 'consequential' & I don't know a single professional historian who believes that's true of Trump. I don't speak for his potential assassins, but the dude has probably pissed off more people than almost anyone else in history pic.twitter.com/OM5Z5Hi4jw
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

The US Olympic Women's gold medal hockey team has declined a SOTU invitation from Trump. However, I'm sure we can get video of Don Rickles calling Trump a hockey puck.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

OK, Tom Massie: we found the one Kentucky resident more disgusting than Epstein: pic.twitter.com/qPbnz8VJ9l
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

I loved the WWE tribute to AJ Styles near his home base in Georgia, especially his tribute to his wife and kids, the fellow wrestlers send off from the back, and Mark Calaway (Undertaker)'s announcement of his HOF selection.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

OMG, Trump is such an insufferable bore, playing the victim card! He claims if he cured cancer (yeah, the same dude who once discussed injecting bleach), TDS losers would bitch how long he took to do it! Poor, poor pitiful me! The dude regularly disparages others (e.g., SCOTUS).
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

I don't like Trump shamelessly exploiting the gold medal men's hockey team in his SOTU address. (Personally, I would never go. You couldn't pay me to sit through a long, rambling, narcissistic rant.) I really don't want to hear him again whining about losing "his" Nobel prize!
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

Bug-eyed Patel managed to schedule a couple of meetings in Italy to rationalize being in attendance for the gold medal hockey finale at taxpayer expense and in the winning lockerroom so Trump could congratulate the team over his speakerphone.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 24, 2026

I noticed the kerfuffle between HuffPost and some crab cake restaurant over the overt nationalism of many American fans at the Olympics. Personally, I've wanted to expunge phony nationalism from sports. I always despised WWE Hacksaw Jim Duggan's "USA!" chant gimmick.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

Wow, NXT Zaria's swerve heel turn on tag team partner Sol Ruca in a championship match for the NXT women's title had been teased in recent episodes, but it was still surprising. I had expected it after Ruca won the title.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

Just like Trump failed to understand IEEPA, his backup solution of global tariffs using Sec, 122 of 1974 Trade Act is also doomed for conflating the trade deficit with the balance-of-payments deficit. https://t.co/GSGINb8BM0.that.damn.stupid. https://t.co/q8bf1xpHuA
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

Hell no. Conscription is a form of slavery. I do think a politician who votes to declare war on dubious grounds should face the consequences of his votes in subsequent elections. But the bigger issue is Presidents overextending their limited responsibilities beyond defense. https://t.co/yh5r7UnZb2
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

I was listening to Trumpkin Byron Donalds on CNN try to scapegoat Dems for inflation, completely ignoring Trump's pandemic spending & $7.8T national debt. Trump's unconstitutional tariff wars have cost each household over $1000, added economic uncertainty & raised business costs.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

The Moron-in-Chief tried to gaslight Americans into the voter ID nationalist power grab on fears of unauthorized aliens voting, which is already illegal. The bill actually disenfranchises about 10% of Americans. Registration issues occur due to human error. Via OPB: pic.twitter.com/bDSCIgShT3
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

I'm ashamed of the bigoted Trump who spews knowing racist lies about aliens as violent criminal dumps from other countries, mentally ill, etc., just fabricated lies. What makes it worse is the xenophobe has had an immigrant mother and wives
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

Where Biden clearly failed was to plan for the surge of asylum seekers post-Title 42, which quickly outstripped our capacity to handle the flow. He would later take action, which normalized the flow by the time Trump took office. Trump, however, sabotaged immigration reform.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

Who protected Renee Good and Alex Pretti from Trump's killer cops? They were US citizens, not "violent criminal aliens"... pic.twitter.com/d6lfE7idVK
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

What? They ignored Boston AGAIN? Obviously, Phil Collins, who ruled the 80's, is long overdue. I have a lot of respect for Carey, Sade, and Shakira as pop performers, but rock? https://t.co/nGfZMAj8NR
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

Philip Zelikow via Hoover Institution Freedom Frequency explains why Dumbass Trump's unprecedented attempt to cite a 1974 law to support his new global tariff on Americans will also be ruled unconstitutional:https://t.co/e21gwTVe2W pic.twitter.com/Kb9K2xULtt
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 25, 2026

The overt nature of Trump's unprecedented hyperpartisan SOTU address reveals his utter incompetence and lack of political skills with a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress. I don't see him regaining the independent voters he needs to survive the midterms.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Why Trump should not be Commander-in-Chief: pic.twitter.com/FvJrwr2glm
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Not necessarily. I suspect some of my siblings are Trumpkins; they generally don't talk politics with me and know I don't like Trump. I think most Trumpkins just don't like leftists. I think it's more a matter of background: principled, intelligent people aren't Trumpkins.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Criminal.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Trump has a 42% job approval. Trump's latest SOTU address dropped about 9 million viewers since last year. Many of us who don't support Trump boycotted the speech. All the polls on viewers are based on self-selection bias from Trumpkin Republicans.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Musk is an r-word. He is talking about denying 10% of Americans the right to vote, and the dumbass thinks that's "democracy".
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Boring people with repetitive rubbish gaslighting is a bug, not a feature. I'm far more articulate than Trump, and the biggest criticism I get is a need for more brevity. Trump just meanders, brags, insults, repeats.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Unconstitutional populist rubbish. pic.twitter.com/nlrBRGtBJn
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

I can think of 200 reasons to impeach the Felon-in-Chief, but not inviting women to a record snoozefest when you spend half the time plotting how to beat half the crowd to the restroom urinal isn't one of them.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

I wouldn't normally post about the Sexist-in-Chief on hockey, but apparently, Trump delayed inviting the gold medal women's team to the SOTU, which won 3 days earlier, and they politely declined, explaining scheduling issues. Trump told the men's team he had to invite the ladies.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Because after the mid-terms he'll be Minority Leader. Musk is not smart enough to realize that. The GOP is f*ked without the filibuster,
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

This is stupidity as usual. Insider trading is already a crime and politicians are not exempt, cf STOCK Act of 2012. Proving it is difficult. A new law doesn't change the difficulty of proving it. https://t.co/aMhTGqO7Jl
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

We stand with the Constitution, including judicial warrants, due process, and First Amendment rights. We demand justice for the victims of ICE killer cops https://t.co/VlK8U5RJZB
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

The issue is that voter impersonation is extremely rare & up to 10% of USC do not have ready access to the documentation required, and it can take from weeks to months to get an official copy or to generate a deferred birth certificate using other data.https://t.co/99bjsRAFoY
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

God, you're a dumbass. Neither the House nor the President has anything to do with the filibuster. It's an internal debate. Granted, a partisan House and White House could take advantage of a mere Senate majority vote. But you have to be more specific in making an argument.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 26, 2026

Ask the Trumpkin Justice Department how many unauthorized alien voting cases they have prosecuted. Do any Internet search, even though the activity violates state and federal law. I found fewer than a few dozen indictments (never mind convictions) over multiple elections,
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 27, 2026

Populist whores. This arbitrary restriction drains liquidity from the market, including those with the resources to fix up properties as necessary. It shrinks rental options. Ask New Yorkers why their rent policies result in thousands of vacant apartments. pic.twitter.com/EMDGeiybSy
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 27, 2026

I once used the now-defunct Quotelf software to attach a random quote from my collection for my Thunderbird email signatures. I later designed a cygwin bash script to emulate functionality. I also use it for my daily blogpost QOTD. I sometimes get email replies about the quote.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 27, 2026

Another odd thing was an SWA agent couldn't even pull up my rewards number (I eventually found it on my own). It had something to do with an invalid birthdate stored (wrong month for starters)
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 27, 2026

Allegedly, you must submit a website ticket with photo ID to process an email change which can take 30 days. Never mind the password security question check for resetting the password doesn't let you specify an alternate email or send a code to your phone to access your account.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 27, 2026

Maybe the national hockey teams. Not taxpayers or consumers. pic.twitter.com/wlEIfcgDXG
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 27, 2026

This is Soft Rock America. The great Neil Sedaka, who reinvented himself in the 70s, has passed. My favorite Sedaka song was covered by the immortal Karen Carpenter: https://t.co/zsIulHQnmN
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

OMG. I literally cooked calf's liver tonight for dinner, only to discover RFK, Jr. recommending it for people who can't afford steak in the Age of Trump. Now the always wrong Trump Administration has me second-guessing dinner.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

My current blog post looks at Trump's unconstitutional tariff misconduct in the context of American history.https://t.co/MtrYd6VYzg
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

I thought WWE Jey Uso's exit by injury was a way of writing Jacob Fatu into the Elimination Chamber as a potential babyface opponent to McIntyre at Wrestlemania. I didn't get putting Logan over Jacob or the mysterious masked man revealed to be a nobody.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

Making Measles Great Again
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

Trump's war crimes against Iran, nondefensive in nature and unprovoked. are impeachable, and Trump must be impeached and removed from office. The military intervention is consequential and requires a Congressional declaration of war, which does not exist.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

Trump's unconstitutional war crimes against Iran are what happens when you keep raising the defense budget. already the highest in world history. An imperial President can and will use a virtually unlimited credit card for warmongering. Nobel Peace Prize, my ass!
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

CNN is trying to check whether Trump is in compliance with the War Powers Act notifications. Let's be clear: Congress does have oversight authority over any President, and the War Powers Act is not a checklist to avoid a necessary need for declaration of war.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

Watching the Warmonger-in-Chief warning Iranian civilians to stay inside reminds one that there will be collateral damage. And remember, Trump revoked Obama's reporting requirement for them in Afghanistan.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

It's like saying we pay for police protection for an American like you, but not for your visiting French grandmother. Your grandmother has the same human rights. Your neighborhood rapist does not get a get-out-of-jail -free card based on status
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) February 28, 2026

Please tell me my tax dollars didn't pay for an air strike killing over 100 young schoolgirls in southern Iran.https://t.co/QdPOMvyQqu
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) March 1, 2026

Post #7584 M: Trump Claims Everything is GREAT, MAGAland Gives Rave Reviews & Bombshell Epstein Report About Donny; McClanahan on Presidential Tariff Powers?; Reason Reacts to the State of the Union

Quote of the Day

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable,

but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.

George Bernard Shaw

Trump Claims Everything is GREAT, MAGAland Gives Rave Reviews & Bombshell Epstein Report About Donny

McClanahan on Presidential Tariff Powers?

Reason Reacts to the State of the Union

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Rob Rogers via Politico

Musical Interlude: 1963 Top 100 Hits

The Orlons - South Street

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Post #7583 J

Endemic Report

We have the first update of the 4 mega stats in over a month. The latest regional trend includes a cluster og 6 states in the mid-Atlantic to Southeast US.

The Sick Times:

The latest COVID-19 news items:

"COVID-19 infection predicts higher risk of kidney disease, study finds"
"Over 40% of health care workers had insomnia during, after COVID pandemic peak"
"Long-term brain effects of COVID-19 vs. flu: Study reveals key differences. Even a mild case of COVID-19 or the flu can impact the body long after the fever and cough fade, according to new Tulane University research that may help explain why some people struggle to feel fully recovered weeks or months later. Tulane researchers found that while both viruses can leave lasting lung damage, only SARS-CoV-2 infection caused persistent brain inflammation and small blood vessel injury, even after the virus was no longer detectable."
"COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Hospitalization"
"Potential 'holy grail' nasal spray that may protect against COVID-19, flu and pneumonia aims for human trial"
"How Covid Quietly Rewires the Brain"

Legal/political issues:

"CDC vaccine advisors to consider COVID-19 vaccine injuries, long COVID"
"European regulators recommend approval of combined mRNA vaccine for flu and COVID"
"More than 50 members of Coast Guard discharged over COVID vaccine being reinstated, receiving back pay"
"Justices Deny Review of Air Force Disputes Over Covid-19 Shots"
"First Circuit Ruling Highlights Ongoing COVID-19 Religious Discrimination Issues"
"The first vaccine mandate started with George Washington"
"Fact Check: Did BBC Report That COVID-19 Vaccinated People Will Die by June 2026?"

Prosecutors continue to pursue covid relief fraud or other crimes:

"Kansas City man pleads guilty to COVID-19 fraud, faces up to 30 years in prison"
"Former Arizona town employee sentenced in COVID-19 relief, embezzlement case"
"Kansas City woman sentenced for role in COVID-19 fraud, identity theft case"
"Springfield business owner pleads guilty to COVID-19 loan fraud, money laundering"
"Shelby Township man sentenced in $2.5 million COVID-19 fraud scheme"
"Orange County man arrested after destroying Chinese restaurant to stop COVID, deputies say"
"Four charged with sale of fake Covid-19 passports"
"Memphis woman sentenced to federal prison for $560,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud"
"NH man sentenced for using $1M in COVID relief funds to buy golf course"
"Four Sentenced in $11.5 Million COVID-19 Fraud Scheme in Pennsylvania"

Other Notes

The blog received hundreds of page views on a single day this week, otherwise a fairly typical viewer pattern. I will not reach my target of 40 posts this month, but that's an artifact of February being a short month. I finally published my essay on Trump's tariffs, which took a long time to write, but I liked the way it came out, and I think it is one of my best efforts, both readable and detailed, with a good use of AI to support basic points. The overnight US/Israeli attack will likely be the focus of an upcoming March post. Twitter/X has somewhat higher numbers this past week, with followers up about 10 to near 220, but they fluctuate daily.

When I switched my cable service, I found my bundle included Great American Family. I think that's the network that hired Christmas hostess Candace Cameron Bure away from Hallmark, as Hallmark had started featuring non-traditional rom-coms.. I have gay relatives whom I love, but I personally prefer more traditional content. I still have Hallmark as one of my plan's few off-bundle channel choices. To be honest, I haven't watched many new rom-coms lately from either channel, but I notice both channels do play a few Christmas titles I think on Fridays or so, and recently saw 3 I've traditionally seen on Hallmark until recently, one of them a Candace Bure "classic" (on the takeover of a family ski resort). I don't know if the films are jointly or exclusively licensed. I know I saw the ski movie during Hallmark's recent countdown. My biggest gripe is most of the Hallmark content I like isn't individually licensed. I also don't like having to pay for multiple licenses of the same movie or song. For instance, I have boxes of CDs and LPs in storage. In another case, I lost a DVD copy of "White Christmas" in an old desktop drive.

I recently ranted about this on X. The Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame took forever to select Foreigner and Pat Benatar. They once again left Boston off the list (while nominating pop acts like Carey, Sade, and Shakira); I'm still pissed the Grammys chose Starland Vocal Band over Boston for best new artist. Phil Collins is long overdue this year's nomination; he ruled the 80s I'm with Adam Reader, Professor of Rock, on this one along with Adam's advocacy of Karen Carpenter. We just lost Neil Sedaka, and Karen's cover of his hit "Solitaire" is beyond awesome. We also lost songwriter Billy Steinberg whose song "I Drove All Night" was written for rock icon Roy Orbison. I just used my Amazon digital credits to download his Grammy-earning performance. Oh my God, that moment when he soars to his high register in the chorus. He's like Brad Delp and Steve Perry; I'm a decent singer, and I can't do that.

Post #7582 M: Trump said WHAT about tariffs?; The Price of Trump’s Tariffs: What the Data Reveals; Jimmy Kimmel Reacts to Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address 2026

Quote of the Day

A successful man is one

who can lay a firm foundation with

the bricks others have thrown at him.

David Brinkley

Trump said WHAT about tariffs?

The Price of Trump’s Tariffs: What the Data Reveals

Jimmy Kimmel Reacts to Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address 2026

Choose Life

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Bill Bramhall via US News

Musical Interlude: 1963 Top 100 Hits

Be My Baby - Ronettes

Friday, February 27, 2026

Post #7581 Rant of the Day: Trump's Un-Presidential Meltdown on the SCOTUS Tariff Decision

Free trade is an underlying Constitutional construct of commerce among American states: via Google AI:

Now, the Constitution, until the 16th amendment, did not allow direct taxes like income; it relied on low, non-protectionist tariffs and excise taxes to finance the general government:

Tariffs had been contentious since Hamilton wanted to protect emerging industries from overseas competition.

As Hamiltonians discriminated against foreign goods, trading partners targeted American exports, especially those from the South. This exacerbated economic regional differences as Southerners found their products paying the price of industrial protection while having to pay the higher prices of a less competitive marketplace. It was a huge issue during the Jackson Administration, also resurfacing during the early Civil War; if you go to Lincoln's first inaugural address, he was willing to negotiate slavery nut not the loss of tariff revenue; he could see lower-tariff Southern ports as a workaround to Union ports.

The issue of protectionist tariffs was mostly pursued by the Whigs, then the Republicans in the 19th century through the Depression:

The end of the GOP embrace of protective tariffs (until Trump) was the disastrous Smoot-Hawley tariffs under Hoover, which exacerbated the Great Depression.

FDR stepped away from Hoover's global trade war with Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 which encouraged POTUS to negotiate mutually beneficial lower tariff rates and other protectionist trade barriers:

The RTAA was renewed 11 times under bipartisan leadership, transitioning to compatible international agreements like GATT under JFK/LBJ and WTO under Clinton. The basic exception was Nixon's protectionism:

So, clearly Trump's economic nationalism is the closest parallel to Nixon's protectionism. Nevertheless, you saw some managed trade violations with other Presidents, like Carter on footware, Reagan on Japanese car import quotas, and George W. Bush on steel tariffs. But for the most part. you saw the Presidents using Congressional delegated authority to rapidly expand mutually favorable trading terms with additional partners. There has been some pushback from leftists on labor protectionist grounds, labor rates in partner nations, and/or inadequate environmental policies. Obama attempted to negotiate TPP (Pacific trade) and TTIP (Europe), but Trump killed these initiatives.

I found it useful to look at tariffs as a percentage of federal revenue to analyze Trump's disastrous protectionist policies:

It's challenging to know where to begin with Trump's fixation on trade. It seems to presume the State should impose some finetuned control over trade policy to maximize goods trade surpluses, presumably maximizing economic/job growth. He is obsessed with a persistent trade deficit since 1975 and argues that it is the result of a conspiracy of wily international traders taking advantage of incompetent US trade representatives. This seems to presuppose a belief in the superiority of a centrally planned economy, not the "invisible hand" od Adam Smith, a contemporary of our Founders and our own free market of American states:

The result of a trade pact is not for unilateral advantage; it tries to ensure a more competitive market for both countries with lower trade barriers. like lower tariffs, relaxed quotas, etc. The big concern seems to be that American goods may lose market share to the new import alternatives. In part, this may reflect comparative advantages. For example, a warmer climate may yield higher produce supplies.

I have repeatedly debunked Trump's assertions on trade, pointing out that we had some of the strongest economic and job growth in the 80s and 90s, vs below-trend results under Trump. Trump ignores that over half of imports are used by American businesses. Trump's focus on steel and aluminum not only violated WTO principles like Bush's own steel tariffs, but it also harmed American businesses using steel or aluminum in their own products, with net layoffs and lower sales from relevant additional costs making products less globally competitive.

There's just so much rubbish Trump routinely claims about tariffs, it's hard to keep track and debunk it all: he overestimates tariff collections and insists foreign countries underwtite tariff costs. (The idea seems to be that foreign producers cut prices to offset tariffs.) Fed research shows over 90% of tariffs are passed on to Americans, and other research shows the cost American households $1000 last year.

The size, scope, and nature of Trump's tariff wars are unprecedented in American history. Not one has been authorized by Congress, the only Constitutional authority to tax. Trump has based his tariff "authority" on unprecedented claims on two laws: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.

.
Most of Trump's manic-depressive tariff behavior since the start of his second has been based on the former law invoked by phony pretext of a "national emergency" (not only is a trade deficit not an emergency, the goods deficit actually expanded under Trump last year). Trump's tariff increases also applied to nations with which the US has a surplus, and have occurred for non-trading behavior (e.g., Brazil's prosecution of a former president, drug allegations, immigration policies, etc.) Trump's decisions have exacerbated economic uncertainty and have been countered by actions against American exports, like canceled soybean sales.

I'm not going to explain the legal nuances of LEARNING RESOURCES, INC., ET AL. v. TRUMP,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL. Trump's supposed tariff authority under IEEPA was struck down 6-3, including conservative justices Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett. Among other things, they pointed out said act didn't even reference tariffs. There is also a constitutional question about whether a taxing authority can be delegated (nope).

Trump responded as expected with a Trumper tantrum. personally attacking the majority. I've also pointed out his global tax pivot on the 1974 trade act is not likely to survive judicial scrutiny because he wrongly conflates the balance of payments with the trade deficit.

Trump's misconduct is unworthy of the Presidency.