This just in: The guy who wrote Art of the Deal is a fraud. Very few people dispute this nowadays. Trump has yet to negotiate breakfast, much less some international trade deal.
And yet…he seems to be doing quite a bit when it comes ruining our country by nearly every measurable standard.
How can he be doing this…when he can’t negotiate his way out of a paper bag?
Loopholes.
These are legal means for accomplishing something when the normal route is blocked.
Let’s look at 4 of them.
The Executive Order: A rule or order issued by the president to an executive branch of the government and having the force of law.
Trump is signing 4.27 executive orders per month (Obama: 2.9/mos; Bush: 2.91/mos). While most of his don’t get much notice, he is signing a lot of orders that open up the environment for exploitation along with some racism and islamophobia issues. He seems to be using them to turn back Obama executive orders.
National Security. The president can do just about anything if he claims it is a national security issue. This is how he can impose tariffs when no economist in the world thinks it makes sound economic reasoning. He is allowed to impose tariffs up to 25%. So…Canada won’t give him free maple syrup so he claims “national security” and taxes their exports.
Pardons. The president can pardon anyone he wants for whatever reason. We often judge presidents by who they choose to bestoy this on. Trump is threatening to pardon himself. He’s been giving hints for months that anyone that stays loyal to him through the Mueller investigation may get a pardon.
Supreme Court Appointment. Out of the entire country filled with qualified candidates, Trump’s pick for a Supreme Court position is a late entry. Kavanaugh was added to Trump’s short list once it became clear that the Mueller probe was going to send Trump to jail for the rest of his life. Why Kavanaugh? This is a guy that has written that a president should not be bothered with legal proceedings against him while he is in office. In short, Trump is trying to hire his own lawyer, one that will dismiss any charges the Mueller investigation may bring against him.
Now, there are those that will say, “These are not loopholes! These are legal and every president uses them.”
I would agree. But…let me give you an example of “abuse” vs. “use.”
In California, cars must stop for people in crosswalks. This is intended to not kill people crossing the street. However, I can stop traffic for a brief protest by walking out into the crosswalk and forcing cars to stop as I stand there holding up a sign. This is an “abuse” of the crosswalk rule.
Time to save the world.
Up, up and away…
Jim
James B. You are getting so much better. I like the non-hysterical you.
National Security requires the Secretary of Defense to issue a finding before any President can invoke that. Mattis is the adult in this discussion so that’s been held in check. Small point for your 4 loopholes.
So, your blog talks about negotiation of trade deals. Remind me again how the Supreme Court gets involved in this? I tried a quick search and saw no common ground to your position. Maybe you just needed to throw something silly for your 4th loophole and this cake to mind?
Up, up and away
The Supreme Court is not involved in trade negotiations. I’m not sure where you got that from in my blog. They are involved in things like “Can a president be indicted?”
National Security does not require Mattis to do anything
This is how Trump justifies National Security for tariffs
“Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows the president to adjust imports without a vote by Congress should the Department of Commerce find evidence of a national-security threat from foreign shipments. After Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, a former steel tycoon, declared that such a threat exists in the metals industry, Trump levied tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum. On May 23, the U.S. said it’s investigating national-security implications of importing automobiles.”
What’s the case for trade as a national-security concern?
The U.S. law doesn’t define “national security,” so the president has wide latitude to determine a threat. Advocates of the Section 232 action on steel, for instance, said a weakened U.S. steel industry would be less ready to build tanks and other weaponry should a military crisis arise. U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, in a memo to Ross, concurred that imports of steel and aluminum “based on unfair trading practices” do “impair the national security.” But he added that the military’s requirements for steel and aluminum “each only represent about 3 percent of U.S. production,” so those trading practices don’t have an effect on meeting “national defense requirements.”
Trump can simply use his “opinion”. This is not necessarily legal but the GOP gives him blank checks on this type of thing. Keep in mind, when it comes to economics, Trump’s college Econ prof. said Trump was the dumbest student he ever had.