Greater For Some Anyway

Some of the Republicans in Congress are not down with 35% tariffs.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday refused to endorse Donald Trump’s proposal to slap tariffs on American companies that move jobs overseas — signaling that the President-elect could have trouble getting a protectionist trade agenda through Congress.

My thoughts are that if Trump is not cowed by Boeing, he's not going to back down from Kevin McCarthy or even Paul Ryan. I, personally, welcome paying an extra 35% on any imported goods. But then, I'm more patriotic than folks like David McIntosh. 

“Thirty-five percent tariffs would be devastating to consumers and businesses,” David McIntosh, the president of Club for Growth, a free-market, small-government advocacy group. “The majority leader is right to caution against protectionism and to urge a robust debate on free markets and trade.”

If I was a traitor for my inadequate cheering for the Iraq War, you sir are a traitor now. Want to send out kudos to Paul Ryan on some Olympic-level subject changing. 

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), meanwhile, at a news conference Tuesday, defended Trump’s tariff idea — by changing the subject. “It’s consistent with our goal to make American businesses and American products more competitive in a global economy,” Ryan said, “and we believe the best way to achieve that goal is through comprehensive tax reform.”

Ryan also, again, promoted his “Better Way” policy agenda as a blueprint for upcoming legislation. The blueprint hews to conservative principles and largely steers clear of Trump’s campaign agenda, but it tackles some subjects such as entitlement reform, an issue on which Trump has been cautious.

I know magic acts may have gone out of style. Ryan managed to throw a kerchief over tariffs, pull it away, and presto, tax reform. Reading this gave me the notion that we've elected a second President Buchanan. It's Patrick this time, tho. 

In case paying those tariffs don't give you enough patriotic fervor, consider that you could be coughing up an extra 50% for fruits, vegetables and dairy. 

Trump’s deportation promises, if fulfilled, would ripple far beyond the lives of illegal immigrants. Deportations would affect vast swaths of the economy — with a particularly dramatic impact on agriculture.

As a result, Americans could see the cost of some fruits and vegetables soar.

That should bring back the Victory Garden, if only to survive Trump's presidency. 

In fact, to keep costs under control, Americans may end up being forced to buy more groceries from abroad, undermining Trump's effort to boost American industry.

Having a hard time getting a handle on Trumponomics. 

As a result, many farms hire from the established, resident labor pools in their area, where workers are typically foreign-born and may lack legal status. Branson says that any increase in labor prices might spell the end of the U.S. cherry business.

“I’d be out. I’m small. It would kill small farmers — we would all be out,” she said. “I wonder what even big farms would do if that happened.”

As I often say, nice job Vlad Putin. How easy it was to destroy our country just by releasing hacked e-mails.