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Authoritarianism, Federal Government, Law, Race, Trump

Undermining His Own Case for a National Emergency

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Elizabeth Goitein observes Trump Is Destroying His Own Case for a National Emergency (“By waiting for Congress to act, the president is undermining the legal basis for any declaration”): Here’s how the legal process for emergency powers works: Under the National Emergencies Act, passed by Congress in 1976, the president has broad discretion to declare a…

Economy, Federal Government, Never Trump, Transportation, Trump

Commerce Slows

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Update, Friday afternoon: Trump folds under pressure agrees to a three-week re-opening of the federal gov’t.  Of his Rose Garden address this afternoon (one that I watched in full), Jennifer Rubin observes “[m]aybe this is part of an insanity defense for the Russia probe.” One reads that under the shutdown, interstate commerce now slows: Significant…

Babbittry, Bad Ideas, Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Education, Innovation Center/Tech Park, State Capitalism, Trump, WEDC

Ignorant Policymakers Will Produce Ignorant Policies

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Rep. Justin Amash, who is as close to a libertarian as any Republican in Congress, offered this observation about Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Secretary of Commerce: It’s amazing that Wilbur Ross was nominated and confirmed to be secretary of anything. He’s shown over many years that he doesn’t understand basic economics, and to describe him as…

Economy, Federal Government, Trump

The Shutdown Brings…a shutdown

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Troy Newmyer reports Economists worry ‘zero growth’ may be reality as shutdown drags on: Kevin Hassett, the Trump administration’s top economist, acknowledged yesterday the economy may not grow at all in the first quarter if the shutdown lasts that long. And White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is eyeing an even longer impasse. He…

Bigotry, Congress, Politics, Race, Trump

Congressman Steve King, But Not Only Steve King…

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Bigoted congressman Steve King has lost his committee assignments, should be censured, and truly should leave politics forever. And yet, and yet, while King should go,  King shouldn’t head for the exit alone: The condemnations of Mr. King stood in stark contrast to the lawmakers’ willingness to tolerate President Trump’s frequent offensive and insensitive remarks about migrants, black people, Native Americans and other…

America, City, Federal Government, Fellow Traveler, Fifth Columnist, Local Government, Never Trump, Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia, Unfit

Trump-Russia Roundup

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While the proper focus against Trumpism involves a zealous lawful effort against Trump and his leading operatives, there is also a problem of Trumpism down to the local level. In both cases, officials advancing Trumpism ignore the overwhelming evidence of his betrayal of our own people to the benefit of a hostile foreign power. As…

Russia, Trump, Trump-Russia

The Room Where It Happens

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This weekend, Greg Miller reported on the lengths to which Donald Trump has gone to hide the contents of his discussions with Putin from his — Trump’s own — administration.  See Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration. Normally – in a properly functioning federal administration – a…

Bad Ideas, City, Congress, Culture, Demographics, Development, Diversity, Economics, Economy, Federal Government, Immigration, Trump

‘Our Guy’ Isn’t Our Guy

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Some months ago, in a radio interview to tout part of the Trump tax bill, the Whitewater Community Development Authority’s executive director Dave Carlson referred to Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner as ‘our guy.’ Sensenbrenner, a pro-Trump septuagenarian multimillionaire from a gerrymandered district, is – literally – Whitewater’s federal representative. Sensenbrenner has never been – and…