Afternoon everyone. Sending along a lively and informative discussion I just had with Dr. Rob Shapiro about the Supreme Court’s invalidation of Trump’s terrible tariffs. A video recording and transcript can be found above.
I will have more to say about the ending of the tariffs in tomorrow’s post but here a few key points from my conversation with Rob:
As bad as this decision is for Trump, the pain of his reckless pursuit of these tariffs may get far worse for him - and the country - in the days ahead. Trump has put the country into a dangerous economic position, and something is going to have to get done to dig us out of the economic and fiscal hole he’s put us in.
These tariffs were the greatest abuse of Presidential power and the most consequential policy mistake in American history. Questions of whether we need to take the keys away from someone this reckless, and this much of an impulsive fuck-up, should be getting aired now. Along with the Epstein scandal and the deeply un-American ICE terror campaign, Trump may be on the verge of a legitimacy crisis not just a political and economic one.
Democrats should start talking about rescinding the Trump tax cuts and clawing back ICE funding to help fill the fiscal hole left by Trump’s outrageous recklessness. Without the tariffs we cannot afford these key elements of the big ugly bill.
The fight over whether Trump has to rebate the tariffs collected, and to whom, is going to be a debilitating and corrosive fight for him.
Both Houses of Congress have already voted to repeal his tariffs. There is no possibility of Congress passing any new tariffs this year.
Rob believes that is possible that every trade agreement Trump has negotiated with foreign countries may now unravel, and with no appetite anywhere to renegotiate them.
Trump was already in a very degraded state politically and this is going to further weaken him. It should embolden Democrats to be more ambitious in the battles ahead.
What exactly is Trump going to argue at the State of the Union? That his economic plan - illegal tariffs, fiscal instability, soaring uncertainty, slower growth, slower job growth, rising inflation, gutted health care, weakened farm economy and small businesses, more for him and less for all of us - is working? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These are early top lines. Watch our conversation when you can, and obviously stay tuned here for more in the days ahead.
Finally, I just want thank and congratulate this remarkable community. We’ve been fighting the tariffs since before they were even formally announced in early May last year. Rolling back these tariffs has been arguably our central undertaking this past year, and this is a huge, huge win for the country, the American people, the Constitutional order, our alliances and this community of proud, plucky, ass-kicking patriots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it is a really bad, searing defeat for the most venal, malevolent, and destructive leader America has ever had.
Congrats everyone. This is a big, big win, and here we mark and celebrate the wins when they come and so…….
CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!!!!!!!
Loving the year of the Fire Horse so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Simon
