As we have already seen, the Republican Senate recently voted to rebuke Trump and extend the endless wars in Afghanistan and Syria. It is also poised to vote against Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build the border wall. Now, it is trying to strip Trump of his authority to impose tariffs because he is using his authority “in a way that was never intended”:
“(CNN)As President Donald Trump prepares to once again make a bipartisan appeal in his State of the Union address Tuesday, members of Congress are linking arms on one of his favorite issues: trade.
Yet they’re working against the president, seeking to limit his authority to impose tariffs unilaterally on national security grounds, as he did last year on steel and aluminum, sparking a dispute with the European Union and alienating close partners such as Canada and Mexico.
Multiple Republican lawmakers are working alongside Democrats to put forward legislation curtailing Trump’s existing national security tariff powers. They include Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who recently introduced a bill with Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner that would require congressional approval to impose trade restrictions for national security reasons.
“It is not impossible for there to be a very good reason to use trade measures in response to a genuine national security threat,” Toomey told reporters after introducing the bill. “However, we have seen this administration use this tool in a way that was never intended.”
Even as Trump and some of his closest GOP allies in the House continue to push for the US Reciprocal Trade Act, which would give the president authority to raise tariffs in response to various duties and trade barriers American products face abroad, senators are renewing their efforts to challenge the White House’s approach after a bruising year of escalating trade fights, including a painful tit-for-tat trade war with China that cost US farmers and importers while also contributing to economic turmoil in Asia. …”
Observe how the Republican Senate is unable to tolerate even modest, mostly symbolic changes in the status quo to satisfy Trump’s populist base:
– Declaring a national emergency to build the border wall will likely get tied up in federal courts and probably won’t happened before 2020 anyway. They also deliberately refused to fund it
– Trump hasn’t made any major changes to multinational free trade deals like NAFTA as he promised to do because the Republican Senate was so opposed to it
– It is doubtful that Trump will even pull many troops out of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan because perpetuating these endless wars is necessary “to protect Israel.”
After caving on the government shutdown and delivering a huge victory to Nancy Pelosi, the Republican Senate has focused on catering to Israel with the anti-BDS legislation, imposing more sanctions on Syria and ensuring that US troops stay in Syria and Iraq to counter Iran:
The Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act would renew our commitment to Israel’s security, expand cooperation with Jordan, and impose new consequences on the perpetrators of Assad’s brutality in Syria.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) February 4, 2019
My amendment to S.1 would allow Senators to go on the record about what the United States should be doing in Syria and Afghanistan. ISIS and al Qaeda have yet to be defeated and American national security interests require continued commitment to our missions there.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 31, 2019
On International Holocaust Rememberance day, #WeRemember the six million Jews who were murdered. Let us honor their memories by working together to ensure these horrors never happen again.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 27, 2019
Today, the Senate will vote to advance a package of important foreign policy legislation that will advance our national security priorities in the Middle East. I hope my democratic colleagues will finally join us in advancing these widely-supported bipartisan bills.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 28, 2019
This vital legislation tells our ally @Israel that our commitment to their security is ironclad. It authorizes military assistance, loan guarantees and teamwork on missile defense.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 28, 2019
It deepens our partnership with Jordan as it faces an unprecedented humanitarian challenge from the chaos in Syria.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 28, 2019
This legislation also includes the bipartisan Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act. It makes a crystal-clear statement to the murderous regime of Bashar Al-Assad and those who abet it: Your brutality needs to end.
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 28, 2019
Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliates continue to pose a serious threat. My amendment to the S. 1 foreign policy legislation would urge continued commitment from the U.S. military and our partners until we have set the conditions for their enduring defeat.https://t.co/PEl8NtUZ4r
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 29, 2019
Aside from fomenting regime change in Venezuela, it has done nothing but cater to Israel and wealthy Jewish donors and attempt to stymie Trump’s populist agenda. It is hilarious to read their Twitter feeds because it is like that is their only job.
“We have the illusion of choice” – George Carlin
Tariffs were the engine that helped the US become an economic powerhouse. It was the way we insured our country would be able to build and maintain its own industries. The elites are determined to impoverish the plebes, and shovel more money in their pockets and those of their globalist masters. Trump not only hasn’t kept his main promises, on his few bright spots he’s being betrayed by his own party. This system has devolved to almost always work against all but the few at the top.
It’s like a pitcher plant — the spines only point in one direction, towards the pool of digestive acid.
“Democracy” apparently only moves in one direction, towards the destruction and eventual extinction of its populace.
How do start getting the daily blog posts sent to my email address, again? Cant seem to get anyones’ attention on this. Thx.
I turned it off last month while trying to fix a technical problem. I will turn it back on.
I wonder, how does Mitch plan to defeat al Qaeda when the gov’t is supporting them in Syria?
Here’s a good post from Heartiste:
https://heartiste.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/late-stage-imperium-recruitment/
To any white man who joins the Army or Marines and fights for the system that is committing genocide against his people back home – I hope you get your legs blown off, you deserve it. A white boycott of the military, or at least of the Army and Marines would end these adventures. A brown Army would likely be defeated or suffer Pyrrhic victories that would paralyze the elite once all those brown bodies started getting shipped back.