I am reminded of the political left in Turkiye. Actually one of their problems over the last couple of generations is that their internecine differences had them fighting each other more than the right-wing opposition.
There's a famous quote I cant recall about letting the enemy destroy itself
I don't think Democrats know where to begin. The shock & awe 'flood the zone' tactic seems to be working in disorienting the Party & Party cohesion. https://youtu.be/QexdzZru7bY
Sorry, couldn't read the story behind the paywall.
Tariffs are a tool that can be used badly or well. Used to get a fair playing field for makers of a specific product to let them compete in foreign markets can be wise.
Trump's blunderbuss approach is asinine and I'm sure Gretch knows that.
Maybe they realize that basing anything off what Trump is doing is pointless as he’ll just change course and the cult will think he’s a genius. The comments on this post alone would indicate the Democrats want their leaders to stick their necks out merely to have their heads cut off.
She did talk about how they needed to be targeted and smart. You can't live on or around the car industry without remembering the days when a primary subject of discussion was the ultra high tariffs Japan put on U.S. cars while we barely tariffed theirs. It's a real pain point.
I think it's the abuser effect. Trump is a guy who hits twice as hard when challenged. Democrats aren't accelerationists and don't want to destroy the economy in order to rule over the ashes. So they're holding back in hopes that he can be dissuaded by Republicans. But when your abuser chokes you...
I was disappointed in Whitmer but it's good we see in now. She did not meet the moment. I think this is disqualifying for her. Voters are mad. We want fighters
Substack is just a container that takes all comers, from the hateful and/or crazy right to the sober left. Visitors to any substack tenant have to be discerning. I haven't read the ToS but I don't think they discriminate against Putin lovers, Nazis, or carnivores
If you don’t think that discriminating against Nazis is a valuable part of keeping your website a “not-a-nazi website” you have to think more about what it would mean to let Nazis hang out in your bar or restaurant
It could be Substack draws the line at nutjobs like Holocaust deniers and such. I'd have to read the ToS
But then the proverbial slippery slope goes into effect. For instance, banning transphobes. "Unlawful content" might include advocating transgender issues in jurisdictional hellholes like FL,TX
Everyone in the comments hating on Big Gretch needs to STFU. She did not want to visit the WH anymore than she wanted to be abducted by his supporters. We have some serious weather damage in our state and need help. She has no choice but diplomacy to help her constituents.
The ppl shitting on her probably never call their reps and are waiting for a savior to come and swoop them to safety. They don’t do the work but shit on social media - which to be fair, is very needed for those who can’t vent in real life.
Not shitting on her. She was there to do her job and did it. However, a person decides to walk into a room...He/She should have a good idea why they are going into the room. A first step should have given a clue...the second step should have been...stop or hesitate to make a decision to go further
She knew why she was there. She needs federal assistance for Michigan. Stop acting like dealing with the 🍊🤡 is unnecessary and optional. She was blindsided by the press nonsense. She was there for us. Stop acting like she had a choice.
You are assuming saying no is not optional. She is a very intelligent person who said no many times in her professional and political life. Saying no would have shown she stood up to Trump.
*These* tariffs, just not *those* tariffs.
That's the mealymouthed critique of Trump’s trade wars from many Democrats this past week. They awkwardly triangulate between bashing Trump’s catastrophic ideas and touting support for their own similarly spirited, if scaled-down, ideas. https://wapo.st/42oniEY
I dunno. Do you think allowing computer chip, car, heavy equipment and steel manufacturing to be completely off-shored makes good sense from a national security perspective?
I mean Dems have been moderately pro-protectionism for a while now. Any pro-union Dem who has spent more than 2 days in office is going to be on the record about supporting protectionism.
Big Gretch can now join the CA Governor on the “disqualified from running as a D for President” list. JFC, does anyone in the D party have an actual spine?
She has a spine. She was at WH to advocate for her state and got pulled into a stunt. If you want to shit on Dems, shit on the ones that votes w GOP, shit on Michael Bennet who votes from Trump nominees then try to run from it to run for CO governor.
Shit on Newsom, Whitmer, *and* the Democratic Senators who vote with Republiwhigs. That defecation became appropriate the old fashioned way: they earned it.
Good for you - go and shit on whoever you want. Hope that’s not all you are doing tho. Call your reps. If your senator is one of the shitty ones - organize an office visit. There are local elections every week. Big races in 2025. Shit but get off the crapper and help too.
I'm a decent real American (i.e. not a MAGAt) living deep behind the Orange curtain in California. Thanks to redistricting, my CD (CA49) now includes enough of coastal San Diego County, where decent real Americans are in the majority, so that we finally got rid of effing Darrell Issa and now have
No one is faulting her for doing her job and representing the voters, workers of MI. Before entering any room, your instincts give you a vibe whether something is right or wrong. Stopping immediately or hesitating for a second is better than just walking into the room. She is too intelligent.
This policy is garbage. Her ideas here are bad. You cannot get pulled into a stunt if your refuse to go. Her popularity would be through the roof if Trump trashed her for not showing up.
Everybody who tries Trump lite policies should be done. Fight the power.
We can respectfully disagree. I’m not throwing her under the bus for this. Maybe she will realize and never go again. But there are 300+ gop in Congress trying to drag us to hell, and 4 Dems in the house complying. So I’m going to target my anger there.
The fuck you talking about ? Thats federal aid money that Michigan pays and is entitled to when there are disasters happening in the state???? That’s our tax money!! The fuck you think he’s going to use it for is she doesn’t ask for it?
The easiest solution for democrats is to just
Say” I am against anything trump does because he is a treasonous fascist ignorant idiot” and leave it at that
Of course, the media will rush to his defense the moment someone full-throatedly states that he literally cant be trusted to do anything right. Even his potentially good ideas are executed so poorly that they ending causing more problems than they fix.
What is the rationale for subsidizing global trade, to the tune of $800B in annual military spending, with taxes on domestic production? Yes, tariffs are regressive, but that can be compensated for with other fiscal policies.
Hey, many textbooks still teach about optimal tariffs. Those tariffs generally aren't very high, but they do exist.
Developing countries occasionally use export/import tariffs for their federal revenues since they may not have a consumption or income tax (due to path dependence development).
She hand waves it away, she doesn’t “address it directly.” Until we agree about which tariffs are good, equating Democrats with Trump on the issue is the kind of both-sides hackery that has characterized the mainstream media’s coverage of our politics for decades.
FTR, I agree that tariffs on consumer goods (possibly excluding automobiles) is mostly bad. But, even there, the overlap between those manufacturers and ones vital to our national security require a much more nuanced discussion than we seem capable of having.
Having read it, it makes some good points, and does acknowledge that tariffs can sometimes be justified. I agree that free trade can help everyone, provided that the wealth that its market efficiencies generate is distributed equitably (not the case currently).
The statement is correct but, as you note, politically insane.
The way I would talk about it is that Trump is making China stronger by attacking everyone vs building a coalition to deal with the rising threat posed by China. You never mention tariffs.
Targeted tariffs as part of industrial policy are not the same as across-the-board tariffs based on bullshit calculations. This is like saying a progressive income tax is just as bad as regressive tax made up by ChatGPT based on people's astrology signs.
Why isn’t the message that the tariffs and the tax cuts are a massive transfer of the tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to the poor and middle class? It’s just not that hard and it’s so frustrating to watch Democrats be so afraid of their own shadow.
Comments
There's a famous quote I cant recall about letting the enemy destroy itself
Tariffs are a tool that can be used badly or well. Used to get a fair playing field for makers of a specific product to let them compete in foreign markets can be wise.
Trump's blunderbuss approach is asinine and I'm sure Gretch knows that.
You are writing your op-ed in WaPo. GTFOH.
But then the proverbial slippery slope goes into effect. For instance, banning transphobes. "Unlawful content" might include advocating transgender issues in jurisdictional hellholes like FL,TX
Yes, someone might want to do nothing but hate all day. The fact is, BlueSky lets MAGAs have accounts. I'm accepting. My not liking it is irrelevant
You are assuming saying no is not optional. She is a very intelligent person who said no many times in her professional and political life. Saying no would have shown she stood up to Trump.
Worked in DC for 18 years...my job included monitoring Congress and working with Congressional staff.
That's the mealymouthed critique of Trump’s trade wars from many Democrats this past week. They awkwardly triangulate between bashing Trump’s catastrophic ideas and touting support for their own similarly spirited, if scaled-down, ideas. https://wapo.st/42oniEY
She stood there covering her face...instead of walking out immediately.
Everybody who tries Trump lite policies should be done. Fight the power.
Say” I am against anything trump does because he is a treasonous fascist ignorant idiot” and leave it at that
Developing countries occasionally use export/import tariffs for their federal revenues since they may not have a consumption or income tax (due to path dependence development).
And the article just claims that democrat views on tariffs are broad without justifying it. Is it statements like these?
https://apnews.com/article/trump-democrats-chaos-tariffs-trade-2f39f7be95d34008155f4ee29eb67235
If so, I think that's a pretty warped interpretation of the comments
The way I would talk about it is that Trump is making China stronger by attacking everyone vs building a coalition to deal with the rising threat posed by China. You never mention tariffs.