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A major part of Trump’s agenda was an utter failure – according to this brutal analysis by two GOP stalwarts
March 02, 2021
In an op-ed published at the Wall Street Journal this Tuesday, former GOP senator Phil Gramm and current GOP Senator Pat Toomey argue that former President Donald Trump's "protectionist agenda" was a major failure, which "reduced economic growth" and played a role in his loss of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin during the 2020 election.
Trump regularly praised himself for imposing tariffs, particularly on China. But according to Gramm and Toomey, his tariffs were ultimately counterproductive.
<p>"Protectionism failed both as economic policy and political strategy," the pair write, adding that post-war protectionism comes from nostalgia for an enduring myth: the "golden age of American manufacturing."</p><p>"As Mr. Trump found when he imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, the resulting increase in jobs in those industries was small. This shouldn't have come as a surprise: In 1980 it took 10.1 man-hours to produce a ton of steel," Gramm and Toomey write. "Thanks to automation, that was down to 1.5 man-hours a ton in 2017, with some steel makers achieving 0.5. Jobs gained in the steel and aluminum industries after the tariffs were dwarfed by jobs lost in industries that use steel and aluminum in their manufacturing process, not to mention the jobs lost due to foreign trade retaliation."</p><p>The pair go on to write that Trump's protectionism even hurt manufacturing in the states it was supposed to help. </p><p>"The notion that protectionism could bring back millions of manufacturing jobs and attract a significant number of votes in the industrial states was outdated, as was the trade debate itself."</p><p>Read the full op-ed over at <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-protectionist-failure-11614709570" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal</a>. </p>
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LISTEN: RNC lawyer makes admission to Supreme Court Justices that GOP needs voter suppression laws to win
March 02, 2021
At the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday an attorney for the Republican National Committee admitted GOP candidates need voter suppression laws, especially those that target minority voters, to win.
The high court was hearing arguments related to the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965, which under Chief Justice John Roberts was gutted to be almost useless in 2013 when he infamously announced, “Our country has changed." The Guardian and HuffPost have written he was suggesting that racism is pretty much over.
<p>It is not.</p><p>Tuesday's arguments discussed the landmark Voting Rights Act and "an Arizona law that disqualified ballots cast in the wrong precinct," as <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2021/03/gop-lawyer-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-in-scotus-voting-rights-case/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mother Jones</a> reports.</p><p>The Brennan Center, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-voting-rights-act/2021/03/02/3515c4d0-7b62-11eb-b3d1-9e5aa3d5220c_story.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>, reporting on today's Supreme Court hearing notes, is tracking over 250 bills Republicans are pushing in more than half the states across the country that are designed to take the "voter fraud" lies Donald Trump and his supporters have been pushing for nearly a year and turn them into "legal" voter suppression.</p><p>The Supreme Court has changed dramatically in the nearly eight years since it suggested racism isn't a big deal anymore – and not for the better.</p><p>But it was the court's newest member, and one of the most right wing yet, who asked a revealing question.</p><p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">“What's the interest of the Arizona RNC here in keeping, say, the out-of-precinct ballot disqualification rules on the books?"</p><p>That law forces the state to throw out voter ballots if cast in the wrong precinct.</p><p>The question was asked by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.</p><p>The answer stunned many.</p><p>“Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats," the lawyer, Michael Carvin, responded, as Mother Jones reports. “Politics is a zero-sum game," he added.</p><p>"It's the difference between winning an election 50-49 and –" he continued, but Justice Barrett wouldn't even let him finish his sentence, perhaps for fear of what else he would say.</p><p>"Republicans' intentions couldn't be any clearer," writes Mother Jones' Abigail Weinberg. "It's not about reducing fraud. It's about keeping minorities from voting for Democrats."</p><p>Listen as Carvin, <a href="https://fedsoc.org/contributors/michael-carvin" rel="noopener" target="_blank">a Federalist Society lawyer</a>, very matter-of-factly, and almost condescendingly, admit what Republicans need to do to win:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
In voting rights case, Justice Barrett asks GOP lawyer Michael Carvin “what's the interest" to Republicans in keeping voting restrictions in AZ.
Carvin: “Because it puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats. Politics is a zero-sum game."<a href="https://t.co/In7GULkSUb">pic.twitter.com/In7GULkSUb</a><br/>
— The Recount (@therecount) <a href="https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1366822969331351558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 2, 2021</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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Investigators with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office have been raising questions about Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, and his possible involvement in financial fraud.
According to a report published by The New York Times, insiders with knowledge of the investigation have revealed New York state prosecutors are now looking into Weisselberg's financial management of the Trump Organization, as well as his sons, Barry and Jack Weisselbergs' financial dealings as part of their father's investigation.
<p>Barry Weisselberg reportedly manages the Trump Organization's Central Park carousel and ice skating rinks while his brother, Jack, is the director of the Ladder Capital Corp., a commercial real estate loan company that has approved multiple loans for the Trump Organization over the last several years.</p><p>Insiders familiar with the investigation have also noted that investigators believe Weisselberg might "have incentive to cooperate with Vance's office if prosecutors begin to aggressively pursue leads about his sons."</p><p>If prosecutors are able to gain Allen Weisselberg's cooperation, it could serve as a significant shift in their case given his fierce loyalty to Trump. In addition to the investigative probe into Weisselberg's sons, prosecutors are also "examining, among other things, whether Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits."</p><p>Despite the mounting evidence investigators are gathering to build their case, Trump and his allies have repeatedly waived off the inquiry deeming it a politically motivated "witch hunt" and "fishing expedition" orchestrated by Vance, who is a registered Democrat.</p><p>The latest report comes after Trump's recent court loss. The former president failed at his latest attempt to keep his tax records out of the hands of prosecutors. The Supreme Court's refusal to side with Trump served as a big win for Vance's office. After the ruling was handed down, Trump released a statement.</p><p>It read, "For more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction I've ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S."</p>
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