Other Stuff

Sometimes members of Congress take courageous positions based on principle and good government even when their colleagues or the president (usually of their own party in these situations) oppose them. In those situations, the legislators deserve public recognition and praise for abiding by their oaths of office rather than fealty to one politician or even their party. In this case, the effort is bipartisan in both support and opposition. I want to give a "shout out" and public thank you to Jeff Hurd, freshman (all the more courageous for that) Republican representing Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, for this: Colorado Republican Jeff Hurd leads bipartisan legislation to check Trump's power to impose tariffs | Colorado In DC | coloradopolitics.com

BTW, what I meant by bipartisan support and opposition is that there are members of both parties who know that it's insane for one person to be able to start trade wars the way Trump has. Even though an old Supreme Court case has allowed significant delegation of the tariff power, which is assigned to Congress in the Constitution, to the president I think that delegation is unlawful and I'd like to see SCOTUS look at it again. In any case, it's absolutely clear that Congress can take back tariff authority and they should. The reason there is also bipartisan opposition is twofold: First, plenty of Republicans are afraid to go against Trump and the MAGA base who care as little for the Constitution as their leader does. And second, supporting tariffs is really a Democratic, not Republican, position (historically) and many of them like the idea of a future Democratic president being able to pander to labor unions using tariffs even though tariffs make the rest of the country poorer.

Again, thank you Jeff Hurd.

Yesterday, in a move that surprised pretty much everyone including financial markets and many people who work in the Trump administration, the president backed down, for now, on "reciprocal tariffs". The stock market had one of its biggest rallies ever. For the S&P it was the biggest since 2008. I've mentioned this already in "Just One Thing". BUT, Trump got MORE aggressive against China and it appears that he's not backing down there. This puts Trump closer to what lots of people thought his policy would be (and should be) all the way along. I don't support tariffs on any friendly nations because the primary victim is American businesses and consumers. But living in a world where Trump was going to impose tariffs no matter what, a relatively low rate is manageable and, again, generally we shouldn't treat our allies as badly (or in some cases worse) than we treat our enemies. So Trump and Chinese President Xi now seem to have their egos fully engaged, neither willing to appear to back down to the other. As with most wars, this one will hurt both sides a LOT. Unclear to me who gets the worst of it. Trump likes to focus on China exporting so much to the US that it must mean that they'll hurt more but we import a lot of stuff that we NEED, not just stuff that we want. Still, China is an increasingly aggressive adversary and it's past time that we do what we can to slow their expansion.

BUT, now that the trade war is fully on, the Chinese will do anything they can to annoy Trump. To start, they will block the sale of the ports at the ends of the Panama Canal from a Hong Kong company to the American firm Blackrock. Second, they will refuse to allow the sale of TikTok by Chinese company ByteDance. Sure, there may be some negotiations involving all these points and it's not impossible that Trump and Xi will reach an agreement that covers this stuff as well as tariffs. I think that's unlikely because of egos and also because Trump understands the threat posed by China and their persistent malign behavior aimed at weakening the United States and threatening our allies. But Trump surprised me today so maybe I'll be wrong. (To be clear, when I say he surprised me I don't mean that I'm surprised he did what he did. But I'm surprised that he did it this soon.)

Commentary: The Panama ports sale isn’t over, but China’s message to the Li family is clear - CNA

Trump Transforms Tariff War Into High-Stakes Showdown With China - WSJ (Gift link; no subscription needed)

Trump pauses tariffs for 90 days on dozens of countries, raises rate on China to 125% | Colorado In DC | coloradopolitics.com

Speaking of China: I missed this story…it’s going to be a big deal for a lot of people such as those who buy inexpensive clothes on Shein. Won’t impact me very much…slightly increase my costs to buy some electronic parts. But all of these small (and not so small for other folks) cost increases will massively change how some people shop and how some businesses get their inputs.

De minimis trade loophole to end May 2, White House says

These next two, both at The Free Press, are fascinating to read as a pair:

And the big picture: China and America Fight for the Twenty-First Century

Niall Ferguson: China and America Fight for the Twenty-First Century

Nerd out with me a bit: (17) The Emperor Has No Lab Coat - by Dr. Matthew Wielicki

It'll be interesting to watch this play out: House GOP chaos erupts as Johnson pulls budget vote: "Embarrassing"

A little more "tabloid" than I normally pay attention to but I do think McAfee should lose money and reputation for this: College Student Targeted by Viral Rumor Calls Out ESPN, Pat McAfee

Pat McAfee promises silver lining amid Mary Kate Cornett controversy

I hope the ballot measure passes but I think it won't because it's Denver and they don't believe in freedom for anything except abortion and hallucinogenic mushrooms: Denver approves ballot petition seeking repeal of flavored tobacco ban (Subscription may be required)

Good: Before and after photos show Darien Gap migrant route to US a ghost town after Trump's crackdown

Less good: Chinese restaurant closed down after 'roasted duck' turns out to be street pigeons

Who would want to be a landlord in Denver now? Colorado lawmakers to decide whether tenants facing evictions have right to jury trial

I think this is a multifaceted cultural change and that dogs are a symptom, not a cause: More people are choosing to have pets over children: study

I get that some people have bad allergies but this sure seems like overhyping the issue...I mean, when I read the headline I thought maybe some packets contained arsenic! Frito-Lay Tostitos chip recall upgraded to highest risk level — consumption 'could cause death'

Ross Kaminsky