Congresswoman Stefanik has ignored her constituents’ needs by being silent on the tariffs that are hurting her District, on Mr. Trump’s stated desire to annex Canada, both of which has caused a 30% decline in tourism in her District, on the impact of Medicaid cuts on her constituents and healthcare providers in her District, and fails to produce any evidence of waste, fraud or abuse in the healthcare industry. She also has been silent on the limited positive impact tax cuts will have on her constituents, the huge increase in the debt, long a Republican rallying cry, and the deportations that will cripple farmers, hospitality, and construction workers in her District. She offers no positive solutions, just degrading remarks and MAGA talking points.
Mr. Trump has placated his MAGA folks with regard to the Epstein issue by promising to make an attempt to release the Grand Jury Minutes which was denied by a Federal Court in Florida. This is another scam he is perpetrating on his supporters and there will be very little of consequence in Grand Jury Minutes even if they were released, and they are not releasing the bulk of the files. His supporters will see nothing that is problematic for Mr. Trump while giving access to the bulk of files could disclose many things that would be problematic, like his birthday letter to Mr. Epstein. It is also interesting to note that while Mr. Trump claims that he never made drawings, nonetheless, many of his drawings were sold with his consent over the years. So, does he draw, or not?
I heard an interesting idea from one of my adult grandchildren recently that public broadcasting should continue the Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert, assuming that an adequate number of supporters would back such a venture. In something of a reversal, local stations could receive grant funds from Public Broadcasting for showing the program which might be a way to replace the shortfalls which are going to occur for many of them. I think it is an idea worth pursuing.
Ms. Gabbard apparently does not realize President Obama has immunity, nor, apparently, does Mr. Trump, so their investigation is really going nowhere.
US imports total 4.1 trillion. About 350 billion of which are tariff free under the USMCA, leaving about 3.8 trillion to generate tariff revenues and at 15% that is approximately 500 billion. Does it offset what Americans will pay in reciprocal tariffs? The treasury will collect revenue which we will all pay, benefiting the government, and likely increasing inflation.
Mr. Trump has decided to impose tariffs on Canada, and Mr. Carney’s response was that he feels it is unlikely that they are avoidable. Mr. Trumps gets, or simply choses to ignore the fact that Canada supplies electricity to the United States in rather large quantities. It could be quite disruptive if, for instance, an export tariff was placed on that electricity, and if cut-off, would be very problematic for a number of states in the United States. He also ignores the fact that Canada is vital to our national security from the point of view of our defense, and as he heats up with Russia, he increases the risk, but alas, Mr. Trump doesn’t think out quite that far.
Ms. Stefanik has made it clear in a number of announcements and on Facebook that she is running for Governor and is using the same disparaging language that Mr. Trump does with regard to her opponents. She offered no solutions to the issues she raised other than typical MAGA platitudes but doesn’t address the complex issues she helped create by her many votes in Congress.
Major league baseball’s All-Star game was highlighted by some dramatic homerun hitting, but also by the introduction of an automated system for reviewing calls on balls and strikes. It appears that Mr. Lossogna, who was umpiring behind home plate, was wrong in four out of the five challenged calls. It is also interesting to note that he ranked 79th out of 92 umpires, so clearly at the bottom of the pile. There are several questions that this raises. You would think someone would be on the top of their game for an All-Star event, and why would Major League Baseball put the 79th ranked umpire in probably the most important position on the field in terms of umpiring? Umpires by their performance have brought about the introduction of the automated system, and hopefully, it causes a reduction in their ranks.
Ms. Stefanik responded to a recent arrest along the northern border of approximately nine illegal immigrants, all from Eastern European countries, not Mexico or south American countries. Her response, I assume because she is running for Governor, was that this was Joe Biden and Kathy Hochul’s fault due to their weak border positions. It is fairly clear to me, and I am somewhat surprised that Ms. Stefanik does not know that States do not control the international borders that may abut their State, and if she does not understand that I am not quite sure that she can serve as Governor.
The recent decision by the Justice Department to seek a one-day sentence in the murder of Brianna Taylor raises serious questions. It strikes me that they are demonstrating a complete disregard for minority communities, and do not feel that minority communities deserve the same level of justice as white communities do. This is clearly a trend given what has happened in many other sectors of the government in terms of trying to get rid of stories, statutes, etc. that honor minority Americans. Hopefully, we see a strong response in the ballot box from those communities.
Trump’s suit against Bob Woodward was dismissed after three years of piles of discovery. The law firms and media companies who caved might have been better off to fight.
The EU Trade Agreement provides a 15% tariff on all EU exports to the United States, but none on US exports to the EU. It was noted that the US agricultural products will continue to face non-tariff barriers for entry into the EU. There are many other details to resolve, so we’ll have to wait to see how Mr. Trump does under those circumstances. By the way, no comment on who bears the cost of these tariffs from the Trump Administration, but we all know it’s us.
Bill Owens is a former member of Congress representing the New York 21st, a partner in Stafford, Owens, Piller, Murnane, Kelleher and Trombley in Plattsburgh, NY and a Strategic Advisor at Dentons to Washington, DC.
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