The Hill – Page 10 – * Failed Pols

Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska is one of a growing number of lawmakers in Donald Trump’s own party who have criticized Trump’s attempts at suppressing justice. On Labor day, Sasse compared Trump’s governing style to that of a banana republic. In short, Two Republican Congressmen have been indicted by the Department of Justice for federal crimes, and what Donald Trump has shown he cares most about is losing the Republican seats in the November election. Ben Sasse’s response was to Trump’s tweet attacking the Department of Justice:

“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff……” Tweeted Trump.

Republican congressman Chris Collins of New York was the first congressman to endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 election. He has been charged with securities fraud and insider trading. Collins maintains that the charges were politically motivated.

Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and his wife, Margaret Hunter, were charged with misuse of campaign funds and falsifying records to the Federal Election Commission in order to cover up the use of the funds. Hunter is accused of using $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for school tuition for his children, dental work for his family, international vacations for family members, and a number of other personal luxuries.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be pursuing the charges against both Collins and Hunter. This has added fuel to Donald Trump’s existing ire toward Sessions, with Trump criticizing Sessions for not taking into account the political ramifications of charging two Republican congressmen as the country approaches the November elections.

Ben Sasse responded to Trump’s criticism of the situation in this statement: “The United States is not some banana republic with a two-tiered system of justice – one for the majority party and one for the minority party.

“These two men have been charged with crimes because of evidence, not because of who the President was when the investigations began…Instead of commenting on ongoing investigations and prosecutions, the job of the President of the United States is to defend the Constitution and protect the impartial administration of justice.”

In Trump’s America, however, it is normal to play favorites; reward those who support your agenda, even if they’re accused of criminal acts; and undermine public faith in those who criticize or disagree with you. This is not unlike the dynamics of a banana republic, as Ben Sass has pointed out.

Trump slams Sessions over indictments of GOP lawmakers | CNN [2019-09-03]

Judge Jeanine: Jeff Sessions needs to do one of two things | Fox News [2018-09-01]

American farmers will be the real victims of the Trump administration’s recent tariffs on certain imports. Trump has placed a 25-percent tariff on steel and a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imported from China, Canada, Mexico, and the EU, and an additional 25-percent tariff on a number of other Chinese imports. Those countries are retaliating by placing tariffs on certain American farm products.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that the tariffs “are a firm statement that other nations cannot bully our agricultural producers to force the United States to cave in.”

Continuing with the irony, Trump said, in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, that farmers “will be the biggest beneficiary.”

It’s not clear what Trump meant by “beneficiary.” A variety of farmers will suffer as an indirect result of Trump’s tariffs. Farmers who will feel the most pain are growers of soybeans, but those who raise cotton, wheat, sorghum, cattle, hogs, legumes, nuts, and fruits, have been targeted, as well. Some of the hardest-hit farmers are in those states that supported Trump.

Now the Trump administration plans to come to the “rescue” of American farmers by offering them roughly $12 billion in government assistance. So after severely harming their livelihood, the Trump administration offers farmers relief from its own trade policy.

But the aid is not likely to be enough to fully replace the revenue lost. The damage done by the tariffs will be long-term, and won’t be repaired by a one-time or short-term patch. Smaller farmers are likely to go out of business as a result of their losses. What’s more, farmers want to farm, participate in the global economy, and contribute to the world’s food supply. Most significantly, it doesn’t make sense to attempt to punish other nations (including some of our allies) by ultimately hurting one’s own people, and then implementing a costly system to “help” them.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) stated it well: “You have a terrible policy (of tariffs) that sends farmers to the poorhouse, and then you put them on welfare, and we borrow the money from other countries. It’s hard to believe there isn’t an outright revolt right now in Congress.”

Does the emergency aid for farmers offer a solution or more problems? | Washington Post [2018-07-24]

Impact of Trump’s tariffs on his GOP base | Fox Business | [2018-07-24]

Category: The Hill

Ben Sasse Sasses Trump: “The U.S. is Not Some Banana Republic”

Import Tariffs: Farmers Are the Real Victims