Trump has no regrets as he steers the U.S, toward a second Gilded Age, which will further enrich his wealthy supporters but could plunge the economy into a recession leading to depression.
Leaders of the Greedy Oligarchs Party have no regrets, either, as they allowed Trump to unilaterally impose the tariffs, which are supposed to be a congressional prerogative, except in cases of national emergency, which Trump declared, and now we have an emergency.
Senate Democrats got four Republicans to support a resolution to block tariffs on Canada. On April 2, the Senate passed the resolution 51-48, with Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joining co-sponsor Rand Paul of Kentucky. The vote came just hours after Trump announced tariff increases of 25% or more on goods from more than 100 nations, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) blocked the resolution’s consideration in the House. Trump proceeded to impose tariffs worldwide, but paused them for most nations after Wall Street market values plunged.
Democrats now need to lure four moderate House Republicans to caucus with them to restore accountability to the Lyin’ King.
The White House also bet the public would applaud the deportation of hundreds of immigrants from the United States to a prison in El Salvador on unsubstantiated claims by the Department of Homeland Security that they were gang members and/or terrorists, and ignore that the immigrants’ were denied their constitutional rights to due process, which would require a court hearing before the subjects could be sent to another country for indefinite detention.
Advocates of constitutional rights succeeded in putting a face on the issue, with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who fled to the U.S. in 2012 at age 16 to escape gang threats in his native El Salvador. He entered the U.S. illegally, and worked until 2019, when police picked him up and turned him over to immigration officers, but an immigration judge granted him “withholding of removal” status due to the danger he faced from gang violence if he returned to El Salvador. He was allowed to live and work legally in the U.S. He married an American citizen and was living in Maryland with his wife and three children, checking in with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, with no problems until DHS agents arrested him on March 12, as he was going home from a union sheet metal job. He was told his immigration status had changed. He was taken to a detention facility in Texas. On May 15 he was put on a plane headed for El Salvador and placed in a prison where El Salvador was holding deportees on contract with the Trump administration.
The Trump administration alleged the deportees were members of criminal organizations, but Bloomberg News found 90% of them had no U.S. criminal record other than traffic or immigration violations. A Justice Department lawyer later admitted in court that Abrego Garcia was deported in error. That lawyer was placed on leave.
On April 10, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled Abrego Garcia’s removal to El Salvador was illegal. Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted the government implied it “could deport and incarcerate any person, including U.S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene.”
Trump and federal authorities continue to insist Abrego Garcia was a member of MS-13, without substantiation of the claims. Trump posed with a photo that appears to show “MS13” tattooed on Abrego Garcia’s fingers, but the photo apparently was digitally altered, as recent photos show his fingers have tattoos, but not “MS13.” So Trump and his flunkies appear to be comfortable with taking a gang victim from his family and sending him to another nation to be held in prison indefinitely, and then lie when called on it. And Trump said he is considering sending American citizens to prison in El Salvador.
In another overreach, the White House froze more than $2 billion in federal funding for Harvard University and threatened to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status if it doesn’t submit to Tump’s demands.
The Harvard Crimson reported, Trump called on Harvard to “derecognize pro-Palestine student groups, audit its academic programs for viewpoint diversity, and expel students involved in an altercation at a 2023 pro-Palestine protest on the Harvard Business School campus.”
Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said in response that “no government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, warned that “if Trump gets away with weaponizing the tax system to target a political enemy, every American is at risk.”
“The First Amendment and federal tax law make clear no president can raise a university’s taxes because he doesn’t like what they teach,” said Wyden. “If this corrupt shakedown scheme stands, nonprofits from churches to temples to hospitals could be forced to echo Trump’s MAGA line or see their taxes hiked. Any Republican who claims to believe in the Constitution and doesn’t speak up is responsible for what happens next.”
Trump’s attack on Harvard is part of a broader campaign of retribution against universities and other institutions and organizations that are unwilling to capitulate to his administration. The Guardian reported that administration officials “have launched investigations into progressive and climate organizations, colleges, and recipients of government grants.”
Republican Congress members have been intimidated against opposing Trump’s overreaches, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said.
In September 2024 we asked subscribers to help us cope with increased printing and postal costs. Our readers responded generously over the past eight months to help us keep publishing the paper, as well as developing digital alternatives. We got a few inquiries about whether the donations were tax deductible. We explained we couldn’t seek tax-exempt status. because it would limit our ability to engage in political reporting and endorse candidates and bills.
Weaponization of the IRS and other federal agencies by the Trump administration has confirmed our caution. The last thing we need is a letter from the White House threatening legal action if we don’t change our attitudes about diversity, equity and inclusion to accommodate the Chief Extortionist’s prejudices.
The Progressive Populist has never counted on (or had access to) government grants or wealthy patrons to keep publishing, and we’ve only lost one offer of a five-figure contribution because the donor needed to send it to a tax-exempt organization. (Your two-, three- and four-figure donations made up for it. And we still need them.) — JMC
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