We are a post-shame society led by a post-shame government. Clearly, Bessent lost the plot somewhere. This administration would be embarrassed? Don't be absurd. They will just one up the old embarrassment next week with a new one so the conversation doesn't get stale, all while the courts struggle to keep up with cases from 15 embarrassments ago.
I have a similar reflex every time I read/hear "think" or "believe" attributed to any of these creeps — I think what any of them actually think or believe is long past mattering as anything more than academic exercise, what with the strata of crap they're saddling this society/planet with.
I honestly don’t understand how these people got to this level especially Bessent. Good Lord-he and Kevin Hassett- can’t seem to put a decent sentence together.
Yes but Meighan ( interesting spelling by the way- Gaelic?). If all these incompetent fools can become billionaires why can’t we women use all our gifts to rule the world and stop this fascist takeover- get all we want to live peacefully??
The thing about the Peter Principle is that it didn't take into account depravity and corruption. These people aren't merely incompetent, they're deeply corrupt.
That's the way it really works : the level of incompetence is just the starting point from which we proceed to higher and higher levels until we attain the Supreme Incompetence... then Sublime Incompetence...
I infer that the incompetent appointees hold high rank in an unseen organization. Or the invisible organization held a drawing and those in the Trump administration drew short stick, empirically speaking.
Precedent: The obedient thought-free nonentities appointed by the Kremlin to run the satellite States of the Soviet Empire. Even after the Czechoslovak e.e.g. had been properly flattened after showing signs of life, indiscipline arose again in the form of jumped-up petty criminal Ceausescu, "The Genius of the Carpathians".
So ... will Trump just assume he owns the Supreme Court, or will he also go for a Senate after-the-fact authorization on his tariff powers so he's covered? That vote would be interesting to see Republicans squirming.
Yup. Primary season starts in just a few short months. Can you name even a single GOP senator up for re-election next year who would risk Trump's wrath? And risk him endorsing a primary challenger?
Next Wednesday at 10:30 am several of the Trump sex trafficking and pedophile victims are giving a press conference.
Is there any doubt Trump and his brown shirts will do everything in their power to disrupt and distract this truth saying event?
I can't imagine any news outlet other than Fox, OAN and Newsmax not broadcasting the press conference and it's likely several of the world press corp will be present.
Where did you see that story? I hope it is true. Have always wondered why they haven’t been vocal…they had Biden’s time in office to speak. Oh, dear, these poor women. It is gut wrenching
What seems to be missing from these analyses -- and I say this with unfailing respect for Mr. Krugman -- is that Trump's tariffs are fulfilling a repeated (nonspecific) promise he made to his inner circle, specifically that he would deliberately inflict temporary hardship on the country as a necessary precursor to making its economy "great" again. He has also repeatedly expressed fawning admiration for the economic policies of Pinochet and Bolsonaro. It would thus seem obvious Trump is using tariffs as a (plausibly deniable) method of inflicting the neoliberal "economic shock therapy" of runaway inflation to further subjugate -- with Pinochet-proven, University of Chicago methodology -- the vast majority of our national population.
He's doing what the Heritage men want him to do. Wreck the country, especially we 99% of Americans.
How frustrating it must be to Mr Vought&Co that the Gov't seems to be more resilient to his crude sledgehammer sabotage. But, like the Dam in "Force 10 From Navarone".... give it time. It'll come down.
I do want to see that addressed. The tariffs ARE bringing in money — OUR money. They’re like an undeclared VAT. But I would wager that the MAGAs have no idea. (Not that Dr. Krugman would convince them, especially if Trump decides everyone should get a check for a token amount.)
I read that Bessent would be one of the "few adults in the room" in Trump’s second regime. He has turned out to be a true Trumpian sycophant, spewing garbage about tariffs and other economic nonsense that he has to know is wrong. Sorry, Scott. I have given up on you.
If I may be forgiven the use of politically incorrect terminology in a dark metaphor for our politically insufferable, aesthetically abhorrent, ecogenocidally apocalyptic reality, a double-digit- IQ moron might well be considered the "adult" in a roomful of single-digit-IQ imbeciles.
Agree with a very good point. But please spare us “ecogenocidaly” - even Google AI used my approach of parsing out its meaning and had only one reference its actual use as a word - yours😃. Now you’re as immortal as Harding who introduced the previous non-existent word “normalcy” into the English language.🤣
Our language is full of neologisms. Like thermonuclear and deoxyribonucleic. The only problem here is a probable misprint: the word should be 'ecogenocidally'. A quibble perhaps, but the language does have some standards. The only question is whether it will be found useful enough to survive.
Not a "misprint," a tired-eyed typo, now corrected, with thanks and a like to DM for the catch.
As to the word itself, I took the headline-writer's license of combining two existing words to shorten the accurate description of what assails us: the ultimate planet-killing misogyny of ecocidal hatred for our Mother Earth; the ultimate murderousness of genocidal hatred for all of us who are not male Christian Aryan heterosexuals.
In the movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance," golfer Matt Damon is playing a tournament and his play is simply awful. He says to caddy Will Smith, "Here's where it gets embarrassing." Smith replies, "Oh, no sir... it's been embarrassing for quite some time now."
I really think if 20 intelligent women encircled him and started asking intelligent questions - about the economy — Trump’s economy — he’d break down crying in about 30 minutes and get reacquainted with the fetal position.
Nice, but you seem to be missing some data: Poopface never got a degree from Wharton. He attended a small number of classes there as part of his so-called studies, but we know nothing of his performance in them, by his decree. It appears that only people who did very well in their education want their histories to be public, like watzisname? - that Black guy who was President once.
The blowhard dotard was a transfer to Penn after 2 years at Fordham and received a Wharton undergrad degree in econ in '68. Back in the mid '60s Wharton was a respected school (30% - 40% acceptance) but it wasn't the ultra-selective (3%- 5% acceptance) high-powered place it is now. He did not attend the Wharton MBA program, which is what many people think of when they hear "Wharton".
So, Nenapoma forgot a comma or two. "Harvard, Yale, wherever...." if you want to split hairs, Did Bessent graduate from Yale? Did your wife? In academia, "attended" typically means just that: attended but did not graduate from the institution.
According to Wiki, Bessent graduated from Yale in 1984. According to my wife, she graduated with a degree in Russian (which is where I get these old Russian jokes). Since she was admitted to Stevens based on that degree, I think nobody would doubt that. She also graduated from Stevens with a Master's degree.
As for forgetting commas, anyone who wishes to communicate with other people had better learn not to do that. "Eats shoots and leaves" is much different than "Eats, shoots, and leaves."
I think "Harvard Yale" was missing a comma. The commenter didn't know which one it was and probably didn't care. Yale should yank his degree. What's it in? Underwater basket weaving?
Yale. They have a lot to answer for - Bessent and Vance. Although an argument can be made that Bessent is the real Yalie and Vance just went to a "professional" school.
Please know the above comment was made with tongue in cheek . Though they are both traitors to this country. He's a bit of a chameleon having no loyalties to either party - just whichever way the wind blows - I think he royally effed up on this one. Now he will always be on the wrong side of history.
This isn’t fun or funny. Let’s just have a balance of powers within the federal government. Calling for civil war is equally atrocious as invading D.C. Be cool, man.
You get too far ahead too fast with hyperbole. A national guard fully occupied by the Governor is not available to the President. The President cannot lawfully order US troops into a state except by fraud. Calling BS (on using emergency powers) with one’s own National Guard is a state’s right. What will be will be, but were I Pritzker, I would shut down the entry way into the state. The courts can weigh in fast.
It's not funny, and inciting violence should be off the table, of course, at least from the dissent end. The Trumpists are armed to the teeth.
As far as "calling for a civil war" goes, a civil war is in fact going on right now. January 6 was an opening skirmish in an otherwise largely Cold Civil War. Best be an observer.
Did you notice "The confrontation is not a battle or a war. It is a standoff at State borders." He is advocating for preparedness to defend. I don't believe Guardsmen would fire on each other in that scenario.
Stop shooting, would you. Standing your ground is not “inciting violence”. We have started and the court points out in the tariff issue cited by Mr Krugman that declaring an emergency where there is none is ludicrous. It will no longer stand.
Not getting the message, are you? The author tried but the correlation is hard for some. Your “stupid” comment suggests not only are you the gatekeeper of Mr. Krugman’s Substack, but also you can see straight into my mind and decipher what evil lurks there, YSF. It is the court’s opinion that declaring an emergency where there is none is but a ruse to gain otherwise unauthorized powers. Not buying that and the Governor should not either. Stand your ground.
Skepticat, I think that the plan for GOP Congresspeople is to avoid having to vote for legislation that will be unpopular in the long run, like tariffs and allowing DOGE to run wild. They believe that if they don't vote, they won't be held responsible. My view is that failure to act is also a vote to allow trump to undermine our democracy.
Now, if the Supreme Court doesn't reverse this ruling, Congress will have to vote, and when their tariff policies cause high inflation, the GOP will be to blame and not just trump.
I understand that there was a time when Schoolhouse Rock was used to train new Congressional staff. I found it useful with 8th graders. Easy to understand with a catchy tune. No just the civics part. Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here.
There's an old Russian joke about an older man who limped down to the news-stand every morning, picked up a paper, stared at the front page, put it down, and walked away.
This went on for months, until the newsy, curious, asked what he was looking for.
'I'm looking for an obituary,' the old man said.
'An obituary? Those are way in the back of the paper, not the front page.'
It would break the spell. No one else has the same power over his followers. That’s why time is of the essence right now. Find a protest near you for Labor Day and GO.
I think that's a classic, and it ought to be. And it sounds very Russian. Many people seem to think that Russians don't have a sense of humor, but their cynical jokes about bad government, of which got a big dose back during the Cold War when the press like that, proves the contrary.
Four people are sharing a compartment on a train. There’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man, and a KGB agent. The train goes into a long tunnel and everything goes black. Then there’s the sound of a kiss and a slap and, when the train pulls out of the tunnel, the KGB agent’s cheek is bright red.
The old woman thinks “That girl was raised properly. She shouldn’t put up with that behavior.”
The young girl thinks “Why did he kiss the old woman instead of me?”
The KGB agent thinks “That’s a lucky young man; he kisses the girl and I get the blame.”
The young man thinks “How clever I am; I kiss the back of my hand, slap a KGB agent, and no-one is the wiser.”
I'm reading a book by Heather Cox Richardson "How the South Won the Civil War". Look at the 2024 electoral map on Wikipedia. The Confederate states and the neo-Confederate states (e.g. Idaho, the Dakotas, etc.) now rule America.
And those NG in the southern states are invading the northern states under the guise of Trump’s declaring a false national emergency. And the South shall rise again!
There are now 6 Federalist Society members on SCOTUS. Notwithstanding the FS website claims, it is a group of activist judges and attorneys dedicated to using the power of the courts to move America towards an autocratic, right-wing Christian theocracy. Republican presidents only appoint to SCOTUS members of the FS, starting with Scalia. It is the most effective, and little-known organization that is undermining our democracy.
If you're a fan of Dune, nuns associated with Opus Dei include The Sisters of The House of The Mother, from Spain but now also in the US. They took Catholic high schoolers on field trips to Italy at the height of Italy's covid epidemic.
When Scalia bullied his fellow SCOTUS members to overturn the Voting Rights Act, there were no legal arguments in the decision. Scalia wrote a bunch of gobbledegook in his decision like, it's an "unfair burden" on the states to hold free and fair elections.
There’s a good chance the SC doesn’t take this up and the appeals court ruling stands. Unlike all the other examples where the SC let Trump do what he wanted, the tariffs are likely to hurt rich people as they hurt the economy.
Agree Bill Flarsheim. Most of the 6 can see now how bad their bad choices were. Too embarrassed so far to own up and do what they can to remedy the situation, but there’ll be a point when the embarrassment will feel pretty minor compared with the other consequences of those bad choices.
The rich are not suffering nearly as much the poor by these misguided tariffs. Still, it is hitting them too. When a $300k car goes to $400k, even the rich notice.
Paying for the overpricing of that cheap, gaudy crap Trump keeps putting in the Oval Office. You know he is a sucker when it comes to prices on that front.
I recently had to pay $133 on a water tank I brought in from Canada. I live closer to a Canadian box store than the US version so thought I'd save time and gas--plus a couple hundred with the exchange. Most of that was eaten up by the tariff.
Politico addresses that point in their story today (which goes to great lengths to quote a dissent, but none of the text or the decision itself, BTW). They quote somebody who says it would be a nightmare to try to hand out refunds. I'm sure that the boys (and I use that word carefully) that Musk brought in to dismantle the government (DOGE) can figure that out shortly, no doubt applying the same AI system that began spewing Nazi propaganda.
I thought of that. I think each importer who paid illegally imposed taxes would have to sue the IRS for refunds. I think separate lawsuits would have to be filed for each class of illegal tariff such as auto parts imported from Canada. So, unless SCOTUS could fashion a more global way of refunding the money, the courts would be clogged for years. The end result would be thousands and thousands of judgments for refunds. Then Trump could direct IRS not to pay them.
They should. Lutnick's son is betting on it, buying up the paper at a discount for when the court says to pay it back. (I saw a Legal AF video about it.)
“But the appellate judges delayed the enforcement of their order until mid-October, allowing the administration time to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.”
If the ruling stands, we will find out. Some company will file for a refund and sue if they don’t get it. The answer may be 5 years from now, and then we will have Democratic president who will be blamed for the multi billion dollar hole in the budget.
He would have needed 60 votes to pass the bill in the senate unless the senate republicans decided to eliminate the filibuster. Plus, to your point it is easier and more fun to do everything by executive order and then hope the Supreme Court supports you.
So in other words you are saying he needs 50 votes in the Senate plus JD Bedbug to break the tie. If Trump needs the Senate rules to be altered, they will be altered. You could dissect almost every member of the GOP in the legislature and not find a spine.
I frankly doubt that The Dumpster could get a tariffs bill through the House. Every GOP representative in a swing district would run away from it at half the speed of light. Too many constituents are now becoming aware who really pays the tariffs -- consumers. I expect that if SCOTUS actually upholds this decision (unlikely, to be sure) a tariffs bill will never see the floor of the House.
I think that the Supreme Court may well buck Trump on this, not because any of them suddenly grow a backbone, but because businesses are looking at having to raise prices so much that it will impact sales. In the end I think the Supreme Court is far, far more interested in kowtowing to business than bending to Trump. We shall see.
It does make one wonder why they spent all those years padding their bank rolls with honoraria and why Roberts wife collected so many millions of dollars if they are going to let the US dollar and economy tank. But they aren’t economists, just Leonard Leo’s crusaders, so they probably aren’t thinking it through.
Hope you’re correct… but it’s a desperate hope… Our economy now is global, Trump’s 50%!” tariffs basically will kill both our economy and those of all our foreign sellers & buyers
Even a 5% tariff can do that: passing through a 4-5% can raise wholesaler prices 5%, then retailer prices 5% — find me a product that can sell at +5%… I _know_ you can’t find me a product that can retail at +50%… Such prices will ruin our Global Economy.
Our Global Economy is more supple & flexible than your comment suggests: some industries & margins need 35%, others shoot for 50 and still others do fine at 5, we’re all different. I used to have lead times of 1+ years, on Chinese baskets, that would kill Apple on their 10-day delivery needs & Amazon gets things to you overnite, now… There’s lots of variety out there: Int. Trade is not going away, and Supply & Demand still works.
“If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.” Goodness, we can’t have that. Destroying the United States of America is Trump’s job.
Roberts is a bit smarter than than the other R-justices. He is still on the wrong side of history taking apart laws on voter supression, roe versus wade etcetera.
I have been seeing posts and have gotten responses from trolls encouraging support for the effort to impeach Roberts. This likely goes back to his ACA vote in the 5-4 decision to not invalidate Obamacare. Trump would dearly love to appoint a new chief justice. The trolls are poseur rightwingers who don't care about Thomas or Alito, an Uncle Tom and a Tory.
Trump is an embarrassment and it is way past time for courts, including the SCOTUS, to rule based on the crystal clear words in the constitution. A trade deficit is obviously not an emergency so if SCOTUS rules in favor of Trump we may as well throw in the towel. It is stunning it has taken this long to rule on his clearly illegal tariffs.
Oh, Scott Bessent, we’re WAY beyond embarrassment.
We are a post-shame society led by a post-shame government. Clearly, Bessent lost the plot somewhere. This administration would be embarrassed? Don't be absurd. They will just one up the old embarrassment next week with a new one so the conversation doesn't get stale, all while the courts struggle to keep up with cases from 15 embarrassments ago.
Beautifully expressed, Ian. On so many levels.
Lost the plot? Or just took his thirty pieces of silver.
I have a similar reflex every time I read/hear "think" or "believe" attributed to any of these creeps — I think what any of them actually think or believe is long past mattering as anything more than academic exercise, what with the strata of crap they're saddling this society/planet with.
Ok, that comment gets extra credit.
And wouldn't courts also be embarrassed to uphold a clearly illegal process because of the dignity (lol) of the president?
We need to embargo embarrassments.
Oo! Oo! Can we export WasteFraud'N'Abuse™ to Russia?
Too late; they've almost cornered the market And we are already net importers from there.
Bessent lost the plot the moment he decided to play 'cabinet member' for the wannabe dictator-king.
Anything, *anything,* to distract our attention from the Epstein files and the survivors . . .
Bessent's face in the mirror crawls away in shame.
I honestly don’t understand how these people got to this level especially Bessent. Good Lord-he and Kevin Hassett- can’t seem to put a decent sentence together.
Wealth, in even the most improbable cases, manages to convey the aspect of intelligence.
--John Kenneth Galbraith
Lutnick is even worse.
Indeed- and he was head of Csntor Fitzgerald!!
People were only sympathetic to him because he escaped death on 9/11 by taking his kid to school. No one realized what an incompetent fool he was.
Yes but Meighan ( interesting spelling by the way- Gaelic?). If all these incompetent fools can become billionaires why can’t we women use all our gifts to rule the world and stop this fascist takeover- get all we want to live peacefully??
That’s Nutlick.
Very spicy, that. Kudos!
Peter Principle to the nth power.
The thing about the Peter Principle is that it didn't take into account depravity and corruption. These people aren't merely incompetent, they're deeply corrupt.
Yep promoted to a level of incompetence- Laurence O’Donnell regularly rips Hassett and Bessent to shreds!!!
That's the way it really works : the level of incompetence is just the starting point from which we proceed to higher and higher levels until we attain the Supreme Incompetence... then Sublime Incompetence...
Connections can count for more than expertise or wisdom.
ez: corrupt cronyism
Hassett is just a paid hack and always has been. Bessent is actually very smart which makes his behavior so appalling.
I infer that the incompetent appointees hold high rank in an unseen organization. Or the invisible organization held a drawing and those in the Trump administration drew short stick, empirically speaking.
Precedent: The obedient thought-free nonentities appointed by the Kremlin to run the satellite States of the Soviet Empire. Even after the Czechoslovak e.e.g. had been properly flattened after showing signs of life, indiscipline arose again in the form of jumped-up petty criminal Ceausescu, "The Genius of the Carpathians".
You mean to say that Trump will be
caught with his pants down once again ( if he doesn’t get to legally impose tariffs) ?
Shocking
So ... will Trump just assume he owns the Supreme Court, or will he also go for a Senate after-the-fact authorization on his tariff powers so he's covered? That vote would be interesting to see Republicans squirming.
It appears Trump is already acting on that assumption.
Yup. Primary season starts in just a few short months. Can you name even a single GOP senator up for re-election next year who would risk Trump's wrath? And risk him endorsing a primary challenger?
Next Wednesday at 10:30 am several of the Trump sex trafficking and pedophile victims are giving a press conference.
Is there any doubt Trump and his brown shirts will do everything in their power to disrupt and distract this truth saying event?
I can't imagine any news outlet other than Fox, OAN and Newsmax not broadcasting the press conference and it's likely several of the world press corp will be present.
Where did you see that story? I hope it is true. Have always wondered why they haven’t been vocal…they had Biden’s time in office to speak. Oh, dear, these poor women. It is gut wrenching
I'm not aware of any administration prioritizing any Epstein[adjacent] investigation(s). See Acosta, Alex.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5447819-thomas-massie-ro-khanna-jeffrey-epstein-victims-capitol/
It's getting a lot of press, just not front page news since the Oligarchs and theocrats will do anything to protect their king.
U mean his diaper?
Yes, I think we are all pretty embarrassed already and ruling them illegal will actually remove some of that embarrassment.
What seems to be missing from these analyses -- and I say this with unfailing respect for Mr. Krugman -- is that Trump's tariffs are fulfilling a repeated (nonspecific) promise he made to his inner circle, specifically that he would deliberately inflict temporary hardship on the country as a necessary precursor to making its economy "great" again. He has also repeatedly expressed fawning admiration for the economic policies of Pinochet and Bolsonaro. It would thus seem obvious Trump is using tariffs as a (plausibly deniable) method of inflicting the neoliberal "economic shock therapy" of runaway inflation to further subjugate -- with Pinochet-proven, University of Chicago methodology -- the vast majority of our national population.
He's doing what the Heritage men want him to do. Wreck the country, especially we 99% of Americans.
How frustrating it must be to Mr Vought&Co that the Gov't seems to be more resilient to his crude sledgehammer sabotage. But, like the Dam in "Force 10 From Navarone".... give it time. It'll come down.
I do want to see that addressed. The tariffs ARE bringing in money — OUR money. They’re like an undeclared VAT. But I would wager that the MAGAs have no idea. (Not that Dr. Krugman would convince them, especially if Trump decides everyone should get a check for a token amount.)
I read that Bessent would be one of the "few adults in the room" in Trump’s second regime. He has turned out to be a true Trumpian sycophant, spewing garbage about tariffs and other economic nonsense that he has to know is wrong. Sorry, Scott. I have given up on you.
If I may be forgiven the use of politically incorrect terminology in a dark metaphor for our politically insufferable, aesthetically abhorrent, ecogenocidally apocalyptic reality, a double-digit- IQ moron might well be considered the "adult" in a roomful of single-digit-IQ imbeciles.
Agree with a very good point. But please spare us “ecogenocidaly” - even Google AI used my approach of parsing out its meaning and had only one reference its actual use as a word - yours😃. Now you’re as immortal as Harding who introduced the previous non-existent word “normalcy” into the English language.🤣
Our language is full of neologisms. Like thermonuclear and deoxyribonucleic. The only problem here is a probable misprint: the word should be 'ecogenocidally'. A quibble perhaps, but the language does have some standards. The only question is whether it will be found useful enough to survive.
Not a "misprint," a tired-eyed typo, now corrected, with thanks and a like to DM for the catch.
As to the word itself, I took the headline-writer's license of combining two existing words to shorten the accurate description of what assails us: the ultimate planet-killing misogyny of ecocidal hatred for our Mother Earth; the ultimate murderousness of genocidal hatred for all of us who are not male Christian Aryan heterosexuals.
creativity is laudable-I must be getting too stodgy in my old age.😉
I had thought he might have some smarts but evidently not. Never heard of him before his elevation to treasury secretary.
Meighan Corbett, doesn't that sound nice, "never heard of him before his elevation to treasury secretary." If only.
🎯
In the movie "The Legend of Bagger Vance," golfer Matt Damon is playing a tournament and his play is simply awful. He says to caddy Will Smith, "Here's where it gets embarrassing." Smith replies, "Oh, no sir... it's been embarrassing for quite some time now."
A favorite movie in our household in the back in the day ...
Days without national embarrassment: zero
I really think if 20 intelligent women encircled him and started asking intelligent questions - about the economy — Trump’s economy — he’d break down crying in about 30 minutes and get reacquainted with the fetal position.
He was supposed to be the adult in the room.......what a loser.
ikr? 🤣 these guys are completely out to lunch.
Waaaaayyyy beyond…..
Who knew that Congress had power of the purse?
Also … Harvard Yale where ever Bessent got his diploma needs to revoke it
I sent Wharton a note telling them one of their famous alums thought he could cut prices 1500%.
I really did send it. I suggested his degree should be revoked to protect the reputation of the institution.
Nice, but you seem to be missing some data: Poopface never got a degree from Wharton. He attended a small number of classes there as part of his so-called studies, but we know nothing of his performance in them, by his decree. It appears that only people who did very well in their education want their histories to be public, like watzisname? - that Black guy who was President once.
The blowhard dotard was a transfer to Penn after 2 years at Fordham and received a Wharton undergrad degree in econ in '68. Back in the mid '60s Wharton was a respected school (30% - 40% acceptance) but it wasn't the ultra-selective (3%- 5% acceptance) high-powered place it is now. He did not attend the Wharton MBA program, which is what many people think of when they hear "Wharton".
Harvard and Yale are two totally separate Universities; typically regarded as rivals. Bessent attended Yale, as did my wife.
I think that was a series of punctuation errors. ;)
"I was a victim of a series of punctuation errors". With apologies to Kurt Vonnegut.
So, Nenapoma forgot a comma or two. "Harvard, Yale, wherever...." if you want to split hairs, Did Bessent graduate from Yale? Did your wife? In academia, "attended" typically means just that: attended but did not graduate from the institution.
According to Wiki, Bessent graduated from Yale in 1984. According to my wife, she graduated with a degree in Russian (which is where I get these old Russian jokes). Since she was admitted to Stevens based on that degree, I think nobody would doubt that. She also graduated from Stevens with a Master's degree.
As for forgetting commas, anyone who wishes to communicate with other people had better learn not to do that. "Eats shoots and leaves" is much different than "Eats, shoots, and leaves."
Stevens or Stephens?
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.
Grammar/punctuation troll! My life is complete.
I think "Harvard Yale" was missing a comma. The commenter didn't know which one it was and probably didn't care. Yale should yank his degree. What's it in? Underwater basket weaving?
Yale. They have a lot to answer for - Bessent and Vance. Although an argument can be made that Bessent is the real Yalie and Vance just went to a "professional" school.
Please know the above comment was made with tongue in cheek . Though they are both traitors to this country. He's a bit of a chameleon having no loyalties to either party - just whichever way the wind blows - I think he royally effed up on this one. Now he will always be on the wrong side of history.
This isn’t fun or funny. Let’s just have a balance of powers within the federal government. Calling for civil war is equally atrocious as invading D.C. Be cool, man.
You get too far ahead too fast with hyperbole. A national guard fully occupied by the Governor is not available to the President. The President cannot lawfully order US troops into a state except by fraud. Calling BS (on using emergency powers) with one’s own National Guard is a state’s right. What will be will be, but were I Pritzker, I would shut down the entry way into the state. The courts can weigh in fast.
It's not funny, and inciting violence should be off the table, of course, at least from the dissent end. The Trumpists are armed to the teeth.
As far as "calling for a civil war" goes, a civil war is in fact going on right now. January 6 was an opening skirmish in an otherwise largely Cold Civil War. Best be an observer.
With the amount of weapons available to americans everybody seems to armed to the teeth.
Time to think about soft secession
Did you notice "The confrontation is not a battle or a war. It is a standoff at State borders." He is advocating for preparedness to defend. I don't believe Guardsmen would fire on each other in that scenario.
You think Selfe is promoting violence? Take a look at this Substack: https://cmarmitage.substack.com/p/i-researched-every-attempt-to-stop
Chill out! Do not incite violence!
Stop shooting, would you. Standing your ground is not “inciting violence”. We have started and the court points out in the tariff issue cited by Mr Krugman that declaring an emergency where there is none is ludicrous. It will no longer stand.
I’d be very surprised if even one person in these comments could be incited to violence.
Dude, quit trying to advertise your stupid substack with unrelated comments.
Not getting the message, are you? The author tried but the correlation is hard for some. Your “stupid” comment suggests not only are you the gatekeeper of Mr. Krugman’s Substack, but also you can see straight into my mind and decipher what evil lurks there, YSF. It is the court’s opinion that declaring an emergency where there is none is but a ruse to gain otherwise unauthorized powers. Not buying that and the Governor should not either. Stand your ground.
Uh, time to chill, Mr. Selfe.
Agreed
Exactly
Not Congress apparently.
Skepticat, I think that the plan for GOP Congresspeople is to avoid having to vote for legislation that will be unpopular in the long run, like tariffs and allowing DOGE to run wild. They believe that if they don't vote, they won't be held responsible. My view is that failure to act is also a vote to allow trump to undermine our democracy.
Now, if the Supreme Court doesn't reverse this ruling, Congress will have to vote, and when their tariff policies cause high inflation, the GOP will be to blame and not just trump.
Never utter the word Trump, simply refer to the Republicans and their leader.
Everyone who read the Constitution.
or watched School house Rock!
I understand that there was a time when Schoolhouse Rock was used to train new Congressional staff. I found it useful with 8th graders. Easy to understand with a catchy tune. No just the civics part. Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here.
Interjections! Show excitement, or emotion..
I'm just a Bill …
The mad clown was too busy ogling the Brady Girls in those days.
Especially Article I sections 7, 8 and 10.
and remembered what they read.
Anyone who’s read the Constitution—which Donnie clearly hasn’t!
He kinda TL;DR'd it.
Lindsey Graham understands the power of the purse.
A plus notes
Right? Who knew?
And yet, ironically, so few members of Congress actually carry a purse.
The same guy who thinks the Declaration of Independence is about "unity and love."
The purse? That sounds like some female thing, so DEI, to be outlawed, er, outexecutiveordered, immediately.
Not any GOP member in this Congress!
Anyone who read The Constitution. (That was your point, right?)
Most people. All spending bills originate in the House.
There's an old Russian joke about an older man who limped down to the news-stand every morning, picked up a paper, stared at the front page, put it down, and walked away.
This went on for months, until the newsy, curious, asked what he was looking for.
'I'm looking for an obituary,' the old man said.
'An obituary? Those are way in the back of the paper, not the front page.'
'Not this one,' the old man replied.
I was given a magnet in 2017 that has since hung on my fridge and says:
“One day we will wake up to his obituary.”
It gives me hope.
we read America’s obituary daily
Don’t obey in advance. Don’t give up. Find a protest and help. You’ll be surprised by the numbers of people you’ll be joining.
Would the replacement be better though?....
It would break the spell. No one else has the same power over his followers. That’s why time is of the essence right now. Find a protest near you for Labor Day and GO.
https://hilarioushumanitarian.com/products/one-day-we-will-wake-up-to-his-obituary-magnet?variant=46102839001313&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17748966410&gbraid=0AAAAAol_LmhKGvGKxORVSt6LMZ19M3BFe&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz6XP-6uyjwMVtjIIBR0WeTIPEAQYAiABEgKmJPD_BwE
Excellent.
I think that's a classic, and it ought to be. And it sounds very Russian. Many people seem to think that Russians don't have a sense of humor, but their cynical jokes about bad government, of which got a big dose back during the Cold War when the press like that, proves the contrary.
Here’s my favorite –
Four people are sharing a compartment on a train. There’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man, and a KGB agent. The train goes into a long tunnel and everything goes black. Then there’s the sound of a kiss and a slap and, when the train pulls out of the tunnel, the KGB agent’s cheek is bright red.
The old woman thinks “That girl was raised properly. She shouldn’t put up with that behavior.”
The young girl thinks “Why did he kiss the old woman instead of me?”
The KGB agent thinks “That’s a lucky young man; he kisses the girl and I get the blame.”
The young man thinks “How clever I am; I kiss the back of my hand, slap a KGB agent, and no-one is the wiser.”
Electing Trump A SECOND TIME has already embarrassed the United States. Forget about any of the rest of it.
Hell, electing him once was an embarrassment.
I'm reading a book by Heather Cox Richardson "How the South Won the Civil War". Look at the 2024 electoral map on Wikipedia. The Confederate states and the neo-Confederate states (e.g. Idaho, the Dakotas, etc.) now rule America.
Yeah, that's pretty much what happened.
And those NG in the southern states are invading the northern states under the guise of Trump’s declaring a false national emergency. And the South shall rise again!
Seriously? Someone in the Trump Administration is worried about embarrassment? Almost choked to death reading that.
Interesting point. What *would* cause them embarrassment? Anything?
Mr. Epstein?
Getting caught in bed with a live boy or a dead girl?
If it was a dead girl, I think they'd just play blame the victim.
She.. err.. overdosed! It would hardly interrupt a thing before lunch.
The boy would have to be killed first.
Yeh, I'll pay that.
Nearly spewed good bourbon .. but had self control.
We have a saying applying to politicians "in Turkey you can be/become everything except embarrassed"
I have no faith in SCOTUS.
There are now 6 Federalist Society members on SCOTUS. Notwithstanding the FS website claims, it is a group of activist judges and attorneys dedicated to using the power of the courts to move America towards an autocratic, right-wing Christian theocracy. Republican presidents only appoint to SCOTUS members of the FS, starting with Scalia. It is the most effective, and little-known organization that is undermining our democracy.
Sheldon Whitehouse has a book and youtube video's on the capture of SCOTUS by the Leonard Leo, Republic, Federal Society.
The books are Captured, The Scheme.
It all started with the Powell memo a plan to capture government on behalf of companies.
The Scheme playlist.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyg5hj7I21i1Aqcaym9TRFrpWjPN9_ms&si=Vd1yArlGjKXLuKTF
Federalist, Heritage and Opus Dei.
If you're a fan of Dune, nuns associated with Opus Dei include The Sisters of The House of The Mother, from Spain but now also in the US. They took Catholic high schoolers on field trips to Italy at the height of Italy's covid epidemic.
That explains why the SC has been so useless (observer in Canada)
When Scalia bullied his fellow SCOTUS members to overturn the Voting Rights Act, there were no legal arguments in the decision. Scalia wrote a bunch of gobbledegook in his decision like, it's an "unfair burden" on the states to hold free and fair elections.
Bad stuff.
Nor should we all.
Thank you, Paul Krugman! Very clear and to the point.
The courts will cave. I have absolutely no faith in our political system or government anymore.
the "courts" have been doing fine: we need to be more specific. the supreme 6 will cave.
The simpering, sniveling "gang of six" suck ups.
Simpering Six is a perfect description
Exactly. SCOTUS owes us all an apology especially to their respective state bar organizations.
There’s a good chance the SC doesn’t take this up and the appeals court ruling stands. Unlike all the other examples where the SC let Trump do what he wanted, the tariffs are likely to hurt rich people as they hurt the economy.
Agree Bill Flarsheim. Most of the 6 can see now how bad their bad choices were. Too embarrassed so far to own up and do what they can to remedy the situation, but there’ll be a point when the embarrassment will feel pretty minor compared with the other consequences of those bad choices.
The rich are not suffering nearly as much the poor by these misguided tariffs. Still, it is hitting them too. When a $300k car goes to $400k, even the rich notice.
At some point the tariffs will hurt the financial markets. The rich will still be rich, but tariffs hurt too many business models.
Wondering if you have to refund the tariffs illegally collected.
Like revenue collected actually made it to Treasury.
Yes I’ve been wondering about all the slashing of grants and funds… where is the $$$$?
Paying for the overpricing of that cheap, gaudy crap Trump keeps putting in the Oval Office. You know he is a sucker when it comes to prices on that front.
Partially compensating for the ginormous tax cuts for the billionaires in Trump's Big Bad Bill.
The tax cuts were bigger than everything else put together in the Big Ugly Bill.
Yet the promise of tax cuts assured campaign funding. The tariffs are a way to counteract the cuts, I think.
Exactly .. where has all the monet gone? ICE, FBI, buying Intel shares and other federal boondoggles.
ICE?
Going to ICE.
I recently had to pay $133 on a water tank I brought in from Canada. I live closer to a Canadian box store than the US version so thought I'd save time and gas--plus a couple hundred with the exchange. Most of that was eaten up by the tariff.
I think you do.
Sorry, it's all tied up in long-term $TRUMP coins. Can't be redeemed for 99 years.
Politico addresses that point in their story today (which goes to great lengths to quote a dissent, but none of the text or the decision itself, BTW). They quote somebody who says it would be a nightmare to try to hand out refunds. I'm sure that the boys (and I use that word carefully) that Musk brought in to dismantle the government (DOGE) can figure that out shortly, no doubt applying the same AI system that began spewing Nazi propaganda.
I thought of that. I think each importer who paid illegally imposed taxes would have to sue the IRS for refunds. I think separate lawsuits would have to be filed for each class of illegal tariff such as auto parts imported from Canada. So, unless SCOTUS could fashion a more global way of refunding the money, the courts would be clogged for years. The end result would be thousands and thousands of judgments for refunds. Then Trump could direct IRS not to pay them.
Then what? I dunno.
Apparently yes.
They should. Lutnick's son is betting on it, buying up the paper at a discount for when the court says to pay it back. (I saw a Legal AF video about it.)
“But the appellate judges delayed the enforcement of their order until mid-October, allowing the administration time to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.”
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/29/us/trump-news#trump-tariffs-appeals-court
So no action yet.
The american justice system is slow as a 🐌.
Justice delayed is Justice denied.
Anyone know why they were given six weeks to appeal? Is that a long or short time compared to usual practice?
If the ruling stands, we will find out. Some company will file for a refund and sue if they don’t get it. The answer may be 5 years from now, and then we will have Democratic president who will be blamed for the multi billion dollar hole in the budget.
He would have needed 60 votes to pass the bill in the senate unless the senate republicans decided to eliminate the filibuster. Plus, to your point it is easier and more fun to do everything by executive order and then hope the Supreme Court supports you.
So in other words you are saying he needs 50 votes in the Senate plus JD Bedbug to break the tie. If Trump needs the Senate rules to be altered, they will be altered. You could dissect almost every member of the GOP in the legislature and not find a spine.
Tariffs are taxes, so they could probably do it through budget reconciliation...
I think that they only get one budget reconciliation bill a year, and that this would have to stand on its own to be addressed this year.
I frankly doubt that The Dumpster could get a tariffs bill through the House. Every GOP representative in a swing district would run away from it at half the speed of light. Too many constituents are now becoming aware who really pays the tariffs -- consumers. I expect that if SCOTUS actually upholds this decision (unlikely, to be sure) a tariffs bill will never see the floor of the House.
I think that the Supreme Court may well buck Trump on this, not because any of them suddenly grow a backbone, but because businesses are looking at having to raise prices so much that it will impact sales. In the end I think the Supreme Court is far, far more interested in kowtowing to business than bending to Trump. We shall see.
Maybe they are looking at their investments and having second thoughts.
It does make one wonder why they spent all those years padding their bank rolls with honoraria and why Roberts wife collected so many millions of dollars if they are going to let the US dollar and economy tank. But they aren’t economists, just Leonard Leo’s crusaders, so they probably aren’t thinking it through.
I'd like to think you are right, but I don't see it. I don't gamble or I'd make a little wager with you.
Hope you’re correct… but it’s a desperate hope… Our economy now is global, Trump’s 50%!” tariffs basically will kill both our economy and those of all our foreign sellers & buyers
Even a 5% tariff can do that: passing through a 4-5% can raise wholesaler prices 5%, then retailer prices 5% — find me a product that can sell at +5%… I _know_ you can’t find me a product that can retail at +50%… Such prices will ruin our Global Economy.
Our Global Economy is more supple & flexible than your comment suggests: some industries & margins need 35%, others shoot for 50 and still others do fine at 5, we’re all different. I used to have lead times of 1+ years, on Chinese baskets, that would kill Apple on their 10-day delivery needs & Amazon gets things to you overnite, now… There’s lots of variety out there: Int. Trade is not going away, and Supply & Demand still works.
“If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America.” Goodness, we can’t have that. Destroying the United States of America is Trump’s job.
Touché!
Woe betide SCOTUS if they overturn this or rule against Lisa Cook.
What "woe" were you thinking of? I see no downside for the six toadies who will back up anything Drumph wants.
I just think the worse they do the worse the backlash it simply cannot go on like this forever.
I'm thinking the next administration will have to enlarge the Supreme Court. Unless a couple of them don't wake up some morning early in 2029.
I fear if any of the Supremes either retire or resign under the current administration it will result in new corrupt and younger life long justices.
BTW it would not be surprising if Roberts did not vote with the Trumpists on the Court.
Roberts is a bit smarter than than the other R-justices. He is still on the wrong side of history taking apart laws on voter supression, roe versus wade etcetera.
He mostly goes with the other Righties. He has a shred of integrity, but only a shred.
I have been seeing posts and have gotten responses from trolls encouraging support for the effort to impeach Roberts. This likely goes back to his ACA vote in the 5-4 decision to not invalidate Obamacare. Trump would dearly love to appoint a new chief justice. The trolls are poseur rightwingers who don't care about Thomas or Alito, an Uncle Tom and a Tory.
Well, thanks for reminding me of the ACA vote, but that's not enough and I maintain my position. Sorry about the trolls.
Realistically he won't be out soon, and Trump won't get to appoint his successor. It's moot. The '26 midterms is the issue now, anyway.
Meh, some 3-4 yard long pieces of wood and a blade might be a good start . . . maybe a basket like is traditional for this machine.
Bessent will never have an honest job again.
Did he ever have one?
No.
And this job he has now is honest?
No.
No, he is just as dishonest as his boss, DJT.
"It won’t embarrass America. It will embarrass Trump and Bessent."
L'etat c'est Trump.
Trump is an embarrassment and it is way past time for courts, including the SCOTUS, to rule based on the crystal clear words in the constitution. A trade deficit is obviously not an emergency so if SCOTUS rules in favor of Trump we may as well throw in the towel. It is stunning it has taken this long to rule on his clearly illegal tariffs.
Biden followed the law Congress passed on reducing tuition debt.
Despite the clear language allowing him to do it the seditious 6 on SCOTUS denied him that right.
The seditious 6 on SCOTUS are not fair or honest brokers.
Pack the courts. It is the only way out of this mess.
The amount of successful cheating,rampant and transparent now, makes any positive legislation doubtful and risky endeavors.