I, and everyone I know, want to know the facts of any collusion between Trump and his associates and Russia. I am confident that the Mueller investigation provides them as well as we could expect. Attorney General Barr’s news conference this morning summarizing that report was clear and transparent. He did an exemplary and impressive job. The complaints from some Democrats on the Hill that Barr should not have held this press conference until after they had read Mueller’s report were unfounded and frankly embarrassing. Please let’s move on.
My assessment of Trump’s administration today, which is what we should be debating, is very mixed. Adjusting and lightening the regulatory burdens that have been holding our economy back is largely good in my view (though each must be judged individually) as are the tax reforms making the system simpler and fairer. While the tax reforms did not go far enough, they were a big improvement over the existing tax law.
Trump’s attitude toward trade and the protection of inefficient American firms is ill informed and damaging to American’s economy as a whole (as opposed to coal and steel producers). His bullying and unilateral approach is clumsy, amateurish, and counterproductive. The EU, Canada, Japan and others would be happy to join us in confronting China’s bad trade behavior, if Trump were willing to work together and not busy attacking them as well.
I supported Trump’s campaign promises of restraint in deploying American troops around the world, but he has not delivered. His message to the Senate accompanying his veto of the bill passed by both houses of Congress (54-46 in the Senate and 247-175 in the House) a few weeks ago invoking the War Powers Resolution to end U.S. support of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen reflects a truly shocking affront to our Constitution: “This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future.” The truth is just the opposite. The constitution gives the power to declare war to Congress and the almost blank check congress gave Presidents following 9/11 cannot meaningfully be stretched to include what we are doing in Yemen.
Trump continues to undercut and weaken American leadership in the international organizations and agreements that have contributed so much to post WWII peace and prosperity. This will be increasingly harmful to our and the world’s legitimate interests.
In his spare time, the President thoughtfully advised the French on fighting the fire in Notre Dame. What an embarrassment and fire experts say that his advice was wrong.
Please, let’s fight the real battles and stop wasting time on the phony ones.
All well said, Warren.
Wow; that was quick! Trump’s immigration policy may also be wrong-headed. The problem is not only too many illegal immigrants but too few legal immigrants. More skilled immigrants can not only grow the economy, but even increase wages. There may be some cases where his international bargaining strategy might be defended on game theoretic grounds (take away the status quo as your bargaining partner/opponent’s fallback position), but, as you say, undermining our alliances is going too far.
I don’t know how you can so resoundingly applaud Bill Barr’s performance and dismiss Democrat’s objections as “embarrassing” until you’ve actually read the report. It’s obvious that Barr wanted to control the narrative. That’s certainly smart lawyering if you’re in private practice. When your client is the people of the United States, it’s dubious. It’s also clear that in concluding there is no conspiracy, the special counsel viewed the elements of conspiracy in very narrow terms. That definition would not Speak to whether there was serious wrongdoing