Trump's Trip To Wisconsin-- A State The DCCC Has Already Surrendered To The GOP

Trump's America First economic nationalism agenda has been almost entirely abandoned, courtesy of by the Wall Street crew he's turned the presidency over to and, in retrospect looks like it was never anything more than a shiny lure laced with racism and xenophobia to win votes in the hard-hit industrial Midwest where Hillary's dull centrism wasn't resonating. Wisconsin is a good example. No one believed Trump would win there, but his America First messaging caught on with enough people to give him a narrow 1,405,284 (47.22%) to 1,382,536 (46.45%) over Clinton-- just 22,748 votes. Neither Hillary nor Trump was popular in Wisconsin. Trump lost the primary to Ted Cruz 531,129 (48.2%) to 386,370 (35.1%). Bernie did best of all-- beating Hillary 567,936 (56.6%) to 432,767 (43.1%). Bernie won every county in the state but one. Keep in mind, Obama beat McCain 56-42% in the state and beat Romney 53-46% there.

Yesterday Trump went to Kenosha in Paul Ryan's district to sign an executive order at the headquarters of Snap-On Tools that pushes the abandoned agenda-- buying American products and hiring American workers. Maybe no one bothered to tell Trump that his party has killed it in the House. In fact, it was Paul Ryan who killed it. The same Paul Ryan who managed to avoid being in Kenosha with Trump yesterday.

Trump's executive order primarily rails against low wage workers coming into the country-- something which the Establishment Republicans will protect with their dying breath regardless of what Trump wants-- and seeks to make changes to a visa program that brings in high-skilled workers. The second part asserts that government agencies will be held strictly accountable for buying products made in America-- so no products made by Trump's own companies. "President Trump has tasked the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross [part of Team Putin] with revealing all the agency findings and submitting a report to his desk within 220 days. This report and its recommendations will serve as a blueprint for additional executive and regulatory actions to further strengthen Buy American as well as guide possible legislative proposals."

Kenosha has long been a strong Democratic bastion but last November Hillary managed to lose it to Trump 36,025 (47.5%) to 35,770 (47.2%). Bernie had taken the county 57-42% in the Democratic primary. He took 14,612 votes there to Trump's 11,139. In 2012 Obama won Kenosha 56-43%, Tammy Baldwin won it 54-42% and progressive Democrat Rob Zerban won the county against Ryan 41,101 (52%) to 36,092 (46%). Zerban won there despite cold-hearted DCCC efforts to sabotage him and protect Ryan.

Marquette Law School's latest poll shows Trump with a 41% approval rating in Wisconsin-- with 47% disapproving of his job performance so far. Among independents, 44% disapprove and 38% approve.

Asked what they would like to see Congress do about the 2010 health care reform law, 6 percent favor keeping the law as it is, 54 percent would keep and improve it, 28 percent favor repealing and replacing the law and 8 percent would repeal and not replace the law.

...Sixty-six percent of respondents say undocumented immigrants who are currently working in the United States should be allowed to stay and eventually apply for citizenship. Seventeen percent say these immigrants should be able to stay as guest workers but not apply for citizenship and 14 percent say they should be required to leave the U.S. In October, 62 percent supported eventual citizenship, 19 percent favored a guest worker status and 16 percent thought undocumented immigrants should be required to leave the county.

Asked about the administration’s steps to accelerate the deportation of people in the country illegally, including those who may not have committed a serious crime, 43 percent support deportations while 50 percent do not. Support for deportations is 85 percent among those who think undocumented immigrants should be required to leave the country, 60 percent among those favoring a guest worker program and 30 percent among those who think there should be a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Asked about building a wall along the entire border with Mexico, 37 percent support constructing a wall while 59 percent oppose doing so. Among those who approve of the job Trump is doing as president, 75 percent support the wall while 20 percent oppose it. Among those disapproving of Trump’s handling of his job, 8 percent support the wall and 91 percent oppose it.

It would have been embarrassing-- if any of these people were capable of embarrassment-- for Ryan to have been at the event yesterday. He has successfully been purging Buy American provisions from procurement legislation and union members are aware of that. In December Ryan was able to take Buy American provisions out of a major water infrastructure bill. When I asked another Wisconsin congressman, Mark Pocan (D-Madison) he was still angry about it. "It is unthinkable," he told us, "why Congressional Republican Leadership removed the permanent 'Buy America' requirement that was voted on and passed by the Senate in the water infrastructure bill. Wisconsin has one of the highest percentages of its workforce employed in the manufacturing sector. Foundries across the state like the Neenah Foundry are scratching their heads wondering why Republicans would want to send taxpayer dollars to companies that ship jobs overseas. Republicans claim to care about keeping jobs here in America, yet consistently rally around legislation that help ship jobs overseas." Soon after Pocan drafted and sent a letter to Trump asking him to live up to his campaign promises about protecting American workers from the excesses of GOP extremists. He was joined by 19 colleagues in urging Trump "to strongly enforce Buy America provisions in government procurement policies and promote Buy America rules in legislation advanced during your administration."

He told the press that if Trump "is concerned with livelihood of American workers, he should take steps to ensure the Buy America Act is strongly and meaningfully enforced. Last week, House Republican leadership removed a provision to permanently require American steel and iron be used in our country’s water infrastructure. It is unthinkable for House Republicans to eliminate these Buy America requirements after they were voted on and passed by the Senate. President-elect Trump can and should ensure that enforcement of the Act is strengthened. It is his duty to stand up to Congressional Republican leadership when the allow taxpayer dollars to go to companies that ship jobs overseas. Wisconsin has one of the highest percentages of its workforce employed in the manufacturing sector. Foundries across the state are scratching their heads wondering why Republicans would want to send taxpayer dollars to companies that ship jobs overseas. House Republicans claim to care about keeping jobs here in America, yet consistently rally around legislation that costs our country jobs. I hope President-elect Trump will ensure what happened to the Water Resources bill doesn’t happen again- we need a firm commitment from both parties to buy American."

Pocan says neither Trump nor anyone from his Regime responded to his letter. "Reviewing Buy America policies does little to keep the promises Trump made to Wisconsin workers. Many people in our state are feeling economically strapped and a short visit to my hometown of Kenosha to shake some hands will not ease that stress. We desperately need immediate, strong, and meaningful Buy America policies to ensure that American tax dollars go to companies that employ American workers. But in his first months as President, we’ve yet to see Trump take meaningful action on Buy America. While Trump is announcing this Executive Order in Speaker Paul Ryan’s District, Republicans in Congress remain firmly opposed to expanding our Buy America standards. Instead of standing up for American workers, they consistently rally around legislation that strips these requirements and sends taxpayer dollars to companies that ship jobs overseas. I hope that the President will stand up to Speaker Paul Ryan and follow this review of Buy America policies with real action that will help the hardworking families find economic stability."

Gwen Moore, who represents Milwaukee, also signed onto Pocan's letter. Not only did't Ryan, but none of the Wisconsin Republicans in Congress did. Trump can toss around the slogans all he wants-- and maybe he'll fool some of the "poorly educated" he claims to love and base his "movement" on-- but the reality is that Ryan and the House Republicans are killing the very agenda Bannon persuaded to Trump pretend he believes in.

2018 could be a good electoral cycle for Wisconsin Democrats. But the DCCC has nixed backing any candidates in the state. Once again, they won't allow anyone to run against Ryan and have discouraged candidates against Sensenbrenner, Duffy, Grothman and Gallagher. It's who they are, what they are and what they will always be. It's why the lose and lose and lose and lose and why losing is built into the organization's DNA and why everyone who ever works for them is re-egineered to be a loser. The DCCC-- the best thing that ever happened to the Republican Party.

Grothman & Duffy cluelessly basking in the Trumpiness

Real Question On Betting Form-- Odds Offered: What Will Trump Be Impeached For?

The circus has come to town

Do you find it at all hard to figure out which outrageous Trump endeavor is supposed to get everyone's focus off some other, earlier Trump hour show? You know what I mean? Was the TrumpCare debacle supposed to get out minds off Putin-Gate? Or is Putin-Gate supposed to get us to stop paying attention to the establishment of a kakistocracy? Or is the kakistocracy just a distraction from the kleptocracy? Can this really go on for 4 years? It's just been like 3 months and he's got more scandal fodder going than everything that's happened since Nixon combined! That would include Ford pardoning Nixon in a possible deal (+ coverup), Bert Lance's resignation as OMB Director, Bush pardoning all the Iran-Contra convicted and unconnected criminals, obviously Iran-Contra itself, Obama's NSA electronically spying on American citizens and, of course, Monica Lewinsky. Señor Trumpanzee is way beyond all that already.

But there is some crap going down that's getting swallowed up in all the fuss over all the other stuff that's coming at us at such high velocity. Who remembers Trump's solemn campaign promise to support bipartisan "Buy America" efforts? That sure got flushed down the memory hole fast as some Putin-owned company supplies the steel for the Keystone KX Pipeline Trump has authorized. As David Sirota reported at the International Business Times last week, despite Trump's campaign promises, as soon as he was elected, Ryan and McCarthy-- under pressure from lobbyists for foreign companies-- had killed legislation that would have directed government infrastructure contracts to American manufacturing companies. It was a bold act of defiance against the rhetoric of the newly elected president, and now a top Democrat is attempting to force Trump to put his 'Buy America' promises into action-- against his own party in Congress." That would be Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who reintroduced "legislation requiring billions of dollars of the government’s spending on water infrastructure to go only to projects that use American steel. Baldwin’s move is particularly notable because she hails from a state that proved critical to Trump’s win. It is also the home state of House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican whose office helped kill the initiative in December."

Amid a presidential campaign focused on trade issues, Baldwin introduced a first version of her Buy America bill last July. It appeared headed for approval when the Republican-controlled Senate overwhelmingly passed an infrastructure bill that included the language.

House Republicans, though, did not include the language in their version of the bill. A senior House Republican on the committee that crafted that bill argued that preferences for domestic firms would ultimately harm Americans.

“Quotas in any form and in any sort ultimately hurt the consumer,” South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford told the Wall Street Journal. “They’re a form of protectionism, plain and simple.”

During the House-Senate negotiations over the final bill, Ryan was lobbied by representatives of foreign steelmakers to block Baldwin’s provision from being included in the final legislation. At the time, the Wall Street Journal noted that the lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs was representing two major foreign steel producers-- Russia’s NLMK Inc. and California Steel Industries, which is owned by Brazilian and Japanese conglomerates. According to federal disclosures, in 2016 Squire Patton Boggs was paid $520,000 to lobby for the two foreign companies.

Federal records show that in 2016, two of Squire Patton Boggs' registered lobbyists for the two foreign-owned companies have ties to Ryan and Republican lawmakers: Natasha Hammond had been Ryan’s assistant for policy and Jack Kingston is a former longtime Republican congressman.

Squire Patton Boggs also is the immediate past employer of Ryan’s chief of staff; it now employs former Republican House Speaker John Boehner and it delivered more than $550,000 to Republican candidates and federal party committees in the 2016 election cycle, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. That includes more than $65,000 to Republicans on the two House panels that crafted the chamber’s version of the bill.

...In the months since House Republicans first blocked the Buy America language, Trump’s administration has sent mixed signals about how-- and whether-- it will advocate for policies that preference U.S. companies.

During his first week in office, Trump issued an executive order directing his administration to make sure all new pipelines are built with American-made steel. But then just days after Wilbur Ross was confirmed as Commerce Secretary, that department exempted the Keystone XL project from its mandates. Ross assumed the Cabinet post after serving on the board of the Luxembourg-based steel company ArcelorMittal, which was previously slated to provide steel for the project. The company has spent more than $1.7 million on federal lobbying in the last year, according to disclosure records.

In public, Trump has continued to echo Buy America themes, most recently reiterating them at a rally in Kentucky where he argued that Americans are being taken advantage of.

“Like Henry Clay, we want to put our own people to work," he said. “We believe in two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American,” he told the audience in Louisville. “From now on, it's going to be America first. America first. We will be, I promise you, a rich nation once again. And we will do what we have to do, and we will not allow other countries to take advantage of us like they've been doing to a level that's hard to believe.”

In reintroducing the bill, Baldwin is trying to force Trump into acting on that rhetoric. She told IBT that Trump won her state promising to support the kind of legislation that she is pushing-- but that she has not seen evidence that he is following through on his promises.

“I have no doubt that he won Wisconsin narrowly in part because of his focus on Buy America,” she said. “It was what I ran on and what I focus on and clearly it had an impact on workers voting for Donald Trump. Now I think the real mission is to hold him accountable to those words... There are too many instances right now where he is not following through on that word. I want a solid commitment from Washington and Donald Trump on a strong Buy America standard and I hope I’ll get that."

HuffPo's Zach Carter had an even uglier story last week, Meet The Martin Shkreli Of Defense Contracting, which will prove the beginning for the end of the universally detested Trump OMB director, Mick Mulvaney. First keep in the back of your mind that the honey pot known as the Pentagon is the only federal agency that hasn't conducted an audit. A better name might be the Department of Corporate Fraud. "Monopolists," wrote Carter, "seem to be fleecing the Pentagon in an echo of Pharma Bro’s 5,000% drug hike." Let's following the money... starting with the $54 billion increase in defense spending Mulvaney claims he's giving the Defense Depratment based on what he intuits from Trump's campaign speeches. The White claimed in the roll out that there is "an ambitious reform agenda" that would "reduce the costs of military programs wherever feasible." Oh God!

It was a particularly sensitive subject for new Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, who built a reputation during his tenure in Congress as a serious deficit hawk unafraid to challenge his Republican colleagues on ballooning war spending. One of his favorite punching bags was the Overseas Contingency Operations budget, which Mulvaney derided as “a slush fund” that should be eliminated. The Trump budget would increase both overall defense spending and the amount that flows to the OCO. To maintain his credibility and demonstrate that Trump’s new “hard power” defense priorities weren’t just an excuse to throw money away, Mulvaney needed to sniff out wasteful endeavors.

He appears to have missed at least one. On Tuesday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense James Mattis and the Pentagon’s acting inspector general accusing defense contractor TransDigm Group of illegally overcharging the Department of Defense by acting as a “hidden monopolist.”

The business model Khanna described is devilishly clever, wildly profitable and totally at odds with the basic principles of a competitive market. TransDigm is essentially the Martin Shkreli of defense contractors. It’s a large holding company that searches for specialty parts used in heavy machinery-- unique panels, connectors, cables and other components-- that are produced exclusively by a single company. TransDigm buys these producers and Pharma Bros them, dramatically inflating the price to exploit their monopoly.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) cited examples of TransDigm price hikes, including a cable assembly that went from $1,737 to $7,863 and a motor rotor that had been $654 now going for $5,474.

Ro Khanna

Khanna’s letter cited five specific aerospace parts the company had jacked the price on, including a “cable assembly” that went from $1,737.03 to $7,863.00 after being acquired by TransDigm. The price of a TransDigm “motor rotor” soared from $654.46 to $5,474.00.

But the practice is widespread throughout TransDigm. The company’s own filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission state that 80 percent of its sales come from parts for which TransDigm believes itself to be a monopolist.

Not all of the company’s parts even work. In 2016, the Washington Post reported that drones were crashing due to faulty starter-generators supplied by a TransDigm subsidiary.

“The president is asking for $54 billion more on defense,” Khanna told the Huffington Post. “How much money are we wasting on monopolistic behavior?”

The Pentagon has rules designed to defend itself against predatory pricing. Companies that function as the sole vendors of supplies have to detail their costs to the government, which allows the firms to reap a reasonable profit margin over and above these expenses. But Khanna’s letter argued that TransDigm evaded these rules by setting up “a network of captive distributors”-- middlemen who sold to the government, creating the illusion of an actual competitive market.

“TransDigm isn’t a business, it’s the abuse of monopoly power so extreme it borders on performance art,” according to Matthew Stoller, a fellow with the New America Foundation’s Open Markets division. “Congress should investigate this aggressively.”

No less than 12 TransDigm subsidiaries failed to disclose to the Defense Department in their procurement filings that they were owned by TransDigm, according to Khanna.

TransDigm did not respond to requests for comment. The company’s chief executive, W. Nicholas Howley, received $18.7 million in 2016-- more than the chief executives of Apple, Boeing or Citigroup.

Khanna’s interest in the TransDigm case reflects a broader concern in Washington over concentrated economic power. In early March, the Center for American Progress hosted a forum on Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, focused on his antitrust record...

Khanna is waiting to hear back from the Defense Department before taking further action, but he hasn’t ruled out a congressional investigation.

“This is a bipartisan issue,” Khanna told HuffPost. “There are many of my Republican friends who want to see our dollars going to troops and readiness and not to anticompetitive behavior.”

It's going to be a long 4 years... or maybe not. One of Europe's preeminent betting houses, PaddyPower in Dublin is now offering 3 different opportunities to bet on impeachment:

1. What Year Is Trump Impeached?

• 2017-- 3/1
• 2018-- 9/1
• 2019-- 16/1
• 2020-- 20/1

2. Will Trump Be Impeached In His First Term?

• Yes-- 11/10

3. What Will Trump Be Impeached For?

• Tax Evasion-- 3/1
• Bribery-- 10/1
• Perjury-- 12/1
• Treason--16/1

Can Schumer And Trump Hammer Out A Bipartisan Infrastructure Approach While McConnell And Ryan Jeer From The Sidelines?

Trump gave us a glimpse of his idea of infrastructure yesterday when he signed executive orders to re-start the approval process for the Keystone XL Pipeline, for the Dakota pipeline, to rush through environmental reviews and to reduce regulations. Trump touted the Keystone XL as a job creator, although he didn't mention that it will create only 35 or so permanent jobs. This is no way to get a serious infrastructure initiative off the ground. Congressional Democrats are eager to work with him on implementing an infrastructure plan that make sense and, in fact, yesterday's NY Times reported on their trillion dollar proposal, a proposal they are hopeful Trump will embrace. Schumer, who voted with the Republicans Monday night to confirm Trump's horrific nominee to head the CIA, Mike Pompeo, was happy to pontificate a few hours later: "From our largest cities to our smallest towns, communities across the country are struggling to meet the challenges of aging infrastructure. Our urban and rural communities have their own unique set of infrastructure priorities, and this proposal would provide funding to address those needed upgrades that go beyond the traditional road and bridge repair... We’re asking President Trump to work with us to make it a reality."

Republicans resisted President Barack Obama’s push for an infrastructure “surge” for eight years, arguing that the federal government couldn’t afford it and that state and local governments should shoulder more responsibility for improvements. But Mr. Trump has taken up the Democratic cause.

“We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation,” he vowed in his Inaugural Address.

The plan dedicates $180 billion to rail and bus systems, $65 billion to ports, airports and waterways, $110 billion for water and sewer systems, $100 billion for energy infrastructure, and $20 billion for public and tribal lands.

The bill that Schumer unveiled yesterday spreads the trillion dollars out over 10 years to repair bridges and roads, expand and improve public transport and port facilities and modernize the electrical grid, airports, schools, sewer systems, etc. Democrats want to spend public money to accomplish these goals while Trump's advisors want to offer corporations billions in tax breaks to do the work. His plan, for example, abandons the idea of free roads and bridges and allows private companies to build tollways instead. It's the polar opposite of what Eisenhower accomplished with the highway system but it's what Pence, Ryan, McConnell and Trump's reactionary cabinet are all pushing for.

Late yesterday Elizabeth Warren told her supporters that "Democrats have proposed a new infrastructure blueprint that would create over 15 million jobs and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure-- including through investments in clean energy and modernizing our electric grid-- and we welcome President Trump and congressional Republicans to join us to create jobs now and to build a future that makes the US more competitive. But instead, President Trump today issued executive orders to advance construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, pitting hardworking Americans against our climate and the protection of tribal lands. The Obama Administration rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline in part because it would 'undermine our ability to continue leading the world in combatting climate change.' And just last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took steps to prepare a new Environmental Impact Statement for the Dakota pipeline with 'full public input and analysis.' The impact of these pipelines on our environment, and on the communities they cut through, did not change when President Obama left office. President Trump's announcement today moves us in the wrong direction for our environment and our economy."

The immediate common ground between Trump and the Democrats is the Buy American concept both embrace for infrastructure building. While Ryan and McConnell have been busy removing Buy American provisions from spending bills, the Democrats say they are sticking to their guns on this and Trump (at least so far) claims he favors Buy American provisions as well. He can probably easily force Ryan and McConnell to back down. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) sent Trump a letter explaining what getting serious about Buy American means. The letter outlines his vision for accountability when it comes to federal spending, asking for a watchdog, regular audits, and limits on waivers all related to the Buy American provisions.

The problem is that McConnell and Ryan oppose using taxes to build or improve infrastructure and that Trump wants to do it as for-profit boondoggles to enrich developers. " Schumer said that "During his campaign, President Trump talked often about a big and bold infrastructure package. Well, this is one of the most comprehensive overhaul proposals in a generation, and we’re challenging President Trump to work with us on this broad plan that will sustain our positive economic growth, create millions of jobs, and build a modern economy." My guess is that Trump would be willing to make a deal with Schumer and it will be certainly interesting to see what these two crooks come up with that the congressional Republicans will back. By the way, Democrats estimate their plan would create 15 million jobs. Here's the view from the crackpot dogmatic right:

Trump Is Shoving His Agenda Up Ryan's Ass

Queasy unease about the unhinged, impulsive Trump has been quietly driving international gold prices higher.

Gold investors have focused on two main views since Trump’s election in November: one seeing him as a wild card upending policy on everything from trade to alliances, and the other betting that he’ll boost U.S. growth, equities and the dollar. The administration’s opening days have been marked by protests, disputes about what constitutes a fact and assertions from Trump that he’ll put "America first."

"The market is now worrying about what would come out from the new administration," Bob Takai, chief executive officer and president of Sumitomo Corp. Global Research Co., said by phone from Tokyo. "In this kind of very unforeseeable environment, people want to buy gold," he said, adding that the biggest factors are the dollar and the outlook for interest rates.

Yesterday may not have been a good day for the establishments of the two corrupt political parties in Washington, but grassroots Americans on both sides of the usual partisan split were rejoicing that Trump signed an Executive Order withdrawing the U.S. from the TPP. The congressman with the most progressive voting record in the House, Mark Pocan (D-WI), told his constituents in Madison immediately after Trump signed on the dotted line that "The defeat of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a testament to the power of grassroots organizing. A large coalition of labor unions, human rights organizations, and environmental and consumer advocacy groups joined together with Members of Congress to successfully fight against the TPP, which benefited multi-national corporations at the expense of the hard-working Americans. U.S. trade policy must create good-paying jobs here at home, reduce the trade deficit, expand access to affordable prescription drugs, and protect human rights. Whether President Trump’s trade policies will meet these standards or not remains to be seen. I will continue to hold the Administration accountable to ensure that our trade deals benefit working families not big corporations. It’s time we give up the failed trade policies of the past and adopt a new 21st century trade framework to grow American jobs and protect U.S. consumers."

Bernie Sanders had a similar response, remarking that the TPP is now "dead and gone." He added that "Now is the time to develop a new trade policy that helps working families, not just multinational corporations," probably not exactly in line with what Trump intends in the end; we'll have to see. "If President Trump is serious about a new policy to help American workers then I would be delighted to work with him. For the past 30 years, we have had a series of trade deals … which have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs and caused a ‘race to the bottom’ which has lowered wages for American workers."

Longtime TPP supporter Paul Ryan may have been disappointed but he had his head right up Trump's ass, leaving Republicans who want to fight for "free trade" on a limb by themselves. No more of this kind of thing from Ryan, not on trade. Hopefully the corporate wing of the Democratic Party will not try to pick up the banner and further alienate the party from most working class Americans.

Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul was also enthusiastic about Trump's move. "If today is any indication of the Trump administration’s focus on manufacturing, it is an encouraging start. Withdrawing from the TPP is a first step in a long road toward reforming trade policy and we look forward to working with the administration on finding solutions to create trade deals that keep jobs here in America." His organization offered 5 criticisms TPP opponents have been making since it reared it;s ugly head, compliments of the Obama-Clinton wing of the Democratic Party working in conjunction with the Ryan-McConnell-Bush wing of the Republican Party.

• The TPP would have lowered tariffs and some other non-tariff barriers to trade, but the agreement had no protection from currency manipulation.

• TPP text substantially weakens the rules of origin requirements in the NAFTA agreement. That means that goods from countries like China could have been incorporated in products assembled in the TPP region and thereby enjoy the benefits of tariff-free access to the U.S. market without sharing any of the responsibilities of TPP membership.

• According to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the United States’ GDP would be about 0.15 percent higher and there would be roughly 128,000 American jobs in 2032 if the Pacific-rim trade deal went through. None of those jobs were in manufacturing, though.

• The same ITC report finds that American manufactured goods exports would be more than $15 billion higher than without the agreement, but that gain would be eclipsed by the $39.2 billion bump in imports.

• The Peterson Institute for International Economics  said that 50,000 U.S. workers, most in manufacturing, could be out of a job each year during TPP's implemenation, and the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University cites nearly 450,000 lost manufacturing jobs.

The same organization is pushing heavily against another Paul Ryan/Mitch McConnell priority-- killing Buy American efforts-- that Trump appears to frown on. Ryan has successfully been purging Buy American provisions from procurement legislation. But he's now running into a bipartisan effort that looks to Trump to weigh in on their side. Illinois Republican Mike Bost in the House and Democrat Sherrod Brown in the Senate have been working together to thwart Ryan.

A number of House Republicans Trump last week in support of his own "Buy American, Hire American" initiative. In their letter, the Members note that a comprehensive infrastructure investment program "using domestically-produced iron, steel and other manufactured goods is keeping with the intent of America’s longstanding domestic content laws." This flies right in the face on Ryan's efforts to quietly remove this kinds of restrictions. "Many infrastructure programs," the Republicans wrote to Trump, "are not subject to any Buy America procurement preference laws. Where such procurement preferences are applicable, these laws are often not administered effectively-- resulting in hard-earned tax dollars leaking overseas and supporting job creation in China and other countries. These gaps in coverage have resulted in major public works projects being constructed with massive amounts of foreign steel and other imported products."

And Sherrod Brown announced, on the same day they sent their letter that he intends to introduce legislation to apply Buy America rules to all taxpayer-funded infrastructure and public works projects on Monday, Trump’s first full workday in office, something McConnell wasn't looking forward to. Brown has kept Trump in the loop about his intentions.

It’s a very good sign that bipartisan backing is building for Buy America. These commonsense preferences ensure that taxpayer dollars remain in the United States, helping to create new jobs, boost the economy and make America more competitive. Manufacturing jobs increase 33 percent per dollar spent on public works projects when Buy America provisions are applied.

There’s also major support for Buy America-- nearly three-fourths of voters say large infrastructure projects that use tax money should be built with American materials and workers.

But there’s proof in the projects as well, and there’s no better case study than the comparison of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Tappan Zee Bridge in New York.

Back in 2004, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opted out of federal funding so the Bay Bridge could be built with Chinese-made steel. His argument was that it would save some money.

That proved so, so wrong. Sending the steel construction overseas created an array of problems that cost the state tons of taxpayer dollars and delayed the project for 12 years. When the Bay Bridge was finally completed, it went $3.9 billion OVER budget-- and there are still questions about its safety.

Meanwhile, the new Tappan Zee Bridge in New York is being built with Buy America preferences. Its total cost is expected to be $3.9 billion, and while construction is still ongoing, it is making solid progress-- and thousands of American workers have been hired to complete it.

Also of note: New York could be among the states leading the way on Buy America. Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled a plan last week that would require the state government to apply Buy America to any purchases for goods and services costing more than $100,000.

This issue-- demagoguing on it and taking all the credit-- is right up Trump's alley, of course. Ryan and Miss McConnell will just have to swallow hard and bite the pillow. Maybe they can commiserate with Hillary.

The GOP-Led Senate Adjourns-- By Passing 2 Major Bills Selling Out Trump Voters

The queen of coal country screws the retired miners

Friday night was this Senate's last. When they adjourned-- actually it was around 6 Saturday morning-- it was for the last time. In January it will be a new Senate with 5 new Democrats-- Kamala Harris (CA), Tammy Duckworth (IL), Chris Van Hollen (MD), Maggie Hassan (NH) and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) and 2 new Republicans Todd Yoiung (IN) and John Kennedy (LA). There will be 2 more Democrats than there were this session and Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid will be replaced by the odious Wall Street-owned slimeball Chuck Schumer.

The last roll call was to pass John Cornyn's bill "to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 1300 Victoria Street in Laredo, Texas, as the 'George P. Kazen Federal Building and United States Courthouse.'" Friday morning we explained how the importance of the bill is unrelated to a courthouse in Texas but was actually a vote to accept Paul Ryan's decision to do away with the "Buy American" provisions a crucial water infrastructure bill which the Senate had passed and President-elect had dishonestly claimed to have embraced. Progressives filibustered the bill but McConnell was able to shut down the filibuster 69-30, with many of the conservaDems joining the Republicans who could care less about the "Buy American" promises that were made to American workers. Sell-out Dems included all the usual suspects from Joe Donnelly (IN), Joe Manchin (WV), Tom Carper (DE), Jon Tester (MT), and DiFi (CA) to the two corporate whores from Virginia, Mark Warner and (awwww... were you fooled?) Tim Kaine. Progressives like Elizabeth Warren (MA), Bernie Sanders (VT), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Mazie Hirono (HI), Jeff Merkley (OH), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Barbara Boxer (CA), Ed Markey (MA), Sherrod Brown (OH) and Tom Udall (NM) kept fighting to the end.

Friday night, McConnell shut down another filibuster, this one to temporarily fund the government. His cloture motion passed 61-38 and then the bill itself passed 63-36.The dispute was over another Republican attack against working families, this time, ironically, a dispute over healthcare benefits for retired miners. I say "ironically" because the people being victimized by the Republicans were the very ones who voted so overwhelmingly for Trump and other Republicans in last month;s elections. In the three top coal mining states, for example, Trump beat Clinton 489,371 (68.6%) to 188,794 (26.5%) in West Virginia, 1,202,971 (62.5%) to 628,854 (32.7% in Kentucky and 174,419 (68.2%) to 55,973 (21.9%) in Wyoming. It gets even worse when you look at just the biggest coal-producing counties:

• Campbell County, WY- 88% Trump, 7% Clinton
• Marshall County, WV- 73% Trump, 22% Clinton
• Boone County, WV- 75% Trump, 21% Clinton
• Logan County, WV- 80% Trump, 17% Clinton
• Pike County, KY- 80% Trump, 17% Clinton
• Harlan County, KY- 85% Trump, 13% Clinton
• Perry County, KY- Trump 77%, Clinton 20%

Each of these counties voted more for Trump-- some gigantically so-- than they did for Romney. Do you think any of them will realize it was Democrats who fought to save their health benefits? Joe Manchin (D-WV) led the battle and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) joined him, as did Rand Paul (R-KY) but the other big coal mining state senators know the coal miners will never find out how they voted and that it wouldn't matter even if they did. McConnell (R-KY), Barrasso (R-WY), Enzi (R-WY) and Toomey (R-PA) all get huge support from coal miners, but they laughed at their plight and voted, in effect, to cut cut their health benefits. Who stood up for the miners? Bernie Sanders, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Mazie Hirono, Ed Markey, Al Franken... a bunch of liberals whose states don't even produce coal but who are looking out for the miners themselves.

After such a tough Friday night/Saturday morning, don't we all deserve a little hard-hitting analysis from Saturday Night Live? A fresh look at el Presidente-elect Señor Trumpanzee's Cabinet from Hell:

Not A Peep-- Or A Tweet-- Out Of Ole Man Trump As Ryan Deletes The Buy American Provision In The Infrastructure Bill

Wisconsin's deadly job killing duo, Grothman and Ryan

Sometimes when Congress wants to pass embarrassing legislation they're not eager for opponents or just constituents to track down, they give it an innocuous or misleading name. It happens constantly and it happened on Thursday just before the Republicans adjourned the House for the year. The last vote of the year was on S.612, John Cornyn's (and, in the House, Henry Cuellar's) "bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 1300 Victoria Street in Laredo, Texas, as the 'George P. Kazen Federal Building and United States Courthouse.' It passed 360-61, with 17 Republicans and 44 Democrats voting against it. Democratic Leadership didn't whip the bill one way or the other and Hoyer voted for it, while Pelosi voted against it. Neither of them was thinking about Laredo's courthouse or about the legacy of George Kazen, a Democratic south Texas senior district judge (and FISA Court judge).



The bill was reported out of the House's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee looking as innocent as it went in. It takes 90 seconds to read, and triggers no alarm bells. Earlier in the day, however, the House voted on H.Res.949, "providing for consideration of the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2028) making appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes, and providing for consideration of the bill (S. 612) to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 1300 Victoria Street in Laredo, Texas, as the "George P. Kazen Federal Building and United States Courthouse." All the Republicans voted for that and all but one mangy old Blue Dog, Jim Costa of California, voted against it.

So why did 44 Democrats vote against the bill (including Pelosi)? Did you catch that line in the enabling legislation about "making appropriations for energy and water development?" That has nothing to do with the courthouse. But it's what that bill was really all about-- funding water-related infrastructure funding. When I asked Alan Grayson why he voted for it, in fact, he said he had to because there was a lot of really badly-needed money in it for crucial Everglades projects related to environmental catastrophes on both of Florida's coasts.

The first person I reached out to about the Democrats who voted no was Wisconsin Congressman, Mark Pocan, one of the union movement's most ferocious supporters on Capitol Hill. "It is unthinkable," he told us, "why Congressional Republican Leadership removed the permanent 'Buy America' requirements that was voted on and passed by the Senate in the water infrastructure bill. Wisconsin has one of the highest percentages of its workforce employed in the manufacturing sector. Foundries across the state like the Neenah Foundry are scratching their heads wondering why Republicans would want to send taxpayer dollars to companies that ship jobs overseas. Republicans claim to care about keeping jobs here in America, yet consistently rally around legislation that help ship jobs overseas."

Neenah workers are represented by both moderate Republican Reid Ribbble, who's retiring in a week, and bizarre anti-union fanatic Glenn Grothman, who, alas, isn't. (The city of Neenah itself sits just north of Oshkosh in Grothman's district but many of the employees also live in Appleton which is the adjacent city and in Ribble's district.) On their website, the company makes it clear where they stand: "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 was enacted to stimulate the American economy by supporting American jobs. A 'Buy American' provision in the Act mandates that 'none of the funds ... made available by this Act may be used for a ... public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States.' Millions of Americans-- such as those working at NEI's seven manufacturing plants-- rely upon this stimulus funding to protect their jobs and their families."

The district in nowhere near Paul Ryan's district way to the south, although I'm guessing factory workers in Janesville, Kenosha and Racine aren't too happy with his little maneuver yesterday. Reid Ribble had the decency to show up and vote against it along with Pocan. Grothman, who would like to abolish unions entirely, was delighted to vote against "Buy American." And by the way, the Wisconsin counties most heavily impacted by this, all went for Trump this year-- Outagamie (54.2%), Calumet (58.1%), and Winnebago (50.6%).

Some desperate voters-- and not just in Wisconsin where these two photos were taken-- reached, in a really stupid way if you ask me, for greener pastures and actually voted for Trump. They will be learning their lesson over and over and over for the next 4 years.

UPDATE: Pocan Asks Trump To Walk The Walk

Friday, Rep. Pocan drafted and sent a letter to Trump asking him to live up to his campaign promises about protecting American workers from the excesses of GOP extremists. He was joined by 19 colleagues in urging Trump "to strongly enforce Buy America provisions in government procurement policies and promote Buy America rules in legislation advanced during your administration."

He told the press that if Trump "is concerned with livelihood of American workers, he should take steps to ensure the Buy America Act is strongly and meaningfully enforced. Last week, House Republican leadership removed a provision to permanently require American steel and iron be used in our country’s water infrastructure. It is unthinkable for House Republicans to eliminate these Buy America requirements after they were voted on and passed by the Senate. President-elect Trump can and should ensure that enforcement of the Act is strengthened. It is his duty to stand up to Congressional Republican leadership when the allow taxpayer dollars to go to companies that ship jobs overseas. Wisconsin has one of the highest percentages of its workforce employed in the manufacturing sector. Foundries across the state are scratching their heads wondering why Republicans would want to send taxpayer dollars to companies that ship jobs overseas. House Republicans claim to care about keeping jobs here in America, yet consistently rally around legislation that costs our country jobs. I hope President-elect Trump will ensure what happened to the Water Resources bill doesn’t happen again- we need a firm commitment from both parties to buy American."

Republicans Are Hostile To "Buy American" But Will Trump Stop Lockheed From Moving F-16 Jet Production From Texas To India?

Over the last week Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was one of several Democratic senators angered by the shipping out of the Buy America provisions from the Water Infrastructure bill. Friday he and Rob Portman (R-OH) sent letters to Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi reminding them that Buy American provisions are broadly supported by both Democrats and Republicans.

Brown: "American tax dollars shouldn’t be spent on Chinese steel. American infrastructure should be built with American products that support American jobs. Period." Portman backed him up: "We must ensure that tax dollars will continue to be invested in America, maximizing American jobs. Provisions like this one have already increased production, jobs, and capital investment in the steel industry, and it is critical that we continue policies that simultaneously improve our infrastructure and our economy." Among the senators signing on were progressives like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Brian Schatz and Tammy Baldwin but also conservatives like Joe Donnelly, Claire McCaskill, Joe Manchin and Jon Tester. But no other Republicans besides Portman.

And the letter didn't do the trick. McConnell and Ryan were adamant-- and not a word from Trump. Shred Brown, on Monday: "By stripping meaningful Buy America rules from the water infrastructure bill, Washington leadership is choosing China and Russia over Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This was the first major test of whether Washington establishment Republicans would live up to President-elect Trump’s promises to put American products and American workers first-- they failed, and American iron and steel workers will pay the price."

Tuesday morning Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul said that "The trade deficit is a drag on growth and jobs in the goods-producing sector. It is one signal of weakness that speaks to our challenges in global competition. It will take more than a Carrier deal to save jobs here and bring some home. For that, we need aggressive economic policies, including a rebalance on trade policy, a tax code friendly to manufacturing and patient capital, and investments in our infrastructure, research, and workers."

Last month, right after the election. there was a provocative story in an Indian newspaper, Lockheed Martin won’t heed Trump, to land F-16s in India

President-elect of the US, Donald Trump, may have claimed that Americans are living through the “greatest jobs theft” in the history of the world, but Lockheed Martin seems to have other plans. The American aircraft-maker has started the groundwork with the hope that India would accept its offer of moving its F-16 fighter aircraft production line from the US to India. Trump believes that US companies were moving out jobs to countries such as India, China, Mexico and Singapore.

The offer comes with the rider that India buys the fighter. “We want to be prepared and that is the reason we have started the groundwork,” said Abhay Paranjape, director, Business Development, India, Lockheed Martin. "We have met representatives of 40 defence and aviation firms from across the country to discuss our offer on making F-16s in India," he added.

Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin made an offer to India that it would shift its only F-16 aircraft production line to India provided the Indian Air Force (IAF) buys the aircraft. "We are offering to make F-16 Block 70, the most advanced aircraft in India. It is one of the most proven fighter aircraft in the world and is flown by air forces in 25 countries," said Randall L Howard, who looks after F-16 Business Development.

If the IAF buys 100 aircraft, it gives stability to the industry that will invest a lot of money in various manufacturing units that support the production line, Howard said. "We make it in India, for India and then we make it in India and export to the world. If the initial orders are not there, it may not work for the industry," Howard added.

Though India has not yet responded to the offer, the top executives at Lockheed Martin are hopeful that it will accept the offer. "They are looking for single-engine fighter and we are offering one of the best aircraft, so we are confident that India will accept the offer," said Paranjape. "They have sent letters to a few firms, including us," he said.

Lockheed is building a far more expensive, technologically superior plane, the F-35 and uses that as the excuse for halting F-16 production in Texas. Local Congressman Marc Veasey bought in on some level: "Hopefully we can continue to build F-16’s for other countries that will need them in the future. But the F-35 really is what’s going to keep Lockheed viable for years to come." Lockheed offered several hundred employees a retirement buyout or an opportunity to work on the F-35 production line. starting in 2017. Trump has been busy fighting with Boeing and cutting shady deals with the Indiana air-conditioning manufacturer, Carrier, but I haven't heard a peep out of him yet on Lockheed Martin. That explosion-- now that local American papers are reporting on it-- should come momentarily. Yesterday, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram came right out and asked if Trump will prevent Lockheed from moving high-paid Texas-based jobs to low-wage India.

Fort Worth is the 5th biggest city in Texas with nearly a million people in 4 counties, Tarrant, Denton, Parker and Wise. Lockheed Martin is headquartered there. Trump struggled in the suburbs of the other big Texas cities, losing in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso, but winning in Ft. Worth.

• Tarrant- 52.2%
• Denton- 57.7%
• Parker- 82.3%
• Wise- 83.8%

Although much of Ft. Worth itself is represented by Democrat Marc Veasey (TX-33), the other 3 congressmen who represent the Ft. Worth area are powerful and senior Republicans: Joe Barton (TX-06), Kay Granger (TX-12) and Kenny Marchant (TX-24). I suspect none of them are going to allow F-16 fighter jet manufacture to move out of Texas without a huge commotion-- not to mention Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. It's worth mentioning that Lockheed Martin's PAC spent $4,243,986 on congressional candidates this cycle and that among the biggest recipients were Barton ($16,000), Marchant ($14,000), Veasey ($12,000), Granger ($10,000) and Cruz ($10,000).

The Star Telegram article yesterday emphasized that no one knows what Trump's posture on this will be. He certainly has a lot more clout with Lockheed Martin than he does with Carrier. The Washington Post's Annie Gowen that if this goes through, Lockheed will build new production facilities in India and that India will be the only manufacturer of the F-16 in the world. Bad news for Democrats:

The proposals have the strong backing of the Obama administration, which has sought a closer connection with the Indian military in recent years. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she was “optimistic” about the prospect of a deal after a visit to New Delhi in August, and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter is set to return to India this week, with procurement high atop the list of discussion topics.

But the election of a billionaire businessman focused on keeping jobs at home, rather than creating them overseas, has brought a measure of uncertainty to the talks.

“What will be the U.S. policy posture now that the new president-elect is in the mix?” said one high-level official at an American defense firm in India, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal negotiations. “Is he going to continue the policy of engaging in India on co-production and co-development? All of those are unknown at this point.”

...On the campaign trail he railed against job losses to Asia and Mexico.

“We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the world,” Trump said last month, citing American companies that have laid off workers and moved jobs to India, Singapore and Mexico. “It’s getting worse and worse and worse.”

Officials at Lockheed Martin and Boeing said that any partnership to manufacture jets in India would not result in a net loss of American jobs but would create Indian employment-- about 1,000 positions in the case of Lockheed Martin.

About 300 mechanics on the Fort Worth assembly line would be moved to the F-35 assembly line at the same plant. Others would be given an opportunity to apply for other jobs on the newer F-35, Lockheed officials said, although they concede that some positions would be lost in the move because of attrition or retirements.

“I see this as a great opportunity for all parties involved,” said Randy Howard, director of business development for Lockheed’s integrated fighter group. “It doesn’t take jobs away from the U.S., it extends existing jobs, and not just for Fort Worth but for many other companies around the U.S. that build parts for the F-16.”

Nevertheless, workers in Fort Worth say they are worried about the future.

“Wouldn’t you be?” said Earnest Boone, president of the District Lodge 776, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents Lockheed employees.

In October, the Indian government sent a letter to foreign missions and aerospace manufacturers inquiring about single-engine fighter aircraft that could be manufactured locally.

India wants to co-produce the fighter jets as part of its Make in India program, which has the lofty goal of expanding the manufacturing base to 25 percent of the gross domestic product in the next six years.

...The F-16 airplane remains one of the most widely used aircraft in the world, and Lockheed is continuing to negotiate deals to sell the fighter to other countries. Those F-16s would be made in India under the deal once the new assembly line was up and running, Howard said. The aircraft has been made in joint ventures with other nations before, but “we’ve never offered our only production line to another country,” Howard said. “It’s unprecedented.”

Lockheed has promised that India would not only manufacture and export its jets, but it also would play a “critical role” in supporting a fleet of about 3,200 F-16s in operation around the world, said Jon Grevatt, an Asia Pacific defense industry analyst with IHS Jane’s, a defense analysis firm. “That’s a big carrot,” he noted.

A potential stumbling block to the deal is the willingness of the U.S. government to part with enough of its mission system technology to make the package palatable to the Indians. The aircraft is viewed negatively by some in the defense establishment here as a dated platform that first rolled off the assembly line in 1978-- despite its current state-of-the-art avionics. Another strike against it, for some, is that it is the fighter aircraft used by archrival Pakistan.

Trump's bogus deal with Carrier is polling extremely well. Democrats had better remember whose side they're on or continue to suffer the consequences at the polls. Trump isn't really interested in helping American workers per se and that isn't what he means by making America great again. If workers were part of that, he'd be pushing a new industrial policy and he'd be forcing his party to support retraining proposals. Retired Marine Colonel Doug Applegate, who came within a fraction of a percent of beating Darrell Issa in a San Diego-Orange County district told us this morning that "The GOP's crony capitalism meets Trump’s  snake-oil-false-populism. Only the wealthy 1% will benefit while the rest of America lives with fake news. The GOP and Trump have shown themselves to be willing to ship overseas the economic strength of the United States bit by bit." Doug is running again and he is Blue America's first endorsed candidate for 2018. If you'd like to help replace Issa with Doug, you can do that here

Does Trump Stand For Something?

As you can see from the twitter time stamps, El Presidente-elect Señor Trumpanzee only got-- at most-- 6 hours sleep, probably less. He was up whining about Alex Baldwin's acting ability late Saturday night and then six hours later he had apparently chopped up some Adderall, snorted it and was off and running threatening American companies with 35% tariffs if they manufacture their products abroad, something that is going to be very popular with his voters and with Bernie's voters but probably not that popular with Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, their respective conferences or, for that matter, the Trumpanzee Cabinet.



Evan McMullin, who's become something of the voice of mainstream conservatism in opposition to Trump, called Trump's tariff threats "incredibly unwise and will discourage companies from creating jobs in the US in the first place. This is not a recipe for growth... And again, this is the approach of an authoritarian. Forget about the rule of law. Forget Congress's constitutional role in lawmaking." He then went on the slag off Mike Pence (after his silly appearance on This Week defending Trump's tweet storm) as Trumpanzee's "enabler in chief & we can expect him to continue to play that role. But other Republicans must stand up."

I'm not sure when other Republicans will but it's worth noting that Harvard Professor Robert Lawrence was right on top of it back in March when he called out Trump's hypocrisy on this very issue for PBS. Is Trump going to slap a tariff on all the products Ivanka manufactures overseas too? "Trump," he wrote at the time, "castigates American companies like Apple, Ford, Carrier and Kraft that use their brands to sell goods in the U.S., but produce them in other countries. Indeed, he appears to be so outraged by the practice that he proposes a 15 percent tax on companies for outsourcing jobs and a 20 percent tax for importing goods. More recently, he has spoken of a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports... Yet despite these deep convictions, when it comes to his own businesses, Trump doesn’t exactly walk the walk."

[M]any of Trump’s businesses are based not on risking his money and directly creating employment in the United States, but in licensing his brand to help others sell their properties and products. As is now well known, the Trump brand has been used to sell casinos, condominiums, hotels and golf courses at home and abroad, as well as steaks, vodka and a “university” education... But for exploring whether he puts his moniker where his mouth is when it comes to trade, it’s the branch of the business labeled merchandise that merits closer attention.

In a recent debate Marco Rubio mentioned ties. But the ties made in China are just the tip of the iceberg. What about Donald J Trump sports jackets, cufflinks and eyeglass frames? All made in China. Inexpensive Donald J Trump shirts? Made in Bangladesh. More expensive Trump shirts? “Imported.” The Trump brand also has a more feminine side-- the Ivanka Trump brand. And where are the dresses, purses, shoes and other accessories that reflect Trump’s daughter’s taste made? Of the 838 Ivanka products advertised through the site, none appear to be made exclusively in the U.S.; 628 are said to be imported and 354 made specifically in China.

If you are an American economist like myself who believes that international trade is good for the U.S., there is nothing wrong with what the Trumps have been doing. Indeed, he and his daughter have been providing Americans with products they want at relatively low prices. But how do you reconcile a business model based on importing with professions of deep belief that manufacturing should be brought back to America? Trump argues he has no choice, since foreigners have made their products so cheap by manipulating their exchange rates. But then how do you explain the utter contempt he has expressed on the campaign trail about others who outsource when he is doing exactly the same thing? If Trump won’t buy Oreos on moral grounds, why should any moral person, following his example, buy Trump-branded merchandise?

For a “premium brand,” the prices of Donald Trump merchandise seem within the reach of the typical American. Suits at $250, sport coats at $125, though the ties are somewhat steep — typically around $65. But as president, Trump proposes to add 20 to 45 percent to their cost.

It is obvious that consumers, already hard pressed by weak income growth, would see their buying power further constrained. But many would also discover their jobs are threatened. Our economy is currently deeply linked to the rest of the world, and millions of U.S. workers are employed in companies that sell imported goods and use imported components in the products they manufacture in the USA. Trump’s tariffs would wreak havoc with global supply chains and force many companies to reduce employment. In addition, foreigners would undoubtedly retaliate against our exports as they would be entitled to do under our trade agreements. Think about what a trade war would do to investment and employment. But who knows? If the Trump presidential seal graces the products that are sold under the Trump brand, perhaps the average American will still buy what he is selling.

Justin Amash (R-MI) tweeted a demeaning response to Trump's tweet-storm: "This would be a 35% tax on all Americans—a tax that especially hurts low-income families. Maybe the slogan should be #MakeAmericaVenezuela." Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on a potential dustup between Trump and free-traders in the Ryan camp chugging down the road in this direction. Trump will have Bernie on his side in this one-- and the American people and it will be an opportunity for him to tame Ryan-- if Ryan is foolish enough to go toward with him over it. Brody Mullins wrote that "setting the stage for what could be the first clash between President-elect Donald Trump and Congress, House Speaker Paul Ryan and some congressional Republicans are raising concerns about a provision in a bill that would require the use of American-made iron and steel for U.S. water infrastructure projects. The bill, which provides billions of dollars in federal funding, initially included a requirement that federal money could largely only be used to buy U.S.-produced iron and steel. In recent days, Mr. Ryan and other Republicans have begun raising objections, saying the requirement would pick winners and losers among U.S. companies and shouldn’t be included in the final legislation."

“We will have two simple rules when it comes to this massive rebuilding effort: Buy American and hire American,” Mr. Trump said at a rally Thursday evening in Cincinnati. “Whether it is producing steel, building cars or curing disease, we want the next generation of innovation and production to happen right here in America and right here in Ohio, right?”

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan said the final version of the bill was still under discussion. Congress hopes to approve the bill next week before leaving town for the year.

I guess Obama could sign it and save the Republicans from a potentially serious bloodletting. Jerry Nadler: "A lot of Republicans have historically opposed Buy in America. This is one of a number of areas where we’re going to see the Republicans [who] go along with general Republican doctrine and [those who side with] Trump are different on some things."

Have the Democrats offered a coherent response to Trumpism? Stirling Newberry reminded us Sunday morning that "the neo-Democrat only cares about the rich people's mess, the rest of us will go slowly downhill." Former policy advisor to Grayson and to Bernie, Matt Stoller let loose a now famous Tweet-storm over the weekend that stands as a powerful critique of the Democrats' inability to copy with Trump, who he equates with "a pre-1930s Republican, uniting farmers, workers, and big biz behind tariffs and anti-immigration walls," at least rhetorically. "What people don't get is that the Dem Party he's facing is NOT the party of the New Deal. It is NOT the party of the people anymore. The party of the people was assaulted in the 1970s and killed over the next 20 years by the neoliberals. It died with Clinton's election. I documented the underlying ideological change here, from an anti-monopoly party to a pro-monopoly party.

"You can see this everywhere if you look. The leaders of the party are from NY and SF, the centers of concentrated monopoly capital. The revolt in 2010, 2014, and 2016 was largely rural. These were the final revolts that started in the early 1980s. Carter and Volcker wiped out farms en masse. Farmers in 1979 tried to shut down DC with tractors over high interest rate policies. Reagan, Bush amplified the financial concentration trend, and Clinton took it global. Obama in 2008 largely ran against this. Obama's campaign in 2008 was organized AGAINST monopoly. He said he'd renegotiate NAFTA. He beat Clinton in Iowa going after big ag.

"But he governed consistent with the ideology of the neoliberals. He broke his promises to stop this concentration. The foreclosure fraud epidemic caused mass suffering. The failure to jail any bankers were unjust. But they were part of a vision. This vision was that of technocracy, or a set of credentialed people who are smarter and better than you making key decisions.

"Deplorables, or fake news, or voters as ignorant are ideological statements-- part of this vision of people as incapable of self-gov't. But this vision is NOT consistent with populism. It conflicts w/corruption as conflicts of interest, revolving door, privatization. Geithner, for instance, cheated on his taxes. Banks close to him saw a stock price boost when he was appointed. He ran a foreclosure program designed to steal money from people and hand it to banks under the guise of helping avoid foreclosures. People who think that Trump was appealing to the working class solely based on their ignorance are ignorant of this track record.

"Until people are willing to internalize the policy framework of Clinton and Obama, they cannot rebut the arguments from Trump. Because fundamentally, Trump's pitch is that the rule of law is a joke and that having a strongman on your side is all that matters. This is now the attitude of the financial and business elite. That law is for little people. They can just hire smart lawyers. It is ALSO how the Clinton and Obama frameworks were organized. There is a difference though b/n them and Trump. The way that neoliberals deliver social justice is through the dole, or what we call Obamacare, transfer payments, job training. This is a variant of humiliating people with charity. It is explicitly not what the party of the people was about. Paul Krugman's "Let them eat transfer payments" is the slight of hand he always plays with events like Carrier. They are voting against their self-interest. But their self-interest isn't the dole! They want jobs! They want self-government.

"Trump is pitching not self-government, but a wall to protect them against neoliberals and a strongman to mock their enemies. It's not really what they want. Trump was not popular. But it's their version of the neoliberal deal of symbolic racial diversity. The ignorance is a choice, a choice that your facts don't matter. Just like you've decided that foreclosures/offshoring doesn't matter. The thing is, neoliberalism and Trumpism are BOTH incompatible with self-government, except among a select few. Few want either. Until we can recognize that it is concentrated financial power-- monopoly-- extending power over all of us, we will dance to their tune.