And Mr. Ramirez pictures (um, metaphorically) what trade protectionism looks like:
Eric Boehm takes a look at the latest volley: Trump bans Canadian beer, wine, motorcycles, and more.
Seemingly no longer content to merely hike taxes on imports from Canada, President Donald Trump has now taken the next logical step in his war against free trade.
On Tuesday, the White House announced that dozens of Canadian products would be banned from entering the United States, starting later this month.
The import ban covers a range of alcoholic drinks, motorcycles, various types of molasses, and some dairy byproducts like whey. The ban was accompanied by a new set of tariffs targeting Canadian motorboats and engine equipment, as well as cheese and other dairy products.
In short, the latest escalation of the pointless trade war with Canada means that Americans will no longer have the option of paying a hefty tax for the opportunity to import Canadian beer, wine, or liquor. That choice has now been revoked by the whim of one man—who is determined to substitute his own preferences for the free will of American businesses and consumers, the vast majority of whom do not quarrel with their trading partners on the northern side of the border.
Unfortunately, that lady Mr. Ramirez pictures looks like she could use a couple shots of Canadian Club. Sorry, dearie, President Trump says no.
On a related note, Audrey Fahlberg looks at (a) Trump's earnest hope and (b) other Republicans' greatest fear: ‘Pretend I’m on the Ballot’ Is Trump’s Midterm Strategy.
“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,” an upbeat and high-energy Trump told the crowd in a characteristically long keynote address Wednesday evening, during which he touted his record, railed against the “Dumbocrats,” and urged his supporters to help him buck the headwinds and defy history this election cycle. “Just one more time, because if we lose, you’re going to lose your border. You’re going to lose your tax cuts. You’re going to lose your safety and security. You’re going to lose your wealth.” Elect Republicans, he said, and every adult American will get a $5,000 check. “It will be called the Trump dividend.” Quick estimates suggest that proposal would cost north of $1 trillion.
I will probably vote a straight Republican ticket in November, but I will have to remind myself that Trump's not on the ballot, just some of his sycophants.
Also of note:
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Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. 'Twas just a few weeks back, that I wrote about Massachusetts explicitly legalizing abortion up until birth. And I wrote: "Apparently the Massachusetts government (and probably a good fraction of the citizenry) believes that the event of "birth" is a bit of biological magic that transforms a legal "medical procedure" into a heinous crime."
I didn't see Lindsay Clancy coming. It appears that infanticide is no longer so heinous down there. David Strong writes at Hot Air: Mothers Aren't Just Embracing Lindsay Clancy'; They Are Embracing Clancyism.
For most of us, the fact that Clancy clearly was having trouble with her mental health may help explain how she decided to kill her children, but for nobody I know does that excuse the fact that she chose to respond to her despair by killing her own children.
I can understand, at some level, the feeling of empathy for Clancy's struggles; I cannot and will never understand turning her into a hero. There is nothing heroic about killing children, especially one's own. It ranks up there as the most, or at least one of the most, horrific betrayals a person can make.
Women have contributed over a million dollars to Clancy's parents to help fund her defense, lined roadways to cheer her on, and even concocted bizarre conspiracy theories to explain why everything is her husband's fault, despite Clancy never having denied strangling her own children.
It's demonic.
It's looking to be a tough time for kids, especially down in Massachusetts.
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Or not. Task was boring. Kimberley A. Strassel takes to the WSJ to urge us: Make Mark Ruffalo Great Again. (WSJ gifted link)
Republicans are fighting for their midterm lives, so it’s something to watch the president finally rally them together with a plan to lock down the Hollywood academy and California’s liberal political class.
And the Oscar for Most Self-Defeating Politics goes to . . .
“I am going to suggest that Republicans and Democrats get together, and immediately craft Legislation to save the Movie, Television, and Entertainment Business in America. Congress should approve, immediately, a Federal Production Incentive to create Entertainment Jobs in America,” Donald Trump enthused on Truth Social Monday. This was followed by a Tuesday post praising the “great bipartisan response” to his great Hollywood bailout, then by yet another, of the president thumbs-upping it with his Hollywood ambassador, Jon Voight.
Geez, what an awful idea. Another reason for Republicans to fervently hope that their voters not pretend that Trump is on the ballot in November.
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And here's one more reason. Veronique de Rugy looks at yet another Bad Idea: A Convoluted Scheme to Pay Parents to Stay at Home.
Vice President JD Vance wants to pay married parents to stay home with their children, and he wants to do it with money Congress appropriated to help low-income families afford day care. Whatever one thinks of the goal, which may prove popular, the proposal fails every test we should apply to government subsidies.
That's because the proposal corrects no market failure. It pays people for choices they're already making. It adds a new claimant class to a budget that cannot carry the ones already promised something. And it does all of this without a workable plan to pay for it.
Under a draft rule now circulating at the Department of Health and Human Services, married couples in which one spouse works at least 35 hours a week and the other stays home would become eligible for the federal child care subsidy — about $9,000 per child, per year — as payment for "parent-based childcare." The money would come from the Child Care and Development Fund, a $12 billion block grant created in the 1990s to help low-income parents pay for care while working or finishing school.
At times, the only thing you can do is shake your head in despair.
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