It's not difficult to see that John Hinderaker dislikes Trump. Intensely.
...Donald Trump’s latest venture into trade policy is idiotic. Trump’s tariff plan is so dumb that for once, the Washington Post is actually right: “Trump vows massive new tariffs if elected, risking global economic war.”...
That's his comment; then he quotes the WaPo:
...Among the ideas [Trump and his advisers] discussed was Trump’s plan to enact a “universal baseline tariff” on virtually all imports to the United States, the people said. This idea, which Trump has taken to describing as the creation of a “ring around the U.S. economy,” could represent a massive escalation of global economic chaos, surpassing the international trade discord that marked much of his first administration....
And yadayadayada.
Believe it or not, it gets worse!
...The infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff, widely credited with bringing on or accentuating the Great Depression, resulted in an average tariff rate of around 19%....
Yelling "SMOOT HAWLEY!!!!" is near unto yelling "RAAAAAAAACISSSSSS!!! " It betrays a certain amount of deliberate forgetfulness. Competent and authoritative economists point to the Federal Reserve's tightening of interest rates in 1930--precisely the wrong direction. But Hinderaker doesn't care.
Hinderaker prefers that the US lose its steel industry (national defense, anyone?), its pharmaceutical industry (national health, anyone?) and what remains of any metal-bending businesses (laundry machines, refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners) because Americans get paid too well in those businesses. They get uppity and they don't have law degrees, knowwhuddImean?
Don't think Hinderaker is that nasty? Then read this:
...Protectionism has never been politically unpopular. Trump apparently is going for the lowest common denominator, appealing to the least informed voters....
You could have just said "basket of deplorables," John. That's what you meant.
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