"It wasn’t long ago that voters turned hard against Democrats as inflation flared out of control on Joe Biden’s watch."
I don't expect to see statements like this in The Bulwark and finding one is a disappointment. Inflation did NOT flare OUT OF CONTROL during the Biden Administration. Biden brought America to a very, very soft landing from the Global Inflation following the pandemic. Only egg prices might truly have been said to be out of control and the cause was supply because of bird flu. Ignorance is expected among American voters, but I have higher standards for those who report on issues, especially here. If it had been written as something people believed, that would be one thing, but it looked like the author was making a statement of fact - which it is not.
Inflation doesn't have to have been the highest ever recorded to be accurately described as "out of control." Runaway inflation around the world was *the* key political characteristic of the post-pandemic recovery, and voters tossed incumbents in country after country over it. America did do better than most, but inflation was still perhaps the key issue that flipped the election to Trump last year.
This is an article about Democratic strategy. Voter perceptions don't have to be right for politicians to need to worry about changing them. It would be malpractice for Democrats to spend this moment relitigating whether/to what extent Biden could have handled inflation better--they need to fight actively against what Trump is doing *now* to make it worse.
I still think it should not have been presented as fact; it only takes a word or two in order to show perception as opposed to reality. And I think ignorance was a far larger cause of Trump's election - both times.
It could be argued that ALL inflation is out of control - because if it were something we could control, why would we ever see it? Very high is subjective and to those of us who remember the 70's, it's laughable. Also, I don't agree with when it started. I was seeing price hikes in my groceries in the summer of 2020 - significant ones, but everybody seems to think it didn't start until Biden took over. Maybe we should blame the pandemic and not Biden, because that's a factual cause. At any rate, the statement made me barely read the rest of your article, and think less of The Bulwark because of it.
Give them a break. They're still better than most. And some of them are very young and haven't had the experience of successive GOP Admins taking credit for Dem work or denigrating it. The Clinton years were my most prosperous. The Reagan years were my least prosperous. I've watched cycle after cycle of GOP taking credit for what they voted against and the electorate buying into it. It has just become both existentially worse and more blatant.
In 1982 I got hit by a car while riding my motorcycle.
I took the insurance settlement money and put it in a Certificate of Deposit.
That one-year CD paid me 17% interest.
If you wanted to borrow money to buy a car, you were paying 21-22% interest on that loan.
Mortgage rates were equally high.
I don't recall people back then clutching their pearls complaining about how high interest rates were.
People dealt with it, the economy didn't crash, the world didn't end.
Biden was dealt a real shitty hand, a hand dealt by Trump and his mishandling of the pandemic.
Trump's the one who fucked things up back in 2020.
Biden and his administration did a damned excellent job of getting our economy back on its feet, the same economy that Trump's doing his damned best to crash.
I support your description Andrew, but then again I am originally from St. Louis like you so there was probably something in the water. : ) All joking aside my comment from above: The American Rescue Plan took what was expected to be 5% or maybe 5% inflation to 9%. "Out of control" is subjective one way or the other, but there is no doubt that the Biden spending polices made inflation worse and I could argue significantly worse.
and chocolate. These three are tariff related. Eggs have gone down here. Even gas is down here. (central Colorado) But overall groc prices are up maybe 30%. I need to learn how Economics works!
This is accurate but more accurate would have been to include the word "perception" in the piece. Because it was coming down in the US. "Best economy in the world" at end of Biden's term according to some economists. We need to fight Republican lies much better than anyone is doing, including all Democrats. (But I don't think it was the price of eggs as much as the lies and disinformation screeched at us plus prices plus Biden not seeming to realize we were all still in pain plus racism and misogyny. )
Maybe we need to take our examples from those who have soundly defeated GOP candidates in 2025? Taking into account all local cultural differences?
Not sure which is harder to believe - the fact that so many people seem to accept Trump's claim he inherited the 'highest inflation ever' which is factually ridiculous - or - that I'm old enough to have lived thru the very high inflation of the 1970's which includes our first mortgage rate of 14%.
Yes, 70s inflation was worse. The 70s were also 50 years ago. Comparing the current economy with the 70s is like my dad saying "in my day I had to walk to school uphills both ways." It does not help to tell people oh it was so much worse 50 years ago when it was so much BETTER only 6 years ago.
There were high interest rates on homes but then again, much lower prices on them. I could pay for college with a summer job. In 1984 I rented a 3 bedroom apartment with two roommates and paid $135/month rent and split the phone and power bill. My used car cost $300.
I remember it well, along with the gutting of US smokestack industries as Reagan and his free trade brethren saw financial enginnering as better for themselves than actual engineering of products. Yet the Reagan hagiography continues, even for some Bulwark columnists (I'm talking about you, Bill and Sarah).
I hear you, although I'd argue Reagan significantly expanded U.S.-China economic engagement, laying groundwork for China's later rise as a global economic power. But in those days the theory was that helping China was in the strategic interest of the US in view of the Soviet Union.
It'll get me pointed out as a Boomer, but yeah, the Seventies and into the Eighties were some tough times. I looked at the whining over interest rates last year with a blank "ZIRP has fried your brain" stare.
Finding a job? Thank God for the minimum wage and a crazy but hiring military-industrial complex to fall back on after high school. Still, nearly all the jobs I could get back then offered Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and I think I paid about $160/month for it when I stopped working full time to go to college, an education which was also affordable.
I have to say that the inflation now seems worse than it was in the 1970s even though the numbers say different. I think it is because they changed the way they measured inflation since then.
I think it's because it isn't just inflation; it's overall inequality and lack of useful regulation of the rich and powerful. And the fact that Republicans lie constantly and scream constantly about it. Like living near a jackhammer.
It's a mental thing for me. Since I lived through the costs back then - even with inflation that high - I compare it mentally to costs today and am like good gravy things cost a lot nowadays.
I get the desire to defend Biden's record given the realities he had to deal with. I've done the same myself. But I read this differently than you. The subject was the politics of the situation so I took it as much more about "something people believed." "Out of control" is an imprecise phrase, but there was a definite spike. How many voters understood that inflation was a worldwide phenomenon?
I've made this point repeatedly in this very newsletter. From election day last year:
"The economic pain and escalations of conflict that have rattled the globe in the wake of the pandemic have been unkind to whichever party happens to be in power to hold the bag, left or right. Harris is trying to break that mold tonight.
If Trump wins tonight, it’ll be in large part due to the inexorable weight of that structural pressure. They’re kicking the bums out around the world; maybe they’ll do it here too."
And I will never totally believe it wasn't just better rigged than 2016 and 2020. There may be some conspiracy theorist in each of us. Or I just can't bear the thought of 77 million Americans being this ugly.
40% of voters don't think arabic numbers should be taught in schools, and about 20% think the earth is less than 6000 years old.
Ask me if I care what the unwashed and stinking masses of Republican voters think. I dare you. But keep in mind in january 6th I was firmly on the side of "surround the capital with the national guard, set the building on fire, and shoot everyone who comes out. While you're at it have someone go fetch ya boy Trump from the white house and bring him down here so we can make street art out of him".
Couldn't even imagine giving less of a fuck what "the people" believe when we live in a world filled with access to actual facts.
Wow... tell us how you really feel.... So what to do with an old man who let all the felons loose on us, completed his coup, and is in the process of pounding America into sand? How to forge ahead, if you're not rich enough or skilled enough to leave the country? (BTW, I think the destruction is more Heritage Foundation GOP than Trump who seems truly demented and deranged and not at all in control.)
We’re a nation of vibes, not facts. Reagan’s America felt great! Nobody suffered, everything we did was wonderful, and by no means did it pave the way for our current government.
Inflation rose at a higher rate than any time in the last 40 years. Did Biden see a masterful recovery better than the rest of the world? Yes! But he also messaged horribly taking far to long that people were hurting.
>"Only egg prices might truly have been said to be out of control and the cause was supply because of bird flu."
You know what's the most outrageous thing about egg prices? The highest price for eggs was Feb/March 2025, last spring when they spiked to $6.23 - $8.11 two to three months after Trump took over.
The previous high under Biden was $4.82 in Jan 2023, and then the prices fell to $2.07 in the fall of 2023.
I agree with you, Susan. I've been really frustrated with a lot of small but weak, cheap, RNC-style talking points in a number of Bulwark articles lately. What cop outs they are.
Biden ensured that we were the only Western nation not to fall into a recession as a result of the pandemic. The conservative Economist called our American economy at the end of the Biden term, "the envy of the world," and these intellectually lazy and demonstrably false comments are the reason why I am not renewing my Bulwark subscription when it expires, and in fact I'm only sorry to have given them $100 of my money.
But aside from personal economics, do better, Bulwark team: your readership is broad, and if you want to help save the republic as much as you claim, you bear a profound responsibility to us all in your reporting.
You could make a strong argument that Biden's economy was "the envy of the world" by the end of his term. We made it many times ourselves! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make that sale to voters--either because of the inherent political toxicity of inflation overwhelming other indicators of economic health, or because of the effectiveness of the right-wing political messaging machine, or because of Biden's own deficiencies as a communicator, or because of some combination of the three. It couldn't be more factual that spiking inflation during Biden's term soured voters on his presidency, whether justly nor not.
As Democrats try to take back power next year, their task of political persuasion must begin with a clear understanding of where the electorate is on these questions, not where Democratic base voters think it ought to be.
I get your frustration. But I'd plead with you to stay here and keep them honest rather than going into a left wing bubble as the right wingers live in a right wing bubble. You are needed in the center and they are trying to be there; they are allies in saving democracy.
Uh ok but do you want to win or score well in the quiz in politics today class. Cause as it stands now Dems have no game except the negative game Trump himself is playing. Without it they'd be nowhere.
my comment in fact, self rating was "too personal" -- truth is though i get frustrated at the go to "let's correct that history" vs "yeah let's take it to 'em on 'inflation'/'tariffs'/'state directed capitalism'/'etc'.... " technically biden had nothing to do with inflation save possibly for a little too much juice on cash payouts to americans. yet americans blamed him for it and he had no message on it that resonated with them. other presidents have been given the "inflation gift" and parlayed that into further political power. but i think it's a totally fair pt about dems -- if the enemy shows a weakness, why cant you exploit it? and where are all the amplifiers the gop seems to now have in droves?
The inflation was worldwide caused by disrupted supply chains. The high price of eggs was caused by bird flu, for which there is no cure or prevention.
The American Rescue Plan took what was expected to be 5% or maybe 5% inflation to 9%. "Out of control" is subjective one way or the other, but there is no doubt that the Biden spending polices made inflation worse and I could argue significantly worse.
There was inflation during Biden's tenure. It was coming down. But he insisted things were fine and Americans were not feeling fine, they were (and are) still struggling and suffering. And they blamed him (and his age). Moreso when he claimed things were good again. So there was a perception of high inflation. But, yes, stating it as a universal fact is misleading and disappointing.
Every Dem should be running an ad of the Reagan radio address about tariffs. His message about tariffs is so clear and easy to understand…then any Maggat who complains - ask them on camera “when did Republicans stop agreeing with Ronald Reagan?” Let them explain that.
Yeah but then people will want to vote for Republicans becauae Reagan was a Republican. Its too subtle a message to assume that they would side with the Democrats. Trust me the average Trump voter can easily confused.
They could use President Reagan's 1988 radio address on free trade, delivered soon after the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement was signed. They could use this passage:
“When Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff in 1930, we were told that it would protect America from foreign competition and save jobs in this country—the same line we hear today. The actual result was the Great Depression, the worst economic catastrophe in our history; one out of four Americans were thrown out of work. Two years later, when I cast my first ballot for President, I voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who opposed protectionism and called for the repeal of that disastrous tariff.”
Also:
“We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag. The expansion of the international economy is not a foreign invasion; it is an American triumph, one we worked hard to achieve, and something central to our vision of a peaceful and prosperous world of freedom.”
"She called his lunatic post about murdered director Rob Reiner “absolutely, completely below the office of the president of the United States,” “classless,” and “just wrong.”"
There are much bigger fish to fry, so to speak, than MTG. There are thousands of actual criminals. Her crimes against decency and sanity were relatively mild. Look at the bribery! Look at the murderers! Forget about bashing MTG.
For the record, inflation did not "flare out of control" during the biden admin: to see that, you need to look back at the '70s. Inflation spiked under biden and then fell considerably. Calling that out of control is a gop narrative, not an accurate description.
I went to gas stations. I saw "thanks brandon" stickers pasted to the pumps. I saw these in the rear windows of numerous pickup trucks. Egg prices soured. People made it into the news complaining about it on social media. Other things went up. It made the news. This stuck. Sure inflation started to come down. Left to nature wed have had a so called soft landing. But Americans couldn't be bothered. Because or in part because the negative reporting worked. It stuck.
Today steak is $32 lb in my grocery store. Eggs were as high as $12 say a dozen. People have shifted their consumer habits. Chipotle is feeling it. But where's the social media outrage? It has to apparently be created.
Forget "tariffs" - I mean the word. Here is what the political class misses. People don't make the direct connection between tariffs and prices. They see tariffs as a punishment to other countries. You say the word tariff and they don't care. You talk about prices and affordability. You tie his policies to the high prices. Screw the word tariffs - it means nothing to most people, just like the debt or trade deficit mean nothing. Simple terms - you can't afford groceries? Trump is doing things that makes them expensive. And they won't go down, you know greedy companies will keep the prices high no matter what.
The ad to run - find a clip of Trump campaigning saying how Biden made things so expensive (bonus if you can find him saying the word "afford") then split screen to him talking about the affordability hoax. Then talk about prices. Simple. Every Dem talking point and every ad should be the same message
Democrats should start calling tariffs "Trump's national sales tax." Everywhere, every time. Nobody knows what a "tariff" is so there is an opportunity to explain to voters that it's just an old-timey word for a tax that works like sales taxes--a percentage markup on an imported item that is passed along to buyers.
They are taxes to you and me. Who is getting all that Tax Money? Donald Trump! Who can throw large parties with expensive food? Donald Trump.
Congress has the Authority to set taxes, not the President. Trump took their Power for himself. This is an expensive way to run the Country. He takes billions for himself; then teases you by offering to “give” you $2,000 MAYBE of the money you have already paid.
My idea is to educate people. They will learn when Pols use words they understand.
power bills are crazy high now too. NYT today has a headline -- on increased heating prices--see free link Also... Trump punches down on the poor (SNAP recipients) after giving major tax cuts to billionaires and MAGA are screwing us with removing ACA health insurance subsidies- This should be messaged as well.
Harris repeatedly referred to the tariffs as "Trump tax" on the campaign trail. It may hit differently now than it did then, but voters are idiots who cannot wrap their heads around potential outcomes.
NO NO NO. Here is what the average person hears. Tariffs are a tax. He is taxing the other country, why do I care. In fact, I think that is good we make them pay. People don't/can't think of the second level consequences. Focus on the first level - things are more expensive. Who cares why. Trump said he would fix that, you trusted him, he can't.
Andrew: "Trump’s tariffs are a bust. So why do Democrats seem oddly reluctant to twist the knife?"
Why should they? Trump's had a woody for tariffs for years and he was explicit during the campaign that he would implement them if he was elected. 77 million people voted for him anyway. The way I look at it, the electorate should not be saved from the consequences of their votes. It's not like the voters will give credit to the Democrats for saving them from themselves. So screw 'em.
Democrats do not have the power to stop Trump's tariffs. The question is whether they should do what IS in their power to prosecute the public case against them, as they have done to great effect with expiring ACA subsidies.
Andrew, the voters have the collective memory of a goldfish. There is a difference between whether the Democrats *could* do something and *should* do something. And my personal view is they shouldn't because in the long term, the voters will never give the Democrats credit for preventing harm to the electorate. The only possible way this will ever change is if the voters feel pain. To quote Nick Catoggio, "Saving Americans from their own terrible choices again, after they doubled down on the president last year, feels a bit like restarting a dying patient’s heart only to have him immediately light up a cigarette. At some point, you’re under no further obligation to restrain someone who’s bent on destroying himself from doing so."
Any "The Office" viewers out there? Remember how they treated the IT guy? The guy that kept their computers humming smoothly along, yet was unappreciated and disrespected (and abused) the whole time. They couldn't even remember his name when he told them he was leaving. So he outs some embarrassing stuff he found out about them, and shoots them the finger on the way out.
That's how I feel, just myself, about the advice given by all pundits to the Democrats. Harris told people the tariffs are a tax, prices will go up. Now prices are up and the red-hatters can't seem to figure out why. So Democrats are trying to save their healthcare. When they wake up blinking in disbelief at the cost of their insurance will they connect the dots?
Democrats have tried and tried to save their hands from hot stove, yet still, they don't believe bad will happen until it does. You gotta burn to learn...
I could tell you stories about patients sending family out for Big Macs and other fast food right after getting a stents put in their coronaries. So Many...
I think if the voters can't distinguish between where we were 12 months ago w.r.t. the economy and where we are now and what the root cause of the difference is, then no amount of messaging from the Democrats will help. The median American voter is an amoral halfwit.
The Supreme Court isn't going to save anyone or anything, in my opinion, which I realize amounts to nothing. However, I am not putting an iota of faith in a Court that claims to be Catholic instead of American and then rushes to kill and disenfranchise poor people as fast as they can. They own Kavanaugh stops and they own the Trump-Roberts economy. Roberts has a hell of a bigger influence on the economy than Congress, whether it's tariffs, firing Powell, or any of Trump's insane ideas from 1980s TV shows. Roberts decides, not Congress. And Roberts is very enamored of Trumpian ideas. And the reason Roberts decides instead of Congress is almost entirely due to decisions by himself in conjunction with Leonard Leo, who I am sure is also in deep conversations with other Nazi memorabilia lovers in Congress. Republicans in Congress gave up their power voluntarily - people usually only do that for money or sex.
BUT change is inevitable, good things do happen, and Christmas is coming.
Also, I'm getting real, real tired of the assumption that everyone told the truth to pollsters and voted on the economy. Any third grader could have looked up tariff in the dictionary. I certainly spent a lot of time saying "Tariffs are taxes on consumers." Guess what people voted for? Higher taxes on consumers. So don't tell me they voted on inflation because that's a logical tautology. Sometimes you have to look at what people do, not what they say. People voted for White supremacy because they forgot how expensive it is. Now they have buyers' remorse.
How many farmers who got buggered by Trump's first term trade wars voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024? We're supposed to believe they voted on the economy? They voted because of some trans swimmer or some brown person crossing a border, both occurring a thousand miles away from them. And even worse, they rely for their operations on those brown border crossers. Economy my ass.
Lots of old school Republicans are against the very wide tariffs that Trump is using. But as you say, Roberts seems enchanted with the idea of president as a king.
Let’s compare the two symbols that are now only ‘divisive’ and what it means. The noose, of course has a long history associated with the lynching of African Americans and still represents a symbol to demonstrate authority and put African Americans in their place. The swastika which has had a long history of many uses, is forever corrupted by Nazi Germany, and a symbol of white power. The change is once again an affirmation of who this administration cares about: whites only. The symbol of white power is now not hate associated with the atrocities of WW2, but merely divisive, and the noose a symbol of African Americans inferior place in America and their subjugation to extrajudicial killings, is now merely divisive and not about hating them. The power in this equation only accrues one way and that is towards white supremacy.
It's like what's next.... burning crosses? White hooded robes? as "possibly divisive?" There are hooded ICE agents grabbing people off the streets and kidnapping them, tearing children from their mothers. I won't be surprised if they start putting up cages in the public square.
Here's my question, what if SCOTUS rules against tariffs, the admin actually removes tariffs but big corps don't lower prices? Reportedly they've been "eating" a lot of the tariffs and will feel a need to recoup losses they've taken. It will take awhile to get tariffs paid back from government and filter it back through middle men (whoever actually paid the tariff at the port in the first place and charged the business that bought the goods.) I can see a world in which prices do not come down as consumers are used to high prices and big corps have little to no interest in consumers feelings. They're accountable to stock price and shareholder value.
I'm not a financial guru, so any insight on big corps motivation to lower prices would be helpful.
Companies will lower prices if consumers simply won't buy their goods otherwise. But I don'tthink that happens even without tariffs. As you say,consumers have gotten used to higher prices. I think the big win to Trump is if prices simply stop rising for the next 2 years....which could happen if they eliminate tarrifs. Companies are already seeing record revenues, so eliminating tariffs could juice their bottom lines so much that their annual growth comes from that rather than higher priced goods. As long as they can show a YoY increase the shareholders stay happy.
Other than the direct action with Jimmy Kimmel, I have not seen any consumer actions to demonstrate their displeasure with the price they're being charged. Sure, people are buying less as they have less money to spread around, but generally we're all taking it and grumbling.
Last time I checked we still have capitalism. Supply and demand. If one vendor doesn't lower its prices after tariffs are repealed, go to another vendor.
Sometimes an unyielding defense of America, like Podhoretz’s, lets us excuse away unimaginably horrible acts. It lets us overlook the death and destruction that comes with it. A defense of America with no introspective qualities is a thing of which to be wary.
In my mind, Inflation under Biden was the result of massive supply chain disruptions due to COVID. They lingered a long time. I thought that the Biden administration did a masterful job of orchestrating a soft landing. No good deed shall go unpunished. Watch the health care explosion. If you think it's actually stable sailing at this point, There's an explosion about to happen right in front of you. The GOP doesn't just step in it, it stops and shovels some into its shoe claiming success. It's going to get really ugly out there.
This isn't a hard question. I have spent the last two decades hearing Democrats wrongly trash NAFTA and argue we need tariffs. Recently we've been giving a new lesson by a Republican president as to why tariffs are horrible policy.
Democrats will not go after tariffs because many of them like protectionist trade policy. We did this song and dance a bit during 2024 and in the first half of 2025, where Dem's get all mealy-mouthed about saying "Oh Tariffs are a good tool if used right but the way Trump is doing it..."
Should the Democrats attack the tariffs? Yes, 100%. Will they? Different question!
Tariffs are a strategic economic tool, that should be used judicially. It used to be trade policy was set by congress in cooperation with the executive branch. trump thinks they are a foreign policy tool, they are not. Unless and until congress starts doing their job,nothing is going to happen on tariffs. The true problem here is trump declaring another "national emergency" every time he farts. Congress can end these bogus "emergencies" anytime they want. BTW it is based on the emergency crap that Supreme Court will uphold trump's tariffs.
This is true. This is true of **any** tool. Hammers are good tools sometimes, screw drivers are good tools other times, and so on.
But the Democrats do not need to point this out when they criticize Trump's tariffs. No one responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi by saying, "First of all, we should say that hammers are a strategic tool that should be used judicially." No, we all know there is a time and a place to use a hammer, and we know well enough to unequivocally condemn a violent attack where the assailant used a hammer as bad without thinking we ought to spend time on a mush-mouthed defense of hammers.
Yes they do. Gretchen Witmer is one of the worst offenders, but Bernie Sanders is also a tariff defender. Even when Trump announced the tariffs in April Bernie's statement attacking them had an aside saying they can be good.
they do and they have. had they not been mealy-mouthed, we wouldn't be talking about the inability of the Dem's to unite against Trump's tariffs without sparing a word sideways out of their mouths on the potential benefits of tariffs sometimes
I support tariffs if I think that the product in question is being "Dumped" on our markets. I don't support blanket tariffs that have their percentages changed daily with no rhyme or reason beyond punishment. I don't see any democrats that would disagree with that approach. Right now, it's easier to watch Trump paint himself and his policies into a corner. This won't get better for consumers between now and the midterms. Businesses are simply swallowing costs currently as much as they can, but it is getting passed along to consumers more and more every day. Hiring is absolutely static, or mildly depressed for a number of months now which doesn't bode well for the disruption gnawing at the economy.
>>“'Tariffs are an important tool in our economic toolbox,' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass."
>> "Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Democrats have a consensus around 'a unified concept, which is targeted tariffs can work, across the board tariffs are bad... The right targeting is in the eye of the beholder, but nobody on our side thinks zero tariffs ever,' Kaine said."
>> "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave a speech in Washington on Wednesday calling for tariffs to be used like a 'scalpel.'"
>> "Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., said the tariffs would be 'catastrophic' for urban and rural communities alike in her state. But Moore added that Democrats should still advocate for raising labor and product standards to keep American goods and services competitive in global markets. 'I know that many of our autoworkers were lured into voting for Donald Trump because they thought perhaps he was going to give them some relief,' said Moore. 'But the prices of cars are going to go up because the component parts are everywhere. There’s no strategy for it.'”
>> "For many years, protectionism was on the rise among Democrats. Under pressure from the left in the 2016 election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a key architect of Obama’s diplomatic pivot toward Asia, repudiated his plan for a free-trade alliance in the region. When Biden came to office, he and his aides promised not to roll back Trump’s first-term tariffs, but rather to revise and refine them."
>> "'Democrats should embrace tariffs as one component of a broader industrial strategy to revitalize American manufacturing and make whole communities that have been hollowed out by decades of bad trade policy,' the Pennsylvania representative Chris Deluzio recently wrote in an op-ed... 'President Trump’s tariff approach has been chaotic and inconsistent … But the answer isn’t to condemn all tariffs. That risks putting the Democrats even further out of touch with the hard-working people who used to be the lifeblood of the party. If you oppose all tariffs, you’re signaling that you’re comfortable with exploited foreign workers making your stuff at the expense of American workers. I’m not, and neither are most voters.'"
>> "In a recent Lever Time interview, the United Automobile Workers president, Shawn Fain, summed up the discordant political moment. His union endorsed former vice-president Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, and Fain has critiqued both Trump’s across-the-board tariffs and his labor policies. But Fain has also endorsed Trump’s targeted auto industry tariffs and credited the president with centering trade policy as a priority, suggesting that was one reason nearly half of his union’s members voted for Trump in the last election."
"They might not like these tariffs, but they’re not opposed to tariffs in principle."
Seriously? Why you downplaying the fact that Democrats have actively played the tariff game for decades? They played it differently than Trump. They imposed tariffs to gain favor with this industry or that union. But they were small tariffs (at least relative to Trump) that they thought wouldn't be high enough for consumers to notice. You might pay more for a washing machine, but not for absolutely everything you bought. Most recently, before the 2020 election, Biden talked about how Trump's tariffs hurt the economy. But then he left almost all of them in place and added more. When it became clear that inflation was the Democrat's biggest liability, he could have made a big show of eliminating tariffs and talk about how that would reduce prices. But he didn't. That would have been an unnatural act for a traditional Democrat.
Consumers are the biggest special interest group of all. If only the Democrats could become the party of free trade.
As an example, Canadian Lumber tariffs. Biden increased them twice from Trump 1 levels (via Wikipedia) “On 9 November 2021, the US implemented a double tariff on Canadian softwood, which in turn increased lumber prices in the US even further. As a result, the shortage and higher prices for lumber in 2021/2022 have increased inflationary pressures for American consumers.[51]
On August 19, 2024, the US raised tariff rates on imports of Canadian softwood lumber products from 8.05% to 14.54%.”
What’s a major cost component of new housing……lumber. Who is trying to lower the costs by maybe reducing or eliminating these tariffs…..no one.
Tariffs are where Trump took a Dem policy, and put it on steroids.
Tariffs are complicated to understand and wonky as hell to explain to people who don't even know how to balance their own checkbooks. Whereas "prices are higher now" needs no explanation. Dems are taking a page out of Republicans' book during the Biden years. We spent months here talking about WHY prices were high and the Dems tried to explain the the public why prices were high....it didnt matter that there were logical reasons....prices were high so blame the president. I want Dems to stay on that track because the why doesn't matter to Gladys and Cletus. They don't want an economics lesson. They want lower bills.
I agree that the SC could save Trump on the economy but getting rid of tariffs isn't going to fully or quickly undo the damage. You know he'll just find some other way to enact tariffs. Or maybe he'll just start an outright war with Venezuela, which will do WONDERS for the economy. /sarcasm Getting rid of tariffs won't bring back ACA subsidies. It won't stop all forms of insurance rates from continuing to go up. And it won't stop the housing market from being completely unaffordable for a huge swath of people. The world is simply way more expensive than it was 5, or 10 years ago. People expect Trump to bring us back to prepandemic prices. That is why they elected him (that, and the racism). And that isn't going to happen, even without tariffs.
Yes, thanks for saying that. I too question how many of the 77 million who voted for trump have any interest at all learning more about tariffs. I'm pretty sure most of them go with 'vibes', as some Bulwark writers have suggested.
I’m thinking the war with Venezuela will raise oil prices which would be a huge benefit for Putin. Of course, if Ukraine keeps successfully blowing up Russian oil tankers, that won’t matter, but I think someone could be *ahem* observing that out loud, even if they have a different ulterior motive (Marco).
I'm sure Norman Podhoretz was all you say he was. But he got some things really wrong. We of the 1960's were not anti-American, we were anti war. Huge difference. And we were right. The government lied, obfuscated, and sent thousands of young people to fight for their wrongheadedness. We are still suffering for that.
You commented the exact thing I thought when I read the comment about the Vietnam War. To my conservative parents and their friends we did look like anti-American but it was the opposite. We started a new kind of movement where you can call out the government for their corruption! And history proved it to be so.
"It wasn’t long ago that voters turned hard against Democrats as inflation flared out of control on Joe Biden’s watch."
I don't expect to see statements like this in The Bulwark and finding one is a disappointment. Inflation did NOT flare OUT OF CONTROL during the Biden Administration. Biden brought America to a very, very soft landing from the Global Inflation following the pandemic. Only egg prices might truly have been said to be out of control and the cause was supply because of bird flu. Ignorance is expected among American voters, but I have higher standards for those who report on issues, especially here. If it had been written as something people believed, that would be one thing, but it looked like the author was making a statement of fact - which it is not.
Inflation doesn't have to have been the highest ever recorded to be accurately described as "out of control." Runaway inflation around the world was *the* key political characteristic of the post-pandemic recovery, and voters tossed incumbents in country after country over it. America did do better than most, but inflation was still perhaps the key issue that flipped the election to Trump last year.
This is an article about Democratic strategy. Voter perceptions don't have to be right for politicians to need to worry about changing them. It would be malpractice for Democrats to spend this moment relitigating whether/to what extent Biden could have handled inflation better--they need to fight actively against what Trump is doing *now* to make it worse.
I still think it should not have been presented as fact; it only takes a word or two in order to show perception as opposed to reality. And I think ignorance was a far larger cause of Trump's election - both times.
It is a fact that inflation got very high! "It's not as bad as that time 50 years ago" is hardly a rejoinder to this point.
It could be argued that ALL inflation is out of control - because if it were something we could control, why would we ever see it? Very high is subjective and to those of us who remember the 70's, it's laughable. Also, I don't agree with when it started. I was seeing price hikes in my groceries in the summer of 2020 - significant ones, but everybody seems to think it didn't start until Biden took over. Maybe we should blame the pandemic and not Biden, because that's a factual cause. At any rate, the statement made me barely read the rest of your article, and think less of The Bulwark because of it.
Give them a break. They're still better than most. And some of them are very young and haven't had the experience of successive GOP Admins taking credit for Dem work or denigrating it. The Clinton years were my most prosperous. The Reagan years were my least prosperous. I've watched cycle after cycle of GOP taking credit for what they voted against and the electorate buying into it. It has just become both existentially worse and more blatant.
In 1982 I got hit by a car while riding my motorcycle.
I took the insurance settlement money and put it in a Certificate of Deposit.
That one-year CD paid me 17% interest.
If you wanted to borrow money to buy a car, you were paying 21-22% interest on that loan.
Mortgage rates were equally high.
I don't recall people back then clutching their pearls complaining about how high interest rates were.
People dealt with it, the economy didn't crash, the world didn't end.
Biden was dealt a real shitty hand, a hand dealt by Trump and his mishandling of the pandemic.
Trump's the one who fucked things up back in 2020.
Biden and his administration did a damned excellent job of getting our economy back on its feet, the same economy that Trump's doing his damned best to crash.
Again.
I support your description Andrew, but then again I am originally from St. Louis like you so there was probably something in the water. : ) All joking aside my comment from above: The American Rescue Plan took what was expected to be 5% or maybe 5% inflation to 9%. "Out of control" is subjective one way or the other, but there is no doubt that the Biden spending polices made inflation worse and I could argue significantly worse.
Prices are even higher now than they were then. This is kitchen table stuff people notice. Coffee and beef prices are off the hook.
and chocolate. These three are tariff related. Eggs have gone down here. Even gas is down here. (central Colorado) But overall groc prices are up maybe 30%. I need to learn how Economics works!
This is accurate but more accurate would have been to include the word "perception" in the piece. Because it was coming down in the US. "Best economy in the world" at end of Biden's term according to some economists. We need to fight Republican lies much better than anyone is doing, including all Democrats. (But I don't think it was the price of eggs as much as the lies and disinformation screeched at us plus prices plus Biden not seeming to realize we were all still in pain plus racism and misogyny. )
Maybe we need to take our examples from those who have soundly defeated GOP candidates in 2025? Taking into account all local cultural differences?
Inflation was high worldwide due to disrupted supply chains.
I agree, I grew up in the '70s when REAL inflation happened. This inflation was a tiny blip compared to 14-20% then.
Not sure which is harder to believe - the fact that so many people seem to accept Trump's claim he inherited the 'highest inflation ever' which is factually ridiculous - or - that I'm old enough to have lived thru the very high inflation of the 1970's which includes our first mortgage rate of 14%.
Yes, 70s inflation was worse. The 70s were also 50 years ago. Comparing the current economy with the 70s is like my dad saying "in my day I had to walk to school uphills both ways." It does not help to tell people oh it was so much worse 50 years ago when it was so much BETTER only 6 years ago.
Uphill both ways, IN THE SNOW. Get it right!
barefoot
There were high interest rates on homes but then again, much lower prices on them. I could pay for college with a summer job. In 1984 I rented a 3 bedroom apartment with two roommates and paid $135/month rent and split the phone and power bill. My used car cost $300.
I guess after ZIRP we only know pain.
Plus 18 % interest rate
I remember it well, along with the gutting of US smokestack industries as Reagan and his free trade brethren saw financial enginnering as better for themselves than actual engineering of products. Yet the Reagan hagiography continues, even for some Bulwark columnists (I'm talking about you, Bill and Sarah).
To be fair, industry across the West suffered greatly due to the rise of China. We can’t really blame that on Reagan.
I hear you, although I'd argue Reagan significantly expanded U.S.-China economic engagement, laying groundwork for China's later rise as a global economic power. But in those days the theory was that helping China was in the strategic interest of the US in view of the Soviet Union.
It'll get me pointed out as a Boomer, but yeah, the Seventies and into the Eighties were some tough times. I looked at the whining over interest rates last year with a blank "ZIRP has fried your brain" stare.
Finding a job? Thank God for the minimum wage and a crazy but hiring military-industrial complex to fall back on after high school. Still, nearly all the jobs I could get back then offered Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and I think I paid about $160/month for it when I stopped working full time to go to college, an education which was also affordable.
Worse, but not? Different.
My first home, a small suburban house, was obtained at 12% interest! And yet, before the real estate bubble, it only cost around $600/month.
I have to say that the inflation now seems worse than it was in the 1970s even though the numbers say different. I think it is because they changed the way they measured inflation since then.
I think it's because it isn't just inflation; it's overall inequality and lack of useful regulation of the rich and powerful. And the fact that Republicans lie constantly and scream constantly about it. Like living near a jackhammer.
It's a mental thing for me. Since I lived through the costs back then - even with inflation that high - I compare it mentally to costs today and am like good gravy things cost a lot nowadays.
I agree. The last time inflation was this bad was during Trump's adminstration.
That statement really stuck out. Made me wonder, too. Do better bulwark
I get the desire to defend Biden's record given the realities he had to deal with. I've done the same myself. But I read this differently than you. The subject was the politics of the situation so I took it as much more about "something people believed." "Out of control" is an imprecise phrase, but there was a definite spike. How many voters understood that inflation was a worldwide phenomenon?
I've made this point repeatedly in this very newsletter. From election day last year:
"The economic pain and escalations of conflict that have rattled the globe in the wake of the pandemic have been unkind to whichever party happens to be in power to hold the bag, left or right. Harris is trying to break that mold tonight.
If Trump wins tonight, it’ll be in large part due to the inexorable weight of that structural pressure. They’re kicking the bums out around the world; maybe they’ll do it here too."
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/no-matter-what-the-work-is-not-done
And I will never totally believe it wasn't just better rigged than 2016 and 2020. There may be some conspiracy theorist in each of us. Or I just can't bear the thought of 77 million Americans being this ugly.
very few
40% of voters don't think arabic numbers should be taught in schools, and about 20% think the earth is less than 6000 years old.
Ask me if I care what the unwashed and stinking masses of Republican voters think. I dare you. But keep in mind in january 6th I was firmly on the side of "surround the capital with the national guard, set the building on fire, and shoot everyone who comes out. While you're at it have someone go fetch ya boy Trump from the white house and bring him down here so we can make street art out of him".
Couldn't even imagine giving less of a fuck what "the people" believe when we live in a world filled with access to actual facts.
Wow... tell us how you really feel.... So what to do with an old man who let all the felons loose on us, completed his coup, and is in the process of pounding America into sand? How to forge ahead, if you're not rich enough or skilled enough to leave the country? (BTW, I think the destruction is more Heritage Foundation GOP than Trump who seems truly demented and deranged and not at all in control.)
Same with me. That's how I read it
We’re a nation of vibes, not facts. Reagan’s America felt great! Nobody suffered, everything we did was wonderful, and by no means did it pave the way for our current government.
I’m selling a bridge if you’re interested.
Inflation rose at a higher rate than any time in the last 40 years. Did Biden see a masterful recovery better than the rest of the world? Yes! But he also messaged horribly taking far to long that people were hurting.
💯
>"Only egg prices might truly have been said to be out of control and the cause was supply because of bird flu."
You know what's the most outrageous thing about egg prices? The highest price for eggs was Feb/March 2025, last spring when they spiked to $6.23 - $8.11 two to three months after Trump took over.
The previous high under Biden was $4.82 in Jan 2023, and then the prices fell to $2.07 in the fall of 2023.
Egg prices in my county hit $11.00/doz. They are now back down and sometimes on sale (organics are still around $9.00/doz) but still about $4.00/doz.
I came here to say exactly this. Well said.
I agree with you, Susan. I've been really frustrated with a lot of small but weak, cheap, RNC-style talking points in a number of Bulwark articles lately. What cop outs they are.
Biden ensured that we were the only Western nation not to fall into a recession as a result of the pandemic. The conservative Economist called our American economy at the end of the Biden term, "the envy of the world," and these intellectually lazy and demonstrably false comments are the reason why I am not renewing my Bulwark subscription when it expires, and in fact I'm only sorry to have given them $100 of my money.
But aside from personal economics, do better, Bulwark team: your readership is broad, and if you want to help save the republic as much as you claim, you bear a profound responsibility to us all in your reporting.
You could make a strong argument that Biden's economy was "the envy of the world" by the end of his term. We made it many times ourselves! Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make that sale to voters--either because of the inherent political toxicity of inflation overwhelming other indicators of economic health, or because of the effectiveness of the right-wing political messaging machine, or because of Biden's own deficiencies as a communicator, or because of some combination of the three. It couldn't be more factual that spiking inflation during Biden's term soured voters on his presidency, whether justly nor not.
As Democrats try to take back power next year, their task of political persuasion must begin with a clear understanding of where the electorate is on these questions, not where Democratic base voters think it ought to be.
I get your frustration. But I'd plead with you to stay here and keep them honest rather than going into a left wing bubble as the right wingers live in a right wing bubble. You are needed in the center and they are trying to be there; they are allies in saving democracy.
I would like to point out that the Dispatch is a lot worse in that respect.
Uh ok but do you want to win or score well in the quiz in politics today class. Cause as it stands now Dems have no game except the negative game Trump himself is playing. Without it they'd be nowhere.
A reminder that almost the entirety of the Bulwark incorrectly ripped Dems for making the shutdown about healthcare.
I thought the Dems decided to make it about healthcare.
my comment in fact, self rating was "too personal" -- truth is though i get frustrated at the go to "let's correct that history" vs "yeah let's take it to 'em on 'inflation'/'tariffs'/'state directed capitalism'/'etc'.... " technically biden had nothing to do with inflation save possibly for a little too much juice on cash payouts to americans. yet americans blamed him for it and he had no message on it that resonated with them. other presidents have been given the "inflation gift" and parlayed that into further political power. but i think it's a totally fair pt about dems -- if the enemy shows a weakness, why cant you exploit it? and where are all the amplifiers the gop seems to now have in droves?
Well said!
The inflation was worldwide caused by disrupted supply chains. The high price of eggs was caused by bird flu, for which there is no cure or prevention.
The American Rescue Plan took what was expected to be 5% or maybe 5% inflation to 9%. "Out of control" is subjective one way or the other, but there is no doubt that the Biden spending polices made inflation worse and I could argue significantly worse.
There was inflation during Biden's tenure. It was coming down. But he insisted things were fine and Americans were not feeling fine, they were (and are) still struggling and suffering. And they blamed him (and his age). Moreso when he claimed things were good again. So there was a perception of high inflation. But, yes, stating it as a universal fact is misleading and disappointing.
Every Dem should be running an ad of the Reagan radio address about tariffs. His message about tariffs is so clear and easy to understand…then any Maggat who complains - ask them on camera “when did Republicans stop agreeing with Ronald Reagan?” Let them explain that.
Yeah but then people will want to vote for Republicans becauae Reagan was a Republican. Its too subtle a message to assume that they would side with the Democrats. Trust me the average Trump voter can easily confused.
A definite possibility!
They could use President Reagan's 1988 radio address on free trade, delivered soon after the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement was signed. They could use this passage:
“When Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley tariff in 1930, we were told that it would protect America from foreign competition and save jobs in this country—the same line we hear today. The actual result was the Great Depression, the worst economic catastrophe in our history; one out of four Americans were thrown out of work. Two years later, when I cast my first ballot for President, I voted for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who opposed protectionism and called for the repeal of that disastrous tariff.”
Also:
“We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while cynically waving the American flag. The expansion of the international economy is not a foreign invasion; it is an American triumph, one we worked hard to achieve, and something central to our vision of a peaceful and prosperous world of freedom.”
I've been thinking they might also use the Four Freedoms speech. And Lincoln.
But also this is probably a local election. Dems are rotten at national messaging.
Reagan...the OG RINO.
MAGAs would never elect Reagan these days... they would be calling him a "RINO."
"She called his lunatic post about murdered director Rob Reiner “absolutely, completely below the office of the president of the United States,” “classless,” and “just wrong.”"
Now do election denialism.
Put it right in the crosshairs of Jewish space lasers.
She thinks the Parkland school shooting was a hoax to make her party look bad. She is a moral monster. I'm so tired of promoting them.
How about take the little gifts the former MAGAs like MTG are giving us with a tiny bit of gratitude?
They all put small cracks in the MAGA shield and it's the beginning of the whole thing come tumbling down. Be happy about that.
Once it's over, if it's ever over, then we can go back to bashing MTG for past offenses.
There are much bigger fish to fry, so to speak, than MTG. There are thousands of actual criminals. Her crimes against decency and sanity were relatively mild. Look at the bribery! Look at the murderers! Forget about bashing MTG.
Or ask her about Fauci.
For the record, inflation did not "flare out of control" during the biden admin: to see that, you need to look back at the '70s. Inflation spiked under biden and then fell considerably. Calling that out of control is a gop narrative, not an accurate description.
I went to gas stations. I saw "thanks brandon" stickers pasted to the pumps. I saw these in the rear windows of numerous pickup trucks. Egg prices soured. People made it into the news complaining about it on social media. Other things went up. It made the news. This stuck. Sure inflation started to come down. Left to nature wed have had a so called soft landing. But Americans couldn't be bothered. Because or in part because the negative reporting worked. It stuck.
Today steak is $32 lb in my grocery store. Eggs were as high as $12 say a dozen. People have shifted their consumer habits. Chipotle is feeling it. But where's the social media outrage? It has to apparently be created.
Forget "tariffs" - I mean the word. Here is what the political class misses. People don't make the direct connection between tariffs and prices. They see tariffs as a punishment to other countries. You say the word tariff and they don't care. You talk about prices and affordability. You tie his policies to the high prices. Screw the word tariffs - it means nothing to most people, just like the debt or trade deficit mean nothing. Simple terms - you can't afford groceries? Trump is doing things that makes them expensive. And they won't go down, you know greedy companies will keep the prices high no matter what.
The ad to run - find a clip of Trump campaigning saying how Biden made things so expensive (bonus if you can find him saying the word "afford") then split screen to him talking about the affordability hoax. Then talk about prices. Simple. Every Dem talking point and every ad should be the same message
Democrats should start calling tariffs "Trump's national sales tax." Everywhere, every time. Nobody knows what a "tariff" is so there is an opportunity to explain to voters that it's just an old-timey word for a tax that works like sales taxes--a percentage markup on an imported item that is passed along to buyers.
Easy message: Trump Tariffs are Taxes.
They are taxes to you and me. Who is getting all that Tax Money? Donald Trump! Who can throw large parties with expensive food? Donald Trump.
Congress has the Authority to set taxes, not the President. Trump took their Power for himself. This is an expensive way to run the Country. He takes billions for himself; then teases you by offering to “give” you $2,000 MAYBE of the money you have already paid.
My idea is to educate people. They will learn when Pols use words they understand.
power bills are crazy high now too. NYT today has a headline -- on increased heating prices--see free link Also... Trump punches down on the poor (SNAP recipients) after giving major tax cuts to billionaires and MAGA are screwing us with removing ACA health insurance subsidies- This should be messaged as well.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/business/energy-environment/winter-heating-costs-increase.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9U8.TXjO.IQAm4QLbr0IM&smid=url-share
Harris repeatedly referred to the tariffs as "Trump tax" on the campaign trail. It may hit differently now than it did then, but voters are idiots who cannot wrap their heads around potential outcomes.
Thank you. I also question whether it makes sense to yell about tariffs when people are absorbing insurance rate spikes.
Or the Dems could say “Tariffs are a tax.”
NO NO NO. Here is what the average person hears. Tariffs are a tax. He is taxing the other country, why do I care. In fact, I think that is good we make them pay. People don't/can't think of the second level consequences. Focus on the first level - things are more expensive. Who cares why. Trump said he would fix that, you trusted him, he can't.
Andrew: "Trump’s tariffs are a bust. So why do Democrats seem oddly reluctant to twist the knife?"
Why should they? Trump's had a woody for tariffs for years and he was explicit during the campaign that he would implement them if he was elected. 77 million people voted for him anyway. The way I look at it, the electorate should not be saved from the consequences of their votes. It's not like the voters will give credit to the Democrats for saving them from themselves. So screw 'em.
Democrats do not have the power to stop Trump's tariffs. The question is whether they should do what IS in their power to prosecute the public case against them, as they have done to great effect with expiring ACA subsidies.
Andrew, the voters have the collective memory of a goldfish. There is a difference between whether the Democrats *could* do something and *should* do something. And my personal view is they shouldn't because in the long term, the voters will never give the Democrats credit for preventing harm to the electorate. The only possible way this will ever change is if the voters feel pain. To quote Nick Catoggio, "Saving Americans from their own terrible choices again, after they doubled down on the president last year, feels a bit like restarting a dying patient’s heart only to have him immediately light up a cigarette. At some point, you’re under no further obligation to restrain someone who’s bent on destroying himself from doing so."
Any "The Office" viewers out there? Remember how they treated the IT guy? The guy that kept their computers humming smoothly along, yet was unappreciated and disrespected (and abused) the whole time. They couldn't even remember his name when he told them he was leaving. So he outs some embarrassing stuff he found out about them, and shoots them the finger on the way out.
That's how I feel, just myself, about the advice given by all pundits to the Democrats. Harris told people the tariffs are a tax, prices will go up. Now prices are up and the red-hatters can't seem to figure out why. So Democrats are trying to save their healthcare. When they wake up blinking in disbelief at the cost of their insurance will they connect the dots?
Democrats have tried and tried to save their hands from hot stove, yet still, they don't believe bad will happen until it does. You gotta burn to learn...
I could tell you stories about patients sending family out for Big Macs and other fast food right after getting a stents put in their coronaries. So Many...
But Trump is out there complaining that inflation is *still* Biden's fault. Should Democrats let him get away with that?
I think if the voters can't distinguish between where we were 12 months ago w.r.t. the economy and where we are now and what the root cause of the difference is, then no amount of messaging from the Democrats will help. The median American voter is an amoral halfwit.
Unless they can be constrained from voting at all, we still need to work on how they will vote. Repetition seems to help with said voters.
Is he getting away with it? The only people who believe him know in their hearts that everything is Biden's fault.
There is no lie more preposterous than "The Steal," yet they believe.
Voters generally say it is now DJT s fault by about 65-35 % (inflation)
The Supreme Court isn't going to save anyone or anything, in my opinion, which I realize amounts to nothing. However, I am not putting an iota of faith in a Court that claims to be Catholic instead of American and then rushes to kill and disenfranchise poor people as fast as they can. They own Kavanaugh stops and they own the Trump-Roberts economy. Roberts has a hell of a bigger influence on the economy than Congress, whether it's tariffs, firing Powell, or any of Trump's insane ideas from 1980s TV shows. Roberts decides, not Congress. And Roberts is very enamored of Trumpian ideas. And the reason Roberts decides instead of Congress is almost entirely due to decisions by himself in conjunction with Leonard Leo, who I am sure is also in deep conversations with other Nazi memorabilia lovers in Congress. Republicans in Congress gave up their power voluntarily - people usually only do that for money or sex.
BUT change is inevitable, good things do happen, and Christmas is coming.
Also, I'm getting real, real tired of the assumption that everyone told the truth to pollsters and voted on the economy. Any third grader could have looked up tariff in the dictionary. I certainly spent a lot of time saying "Tariffs are taxes on consumers." Guess what people voted for? Higher taxes on consumers. So don't tell me they voted on inflation because that's a logical tautology. Sometimes you have to look at what people do, not what they say. People voted for White supremacy because they forgot how expensive it is. Now they have buyers' remorse.
How many farmers who got buggered by Trump's first term trade wars voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024? We're supposed to believe they voted on the economy? They voted because of some trans swimmer or some brown person crossing a border, both occurring a thousand miles away from them. And even worse, they rely for their operations on those brown border crossers. Economy my ass.
A lot of farmers are culturally conservative.
And, *horror,* world leaders will walk all over a woman president.
Perfectly put!
Lots of old school Republicans are against the very wide tariffs that Trump is using. But as you say, Roberts seems enchanted with the idea of president as a king.
Let’s compare the two symbols that are now only ‘divisive’ and what it means. The noose, of course has a long history associated with the lynching of African Americans and still represents a symbol to demonstrate authority and put African Americans in their place. The swastika which has had a long history of many uses, is forever corrupted by Nazi Germany, and a symbol of white power. The change is once again an affirmation of who this administration cares about: whites only. The symbol of white power is now not hate associated with the atrocities of WW2, but merely divisive, and the noose a symbol of African Americans inferior place in America and their subjugation to extrajudicial killings, is now merely divisive and not about hating them. The power in this equation only accrues one way and that is towards white supremacy.
It's like what's next.... burning crosses? White hooded robes? as "possibly divisive?" There are hooded ICE agents grabbing people off the streets and kidnapping them, tearing children from their mothers. I won't be surprised if they start putting up cages in the public square.
Here's my question, what if SCOTUS rules against tariffs, the admin actually removes tariffs but big corps don't lower prices? Reportedly they've been "eating" a lot of the tariffs and will feel a need to recoup losses they've taken. It will take awhile to get tariffs paid back from government and filter it back through middle men (whoever actually paid the tariff at the port in the first place and charged the business that bought the goods.) I can see a world in which prices do not come down as consumers are used to high prices and big corps have little to no interest in consumers feelings. They're accountable to stock price and shareholder value.
I'm not a financial guru, so any insight on big corps motivation to lower prices would be helpful.
Companies will lower prices if consumers simply won't buy their goods otherwise. But I don'tthink that happens even without tariffs. As you say,consumers have gotten used to higher prices. I think the big win to Trump is if prices simply stop rising for the next 2 years....which could happen if they eliminate tarrifs. Companies are already seeing record revenues, so eliminating tariffs could juice their bottom lines so much that their annual growth comes from that rather than higher priced goods. As long as they can show a YoY increase the shareholders stay happy.
Other than the direct action with Jimmy Kimmel, I have not seen any consumer actions to demonstrate their displeasure with the price they're being charged. Sure, people are buying less as they have less money to spread around, but generally we're all taking it and grumbling.
Last time I checked we still have capitalism. Supply and demand. If one vendor doesn't lower its prices after tariffs are repealed, go to another vendor.
Sometimes an unyielding defense of America, like Podhoretz’s, lets us excuse away unimaginably horrible acts. It lets us overlook the death and destruction that comes with it. A defense of America with no introspective qualities is a thing of which to be wary.
In my mind, Inflation under Biden was the result of massive supply chain disruptions due to COVID. They lingered a long time. I thought that the Biden administration did a masterful job of orchestrating a soft landing. No good deed shall go unpunished. Watch the health care explosion. If you think it's actually stable sailing at this point, There's an explosion about to happen right in front of you. The GOP doesn't just step in it, it stops and shovels some into its shoe claiming success. It's going to get really ugly out there.
This isn't a hard question. I have spent the last two decades hearing Democrats wrongly trash NAFTA and argue we need tariffs. Recently we've been giving a new lesson by a Republican president as to why tariffs are horrible policy.
Democrats will not go after tariffs because many of them like protectionist trade policy. We did this song and dance a bit during 2024 and in the first half of 2025, where Dem's get all mealy-mouthed about saying "Oh Tariffs are a good tool if used right but the way Trump is doing it..."
Should the Democrats attack the tariffs? Yes, 100%. Will they? Different question!
Well that's why we write these little columns!
Tariffs are a strategic economic tool, that should be used judicially. It used to be trade policy was set by congress in cooperation with the executive branch. trump thinks they are a foreign policy tool, they are not. Unless and until congress starts doing their job,nothing is going to happen on tariffs. The true problem here is trump declaring another "national emergency" every time he farts. Congress can end these bogus "emergencies" anytime they want. BTW it is based on the emergency crap that Supreme Court will uphold trump's tariffs.
This is true. This is true of **any** tool. Hammers are good tools sometimes, screw drivers are good tools other times, and so on.
But the Democrats do not need to point this out when they criticize Trump's tariffs. No one responded to the attack on Paul Pelosi by saying, "First of all, we should say that hammers are a strategic tool that should be used judicially." No, we all know there is a time and a place to use a hammer, and we know well enough to unequivocally condemn a violent attack where the assailant used a hammer as bad without thinking we ought to spend time on a mush-mouthed defense of hammers.
Democrats did not get mealy mouthed about tariffs.
Yes they do. Gretchen Witmer is one of the worst offenders, but Bernie Sanders is also a tariff defender. Even when Trump announced the tariffs in April Bernie's statement attacking them had an aside saying they can be good.
they do and they have. had they not been mealy-mouthed, we wouldn't be talking about the inability of the Dem's to unite against Trump's tariffs without sparing a word sideways out of their mouths on the potential benefits of tariffs sometimes
I support tariffs if I think that the product in question is being "Dumped" on our markets. I don't support blanket tariffs that have their percentages changed daily with no rhyme or reason beyond punishment. I don't see any democrats that would disagree with that approach. Right now, it's easier to watch Trump paint himself and his policies into a corner. This won't get better for consumers between now and the midterms. Businesses are simply swallowing costs currently as much as they can, but it is getting passed along to consumers more and more every day. Hiring is absolutely static, or mildly depressed for a number of months now which doesn't bode well for the disruption gnawing at the economy.
"Democrats will not go after tariffs because many of them like protectionist trade policy."
what?? who said that?
https://apnews.com/article/trump-democrats-chaos-tariffs-trade-2f39f7be95d34008155f4ee29eb67235
>>“'Tariffs are an important tool in our economic toolbox,' said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass."
>> "Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said Democrats have a consensus around 'a unified concept, which is targeted tariffs can work, across the board tariffs are bad... The right targeting is in the eye of the beholder, but nobody on our side thinks zero tariffs ever,' Kaine said."
>> "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave a speech in Washington on Wednesday calling for tariffs to be used like a 'scalpel.'"
>> "Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., said the tariffs would be 'catastrophic' for urban and rural communities alike in her state. But Moore added that Democrats should still advocate for raising labor and product standards to keep American goods and services competitive in global markets. 'I know that many of our autoworkers were lured into voting for Donald Trump because they thought perhaps he was going to give them some relief,' said Moore. 'But the prices of cars are going to go up because the component parts are everywhere. There’s no strategy for it.'”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/10/05/jared-polis-trump-democrats-campaign-free-trade-inflation-00592744
>> "For many years, protectionism was on the rise among Democrats. Under pressure from the left in the 2016 election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a key architect of Obama’s diplomatic pivot toward Asia, repudiated his plan for a free-trade alliance in the region. When Biden came to office, he and his aides promised not to roll back Trump’s first-term tariffs, but rather to revise and refine them."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/15/trumps-tariffs-lesson-democrats
>> "'Democrats should embrace tariffs as one component of a broader industrial strategy to revitalize American manufacturing and make whole communities that have been hollowed out by decades of bad trade policy,' the Pennsylvania representative Chris Deluzio recently wrote in an op-ed... 'President Trump’s tariff approach has been chaotic and inconsistent … But the answer isn’t to condemn all tariffs. That risks putting the Democrats even further out of touch with the hard-working people who used to be the lifeblood of the party. If you oppose all tariffs, you’re signaling that you’re comfortable with exploited foreign workers making your stuff at the expense of American workers. I’m not, and neither are most voters.'"
>> "In a recent Lever Time interview, the United Automobile Workers president, Shawn Fain, summed up the discordant political moment. His union endorsed former vice-president Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, and Fain has critiqued both Trump’s across-the-board tariffs and his labor policies. But Fain has also endorsed Trump’s targeted auto industry tariffs and credited the president with centering trade policy as a priority, suggesting that was one reason nearly half of his union’s members voted for Trump in the last election."
Etc., etc., etc.
"They might not like these tariffs, but they’re not opposed to tariffs in principle."
Seriously? Why you downplaying the fact that Democrats have actively played the tariff game for decades? They played it differently than Trump. They imposed tariffs to gain favor with this industry or that union. But they were small tariffs (at least relative to Trump) that they thought wouldn't be high enough for consumers to notice. You might pay more for a washing machine, but not for absolutely everything you bought. Most recently, before the 2020 election, Biden talked about how Trump's tariffs hurt the economy. But then he left almost all of them in place and added more. When it became clear that inflation was the Democrat's biggest liability, he could have made a big show of eliminating tariffs and talk about how that would reduce prices. But he didn't. That would have been an unnatural act for a traditional Democrat.
Consumers are the biggest special interest group of all. If only the Democrats could become the party of free trade.
Say it louder for the people in the back!
As an example, Canadian Lumber tariffs. Biden increased them twice from Trump 1 levels (via Wikipedia) “On 9 November 2021, the US implemented a double tariff on Canadian softwood, which in turn increased lumber prices in the US even further. As a result, the shortage and higher prices for lumber in 2021/2022 have increased inflationary pressures for American consumers.[51]
On August 19, 2024, the US raised tariff rates on imports of Canadian softwood lumber products from 8.05% to 14.54%.”
What’s a major cost component of new housing……lumber. Who is trying to lower the costs by maybe reducing or eliminating these tariffs…..no one.
Tariffs are where Trump took a Dem policy, and put it on steroids.
Lumber Tariffs were my biggest pet peeve of the Biden era.
Tariffs are complicated to understand and wonky as hell to explain to people who don't even know how to balance their own checkbooks. Whereas "prices are higher now" needs no explanation. Dems are taking a page out of Republicans' book during the Biden years. We spent months here talking about WHY prices were high and the Dems tried to explain the the public why prices were high....it didnt matter that there were logical reasons....prices were high so blame the president. I want Dems to stay on that track because the why doesn't matter to Gladys and Cletus. They don't want an economics lesson. They want lower bills.
I agree that the SC could save Trump on the economy but getting rid of tariffs isn't going to fully or quickly undo the damage. You know he'll just find some other way to enact tariffs. Or maybe he'll just start an outright war with Venezuela, which will do WONDERS for the economy. /sarcasm Getting rid of tariffs won't bring back ACA subsidies. It won't stop all forms of insurance rates from continuing to go up. And it won't stop the housing market from being completely unaffordable for a huge swath of people. The world is simply way more expensive than it was 5, or 10 years ago. People expect Trump to bring us back to prepandemic prices. That is why they elected him (that, and the racism). And that isn't going to happen, even without tariffs.
Yes, thanks for saying that. I too question how many of the 77 million who voted for trump have any interest at all learning more about tariffs. I'm pretty sure most of them go with 'vibes', as some Bulwark writers have suggested.
I’m thinking the war with Venezuela will raise oil prices which would be a huge benefit for Putin. Of course, if Ukraine keeps successfully blowing up Russian oil tankers, that won’t matter, but I think someone could be *ahem* observing that out loud, even if they have a different ulterior motive (Marco).
I'm sure Norman Podhoretz was all you say he was. But he got some things really wrong. We of the 1960's were not anti-American, we were anti war. Huge difference. And we were right. The government lied, obfuscated, and sent thousands of young people to fight for their wrongheadedness. We are still suffering for that.
You commented the exact thing I thought when I read the comment about the Vietnam War. To my conservative parents and their friends we did look like anti-American but it was the opposite. We started a new kind of movement where you can call out the government for their corruption! And history proved it to be so.