Donald Trump imposes tariff taxes on Canadians without Congressional authorization. Does Senator Susan Collins know this?

Friends, newsletter from Robert Reich:

Trump on Monday signed orders to impose a 50 percent tariff on a wide range of Canadian imports.

(Maine Writer:  But I thought the Supreme Court ruled against Donald Trump being authorized to impose tariffs without Congressional approval.  Tariffs are taxes and only Congress can impose them, as per the mantra: "taxpayers must authorize taxes not the president, taxation without representation is against the law....)

The White House claims the tariffs are a “punishment” for Canadian discrimination against American cars, dairy, and alcohol.

But the tariffs will also punish us. Remember, tariffs are import taxes — paid for by you and me and everyone else in America. So, we’re about to pay more for everything we import from Canada — plywood, paper, furniture, hockey sticks, cement, et al. Canada is our second-largest trading partner, for chrissake.

Even if the Supreme Court finds that Trump lacks authority to invoke these tariffs and the government must refund American importers for the extra cost — as the high court did with his first round of tariffs — you and I won’t be reimbursed for the extra costs we’ve paid.

Corporations aren’t giving their customers any of the $80 billion in refunds they’ve received from the Treasury Department for the first round of tariffs, so don’t expect any reimbursement on this second round. Which means we’re doubly screwed.

Worse yet, the Treasury isn’t really bearing the cost of the $80 billion in refunds. The cost is being borne by you and me and all other American taxpayers, because our money funds the government. And as taxpayers we’ll also be paying for the second round of refunds, assuming the Supreme Court orders them. Which means we’re triply screwed.

Actually, we’re quadruply screwed because Trump is imposing the new tariffs under the Tariff Act of 1930 — the notorious Smoot-Hawley tariff that worsened the Great Depression by causing other countries to retaliate and impose tariffs on goods coming from the United States. It’s likely to have a similar effect in coming months.

If you hadn’t noticed, the American economy is already shaky. Prices are rising faster than wages, which means most of us are becoming poorer even before Trump’s next round of tariffs. His war in Iran is pushing up the price of gas and, indirectly, food.

The real reason for the new tariffs is that Trump is pissed off that Canada had the temerity (and the right) to retaliate against his first round of tariffs, and it has resisted Trump’s calls to be annexed as the 51st state.

Why would Canadians ever want to live in a nation that could elect Trump❓

In any event,  writes Robert Reich, I believe I can speak for most Americans when I apologize to our Canadian friends. We’re sorry we elected him. He’s made our lives worse. He’s a continuing embarrassment to us. (Did you see him grandstand at the World Cup❓ We have to live with this crap 💩every day.👎😡)

Believe me, we’re doing everything we can to put him back in his cage.

P.S. Where is Senator Susan Collins❓

Donald Trump and maga Republicans are controlling main stream media following the tyrants evil instruction manual

Dear  Friends,  Once you begin surrendering to Trump, he always wants more. You can’t appease a tyrant.

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they depress.

Producer Alicia Hastey departed CBS News Wednesday, saying the kind of work she came to do was “increasingly becoming impossible,” as stories were now evaluated “not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations.”

Echo essay published by Robert Reich in Substack.

Whose ideological expectations was Hastey referring to❓ Would it be impertinent for me to suggest it’s the sociopath in the Oval Office❓

Hastey’s criticism came a little over two weeks after Bari Weiss, the anti-“woke” opinion journalist who became editor-in-chief CBS’s News, unveiled her “21st century” vision at a town hall meeting. Weiss told producers and staff they were free to leave if they didn’t like it.

Since then, at least six out of CBS Evening News’s twenty producers have accepted buyouts.

At that town hall meeting Weiss also named a bunch of new contributors — including the anti-aging influencer Peter Attia. 

In the latest tranche of Epstein Files, Attia appears over 1,700 times, including an email in which he tells Epstein that “p—y is, indeed, low carb.”

In a missive to the newsroom, Weiss declared that “We love America” should be a guiding principle for the relaunch of the CBS Evening News.

Meanwhile, Weiss has replaced Evening News anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois with Tony Dokoupil — who was best known for hassling the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates for his “extremist” belief that apartheid is morally wrong.

In one of his first broadcasts, Dokoupil accepted without question Israel’s justification for violating the terms of the ceasefire when it killed three journalists in Gaza, reporting only that “Israel said it was targeting a group operating a drone affiliated with Hamas.”

Weiss faced blowback in December when she shelved a “60 Minutes” report about Venezuelans being deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison, hours before it was set to air.

Sharyn Alfonsi, a long-standing “60 Minutes” correspondent who reported the segment, had accused CBS News of pulling it for “political” reasons. “Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” she wrote in a note to the CBS News Team. “It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”

The segment later aired on January 8, drawing in over 5 million viewers.

The story CBS posted about Ms. Renee Good’s killing in Minneapolis reported that “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Ms. Renee Good last week in Minneapolis, Jonathan Ross, suffered internal bleeding to the torso following the incident, according to two U.S. officials briefed on his medical condition.”

No identifiable source was given for CBS’s assertion of “internal bleeding.” A CBS News staffer reported “huge internal concern” that the source was an anonymous leak by the Trump administration meant for an outlet they could trust to run it, no questions asked.

Weiss doesn’t exactly report to Donald Trump, of course. Trump runs CBS News the way he runs Venezuela — with a widely-understood threat that he’ll wreak havoc if it doesn’t do what he wants.

As Trump told Dokoupil recently in a rambling nearly 13-minute interview, if Kamala Harris had won the presidential election in 2024, “you probably wouldn’t have a job right now.”

Perhaps CBS News didn’t edit Dokoupil’s rambling interview with Trump because, moments after it ended, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt conveyed Trump’s threat that “‘if it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’”

You see the way Trump now controls CBS News? Dokoupil is Bari Weiss’s newly-minted anchor. Bari Weiss is David Ellison’s newly-minted head of CBS News. David Ellison is his father’s (Larry Ellison) newly-minted head of Paramount, which is the new owner of CBS. Larry Ellison is a pal of Trump’s, who contributes to Trump’s super PAC. And Trump? He has the power to take the prized Warner Bros Discovery out of the clutches of Netflix and deliver it to Ellison.

Among David Ellison’s first moves at CBS was to gut DEI policies, appoint right-wing hack Kenneth R. Weinstein to a new “ombudsman” role, and appoint Weiss.

I’m old enough to remember when CBS News would never have surrendered to a demagogic president. But, that was when CBS News — the home of Edward R. Murrow (who also revealed to America the danger of Joe McCarthy) and Walter Cronkite — was independent of the rest of CBS. And when the top management of CBS felt they had responsibilities to the American public that transcended making money for CBS’s investors.


America can survive without a “60 Minutes” it can trust, just as we can survive without trustworthy editorial pages of the Washington Post, that Jeff Bezos censored and whose newsroom he just gutted.

But, at some point, as Trump continues to repress criticism of him and his regime, American democracy is compromised beyond repair.

In contrast to Trump's suck-up of CBS News, the courageous CBS News’s Edward R. Murrow, from April 13, 1954  HERE.  https://youtu.be/z6j6iTN7Tkw

Donald Trump and maga Republicans must fire Robert F. Kennedy Jr because he is dangerous and destroying Ameica's health

"The growing disgrace and danger of Robert F. Kennedy Junior," Robert Reich.

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, is endangering the health of the American people now and into the future. He must resign." Senator Bernie Sanders.

An echo opinion published in The New York Times: 

We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health By William Foege,William Roper, David Satcher, Jeffrey Koplan, Richard Besser, Tom Frieden, Anne Schuchat, Rochelle P. Walensky and Mandy K. Cohen. The authors previously led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as directors or acting directors under Republican and Democratic administrations.

We have each had the honor and privilege of serving as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, either in a permanent or an acting capacity, dating back to 1977. Collectively, we spent more than 100 years working at the C.D.C., the world’s pre-eminent public health agency. We served under multiple Republican and Democratic administrations — every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump — alongside thousands of dedicated staff members who shared our commitment to saving lives and improving health.

What the health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has done to the C.D.C. and to our nation’s public health system over the past several months — culminating in his decision to fire Susan Monarez as C.D.C. director days ago — is unlike anything we had ever seen at the agency and unlike anything our country had ever experienced.

Kennedy fired thousands of federal health workers and severely weakened programs designed to protect Americans from cancer, heart attacks, strokes, lead poisoning, injury, violence and more. Amid the largest measles outbreak in the United States in a generation, he’s focused on unproven treatments while downplaying vaccines. He canceled investments in promising medical research that will leave us ill prepared for future health emergencies. He replaced experts on federal health advisory committees with unqualified individuals who share his dangerous and unscientific views. He announced the end of U.S. support for global vaccination programs that protect millions of children and keep Americans safe, citing flawed research and making inaccurate statements. And he championed federal legislation that will cause millions of people with health insurance through Medicaid to lose their coverage. Firing Dr. Monarez — which led to the resignations of top C.D.C. officials — adds considerable fuel to this raging fire.

We are worried about the wide-ranging impact that all these decisions will have on America’s health security. Residents of rural communities and people with disabilities will have even more limited access to health care. Families with low incomes who rely most heavily on community health clinics and support from state and local health departments will have fewer resources available to them. Children risk losing access to life saving vaccines because of the cost.

This is unacceptable, and it should alarm every American, regardless of political leanings.

The C.D.C. is an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. During our C.D.C. tenures, we did not always agree with our leaders, but they never gave us reason to doubt that they would rely on data-driven insights for our protection or that they would support public health workers. 

We need only look to Operation Warp Speed during the first Trump administration — which produced highly effective and safe vaccines that saved millions of lives during the Covid-19 pandemic — as a shining example of what Health and Human Services can accomplish when health and science are at the forefront of its mission.

The current department leadership, however, operates under a very different set of rules. When RFKjr (Kennedy) administered the oath of office to Dr. Monarez on July 31, he called her “a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials.” 

But when she refused weeks later to rubber-stamp his dangerous and unfounded vaccine recommendations or heed his demand to fire senior C.D.C. staff members, he decided she was expendable.

These are not typical requests from a health secretary to a C.D.C. director. Not even close. None of us would have agreed to the secretary’s demands, and we applaud Dr. Monarez for standing up for the agency and the health of our communities.

When the C.D.C. was created in 1946, the average life expectancy in the United States was around 66 years. Today it is more than 78 years. While medical advances have helped, it is public health that has played the biggest role in improving both the length and the quality of life in our nation. The C.D.C. has led efforts to eradicate smallpox, increase access to lifesaving vaccinations and significantly reduce smoking rates. 

Also, the agency is on the front lines in communities across the country, delivering crucial but often less visible wins — such as containing an outbreak of H.I.V. cases in Scott County, Ind., and protecting residents in East Palestine, Ohio, from toxic chemical exposure.

The C.D.C. is not perfect. What institution is? But over its history, regardless of which party has controlled the White House or Congress, the agency has not wavered from its mission. 

To those on the C.D.C. staff who continue to perform their jobs heroically in the face of the excruciating circumstances, we offer our sincere thanks and appreciation. Their ongoing dedication is a model for all of us. But it’s clear that the agency is hurting badly. The loss of Dr. Monarez and other top leaders will make it far more difficult for the C.D.C. to do what it has done for about 80 years: to work around the clock to protect Americans from threats to their lives and health.

We have a message for the rest of the nation as well. 

This is a crucial time to rally to protect the health of every American. Congress must exercise its oversight authority over Health and Human Services. State and local governments must fill funding gaps where they can. Philanthropy and the private sector must step up their community investments. Medical groups must continue to stand up for science and truth. Physicians must continue to support their patients with sound guidance and empathy.

And each of us must do what public health does best: look out for one another.

The professional men and women who joined the C.D.C. across generations have done so, not for prestige or power, but because they believe deeply in the call to service. They deserve a health and human services secretary who stands up for health, supports science and has their back. So, too, does our country.

Dr. William Foege served as director of the C.D.C. from 1977 to 1983. Dr. William Roper served as director of the C.D.C. from 1990 to 1993. Dr. David Satcher served as director of the C.D.C. from 1993 to 1998. Dr. Jeffrey Koplan served as director of the C.D.C. from 1998 to 2002. Dr. Richard Besser served as acting director of the C.D.C. in 2009. Dr. Tom Frieden served as director of the C.D.C. from 2009 to 2017. Dr. Anne Schuchat served as acting director of the C.D.C. in 2017 and 2018. Dr. Rochelle Walensky served as director of the C.D.C. from 2021 to 2023. Dr. Mandy Cohen served as director of the C.D.C. from 2023 to 2025.

SPC - Wealth buys attention: An echo opinion about Howard Schultz

An echo editorial by Robert Reich published in The Baltimore Sun

(I learned another acronym! SPC is not just another Starbucks flavor of the day.  Instead, it means "Serious Presidential Candidate")

Howard Schultz has enough money to buy political attention

In the United States, this is the only place in the world where any citizen over the age of 35 can run for president. No experience in government necessary. No support from a political party necessary. You don't even have to have any ideas or policy proposals.

Take Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks whose most notable achievement to date has been the Mocha Frappuccino.

Last week, CNN made Mr. Schultz a Serious Presidential Candidate (SPC) by giving him an hour-long town hall in which he fielded questions from an audience.

Why did CNN do this? Because Mr. Schultz is worth more than $3.6 billion.

In today's America, someone with this much money can buy so much advertising and self-promotion that he automatically becomes an SPC just by virtue of wanting the job and having the capacity to self-finance a campaign.

Ironically, CNN and other major media are giving Mr. Schultz free media now because he can afford an almost infinite amount of paid media later.

Years ago, political parties played the major roles in selecting presidential candidates. Candidates came up through the ranks. They had to convince party leaders across the nation they had what it took to be president. Conventions were the last step in the winnowing process.

Then, over the last several decades, the media took over the job of winnowing the pack. Winners were determined largely by campaign coverage, including presidential primary debates.

Donald Trump became an SPC in 2015, not only because of his billions, but also his notoriety, as the star of a popular reality TV show and, before that, his decades in the tabloids, where he learned the art of getting media attention (even negative reporting).

Now, it seems, all you need to get the media to anoint you is the money to buy an infinite amount of media. Part of the reason is the dramatic escalation in presidential campaign spending.

In the 2000 election, neither George W. Bush nor Al Gore spent more than $200 million, in today's dollars. In 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, the total spent by and for Barack Obama was $730 million. In 2016, total spending by Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton came to around $1.16 billion.

At the same time, there's more money at the top to spend on politics.

Michael Bloomberg, another SPC, with his own media empire, makes Mr. Schultz look like a piker by comparison.

Mr. Bloomberg is worth more than $40 billion, of which he's already pledged at least 1 percent ($400 million) to defeat Trump.

It's not clear if Mr. Bloomberg will run. If he does, he'll run as a Democrat. But Mr. Schultz is planning to run as an independent, so he won't even have to go through the gauntlet of primary battles.

Which means Mr. Schultz could deliver the 2020 election to Mr. Trump, by siphoning off votes from the Democratic candidate.

Schultz can't win, so why is he running? Not because he has any burning issue he wants to raise or any policy he wants to push. 

His interviews to date have been curiously anodyne.

Back in 2014, before anyone thought of Mr. Trump as a plausible candidate, Mr. Schultz berated the incivility he saw in American politics and called for business leaders like himself to "take the lead and do what we can to move the country forward."

Is that it? He wants more civility?

It didn't seem to occur to Mr. Schultz that America's growing incivility might be related to the frustrations of people earning coffee grounds while those at the top run off with the Super Venti Flat White.

In 2014, Starbucks paid its baristas an average of $9 an hour. (It now pays $11, which, adjusted for inflation, isn't much more). Schultz took home $149.8 million.

Under Mr. Schultz, Starbucks touted its so-called "social responsibility," but it was for show.

Take, for example, the bracelets it sold for $5, whose proceeds were donated to banks and loan funds to support investment in poor communities. At the very same time, Starbucks kept some $1.9 billion offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes -- representing hundreds of millions in lost tax revenues that might otherwise have helped poor communities. Social responsibility my macchiato.

Starbucks spends millions each year lobbying the federal government, often seeking spending cuts along with the kind of tax breaks that continue to minimize Starbucks' tax bill.

For Mr. Schultz, like Mr. Trump, it's all about money and media.

Mr. Schultz is running because he thinks it will be a hoot -- the capstone to his coffee career, the apex of his espresso.

But like many other billionaires of America's New Gilded Age, Mr. Schultz doesn't seem to give a damn about what his political escapades do to America.

Robert Reich's latest book is "The Common Good," and his newest documentary is "Saving Capitalism."