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Trump’s Protectionist Threat is a Threat to the US Economy

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President Trump keeps on mentioning the surpluses or deficits that we have with specific trading partners.  Recently he mentioned Norway’s prime minister that the US has a surplus with that country.  He is disturbed with the deficit the US has with Mexico.  NAFTA negotiations are in danger as the US proposes unilateral terms that won’t be accepted by either Canada or Mexico.

Trump has threatened outright protectionism – tariffs or taxes reducing the flow of trade in order to erase deficits or increase surpluses.

Here is the problem with US protectionism: [Read more…] about Trump’s Protectionist Threat is a Threat to the US Economy

“The Populist Explosion”, by John B. Judis, explains politics since 2008

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How do we explain voter discontent?  Why did Bernie Sanders gain such popularity at the same time as Donald Trump?   What is different about one versus the other, and how can they both share the “populist” nomenclature?  “The Populist Explosion”, by John B. Judis, published by Columbia Global Reports, provides an excellent framework and specific historical context for understanding the phenomenon of populism and its rise all over the world since the Great Recession of 2007.

Populism requires historical understanding because the rising up of “the people” versus the elite often embodies different specific policies and causes, depending on the times.   Populism is a “logic”, not a specific set of policies.  The populist movements in US history see ordinary people as virtuous, and the elites as self-serving and undemocratic. [Read more…] about “The Populist Explosion”, by John B. Judis, explains politics since 2008

Trump’s Mistake – Withdrawing from the Paris Accords

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In his 6/1 Paris Accords withdrawal announcement, President Trump ignored most of his advisors, including his Secretaries of Defense, State and Treasury (but not his EPA advisor who agreed with withdrawal).   These advisors understood that a decision to withdraw from the Paris Accords would represent one more blow to America’s role as a world leader and would further loosen the binding ties between the US and our European and Asian allies.  Combined with the damage from Trump’s NATO visit, and withdrawal from the TPP, grave damage has been done to US standing in the world.   This is not just symbolic; soft power and influence should not be underestimated as tools in promoting alliances keeping in place rules and institutions established by the US over the past 70 years.   These institutions have formed a framework for world peace and relative financial stability.   Given the fragile state of world order (exacerbated in part by poor policies of the Bush and Obama administrations, one too aggressive, the other too timid), further disorder caused by a bullying and isolated US will not likely benefit US interests in the long run.

But back to the Paris Accords. [Read more…] about Trump’s Mistake – Withdrawing from the Paris Accords

How Did Our Politics Degenerate? A Review of “Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics”

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Support the Center - How Did We Get Here
Support the Center – How Did We Get Here?

In 1991, 26 years ago, Thomas Edsall, assisted by his wife, Mary, published an astoundingly relevant book, “Chain Reaction, The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics”, that explains how the Democratic coalition created by Franklin Roosevelt, active and dominant from 1932 through 1964, lost its focus on broad central concerns, and instead became subject to attacks from a revitalized Republican, conservative movement, that was able to peg the Democratic party and liberals as elitist, and government as primarily a force for the promotion of special minority rights and re-distribution for groups such as poor blacks, Hispanics and gays.   In the debate, taxes were positioned by conservatives as primarily an agent of re-distribution to these groups at the expense of the middle class.  Democrats, for their part, did not address these concerns, and instead focused on special interest politics (most recently on transgender bathroom access).  In the process, working and lower middle-class white voters were peeled away from the Democratic coalition to align (ironically) with traditional Republican policy-makers whose goals and practice has been to primarily benefit the very wealthy.

[Read more…] about How Did Our Politics Degenerate? A Review of “Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics”

Support the Center is Looking for Contributors

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Please take a look at the upcoming article topics and suggest your own.  The editor will assess if your views are indeed balanced, based upon facts, and fit Support the Center’s overall worldview.

In some cases, Support the Center will solicit opposing views from the right and left.

If you were a Trump supporter or a Clinton supporter we will be having upcoming posts to which we encourage you to contribute.  We are looking especially for an understanding of why you think the way you do – your rational for your world view.

If you are a centrist, please submit an article.   (Of course, what centrist means will be a subject of future articles.)

Contact us to contribute.