Sept. 3, 2020
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Is a rogue Trump appointee trying to deep six the President’s America First agenda on trade?
As improbable as it may seem, a high-level Trump appointee in the
Commerce Department may be working against the President’s America first trade
agenda. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler is said to be
slow-walking investigations into countries that may be cheating on trade deals,
at the expense of American manufacturers and workers. According to American Jobs Alliance President
Dennis Black, writing for Breitbart.com in August, “Commerce recently gave
itself a 110-day extension in more than 200 ongoing trade cases, ostensibly to
help free up ‘resources and personnel’ to do its job during the pandemic. But
that excuse doesn’t add up. Kessler’s Commerce Department is routinely granting
extensions when the foreign companies charged with violating our trade laws ask
for them. Kessler is also letting foreign companies delay turning over the
evidence our investigators need to do their job.” As a result of COVID-19
delays in trade enforcement, per Black, “Over the last few months, Commerce has
effectively imposed zero tariffs on various categories of unfairly priced steel
dumped on our shores including Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks, Fabricated
Structural Steel, Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) and Flat Rolled Steel.” On
July 7, Assistant Secretary Kessler issued a proposed regulation in the Federal
Register to supposedly “Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping
and Countervailing Duty Laws,” but according to Black, the opposite is
occurring. Kessler is responsible for enforcing U.S. trade law with other
countries and has wide latitude and authority to issue sanctions against cheaters.
However, in recent months, he appears to be asleep at the wheel.
Video: Time to end home rule for Washington, D.C.
The D.C. mayor's call for the removal or defacing of the
Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument and other D.C. landmarks is the
final nail in the coffin for the argument that the District should be
self-governed.
Video: Biden's Green New Deal will turn the lights out as Trump, Lamborn rip Calif. Brownouts
As Joe Biden touts the Green New Deal, President Donald Trump and
Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn explain what has happened with what are being
called "green outs" in California.
Congress should rescind D.C. home rule
Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning: “Washington,
D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser’s call for the removal or defacing of the Jefferson
Memorial, Washington Monument and other D.C. landmarks puts the nail in the
coffin for the argument that the District should be self-governed. Washington,
D.C. was set up constitutionally as a federal district to house the federal government
as a limit on the national government.
Since Congress granted the District home rule in 1973, it has seen a
drug addled mayor, a federal budget control board so it could avoid bankruptcy
and on-going corruption… It is time for Congress to rescind the home rule act,
declare a smaller portion of D.C. to be part of the federal district and return
the remainder of the city to the state of Maryland. Protecting our national treasures, monuments
and even politicians is too important to leave up to incompetent radicals
dedicated to the destruction of America and our history.”
Scott Jennings: From riots to the filibuster, liberal America won't accept political opposition
“America’s left-wing has taken a dark and dangerous turn, now
openly expressing a desire for its political opposition to be delegitimized,
criminalized, intimidated and ultimately banished. This attitude has been
boiling since Donald Trump became president. He’s too dangerous to be allowed
to speak, they said, as the likes of Sen. Kamala Harris called on Twitter to
suspend his account. But that seems quaint compared to the left’s rhetoric of
the last few days. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labeled Republicans ‘domestic
enemies’ and ‘enemies of the state’ in an unhinged rant rivaling any of Trump’s
crazier tweets. And that was after Rep. Ayanna Pressley called for GOP
officials to be harassed with ‘unrest in the streets.’ Words have consequences.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley, were put in danger as they walked
out of Trump’s GOP acceptance speech in Washington on Thursday night. As the
video shows, Mrs. Paul described being ‘swarmed by a threatening, screaming mob’
and ‘unable to move’ until police rescued them from the Black Lives Matter
radicals… The goal is to intimidate conservatives into silence. A future
controlled by liberals is one where political opposition won’t be tolerated.
The only speech allowed will be that which is approved by the left-wing
authorities and their media enforcers.”
Is a rogue Trump appointee trying to deep six the President’s America First agenda on trade?
By Rick Manning
As improbable as it may seem, a high-level Trump appointee in the Commerce Department may be working against the President’s America first trade agenda. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler is said to be slow-walking investigations into countries that may be cheating on trade deals, at the expense of American manufacturers and workers.
According to American Jobs Alliance President Dennis Black, writing for Breitbart.com in August, “Commerce recently gave itself a 110-day extension in more than 200 ongoing trade cases, ostensibly to help free up ‘resources and personnel’ to do its job during the pandemic. But that excuse doesn’t add up. Kessler’s Commerce Department is routinely granting extensions when the foreign companies charged with violating our trade laws ask for them. Kessler is also letting foreign companies delay turning over the evidence our investigators need to do their job. These delays are inconsistent with what other countries are doing during the pandemic. And when those same foreign companies try to game the system by asking to change the evidence they previously certified was accurate, Kessler plays along and says yes, sure. On top of that, the agency is now canceling audits of foreign producers. Without these verifications to hold foreign companies accountable, the Commerce Department can’t enforce the law.”
Making matters worse, since March the Commerce Department and other federal departments have been working from home.
As a result of COVID-19 delays in trade enforcement, per Black, “Over the last few months, Commerce has effectively imposed zero tariffs on various categories of unfairly priced steel dumped on our shores including Forged Steel Fluid End Blocks, Fabricated Structural Steel, Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) and Flat Rolled Steel.”
On July 7, Assistant Secretary Kessler issued a proposed regulation in the Federal Register to supposedly “Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws,” but according to Black, the opposite is occurring. Kessler is responsible for enforcing U.S. trade law with other countries and has wide latitude and authority to issue sanctions against cheaters. However, in recent months, he appears to be asleep at the wheel.
With the pandemic delays in trade remedy enforcement in recent months, at a time when more and more antidumping and countervailing cases are being filed and the U.S. is emerging from the spring COVID-19 recession, manufacturing, agriculture and Americans workers have never been more vulnerable to subsidies and illegal dumping. The so-called 232 remedy which imposes a 25 percent tariff on foreign steel (with exceptions for Canada and Mexico) provides only partial coverage for steel products, making anti-dumping and countervailing duty enforcement all the more important.
A big part of Donald Trump’s appeal in 2016 was his promise to restore American jobs and get tough on countries that were taking advantage of us. Kessler, who was confirmed by the Senate in 2019, presumably knew the president’s agenda when he took the job. His role as an appointee is to implement it, not block it.
American workers suffer when foreign countries cheat on trade deals. If Kessler is not willing to enforce our trade deals, and support President Trump’s America First agenda, he should resign. If workers in America’s heartland suffer because China and other countries are artificially lowering the price of steel, President Trump could suffer politically in November.
The stated COVID-19 excuse for these delays is wearing thin. Workers in America’s vital manufacturing sector are getting back to work, but somehow, D.C. bureaucrats are still stuck at home? It is time for the Commerce Department and the International Trade Administration to get back to work like the rest of America and do their jobs.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
Video: Time to end home rule for Washington, D.C.
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccxK6n4ObEs
Video: Biden's Green New Deal will turn the lights out as Trump, Lamborn rip Calif. brownouts
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mFFqfRVB-s
Congress should rescind D.C. home rule
Sept. 2, 2020, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging Congress to rescind home rule for Washington, D.C.:
“Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser’s call for the removal or defacing of the Jefferson Memorial, Washington Monument and other D.C. landmarks puts the nail in the coffin for the argument that the District should be self-governed. Washington, D.C. was set up constitutionally as a federal district to house the federal government as a limit on the national government. Since Congress granted the District home rule in 1973, it has seen a drug addled mayor, a federal budget control board so it could avoid bankruptcy and on-going corruption. Here is the truth. Over the past few months, America has witnessed our national monuments being defaced, the local government choosing to not provide adequate protection for people leaving the White House following the President’s nomination acceptance speech, and a local refusal to call out the D.C. National Guard in the face of riots that threatened the security of the White House. The D.C. Mayor has even refused to pay for the hotel rooms for the National Guard members who were called to serve from South Carolina and Utah to defend the city.
“The sole reason Washington, D.C. exists is to house the federal government, and the D.C. local government has effectively abdicated that responsibility putting our nation’s lawmakers and others at risk. It is time for Congress to rescind the home rule act, declare a smaller portion of D.C. to be part of the federal district and return the remainder of the city to the state of Maryland. Protecting our national treasures, monuments and even politicians is too important to leave up to incompetent radicals dedicated to the destruction of America and our history. It is time to end this failed experiment by repealing home rule and jettisoning a significant portion of the current District of Columbia to beleaguer the poor citizens of Maryland. The city has lost its right and honor to house our federal government as well as the tourist revenues generated through that honor.”
To view online: https://getliberty.org/2020/09/congress-should-rescind-d-c-home-rule-2/
ALG Editor’s Note: In the following featured oped from USA Today, Republican advisor Scott Jennings makes the case against left-wing attempts to silence conservatives and implement one-party rule:
From riots to the filibuster, liberal America won't accept political opposition
By Scott Jennings
America’s left-wing has taken a dark and dangerous turn, now openly expressing a desire for its political opposition to be delegitimized, criminalized, intimidated and ultimately banished.
This attitude has been boiling since Donald Trump became president. He’s too dangerous to be allowed to speak, they said, as the likes of Sen. Kamala Harris called on Twitter to suspend his account.
But that seems quaint compared to the left’s rhetoric of the last few days. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi labeled Republicans “domestic enemies” and “enemies of the state” in an unhinged rant rivaling any of Trump’s crazier tweets. And that was after Rep. Ayanna Pressley called for GOP officials to be harassed with “unrest in the streets.”
Words have consequences. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and his wife, Kelley, were put in danger as they walked out of Trump’s GOP acceptance speech in Washington on Thursday night.
As the video shows, Mrs. Paul described being “swarmed by a threatening, screaming mob” and “unable to move” until police rescued them from the Black Lives Matter radicals.
“They called me a ‘bitch’ and ‘racist wh---' alongside an endless torrent of ‘f--- yous,’” she wrote after.
Earlier this year, Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff of Georgia said he wanted Republicans “beaten so bad” they can never “show their face again in public.” I might allow for a poor choice of words with dual meanings on the former, but the latter is clearly a personal preference.
A future controlled by the left
The goal is to intimidate conservatives into silence. A future controlled by liberals is one where political opposition won’t be tolerated. The only speech allowed will be that which is approved by the left-wing authorities and their media enforcers.
Look at the approved speech patterns for describing the violent protests sweeping American cities. This was literally reported by ABC News:
"Protesters in California set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified," read the tweet from ABC to nearly 16 million followers.
Take cover when your peace begins intensifying, I guess?
The latest left-wing conspiracy theory pushed by liberal opinion leaders like MSNBC’s Joy Reid is that the riots are actually caused by super sneaky white supremacists who then deftly blame it on left-wing protesters.
There’s no evidence for this. For all the wailing about conspiracy theorists infiltrating the Republican Party, it seems they are already well ensconced in the Democratic Party.
The official component to this is coming into focus. Democrats — who may win control of the U.S. Senate in November — are plotting to eliminate the legislative filibuster, stripping the minority party of debating rights that have safeguarded bipartisanship for decades.
Senate Democrats have no interest in passing legislation with Republican input, and plan to banish bipartisanship in the Senate just as their political thugs banish conservatives from the public square.
“What (Americans) don’t expect is for one party — be it Republican or Democrat — to change the rules in the middle of the game so that they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet. The American people want less partisanship in this town, but everyone in this chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster — if they choose to change the rules and put an end to democratic debate — then the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse,” an American political leader once eloquently stated.
For once, I agree with Barack Obama, circa 2005.
Of course, Obama in 2020 leads the norm-busting parade, as he now says the filibuster is racist. This is how you do it — label every political inconvenience, contrary view or opposing politician racist to make them magically disappear.
Some anti-Trump, former Republican political mercenaries have joined in the scorched earth tactics, even opposing Republican senators they consider to be Trump “enablers.” The next time you hear from these hacks, they will be screaming: “You were supposed to eat me last!”
Liberals are openly telling us their plans for American political discourse. And once given the power to force conformity, they won’t make allowances for the so-called principled conservatives who helped them.
Remember, before Democrats claimed Trump was a dangerous racist, they said the same about Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, John McCain, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. It isn’t just Trump they hate, but anyone who rises to prominence in the Republican Party. Remember when Vice President Joe Biden claimed Romney's policies would put Black people “back in chains”?
This is a frightful, dangerous moment for America, where free speech and robust debate are under assault by one half of America’s political spectrum. Hopefully, Americans will stand up to the bullies in November.
To view online: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/09/02/democrats-liberal-intimidate-silence-trump-conservatives-column/5683248002/
