Certainly they have the votes to do just that if they choose.
Now if only they could articulate some substantive alternatives to the One Big Beautiful Bill. They're supposed to be "hard line"--the hardest line of all would be the Zero-Based Budgeting approach where every spending item has to be explicitly shown to be Constitutionally permissible and then explicitly shown to be a necessary and proper expenditure from the public fisc.
Of course, if they did that they might actually accomplish something. Are they willing to risk efficacy?
While I do not look at all favorably on the One Big Beautiful Bill, I will give President Trump credit for putting in the work to get the bill passed.
A live update on Politico earlier today reported that President Trump has been "working the phones" all day to shepherd the bill across the finish line.
After four years of the non-entity that was Joe Biden, and recalling Obama's studied disinterest in the logistical and political realities of getting a legislative agenda through Congress, one has to acknowledge Trump's willingness to get engaged in making the bill happen and not just imperiously waiting for the Republicans to deliver it to the Resolute Desk.
Yes, I want Congress to engage in a much more substantive and Constitutionally framed debate over the budget, and yes I want President Trump to be at the forefront of driving that Constitutionally framed debate. Obviously, I'm not going to get what I want.
Still, a President who works the phones to get his signature piece of legislation through Congress is definitionally NOT an authoritarian. Corporate media would do well to admit that much and back off the "authoritarian" hogwash and horse hockey.
Authoritarians (e.g., Putin) do not cajole legislators into doing their bidding, but simply expect it.
That's not happening here. That much is a definite plus no matter what the outcome of the One Big Beautiful Bill is.
Speaking of Vivek Ramaswamy. Haven't heard all that much about him lately in the alternative news as well as the MSM, even though he is running for Governor in Ohio. Wonder why that is
One reason could be Vivek himself. He had some good ideas during the primaries but his overcaffeinated delivery makes him as politically palatable as nails on a chalkboard.
Another brilliant essay, Peter, and I agree with nearly every word. (Except, I’d say it’s not the past quarter-century, it’s been essentially this bad since Johnson’s 1965 “Great Society” began. If only Goldwater had won the 1964 election!)
The situation is definitely beyond gloomy; it reeks of despair. So I will offer two possible glimmers of optimism. One is that Peter Navarro has explained in interviews that the projections of an increase to the deficit of 3.3 trillion assumed NO growth. I’ll admit that his growth projections are too rosy, and he assumes that too many of Trump’s plans go exactly as imagined (when has that EVER happened!). But he spelled out a semi-plausible economic path to MAGA, so maybe it will turn out better than the current dark clouds portend.
The second “optimistic” point - if you can call it that - is that nearly other every country on the planet is in worse shape than the U.S., and they have much lower chances of adequate improvement. China is toast. Europe is swirling down a socialist, Orwellian drain. The Muslim world festers with internal hatred that could explode in a dozen ways. Africa is still a basket case of corruption and poverty, decades after the end of Colonialism. Japan is still mired in deflation. Etc. The best minds, the hardest working people, the greatest amount of capital, will continue to be drawn to the U.S.- not because we’re perfect, but because it’s the best option on a finite planet. Simply the best option. Who knows what unimaginable innovation will result from this reality, resulting in a rising tide lifting all U.S. boats?
I’m disappointed that Trump caved to “politics as usual”. I hoped for something better from him. But maybe his equation of political reality + Golden Era growth = MAGA will actually be able to pull this country’s sinking head above the rough waters just enough, and just in time. I’m not giving into despair yet; maybe we’re in a “darkest before the dawn” scenario. Keep the faith, Peter!
I have already seen the cultists from the MAGA Coalition express their own trigglypuff sense of grievance that I would not celebrate everything President Trump does.
Like myself, you are a libertarian with Constitutional-conservative leanings, who chose Trump as the best of our options. I greatly admire the people in Massie and Rand Paul’s camp, but, realistically, they are not likely to be able to reset this country to Constitutional basics. All empires eventually fall, and maybe America’s will fall soon - but not yet! Not in my lifetime, so long as half of this country sees the problem and is fighting against it!
This bill sums up my political reservations about Donald Trump. Put simply, I am a committed libertarian (small "l", the Libertarian Party hasn't been libertarian in years) and Donald Trump is not.
During his first term YouTube commentator Styxhexenhammer frequently referred to him as a "business Democrat", and that is probably not a bad description of his overall political mien.
To my way of thinking, this bill shows the limitations of Trump's political approach. While he is highly focused on making government "work", he's not as concerned with making less government, which is what I want to see happen. He's also not one to embrace strict constructionism as a political north star. This bill is one result of that.
Yes, the bill's passage through the Senate is a political win for President Trump. I do not consider it a political win for the United States.
I don’t consider it a win for America, either. In the big picture, it’s more like another nail in our coffin. If I were a drinking person, this is the kind of day where I’d belly up to a bar and stay there til closing time. But, instead, I’m going to persist!
In discussing the Great Depression, historians have noted that part of the despair of those times was that everyone felt that America had failed. Capitalism had failed, the whole American Experiment had failed, and all of the hard work their ancestors had done to carve a civilization out of the wilderness was for NOTHING. But, just fifteen years or so later, America was the champion of the world, the savior in WW2, and back on track for economic growth. So - without underestimating the horror of 37 million dollars in debt - I still believe the future will pull out a few trick cards in America’s favor!
And yeah, I know it’s maybe too little, too late, and the barbarian hordes are banging on the Roman Senate doors, and so on - but America has pulled its irons out of the fire before (what other metaphors can I mix today?), but we’re not down for the count yet!
Will the Freedom Caucus tank the One Big Beautiful Bill?
https://archive.ph/ssKHv#selection-1103.0-1107.209
Certainly they have the votes to do just that if they choose.
Now if only they could articulate some substantive alternatives to the One Big Beautiful Bill. They're supposed to be "hard line"--the hardest line of all would be the Zero-Based Budgeting approach where every spending item has to be explicitly shown to be Constitutionally permissible and then explicitly shown to be a necessary and proper expenditure from the public fisc.
Of course, if they did that they might actually accomplish something. Are they willing to risk efficacy?
While I do not look at all favorably on the One Big Beautiful Bill, I will give President Trump credit for putting in the work to get the bill passed.
A live update on Politico earlier today reported that President Trump has been "working the phones" all day to shepherd the bill across the finish line.
https://archive.ph/Tv01Q#selection-1085.0-1089.185
After four years of the non-entity that was Joe Biden, and recalling Obama's studied disinterest in the logistical and political realities of getting a legislative agenda through Congress, one has to acknowledge Trump's willingness to get engaged in making the bill happen and not just imperiously waiting for the Republicans to deliver it to the Resolute Desk.
Yes, I want Congress to engage in a much more substantive and Constitutionally framed debate over the budget, and yes I want President Trump to be at the forefront of driving that Constitutionally framed debate. Obviously, I'm not going to get what I want.
Still, a President who works the phones to get his signature piece of legislation through Congress is definitionally NOT an authoritarian. Corporate media would do well to admit that much and back off the "authoritarian" hogwash and horse hockey.
Authoritarians (e.g., Putin) do not cajole legislators into doing their bidding, but simply expect it.
That's not happening here. That much is a definite plus no matter what the outcome of the One Big Beautiful Bill is.
Speaking of Vivek Ramaswamy. Haven't heard all that much about him lately in the alternative news as well as the MSM, even though he is running for Governor in Ohio. Wonder why that is
One reason could be Vivek himself. He had some good ideas during the primaries but his overcaffeinated delivery makes him as politically palatable as nails on a chalkboard.
Another brilliant essay, Peter, and I agree with nearly every word. (Except, I’d say it’s not the past quarter-century, it’s been essentially this bad since Johnson’s 1965 “Great Society” began. If only Goldwater had won the 1964 election!)
The situation is definitely beyond gloomy; it reeks of despair. So I will offer two possible glimmers of optimism. One is that Peter Navarro has explained in interviews that the projections of an increase to the deficit of 3.3 trillion assumed NO growth. I’ll admit that his growth projections are too rosy, and he assumes that too many of Trump’s plans go exactly as imagined (when has that EVER happened!). But he spelled out a semi-plausible economic path to MAGA, so maybe it will turn out better than the current dark clouds portend.
The second “optimistic” point - if you can call it that - is that nearly other every country on the planet is in worse shape than the U.S., and they have much lower chances of adequate improvement. China is toast. Europe is swirling down a socialist, Orwellian drain. The Muslim world festers with internal hatred that could explode in a dozen ways. Africa is still a basket case of corruption and poverty, decades after the end of Colonialism. Japan is still mired in deflation. Etc. The best minds, the hardest working people, the greatest amount of capital, will continue to be drawn to the U.S.- not because we’re perfect, but because it’s the best option on a finite planet. Simply the best option. Who knows what unimaginable innovation will result from this reality, resulting in a rising tide lifting all U.S. boats?
I’m disappointed that Trump caved to “politics as usual”. I hoped for something better from him. But maybe his equation of political reality + Golden Era growth = MAGA will actually be able to pull this country’s sinking head above the rough waters just enough, and just in time. I’m not giving into despair yet; maybe we’re in a “darkest before the dawn” scenario. Keep the faith, Peter!
I have already seen the cultists from the MAGA Coalition express their own trigglypuff sense of grievance that I would not celebrate everything President Trump does.
They obviously haven't read my work in the past.
Like myself, you are a libertarian with Constitutional-conservative leanings, who chose Trump as the best of our options. I greatly admire the people in Massie and Rand Paul’s camp, but, realistically, they are not likely to be able to reset this country to Constitutional basics. All empires eventually fall, and maybe America’s will fall soon - but not yet! Not in my lifetime, so long as half of this country sees the problem and is fighting against it!
This bill sums up my political reservations about Donald Trump. Put simply, I am a committed libertarian (small "l", the Libertarian Party hasn't been libertarian in years) and Donald Trump is not.
During his first term YouTube commentator Styxhexenhammer frequently referred to him as a "business Democrat", and that is probably not a bad description of his overall political mien.
To my way of thinking, this bill shows the limitations of Trump's political approach. While he is highly focused on making government "work", he's not as concerned with making less government, which is what I want to see happen. He's also not one to embrace strict constructionism as a political north star. This bill is one result of that.
Yes, the bill's passage through the Senate is a political win for President Trump. I do not consider it a political win for the United States.
I don’t consider it a win for America, either. In the big picture, it’s more like another nail in our coffin. If I were a drinking person, this is the kind of day where I’d belly up to a bar and stay there til closing time. But, instead, I’m going to persist!
In discussing the Great Depression, historians have noted that part of the despair of those times was that everyone felt that America had failed. Capitalism had failed, the whole American Experiment had failed, and all of the hard work their ancestors had done to carve a civilization out of the wilderness was for NOTHING. But, just fifteen years or so later, America was the champion of the world, the savior in WW2, and back on track for economic growth. So - without underestimating the horror of 37 million dollars in debt - I still believe the future will pull out a few trick cards in America’s favor!
And yeah, I know it’s maybe too little, too late, and the barbarian hordes are banging on the Roman Senate doors, and so on - but America has pulled its irons out of the fire before (what other metaphors can I mix today?), but we’re not down for the count yet!