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The markets don’t lie

As I watch the turmoil unfolding resulting from the president’s new trade and tariff policy, I wonder how, as a commentator, I can avoid writing about this. But what do I say? What side do I take? Yes, per President Donald Trump, the tariffs are the hard medicine we need to swallow to counter many years of unfair policies of our trading partners. Or no, free trade is and always has been the best policy, even when things are not perfect and some do not play by the best rules. I am not an economist and cannot dissect the fine points about trade deficits, trade accounts, capital ...

‘You have to set yourself free’

Mattie Jones turned 92 at the end of March. Friends, family, state senators and our U.S. congressman filled the First Congregational Methodist Church to celebrate her. I first met Mattie Jones a year ago when she spoke to a racial justice class designed for white allies. Jones is a civil rights icon in Louisville, Kentucky. At the end of her talk, I introduced myself as she was about to schedule an Uber to get home. I asked if I could drive her instead. She said yes. For the next 30 minutes, I got to soak in more of her story. I will treasure that drive always. Now, as we remember ...

Trump seems bent on political self-harm

Is President Donald Trump bent on political self-harm? It often seems that way. His overall job approval rating still hovers within a point or two of the 50% popular vote he received last November. But he is losing support on the economy and inflation, the No. 1 issue last year, while his overwhelming success in reducing illegal immigration has reduced the salience of what was the No. 2 issue. Meanwhile, he is taking positions that a critical majority of voters consider simple lunacy. A prime example is tariffs. Tariffs make things cost more. If you slap a 25% tariff on imported ...

In New York, the inmates are in charge

Convicted cop killers should never walk free. But New York’s soft-on-crime parole board is poised to release its 44th cop killer since 2017. For this injustice, you can blame mayoral wannabee Andrew Cuomo and his criminal-coddling successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Also to blame is a network of George Soros-funded pro-crime advocacy groups — call it the decarceration-industrial complex — pressuring Albany lawmakers. The executive director of one of these groups, Release Aging People from Prison, is himself out on parole after being convicted of attempted murder of an NYPD ...

Trump’s tariff’s are freezing the economy

Klarna, StubHub and Medline have put on hold their initial public offerings. Jaguar Land Rover has paused all car shipments to the United States. Nintendo has delayed taking preorders for its new game console, the Switch 2, to assess the effect of tariffs on prices. President Donald Trump is freezing the U.S. economy, intentionally or not, and the damage worsens with every day he stays his course. His 10 percent across-the-board tariffs went into effect Saturday, and the next round of higher levies for individual countries is set to snap into place Wednesday. Without congressional ...

Economic crash started on Jan. 6

On Jan. 6, 2021, Donald Trump sent his thugs to the U.S. Capitol where they proceeded to smash up “the people’s house.” Trump refused to admit that he had lost the 2020 election. He called the assorted vandals “patriots” and surrounded himself with men and women of low character. That should have been enough to disqualify him for another term as president or frankly any other elective office. Never mind his bloodthirsty vows of vengeance on his perceived enemies or smearing of our war dead or other evidence of a very twisted mind. Monied interests were willing to overlook ...