Senate Republicans Warn Trump On Mexico Tariffs...But Gardner?

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by: Colorado Pols

Senator Cory Gardner tends to stand behind President Trump no matter what.

Senate Republicans are finally, sorta, pushing back against President Trump amid threats to impose new tariffs on Mexico. As the Washington Post reports:

Republican senators warned Trump administration officials Tuesday they were prepared to block the president’s effort to impose tariffs on Mexican imports, promising what would be GOP lawmakers’ most brazen defiance of the president since he took office.

During a closed-door lunch, at least a half-dozen senators spoke in opposition to the tariffs, while no one spoke in support, according to multiple people present who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Senators told officials from the White House and Department of Justice that there could be a disapproval vote if Trump moves forward — and this time, unlike with an earlier disapproval resolution, opponents of Trump’s tariffs could have enough support to override a veto…[Pols emphasis]

…The lunch meeting occurred just hours after Trump, during a news conference in London, reiterated his intention to impose the tariffs next week and said it would be “foolish” for Republican senators to try to stop him. The 5 percent tariffs on all Mexican goods, rising to 25 percent over time, are aimed at trying to force Mexico to take action to stop the tide of Central American migrants seeking entry into the United states.

President Trump issued the first veto of his Presidency in March when he rejected a Congressional resolution opposing his “emergency declaration” for border wall money. The Senate didn’t have the votes to override that veto, with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) among the Republicans who stood behind Trump.

Gardner hasn’t said much about Trump’s tariff binge in 2019 (to be completely accurate, Gardner hasn’t said much about anything in a long time), though Bloomberg News recently got him on the record saying tariffs against Mexico are “a bad idea, plain and simple.” These broad words from Gardner are completely worthless, of course; calling tariffs “a bad idea” is as meaningless as Gardner opining on whether he likes meatloaf. Gardner said repeatedly that he opposed Trump’s emergency declaration before he eventually flipped in support — a decision that prompted the Denver Post to un-endorse the Yuma Republican in a blistering March editorial.

Given Gardner’s flip-flopping history, there’s no real way to know if he is among the Senate Republicans who are firmly in the “no tariffs” camp. This is one of those questions Gardner needs to be asked very specifically: Would you vote to override a Trump veto of a Senate resolution of disapproval?

10 thoughts on “Senate Republicans Warn Trump On Mexico Tariffs…But Gardner?”

Davie says:

June 4, 2019 at 3:16 pm

Sober analysis from Paul Krugman regarding *rump's tariffs:

By deploying tariffs as a bludgeon against whatever he doesn’t like, Trump is returning America to the kind of irresponsibility it displayed after World War I — irresponsibility that, while obviously not the sole or even the main cause of the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and the eventual coming of World War II, helped create the environment for these disasters.

And the trade war/debt nexus created a climate of international distrust and bitterness that contributed to the economic and political crises of the 1930s. This experience had a profound effect on U.S. policy after World War II, which was based on the view that free trade and peace went hand in hand.

So am I saying that Trump is repeating the policy errors America made a century ago? No. This time it’s much worse.

After all, while Warren Harding wasn’t a very good president, he didn’t routinely abrogate international agreements in a fit of pique. While America in the 1920s failed to help build international institutions, it didn’t do a Trump and actively try to undermine them. And while U.S. leaders between the wars may have turned a blind eye to the rise of racist dictatorships, they generally didn’t praise those dictatorships and compare them favorably to democratic regimes.

There are, however, enough parallels between U.S. tariff policy in the 1920s and Trumpism today for us to have a pretty good picture of what happens when politicians think that tariffs are “beautiful.” And it’s ugly.

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PodestaEmails says:

June 4, 2019 at 3:22 pm

What the fuck Dems, I thought you liked trade barriers.

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1. unnamed says:
  
  June 4, 2019 at 3:40 pm
  
  What the fuck Poddy Mouth. I thought you didn't like trade barriers.
  
  Does your boss know you're dropping F-bombs on the Government dole?
  
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  1. Davie says:
    
    June 4, 2019 at 4:38 pm
    
    Here's a joke that will fly right over Poddy Mouth's head:
    
    “Queen Elizabeth gave Trump a first-edition copy of Churchill’s World War II book. [Imitating Trump] ‘Look, thank you so much, but don’t tell me how it ends. I really like that German Charlie Chaplin who invented the high five!’” — STEPHEN COLBERT
    
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2. Conserv. Head Banger says:
  
  June 4, 2019 at 4:53 pm
  
  Moderatus/PodestaEmails: seems like the parties have switched positions. It's now the Republicans who think that tariffs are OK. Thankfully a few are starting to come to their senses. Unlike Trump, and possibly you, some of them do know the meaning of Smoot-Hawley.
  
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RepealAndReplace says:

June 4, 2019 at 5:08 pm

Thurston is on Chris Matthews Show and he is angry and passionate, going off about tariffs. I’ve never seen him that excited.

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Powerful Pear says:

June 5, 2019 at 5:09 am

Mexico can not be trusted, neither can Democrats, to give a damn about illegal immigration.

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1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
  
  June 5, 2019 at 6:08 am
  
  So far, Pear, Trump is a failure concerning his southern border policy, if he even has a policy. Our party (Republicans) controlled Congress for 2 years; 2017 and 2018; and nothing happened. And what is Mexico's incentive to cooperate, after Trump called Mexicans rapists and murderers during the 2016 campaign?
  
  Only good thing I see is the assignment of several dozen Homeland Security officers to Guatemala to work with local authorities in keeping potential migrants at home. Time to put a stop to the people smugglers and human traffickers who now use air-conditioned buses to ship migrants through Mexico to the US border, for an exorbitant price.
  
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  1. Gilpin Guy says:
    
    June 5, 2019 at 11:20 am
    
    "Black Panther" had the playbook on helping immigrants. Too bad Pear wouldn't see it because of the icky color of the actors.
    
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2. MichaelBowman says:
  
  June 5, 2019 at 9:07 am
  
  Let me fix that for you, Pfruit
  
  ~~Mexico~~ The *ussy-Grabber-in-Chief can not be trusted, neither can ~~Democrats~~ Republicans, to give a damn about ~~illegal immigration~~ anyone other than themselves.
  
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