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When I began Schwartzreport my purpose was to produce an entirely fact-based daily publication in favor of the earth, the inter-connectedness and interdependence of all life, democracy, equality for all, liberty, and things that are life-affirming. Also, to warn my readers about actions, events, and trends that threaten those values. Our country now stands at a crossroads, indeed, the world stands at a crossroads where those values are very much at risk and it is up to each of us who care about wellbeing to do what we can to defend those principles. I want to thank all of you who have contributed to SR, particularly those of you who have scheduled an ongoing monthly contribution. It makes a big difference and is much appreciated. It is one thing to put in the hours each day and to do the work for free, but another to have to cover the rising out-of-pocket costs. For those of you who haven’t done so, but read SR regularly, I ask that you consider supporting it.
I have gotten to a point where I can not stand to hear Trump’s voice, but last night as he spoke I turned the captions on so I could read what he was saying as he said it. The whole speech was either bragging or lying or both. What I did not understand was why the Democrats did not all get up and walk out of the chamber. That is certainly what I would have done. As I read the captions I realized that in addition to his sheer nastiness, Trump is now echoing the MAGAt think tanks that now dot Washington, and seek to legitimize what he says with papers and social media posts. We have become a country I don’t recognize. A small majority of American voters has chosen a Congress and a President that are in the process of inflicting so much damage to the United States, that it is going to lead us into a recession and possibly a depression. Even worse it is going to render us unprepared for the climate disaster that is descending upon us.
The exterior of Heritage Foundation headquarters is seen in Washington, D.C., June 7, 2024. Credit: Francis Chung / Politico
President Donald Trump took office eight years ago as the ultimate outsider whose rhetoric often shocked Washington but was seldom taken seriously by the policy shops that have long helped administrations transform their agenda into action.
Now, he has an army of think tanks and other advocacy groups behind him, reverse-engineering even his off-the-cuff statements into white papers, training legions of his acolytes — and jockeying for influence.
All want to be seen as part of the MAGA brain trust, a paradoxical and often tricky job for a president who prides himself on operating from his gut and disdains the traditional policy process. That means when Trump says he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, turn Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” buy Greenland, or ignore congressional spending laws, there’s likely now someone who not only takes the idea seriously but can tell you why they think it’s a sound policy that fits into a broader worldview.
Joshua Kirby, Economic Reporter - The Wall Street Journal
Stephan:
This is from yesterday’s Murdoch owned The Wall Street Journal, hardly a Democratic or liberal publication. Since I read Project 2025 I have been predicting on SR that the United States is probably going to go into a recession. TWSJ seems to think it may be worse than that. I hope they are wrong, and it doesn’t get that bad.
A Canadian coast guard vessel navigates the Detroit River which connects Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Detroit, Michigan, Credit: Carlos Osorio / Reuters
The world economy could face a crash similar to the Great Depression of the 1930s unless the U.S. rows back on its plans to impose steep tariffs on imports, a senior official at the International Chamber of Commerce warned.
“Our deep concern is that this could be the start of a downward spiral that puts us in 1930s trade-war territory,” said Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary-general of the ICC, which promotes global business and trade. High tariffs on foreign goods imported into the U.S. in that decade contributed to a damaging global recession. The downturn plunged nearly a third of the global workforce into unemployment and slashed production at heavyweight industrial economies Germany and the U.S. by half, according to research from the International Monetary Fund.
The likelihood of a similarly severe blow to the global economy is high, Wilson said in an interview Tuesday. “Right now it’s a coin-flip,” he said. “It comes down to whether the U.S. administration […]
I have seen several estimates on what the Trump MAGAt Party’s impact on the economy is going to cost each American household; this one seems the most fact-based. Maybe $1,600 this year is not that much to you, but to millions of U.S. families it is going to have a serious impact. And after the State of the Union remarks, I think this may be an underestimate. We will see.
A car hauler heads to cross the Ambassador Bridge on the first day of President Donald Trump’s new 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on March 4, 2025. Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty
“The trade war Trump is igniting will weaken our economy and cause chaos in our marketplace as Americans pay the cost in the form of higher prices on everyday items,” said Rep. Don Beyer.
As U.S. President Donald Trump’s new tariffs took effect on Tuesday, Congressman Don Beyer released a Joint Economic Committee report showing that the policies could cost the average working-class family in the United States at least $1,600 annually.
“The tariffs Trump just imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China will raise costs by up to $2,000 per year for an average American family,” Beyer (D-Va.) said in a statement. “The trade war Trump is igniting will weaken our economy and cause chaos in our marketplace as Americans pay the cost in the form of higher prices on everyday items.”
This is a trend that I find increasingly alarming, and have been predicting since Trump became a candidate for the Presidency again. The U.S. healthcare (read illness profit) system is already the worst in the developed world. But, because of what “king” Trump and his Frankenstein Musk are doing, with the supine acquiescence of the Trump MAGAt (I don’t think the term Republican is appropriate anymore) congressional members, it is going to get much worse. For the reasons described in this report, there is also going to be a growing disparity between the Red and Blue states, particularly for women. Ob/GYN trained physicians, nurses, and medical technicians are leaving Red states, taking their skills with them. I predict that large portions of Red states, most notably in rural areas, are going to become medical deserts where women and girls will be unable to obtain local medical care at all. And, since telemedicine is supposed to end in April, the only alternative for those women and girls to even get minor questions answered is going to be hours of driving, or no care at all.
Protestors demonstrate at the March for Reproductive Rights organized by Women’s March L.A. on April 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Mario Tama / Getty
“Workers are not willing to trade their health and autonomy for a paycheck,” said one advocate.
Republican lawmakers across the United States are determined to force people who become pregnant to carry their pregnancies to term by passing abortion bans and “fetal personhood” laws, but a new report shows that in many states, they are choosing choosing restrictions on reproductive rights over their states’ workforce.
“Workers are not willing to trade their health and autonomy for a paycheck,” said Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) as the group released a report Monday on “brain drain” in states with abortion bans.
The group analyzed a survey of 10,000 adults by Morning Consult and found that 1 in 5 respondents who are planning to have children in the next decade has moved to a […]
Malcolm Ferguson, Associate writer - The New Republic
Stephan:
Thanks to the stupidity of “king” Trump, who clearly does not understand what tariffs are, Americans, like you and me, are about to see a number of farmers go broke, and the prices we pay for produce at the grocery go up by as much as 25%
Credit: Andrew Harnik / Getty
Trump issued an ominous message to American farmers as he announced his planned kneecapping of their most profitable market: foreign exports.
“To the Great Farmers of the United States: Get ready to start making a lot of agricultural product to be sold INSIDE of the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “Tariffs will go on external product on April 2nd. Have fun!”
This will have a massive, direct impact on how much money farmers—many of whom are still reeling from the tariffs (and subsequent bailout) from Trump’s first term—will make from the products they grow. Agricultural exports like soybeans, grains, fruit, vegetables, and livestock products provided U.S. farmers with about $180 billion in annual revenue in the 2023 fiscal year.
It’s unlikely that the farmers will see the “fun” in having to radically readjust their processes for less revenue. This coincides with Trump’s tariff war, as he plans to levy massive 25 percent tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on goods from […]
Keith Naughton, Staff Writer - Transport Topics | Bloomberg
Stephan:
You are about to get another gift from “king” Trump’s coup; the cost of buying a new car, by design, particularly an electric vehicle, is about to skyrocket. There will also be fewer vehicles to choose from. Aren’t you Republican voters happy? You voted for this.
The cost to build a crossover utility vehicle will rise by at least $4,000, while the increase would be three times that for an electric vehicle. Credit: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg News
Impending tariffs on Canada and Mexico risk driving up U.S. car prices by as much as $12,000, further squeezing consumers and wreaking havoc across the intricate web of automotive supply lines spanning the continent.
The cost to build a crossover utility vehicle will rise by at least $4,000, while the increase would be three times that for an electric vehicle examined in a new study from Anderson Economic Group, an automotive consultant in East Lansing, Mich. And those costs would likely be passed on to consumers, the study found.
“That kind of cost increase will lead directly — and I expect almost immediately — to a decline in sales of the models that have the biggest trade impacts,” Patrick Anderson, chief executive officer of Anderson Economic Group, said in an interview.
Tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico threaten to exacerbate an automotive affordability crisis […]
Joseph Gedeon, Breaking News Political Reporter - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan:
And the “king” Trump coup goes on. Another billionaire fascist has been appointed, this one to head the Department of Education. Linda McMahon has no experience in education, she comes out of the phony sport wrestling industry. So I predict we are going to see a major debasement of public education in the United States, and possibly the dissolution of the entire Department of Education. How bad is America’s already poor public education going to get? Did you know 40% of American public school students are only barely literate? What is going to be the option for parents? Why schools run for profit of course. Greed for profit under Trump is the nation’s first priority.
Linda McMahon conmfirmed Secretary of Education. Credit: ABACA / REX / Shutterstock
WASHINGTON, D.C. — US Senate confirmed Trump ally and ex-wrestling executive as chief of department president wants dismantled
The US Senate has confirmed Linda McMahon as the nation’s next education secretary, entrusting the former wrestling executive with a department marked for dismantling by Donald Trump.
The 76-year-old billionaire businesswoman and longtime Trump ally was approved 51-45, reflecting deep divisions over her qualifications and the administration’s education agenda. McMahon, who previously led the small business administration during Trump’s first term, now faces the paradoxical task of running an agency while simultaneously working toward its potential elimination.
McMahon’s ascension comes amid reports that Trump is preparing an executive order instructing her to slash the department’s operations to the legal minimum while pushing Congress for its complete closure. During the confirmation process, she explicitly endorsed this vision, saying in her opening statement that she “wholeheartedly” supports Trump’s mission to “return education to the states, where it belongs”.
Critics have questioned McMahon’s qualifications, pointing to her limited educational background – a one-year stint on Connecticut’s state […]
This is like something out of an evil novel. Criminal Trump is dismantling the geopolitical balance that has prevailed in the world for 80 years. The United States is now partnering with the Russian dictator, against all the Western democracies. How can this be happening? In my opinion it is because Putin has something really nasty, something like a porn video of Trump in some embarassing sex situation, hanging over Trump’s head like a Sword of Damocles. I think it started when Trump was making trips to Russia and was trying to work out some kind of real estate deal, and on one of those trips the Russians filmed him with a Russian woman not his wife. The video must be so embarrassing that Trump cannot bear to have it be revealed, and since he only cares about himself he is only too willing to put the United States in alignment with Russia, Iran, Hungary, and North Korea, against NATO.
Trump has upended U.S. policy on Ukraine in recent weeks and sought a more conciliatory approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Alexey Nikolsky /AFP / Getty
The Kremlin on Sunday cheered the shift in U.S. foreign policy under President Donald Trump, saying the American view now “largely coincides” with Russia’s take on geopolitics.
Trump has upended U.S. policy on Ukraine in recent weeks and sought a more conciliatory approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin, echoing Moscow’s talking points and recently accusing Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy of obstructing efforts to resolve the conflict started by Putin’s unprovoked invasion. In contrast, former U.S. President Joe Biden led efforts to support Kyiv against the Russian forces attacking Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, heaped praise on Trump, applauding the U.S. president’s “common sense” and the “lively, human character” of MAGA politics, even though Russia and the U.S. did not […]
