Wow! Is it Friday yet? I don’t know about you, but all that tariff talk and winning from the “Deal Master” wore me out over the past few days. What a win. Mexico and Canada are going to put 10,000 troops at their respective borders – not newly deployed troops, because they already have that many at the borders. And in the case of Canada, already had plans to spend $1.3 billion on border security that were made 6 weeks ago during the Biden administration. Oh wait! Canada did agree to name Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. Whoop-de-doo. What the dealmaker didn’t get that he said was a requirement to prevent the 25% tariffs were concessions from both countries regarding their trade balance. Of course tRump has claimed victory and once again has swooped in and saved us with his masterful dealmaking. Mexican President Sheinbaum is probably choking she’s laughing so hard. I said it a couple of posts ago, but it bears repeating. Americans are being seen globally as the dog that just sh*t on your carpet. Our neighbors are not going to forget what just happened, even if in 30 days his tariffs are not imposed. If you were planning a visit to Whistler or Revelstoke for a ski vacation in the next few months, you might want to stay closer to home and do your “shredding snow” at Snow Bunny Lodge.
Article 1 of the US Constitution establishes the legislative branch of the federal government, known as Congress, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. It details the powers granted to Congress to make laws, including the ability to levy taxes, regulate commerce, declare war, and enact laws deemed “necessary and proper” to carry out its enumerated powers.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it describe the powers of a private citizen to enact the job of Congress. What is happening right now in the good ol’ USA is a coup by a private citizen named Elon Musk with our president and the legislative branch laying on their backs and becoming MuskRat’s whore. This “john” has just been made a ‘special government employee’ by Trump and as such is exempt from some of the rules that apply to full-time government employees, like financial disclosures and conflicts of interest. Special government employees, or SGEs, “are subject to most rules, although sometimes in a less restrictive way,” the Justice Department said. In the past week Musk has announced that he is in the process of closing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); made buyout offers to federal employees similar to what he did when he bought Twitter; gained access to the Treasury Department computer system that is responsible for trillions of dollars in U.S. government payments; and, as we speak, is attempting to dismantle the Federal Office of Education. Heather Cox Richardson in her daily post last night said, “But Republicans are allowing Musk to run amok. This could be because they know that Trump has embraced the idea that the American government is a “Deep State,” but that the extreme cuts the MAGA Republicans say they want are actually quite unpopular with Americans in general, and even with most Republican voters. By letting Musk make the cuts the MAGA base wants, they can both provide those cuts and distance themselves from them. But permitting a private citizen to override the will of our representatives in Congress destroys the U.S. Constitution. It also makes Congress itself superfluous. And it takes the minority rule Republicans have come to embrace to the logical end of putting government power in the hands of one man.” I say, it’s time we start telling our elected representatives that their services are no longer required, so “Get the Hell Out of Dodge.” Why do we need congressional representatives when they have relinquished their job description to this unelected trillionaire and his six man team of engineers aged 19 to 24? If so many departments in our government are being abolished, I expect my taxes will be reduced commensurate with the services I no longer have access to. Yeah, right. I’m not a billionaire, so I will continue to fund the 1%.
With that, I will conclude today’s ramble with a big ol’ DJT sneer and say to all ya MAGA’s out there, I hope everything you voted for happens to you. Before I go, how about them Blazers? Three weeks ago I was screaming “GET RID OF CHAUNCEY BILLUPS. HE COULDN’T COACH A MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAM!” Since that tirade they have become the hottest team in the NBA, winning eight of their last nine games. I hope they make it nine out of ten against the Pacers tonight. Have a great evening! Ziggyman
Mountain Man Musings 