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Trump’s Tariffs Continue Faulty Narrative

Attention readers: Mark Shields is off this week. Please enjoy the following column by Veronique De Rugy. The Tariff Man has done it again. President Donald Trump recently announced that he will expand import taxes on American consumers of auto parts, nails and other goods made in the United States with steel and aluminum. Apparently, untaxed imports of these metals put our national security at risk. Under the latest proclamation, some imports of products made with aluminum will be subject to an additional 10% tax, while some steel products will be hit with a 25% one. The decision ...

Donors Are A Lousy Way To Gauge Support

To get onstage at the last Democratic debate, a candidate had to have received contributions from at least 225,000 donors. That disqualified Mike Bloomberg. He has only one donor: himself. That rule sounded nice and democratic with a small “d,” but actually, it is a highly flawed way to measure a candidate’s ability to win a national election. The Democratic National Committee has wisely just removed that requirement from the next debate, scheduled for Feb. 19 in Nevada. This will almost certainly give Bloomberg a place at the podium in Las Vegas. All he has to do is reach 10 ...

Is Bernie’s Hour Of Power At Hand?

Can a septuagenarian socialist who just survived a heart attack and would be 80 years old in his first year in office be elected president of the United States? It’s hard to believe but not impossible. As of today, Bernie Sanders looks like one of the better, if not best, bets for the nomination. Polls have him running first or second in the first three contests: Iowa on Monday, and then New Hampshire and Nevada. If Bernie can best main rival Joe Biden in Iowa, he will likely thump Joe in New Hampshire. Biden’s campaign, built around “electability,” could suffer a ...

Stepping Around Human Misery

Attending a meeting near Union Station in Washington, D.C., requires me to park a few blocks away and then walk under a bridge to an office building. People in business attire, like me, step carefully around the homeless men and women who have pitched tents under the bridge. They look filthy and miserable, especially in winter. The persistence of large numbers of homeless Americans is one of the signal policy failures of the past two generations. A 2015 survey found that more than half a million people are homeless on any given night. According to Mentalillnesspolicy.org, about 45 ...

Persuasion 101: The Art Of Insult

Lessons in the much-abused Art of Insult. Deplorables have been on my mind. Of course, they have been in the news a lot lately. Guests on a recent CNN show lampooned the deplorables who support President Trump. In response, Trump lovers lightning-zipped that video round the internet. To show the world how the uppity elites scorn and belittle Trump supporters. Hillary set this particular ball a-rolling with her “basket of deplorables” remark. That was during the campaign. Many on the left (and Never-Trumpers on the right) have been happy to kick it along. Which is how it ended up ...

Is It Too Late To Change To A Different Plan For 2020?

Question: I chose my Health Insurance and Part D plan for 2020, but now I am not sure I made the right choice. Can I change to a different plan? Answer: This may sound very similar to a recent question and it is, but the answer is different. Two annual enrollment periods are happening right now. The first is the General Enrollment Period (GEP). This GEP runs from Jan. 1 to March 31 each year and is an opportunity for those individuals who did not sign up for Medicare when they turned 65 or when they left work, and therefore must sign up now. These individuals can use the GEP to sign ...