By: Cliff Kincaid
President Trump on Friday identified the majority in the 6-3 decision against his IEEPA tariffs, including three appointed by Republicans, as mental midgets, and he was absolutely correct. He was right to blast them as traitors to the Constitution and the USA.
Those three were Barrett and Gorsuch, joining with Chief Justice John Roberts.
They struck down the tariffs but didn’t articulate how those claiming damages are supposed to collect.
But that wasn’t the only flaw in the decision.
What our dishonest media, also called the fake news, did not disclose is that IEEPA, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, is the same instrument that Democrat President Bill Clinton used to wage war on Kosovo.
Think about it: Trump can’t charge a penny in tariffs on foreign countries using IEEPA, but Democrat Bill Clinton used the same law to wage war on another country, and the courts were silent.
What President Trump said is absolutely accurate:
“To show you how ridiculous the opinion is, however, the court said that I’m not allowed to charge even one dollar. I can’t charge one dollar, can’t charge a dollar. I would have used one penny, but we don’t make the pennies anymore. We save money.
“Can’t charge one dollar to any country under IEEPA, not one dollar…But I am allowed to cut off any and all trade or business with that same country. In other words, I can destroy the trade, I can destroy the country. I’m even allowed to impose a foreign country-destroying embargo. I can embargo, I can do anything I want, but I can’t charge one dollar because that’s not what it says, and that’s not the way it even reads. I can do anything I want to do to them, but I can’t charge any money. So I’m allowed to destroy the country, but I can’t charge them a little fee.”
There is something seriously wrong with the courts. The priorities are out of whack. They are whacked out. They are justifying a war on a foreign nation, using IEEPA, but not a tariff on that same country.
Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh voted correctly. The others made a political decision to undermine the president.
Trump identified the three Republicans voting with the Democrats as misguided, ill-informed, and even stupid. He’s right. They could not grasp the position that IEEPA can be used to destroy a foreign country but not to charge that same country a penny through tariffs.
Their decision didn’t make any sense.
Trump called the three Democratic justices a “disgrace to our nation, those justices.”
Regarding the “Republicans” voting with them, Trump observed, “Others think they’re being politically correct, which has happened before far too often with certain members of this court, and it’s happened so often with this court — what a shame — having to do with voting in particular, when in fact they’re just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats and, not that this should have anything at all to do with it, they’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.”
He added, “It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think.”
I was aware of the IEEPA many years ago when I analyzed how Clinton waged war on the former Yugoslavia without Congress, using executive orders based on the IEEPA. I urge you to read my analysis.
As a result, when the tariff case went before the High Court, I figured it was a no-brainer. How could the Supreme Court rule against IEEPA as a measure to collect duties on imports from a foreign country when the same law can be used to wage war on the same country?
Without getting Congressional approval, Clinton not only used IEEPA to impose economic sanctions on the former Yugoslavia but also announced a new “Strategic Concept” for NATO that went beyond the defensive purposes of the alliance outlined in the NATO treaty.
As I discussed in my report, Clinton’s executive order was issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the National Emergencies Act. He seized assets, blocked property, and prohibited trade with Yugoslavia.
Yet, Trump is now prohibited from simply imposing tariffs on a country through IEEPA.
The decision shows the ignorance of those in the black robes. They are supposed to be learned people, but they don’t understand how stupid they look.
Trump was right to challenge their irrational decision, apparently based on a momentary lapse into Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Trump noted, “The good news is that there are methods, practices, statutes and authorities, as recognized by the entire court in this terrible decision — and also as recognized by Congress, which they referred to — that are even stronger than the IEEPA tariffs available to me as president of the United States.”
So Trump will continue to use his tariff policy, albeit using different laws.
But that is beside the point. The Court’s ruling is flawed and stupid. It can now be considered illegitimate and corrupt.
- Cliff Kincaid is president of America’s Survival, Inc. www.usasurvival.org
