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NO. People also voted for every other authoritarian who converted their democracy into an autocracy. That does not mean they endorsed in advance every subsequen

by toss1 1y ago

NO. People also voted for every other authoritarian who converted their democracy into an autocracy. That does not mean they endorsed in advance every subsequent action by that dictator. The constitution specifically states: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises..." [0] (Article I, Section 8) Congress. NOT the executive branch or the President. Tariffs are taxes, full stop. Just because congress is abdicating it's duty and there are not even a handful of Republicans who will stand up to take back their proper power of taxation, does not make it either legal or moral to mis-allocate the power further away from the people. And yes, while people did vote for that POTUS, and he did mention tariffs in campaigning, he was both not explicit about seizing power from congress, and had such a reputation for lying that it was literally impossible to predict what he would actually do. No, you can not claim this misapplication of power is the will of the people. [0] https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8/ https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8...

ty6853 1y ago
If congress cannot delegate A1 S8 powers to the executive then the EPA, ATF, DEA, etc and most the regulatory apparatus all come crashing down. Which might be a good thing, but we've long since abandoned making congress actually use the legislative process each time these decisions are made.
- toss1 1y ago
  Of course congress can delegate powers, and yes, it is certainly necessary for implementing regulations. Plus, abandoning the Chevron decision framework was IMO, a very bad move by SCOTUS, but respecting the SCOTUS decision in that case makes this even worse. In this case, Congress actually DID delegate those powers specifically for emergency use. Arrogating power that was NOT delegated by congress by declaring ordinary condition a bogus "emergency" in order to circumvent congressional control is undermining the democracy. If congress wants to implement broad tariffs, or enable the executive to engage in tariff and trade wars at will, it is welcome to do that. But, congress has NOT yet done so. Until it does, this is at best an abuse of executive power, and whether the intent of the usurpation is good or evil is irrelevant.

by toss1 1y ago

ty6853 1y ago

If congress cannot delegate A1 S8 powers to the executive then the EPA, ATF, DEA, etc and most the regulatory apparatus all come crashing down. Which might be a good thing, but we've long since abandoned making congress actually use the legislative process each time these decisions are made.

toss1 1y ago
Of course congress can delegate powers, and yes, it is certainly necessary for implementing regulations. Plus, abandoning the Chevron decision framework was IMO, a very bad move by SCOTUS, but respecting the SCOTUS decision in that case makes this even worse. In this case, Congress actually DID delegate those powers specifically for emergency use. Arrogating power that was NOT delegated by congress by declaring ordinary condition a bogus "emergency" in order to circumvent congressional control is undermining the democracy. If congress wants to implement broad tariffs, or enable the executive to engage in tariff and trade wars at will, it is welcome to do that. But, congress has NOT yet done so. Until it does, this is at best an abuse of executive power, and whether the intent of the usurpation is good or evil is irrelevant.