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SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts subscribes to the unitary executive theory of American government and Constitutional interpretation.   The unitary executive theory  posits that the President possesses total, unrestrained authority over the entire executive branch, including the power to direct, supervise, and remove all officers within it.  If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because it’s been tried before in history. The Führerprinzip was   the basis of executive authority in the government of Nazi Germany . It centralized total authority in the Führer, replacing legal, institutional, and democratic structures with a hierarchy where directives flowed downward, establishing a personal dictatorship. And before the Nazis,  the Bolsheviks began abandoning the practical application of "all power to the soviets" almost immediately after seizing power, with the shift from democratic worker councils (soviets) to centralized party control solidifying between l...

This is why nations shouldn’t pay ransom. “The president reacted to the Supreme Court’s judgment by initially announcing a new universal 10% levy,   using a different legal framework for the latest tariffs , but then increased the global tariff rate to 15% — the legal maximum which can be in place for 150 days before congressional approval is required.     “The new import duties are “effective immediately,” Trump said in   a Truth Social post   on Saturday.     “Officials in Europe and London expressed alarm and consternation at the latest upheaval in global trade relations, saying Trump’s new tariff policy could upend trade deals signed with the U.S. last year.” *snip* “Do new tariffs ... not constitute a breach of the deal? Regardless, no one knows whether the US will adhere to it – or even be able to,” Lange said, adding that “clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken.” Trump has a decades-long history of reneging on ...

Like most boomers, I’m retired. My retirement is funded by (a) a 403b plan, (b) Social Security and (c) personal savings. I waited until age 70 for SS benefits, to max those out. Not everyone is so fortunate. “ How's this for a somber retirement forecast: The typical American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement, according to a new   report   from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS).” OK, but that covers all workers, age 21-65. A 21-year-old won't have saved as much as a 65-year-ole.  By the time I finished grad school at age 27, I had more than $1000 saved, between a 403b and personal savings, and that’s in nominal dollars, not inflation-corrected. Of course, I didn’t own a car until I was 26 and didn’t buy my first home until I was 32. But this isn’t about me. “ In Fidelity's 26,000 defined-contribution plans at companies across the country, covering 24.8 million participants, account balances last year clocked in at record highs, with an av...

I grew up in the land of the TVA in East Tennessee. While the TVA is famous for hydroelectric power, it also built several coal-fired generators and nuclear power plants.     A couple miles from our house was the Bull Run steam plant, a coal-fired plant. Its iconic smokestack was visible for miles. Recently the plant was closed and dismantled as part of TVA’s move away from coal. Some of my Oak Ridge peeps were sorry to see it go. I wasn’t. But that move has stalled. The TVA board voted unanimously to keep two coal plants operating for the foreseeable future, a move applauded by Trump. It’s a lifeline for the dying coal industry in the US, but accelerates the death march to global warming. During the same meeting, the board allowed the company xAI, owned by Elon Musk, to double the amount of power it draws from the grid. Sad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk1QPo0am4M

“ The justices, divided 6-3 held that Trump's aggressive approach to tariffs on products entering the United States from across the world was not permitted under a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).” *snip* “ The decision does not affect all of Trump's tariffs, leaving in place ones he imposed on steel and aluminum using different laws, for example. But it upends his tariffs in two categories. One is country-by-country or “reciprocal” tariffs, which range from 34% for China to a 10% baseline for the rest of the world. The other is a 25% tariff Trump imposed on some goods from Canada, China and Mexico for what the administration said was their failure to curb the flow of fentanyl. “Trump could seek to reimpose the tariffs, using other laws.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-strikes-trumps-tariffs-major-blow-president-rcna244827

Josh Marshall has an interesting piece in TPM on George Washington. It’s the second of two commentaries on Presidents Day. Presidents Day was originally celebrated as George Washington’s Birthday. When the effort to declare Abraham Lincoln’s birthday a national holiday failed, due to opposition from white Southern politicians, Presidents Day replaced Washington’s birthday. In the earlier commentary, Marshall (who has a PhD in American History from Brown University) argues for a separate Lincoln’s Birthday because the consequences of his presidency far outweigh those of Washington. In the second essay, he elaborates further: “ Washington wasn’t terribly creative. He wrote nothing of note. He didn’t have terribly original ideas. He wasn’t even always that good of a general. But the people around him pretty universally held him in a sort of awe. Almost all the craftier and more notable members of the Revolutionary generation had great confidence in his presence, the fact that he was aroun...