Tariff-Ic!

You've probably heard the news already, but in a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump does not have the power to unilaterally enact taxes, in particular tariffs.

Trump is saying that he will be using alternate laws to continue this, but given the Supreme Court ruling, it is likely that federal courts will enjoin this, and the Supreme Court is far less likely use the shadow docket to allow those policies to continue until a full court decision is made.

Any further efforts by the Trump administration to do this is likely to run afoul of the , "Bull Durham Rule," which states that the quickest way to get thrown out of a game is to call the umpire a c%$#-sucker.

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that President Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every U.S. trading partner, a major setback for his administration’s second-term agenda.

The court’s 6-3 decision has significant implications for the U.S. economy, consumers and the president’s trade policy. The Trump administration had said that a loss at the Supreme Court could force the government to unwind trade deals with other countries and potentially pay hefty refunds to importers.

The three dissenters, Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh, had to bend themselves into knots to ignore Congress' plenary powers over taxation, but that is the norm for those corrupt bastards.

Mr. Trump is the first president to claim that a 1970s emergency statute, which does not mention the word “tariffs,” allowed him to unilaterally impose the duties without congressional approval.

He is the first, because his legal justification is complete bullsh%$.

………

The decision on Friday left uncertain the extent to which those who paid tariffs might be able to obtain refunds, with Justice Kavanaugh warning that any refund process could be a substantial “mess.”

The United States “may be required to refund billions of dollars to importers who paid” the tariffs, he wrote, “even though some importers may have already passed on costs to consumers or others.”

That is an issue that falls firmly in the category of, "Not the Supreme Court's problem."

It will be interesting to see what cockamamie legal argument the Trump administration will put out next. 

^*Not my bon mot. DC at the Stellar Parthenon BBS came up with it.