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Columns

Trump embraces South Africans — the white ones

President Trump's refugee policy reminds me of what automaker Henry Ford supposedly said about his company's Model T: "A customer can have a car painted any color he wants as long as it's black." So it is with the Trump administration's policy toward refugees who are fleeing war or ...

What if Trump ditches the tariffs too quickly?

I hope Trump pushes forward on tariffs. Hear me out. He has already backtracked faster than a hiker who spies a rattlesnake. Trump spent the first weeks of his second term spitting out tariff rates in a twitchy staccato. On Feb. 1, he announced 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada ...

The inescapable answer to America’s problems? Fix Congress

Pretty much on a daily basis now, I find myself muttering or shouting, "If only Congress wasn't broken," or something to that effect. I'm happy to acknowledge that our problems have many causes. Still, here's my answer to the question "What is one thing you would do to solve — or just ...

Just call it tariff folly

Last month, President Donald Trump proudly announced, "Liberation Day! ... The day American industry was reborn!" Reborn because of his tariffs, which he called, "the most beautiful word in the dictionary." This is just wrong. The first time he was president, Trump raised tariffs on ...

The on-again, off-again trade war

Never mind. President Trump's 145% tariffs on China ran smack into Stein's law, the late economist Herb Stein's famous axiom that "if something cannot go on forever, it will stop." What was effectively an instant embargo on the biggest importer into the United States wasn't sustainable, and ...

The political message from Omaha should be obvious

As I flew into Omaha for the first time, the only thing visible from my descending plane was cornfields. You could even see the tassels. I was wondering, where is the city? There certainly was a city, with a world-class medical center, famous zoo and great nightlife. Old school steakhouses ...