Friday, January 09, 2026

Bessent worried more about loss of leverage than revenue

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said he was confident in the ability to reconstitute any lost tariff revenue by imposing duties under other legal authorities if the Supreme Court rules against President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs, but a loss would undercut Trump's flexibility and leverage.

Posted by LampLighter at 12:30 AM | 7 COMMENTS | permalink

Comments

More from the article ...

... Bessent, speaking at an Economic Club of Minnesota event at which he touted the benefits of the administration's economic agenda and discussed some of its plans in Venezuela following the removal of the South American country's leader, defended the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as bringing China, Mexico and Canada to the negotiating table to curb fentanyl trafficking. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-09 12:32 AM

@#1 ... defended the tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as bringing China, Mexico and Canada to the negotiating table to curb fentanyl trafficking ...

Wait, what?

The tariffs are not supposed to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, as Pres trump has promised?


Why does the Trump admin look more and more like the Keystone Kops with each passing public speaking event?



#2 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-09 12:35 AM

to curb fentanyl trafficking

Right, whatever happened to that? Or was Fentanyl just a gateway drug to oil?

#3 | Posted by REDIAL at 2026-01-09 12:35 AM

@#3 ... Right, whatever happened to that? ...

To my eyes, Big Oil's donations to Pres Trump's 2024 campaign sidetracked that.

#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-09 12:39 AM

Switchfoot - Meant To Live (2003)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
This is the first song on Switchfoot's album The Beautiful Letdown. This song is about life and the choices that we make that may lead to regret.

[Verse 1]
Fumbling his confidence
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he's bent for more than arguments
And failed attempts to fly, fly

[Chorus]
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

[Verse 2]
Dreaming about Providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we've been livin' with our eyes half open
Maybe we're bent and broken, broken

[Chorus]
Ah-we were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

[Bridge]
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life, yeah

[Chorus]
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

We were meant to live for so much more (We were meant to live)

Have we lost ourselves?

We were meant to live (We were meant to live)
We were meant to live
...


#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-09 12:45 AM

@#3 ... Or was Fentanyl just a gateway drug to oil? ...

I'll file that under, things I wished I had posted.

Yeah, Pres Trump's expensive deployment of the Military in the area now seems to be more of a accommodation of the demands of the Big Oil donors for his 2024 campaign.

Of course, that leads me to ask ...

Pres Trump is viewed as a "strong man" by his MAGA supporters.

But how can he be so strong when mere money seems to control his actions?

To me, that seems like he is rather weak, i.e., showing an easily exploitable weakness -- money.

So, is Pres Trump really just a wimp who uses the US Military to try to substantiate an undeserved self-view of strength?





#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-01-09 01:55 AM

We're not gonna take it, no we're not gonna take it, we're not gonna take it, Anymore.

If that's your best your best won't do.

Lampster get a Clue.

Based on Twisted Sister.

Aimed at Geriatric "Resistor".

Keep it classy, Old Guy.

Music for the mindless.

#7 | Posted by Effeteposer at 2026-01-09 04:12 PM

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