This piece outlining the ambivalence that the Biden Administration feels over tariff reduction is a great example of some of the issues that plague the Democratic Party.
Inflation is the main issue currently created headwinds for Democrats in November. Inflation is global, however, and largely - in my opinion - a product of energy price spikes and supply chain issues (in that order). The early inflation was supply restriction, but I'm a firm believer that energy price spikes are a huge driver of inflation.
Lowering tariffs will not help either of those issues. The piece quotes several people from places like the Peterson Institute, which...yeah, not really a fan. And it notes that labor unions don't want to lose the tariffs without something in return from China. The reality is that we also have tariffs on Canadian lumber that drive up construction costs. Would lowering the tariffs solve the price spike in housing? Doubtful.
Would it help? Yes.
I was listening to my wife's podcast with Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson. He makes the accurate point that stories win elections, not policies and white papers. Democratic strategists and activists don't grok that. They think there is a magic portfolio of legislation that will re-create the New Deal Coalition that controlled America for 35 years. The reason the New Deal Coalition won election after election was that the party of FDR was the party that knew that your boss was an SOB and wanted to give you Social Security to make sure you could retire.
Activists don't think in terms of narratives, really. They are hyperfocused a set of policy prescriptions. Maybe there's a narrative, too, but they lose track of that. "George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were killed by unaccountable police who don't respect Black lives" is a story that even most White people can understand. They saw the video of Derek Chauvin choking the life out of Floyd. But "Defund the Police" is a different narrative that tells a different story. It's a story activists want to hear, but not persuadable voters.
Biden is trying to create a perfect counter-inflation policy. That's irrelevant. He needs to tell a story about greedy corporations price gouging consumers. He needs to point to his efforts to reduce prices by reducing tariffs. He's "taking on interests." He's "fighting for you." Republicans are literally voting against baby formula. They are passing heinous abortion laws.
Saying that the GOP is party of god-botherers and plutocrats is a story Americans already know in their hearts. You don't have to solve inflation (because you can't), but you have to show that you are "fighting for the little guy."
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