"I’ve really only seen Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) understand this, that this is just a loyalty test for virtually every business in the nation, a universal attempt to gather protection money. It’s no different than using the leverage of government funding to force universities and law firms into submission. These economic sanctions force businesses to supplicate. It could come in the form of campaign support, corporate governance changes, or just raw cash. Anything is possible."
prospect.org/economy/2025-04-0…
They’re Not Tariffs, They’re Sanctions
Stop trying to place coherence on a policy that’s really just a mob boss breaking legs and asking for protection money.David Dayen (The American Prospect)
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Jason Lefkowitz
in reply to Jason Lefkowitz • • •You might call this, which @mcc also pointed out earlier, the Bully's Insight.
Most people do not want conflict. They seek to avoid it, when they can. So the bully threatens a conflict, and then offers a way for the victim to buy themselves out of it. Wouldn't it be easier to just give me what I want, they ask, than to have a big fight?
And lots of people will say yes! Because they never wanted to have a fight. They didn't ask for one. They just want to live their lives.
So the bully can prosper, for a while. It works -- until they meet someone who is prepared for a fight.
mastodon.social/@mcc/114274704…
#USPol
You might call this, which @mcc also pointed out earlier, the Bully's Insight.
Most people do not want conflict. They seek to avoid it, when they can. So the bully threatens a conflict, and then offers a way for the victim to buy themselves out of it. Wouldn't it be easier to just give me what I want, they ask, than to have a big fight?
And lots of people will say yes! Because they never wanted to have a fight. They didn't ask for one. They just want to live their lives.
So the bully can prosper, for a while. It works -- until they meet someone who is prepared for a fight.
mastodon.social/@mcc/114274704…
#USPol
mcc
2025-04-03 15:20:05
Jason Lefkowitz
in reply to Jason Lefkowitz • • •This is why the tariff rates are shockingly high. They HAVE TO be shockingly high, because the point of them is not what they do to the economy. The point is to threaten businesses worldwide with pain -- so much pain that they recoil at the prospect.
And then Don can step in and say, you know I can make that pain go away for you, right? I can give you an exception to the tariffs. All I ask in return is that you do me this one favor...
So the more extortionate the tariffs are, the better they are for Don. They give him personal power; leverage. The rest of us suffer, but who cares about that? He certainly doesn't.
#USPol