COurts Hand Trump Several Important Loses
Courts Hand Trump Several Important Loses
Junious Ricardo Stanton
. The President’s House Slave Memorial Exhibit
is totally unique. It is the first exhibit on federal property created to pay
homage to enslaved persons. It was built to honor the lives of nine enslaved
persons of African descent who labored in bondage while George Washington
resided in Philadelphia during his presidency.
The Avenging The Ancestors Coalition a
grass-roots alliance of historians, activists, educators and elected officials
fought to have the exhibit erected. It has been standing since 2010 and is a
major tourist and educational attraction for the city of Philadelphia. It is
located within an historical area which include Independence Hall, Carpenter’s
Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Constitutional Visitors Center.
Judge Rufe
ordered all the instructive panels be returned and restored to their original condition,
the video monitors be in pristine working order and the whole site made
accessible to the public. She also ordered the site to be restored by Five PM
Friday February 20th.
A rally was held Thursday February 19
by the Avenging The Ancestors Coalition at Three- thirty PM, but the site had
not been totally restored at that time. National Parks Service workers were
working to comply with Judge Rufe’s order, but they stopped to allow the rally
to take place on site.
The Trump administration has filed an
appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The struggle intensifies.
Also on Friday February 20th,
the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 against Trump’s universal tariffs stating Trump
overstepped his authority imposing the tariffs. The majority decision which was
written by Chief Justice John Roberts noted the power to impose tariffs and taxes
lies with the US Congress not the executive branch as is written in the US
Constitution. The Supreme Court ruling confirmed a lower court ruling that use
of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, (IEEPA) was not appropriate since the IEEPA lacks
specific language authorizing the levying of tariffs and taxes.
The ruling is a major blow to Trump’s
agenda and at least temporarily checked his willful pattern of taking unilateral
authoritarian actions since his return to the White House in 2025. But it
didn’t take long for Trump to react and respond. Following the Supreme Court
ruling, Trump in a fit of petulance immediately announced he would issue a 10%
universal global tariff then later in the day, he said he would add another 15%
to the tariffs! This is childish as his tariffs are not being used properly.
Tariffs are designed to protect domestic markets and producers as well as raise
money, not as bargaining chips and threats. The US Congress needs to step up
and do its job as outlined in the US Constitution.
What we are seeing is a man determined
to push the envelop on executive power, taking actions which are obviously
unconstitutional. Trump will attempt to use other legislation to circumvent the
US Constitution. He has used Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act in the past to
take action against nations in the various trade wars he has instituted during
his first administration.
While there are laws on the books that
sanction specific international trade actions, Trump’s use of them always seems
to blow up in his face. Take his trade wars with Canada, Mexico, China and the
EU during his first term. They were a disaster.
Neither Friday court ruling has
deterred Trump, he is pressing on. If his past patterns are a precursor to the
future, his actions will blow up in his face like a Wylie E. Coyote ACME
contraption. Stay tuned to see what happens.
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posted by Junious Ricardo Stanton @ 6:32 PM
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