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News & Current Events Mar 28, 2026 at 7:21 PM

Why Democrats should talk about Trump's tariffs as a 'threat to the rule of law'

Posted by jediporcupine

Why Democrats should talk about Trump's tariffs as a 'threat to the rule of law'
Reason.com
Why Democrats should talk about Trump's tariffs as a 'threat to the rule of law'
Rep. Jimmy Panetta says Democrats have "learned the hard way" that handing over so much tariff authority to the executive branch is a bad idea.
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24 Comments

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B-Z_B-S Mar 28, 2026 +10
Because only Congress has the authority to collect or issue taxes, tariffs are taxes on the American people, and Trump is using tariffs as a symbol of his willingness to ignore Congress and our Constitution completely.
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Imaginary-Ad-7919 Mar 28, 2026 +6
Tariffs aren’t the issue. Acting above the law is.
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jediporcupine Mar 28, 2026 +6
And the tariff actions are above the law…
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Imaginary-Ad-7919 Mar 28, 2026 +2
True, and that’s why the focus shouldn’t be on the tariffs themselves but on the fact they bypassed the law to impose them.
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jediporcupine Mar 28, 2026 +3
Thats basically the point the Democratic congressman makes in the article.
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Machiavvelli3060 Mar 28, 2026 +1
No, the headline says the focus **should** be on the tariffs. The commenter says the focus **shouldn't** be on the tariffs.
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Prize-Bumblebee-2192 Mar 28, 2026 +1
The focus on tariffs as an illegality is the point. Show the illegality systematically in the context of each illegal act.
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OhioValleyCat Mar 28, 2026 +3
The sad part is there is so much more reform needed to address the rule of law as it relates to presidential power. Tariff implementation is part of it, but there is also other issues raised by Trump scheming including pay-to-play government contracts and presidential pardons and then this emerging area of crony legal settlements where the Justice Department agrees to large settlements to Trump supporters who have sued the government or been entangled in criminal prosecution or investigations. Trumpian corruption has exposed weaknesses in the system of checks and balances.
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CarmineFields Mar 28, 2026 +3
This is what right-wing beliefs gets you, Reason….
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Notrius01 Mar 28, 2026 +1
wtf this is the weakest description you can come up with. It should be something like Trump's evil tax.
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No-Personality1840 Mar 28, 2026 +1
Respectfully I think that ‘rule of law ‘ ship left long ago. Also, that tack won’t resonate with a great number of voters and young people are pretty cynical and savvy. Democrats aren’t going to lure very many Republicans to vote for Democrats so they need to have a message that resonates with everyday voter so they want to vote. By all means talk about tariffs but talk about how it affects people, not some vague notion of higher morality.
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SurroundTiny Mar 28, 2026 +1
They should talk about how much money it's costing tax payers. People understand that. If your slogan is something you only hear on a college quad then don't do it
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Th3FinalStarman Mar 29, 2026 +1
Lowering cost to healthcare and housing is a proven winning platform. Let's start there.
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GigMistress Mar 28, 2026
Yes, that's just what Democrats need...to talk MORE in terms of high-minded concepts voters don't understand or get why they should care about.
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fascistno1hater Mar 28, 2026 +2
It's so easy for Democrats to win and take back everything. All they need to start doing is working for the people again. Medicare for All, Free College, Tax the 1%, focus on renewable energy, stop giving money to the military industrial complex and charge and arrest everyone in this corrupt administration and the corporations and rich people behind them. But that means they have to get rid of all the corpo Dems in the party that are aligned with the Fascists and Nazis.
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GigMistress Mar 28, 2026 +3
Ah, yes, the magic wand approach. First, we pretend that there are enough left-leaning Democrats to win elections without independents or even conservative Democrats. Then, we pretend that sweeping reforms like you mention can be implemented with the push of a button, because if we recognize how long they will actually take we'll have to admit that the next election would already be lost based on disappointment over "broken promises" before much of anything actually got underway.
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fascistno1hater Mar 28, 2026 +3
If Dems won't fight for these things then what's the point of the party. It has already morphed into a Republican Lite party. I mean Newsom is basically going around palling with Nazis on his podcasts. The Dems need to be a worker/common person party and not another party that sucks and glazes the rich and corporations. Also, if you believe that Independents don't want the things I have laid out then I have a bridge to sell you in San Fran.
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GigMistress Mar 28, 2026
Those are two different questions, aren't they? Your assertion was that they could easily win by promising things that only a small sector of voters support and that they couldn't possibly accomplish in one term. About 35% of Americans support single payer healthcare, and a smaller percentage than that support Medicare for All. Much of the blue collar working class is strongly opposed to free college, which makes being the party of "workers" and the party of free college a little more complicated than you want to believe. And there's significant tension between renewable energy and a great many types of blue collar workers. Pretending things are simple is the kiss of death.
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fascistno1hater Mar 28, 2026 +2
A small sector??? Poll after poll shows that this is what the people want and not just Americans. I can't convince you of basic decency and human rights because it seems to me that you must profit somehow from the status quo. I won't waste my time have a good day. https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/11/medicare-for-all-is-popular-even-when-put-up-against-attacks
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GigMistress Mar 28, 2026 +1
When argument fails you, hurl accusations. That's okay--anyone actually reading my comments knows I've given absolutely no indication that I'm against universal healthcare. In fact, I support it. Most Americans support a federal solution that makes healthcare accessible to everyone. A MUCH smaller percentage (35% according to Pew, as I mentioned above) support a single payer system. Your own survey link supports that, with broad language about "a national healthcare system" that would replace "most" private health insurance as the opening question and then support decreasing across all demographics when additional details were provided and decreasing again when arguments were presented by both sides. In the course of a three question survey strong support dropped from 36% to 30% to 27% and overall support dropped from 65% to 63% to 58%. At the same time, opposition increased. How do you think that plays out over a months-long campaign?
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No-Personality1840 Mar 28, 2026 +1
That’s not true. When the question is asked appropriately the majority of Americans support some sort of government funded health insurance. Medicare is popular with seniors, ask any of the, of they want to go back to for profit insurance and copays and deductibles. None I know do. There’s some data; I’ll look for it.
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GigMistress Mar 28, 2026 +1
Yes, that's what I said. Most support some sort of government program; most explicitly do not support single payer. The vast majority of seniors are still dependent on for-profit insurance to fill the gaps in Medicare--but I bet you knew that. It's also worth noting that a huge percentage of Medicare participants are currently enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, most of which are for-profit plans that are privately administered.
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Grandpa_No Mar 28, 2026 +2
Reason telling Democrats how to fix the mess conservatives made never ceases to make me laugh.
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Nateleb1234 Mar 28, 2026
All they do is talk and meanwhile Trump takes more and more power. He has already broken the constitution dozens of times yet the democrats do nothing to stop him.
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