Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have an unlikely ally – would you believe, Rand Paul – in their effort to get the U.S. Senate to address Donald Trump’s dumb tariffs on Canada.
The trio is partnering with do-nothing Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Amy Klobuchar in reintroducing a bill to undo the Trump tariffs on Canada, which have killed U.S. distillery exports – they’re down 62 percent since the spring – and have cut into tourism into the U.S. from Canada.
Canadians who used to flock to our Southern beaches and to Vegas aren’t coming here anymore – pushing Canadian tourism to the U.S. down 33.9 percent this year.
The time for action was months ago, but whatever.
“It is time to end President Trump’s senseless trade war with Canada, one of our closest allies and top trading partners,” said Kaine, who has been spearheading this legislative effort. “The American people overwhelmingly oppose it, and it has already done lasting damage to the bilateral relationship, which can be seen in declines in Canadian tourism to the United States, and declining sales of American products in Canada.”
The first effort to get Congress to revoke Trump’s tariffs passed the Senate in April on a 51-48 vote, but MAGA House Speaker Mike Johnson has blocked the bill from getting a floor vote in the House.
“It is our responsibility as Congress to step in when the president abuses their authority. If the Senate once again passes a resolution to terminate this misguided trade war, the House should join us and say enough is enough,” Kaine said.
Next to enter into the octagon is one Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who styles himself a libertarian, yet throatily supports restrictions on free speech, so, not actually libertarian in any way, shape or form.
“These tariffs hit families, farmers, and small businesses the hardest, and in Kentucky they devastate cornerstone industries like car manufacturing, bourbon, homebuilding and shipping,” said Paul, giving away why he’s for rescinding the Trump tariffs – it’s a local issue to him, with the distilled spirits industry in Kentucky getting hit hard by the dumb tariffs.
“Congress must reclaim its constitutional authority and stop this economic overreach before more jobs and industries are destroyed,” Paul said.
His father, Ron Paul, would be rolling over in his grave at the son’s betrayal of libertarianism – if he weren’t still alive, still spry at age 90.
“Upstate New Yorkers – and Americans across the country – are already paying the price for Trump’s reckless and nonsensical trade war,” said Schumer, who we can assume first consulted his friends Joe and Eileen Bailey before speaking on the tariff issue.
In case you’re not in on the joke, Joe and Eileen Bailey, frequently cited by Schumer for helping guide his policy decisions, aren’t real people – Schumer made them up as characters in a book on how Democrats can win back the middle class that he wrote in 2007, and has talked about them as if they’re real for the past 18 years.
“His tariff tax has been felt on everything from groceries to new clothes. The tariffs and threats of economic instability have driven up prices, collapsed tourism, and stunted small businesses,” Schumer said, somehow avoiding talking about the Baileys, who you know have been in touch with him about higher prices, and the rest.
“It is beyond time for Senate Republicans to stand with us and stand up to Trump’s economic devastation. Congress must side with American families, small businesses, and the global economy and say no to the false ‘national emergency Trump announced to impose tariffs on Canada,” Schumer said.
The Baileys, who Schumer said both voted for Trump in 2024, no doubt gave their full endorsement, while still standing at attention at hockey games for the national anthem, volunteering at church and worrying intently about border security from their upper-middle-class home in Massapequa, despite living 2,100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Chris Graham
