Casualties of War: General Motors warned that another round of import tariffs could make cars sufficiently more expensive to force the company to scale back production and lay off workers.

GM said that a new round of tariffs considered by the Trump administration could raise the price of its vehicles by thousands of dollars, leading to “less investment, fewer jobs and lower wages” for employees. GM and other car companies are heavily dependent upon imported parts and materials.

President Trump has raised tariffs on foreign metal imports claiming they will protect American business and jobs from predatory competition. Already the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company announced plans to make bikes in Europe to avoid the EU tariffs levied in retaliation against Trump’s.

Now Canada has announced a new round of $12.6 billion in tariffs. “We will not escalate, and we will not back down,” the Canadian foreign minister said.

The taxes will hit ketchup, lawn mowers, and motor boats.

Tariffs are not all that seem to be backfiring for Trump. His chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, claimed that deficits are declining, even though the reverse is true. Kudlow said, “The deficit, which was one of the other criticisms, is coming down, and it’s coming down rapidly.”

Trump and the Republicans believe their  tax cuts will spur spending thereby increasing tax collections and reducing the federal deficit. So far it is not happening and it’s never worked before.

Linda Qiu reports for The NY Times that, “An April report from the Congressional Budget Office projected that the federal deficit will rise from $665 billion in fiscal year 2017, which ended on Sept. 30., to $804 billion during the 2018 fiscal year.”

Family Values: The Trump administration has signaled its intent to detain immigrant families together pending their court hearings and possibly longer than the 20-day limit set for detaining the children. “The government will not separate families but detain families together during the pendency of immigration proceedings when they are apprehended at or between ports of entry,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in a filing with a federal judge in California. The word “pendency” carries the implication of months of detention because that’s how long it takes to get a court date.

The new mantra of immigration protesters is “Abolish ICE!,” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump tweeted to ICE, “The radical left Dems want you out. Next it will be all police. Zero chance, It will never happen!”

It’s Political: President Trump and his advisers appear to have pulled off an unusually canny political maneuver in convincing Justice Antony Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s swing vote, to retire.

Stories in The NY Times and Washington Post say President Trump spared Kennedy some of his blistering attacks on other judges while forging personal connections and assuring the justice that his judicial legacy would survive his appointed successor. Even Ivanka Trump had lunch with Kennedy.

Trump pledged in his campaign that he would change the direction of the Court and he wanted a second appointment before the possibility of losing control of the Senate.

The Republicans have mastered the game of Supreme Court appointment politics. They jammed President Obama’s appointment of Merrick Garland until Trump was elected. Majority leader Mitch McConnell once said in a speech, “In a speech that August in Kentucky, McConnell would say: “One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, ‘Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.’ ”

You have to consider the possibility that the Trump outright lied to Kennedy, who is reviled by the religious right, a big chunk of Trump’s political base. Kennedy voted to maintain access to abortion, limit the death penalty and expand gay rights. James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, once called Justice Kennedy “the most dangerous man in America.”

Permawar: Syrian forces backed by Russian air power have assaulted one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in eastern Dara’a Province, causing as many as 160,000 people to run for their lives, creating a new wave of the country’s humanitarian crisis.

The attack violates a cease fire negotiated last year by Russia, Jordan, and the United States. The US, which has about 2,000 troops in Syria, has publicly criticized Russia for breaking the deal but so far has not delivered on its promise of “serious repercussions” for cease-fire violations.

To Your Health: A federal judge has thrown out a Kentucky law that requires people on Medicaid to work in order to receive the health insurance. The judge said 95,000 people could lose health care under the rule.

Jaws: An enormous great white shark has been spotted off the island of Majorca in Spain’s Balearic islands. The last confirmed sighting of a great white in that area of the Mediterranean was in 1976. Great whites can grow to 20 feet and two tons. We know a guy who went swimming anyway.

Quiet Heroes: The ethic of journalism is that you publish no matter what. Your mother dies, you finish your story before leaving the building. The editors and reporters at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis have continued to publish after five members of the staff were murdered in a newsroom massacre. The shooter was a deranged man with a grudge against the paper.

Last night about 300 people attended a candlelight vigil.

Journalism is under attack these days when everything is political. There are some lousy journalists, but the best of them labor at low pay to bring their readers and audience truth and accurate information every day. President Trump has called them “the enemy of the people.” At a time when public policy is steered by manipulations and lies, journalists are some of the best friends you have.

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