On Stephen Macaulay’s October 13 Right-Column, ‘Debt Up, Services Down – Is This Any Way to Run a Government? –War is good business. If you could wage war on the homefront it would be a real efficient way to shovel money into the eager maws of allies and donors. –Ben Wojdyla (via Facebook)

•••

On No Kings … MAGA allies including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) have attacked Saturday’s No Kings rally, described and supported in contributing pundit Jerry Lanson’s column below (scroll down this column to read it), as being run by “antifa,” terrorists and Marxists. The uniformity of their message is proof that White House advisor/attack dog Stephen Miller is behind the messaging, according to The New Republic, which reports it is backfiring as Democrats are turning the criticism around to galvanize attendance. 

Your civilly stated comments on this matter, whether you identify with the left or right, are welcome here. We would also like to hear from you on Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s ‘Debt Up, Services Down,’ or any other left or right columns, or recent news/aggregate/analysis from the center column.

We are not a social media site like X-Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Bluesky, et. al. Instead, The Hustings is a civil media site designed to allow you free and easy access to various gradations of political thought from the left and right. This page is designed for easy access to readers who do not agree with you.

Citizen punditry is easy. Email COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and please list your political leanings – right, left, conservative, liberal – in the subject line so we may post them in the proper column. –Editors

_____
THURSDAY 10/16/25

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

On October 14 new tariffs went into effect.

On kitchen cabinets and vanities. Upholstered furniture.

As it says, in part, in a proclamation posted on the White House website September 29, 2025, “the Secretary” — as in Howard Lutnick — "found and advised me of his opinion that wood products are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States and provided recommendations for action under section 232 to adjust the imports of wood products so that such imports will not threaten to impair the national security of the United States.”

That’s right: the coffee-cup hutch and that couch are likely made of wood.

Somehow this is critical to our national defense.

So it gets a 25% tariff now. It will be 50% on January 1.

The proclamation goes on to say: “The Secretary also found that while the United States possesses ample raw materials and industrial capacity to meet domestic wood products demand, wood production in the United States remains underdeveloped. “

Wait a minute.

At first the issue was the national security threat posed by all of those vanities and sectional couches. 

Now it is clearly an industrial policy play: We have the goods, but the goods just aren’t being used to the extent that Trump and Lutnick think they should be.

Isn’t it possible that the products in question are “underdeveloped” because they aren’t economically viable?

In a story in The Washington Post about the imposition of the tariffs, John Dean, founder of Dean Cabinetry, a small business in Manchester, Connecticut, says, “My personal perspective is most small- and medium-sized businesses are trying to absorb those costs.”

First, again note that the tariffs aren’t being paid by another country. They are being paid for by the businesses that are importing these products. 

(Why are they importing them? It doesn’t take an Adam Smith to know that it makes economic sense.)

But one thing gets lost in the discussion of whether it is Dean Cabinetry or General Motors absorbing the costs of tariffs.

This means that these companies make less money. If they have less money, then they can’t afford as many employees as they otherwise might have on staff. If these people lose their jobs, then their ability to purchase things from shelves to Chevy Silverado trucks is going to be minimized. So the producers of the shelves and trucks are going to find themselves with less money, so they will need less people. And. . . .

While many of the tariffs that have been applied or threatened since Liberation Day are nonsensical, this one may reach the absolute height of absurdity.

_____
THURSDAY 10/16/25

Commentary by Jerry Lanson

The raid took place in the dead of night, as heavily armed men burst into unit after unit of a Chicago apartment building in a chilling scene with little precedent in American law enforcement.

Reported the Chicago Sun-Times: “Armed federal agents in military fatigues busted down their doors … pulling men, women and children from their apartments, some of them naked, residents and witnesses said. Agents approached or entered nearly every apartment in the five-story building, and US citizens were among those detained for hours.”

Those arrested were neither killers nor terrorists. A spokesman for the FBI’s Chicago office called it a “targeted immigration enforcement operation,” though the Department of Homeland Security said “some” of those arrested “are believed to be involved in drug trafficking” and weapons crimes.

Then there were people like Rodrick Johnson, 67, a US citizen who eventually was released. He told the newspaper that after agents broke down his door, he was dragged out in zip-ties (a short of handcuff) and left tied up for three hours. He said his request to see a warrant and talk to a lawyer were ignored.

This horror show, in the final hours of September 30, was in complete violation of legal due process in this country. Yet the story, one that demanded high-profile coverage and follow-up in the country’s national newspapers and television networks sort of dribbled out and then fizzled.

The New York Times did publish a front-page story October 1, but one in the parlance of journalism, it “buried the lead.” It downplayed the incident and focused instead on the Trump administration following through on its enforcement promise.

Wrote the NYT:

“The Trump administration has vowed for more than a month to bring a show of federal force to Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, to crack down on illegal immigration.

“This week, the administration has visibly followed through. On Sunday, federal officers in camouflage patrolled tourist-heavy areas of downtown Chicago in a conspicuous pack, attracting stares and taunts, including from a bicyclist the agents tried to chase. On Monday, US military officials said that 100 National Guard troops would be deployed to Illinois to protect federal facilities, a mobilization that is expected in the coming days.

And early on Tuesday, federal agents, using drones, helicopters, trucks and dozens of vehicles, conducted a middle-of the-night raid on a rundown apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, leaving the building mostly empty of residents by morning and neighbors stunned.”

CNN at least got straight to the point when, two days later on October 3, it got around to posting the story under the headline, “37 People Arrested and American Kids Separated from Parents After ICE Raid at Chicago apartment.” [The raid was actually carried out by the Border Patrol and other Homeland Security Agency officers.]

“Adults and children alike were pulled from their Chicago apartments, crying and screaming, during a large overnight raid that left tenants and neighbors spoken,” began the story.

“I’ve been on military bases for a good portion of my life,” said Darrell Ballard, who lives in the building next door. “And the activity I saw – it was an invasion.”

As for The Washington Post, it put up an Associated Press story – not one written by its own staff – on Oct. 6. Like the NYT, it wrapped the raid into an overview of aggressive federal actions, beginning like this:

“CHICAGO – Storming an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept. Deploying chemical agents near a public school. Handcuffing a Chicago City Council member near a hospital.

“Activists, residents and leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest city.”

A few caveats are in order. First, story selection and play are always a relative process in newsrooms. Editors, producers and news organizations have to weigh the importance of one story against other news of the day. And the onslaught of news in recent weeks has been extraordinary – the promise at last of peace in the Middle East, the US government shutdown, and the broader battle over militarization of American cities all have vied for attention.

Secondly, national news organization often seek to put news in a broader context and always attempt to report responsibly and fairly.

Even so, when reporters and editors downplay such overt violations of Americans’ rights, they endanger all our freedoms and their own credibility. Some apparently small stories – consider the Watergate break-in, for example – demand detailed coverage and aggressive follow-up. Without it, the public learns next to nothing.

In recent days, Donald Trump has moved aggressively to impose federal rule over the states.

He’s already cowed Congress, the highest court and a growing swath of American businesses, universities and – yes – media companies.

Last week, he twice threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law

that allows the president to deploy the US military domestically and federalize National Guard troops under specific circumstances. It was last used by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 during the Los Angeles riots, but that was at the request of the governor and mayor – not against their will. The law, broadly and vaguely written in ways that allow a president to suppress “an insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy” in a state, has yet to be tested.

Trump has said, however, that Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be jailed for opposing the deployment of Illinois and Texas National Guard troops in Chicago, a city in which – like Washington D.C. before it – crime rates have been in decline.

Pritzker, for his part, has called the Trump administration’s actions, “an unconstitutional invasion of Illinois by the federal government.”

In a New York Times article headlined “JB Pritzker has had it with Democrats Who Won’t Stand up to Trump,” the governor also chided fellow Democrats.

“This is exactly the moment for people to stand up,” he said. “And do I sense enough people are doing it? No, I don’t. It shouldn’t be that there are Democrats that are afraid, because you know what? We’re the targets. We need to be strong, we need to fight back.”

The same message arguably could be sent to news organizations, college presidents, law firms, big businesses and more. But while fear undoubtedly is a factor, it alone doesn’t explain the actions or inactions of we, the people.

Unless the leading news media show and tell American people about specifically egregious actions happening against them on the ground in Chicago and elsewhere, they’re less likely to know how to respond, less able to formulate intelligent opinions of what they believe is right and wrong.

As Pritzker might say, this is exactly the moment for news outlets to cover the news aggressively, not slowly or tepidly – and to follow up on stories such as those people left zip-tied on the streets of Chicago, their apartments ransacked. What happens to American citizens, even poor ones, matters. They are protected by our Constitution, just like everyone else.

Perhaps you’ll remember. It was The Washington Post that told its readers – until dropping the slogan at the outset of Trump’s second term – Democracy Dies in Darkness.

This column first appeared in Lanson’s Substack From the Grassroots.

_____
MONDAY 10/13/25

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

One of the things that doesn’t get a sufficient amount of attention is the simple fact that the government is not a business.

A business provides goods and services to consumers. As a result of that exchange, the business makes a profit.

This is not to say that it is acceptable for the government to do the opposite of making a profit — as in running a debt — but that’s been the status quo for some time now: Debt, debt and more debt.

People imagine that Donald Trump is some sort of magnificent businessman, yet if we look at the national debt during his presidencies, he’s evidently anything but. In 2017, the first year in office of his first term, the national debut was $20.25 trillion. The next year it was $21.52 trillion. In 2019 it was up to $22.72 trillion. 2020 brought it up to $26.95 trillion. 

So during that term the debt rose 33%.

The Biden presidency continued the increase in the size of the debt. 

With 2024 being on his watch the figure was at $35.46 trillion.

Through September 2025, under the Trump Administration, the debt has risen to $37.64 trillion and based on the rate it has grown so far this year, it is projected to reach $39.44 trillion by end of the year.

Hell of a businessman, to put it mildly.

The role of a government is to provide services to the people under its protection (and protection is a large part of what government spending is on). By the populus putting money into a big pot, the government is able to spend more on services than individuals can.

Consider: If the street right outside your house has big potholes in it, odds are that you aren’t going to have the money to call in an asphalt crew to take care of it.

One might think that with the increase in debt, the Trump administration is doing all manner of things to provide superior services to the US population.

And according to recent Gallup polling on what kind of job various federal agencies are doing, if you thought that you would be wrong.

In 2024, according to the poll, 40% thought the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was doing an excellent/good job. In 2025, that number is 31%. So essentially that’s down by 25%, not some sort of margin of error.

The Food and Drug Administration is down to 27%.

Seems like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is doing quite a job, as both fall under his purview.

It is worth noting that the CDC lost 2,400 people this year and the FDA lost 3,500. What are the odds the numbers are going to get better?

We’ve all seen — and no doubt some of us experienced — hurricanes, fires, floods or other major disasters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground for, ready to provide assistance. In 2024 FEMA’s excellent/good rankings was at 40%. Now it is down to 26%. 

FEMA has lost about a third of its employees this year.

Shouldn’t Kristi Noam be spending less time with ICE raids and more time on helping FEMA get back in shape?

And finally, the Environmental Protection Agency seems to be the bête noire of the Administration. For example, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump described climate change as “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and that renewables are a “joke,” “pathetic” and that they “don’t work.” Never mind that during the first half of 2025 renewables accounted for 34.3% of all global electricity generation — surpassing coal’s 33.1%.

Perhaps if more countries were using “clean, beautiful coal” that would not be the case.

Because air pollution is evidently a con job, there’s little need for many people to be working at the EPA. So far this year it has cut about 23% of its workforce and it aims to bring that percentage to 33% by the end of the year.

As for the job it is doing, the Gallup poll says it’s down to 25%.

The debt goes up. The services provided by the government go down.

No, it is not cherry-picking to use Gallup results for the first year of Trump’s second term. Following is some perspective.

How popular was the CDC back in 2003 when George W. Bush was president?

It was at 66%, compared to Trump’s 31%.

The FDA in 2009, when Obama, the man Trump would like everyone to believe was an incompetent (with, perhaps, the exception of Obama’s ability to walk down stairs):

38% compared to Trump’s 27%.

FEMA in 2014, again under Obama?

47% compared to Trump’s 26%.

And the EPA in 2003, again under George W. Bush?

39% compared to Trump’s 25%.

Given the increase in the debt and the decrease in services under Trump, were the US government a business, his stewardship would be putting it out of business.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings, writing primarily for the right column.

_____
MONDAY 10/13/25

Commentary by KE Bell

He doesn’t even have to open his mouth to embarrass decent Americans. 

The architecturally designed miracle of engineering that is his cotton candy hair. The caked-on bronzer. The long red tie to hide his gut. This is the costume of a deeply insecure man who is anything but comfortable in his own skin. 

But then he opens his mouth and it gets so much worse. 

When we awaken every day, there’s no telling who he will insult, who he will bully, who he will target, which racist/misogynist/fascist he will elevate, or how he will attempt to distract from his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. 

There’s no telling which allied country he’ll slap with outrageous tariffs or threaten to invade, which dictator he’ll praise, or what sovereign nation’s citizens he’ll murder without presenting evidence of crimes, specifically drug trafficking. 

On any given day we’re treated to the knowledge of what constitutional article he’s violated, what new corrupt scheme he and his family have cooked up, what atrocity his ICE agents have committed, or what American city he plans to invade with the national guard, the military, or both. 

When it comes time to pass a bill, we learn what horrific policy he’ll not only back but threaten congressional Republicans to back as well. We then learn how it will harm the poor and middle class while further helping those whose cups are already overfilled. 

As bad as he is, it takes a craven cast of sycophants to enable him. As democracy crumbles, the spineless Republican Congress backs his every whim, protects his darkest secrets, gives up its power to the Executive branch, and lies to the American people about the reasons why. His loyalist cabinet carries out his orders with no regard for the constitution, the rule of law, or decency. And the hand-picked, extremist Supreme Court gives him the power of a king.

President Nixon’s crimes pale in comparison to the average week of this administration, and yet Congress 50 years ago found the spine to tell Tricky Dick he would be impeached and removed. Nixon’s attorney general refused to be his attack dog. They found integrity when it mattered most. Today’s political leaders wouldn’t know integrity if it started a super PAC on their behalf. The Democrats are embarrassing as well with their strongly worded letters and occasional capitulation on his legislative agenda and highly unqualified cabinet members. 

Mostly, though, they’re embarrassing because they’re so toothless.

The pressure on the Republican politicians comes not only from the top but also from the right-wing media. Fox News lies to its viewers like it’s the network’s lifeblood. When Fox isn’t lying it’s manufacturing culture wars over who is playing the Super Bowl halftime show, what transgender athlete might have been treated like a human being, or the promiscuity of the green M&M. And Fox isn’t the only malign media influence. It gave birth to even more radical outlets such as One America News and NewsMax. Beyond that, we create our own echo chambers of madness in our social media feeds, pushing us further and further to the extreme and creating less trust in the other side.

The result of the propaganda is the final nail in this coffin of embarrassment: the people who support this blatant conman. How one person could fall for the patter of this silver-spoon snake-oil salesman baffles me. The fact that it’s millions of people seems impossible. It’s shameful that our country is so gullible, so brainwashed, so uneducated, so hateful, so racist, so ignorant, or so interested in their own tax breaks that they’ll cede power to a corrupt politician who wants only to line his pockets and satisfy his ego while actively harming his supporters.

One man has made us a laughingstock on the world stage, but it has taken an attack dog cabinet, a compliant congress, a rigged Supreme Court, a radical media machine, and an ill-advised populace to make it happen. 

Bell is contributing pundit to The Hustings.

_____
WEDNESDAY 10/8/25

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

“During the trade war, when China targeted soybeans and other US agricultural products with retaliatory tariffs, American farmers had to be bailed out with tens of millions of dollars in federal subsidies. Both sides have the same fear: that as the bilateral relationship deteriorates the other will suddenly weaponize trade flows and restrict imports or exports. While US farmers remain vulnerable to the whims of Beijing, Chinese importers are diversifying their sourcing to become less reliant on the United States.”—Chad P. Bown and Yilin Wang, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Here's the thing: that quote comes from March 21, 2023.

“Farmers getting squeezed on both ends of a renewed and potentially uglier trade war likely means taxpayers will get squeezed to help cover the consequences. The first Trump administration took $23 billion from taxpayers and gave it to farmers to compensate for their losses. In her January Senate confirmation hearing, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins referenced the bailout, noting, ‘We are prepared to execute something similar … we can’t reinvent the wheel.’”—Tad DeHaven, the Cato Institute

That is something closer in time: March 26, 2025.

But it is notable because the Cato Institute’s mission, in part is “moving public policy in the direction of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace,” which makes it more conservative in the classic sense than many so-called conservative organizations out there.

And to get to October 7, 2025, there’s this in a story in The New York Times titled “Trump to Unveil Farmer Aid as China Shuns U.S. Crops”:

“We have an export-dependent industry, we’ve angered its biggest customer, and, boom, now we’re bailing out the export-dependent industry.”

That’s from Scott Linicome, veep for general economics at Cato, referring to China (the “biggest customer”) and American farming (the “export-dependent industry”).

According to the Times article:

“Through July, China bought $2.5 billion fewer soybeans than the same period last year and has purchased none since May. If Chinese buyers continue holding out, America will sell $10 billion fewer soybeans to China than it did last year.

“The drop in sorghum exports is even starker. Last year China bought about $1.3 billion worth of American sorghum. But sorghum exports to China are down 97% this year.”

President Trump has suggested that he’s thinking about taking some of the money taken in by tariffs (a.k.a., the taxes on goods Americans buy from foreign countries) and distributing them, once again, to the farmers.

A couple of points.

Trump has characterized tariffs as the price that other countries pay (they don’t) in order to have the opportunity to sell their goods in the US.

So, sugar and coffee, fresh fruits and vegetables, and more have higher prices due to higher tariffs, and the American consumer pays that.

And China, which imports literal boatloads of products like soybeans, has simply pivoted to other sources, like Brazil.

How is that working out for the American consumer? How is that working out for the American farmer?

Not good.

How, exactly, are these tariffs going to make US agriculture stronger? The tariffs on steel, copper and aluminum are raising prices on the equipment farmers need to buy.

Potash fertilizer, of which the US has little in the way of domestic sources, is imported from Canada and subject to a 25% tariff — which ultimately the farmers have to pay.

And that’s not the only fertilizer.

It seems as though the administration thinks that the US is the only country that “has all the cards” when it comes to trade.

But this case of soybeans shows that’s not the case.

The administration has shown that it is not a reliable partner (e.g., Trump crafted and signed USMCA, yet has essentially trashed it), so more countries will find other partners to work with.

In the short run, not good. And there has been no compelling argument as to why the long run is going to be any different for farmers, manufacturers or consumers.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.

_____
WEDNESDAY 10/8/25

The Senate is expected to meet and vote on Republicans’ stopgap government funding again on Monday, but the vote is not expected to get sufficient Democratic support for passage, NPR reports.

Who is/are to blame for the shutdown? Each party is blaming the other, and initial polling indicates the general public mostly blames the party in power. 

This column and the one on the right are for your thoughts on the matter. To wit:

It’s the GOP’s Fault -- I blame Republicans, who control all three branches of government.

They keep blaming the Dems, natch, partly with the ridiculous claim the party wants illegals to keep getting health care. NOT even possible!

President Felon is using this shutdown to do more damage and get rid of more of his so-called "enemies" –Jean Halliday, via Facebook (identifies politically as “independent.”)

•••

Email your COMMENTS  on this and other issues to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

_____
MONDAY 10/6/25

Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

It is breathtaking how little an understanding of economics exists at the highest levels of our government.

No, I am not talking about the president (though then-Sen. Marco Rubio put out a press release in 2016 about the four times — Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza Hotel (1992), Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts (2004), Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009) — Trump filed for bankruptcy; nor am I referring to Trump Shuttle, Trump University, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, and Trump Steaks, all of which fairly quickly ceased to exist, which presumably indicates there wasn’t anything in the way of ROI for those ventures.

Rather, I’m talking about US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

While the Commerce Department probably doesn’t get a whole lot of thought, it is important. Traditionally it does things like promote US businesses and help them increase their competitiveness. So, for example, it would make General Motors more competitive so its products are better than anything from Volkswagen or Audi. Which goes to another thing the Commerce Department does, which is deal with international trade. So those better GM vehicles could be brought to Europe and people there would buy them because they are as competitive as anything they could get from VW or Audi.

But rather than making things better for the likes of GM, Team Trump, quarterbacked by Lutnick, is making things more difficult. How many people are being employed trying to figure out the tariff fees at the automaker when they should be employing people figuring out how to make even better vehicles? But real businesses only have so much money to spend, so decisions are made that keeps in compliance with the government taxing scheme while automakers in places like China are getting government support. 

In a recent interview with NewsNation*, Lutnick said that the Trump Administration is pressuring Taiwan — which makes 60%+ of all of the world’s semiconductors and more than 90% of the advanced chips (e.g., <5 nanometers) — to move half of its production capacity to the US.

(Going back to the whole issue of numbers: Lutnick said “95% of our chips used in smartphones and cars, as well as in critical military defense technology” is produced in Taiwan. Which is not true. There are plenty of >5 nanometer chips being used in a variety of applications and are important.)

(Going back to the whole issue of numbers: Lutnick said “95% of our chips used in smartphones and cars, as well as in critical military defense technology” are produced in Taiwan. Which is not true. There are plenty of >5 nanometer chips being used in a variety of applications -- including cars -- and are important. What's more, according to a paper "US Exposure to the Taiwanese Semiconductor Industry" by the US International Trade Commission, published in November 2023: "We estimate that in 2021, about 44.2% of US imports of logic chips were manufactured in Taiwan, compared to 24.4% of US imports of memory chips and 1.0% of US imports of analog chips from Taiwan." It is hard to conceive that there has been a rise of the magnitude Lutnick cites in a comparatively short period. This is not to say that Taiwan doesn't have significant semiconductor manufacturing capability, nor that it doesn't have a leadership position when it comes to the latest semiconductor manufacturing technology. But the 95% statement is an exaggeration, something that seems to be the Administration's M.O.)

While Lutnick acknowledged that the Taiwanese government isn’t going to be delighted with moving about half of its supply chain to the US, he played the “protection” card: “Donald Trump would say it’s not healthy for you or healthy for us because we protect you, and for us to protect you [then] you need to help us achieve. . .reasonable self-sufficiency.”

So there it is. The country that has long been the defender of the Free World now doesn’t care a bit about doing that unless it is going to get some payment for that. 

Forget ideals.

The largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world is TSMC. That’s “Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.”

Clearly, TSMC did the hard work to get where it is.

But now Team Trump wants that.

Maybe “free trade” doesn’t work. 

But we should know better and do better than promulgate “extortion trade.”

*Hat tip to Ars Technica

_____
MONDAY 10/6/25