Odds and Ends — 8 April 2025

Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:

Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B

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Wall St pares gains after CNBC says White House not aware of tariff pause

Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:

Global study supports the immunity debt hypothesis for flu after COVID restrictions

Politics:

How to make $3.8 trillion disappear in the federal budget

Most Americans might be rightly focused on President Donald Trump’s trade war and the tariff drama that has devalued retirement accounts and nest eggs and has Americans sweating higher prices.
But then something notable happened in the wee hours of Saturday morning when Senate Republicans advanced a budget blueprint that could make $3.8 trillion disappear.
Math is notoriously fuzzy in Washington, DC.

The Opposite of What Americans Voted For

During the first two turbulent months of President Donald Trump’s term, the White House has shrugged off scrutiny of its most controversial policies with a simple assertion: The American people voted for this.
Now, Trump allies and GOP voters spooked by the tariff-induced market crash are beginning to respond en masse: No, we didn’t.
Said GOP pollster Whit Ayres: “Trump was elected in part to lower inflation and juice the economy. Higher prices and slower growth are exactly the opposite of what Americans voted for.”

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

Trump’s Tariffs and the End of American Empire

The president stands as much chance of reindustrializing the U.S. as you do of getting your frozen laptop to work by smashing the motherboard with a Minecraft hammer.

Stable genius:

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The Age of Tariffs

Rather than fixing the rules that some U.S. trading partners took advantage of, Trump has chosen to blow up the entire system. He has taken the hatchet to trade with practically every major U.S. trading partner, sparing neither allies nor rivals. China now faces high tariffs, yes, but so do Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Long-standing, mutually beneficial economic relationships and geopolitical alliances have counted for little.
Many people hope that Trump’s tariffs will prove ephemeral—that, confronted with tanking stocks and rising prices, Washington will roll the restrictions back. It is possible that the White House will lower some of its rates, especially as countries lobby for exemptions. But the reality is that the age of free trade is unlikely to come back. Instead, any haggling between Trump and other states will shape an emerging economic system defined by protectionism, tensions, and transactions. The result will not be more jobs, as Trump has pledged. It will be turbulence for all, and for years to come.

———— Autocracy R Us ————

Armed Marshals Sent to Intimidate Career Pardon Attorney

The U.S. Justice Department dispatched armed U.S. marshals to deliver a letter warning a fired career pardon attorney about testifying to congressional Democrats.

Justices Allow Alien Enemies Act Deportations to Resume

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to resume use of the Aliens Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador.
It’s a big win for President Trump’s immigration policies, though the court ruled that the government has to give deportees “reasonable time” to challenge their removal in court before leaving the country.

———— Putin&Krasnov ————

Pentagon Mulls Plan to Cut Troops from Europe

Senior Defense Department officials are considering a proposal to withdraw as many as 10,000 troops from Eastern Europe, sparking concern on both continents that it would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The units under consideration are part of the 20,000 personnel the Biden administration deployed in 2022 to strengthen the defenses of countries bordering Ukraine after the Russian invasion. The numbers are still being discussed, but the proposal could involve removing up to half of the forces sent by Biden.

By now it’s obvious to anyone willing to see — which many people still aren’t — that Donald Trump is, in practice, waging war against American greatness. And the attack is taking place on multiple fronts.
For the past few days everyone has understandably been focused on tariffs and the destruction of the world trading system. But in the long run, and maybe much sooner than that, the dire impacts of tariffs may be matched by the havoc Trumpism is wreaking in other areas.

Mike Johnson Faces Another GOP Rebellion

Speaker Mike Johnson has a rebellion on his hands. And this is supposed to be the easy part of passing President Donald Trump’s agenda.
In the midst of crafting one of the most difficult pieces of legislation ever – not just tax cuts but massive spending cuts too – Johnson wants House Republicans to trust him to win a showdown with Senate Republicans. That’s a huge ask.
Members from across the Republican Conference are telling Johnson and his top lieutenants that they don’t support the House-Senate compromise budget resolution, throwing into doubt whether the speaker can get the votes this week to pass it.
By the House GOP leadership’s estimate, there are as many as a dozen no votes. Many House leadership sources believe there are far more. Johnson can only lose three Republicans on this party-line vote.

Trump administration weighs drone strikes on Mexican cartels