Fascism on the Rise Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show · Burt Cohen

Trade Peace Beats Trade War: Where Are the Democrats?

·57 min·3 clips

Everybody wants low prices, and blanket tariffs jack up prices for everyone.

1. Fascism on the Rise Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show centers on Trump's trade war and Democratic trade policy. 2. Burt Cohen hosts the episode, and guest Bill Scher is the politics editor of Washington Monthly and host of When America Worked. 3. The episode asks whether Democrats should answer Trump's tariffs with "trade peace" instead of "trade war." 4. Scher says tariffs can make sense for Chinese steel because Chinese firms undercut prices and follow different labor and environmental rules. 5. He says blanket tariffs fail because the global economy is interconnected and America does not produce its own chocolate or cocoa. 6. Cohen brings up NAFTA, Bill Clinton, Obama, and Hillary Clinton to show how trade splits Democrats across generations. 7. Scher says NAFTA likely lowered some consumer prices but displaced workers and towns that expected trade adjustment assistance and retraining. 8. He says Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership was sold partly as a way to contain China, but the Democratic Party lacked credibility on trade by then. 9. Scher argues that tariffs hit farmers, domestic steel, domestic cars, and electric vehicles differently in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and other states. 10. He says everyone wants low prices, so tariffs that jack up prices can alienate even voters who like protection for local industries. 11. Scher says Democrats are caught between winning back working-class voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin and opposing inflation. 12. He says Republicans are split between Chamber of Commerce free traders and MAGA figures like JD Vance and Steve Bannon. 13. Scher argues that Trump's move from campaign promises to daily tariff changes creates uncertainty for business investment. 14. He says Republicans in office may eventually distance themselves if the midterms punish them for a weaker economy. 15. The episode uses Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer, Chris Deluzio, and Richie Torres to show that Democratic trade views vary by region and constituency. 16. Scher says Whitmer sounds more sympathetic to tariffs than Torres, who condemns Trump's "weaponization of tariffs" on social media. 17. The tone is conversational and argumentative, with Burt Cohen interrupting, restating, and pressing Scher for political implications. 18. The format mixes current politics, state-level examples, and history, including William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and the income tax. 19. Listeners interested in Democrats, tariffs, and the politics of industrial states will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting a short, non-historical politics discussion may skip it.

As heard by us

A sober trade debate that keeps circling back to tariffs, manufacturing, and the Democrats' next move.

Trade war politics and the backlash to globalism sit at the center of this conversation, with Democrats' response kept in view but not overplayed.

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Why you'd press play

You want the trade-war argument without the cable-news shouting.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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