June 23, 2018

Is the BMW 750i a Threat to National Security?

BMW of North America

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So Donald Trump is now publicly threatening to slap a 20 percent tariff on European cars in retaliation for Europe’s retaliation over Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. I’m not going to bother writing yet again about how dumb this is. I just want to ask what the alleged justification will be. National security?

It’s obviously nonsense that American national security is endangered in any way by importing a million BMWs and Mercedes each year for rich people to tool around in. Nevertheless, that’s all Trump has, so that’s what he’s forced to use. But here’s the thing: Trump has this power because of a congressional statute. It’s not carved into the Constitution or the Ten Commandments. That means Congress can remove or restrain the power easily.

They won’t, of course. But why not?

And a question for whatever kind of lawyer specializes in this kind of thing: Is there any chance of a court putting a stop to this? I know that courts are traditionally very deferential to claims of national security, but where’s the limit? This obviously has nothing to do with national security, and Trump himself has said so on occasion. If it went into effect, could a car company sue to stop it?

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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