‘This is charting new ground' – Donald Trump uses ‘untested' law to deploy National Guard to LA protests
©Washington Post
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Donald Trump's order to deploy 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles is unprecedented, relying on an unorthodox use of a law aimed at quelling serious domestic unrest or an attack on the United States by a foreign power, some legal experts said yesterday.
Mr Trump invoked a section of the Armed Forces Act that allows the president to bypass a governor's authority over the National Guard and call those troops into federal service when he considers it necessary to repel an invasion or suppress a rebellion, the law states.
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Irish Times
35 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Maybe we shouldn't be quite so smug about Trump's tariffs
The hysteria surrounding Trump's tariffs prompted me to dust down my old economics textbook. I was reminded that tariffs are a legitimate, albeit imprecise and potentially counterproductive, tool used by governments to try to help grow domestic industries. There was nothing in what I learned as an economics student at university to suggest tariffs were inherently evil. But then I was in college before neoliberalism really took off – under a succession of political leaders from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama – to become the world's ruling ideology. The German sociologist Wolfgang Streeck has monitored this hardening of attitudes over the years, noting how 'protectionism' has become a dirty word. Under modern capitalism, 'protection of home populations and their way of life from economic subordination by 'free markets'', has become 'widely regarded as unethical', he writes in Taking Back Control?, his latest book. Streeck is a European intellectual admired by nerdy sections of the left. He was called 'the Karl Marx of our time' in a New York Times profile last year, while President Michael D Higgins has referenced his ideas in past speeches. But Streeck (his name rhymes with 'cake') is also one of the left's chief critics, which may help to explain why he remains a fringe commentator in public debate. READ MORE Before rushing to condemn Trump and his growing band of 'populist' imitators in Europe, Streeck encourages us to consider what their brand of politics hopes to achieve. The desire to protect national economic interests can be traced back to what he calls the 'dual crisis' of capitalism and democracy. 'First, the workings of international high capitalism, set free and financialised by neoliberalism, have increasingly become a mystery to the societies subject to it,' he writes. 'Second, the societies of developed capitalism are suffering from the way the internationalisation of the state system has become bogged down in a contest between the neoliberal internationalism of its elites and the newly emerging nationalism, or localism, of growing sections of their populations.' There is a lot to unpack in those two statements – Streeck's love of compound sentences and his occasional over-exaggerations are other reasons why he remains a fringe commentator. However, there is an undeniable truth at the core of Streeck's thesis: the will of the people and the will of global markets are now at war. A worrying feature in Ireland is the moral superiority that accompanies much commentary around Trump's protectionist agenda and, previously, Brexit. It is very easy for us to paint the Brits and Yanks as insular and jingoistic when our corporate tax policies have helped to create the conditions for both Britain and the United States to be resentful about globalisation. [ Corporate tax receipts drop 30% as Trump's tariffs bite Opens in new window ] There is further irony in the glee that generally accompanies news that Trump's efforts are being stymied by the markets . Since 'Liberation Day' on April 2nd, Trump has had to perform a series of U-turns over his tariff announcements due to bond market hostility. Democrats have begun mocking him with the 'Taco' slogan – short for Trump Always Chickens Out – which was coined by Wall Street traders . Before chortling at Trump's discomfort, however, consider that the markets puncturing Trump's ambitions are the same markets which stopped Ireland from burning bondholders after the 2008 financial crash, and which today are threatening to dictate policy on Ireland's housing crisis. Rents in Ireland are already obscenely high and no political party has a mandate to make tenants pay more. Yet the Government looks set to weaken rent controls under pressure from global capital. Deloitte, one of the Big Four consultancy firms, told Ministers last month that current housing policies were deterring investors and it warned 'the flow of private capital' will go elsewhere without reform. Ireland has benefited more than most countries from globalisation, but at a cost. Increasingly we have had to cede sovereignty to gain the full benefits of international capital flows. How can states 'take back control' from the markets? Streeck believes there are two options. First, to create a 'superstate' – or world government – that purports to regulate the markets in the public interest. Historically, however, 'there is no example of sovereign states merging voluntarily into a superstate', he notes. The other option is 'to rehabilitate the nation-state as the main arena of democratic politics under capitalism'. Voluntary co-operation between nation states can be just as effective as a superstate in tackling issues like climate change and global conflict, he argues. 'A restored democratic nation-state ... could, and should, commit itself openly to economic patriotism, and even protectionism ,' writes Streeck – he italicises the word to highlight its loaded use by neoliberals. 'There is no more important function for a democratic state under capitalism than the protection of its citizens from capitalism's risk and adverse side effects.' That's not to say Trump's particular brand of protectionism is wise. But for Streeck it is understandable why a government acting on the will of the people would wish to 'separate the domestic economy from the outside world'. It is a conversation we need to have here, with less smirking please over other countries' upheavals. Globalisation has brought Ireland huge economic benefits, but it is naive to think other states will prop up a system that benefits us more than them. Naive, too, to assume Ireland will benefit disproportionately from globalisation as time goes on.
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Letters: Donald Trump's response to LA protests a lot tougher than Capitol Hill riots response
Is this actually a riot or just a protest? There have been many demonstrations around the world that governments have declared a riot, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds. Media coverage of events in the US shows violence, but it seems to be mainly coming from the National Guard side, although of course most coverage shows the sensational first. If we accept that sending in the National Guard to break up a riot is the right thing to do, then why didn't it happen in a more timely manner at the January 6 Capitol Hill riots? They were real riots and Trump didn't call in the forces then. Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia I'll raise a glass or two for those brave enough to admit a Guinness aversion In his letter, Enda Cullen tells us that he is not a fan of Guinness and has never had a pint of same. ('Here is a confession: I don't like Guinness', Sunday Independent, June 8). I am partial to the odd pint of Guinness myself. Being of course a matter of taste, I take Enda's point, and perhaps his pint? Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9 Fantastic Limerick and Cork hurling clash a thrill for even us neutral fans Congratulations to Limerick and Cork hurlers on serving up a fantastic and heart-stopping game of hurling on Saturday. There were really no losers for the neutrals. Hurling keeps on giving season after season. The beautiful game. ADVERTISEMENT Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18 Government needs to take proactive steps to ensure nursing-home standards In Ireland, nursing homes tend to be regarded as a place of last resort and are often situated geographically and metaphorically off the public radar. Most residents are aged 85 years or over and have complex co-morbid conditions, with dementia estimated to affect two-thirds. About 32,000 people are living in nursing homes in Ireland. According to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), private entities manage 80pc of beds nationally. Social policy has increasingly been driven by a neoliberalist marketisation of care, with the shift towards the private at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens. Such policies, allied to failures to invest appropriately in supports to help people to 'age in place', have resulted in premature and unnecessary admission to nursing-home care, particularly for those people with dementia. Unfortunately, people are falling through the cracks and coming to harm because of gaps in our health and social-care system. Poor standards of care, as well as neglect and abuse of residents, are not always reported, and sometimes may be deliberately concealed. The three most common complaints around nursing-home care are: insufficient staffing; substandard care and living conditions; and agency neglect or mistreatment. The closed organisational culture in some nursing homes makes it exceptionally challenging for staff to speak up and report abuse. The Government needs to take more proactive measures to ensure the sustainability and quality of our nursing-home care. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Michael D Higgins should reconsider his criticism considering Labour roots President Michael D Higgins has criticised the British government's recent announcement of a £1.5bn (€1.7bn) investment in defence spending. Surely this new spending decision is the British government's own business? Ironic that the main reason for the need to increase defence spending is mainly down to Russian aggression, when the Labour parties in these islands and beyond not so long ago admired and extolled the virtues of the Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union. Indeed, as I recall, The Red Flag was and is the theme song of the Labour Party across the water, as well as here. And I'm sure President Higgins himself could belt out the song if the opportunity presented itself. Peter Declan O'Halloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan McAleese's great work with the GAA integration could earn her top UN seat I sometimes regret that the Government didn't nominate former president Mary McAleese as secretary general of the United Nations. Her interpersonal skills, her courage in confronting difficult issues and her ability to deliver workable solutions makes her a woman of substance. If Mrs McAleese was sitting in the hot seat at UN headquarters in New York there would be a lot less self-serving tactical manoeuvring and far more direct action taken to put manners on the Donald Trumps, Vladimir Putins and Benjamin Netanyahus of this world. What she has achieved as chairperson of the Steering Group on Integration (SGI) of the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Camogie Association and the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association is remarkable. The SGI has come up with a definitive pathway for Gaelic games to operate under one GAA umbrella from 2027. There is now an unstoppable momentum behind the process. Grassroots members are excited about the integrated GAA, which will be based on equality, inclusion, respect and togetherness. In one association, Gaelic games will grow from strength to strength under a single administration with a common bond between all of its members. Of added value in the integrated GAA is that members of both sexes can mix freely with like-minded people in a healthy environment. The training, playing and social dimensions will allow boys and girls to get to know each other in a realistic and meaningful way. Hopefully, many enduring friendships, relationships and marriages will have their origins in a progressive unisex association. Who needs online dating agencies when the real deal will be available on the playing fields of the new GAA? Well done, Mary McAleese.
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
The week ahead in business: Gabriel Makhlouf before Oireachtas committee, Central Bank report on financial stability, and CSO Live Register figures
It's far more likely, of course, that politicians will pursue him on the Central Bank's role in authorising the sale of Israeli bonds. There may also be questions about his recent remark that the Government should 'take stock' before making any further interventions in the housing market, as he wondered if they were all 'mutually supportive'. Also on Wednesday, the Central Bank will publish its latest Financial Stability Review, a twice-yearly report that evaluates the main risks facing the financial system, and assesses our resilience in the face of those risks. Tomorrow, the Fiscal Advisory Council will publish its assessment of the economic situation, looking at the impact of on-off tariffs as well as the state of the public finances. The independent watchdog will no doubt run its rule over the Government's annual progress report, published at the start of last month. Staying with tariffs, and tomorrow marks the end of the European Commission's public consultation on what products should be hit by counter-measures to US president Donald Trump's levies if negotiations between the EU and US fail to agree on terms. On Wednesday, the Institute of International and European Affairs is hosting an event on European security, and specifically the EU White Paper on Defence. The keynote address will be given by Thomas Byrne, junior minister for European affairs. A panel discussion on the issue will feature Professor Brigid Laffan, and it will be moderated by Catherine Day, a former secretary-general of the European Commission. The Central Statistics Office will have Live Register figures today, but its most interesting release this week comes tomorrow, when it will have an update on how much electricity is being used by data centres. They currently consume one-fifth of Ireland's power supply, but that proportion is projected to rise to one-third in the next few years.
