News from Vietnam

A very interesting column at American Greatness entitled “Did We Just Win the Vietnam War?” It appears the government of Vietnam is moving away from Marxism-Leninism and toward a market economy. Color me not surprised.

We visited Vietnam in early 2010 while cruising, making several stops. We experienced it as one of the most small-c capitalist places imaginable, even though scarlet and yellow communist hammer-and-sickle flags were flying everywhere and billboards of socialist realism exhortations abounded.

Everybody seemed to be in business one way or another, selling, buying, or renting space. While the government praised Communism, the people were doing private enterprise with great gusto and nobody except me and the other DrC seemed to see a conflict.

Apparently the Vietnamese government has finally figured out what their people were doing and ‘regularized’ it as “nationalism.” Good for them. Nice people, nice country, terrible climate - sweltering heat and humidity. 

The Long Game

Writing for RealClearPolicy, Joe Palaggi looks at the long game Trump is playing with the economy. He is rebuilding domestic manufacturing and reshoring microchips and pharmaceuticals. Rebalancing our trade relations and pushing the reestablishment of manufacturing employment.

Palaggi writes consumers notice higher costs and may not be willing to wait for the good things to come downstream. See his conclusion.

History doesn’t remember who won the news cycle. It remembers who rebuilt the foundation. If America abandons long-term economic sovereignty for short-term comfort, we’ll find ourselves once again dependent on foreign suppliers, foreign fuel, and foreign debt — a nation outsourcing its future for convenience.

The administration’s challenge isn’t just inflation. It’s inattention. Trump may be playing the long game. The question is whether America still has the patience to let him finish it.

We basically won World War II because we were the accurately named “arsenal of democracy.” Our factories outproduced the Axis powers. 

The rebuilding of domestic manufacturing is critical to our ability to defend our nation. We’ve given away that capacity, and need to reestablish it. Simultaneously we can rebuild economic opportunity for America’s working class and reduce the incidence of “deaths of despair.”

Time Horizons

It is widely reported President Trump has urged the Republican-majority Senate to dump the rule requiring 60 votes to break a filibuster in order to reopen the government. Republican senators resist this move. 

Perhaps it is worth noting why this difference of opinion exists among Republicans who normally agree. The answer rests in the fact that the Senate and this president have differing time horizons.

President Trump has until January of 2029 - just over 3 years - to accomplish whatever is on his agenda. Constitutionally he is term limited by that cutoff date, which makes him in a hurry to get things done.

Senators have a six year term and, often two or more of those. As such they realize in our de facto two party system it is quite likely each will spend some part of their Senate tenure in the minority. The filibuster rule empowers the minority, or more accurately it limits the power of a narrow majority to make major changes in our national governance.

Imagine John Thune & Co. thinking about a future Democrat majority nationalizing health care or emptying the prisons or worse. Being able to prevent such moves is important to Republicans. 

Trump is thinking “I’ve only got 3 years” while GOP senators are thinking “It’s likely I’m here for the rest of my political life.” Those are very different time horizons, hence different priorities. To POTUS time’s a-wasting, senators see the shutdown as a speed bump in a much longer journey.