Local Conditions. Trump’s America and its Neighbors 5 21 2026

May 21, 2026May 23, 2026 ~ nicholasjayboyes

It would seem that Donald Trump has a history of constant threats and intimidation of not only foreign countries like Iran and Afghanistan on the other side of the world, but also Canada, Mexico and Cuba.

First it was Canada, when Trump started calling the “51st” state. He also called the Prime Minister “governor” repeatedly.

Canada values, like America’s other neighbors, its sovereignty. Although they still honor Britain, they never practiced slavery. The remnants of slavery still exist in America, with large ghettos of freed slaves still present more than 100 years after the abolition of slavery. Simply put, massive ghettos Southern style do not exist in Canada. If Trump took over the lumpenproletariat would be removed to Canada, as well as honest migrants.

Then there is Mexico, connected to the drug war near Venezuela, where the army is bombing boats linked to drug dealing. The cartels down there are selling the luxury goods, often lethal, to buyers north of the order. Trump has threatened to use the CIA to stop the drug gangs.

With these two countries there is also the tariffs, Steel and Aluminum is subject to a 50% tariff under Trump. Even Mexico has not had to pay what Canada has to pay to enter the American metals market. Recently the Supreme Court detoothed Trump’s ability to apply tariffs, but some remain a problem.

Trump has yet to have threatened to conquer Mexico, although he now calls the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”. They discovered Mexico and in 1846 conquered the northern part of it. Its residents are now returning, Trump’s response is military. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is active in the Southwest to stop illegal migration, much of it from America’s nearest southern neighbor, Mexico.

Mexicans in Trump’s America are often treated harshly, ICE has a history of violence when stopping migrants. Sometimes it is even white people who get repressed, like protestors in Minneapolis.

Last but not least of neighboring countries, Cuba shares the southern border a mere 228 miles (367 Km) from Miami, just 95 miles (145km) from the state of Florida. They are currently under embargo again, with Trump threatening sanctions on any country that supplies oil to them. They do not have solar panels and have no way of producing electricity. They have been embargoed almost constantly since the revolution in 1959, with only brief let ups like under Barack Obama.

It seems like every day Trump gets closer and closer to direct threats of violence against Cuba. What does Cuba see when they look at Trump? They see Mar a Lago, his castle on the border of Cuba. He lives a bourgeois lifestyle right next to repression caused suffering, the Cubans are under embargo by him.

It is a sorry tale what our casino owning president did to neighbors who once trusted the Americans. Canada is trading with China now, they are buying 50,000 electric cars a year from China. The big 3 non metric auto manufacturers are up in arms, Trump has his lips sewed to their ass, keeping cars that cost 5 times what a Chinese EV costs competitive.

The whole purpose of the tariffs was to keep American exports competitive by raising prices on everything, so commodities produced in America would be able to compete. But you can buy 5 BYD EV’s for the price of one large petroleum motored Detroit auto.

Cuba has stood up to the bourgeoisie for more than half a century. The socialist revolution is really in force there, after several changes in government. Fidel Castro, the leader of the revolution there passed away November 25, 2015 at 90. He led Cuba as a socialist country, nationalizing the land, much of it owned by the United Fruit Company, large American landowners.

This put the bourgeoisie and Castro on a collision course, and Trump is no different. In 1961 John F. Kennedy decided to invade Cuba, considering Fidel to be a criminal. It failed, and Fidel would rule 46 years as a constant thorn in the side of capitalists.

Cuba has known attempts to stop the revolution, and Trump’s efforts may not work, as in Iran. It is hard to believe the bourgeoisie could take comfort in not being able to change Iran into its colony. It’s a small country in the developing world, and does not border a rich country like Cuba.

Yet Iran has survived the latest military aircraft show of force, fighting back and forcing Trump to content himself with pious wishes of no “Weapons of Mass Destruction” there. He has given up on removing nationalized oil there, and Trump now asks for Iran not to be like the neighbor it shares a 565 mile (905 km) and build an atomic bomb. Israel has them too, so does India.

Given what just went down it should be clear Iran does not need a nuclear weapon to stop the Americans. They stand and remain a non colonized nation, even with the port embargoed.

Cuba has not attacked another country, no less America. Yet the cruel and unusual punishment continues, and is ratcheting up again under Trump. Lowering the embargo could lessen the suffering there. Petroleum is in short supply, electrical generation solar panels are also needed.

Trump may be able to make Cuba suffer, but what is the plan to replace the revolution with? Capitalism? A reactionary bourgeoisie? Given the options Cuba really has no choice but to keep fighting. The men who gave their lives to create the revolution may no longer be with us, Fidel passed at 90 ten years ago. But their legacy and ideas of a sovereign Cuba not under the yoke of any foreign power remain.

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

5 21 2026

Role of Conflict in Society. Goals and Effects of This. 5 12 2026

May 12, 2026May 12, 2026 ~ nicholasjayboyes

Role of Conflict in Society. Goals and Effects of This 5 12 2026

Donald Trump has been president for two terms now. His war machine now has attacked 3 countries, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Iran. He is now calling what was the defense department the “Department of War”.

The war effort in Afghanistan did not work out; at least it brought home no capital. In Venezuela, Trump had a coup d’etat against Nicholas Maduro. It remains to be seen if a profit can be made pumping the oil there, assuming companies will be willing to take the risk of going there and working given nationalization could be the result.

Trump’s latest war against Iran, in a cease fire currently, has also not resulted in victory, like Afghanistan. In the latter the Americans spent a lot of money, and got no real return.

The purpose of war is, one, conquer the country and take anything you want, then, two, put the conquered population to work supporting the conquering country.

In Afghanistan only number one was achieved. There was no profit made there, this tells us the Americans and NATO did not win there.

At this point, Donald Trump’s Department of War looks like a non profit organisation. One may say adventures like Afghanistan and Iran are for the public good, but it remains to be seen if Iran is like Afghanistan, a large expenditure of capital and men with no profit coming home.

Our casino owner seems to have pious wishes. But pious wishes do not always bring popularity, and the bourgeois effort to conquer Iran is deeply unpopular, like Afghanistan towards the 20 year mark of war.

Don’s coup in Venezuela seems to have emboldened him to attack Iran. The result was Iran fought back, and now the Americans are getting no military help from NATO, who seems to have learned about Middle Eastern military adventures with the bourgeoisie.

Now that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices have doubled. The gains of war in Iraq, control by Chevron and ExxonMobil of the oil wells there, expropriated from their nationalized state by Americans, are now unable to ship through the Strait. Every day that goes by is a loss for ExxonMobil, it is unable to sell oil and make a profit.

Don feels he is helping society by attacking Iran. Even if he was, the fact of the matter is capitalists expect to make a profit anytime there is labor involved. And although war may seem unproductive, a profit can always be made employing the conquered population in capitalist factories.

But all we have ever seen with Don is a non profit effort, in Afghanistan and Iran.

It makes one wonder how much longer capitalists will tolerate this. With control of both Houses of Congress and the presidency, the Republican bourgeoisie can only blame themselves for their inability to bring home the capital from Iran. And they can blame Joe Biden for ending the war after 20 long years in a defeat, but it was Trump who made the peace agreements with the Taliban; Biden just honored them.

The mid term elections are coming, and the Republican bourgeoisie may lose its majority in the House of Representatives due to these factors. The Senate rarely falls, it is dominated by large landowners. They are reliably more reactionary than the big bourgeoisie, who sometimes support the radical democrats. The possibility of losing has sparked a desperate effort to draw new lines in voting districts to keep a Republican majority. It’s been most effective in the South, dominated by large landowners. Fear of nationalization of the land drives forward the most reactionary measures to control suffrage, for instance requiring people to show up to vote on the day of the election rather than just being mailed a ballot.

The Trumpers will only have themselves to blame if they lose the war in Iran. If it stops tomorrow, it remains a non profit effort by Don. Who will buy the weapons used, if they cannot achieve victory in a developing world country, with little resources?

That is how it stands, and time is ticking. The midterm elections could change the course considerably, but nothing will change if perfection is the only way a person votes. The radical democrats are the liberal progressive bourgeoisie, but in the past they have sided with the proletariat, for instance in Europe in 1940. The sentiment is not so strong today, but nevertheless they appear less extreme than the reactionary bourgeoisie. It remains to be seen if this can translate into victory for them. It is only by being flexible one will achieve change, unbending objects break when pressure is applied. Obstructionist tactics will not be effective, workers representatives are needed who can try to legislate change. This is not the end all result of worker organization, but begins to address the political movement. At this point obstructionism will only isolate the workers movement further. With elections coming Don’s machine could be dealt a decisive blow.

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

5 12 2026

Renewal of Tariff Money to Importers. Trump Returns the Money. 4 25 2026

April 25, 2026 ~ nicholasjayboyes

Renewal of Tariff Money to Importers. Trump Returns the Money. 4 25 2026

We began getting used to the announcement of tariffs on social media by Donald Trump, often in the middle of the night on his website. He used tariffs to punish or reward other countries, related to political actions, for instance when he imposed tariffs on Brazil due to the treatment of Jair Bolsonaro.

He later backed out of that one, but the system was yet intact for Trump to use tariffs to gain power in international relations and communication.

“On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that tariffs imposed by the President under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unlawful. The Court affirmed that Congress, not the Executive Branch, holds the exclusive authority to impose tariffs. This decision invalidates roughly $166 billion in collected duties. “

Google tariffs supreme court

It was a pivotal decision by a court that in many people’s eyes was totally subordinate to Trump, as he appointed 3 of the justices when he was dictator, ruling without a majority.

This led shortly in time to the effort to get the money spent from tariffs back to companies who paid the tax.

“April 20 (Reuters) – The refund system set up to allow companies to recover illegally collected tariffs from the U.S. government went live on Monday as thousands of companies rushed to file claims.”

Reuters Article continues

“Companies contacted by Reuters in recent days expressed concerns about the durability of the new system, created by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in response to a court order that it prepare to return up to $166 billion to importers.”

“”I’m relieved that the portal seems to be functioning properly,” said Cassie Abel, CEO of Idaho-based outerwear company Wild Rye. Abel had her customs broker make the submission, which she said cost her $250 for the first phase of the filing.”

“The U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down the tariffs President Donald Trump pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies, handing the Republican president a stinging defeat.”

“In court filings, Customs officials said as of April 9, some 56,497 importers had completed the necessary steps to receive electronic refunds, an amount totaling $127 billion, or more than three-quarters of the total eligible to be refunded. More than 330,000 importers paid the tariffs at issue on 53 million shipments of imported goods.”

Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/business/tariff-refund-system-launches-thousands-companies-file-claims-2026-04-20/

The 166 billion dollars is not a small sum, it comes from the surplus value.

“Through July, DOGE said it has saved taxpayers $52.8 billion by canceling contracts”…

“DOGE’s latest figures on contract cuts ticked up to $54.2 billion in an update posted on Tuesday.

Politico https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/12/trump-doge-contract-claims-savings-inflation-00498178

Incidentally the chart on politico’s article is worth looking at when it comes to what really transpired.

Anyhow the various sums involved, in the chart for instance Doge claims 145 billion saved due to terminations, is still less than what the state has to come up with to pay back the 166 billion dollars it wrongly took as tax from importers.

This money will have to be raised as taxes, unless we are to believe the government was holding it not spending it. I haven’t heard of a special fund from the tariff money, a savings account. Rather it will come from the surplus value, and in the end the consumer will have paid this 166 billion dollars, although some of the money was returned to the importer.

I guess the importer could attempt to reimburse the customer, but it has yet to specifically occur. I think most importers are just feeling lucky to have gotten back some lost profit, which Trump’s tariffs had cost them.

The commodities the consumers are consuming could be made to be worth less, if the importers would return the money to consumers. But in reality, as said before, most likely the consumer will see little or no benefit from this return of tariff money to the importers.

At best Trump could say it was easier to pay off the 166 billion dollars, as Doge had saved 145 billion dollars, and that was close to 166 billion dollars. Well, about 11 billion dollars less, but whatever. Perhaps this will be of some consolation to his bourgeoisie, who so fervently believed in Trump to keep non metric American production competitive with the rest of the world’s commodities with taxes on imports.

In the end this exercise shows that Congress raises taxes, not the president. And Congress also decides how tax will be paid, as import taxes, tariffs, etc. The Supreme Court made this argument when they took away Trump’s favorite tool, tariffs for political purposes.

It seems to be holding; Trump has not been threatening tariffs constantly after the Court ruling. And the money the tariffs generated is being returned to the people who had to pay it, the importers. In the end it is a rare case of justice being done, a victory of the workers. Trump now has to pay back the money he illegally extorted in his sorry adventure with tariffs.

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

4 25 2026

Suffrage for Justices to the Supreme Court. 3 24 2026

March 24, 2026 ~ nicholasjayboyes

Suffrage for Justices to the Supreme Court. 3 24 2026

As we again take the opportunity to engage in suffrage for the supreme court in Wisconsin, it is important to digress on this phenomenon. To begin with, it should be noted the United States Supreme Court is not subject to universal suffrage, Rather it is appointees of the president, rubber stamped by the upper house of Congress.

What this means is twofold: One, the president is not always in control of a majority, yet was still appointed. We have seen this repeatedly in the last 25 years; George II was appointed without a majority, then Donald Trump was appointed without a majority. It seems to be the Republican bourgeoisie who do this, they call it the “electoral college” method of dictatorship. They then appoint the Supreme Court justices for life; then generally last decades. Trump did three this last time when he was appointed.

Secondly, Congress goes along with this. The Senate approves the candidates, giving their rubber stamp of approval in the upper house.

The Senate is appointed by two senators a state, which gives massive amounts of power to the large scale landowners, who till much of the rural areas. They benefit by states like South Dakota having the same power in the Senate as Illinois, home of Chicago. The same is true for New York and LA. The power structure is the same, the founders, Virginia plantation owners, did this for a reason; they feared British industry would force change in the slave owning aristocracy. They chose equal power for large scale landowners to industry by having 2 votes per state in the upper house.

It is basically a miracle the big cities ever win control of Congress. And the stakes are enormous, state assistance to large farmers in 2025 was 40.24 billion dollars according to google. It is allocated by the acre, which results in it being of little help to small farmers, who more intensively cultivate this land.

Nationalization of large farms would help greatly, but instead of just buying land with the 42 billion dollars, the Republican bourgeoisie just gives away this money to large landowners, who all benefit from the subsidies. Basically all large farmers get money; it is part of the land tenure arrangement.

The state is not going to buy land and give it to cooperatives. We would have seen attempts at this by now. No, the state assistance is going to support the Republican bourgeoisie, the state does not purchase land for cooperatives.

If the land was going to be nationalized, there would be no price tag. And it would not be the worst soils that the cooperatives would be farming on.

Anyhow, that is the picture generally. What this has to do with Wisconsin is this:

Supreme Court justices are subject to universal suffrage every 10 years. This may seem like a long time, but compared to the United States Supreme Court, it is brief. Wisconsin justices serve as long as they command a majority, which differs from our appointed counterparts who serve without a majority.

Short of having a politburo, there is no alternative to universal suffrage for the judges on the supreme court. The levels of bold faced white collar crimes the supreme court is involved in, with rulings like Citizens United, should show us WIsconsin has the answer; the Wisconsin supreme court is not electing because they are small, rather this is a movement that is logical, and able to be followed on a larger scale, like selecting United States Supreme Court justices for 10 year terms.

We saw last election for supreme court Elon Musk giving away the million dollar checks to his republican bourgeois supporters to vote against democrat Susan Crawford. DC meddles in Wisconsin elections, even though it is only residents of the state that can vote.

No matter, Citizens United and Musk feel no shame in involvement in Wisconsin’s more radical system of universal suffrage.

Incidentally Musk and his Republicans lost the election. Musk hardly even got a slap on the wrist for his million dollar checks, even after explaining they were vetted to be most likely to be Republicans.

The latest suffrage is between Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar are going at it. Lazar was Scott Walker’s lawyer. She is a Trumper, and will be a yes woman for Trump.

Chris Taylor has“..a legislative voting record full of support for unions and public schools, and endorsements out of the gate from the four sitting liberal justices..

“She worked as the public policy director at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, and then spent nearly a decade in the state Assembly…”

WPR 3 24 2026

Lazar, on the other hand:

“During the administration of Governor Scott Walker, Lazar worked as an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice where she handled litigation in support of Walker’s signature anti-labor law, 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, and then in defense of new security rules implemented to crack down on statewide protests against it. Lazar later took on the job of defending a Republican redistricting law that implemented one of the most aggressive gerrymanders in the country.”

Wikipedia Maria Lazar

The choice could; not be put in starker terms. Ten years of Lazar would be a return to Scott Walker.

“As an assistant attorney general, Lazar defended Republican-drawn legislative maps from gerrymandering claims along with laws on voter ID, abortion and Act 10, which restricted collective bargaining rights for most state employees.”

WPR 2 23 2026

So it should be interesting to see where this goes.

“Brad David Schimel (born February 18, 1965) is an American attorney, former judge, and Republican politician. He most-recently served as interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, from November 2025 until March 16, 2026, when his interim appointment was not extended by the district court judges. The Department of Justice, however, has announced their intention to appoint Schimel to a senior staff position in the U.S. attorney’s office, leaving him as the de facto head of the office. “

Wikipedia Brad Shimel

So here we see what Trump does when he loses an election. Shimel was appointed leader in federal court even though he did not command a majority. I guess Trump doesn’t mind losers as long as they are yes men. Shimel is now appointed without suffrage, the power struggle between DC and Wisconsin could not be more pitched this election. Clearly the republican bourgeoisie is doing DC’s bidding.

The date suffrage will occur is April 7. It is one to watch.

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

3 24 2026

Supreme Court Decision Returns Power of the Purse to Congress. 2 23 2026

February 23, 2026 ~ nicholasjayboyes

Supreme Court Decision Returns Power of the Purse to Congress

With a single court decision by the Supreme Court, Donald Trump and his constant threat of tariffs was ended. The decision was in a court that rarely rules in favor of the worker, where a number of judges were appointed by Trump, 3 in his first term when he assumed power without a majority. It was a 6 to 3 decision.

That is what makes this ruling so remarkable.

“The blockbuster Supreme Court ruling that invalidated President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs ends one chapter of economic uncertainty….”

“Even as the nation’s high court determined Friday that the president had exceeded his authority by slapping tariffs on goods from just about every country in the world, Trump made clear at a White House news conference that he was determined to do so again, though this time within the bounds of the law.”

“The justices’ 6-3 ruling said the president did not have the authority under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose a vast array of import levies on goods from nearly all of the nation’s trading partners.”

Washington Post 2 22 2026

All the Supreme said was taxation was the responsibility of Congress; Congress holds the purse strings of government. As tariffs are a form of taxes; taxes on imports, Congress has to be where tariffs start and stop.

Immediately following the ruling Trump raised global taxes 15%. It is like cutting off your nose to sprite your face.

The next question is how to pay back the tariffs already taken in, 134 billion dollars, which will have to be paid back to the importers who paid tax in the first place. Given they are all American based brokers, or American companies, they don’t have far to go.

Trump has promised to use court to delay reimbursing the importers he tariffed, who are now all clamoring for their money back.

The tax man has been rebuked; his constant threats of tariffs now will take months to come in effect, instead of a social media post of a shout on an airplane to a reporter.

Congress is the responsible party when taxes rise. They never fall, even in periods of prosperity. Nevertheless they are still in control, and reminded us they had the power to use the court to clip Don’s wings. Without tax threats Don is a loud voice with no real clout behind him.

““The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Roberts wrote. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.””

“Trump cannot, Roberts wrote.”

“Roberts pointed out IEEPA made no mention of tariffs and that he could find little in the law to authorize such massive levies, writing bluntly: “Those words cannot bear such weight.”

“He also said Trump’s move ran afoul of the “major questions doctrine,” a rule the court has enunciated in recent years that holds that any presidential action that has major economic or political ramifications must have explicit authorization by Congress.”

“The stakes of the ruling are enormous: The tariffs affect trillions of dollars in trade, and the government collected nearly $134 billion in levies through Dec. 14 under the authority challenged in the case.”

Washington Post ibid.

Perhaps they have been saving the 134 billion dollars, in case something like this happened? Otherwise it means more taxes on top of what is paid the importer, considering the consumer paid the bulk of the taxes, the tariffs taxes on imports.

Expect export commodities value to fall, as the tariffs made their value higher than what they would have been without the tax. BYD vs Ford is not here yet, but is getting closer.

Without protectionism it is questionable how many nonmetric products will be competitive in the world market. With the declining value of the dollar nominally more will have to be paid by the consumer for the same product, inflation. Exports were balanced with heavy taxation on competitors’ products, to make American products more competitive.

The global tax of 15% he has now levied for 150 days seems less personal than the normal tariff for Dons crotchets. This one is not directed at a single competitor, rather the whole world market. It sort of admits non metric production will never be able to compete in the world market.

Some of the tariffs were on Cuba, the other country adjacent to Mar a Lago, Trump’s palace. He cut off their oil,will he return the tariff money now illegal?

How embarrassing. The taxman, who raised everyone’s taxes by heavily taxing imports, now has to contend with Congress. What happens if Don tries to use tariffs again? Will the Supreme Court change their mind? Will they have too? They made it crystal clear taxes are Congress’s responsibility, and Trump is president, not congress.

We will be in for an interesting spectacle when the 134 billion dollars have to be paid back. They could devalue the currency further, another 10% next year as this makes the debt normally worth less in real labor time. This surplus value has already been paid for by the consumer in the form of higher prices. Now another 134 billion on top of this?

It’s that or the capitalist is honest enough to lower the prices on his goods due to being repaid the tariff. This scenario looks unlikely.

In the end this exercise results in massive inflation, the price of everything has been going through the roof under Don. The leverage of tariffs as punishment has limits. Congress does own the purse strings of government, it has been that way since founding. All this did was test the boundaries of what can happen if the Republican bourgeoisie have control of both houses of Congress and the president. Clearly it was chaos.

Nicholas Jay Boyes

Milwaukee Wisconsin

American Democratic Republic

2 23 2026