Also on today’s menu at the News Café:
Darline Graham: ‘National Security Is Not My Thing’
NH Appeals Court Rulings on Education Funding
The most recent billing of $39.00 is for your annual propane tank rental. The new fee helps offset the cost of an Irving-owned propane cylinder, including the purchase of the new cylinder, maintenance, repair, and inspections. These costs continue to increase. Rented propane cylinders are maintained by Irving. When required, cylinders are painted, serviced, and upgraded at no additional charge.
The bill came in ahead of President Trump’s announcement on August 18: “I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL.” The new tariffs on Canadian products were set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET today.
The planned tariffs contained exemptions for Canadian oil, gas, and potash, and Canada-based Irving Energy did not say its new annual tank fee was linked to the tariffs Trump has been imposing on countries around the world, only that costs continue to increase; but the timing of the announcement suggests a correlation. Over decades of propane service, the company has never charged for the tanks necessary for it to conduct business, but now it finds that to be necessary, perhaps because nothing Trump says and no “deal” he announces can be trusted. His new Canada tariffs would have applied to products covered by his free-trade agreement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, negotiated during his first term as president.
While no new deal with Canada is certain, the Tuesday announcement reinforces the perception that “Trump Always Chickens Out” — TACO. He has canceled a number of the threats he made in moments of rage after realizing how much damage they would cause. Unfortunately, many more of his terrible decisions have remained in place.
Discussion: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said, “This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the US. Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the US to the mutual benefit of our citizens.” Carney said the two sides have made “substantial progress" and confirmed that Canada had agreed to a three-day delay while negotiations continued.
Darline Graham: ‘National Security Is Not My Thing’
Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to temporarily fill the seat of her brother, Lindsey, who died July 11, is competing in a runoff election with Representative Ralph Norman in South Carolina. During an August 18 debate ahead of the election, a moderator asked, “Are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States, and if so, why or how?”
“I’m just going to be honest here,” she responded. “I’m not that informed on national security, but I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years, so I will do everything I can to support the military. My dad was in the Army. I’m not a polished politician up here; national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.”
That support included praising President Trump’s approach to foreign policy, saying he is the “strongest president we’ve had” against China and that the United States “cannot let” the Islamic Republic develop a nuclear weapon.
Discussion: Graham has received criticism for her response on foreign policy, but it is refreshing to hear someone “be honest here”. It does say something that someone without any grasp of foreign policy is willing to support the president’s foolish decisions in that arena.
NH Appeals Court Rulings on Education Funding
The State of New Hampshire, in a 125-page brief filed with the NH Supreme Court on August 14, has appealed Rockingham County Superior Court Judge David Ruoff’s ruling that “the total Adequacy Funding level and the funding level for special education differentiated aid are each insufficient for New Hampshire school districts to meet the demands of Constitutional Adequacy, and that school districts are forced to bridge the gap by relying in part on revenue from local property taxes assessed at varying rates.”
In an earlier ruling, in which the Contoocook Valley School District had sued the state, alleging inadequate state funding for public schools, Ruoff found that the state’s base adequacy grant, which then was about $4,182 per student, must increase to at least $7,356.01. The Supreme Court affirmed that finding, but left the remedy to the New Hampshire Legislature.
The Justice Department is arguing that “Claremont I & II [the two Supreme Court cases that established the need for the state to cover the costs of providing an ‘adequate education’] and their progeny are wrong as a matter of constitutional text, structure, purpose, history, and tradition; they are poorly reasoned, and have led to the impractical and unworkable state of affairs that exists today in our education funding law.”
It continues, “This case exists because this Court’s modern school funding jurisprudence has distorted Part II, Article 83 of the State Constitution beyond recognition, finding rights and mandates in it that do not exist, and fundamentally altering how the State and its political subdivisions may legally interact.”
Discussion: At issue is language in the state constitution that states, “It shall be the duty of the legislators and magistrates, in all future periods of this government, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries and public schools.” The Supreme Court interpreted “cherish” to mean “cover the cost” of public schools but not seminaries. Some constitutional scholars have disputed the “adequacy” finding. Doug Hall, in a report published by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire where he served as executive director, traced the history of school funding. The study found that the state originally “cherished” education by dictating how much municipalities would raise through local property taxes to cover educational costs without providing separate state funding.
🤷♀️🤦♀️ Graham. Sheesh.