PG140: North Korea Talks, Sessions Sues California, Trump’s Tariffs, Florida vs the NRA

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Mike and Jay open the show with a look at the stunning announcement about talks between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Both of the guys are hesitant to believe this will lead to anything given North Korea’s track record of stringing U.S. administrations along and breaking agreements. They’re also concerned that by meeting with Kim – the first time any U.S. president has agreed to talks with North Korea’s leader, President Trump may be giving the regime something it’s always wanted and getting little if anything in return.

After that it’s discussion of the suit the Department of Justice has brought against three California laws involving enforcement of federal immigration policy. In a strange twist, Attorney General Sessions is making the typical liberal argument about federal government supremacy while California is responding with traditionally conservative points about the 10th Amendment, going so far as to rely on a conservative icon, former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Both Jay and Mike think that the federal government will end up winning in court (with Jay being more sure of this than Mike) though it’s likely to take several years.

After that, Mike and Jay discuss the tariffs on steel and aluminum that President Trump formally announced this week. They both see this as a truly bad move that will not only hurt far more Americans than it will help, but a step that further erodes America’s standing in the world and does nothing to deal with a truly significant international issue – China’s ongoing, massive intellectual property theft.

Finally, the Guys look at the new gun legislation enacted in Florida in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting. They consider whether the NRA’s Second Amendment based lawsuit is likely to succeed (probably not) and discuss whether Florida might be a model for more states and possibly even the U.S. Congress, where not much has happened as of yet.

What Mike’s Reading
For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Here’s What I Learned. Farhad Manjoo

What Jay’s Reading
Parkland kids can protest, but they don’t know what they are talking about. Jonah Goldberg

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