Let’s apply one to each party. For the Republicans, I hear quite a few of those supporting the Administration’s trade war make the case that because Donald Trump has been talking about this for forty years, that this makes it good policy. Effectively he’s been the only one to stand up to the establishment for years on this issue. This is silly. While the length he has held this position does prove that Mr. Trump authentically believes in this (at some level), that has zero correlation with whether he is right or wrong in his assessment. I assure you, Bernie Sanders has believed in Democratic Socialism for decades too, and been one of the few consistent voices in this direction, and he is consistently wrong. Elizabeth Warren has hated free markets for years too, and she is wrong. So is Mr. Trump. The length of time one has believed in something has no relationship to whether it is true or not. I’ve been a free-trader for forty years too, but that length of time does not make me right. Hopefully I can convince some of you by the logic of my arguments, not the air of authority as some expert, or the length of time I’ve held the position.

Over on the Democratic side, we see angst over Mr. Trump’s use of Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport aliens. It is of course legitimate to challenge Mr. Trump’s application of that law, as some have. But some of the tenor of the criticism is due to the age of the act and it’s limited prior use. The mere fact that the law is over 200 years old does not make it wrong. This is similar to the outcries of pro-abortion supporters crying that in the aftermath of the Dobb’s decision that pre-civil war era laws would restrict abortion. Because we all know we’ve “progressed” since then. The law is the law, regardless of when it was written. In fact, I think some of the oldest are the best, like “thou shalt not murder.” For progressives that don’t like old laws now being unearthed and used in ways they don’t like, I suggest they join conservatives in sunsetting most federal laws, and forcing them to be revoted on after a period of time. Rather than having Congress make new laws, they should focus on fixing and making better existing laws. More statutory laws doesn’t mean a more law-abiding country–in many cases it will lead to the opposite result.