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It is a tax and it does what all other taxes do: bog down the economy. Cf. Smoot-Hawley Act.

It took years to build up America and it took years to rot it away and it will take years to build up America again. We would NOT get a balanced budget out of a tax hike like that.

17 posted on 08/08/2016 3:27:46 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)

All the other solutions are ridiculous. The historic way for America to get out of debt from war or whatever is thru tariffs. It has worked every time.

Smoot Hawley is myth. It was passed a year after the GD already stated. Trade was only 4% of GDP so it couldn't have huge impact anyway. Nobody in high school or college history (70s and 80s) EVER spoke about Smoot Hawley. It is a red herring developed by Free Traders to muddy the waters.

Grab an encyclopedia of Britannica printed in the 1970's. Get the "G" book and look up Great Depression. See what it says about Smoot-Hawley. Probably not even mentioned.