Posted on 04/05/2025 10:08:35 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The Republican Party embarked this week on a haphazard experiment in economic policymaking, wagering that the United States can weather a monumental tax increase in the form of broad tariffs on imported goods as long as Congress also cuts taxes on income. It’s a mash-up that many investors, economists and even some G.O.P. lawmakers expect to be a failure.
“I always think that with gambling, at least you have a chance of winning. This is worse than that,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a conservative economist who worked for former President George W. Bush, said. “This is betting with the mafia. You’re going to lose.”
President Trump’s plan to charge at least a 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports into the United States — along with much higher rates on goods from many countries — is the culmination of his quest to force companies to manufacture domestically, even if it comes at the expense of a relatively strong economy. Because tariffs are a type of taxation, Mr. Trump’s plan is among the largest tax increases in decades, analysts say, a policy change that sent the stock market reeling, paralyzed corporate investment and shoved the economy closer to a recession.
At the same time, Republicans on Capitol Hill are plowing forward with legislation that would lock in lower taxes for American individuals and companies. There’s diminishing hope among Republicans that those cuts can make up for drag created by the tariffs. Some of Mr. Trump’s allies and tax cut enthusiasts, like Stephen Moore, his former economic adviser, have been begging the president for “more tax cuts and less tariffs, please.”
Of course, Mr. Trump and the White House argue that tariffs are not taxes on Americans, but rather on foreign companies that will have to lower their prices to maintain access to the...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Yeah? Then what’s your beef?
Excellent point.
And just like that, the New York Times is suddenly for cutting taxes. The desperation is building.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/heres-what-trump-really-up-high-stakes-tariff-gambit
Has this clown’s nonsense been fact checked? Everything has to be fact checked these days. The far left media had gone on a massive lying rampage.
They love their $125.00 flat screen TVS made with 15cents an hour cheap labor.
But its not the same. With tariffs you have a choice …. Some options. You can minimize the impact of tariffs if youre smart and have some degree of initiative. Taxes? Not so much.
The insurrectionist dems have their orders from the Kenyan serpent:
Scare tactics on tariffs
Violence in the streets
Attack Tesla
Portray illegal aliens as victims
Start WWIII
But taxes on American corporations do not raise prices.
The New York Times is like a box of chocolates. You never know what your going to get next.
I could click the link, but why? The Slimes is behind a paywall as it should be.
Secondly, there is no doubt in my mind they are ignoring the truth of how tariffs work.
They’re looking at half the equation. Trump is imposing reciprocal tariffs. Say France has a three hundred percent tariff on California wine. He’s imposing a similar tariff on French wine. The French drop their tariff, he drops our tariff.
The problem for the EU is they have the value added tax. So, every step from planting the grapes, to harvesting them, to shipping them, to fermenting them, to transport, again, to bottling, etc. gets taxed. That way the French don’t realize the level at which they are taxed. An American wine comes in without the VAT and it’s hugely cheaper than the French equivalent. The French wine sales would crater. To comply with what Trump wants they’d have to redo their entire tax scheme. Then there’d be riots when the French find out how much they pay in taxes. (Popcorn! Stat!)
Taxes cannot be avoided. Tariffs can be.
When I worked and even now in retirement I have MANDATORY
income taxes.
Put a 100% tariff on an imported car. I don’t care I’ll
buy a good used one here and pay no federal tariffs.
Y’all see the difference? in one case I have no options and in the other I have choices.
Most people like to have choices.
Trump should just say he is making corporations “pay their fair share” - after all, Democrats for decades have claimed higher business and corporate taxes are needed and supposedly aren’t passed on to consumers.
"Economists" can't even predict the correct number of jobs that are created or lost from month to month. For instance, "economists" predicted 131,000 jobs would be created in March and the actual number was 228,000.
And don't even get me started on "some" GOP lawmakers.
Republicans like to cut taxes? We’ll find out later this year when the Trump tax cuts are reviewed for permanency.
And, as usual, the same names come up: Collins, Murkowski, McConnell, Graham.
Corporations do not pay tariffs. Consumers ultimately pay tariffs.
Good point. Trump has an excellent sense of humor. Use their language against them. The problem is so many people, including, sadly, many FReepers would take that seriesly.
One of the complaints the U.S. has about the VAT in many of these countries is that exporters are exempt from many VATs on materials they use to produce EXPORTS.
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