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Writer's pictureMarcus Nikos

Stupid is as Stupid Does



Everyone with any brains at all must be able to see that the costs always end up on the least expert, least informed, least protected group in the country — the public.Everyone with any brains at all must be able to see that the costs always end up on the least expert, least informed, least protected group in the country — the public.


“Keep your eye on one thing and one thing only: how much the Government is spending, because that is the true tax."  

                            -- Milton Friedman 


The last few days have brought the usual election-year claptrap. On Thursday, the press began warming up the audience for Kamala Harris, who was supposed to release her first important proposals. 

CBS: 

Harris is expected to announce that she will make tackling inflation a "Day One" priority, as well as outline a plan to lower costs for middle class families, take on corporate-price gouging and an overall focus on lowering costs for Americans, according to details shared by Harris-Walz campaign officials. 

Bloomberg: 

Harris to Propose $25,000 Assistance for First-Time Homeowners Vice President Kamala Harris will propose offering as much as $25,000 for first-time homeowners as part of an economic policy rollout Friday, a tacit acknowledgment that voter angst over rising housing costs poses one of the biggest political challenges to her presidential campaign. 

When the proposals finally appeared, they were a tired-out mixture of price controls, an ’innovation fund’ and debt forgiveness.  

The cost of these giveaways, says Ms. Harris, will be paid by taxes on the rich and powerful. These, of course, are the same elites who control the Democratic Party, Congress, and the tax system.

So, more than likely, the expense will not be met by higher taxes, but instead be added to the national debt... and eventually paid by the people whose costs Ms. Harris claims to be bringing down.  Already on the books are $35 trillion in bribes, boondoggles and balderdash; why not add a few billion more?


Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to offer his own nonsense. The Donald: 

“A tariff is a tax on a foreign country, that’s the way it is, whether you like it or not. A lot of people like to say, ‘Oh, it’s a tax on us.’ No, no, no…It’s a tax on a country that’s ripping us off and stealing our jobs. And it’s a tax that doesn’t affect our country.” 

The Trump Administration hit China with tariffs back in 2018. Then, the Biden Team kept them in place. How did they work out? USA Today: 

The Tax Foundation analysis found the tariffs together add up to $79 billion, which theoretically leads to an additional $625 in taxes for the average U.S. household. The Tax Foundation also argues the tariffs have had an overall negative impact on the US economy, by raising prices, and reducing output and employment. 

But Mr. Trump is now proposing more of them. He even claimed that he would do away with the income tax — replacing it with taxes on imports. The Peterson Institute looked carefully: 

The costs from Trump’s proposed new tariffs will be nearly five times those caused by the Trump tariff shocks through late 2019, generating additional costs to consumers from this channel alone of about $500bn per year... The average hit to a middle-income household would be $1,700 a year. The poorest 50 per cent of households, who tend to spend a bigger proportion of their earnings, will see their disposable income dented by an average of 3.5 per cent. 

All of this just makes us wonder: is it the candidates who are stupid... the voters... or both? When the government spends money, somebody has got to pay for it. Everybody wants to believe that someone else will pick up the tab — the rich, corporations, foreigners. 

But everyone with any brains at all must be able to see that the costs always end up on the least expert, least informed, least protected group in the country — the public, especially the part of the public that hasn’t been born yet. 

Neither candidate suggests doing the one and only thing that will actually reduce costs for middle class families — cutting back on the government itself. Instead, both propose new programs to expand its reach. 

It’s a scam.  And they’re both in on it. 

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