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NYT alternate headline: Trump risks depression to lower taxes for the rich. [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-17
Real headline “Trump’s Big Bet: Americans Will Tolerate Economic Downturn to Restore Manufacturing”
There are two questions I've been wrestling with, regarding his (Trump) obsession with tariffs. 1) What is his real motive? 2) Will tariffs actually provide long-term benefits to the economy?
The article lists three motives: 1)Fentanyl: 2) revenues; 3) manufacturing jobs. It also suggests it's psychological; he wants to display dominance. I don't believe the first suggestion, as I can't believe he cares one iota about drug deaths. I previously, in a Facebook post, opined that my guess is that he wants the revenues to finance a tax break for the rich, even though the revenues will come from what is, essentially, a sales tax on the middle-class. The third motive is a possibility, as bringing back manufacturing jobs was a real issue that was instrumental in his election. I doubt that he really cares personally about manufacturing, but that issue was probably his margin for victory.
The suggestion that his obsession is all about dominance is, to me, a real part of the answer. The fact that he is, incidentally, destroying our credibility with our long-time allies and emboldening our enemies is of no importance to him.
I have one more reason for tariffs, although I doubt that it is a reason for Trump. Our own corporations have evaded trillions of dollars in income taxes by fraudulently inflating costs in the U.S., and thus moving profits into low tax countries. Tariffs would stymie that sort of tax loophole, but, in Trump World, the overall corporate tax rate would go down , which would negate that fix.
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