Trump's tariff tantrum is taxation without representation!

Get the Point!

So, I've spent the better part of my almost 53 years listening to the Republican Party boldly berate Democrats for being the party of "tax and spend liberals." While I was too young to remember Presidents Richard Nixon or Gerald Ford exclaiming this mantra, I sure heard a steady dose of it from Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, his son, George W. Bush, and Republican presidential candidates who lost their general elections but still carried the "tax and spend liberals" banner into battle, like Bob Dole in '96, John McCain in '08, and Mitt Romney in '12.

As I sit here this Saturday morning reflecting upon this past week and the GOP of yesteryear, I can't help but shake my head at the fact that in one 55 minute "Liberation Day" speech this week, Republican President Donald Trump, by exacting tariffs of 10 percent and higher on long time trading partners and allies—a move that's being countered by these same partners who are now levying higher tariffs on American goods—has essentially ignited a full out trade war just because he “felt” like it! By so doing, Trump has ostensibly raised taxes on the American people—a people already weary from high inflation, stagnant wages, and an increasingly more difficult ability to put food on the table in the present age.

But since I am a history/civics/legal scholar, I defer this morning to a few notable economics experts who confirm my gut suspicion that Trump's tariff tantrum is REALLY bad business for the working and poorer classes in our nation.

Check out a few of these dire warnings:

"I just watched President Trump’s 55 minute diatribe about his plan for revitalizing the American economy thru reciprocal tariffs. In short, his vision to make America wealthy again and to restore U.S. manufacturing prowess by punishing trade allies will have severe economic consequences for the U.S. and the world! DJT’s tariff plan is pure rubbish, pontificated by the world’s greatest con artist since P. T. Barnum." Dr. Bill Dickens, economist and former economics professor at Florida A&M University

"I guess it's just possible that when we get details about the Trump tariffs they will be lower than what he just announced, but based on what he said, he's gone full-on crazy...If you had any hopes that Trump would step back from the brink, this announcement, between the very high tariff rates and the complete falsehoods about what other countries do, should kill them..." Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist and former MIT and Princeton University professor.

“Just had a journalist ask me to explain ‘Liberation Day,’ I told him it's about liberating Americans from some of the cash in their wallets..” Stephanie Kelton, author, The Deficit Myth

"While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected…The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth." Jerome Powell, Chairman, the Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors

"But Trump’s tariffs – and the retaliatory tariffs already being imposed on American exports by the nation’s trading partners – will be paid largely by the American working class and poor.And the people who will benefit most from another giant Trump tax cut are America’s wealthy—It will be a giant upward transfer of wealth.” Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration

Now that a few learned economics nerds have had their say, I'm just here to add that after sending unnecessary shock waves and uncertainty into global markets, Trump hopped onto Air Force One and headed to South Florida to participate in four days of golfing and glad handing at Doral; Nero fiddled on his lyre while Rome burned in 68 AD—Trump golfs on the links while the American economy burns in 2025 AD!

Donald Trump Sr and his son, Donald Jr, surveying the golf course in Miami on Friday

To add insult to injury, with the Dow and S&P staggering, and hard working Americans’ 401K's foundering, Harris Faulkner, one of Trump's spin masters at Fox "News," had the unmitigated gall to suggest that folks should be willing to sacrifice their finances in the same way that the World War II generation sacrificed to defeat Fascism. The irony—and hideous flaw in her analysis—is that Hitler and his High Command were a menace to humankind; the primary menace to mankind, especially here in America, is TRUMP and his rock, paper, scissors styled tariff "policy" that some have suggested was simply made up by using Artificial Intelligence apps like ChatGPT 😡.

Will Trump walk these tariffs back? It's hard to tell when you're dealing with a mercurial type who is making it up as he goes along with fellow billionaires who will easily ride out the economic uncertainty and swoop down like vultures to devour the economic carrion that's left by the wayside.

Is it possible that Trump is using this insane strategy to force trading partners to bend to his economic will? Perhaps, but my gut response to this question is that it's also VERY possible that trading partners in Europe and the Pacific Rim will shoot a middle finger at America and focus on themselves while allowing Trump to stew in his wanna be isolationist pot.

And shifting my historical hat to my civics/legal brim, I keep waiting to see when the Republican controlled Congress, one filled with Trump sycophants who fear being attacked by the Marmalade Mephistopheles and his rabid followers on social media, will say "enough" and remember that the power to tax and spend belongs solely to their branch per the Constitution?

To this last question, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) noted yesterday on a podcast that Trump's tariffs, coupled with already high inflation, could prove "disastrous" for Republicans seeking office in the 2026 mid-term elections! This comment makes me wonder whether Cruz and other MAGA congressional figures will finally find their scrotums and spines to fight back as a co-equal branch—or continue bending the knee to keep Trump from dissing them on social media?

Stay tuned...