Matt Brown

You were lied to. Period point blank. You were told tariffs were coming to "even the playing field" and deal with "fairness" - but what was announced is the exact opposite of reciprocity. Here is the White House's own words: "The numbers [for tariffs by country] have been calculated by the Council of Economic Advisers … The model they use is based on the concept that the trade deficit that we have with any given country is the sum of all unfair trade practices, the sum of all cheating,” a White House official said. Some countries with the lowest tariffs (or none) on American imports are being hit with the highest tariffs by us, and many with higher tariffs on us are being hit with much lower tariffs than others, all based on the utter absurdity that trade deficits inherently reflect unfair trade practices. There is a reason we bring principles to a battle, and don't decide to make them up as we go. I am begging those who still believe in the conservative philosophy to remember what we once believed in: (1) The power to tax in the Constitution lies with the Congress, and an executive branch usurping that authority under fictitious pretext is undermining law and order (2) Central planning, especially at the sole "modification discretion" of one imperial person, is statism, does not help workers, does not facilitate economic growth, and does not optimize conditions for human flourishing (3) When we intervene in one element of economic affairs in an attempt to help one group, it has an impact on other groups. These interventions are called distortions, and in the end hurt those we claim to be helping, and everyone else. Any rebuttal of my argument that defaults to "you are a globalist" or "you are an elitist" is a concession. Those are the things people without arguments say, Candidly, they are now the things people without principles say. We can drive economic prosperity for all by removing impediments to growth. We cannot and will not tax our way (i.e. tariff) to prosperity. More thorough commentary tomorrow in the Dividend Cafe.