As you read this by former/two-term VA Lt. Governor Bill Bolling, keep a couple things in mind: 1) Bolling is a conservative Republican; 2) Bolling voted for Trump, even *knowing* that Trump planned to impose massive tariffs if he were elected president. So why did Bolling vote for Trump? Because, as he explained leading up to the election, he felt (100% falsely) that Kamala Harris and the Democrats would impose “socialism” on America, would support “open borders,” blah blah blah.
So instead, Bolling and 10s of millions like him opted for: a) authoritarianism; b) incompetence; c) extremism; d) economic ruin; e) betrayal of our allies (e.g., Ukraine, Canada, you name it); etc. It’s just so hard to wrap one’s brain around the degree of mental, intellectual, psychological contortions necessary for an intelligent person like Bolling to get to that point, but…here we are. And yes, we were warned – over and over and over and over…
As for Bolling’s Facebook post, I’d just highlight his comment about how Trump’s tariffs are a “massive tax increase on the American people” and “the antithesis of what free-market conservatives are supposed to believe in.” Because you know how you often hear Republicans prattling on about how they’re all about “free markets,” “free trade,” “free people,” “liberty,” “low taxes,” etc? Well guess what – they’ve been LYING TO YOU. Because of course they don’t believe any of those things. Which is how you end up with the polar antithesis of all those things in the current Trump administration: massive government interference with free markets/free trade; infringement on peoples’ civil liberties and freedoms in a wide variety of ways; this massive tax increase (a highly regressive one at that!); etc. Plus, of course, note that historically, over and over again, we’ve seen Republican presidencies lead to economic disaster, with Democrats having to come in and clean up the mess. Rinse/repeat. And yet voters keep saying, “let’s give Republicans just ONE MORE CHANCE?” Ugh.
Anyway, can someone please explain why anyone with an IQ higher than a rotting eggplant would ever vote Republican? Because it literally makes no sense for anyone – hell, it’s even hurting the wealthiest oligarch (Elon Musk) in the world, who went all-out to elect Trump in 2024, cratering his own image, as well as the image of his most-important product (Tesla), and costing him 10s of billions of dollars in wealth so far? Just bizarre.
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Totally self inflicted by our own government.
The Trump tariffs amount to nothing more than a massive tax increase on the American people, who will ultimately pay for the tariffs in the form of higher prices for almost everything.
They are the antithesis of what free market conservatives are supposed to believe in.
They will fuel inflation, destabilize the international economy, and significantly increase the risk of a recession.
The only winner here, at least in the short term, is the U.S.. government, which will collect billions in new tariff revenue, which is probably the real reason they were enacted..
If you don’t believe me, just consider the following comments from others who expressed similar concerns in the hours following the President’s announcement.
• “The action amounts to a historic tax hike that could push the global order to a breaking point. It kick-starts what could be a painful transition as middle-class essentials such as housing, autos and clothing are expected to become more costly, while disrupting the alliances built to ensure peace and economic stability.” – Business Insider
• “The effect is probably a recession. It’s going to raise the price of so many goods that can’t be made in the United States,” said economist Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations. “In the long run, it’s a vision of the U.S. that is very isolated from the world.”
• “With today’s announcement, U.S. tariffs will approach levels not seen since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which incited a global trade war and deepened the Great Depression,” said Scott Lincicome and Colin Grabow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.’
I realize that most in the GOP think we should just blindly “Trust In Trump”, but believe me when I say, this is a really bad policy decision.
If we were truly concerned about leveling the economic playing field with other countries, there were many ways we could have tried to address that without declaring economic war against the rest of the world.
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