Trump Was Right: It Should Be Tariffs

Federal income tax was first introduced in 1861, but the modern, permanent system began in 1913 with the 16th Amendment.

There is something fundamentally broken about the American tax system, and most people feel it every day even if they cannot fully explain it.

We are taxed when we earn money. Then we are taxed again when we spend that money. Then we are taxed again for owning the things we already bought with money that was already taxed.

Work, buy, own, repeat—and at every step, government has its hand out.

How is that considered fair?

I go to work. I trade my time, energy, skill, stress, and years of life for a paycheck. Before I even touch that paycheck, income taxes are taken out. The government gets paid first. Fine. We are told that is the price of civilization.

The Romans did it with only a 10% tax. One thousand years and no government deficits on a 10% tax.

When did we become so incompetent?

On Sales Tax

But then I take what is left of my paycheck and buy groceries, clothes, tools, appliances, furniture, or anything else I need—and I get taxed again through the state sales tax.

Statewide sales taxes in the U.S. were primarily instituted during the 1930s, spearheaded by Mississippi in 1930, to combat severe revenue shortages caused by the Great Depression. As property tax collections plummeted, states adopted sales taxes to stabilize funding for public services, rapidly expanding from a few states to over 20 by the end of that decade.

If the states used those taxes to provide excellent education, clean water, great roads and other useful services, we would not complain so much but more than 70% of the state income goes to pay the salaries of bureaucrats. Our education sucks and I don't need to tell you the conditions of our state roads.

And we have not been in a great depression for almost 100 years! Someone please tell the states to cancel the sales tax. They should stop giving generous contracts to their friends and families. A little efficiency and we can get rid of the sales tax!

In the UK, the price displayed in stores for an article always includes VAT (Value Added Tax). The price on the tag is the final price you pay at the register.

Why can we not even tell the true price in America? Why are we so corrupt?

That money was already taxed when I earned it. Why does it become taxable a second time just because I use it to live?

On Property Tax

Then comes the biggest insult of all: property tax.

Imagine doing everything right. You work for years. You save carefully. You avoid reckless spending. You buy a modest house. You pay off the mortgage. No debt. No bank. No lender. You finally believe the home is yours.

Wrong.

Every year, the government sends a bill demanding payment just for the privilege of continuing to live in the house you already purchased.

Miss enough payments, and they can take it away.

Call that what it is: permanent rent to the state.

Taxed on Money You Never Made

Here is a concrete example:

Hypothetically, I buy a property outright for $60,000 in 2009. Let's say a foreclosure.;

Years later, the county says it is worth $246,000.

• Did I sell it? No.
• Did I make a profit? No.
• Did I receive a check for $246,000? No.

But my taxes rise as if I cashed out and became wealthy.

That is the scam hiding in plain sight.

This is not income. This is not realized profit. This is not money in hand. This is a number created on paper by an assessor, and suddenly I owe more because someone updated a spreadsheet. Greed!

If my stock portfolio doubles, I usually do not owe tax until I sell and realize the gain. If my paycheck stays the same, I do not owe more income tax simply because my employer says I might be worth more in the future.

So why does homeownership work differently? Absolute greed from lazy bureaucrats!

Why are families punished for staying in the same house long enough for the neighborhood to become expensive?

Why are retirees pushed out of homes they already paid off because the tax bill keeps climbing while their income does not?

You do not truly own property if failure to pay an annual tribute means losing it.

Why Tariffs Make More Sense

This is why Trump was right to push tariffs as part of the tax conversation.

Tariffs are acceptable if they replace all taxes.

And only then.

It is not OK to have tariffs, and income tax, and state tax, and sales tax, and property tax.

A tariff taxes imported goods entering the country. It shifts part of the tax burden away from wages, homes, and savings and places it onto consumption—especially foreign consumption.

Ideally it shifts ALL the tax burden to tariffs.

That means:

• The more you buy, the more you contribute.
• Luxury spending pays more than frugal living.
• Foreign producers seeking access to the American market share the burden.
• Domestic workers are not punished simply for earning a paycheck.
• Families are not taxed endlessly for staying in their homes.

Under the current system, the responsible person gets squeezed the hardest. The worker is taxed. The saver is taxed. The homeowner is taxed.

The illegal aliens get free food from the SNAP system, they get free housing (for 5 years) from the section 8 or equivalent, they get free healthcare through Medicaid, they get free tuition in the K – 12 system.

When you have 20 million illegal immigrants (a federal crime), which represents more than 15% of our total working population, evidently our system gets overloaded and those working are paying for those not working.

I cannot tell you how great this is as an incentive for someone to come and live in the US. Every lazy person in the planet wants to come and live in America. And if we let them they will.

Under a tariff-centered system, the burden moves closer to behavior and consumption.

That is more logical.

If someone buys ten imported televisions, designer furniture, expensive gadgets, and endless consumer goods, they pay more. If someone lives modestly, buys less, and saves more, they pay less.

That is common sense.

Stop Punishing Productivity

America should reward work, saving, ownership, and responsibility.

Instead, we punish all four:

• We punish work with income tax.
• We punish spending with sales tax.
• We punish ownership with property tax.
• We punish saving through inflation and rising assessments.

Then politicians act confused when people feel trapped.

The average person is not asking for luxury. They are asking for breathing room. They are asking to keep more of what they earn.

They are asking that a paid-off home actually be paid off.

Does the state need to charge for a service? Good!

But bill for each one separately, and make sure only those that use the service are billed for it. Also make sure there is competition for that service because if the state is inefficient, the private sector may save the state a lot of money.

That should not be controversial.

The Real Anger Is Just Beginning

People are waking up to the fact that they are taxed from every direction while being told they should be grateful for it.

They are beginning to realize that “ownership” often means conditional ownership.

They are beginning to ask why government revenue must come from punishing labor and stability instead of consumption.

And once enough people start asking that question, the old system starts to look exactly like what it is:

A machine designed to keep charging you long after you already paid.

Even after you are already dead.