The Ultimate Pander

Created
Fri, 25/10/2024 - 09:00
Updated
Fri, 25/10/2024 - 09:00
The New York Times reports on Trump’s latest “policy” proposal: During a Fox News segment on Monday, Mr. Trump took questions at a barbershop in the Bronx. When asked if the United States could potentially end all federal taxation, Mr. Trump said the country could return to the economic policies in the late 19th century, when there was no federal income tax. “It had all tariffs — it didn’t have an income tax,” Mr. Trump said. “Now we have income taxes, and we have people that are dying. They’re paying tax, and they don’t have the money to pay the tax.” In June, Mr. Trump floated the idea of replacing federal revenue from income taxes with money received from tariffs. Mr. Trump has not provided specific details of how that would work, and it is unclear if he wants to eliminate all federal taxes, including corporate income taxes and payroll taxes, or only end the individual income tax. Either way, both liberal and conservative experts have dismissed his idea as mathematically impossible and economically destructive. Even if Republicans control Congress, lawmakers are unlikely to dismantle the income tax system. Yet Mr. Trump’s combination of tax cuts and tariff increases has been central to his political pitch. “There is a way, if what I’m planning comes out,” Mr. Trump said of ending income taxes. My cat has a better understanding of history and economics than Donald Trump. Here’s history professor Eric Rauchway, the author of Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore…