fubar said:Johnny Bear said:RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:Johnny Bear said:RD2WINAGNBEAR86 said:Mitch Blood Green said:
Get your popcorn ready.
I gave Trump a solid B for his speech last night.
Two big things he said early on were completely false and should not be overlooked:
1. He claims that Americans no longer pay taxes on a Social Security. This is absolutely pure bu!!****. Not true.
2. He claims that income taxes will be replaced by tariff revenue. The total U.S. budget in 2025 was $7.2 trillion. The U.S. Treasury collected $190 billion in tariffs in 2025. Does anybody else see a math problem here?
Per your 2nd point, he never said that tariffs collected in 2025 (as if no additional tariffs in greater amounts will be collected going forward) will replace income taxes. The comment had more to do with a shift to greater amounts of revenue being collected from tariffs to replace a significant amount of income taxes in the future. I agree it remains to be seen if that will happen, but I believe that's what the comment was intended to mean.
I love you Johnny, but C'MON MANNNNNN!!!!!!
$190 billion tariff revenue would represent less than 3 percent of the $7.2 trillion budget. Trump has said that EVERYONE is getting a tax cut. Where will the lost revenue come from? Do you think the world is going to happily subsidize the United States for the next three years? I don't think so.
All of this reminds me of a term coined by former President George W. Bush, - "Fuzzy math!"
If memory serves the "fuzzy math" comment by GHWB was directed at Reagan who was a pretty great POTUS (just sayin'). Again time will tell as far as the long term impact of using tariffs as an additional or substitutive option for revenue generation, but as one of millions of over taxed taxpayers, at a minimum I like the idea of increased external revenue replacing the same old same old concept of just continuing to 100% soak individual taxpayers. And as far as the short term goes so far, we're doing fine.
"Fuzzy math" was GWB in response to Al Gore at their first debate. Seems like he said it a dozen times.
GHWB's dig at Reagan was "voodoo economics."
You're right - got them confused. I'll also say Reagan's "voodoo economics" worked out spectacularly back in the day.