Did You Know?

Did you know I received a blue ribbon for stamina, a medal of honor for quietly screaming “that’s not true,” and a gold medal for restraint for not throwing something heavy at the tv? That’s right, I awarded myself all those prizes for listening to the President’s entire State of the Union speech. Just call me crazy…

On a serious note, did you know the President looked us all in the eye and told us his plan to give to the very wealthy and take from everyone else? It’s a reverse of the old Robin Hood story, and his merry band of hugely wealthy cohorts and Republican lawmakers are delighted to help him do it.

Here’s how his plan works:

1) Put tariffs in place. When we buy produce or a pair of pajamas, we pay the tariff on those items, because the importer adds it to the price we pay.

2) Pass huge income tax breaks. Data shows these cuts absolutely give more than a fair share to the wealthy and big corporations compared to the rest of us and small businesses.

3) The average family needs every dollar to pay for necessities – such as food, rent, gasoline, childcare, medications, and utilities – and maybe a fun night at the pizza parlor now and then.

4) The billionaire class might spend a very small part of their annual income on necessities and sales tax– they have plenty left over to own multiple mansions, maybe a yacht, have nannies to take care of the kids, have a private jet, and get the best health care money can buy - AND they have millions left over to spend on luxuries and investments they pay little tax on.

5) The average family has plenty of struggle and worry. The wealthy figure it’s working just fine for them; so, they spend millions on political campaigns and lobbyists to keep the President’s economic system in place.

To recap:

When the President said the best plan was to keep tariffs in place to collect all that money, he was talking about your money. The billionaires pay sales taxes, but not nearly as big a chunk of their income. After all, how much milk and eggs can they buy and eat? Talking about the billionaire class he hangs out with, the President said, “As time goes by, the tariffs paid by foreign companies (not true as we’ve discussed) will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people I love.” You and I know that doesn’t mean us.

Marian Hill