Remarkable moment in the President’s discussion of tariffs today when he suggested that his tariffs may be able to fund the government in place of income taxes. He references the McKinley era when this was the case, prior to the enactment of a federal income tax. Of course federal expenditures are roughly 10 times (2.2% versus 23% or 24%) higher today as a percentage of GDP. So this is basically insane.
Trump appears to suggest that revenue from his tariffs may be able to replace the federal income tax, referencing McKinley when federal spending was 2.2% of GDP as opposed to 23% or 24% https://t.co/4y9qDZKhwy pic.twitter.com/Z18GF1Zlzn
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 26, 2018
There were two other moments I wanted to flag your attention to.
Trump on International Economics: "Just remember, we're the bank. We're the bank that everybody wants to steal from and plunder." pic.twitter.com/BUx1xFtILq
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 26, 2018
Trump on risk of recession "We're so high up. We're so high up." Idea seems to be we're high enough up that getting into a recession doesn't matter. pic.twitter.com/gCQgIE6F08
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 26, 2018
Trump: "Some European countries not the same places anymore" because they've been "overrun" by immigrants. pic.twitter.com/jgO3VA3dxs
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) June 26, 2018
