6 days Ago By Brandon Sun
In announcing his unilateral (and unconstitutional) imposition of global tariffs on April 2, Donald Trump declared, “This will be the golden age of America.” Actually, it is the Gilded Age that he hopes to resurrect. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
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99 a X percent off the regular rate. In announcing his unilateral (and unconstitutional) imposition of global tariffs on April 2, Donald Trump declared, “This will be the golden age of America.” Actually, it is the Gilded Age that he hopes to resurrect.
Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion In announcing his unilateral (and unconstitutional) imposition of global tariffs on April 2, Donald Trump declared, “This will be the golden age of America.” Actually, it is the Gilded Age that he hopes to resurrect. The Gilded Age refers to a period in American economic history between 1865 and 1900.
It featured a federal government funded exclusively by tariffs, rapid economic growth and industrialization. It was also the era of U.S.
territorial expansion resulting in the genocide of Indigenous peoples, the ascendancy of plundering carpetbaggers and robber barons, the generalization of political corruption, the dominance of predatory monopolies in strategic sectors such as steel, mining, and oil, and an extraordinary concentration of wealth in the hands of the richest one per cent that was achieved on the backs of farmers and wage earners. By the mid-1880s, a widespread populist movement had developed in response to this stark economic and social reality. Transcending traditional party lines, the Progressives were able to secure electoral success in state governments and ultimately the presidency (Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson).
During the Progressive Era, numerous reforms were implemented. These included passage of anti-trust laws that resulted in the breakup of oil, mining and tobacco monopolies; passage of the Pendleton Act, which replaced the “spoils” system with the merit system for federal government jobs; passage by numerous states of initiative, referendum and recall legislation; and ratification of the 19th Amendment, which secured women’s suffrage. However, perhaps the most significant contribution made by the Progressives to the issue of income and wealth disparities generated during the Gilded Age was the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913, which enshrined the income tax into the U.
S. Constitution, in substitution for tariff-based revenue generation. The reason for this is straightforward.
The tax burden of any sales tax, such as a tariff, falls more heavily on those with lower incomes, whereas an income tax can and has been structured so that the tax burden increases for those with higher incomes. A progressive income tax can and historically has placed limitations on wealth accumulation by these upper-income groups. For example, between 1946 and 1964 in the U.
S., the statutory income tax rate for each source of an individual’s income exceeding $400,000 was roughly 90 per cent. It was during this period that the U.
S. experienced its unprecedented and celebrated growth of the middle class. At his April 7 White House news conference, Donald Trump falsely stated, “Our country was the strongest between 1870 and 1913” because “it was tariff-based and we had no income tax.
” His statement reveals the conceptual motivation behind his worldwide tariff war. He wants to bring back the glory of the Gilded Age — for the wealthy. In the end, the foray by Trump and his cabinet of billionaires into this economic necrophilia will fail.
The resistance led by Canada and Mexico — not to mention the Trump-tariffed penguins and seals of the Heard and MacDonald Islands — will prevail. Advertisement.
