Reader's View: Tax breaks a good deal for whom?

President Donald Trump has been pushing to eliminate the federal income tax. That’d be a good deal, right? Who wouldn’t want to get rid of income taxes? He also has been pushing for greatly increased import tariffs. Um, OK, protect American producers, right? ADVERTISEMENT Now I hear of a Trump-proposed 25% tax on imported automobiles.

Who pays for these tariffs? The Russians? Chinese? No, we do. I think I’m beginning to see where he is going with this. It ends up being kind of a wash as far as most Americans are concerned.



Our federal income tax would be eliminated, but we would pay much higher prices for goods. American companies and farmers that export billions of dollars of goods would be subject to retaliatory tariffs, lose business, and lay off workers. We saw this happen in Trump’s first term.

Having no income tax doesn’t help laid-off workers when they don’t have an income. So, most Americans will bear the burden of the new tariffs and break even or fall further behind. But wait.

Here’s a kicker. Federal income taxes would be eliminated for high-income Americans, too. Paying thousands more on their daily expenses would be inconsequential for them when they aren’t taxed on the billions that would normally be subject to tax.

They would be laughing all the way to the bank. Folks, Americans are being played for suckers by this guy. His plan is a blatant giveaway to himself and his rich buddies.

He will promise you the moon but will lift your wallet while you are looking up at it. He has always operated this way and always will. ADVERTISEMENT John Ilse Embarrass Email submissions to: letters@duluthnews.

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