Monday, March 05, 2018

Speaking of Trade Deficits ...

How much did you pay in taxes last year? Federal income tax, state income tax (if your state has one), property taxes, sales taxes, etc.?

For the sake of argument, let's go ahead and stipulate that maybe you got some things in return that you wanted -- roads, schools, whatever. The fact that you were forced to buy that stuff is important, but it's another basked of snakes than what I'm talking about here, so let's just say that you bought stuff from "your" local, county, state, and federal governments.

Um ... what stuff did they buy from you and how much did the bill come to?

Unless you're a government employee or contractor, the answer is probably "not a damn thing and not a damn dime."

It seems to me that based on his concern with "trade deficits," US president Donald Trump should implement an executive order requiring the federal government to start spending as much to buy stuff from you as you're required to spend buying stuff from it.

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