Even When You Win, You Lose
What does class war look like?
Here is how Class War works:
Trump unconstitutionally levied tariffs, and collected bribes from transnational corporations and a handful of nations, to lower tariff rates. Trump claimed tariffs were paid by corporations and other nations, because that is from where he collected his grift. Trump is America, in this framing, and so he was not lying when he said, "other nations will pay."
Tariffs are, of course, paid by importers. As the Big Bloated Bill forced the nation to run a deficit, every dollar of tariffs collected was immediately "spent." None of it remained for the "tariff checks" Trump promised (how does one get a rebate, if one does not pay?) and never delivered. That money was never available—again, the operational budget deficit and national debt caused that money to have been spent before it was collected.
Fast forward a year or so, and the Supreme Court, after indicating months earlier that the “emergency tariffs” were not going to be ruled constitutional, finally got around to making the For-Real-This-Time ruling. The two Justices known to be most materially corrupted were joined by Brett “Stops” Kavanaugh, who saw nothing wrong with the Executive claiming unilateral power to impose taxes.
Trump made a rambling, semi-coherent, 15-minute address to the press, where he defied the Court (“The tariffs stay in place”), threatened to increase tariff rates through “other means” not previously chosen (for a reason he does not remember), bragged about his reading comprehension (one of his lifelong covering techniques, and a sign he did not read the ruling), and engaged in this exchange:
REPORTER: Have you ever had a three-way with another man, and a woman?
TRUMP: Why would you ever ask me that?
REPORTER: Because Amy Comey Barrett and Neil Gorsuch just fucked you.
Just kidding. Though Trump ominously mentioned the families of “his” two Justices, while expressing his displeasure at the ruling. Stochastic terrorism—he knows no other way.
Does this mean retail prices on imported goods will drop 20% in the next few days, or weeks? Nope. All those imports on the shelves were tariffed and the cost was paid by the importers, who passed it on to the wholesalers, who passed it on to the retailers, who passed it on to YOU. As has been happening, for close to a year. So we will still be paying the import tax on what remains on the shelves, and in the warehouses.
But since the whole scheme was illegal, the taxes collected have to be refunded. "Aha!" you say, "Here's is where the rebates lie!" And you are correct—once Trump's backup plan is also ruled unconstitutional—the illegally-collected monies will have to be returned to those who can prove they were overtaxed.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker immediately issued a claim on behalf of the people of Illinois, demanding the federal government compensate the state to the tune of $1,700 per household.
On behalf of the people of Illinois, I demand a refund of $1,700 for every family in Illinois. There are 5,105,448 households in my state, bringing the total damages you owe to $8,679,261,600.
It is not my place to comment on any legal foundation for Pritzker’s demand, though in order to claim a tort, one must offer proof of damages. Pritzker can claim a statistical mean, but actual damages will not be on the mean. One problem with statistical measurements is that the results seldom represent any actual case, and courts favor precision, when possible. There are entities with proof of the exact dollar amount of tariffs paid.
But chances are pretty good that most all the tariffed items you purchased over the past year did not list the tariff separately on the receipt. And if so, you probably did not save that receipt.
The refunds will be going to the importers, whose business requires they keep account of tariffs paid. And where will these funds come from? You and me. They will be coming from checks cut on the national debt, because tariffs did not generate surpluses.
Regardless of if the Supreme Court rules that states may collect damages in this instance based on statistical measures or that only those holding proof-of-payment may collect, Americans will all get to pay these tariffs TWICE. Originally at the store, and once again to the importers (or the states).
As for Trump, he gets to keep all the bribes: The plane, the gold bar, the Nobel Prize, the straight cash, homey.
In a way, Comey Barret, Gorsuch, and Roberts were giving Trump an out. He could have simply blamed the court for destroying his economic plan and used the ruling to separate the Republicans from the shitty economy they will have to run on. It might have helped their chances. Instead, Trump will respond in the only way that makes sense to him. If the Supreme Court denies him his tariffs, he will issue newer, even bigger, ones.
Yes, the American people are going to have to pay for this disloyalty by “his” two Justices.