Trump’s Tariffs

As a former tax attorney, life long American history buff, and strong supporter of entrepreneurship, here is my two cents on today’s Supreme Court Ruling: The first paragraph of Chief Justice Robert’s opinion in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump states: “Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution specifies that “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises.” The Framers recognized the unique importance of this taxing power—a power which “very clear[ly]” includes the power to impose tariffs. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 201. And they gave Congress “alone . . . access to the pockets of the people.” The Federalist No. 48, p. 310 (J. Madison). The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch. See Nicol v. Ames, 173 U.S. 509, 515. ” Why is this? Well, the patriotic entrepreneurs in east coast colonial America spilled blood to rebel against King George III’s taxes. I am certain we all learned this in grade school. King George held these rebellious entrepreneurs in the deepest of contempt. He hated these Colonial entrepreneurs! As a result of this experience, as James Madison wrote in Federalist Paper No 48 and quoted above by Chief Justice Roberts, when writing the constitution, our Framers decided that they would give the taxing power to the House of Representatives only. The chamber closest to the people. The Senate does not have taxing power. The President does not have taxing power. This was clearly and specifically our Founding Fathers’ intent set forth rather early in our Constitution. Today’s case was brought by a handful of hardworking, patriotic small business entrepreneurs, very similar to our entrepreneurial colonial patriots who rebelled against King George’s taxes. Like King George, President Trump holds these patriotic American small business entrepreneurs in the deepest of contempt. Today he called these patriotic entrepreneurs “major sleazebags”. Trump is acting like, and today certainly sounded like, King George. We did not like a king in the late 1700s, although there were a fair number of British loyalists in the colonies back in the day. Similarly today, I think the vast majority of us still think the Framers were correct in placing the taxing power with the “people’s house” and stripping it from the authority of the “King”, although it is reasonable to expect that today, as in the late 1700s, we also have a number of unpatriotic “loyalists” in our midst. Trumps hostility displayed today to our significant, strong and vibrant entrepreneurs is unpatriotic and unAmerican. I will always remain a steadfast supporter of entrepreneurs everywhere.

As I thought more about this topic, I was reminded of how unkind the American patriots were to the “loyalists” who enforced the King’s “executive branch” taxes. They were tarred and feathered! Below print is “The Bostonians Paying the Excise (Tax) Man” — a 1774 British print by Philip Dawe that depicts the tarring and feathering of Boston Commissioner of Customs Taxes (Tariffs) John Malcolm. This was the second time that Malcolm had been tarred and feathered. I also just re read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “My Kinsman, Major Molineux”, about an angry mob’s tar and feathering of a “loyalist” in Boston. Trump doesn’t understand who we are historically. We are the free and independent United States of America in large part because of our rejection of executive imposed tariffs. .https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9TS3YPY…