Peter Navarro faces bipartisan wrath over 'exceptionally stupid' claim that 'tariffs are tax cuts'

[Eugene]

Peter Navarro faces bipartisan wrath over ‘exceptionally stupid’ claim that ‘tariffs are tax cuts’ (The Independent)

‘They think you are stupid,’ Pradeep J. Shanker, a contributor for the conservative National Review magazine, said about Navarro’s claim

Donald Trump’s tariff czar Peter Navarro insisted that with “Liberation Day” approaching, the president’s sweeping round of tariffs on foreign goods shouldn’t be seen as an import tax but rather the “biggest tax cut in American history.”

“The message is that tariffs are tax cuts, tariffs are jobs, tariffs for national security, tariffs are great for America, tariffs will make America great again,” the White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing declared on Fox News Sunday.

The Orwellian assertion, which runs counter to what nearly every economist has said about tariffs' impact on the American consumer and economy,

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-tariffs-peter-navarro-criticism-b2724646.html

Alternate link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/peter-navarro-faces-bipartisan-wrath-145558062.html

[JohnSJ]

1. Navajo is absolutely certifiable. He is a loony from way back.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. But to billionaires, that's exactly what tariffs mean. Tax cuts for them. /nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Navarro is a true idiot

[peggysue2]

4. Navarro is goose-stepping to the wing-nut tune

Did it before and he's doing it again for the Upside Down World believers.

[Norrrm]

5. 'Tariffs Are Tax Cuts'?

Says 'Tariffs Are Tax Cuts'?

[Ol Janx Spirit]

6. I'm guessing Art Laffer will have to return that Presidential Medal of Freedom that

DJ Tariff gave him in 2019--and maybe have to pay restitution--for writing that “[a] 25 percent tariff would not only shrink, or possibly eliminate, profit margins for U.S. manufacturers but also weaken their ability to compete with international rivals." /s Of course this is the guy that both brought us the Laffer curve and co-wrote the book Trumponomics where he claimed that the 2017 tax plan would raise growth rates to as much as 6% and not increase budget deficits. Pandemic aside that was not going to happen, so I guess we have to take his analysis with a grain of salt. However, the fact that even magical-thinking Laffer doesn't seem to agree with Navarro is noteworthy since this seems like the level of magical-thinking ol' Art could get behind. Maybe he's embarrassed that he didn't come up with it first. I mean, it's kind of ingenious isn't it? Raising taxes is actually a tax cut! I expect all agencies in this Administration to now take the same tack: cutting cancer research will lead to cures for cancer; cutting food assistance will feed children; using unsecure tech platforms actually increases national security; taking money out of your pocket every month will make you rich! Brilliant... SMH.