US revenues from customs duties hit a record high of $64bn in the
second quarter, $47bn more than in the same period in 2024, according
to data published by the US Treasury on Friday.

FT

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On Thu, 17 Jul 2025 20:45:46 -0500
JAB <[email protected]d> wrote:

US revenues from customs duties hit a record high of $64bn in the
second quarter, $47bn more than in the same period in 2024, according
to data published by the US Treasury on Friday.

One reason the Democrats are drowning in incompetence these days is
because they seem unable to message correctly. These headlines almost
write themselves. Why are they unable to get the message across? Here,
an example, I'll rewrite the above:

AMERICAN PEOPLE PAID A RECORD HIGH OF $64B for items artificially
inflated by the White House's useless tariffs.

For bonus points, point out that the same crew that was practically
apoplectic about the federal deficit just wrote a Big Beautiful Bill
that will make it almost impossible to recover financially, so
billionaires can pay less.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:40:10 -0600, Retrograde
<[email protected]d> wrote:

AMERICAN PEOPLE PAID A RECORD HIGH OF $64B for items artificially
inflated by the White House's useless tariffs.

"The saying "no such thing as a free lunch" or "there ain't no such
thing as a free lunch" (often abbreviated as TANSTAAFL)....The phrase
holds particular resonance within the Republican Party and is
frequently invoked in policy discussions, especially regarding
government spending and social programs."

Rs don't understand how their corporate "free tax lunch" will not
work. They talk the talk, but don't know Jack Schmidt. Tariffs
represent a government tax on imports, instead of on corps directly,
and we the people are paying for this taxation. So, corps not
importing products "win" while those who do "loose" with we the people
picking up the indirect taxation.

They also live in a dream world, thinking US is still supreme in
tech/etc., while not considering how Europe/China have developed their industrial base. Apparently, they don't recall how their wage/price
control failed: "Nixon issued Executive Order 11615 (pursuant to the
Economic Stabilization Act of 1970), imposing a 90-day freeze on wages
and prices. Nixon instituted a 10 percent import surcharge in
anticipation of the expected fluctuation in exchange rates."

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On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:40:10 -0600, Retrograde
<[email protected]d> wrote:

AMERICAN PEOPLE PAID A RECORD HIGH OF $64B for items artificially
inflated by the White House's useless tariffs.

I thought Rs supported "free markets"

What is free market in simple terms?

The free market is an economic system based on supply and demand with
little or no government control.

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