It’s nice that the U.S. Supreme Court decided the other day to take Donald Trump to the woodshed and school him on the Constitution. It’s nice that a 6-3 majority, including two Trump appointees and the Republican-appointed chief justice, nuked most of his authoritarian tariffs in the name of principled conservatism. Heck, it’s always nice when Trump collides with reality and gives us hope that his tenure will end in smoke and ruin like the troop train in The Bridge on the River Kwai.
But if you think it’s boring to read about tariffs, bear with me. I’ll try to spice it up with hat tips to Tony Soprano.
First of all, two cheers to the high court for finally (albeit belatedly) doing something that reins in Trump a tad. John Roberts’ majority opinion — employing strict constructionism, a traditional conservative tenet — pointed out that Trump’s wanton global tariffs were illegal because (1) the 1977 “emergency” law he has used as a fig leaf never once mentions the word tariff, and (2) a tariff is a tax, and Congress alone has the power to tax - as stipulated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. Indeed, the Founding Fathers “gave Congress alone ‘access to the pockets of the people.’”
Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch, in a concurring opinion, even tried to hose down the intemperate toddler: “I understand that today’s decision will be disappointing…Yes, it can be tempting to bypass Congress when some pressing problem arises. But the deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design. Through that process, the Nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people’s elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man,” and hopefully some day anyone “disappointed by today’s result will appreciate the legislative process for the bulwark of liberty it is.”
Nice argument — with a big hitch. The MAGA Congress has long been loath to indulge its “deliberative nature” as a co-equal branch of government; until recently, it uttered barely a peep as Trump careened around the world slapping hefty tariffs on foreign goods, punishing whatever countries displeased him for whatever whimsical reason. Those tariffs were passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices - as de facto taxes.
And, big surprise, we won’t be getting that tax money back.
The ‘24 candidate who promised to defeat inflation has instead exacerbated it. The candidate who told voters that his planned tariffs were “not going to be a cost to you” was either cognitively clueless or intentionally lying. According to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 90 percent of the 2025 tariffs’ “economic burden” fell on U.S. firms and us consumers. Especially those of us who buy things like home furnishings, furniture, bedding, coffee, toys, and flatware.
As Tony Soprano said, “The hustle never ends.”
Tony was garroting someone while he spoke that line - which seems apt, given the fact that we’re ruled by a crime boss whose global tariffs were just another con. Trump picked our pockets, snatching at least $1000 per household. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation came up with that stat - it says the ‘25 tariffs amounted to the biggest tax hike in last three decades - but another think tank, the Budget Lab at Yale, puts the average household hit closer to $1800.
None of this, of course, should come as a shock. Frankly, I couldn’t fathom in the first place how voters could be so foolish as to entrust our economy to a guy who went bankrupt running cash-cow casinos. But that’s just me.
As science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler once wrote, “To be led by a thief
is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.”
The Supreme Court majority was mostly (and rightly) concerned about Trump’s flagrant breach of the Constitution, about his monarchical belief that he can rip us off in whatever way he sees fit with nary a nod to checks and balances. But we who have been victimized by his tariff con would love to get back the money he stole.
Fat chance of that happening.
Some prominent Democrats, on our behalf, are publicly demanding that Trump send us refunds. That’s a worthy message, assuming that Democrats can sustain it, because it would remind midterm voters about Trump’s perfidy. But vocal Democrats like J. B. Pritzker and Elizabeth Warren know darn well that we’ll be aced out. Hundreds of importers may get refunds - many of them, including Costco, Toyota, J. Crew and Crocs, started suing for refunds before the high court even ruled - but there’s broad agreement among economic experts that little or none of that money, reportedly totaling $175 billion, will trickle down to us little people.
Has Trump said a word about consumer refunds? As if. In his mind (or what remains of it) that would make him look weak; that would be tantamount to admitting failure. His brand is to never give an inch, even though 64 percent of Americans dislike his handling of tariffs. His only play - which we’re seeing already - is to double down. He’s trying to circumvent the high court by imposing 15 percent tariffs via a different provision - namely, a section of a 1974 law that requires tariffs to expire in 150 days. He can let them lapse, then restart the clock - unless the courts tell him to knock it off. That would happen only after new lawsuits slog through the judicial system.
Meanwhile, totally in character, he has smeared the high court majority, including his appointees, as “fools and lapdogs,” as “very unpatriotic,” as tools of foreign interests. Never before has a president (or, in this case, someone who purports to be one) spewed such vile demagoguery, denouncing the judges as traitors. But in this benighted era, it was just another Friday.
The end result, as in so many MAGA realms, is chaos. Natasha Sarin, president of the Budget Lab at Yale, wonders, “How should people budget for their families in the face of this much (economic) uncertainty?” And Trump’s ongoing tariff con has left the business world in the lurch. Nobody knows how to plan for the future. Nobody knows whether they should absorb costs, cut or expand inventory, brace for more Trump levies, or fear retaliatory tariffs from (former) allies. Ron Kurnik, who owns a Michigan coffee company, tells Fortune magazine, “It’s like a nightmare we just want to wake up from.” Join the club, pal.
I’m reminded of what Tony Soprano said in the twelfth episode of season one: “I’m like King Midas in reverse. Everything I touch turns to shit.” How nice it would be if Trump had even a smidgen of Tony’s self-awareness.
