Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Can a $1.2 trillion giveaway become a fiscal bargain?

theblaze.com · 2h · first reportShare

President Trump’s call for a $5,000 “dividend” payment to all adult U.S. citizens is being widely criticized as fiscally unsound, grossly irresponsible, a cynical vote-buying scheme, and another political promise that will never come to fruition. Trump’s plan, as he presented it in just a couple of throwaway sentences at the Republican Midterm National Convention in Dallas last week, is indeed all those things. It amounts to a Keynesian-style attempt to stimulate the economy temporarily by making people feel richer than they are, to be followed by the usual consequences of such fiscal monkeyshines: violent inflation and a subsequent grinding recession. An unprecedented economic boom or dramatic revenue surge cannot be assumed in advance. Trump, however, is a habitual dealmaker. What if congressional leaders were to respond to the president’s idea as a starting point for negotiations? My suggestion: Agree with the president to pass a one-time tax cut of $5,000 for the 2027 fiscal year,