The Boston Violinist: Tariffs or billionaire bribes?

Friday, April 4, 2025

Tariffs or billionaire bribes?

Harris,

Donald Trump's far-reaching tariffs went into effect yesterday. By themselves, they threaten to tank the entire economy and cause the costs of living to skyrocket.

By imposing these tariffs, or taxes on goods the U.S. imports from other countries, without properly taxing the rich, reigning in Wall Street, or implementing policies to promote manufacturing here in the United States, the Trump administration is essentially raising taxes on everyone except billionaires.

During the 2024 election, we heard over and over again that the main reason people voted for Trump was to cut the costs of living, because the reality is that even though the economy was strong on paper, far too many regular people were still struggling to get by.

But we know that was never Trump's intention. He's now doing the exact opposite, threatening both the economy and further raising prices for everyday people without investing more in American jobs, workers, and industries. There's no denying that it's going to hurt a lot of people.

The reality is that Trump, Elon Musk, corporate executives, and billionaires don't give a shit about working-class people.

They don't care if the cost of milk, a used car, diapers, or the medication we depend on increases drastically from one day to the next.

Because they don't think about those things — with the amount of money they have amassed by exploiting working people, they don't have to.

Now, they get to wait for the corporate lobbyists and international oligarchs to bribe their way to protection. Trump and his billionaire friends get to line their pockets, corporations get to buy a pass, and working class people are caught footing the bill.

This half-baked agenda isn't about bringing jobs back to America, it's just another get-rich-quick scheme from the corporate and billionaire class.

This is exactly why we need more everyday people in Congress who can legislate from their own lived experiences — not just how Wall Street says we're doing in the stock market.

We're recruiting progressives from working-class backgrounds to run and unseat out-of-touch members of Congress in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. But since our organization and candidates don't take a penny from corporate PACs, our success depends on grassroots resources from everyday people like you.

We understand if you can't afford to make a donation right now, but if you can, pitch in anything you can spare to directly fuel our work electing working-class leaders who will actually work for us.

And no matter what, you can still get involved to elect the next working-class champion for your community by nominating a leader for Congress on our website.

Together, we can build the Party we deserve to represent us in Washington.

In solidarity,

Justice Democrats