Same concept, I write a post and let ChatGPT improve it, then I edit. Do you like this style?

Let’s get something straight: other countries don’t pay tariffs – we do. More specifically, I do. And then, so do you. Tariffs drive up costs, which raises prices for consumers, and that’s bad for everyone – especially small businesses trying to survive.

Politics are politics – until they touch my wallet. Then I start caring. A lot. I’m a capitalist at heart, and nothing infuriates me more than watching the government siphon off my hard-earned money. Not sure how Grok came up with this one but I suppose he’s peeing.

Long-time readers know I hold conservative values. That doesn’t mean I’m heartless or racist – it means I live in the real world, not in some ivory tower of idealism. I believe in what works. Prosperity comes from principles, not handouts. I’m not anti-change, but I believe change needs to make sense. When I see places like Minnesota shift into a Somalian enclave where the American ethos takes a back seat and there is no effort to assimilate, I worry.

Do I think Donald Trump is a great leader? No. But I do think he might be the right person for a deeply flawed system. Leading the United States means steering a ship that affects billions of people. Sometimes, the job doesn’t call for kindness – it calls for blunt force. And like many of you, I don’t want to be run over by bad policy. Which brings me back to… tariffs.

As an importer, we used to pay a modest 2–5% duty. Now? It’s 15% on European goods and up to 60% on Chinese goods. Let me spell it out: If I import $100,000 of product, I owe the government $15,000 – before even paying the standard duties and fees. That cost doesn’t vanish. It gets baked into our prices. And that means you end up footing the bill. That tariff used to be our profit.

This isn’t policy. It’s theft. It’s Boston Tea Party-level frustration. We’re not punishing foreign governments – we’re punishing American businesses and consumers, all while stuffing the pockets of our government who created the $37 trillion dollar debt. Why do they deserve our money like this? On top of our standard taxes? Because they, and it is all of them, can’t balance a budget?

At some point, people like me break. And when I say me, I mean folks with much deeper pockets than mine. They’re asking the same question I am: when does this end? Or better yet, how?