The Supreme Court’s decision to deny President Trump the power to arbitrarily impose tariffs should be welcomed by all who support the principle of no taxation without representation, as well as by those who want more affordability in their purchases. President Trump’s unhinged denunciation of justices in the Supreme Court majority echoes the irresponsible ravings of those who threatened violence against the Supreme Court justices hostile to Roe v. Wade. He should accept the political benefits of the decision and think about what mischief could be caused by a liberal or progressive Democratic president with the tariff powers he wants to reclaim for himself.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—the 250th anniversary of the actual outbreak of the American Revolution in April, 1775, has come and gone—we should remember that among the justifications for war enumerated by principal author Thomas Jefferson were complaints that King George III and the British Parliament had prevented the functioning of colonial legislatures while imposing laws enacted by the Parliament proposing to tax us, despite the fact that we were allowed no representation in the Parliament itself. Granted, President Trump, having been elected by We the People, is more representative than King George was. Nonetheless, those who wrote our Constitution wanted the Congress, being even more representative than the President, to decide tax policy. Last Friday’s decision was a timely reminder of that fact, reiterating that the power to tax, and especially to levy tariffs, belongs to Congress, not the President.
The Supreme Court claims to be neutral on questions of party politics and public policy. Chief Justice John Roberts once said its function was solely to “call balls and strikes.” Yet last week’s opinion has both a real policy impact as well as a potential impact on the looming congressional elections. The decision, if allowed to stand, will make the cost of living more affordable, to the benefit of all, and especially to the benefit of the Republican Party.
President Trump’s tariffs are sales taxes American consumers must pay to purchase imports as well as products produced domestically but with imported materials. As such, tariffs increase the cost to the consumer of the items taxed, thereby making them, by definition, less affordable. By eliminating the tariffs, at least for the time being, the Supreme Court is reducing the costs of these items, thereby making them more affordable.
Making life more affordable should be welcomed by everyone, but especially by the GOP. After all, the GOP currently has the trifecta—the White House and both houses of Congress. If the public dislikes the state of the economy, it always blames the incumbent president and his party, no matter who might truly be to blame, and will take out its dissatisfaction at the polls. Conversely, whatever improvements the public sees in the economy will be credited to the president and his party, either if they deserve no such credit. In this instance, the public blames—whether fairly or not is irrelevant—President Trump and the GOP for what it thinks is poor economic management; hence, Trump’s polling numbers are underwater and a blue wave may be approaching come November. But increased affordability may well lessen public disapproval of Trump’s policies and thereby lessen probable GOP losses at the polls. Results: Fewer Democrats elected to Congress, and less likelihood that Trump will be either impeached or removed from office.
But President Trump doesn’t see things that way. Instead, he’s chosen to indulge himself in unhinged and irrational rants against the Supreme Court, even calling into question the loyalty to the United States of those members of the Supreme Court who voted against his tariffs. His denunciations are reminiscent of the lunatic ravings of Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer against Supreme Court justices hostile to Roe v Wade. It remains to be seen if he will foment the sort of violence against anti-tariff Supreme Court justices that pro-abortion extremists threatened against pro-life justices in 2022.
President Trump has also responded to the Supreme Court decision by promising to find other legal justifications for raising tariffs and by promptly imposing new tariffs of 15% on imports from throughout the world—an obvious mistake, at least from the perspective of one who might welcome more affordability and fear that a Trump—induced decrease in affordability will produce a Trump-induced disaster for the GOP this November.
And if President Trump does, indeed, find the power to once again increase tariffs, he may decrease affordability as well as diminish his fortunes and those of the GOP. And he should understand that whatever power he finds to raise tariffs for his purposes will be inherited by the next president as well, to be used for the next president’s purposes, whatever they may be, whether that be President Rubio or Vance, or President Newsom, Pritzker, AOC, or Mamdani. Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to someone is to get what he wants.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018, and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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