“Protecting industry did make America great.”
That is true, and the best way to protect industry is by not over taxing and over regulating it. Carrying the burden of an excessive government makes it impossible for industry to compete internationally.
And if our trading partners try to take advantage by under taxing or under regulating their industry - in other words by use of currency manipulation, subsidies, slave labor or by imposing tarriffs or other barriers to free trade, then yes, slap a PUNITIVE tariff on them until they fall into line.
Tariffs, or the threat of tariffs, offer a great incentive to our trading partners to play fair, and that is exactly how Trump is using them, which I fully support.
The use of taxation to fund government is a necessary evil, regardless of what form it takes. And when government grows beyond what is necessary, the taxation used to fund it goes from being a necessary evil to being just plain evil.
That’s where we are in 2018 - the size and scope of government is WAY beyond necessary - so any taxes raised to fund it are evil, regardless of the tax mechanism.
No tax of any kind raised to fund an excessive government is justified - period. The only justification for tariffs is to protect our industry from unfair competition. Once the unfair competition is discontinued, the tariffs should be immediately lifted for the benifit of all involved.
BS. The Republican Party was THE TARIFF Party until the globalist Free Traitors™ took it over after WWII and Bush (both) cemented it in place. You cannot place US workers in direct competition with 3rd world peasants without huge social/economic ramifications. That is why we need a tariff.
The progressives of the early 20th century started the income tax and how anyone can still support that evil thing is beyond me.