For decades, Republicans have been on an unending quest to cut taxes. And Democrats, who are congenital tax-increasers, gave them a lot of grief for it.

Now a Republican president is single-handedly imposing one of the largest tax increases ever. And when Republicans are asked about it, most of them squirm a little and try to assure us everything will be okay.

No, it won’t be okay.

One of the country’s most effective tax-cut advocates used to claim that cutting taxes was central to the “Republican brand.” He would point out how far companies often go to protect their brand and cited Coca-Cola as one example. Whenever a consumer buys a Coke, he knows what’s he’s getting. If the company allowed the taste or quality to vary, people would no longer trust the brand.

Similarly, if Republicans were to start raising taxes, that would destroy their brand. Voters could no longer trust that a vote for a Republican was a vote for lower taxes.

Now comes President Trump, who has single-handedly, through executive order and without any new vote in Congress, imposed what is being called by the Tax Foundation the largest tax increase since 1982 — $1,900 per U.S. household in 2025. The foundation says most of the six larger past increases were passed during or shortly after World War II.

So, the question is, what does this huge tax increase do to the Republican brand?

Tariffs are taxes. Trump’s massive new tariffs are, therefore, a tax increase. And contrary to Trump’s frequent claim that other........

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