Recently, at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, 94-year-old Warren Buffett committed what some apparently consider an act of rebellion. He spoke plainly and stated a simple fact: Tariffs are taxes paid by Americans, not by foreigners.

In today's political climate, Buffett's honesty about non-complex economics and simple arithmetic may seem revolutionary. The response to such clarity has been revealing.

Many of those who now call themselves conservative — particularly those aligned with President Trump — attack Buffett as an elitist globalist, out of touch with ordinary Americans. The very people who once defended free markets now embrace government manipulation of trade. Words have lost their meanings. "Conservative" no longer conserves anything recognizable.

Consider the absurdity: A billionaire investor, often painted as a liberal by right-wing media, defends the economic principles that built American prosperity. Meanwhile, self-proclaimed conservatives champion massive government intervention in markets through universal tariffs that function as one of the largest tax increases on ordinary citizens in modern history.

This is not merely hypocrisy. It is a form of political doublethink that would have fascinated George Orwell. "Free market" now means "government-controlled trade." "America First" means........

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