The party of war voted in unison against ending taxes on tips and overtime work. Only one Republican voted against these measures, with 217 in favor. The Democrats are NOT the party of the working class and have been actively working to undermine the people for years.

Ending taxes on tips and overtime was one of Trump’s campaign promises, which is precisely why the Democrats struck down the bill. Laughably, the opponents stated they were concerned that losing $2 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade would hurt the national debt. The very people who have never seen a social program they did not want to fund are suddenly concerned about the national debt.

Kamala Harris was in favor of these policies and had the backing of her party. Her feigned support was an effort to win over the people, no different from the failed promise of ending student loans. “It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue to fight for working families, including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” Harris told a crowd at the University of Nevada in August 2024.

The Democrats want everyone to be equally poor and dependent upon the government. Some lawmakers say eliminating tip taxes would be unfair to workers in states with a lower minimum wage. Under that line of thinking, should we penalize those who work in cities where, say, a meal is 5X the price as it would be elsewhere? Why should anyone out earn another in this fantasy socialist utopia? Minimum wage is a short-sighted political move that ignores the fundamental laws of supply and demand. Politicians always assume they can simply legislate prosperity, but history proves otherwise. Forcing businesses to pay higher wages does not magically create wealth—it destroys jobs, accelerates automation, and puts small businesses out of business.

Wages rise naturally in a real economic expansion when businesses compete for workers. That is how a free market functions. But when governments artificially raise wages, businesses respond logically—by cutting jobs, reducing hours, or passing the costs onto consumers through inflation. The very people politicians claim to be helping end up worse off, as their cost of living rises and entry-level jobs disappear.

Tipping culture is completely out of control in America. There is an expectation for consumers to pay a minimum of 20% in addition to inflated services, regardless of the quality of their service. Kiosks and self-checkout payment systems often ask for a tip. Consumers are less likely to go out when money is tight and the initial service has already risen due to inflation. Then, the government wants to take a portion of these tips AND the initial salary in most states. Whatever we must buy is then taxed; whatever we save is then taxed. Government greed knows no bounds. They’re too incompetent to manage funds, so they continue to squeeze our pockets, but it is never enough.

Taxing overtime pay is just another example of how clueless politicians are when it comes to economics. The entire purpose of overtime is to compensate workers for putting in extra hours beyond a normal workweek. Yet, instead of rewarding hard work, governments see it as another opportunity to grab more revenue. Why would the government disincentivize people from working? We are eager to keep our hospitals staffed, ports flowing, trucks moving, etc. but are discouraging a productive workforce by dipping into their earnings.

Do the Dems who voted against these policies hate the American people, Trump, or both? No one is buying their feigned concern for the national debt. If policymakers had any real understanding of economics, they would eliminate taxes on overtime and tips entirely. If you want a strong economy, you incentivize productivity, not penalize it.

Trump and Vance were not the first to warn Zelensky that his ungrateful begging would backfire. In June 2022, during a private phone call, then-President Joe Biden reportedly lost his temper with the Ukrainian president. Biden had agreed to another massive $1 billion aid package to Ukraine at the time. Yet, no amount is enough for Zelensky.

Any diplomatic leader would react to a $1 billion aid package with gratitude, especially since the US had already sent him billions in funds and weapons. Not Zelensky whose response was to list off everything else Ukraine needed on top of the new aid package. Reports state that Biden lost his temper and shouted at Zelensky during the private phone call—SHOW SOME GRATITUDE!

Zelensky used the United States and public taxpayer funds as his personal endless piggybank. He made a complete fool of Joe Biden who continued to fulfill his every wish. The difference between the current and last administration is that Trump will not tolerate disrespect. Additionally, Biden was forced to save face with the public to secure Zelensky’s image and America’s unwavering support.

In fact, months after the heated phone call, Biden publicly apologized to Zelensky for not sending MORE. He blamed the GOP, stating that Republican lawmakers were stalling additional aid as a political bargaining chip. America had already spent hundreds of billions on Zelensky’s proxy war, but our weak sell-out of a leader cowered and apologized for not prioritizing a foreign nation over his own. What an embarrassment and slap in the face to the people of America.

Numerous people have told me, “This is what I voted for” after Trump and Vance put Zelensky in his place. “Have you ever said ‘thank you’ once?” Vance questioned. Zelensky telling Trump that America would “feel” the impact of the war eventually was the final straw. He actually threatened the president of the United States by warning that war would soon be on his doorstep. The world needed to see that encounter to understand Zelensky. He could have easily chosen PEACE! He could have chosen to prioritize the lives of his troops rather than his ego and pockets. The deal was there awaiting him, but he chose death and destruction.

Zelensky came for a paycheck and left with a reality check. Sorry, but the new American administration serves the American people who have provided Ukraine with more funding than any other nation. The neocons in Europe can cry all they want about America abandoning Europe, but they fail to acknowledge that our president was offering PEACE and an end to war. But no, the neocons are hell-bent on conquering Russia, so peace was never an option. It will be of interest to see how the European leaders who do not support this endless war will react and if it will cause another fracture in the EU.

Trump has said he’d like to stop focusing on Russia and Ukraine and refocus on securing America’s borders. Let us not forget that millions of undocumented, unvetted foreign nationals are still residing in America, presenting an extreme threat to our own national security.

The war in Ukraine has disproportionately hurt Hungary and Slovakia. To add insult to injury, Zelensky declined to renew a gas line deal that was providing the two European nations with essential energy. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico have once again broken ties with the European Union and shot down the latest Ukrainian aid package.

Fico has said that he would not send Ukraine another euro and called “peace through strength” measures “unrealistic.” Furthermore, Fico sees through Zelensky’s victimization and is reportedly “sick” of his games. “He roams Europe begging and blackmailing, asking others for money. This needs to stop,” Fico adamantly said.

Hungary’s Orban wrote a letter to Brussels in which he urged for peace. “I am convinced that the European Union – following the example of the United States – should enter into direct discussions with Russia on a ceasefire and a sustainable peace in Ukraine,” Orban wrote to Antonio Costa, who heads the Council of the EU’s 27 member states. Instead of seeing this man as someone who wants to prevent death and destruction, Western media is pinning him as a Russian tool and Putin ally.

“If the summit does not respect that there are other views than continuing the war, the European Council on Thursday may not be able to agree on conclusions on Ukraine,” Fico said in a Facebook post. Orban said that the differences in opinion “cannot be bridged” but believes that the EU must vote unanimously on the next aid package.

Costa replied to Orban’s letter with a biased anti-Russian stance, claiming that the EU does, in fact, want peace—but they’re unwilling to take any measures to ensure peace. Brussels does not protect its member states. Slovakia and Hungary repeatedly urged Brussels to take their energy crisis into consideration but the EU dismissed their pleas. Now, they’re asking all member states to continually pour money into one of the most corrupt nations in Europe for nothing in return. Brussels is akin to some cult leader begging members for all their funding, promising to protect them from some inevitable threat that will never come before asking them to commit (economic) suicide.

The European Union cannot survive for a plethora of reasons, one being that certain nations no longer wish to see their people live through World War III. We will see on March 6 if the EU respects the vote of all member states or if they blatantly move ahead without unanimous support.

PRIVATE BLOG – The Big Picture & Correction

Private blog posts are exclusively available to Socrates subscribers. To sign-up for Socrates or to learn more, please visit Ask-Socrates.com.

https://ask-socrates.com/

Zelensky has relented only after Trump cut off all aid to Ukraine. Sources are saying that the politicians, whose salaries would end instantly, insisted that he cut a deal or resign. Zelensky proposed a partial ceasefire with Russia, posting on X that Kyiv would be willing to release prisoners and agree to a truce that would ban long-range attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure in the air and the sea. The Neocons are probably very upset, but if they can’t shake someone down to put in $10 billion to cover all the expenses in Ukraine when Europe doesn’t have the cash, they will need to create some false flag afterward to claim Putin violated the cease-fire.

The European Commission crafted a new strategy to funnel money into climate change initiatives—The Clean Industrial Deal (CID). The European Union has watched as these net zero carbon goals slowly strangle their economies. Yet, those in charge believe they can achieve net zero by 2050 through perpetual spending. The Clean Industrial Deal will allegedly help “energy-insensitive” sectors remain competitive through a €100 billion spending package.

“We are going to rethink the logic of public procurement to include criteria of sustainability, resilience, and European preference,” European Commissioner for Industry, Stéphane Séjourné, noted. They believe there is benefits toward forcing the private sector to become dependent on public funds. Europe refuses to acknowledge that its policies have caused energy prices to skyrocket and seep into every single sector, causing overall inflation to rise across the continent. Instead of abandoning the sinking ship, Brussels is forcing the continent to set sail on a mission that is destined to fail.

EU Commission President Ursula admitted that current policies have caused energy costs to increase. Businesses and consumers have no desire to go green and there is net zero demand. Capital is hightailing it out of Europe as a result and these politicians still will not change course. “Production costs have increased, especially for energy-intensive industries. Demand for green products has dropped, and some investments have relocated to other regions,” she admitted.

One sentence that proves governments are becoming more authoritarian:

“We need to do with lithium and cobalt what we did with Covid vaccines.” – Stéphane Séjourné

Brussels is prepared to force companies and consumers to comply by any means necessary. New regulatory commissions are forming to analyze European industries to ensure they are in adherence. Businesses will be audited for their energy consumption and forced to report their energy usage to unelected authorities who do not have their best interests in mind.

We cannot speak on climate change without noting the policy that sparked the movement—the Great Reset and Agenda 2030. Agenda 2030 was created by World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab to force a one world government upon the world. Hence, we are seeing an increase in policies that threaten the private sector to force everyone to become dependent on government.

Von der Leyen swears that “by 2030, the EU’s renewable energy targets will generate over 3.5 million new jobs.” One of the core pillars of Agenda 2030 is the push for net zero policies, which, as I have explained, are nothing more than government-imposed economic warfare on the private sector. Europe is dismantling its own industrial base. Germany, once the economic powerhouse of the EU, is in freefall because of insane energy policies that have made electricity prices uncompetitive. French Economy Minister Eric Lombard admitted that economic policies are causing GDP to decline.

The bureaucrats will not reverse course or admit that their poor policies are causing capital to flee. Expect to see more financial restrictions, wealth taxes, and digital currencies designed to trap capital. The collapse of confidence in government is what ultimately destroys economies, and Europe is on that path.

The primary policy implemented under the Trump Administration that I believe has the potential to destroy the US economy is tariffs. The very people who are supposed to advise Trump do not comprehend the global nature of the economy and the repercussions of tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently came out to say that China will simply “eat any tariffs that go on.”

“Well, we don’t know yet because it’s path-dependent, but what I can tell you is that I’m not worried about China,” Bessent said. “China will pay for the tariffs because their business model is exporting their way out of this inflation.” Our own Treasury Secretary does not understand that tariffs are inflationary.

Trump’s tariffs on China were meant to correct the so-called trade imbalance. Yet, as I’ve repeatedly pointed out, tariffs do not address the core issue—capital flows. America’s trade deficit is driven by capital inflows, not trade policy. Foreign nations invest in US assets, which results in a capital account surplus. By imposing tariffs, the US government added to inflation, raised costs for American businesses, and forced manufacturers to seek alternative supply chains in Vietnam and Mexico rather than returning to the US.

Economic power shifts not through tariffs but through capital investment and confidence. China simply will redirect its exports elsewhere, while American consumers pay higher prices. We saw this happen during the first US-China trade war when Trump first entered the White House.

China is prepared to take retaliatory measures against the US. “If the U.S. insists on its own way, China will take all necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests,” a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson told CNBC. America has already lost China as its top trading partner, but what’s worse is that American politicians on both sides have caused the Chinese to stop purchasing US debt.

Trump is keen to see capital flowing back to the United States and must realize that these tariffs will have the precise opposite effect. I am less concerned about his tariffs on China than about his proposed tariffs on Europe. The tariff on China is more about the cost of production since “Made in China” means it was made cheaper with cheap labor and domestic (Chinese) parts.