The Media's Complete About Face On Taxing Tips (To Help Kamala, Naturally)

Posted • August 12, 2024: Back in June, President Trump proposed a policy to make the tax rate on tips for service industry workers (e.g. wait staff) a big, fat zero. At the time, I wrote that it was good policy and good politics. Who works in the service industry? Young voters, who often tend to vote for the Democrat Party. You know how I know I was right about my assessment? Yesterday, Kamala Harris stole the idea. Here's what the spin will be: the idea was bad when Trump proposed it. They'll even argue the zero tax rate will go to 'the rich' (because we know how often they work for tips) or something like that.

David Frum @davidfrum: “I assume the Harris version of this idea, unlike Trump's, does not allow hedge-funders to redesignate hundreds of millions of dollars of compensation as "tips"?” -- Joe Gabriel Simonson @SaysSimonson: “To be clear what’s going on here is Democrats made up a random criticism of Trump’s plan and now they’re going to use this made up criticism to say Harris’s plan — which everyone knows she copied from Trump — is superior.” 一一 But now that Kamala has warmed to the idea -- because she has no policy ideas of her own -- their tone has shifted. And will continue to do so. Steve Krakauer @SteveKrak: “Excited for the hard pivot from Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, and more media outlets now that Kamala Harris has co-signed on Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” policy…”

Mother Jones: Why Donald Trump’s Plan to Stop Taxing Tips Is a Lame Political Stunt
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/07/donald-trump-proposal-no-tax-tips/

Rolling Stone: Trump’s Plan to End Taxes on Tips Isn’t Fooling Labor Leaders
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-plan-end-taxes-tips-skepticism-1235062544/

Got it? Trump's proposal was a 'lame political stunt'. Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze: “Real fun framing here.” https://x.com/redsteeze/status/1822488374974046364 -- So if Trump was 'totally wrong' -- as Bloomberg asserted back in June -- Kamala is also wrong for adopting a Trump policy. But Bloomberg, and the rest of the media, will suddenly love the idea. 'Kamala is a champion of the working class!' - 'Kamala understands what service industry workers need!' - 'Kamala's sensible tax plan will win over voters!' - I can see the headlines now. A Kamala campaign adviser said this was something Kamala always supported. MSDNC is gushing over President Trump's "NO TAX ON TIPS" proposal — which #CopyCatKamala is trying to pass off as her own. Top Kamala advisor Cedric Richmond claims she has "always said" she's been supportive of this. TOTAL BULLSHIT — ALL SPIN!

The only question is which outlet publishes this blatant lie first. Kamala Harris was the deciding vote in the Senate when it passed the Inflation Reduction Act which -- drumroll please -- funded the IRS to do things like go after people who didn't pay taxes on tips. Just as David Frum said Trump's proposal benefitted 'the rich', the media will lie and say the IRS wouldn't go after service industry workers. Which is also false: the majority of IRS audits target people making less than $200,000/year. Yet the media has zero interest in reporting these facts, or asking hard questions of the Kamala Harris campaign. At this point, media are doing nothing beyond making in-kind campaign donations (millions of dollars worth) to Kamala Harris. And we get to watch it unfold in real time. There was a time the journalist class wasn't the propaganda arm of the DNC. Even a few years ago, they at least pretended to be objective, even though their headlines and op-eds and broadcasts gave away their biases.

They're not even hiding it anymore. Axios -- who reported Kamala Harris was the border czar -- went back and edited that years-old story as we all watched, claiming it was a 'mistake' in their reporting. A mistake they happened to leave uncorrected until the precise moment it hurt the Democrat Party presidential candidate. Undoubtedly, the aforementioned outlets like Mother Jones and Rolling Stone will publish columns in the coming days praising Kamala Harris for an idea they hated when Trump said it. And they'll ignore the criticisms and face almost no consequences for it. Their one goal is to beat Donald Trump, and they'll burn down the few shreds of credibility they have remaining to do so.

Twitchy: IRS Audits Targeted People Making Under $200,000 Per Year in Not So Shocking News
https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2024/05/08/irs-audits-mainly-people-who-make-under-200k-n2396045
Twitchy: Keep Carrying That Water: Axios Says the Stock Market Slump Doesn't Mean Recession Is Near
https://twitchy.com/amy-curtis/2024/08/06/axios-says-stock-market-slump-doesnt-mean-recession-n2399289
Twitchy: Did She Learn Plagiarism From Biden? Kamala's Hot New Campaign Promise is … Donald Trump's
https://twitchy.com/grateful-calvin/2024/08/11/did-she-learn-plagiarism-from-biden-kamalas-hot-new-campaign-promise-is-donald-trumps-n2399491