Fun news of the week: taxes, but don’t call them taxes…
Lucky Americans. USA! USA! Welcome to TariffWorld (a subsidiary of TrumpWorld), where Americans stand up for… well, Trump’s right to lie to us.
Tariffs on three high-volume trading partners,  Canada, Mexico* and China, which are slated to begin tomorrow, are your new tax increases, Trump’s way of raising revenue for the Treasury quickly without looking like he’s raising your taxes. Instead, the tariffs will raise the cost of many if not all the things you buy. Merchants and corporations will raise prices for their goods to cover the new cost of imports under tariffs. (And even if the cost of those goods is NOT raised by tariffs, many other corporations and merchants will raise THEIR prices under the cover of the general increase in the cost of living. Who will notice?)
*Mexico has cut a deal that delays its tariffs one month, as of Monday a.m. Stay tuned..
For most companies, the cost of selling goods to Canada, Mexico or China will go up too, because they won’t sit still but retaliate. Canada has imposed targeted tariffs on US products from Red states and Mexico promised the same. For future car buyers, the back-and-forth of car parts and finished components for US autos will incur multiple tariffs on the same product.
 In all three countries affected by Trump’s tariffs, if you work for an outfit that sells goods there, look forward to reduced sales volume and, inevitably, layoffs. Trump will do one of his patented who-me? shrugs and pretend that the tax cuts he will propose later this year will cut EVERYBODY’s taxes, not just those of the super-rich in his orbit. Definitely fact-check that one. Meanwhile, he will argue that his tariffs will make American resolve (read: stupidity) feared worldwide and cause cross-border trafficking of  fentanyl to decline (that has been going down for a year or more, he’ll take credit for that too).
But your taxes – figured as costs of living in the US – will already have gone up, a lot. Welcome to TariffWorld, where taxes will be hidden in your bills for groceries and goods. And watch your back.
Fun news of the week: taxes, but don’t call them taxes…
Lucky Americans. USA! USA! Welcome to TariffWorld (a subsidiary of TrumpWorld), where Americans stand up for… well, Trump’s right to lie to us.
Tariffs on three high-volume trading partners,  Canada, Mexico* and China, which are slated to begin tomorrow, are your new tax increases, Trump’s way of raising revenue for the Treasury quickly without looking like he’s raising your taxes. Instead, the tariffs will raise the cost of many if not all the things you buy. Merchants and corporations will raise prices for their goods to cover the new cost of imports under tariffs. (And even if the cost of those goods is NOT raised by tariffs, many other corporations and merchants will raise THEIR prices under the cover of the general increase in the cost of living. Who will notice?)
*Mexico has cut a deal that delays its tariffs one month, as of Monday a.m. Stay tuned..
For most companies, the cost of selling goods to Canada, Mexico or China will go up too, because they won’t sit still but retaliate. Canada has imposed targeted tariffs on US products from Red states and Mexico promised the same. For future car buyers, the back-and-forth of car parts and finished components for US autos will incur multiple tariffs on the same product.
 In all three countries affected by Trump’s tariffs, if you work for an outfit that sells goods there, look forward to reduced sales volume and, inevitably, layoffs. Trump will do one of his patented who-me? shrugs and pretend that the tax cuts he will propose later this year will cut EVERYBODY’s taxes, not just those of the super-rich in his orbit. Definitely fact-check that one. Meanwhile, he will argue that his tariffs will make American resolve (read: stupidity) feared worldwide and  cause cross-border trafficking of  fentanyl to decline (that has been going down for a year or more, he’ll take credit for that too).
But your taxes – figured as costs of living in the US – will already have gone up, a lot. Welcome to TariffWorld, where taxes will be hidden in your bills for groceries and goods. And watch your back.
HERE IN MARYLAND
Summaries Via Maryland Reporter
Moore Proposes 1.3% Cut for Health Dept: Gov. Wes Moore is proposing a small cut to the Maryland Department of Health in an attempt to keep the state’s looming $3 million deficit under control. MDH makes up the largest slice of the pie for the state’s budget. Moore proposed a $21.5 billion budget for MDH for 2026, a 1.3% decrease. The largest cut in the budget comes from a $12 million decrease to local health departments across the state. WYPR-FM.
Assembly Bills Could Fast-Track Nuclear Power Plants: Two bills before the Maryland General Assembly could fast-track nuclear power plant construction to address the state’s energy generation shortfalls caused by accelerated green energy priorities. Baltimore Sun.
Poll: Moore’s Taxes On The Wealthy And Cannabis Are Popular: Maryland voters broadly support Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed budget-balancing tax increases for high-income earners, sports betting and cannabis sales, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. WaPo
Witnesses Bring Emotional Testimony For, Against Second Look Act: The bill, sponsored by Sen. Charles Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), would allow a person who has served at least 20 years of a prison sentence to petition the court for a sentence reduction. If denied, they could petition again after three years. An inmate could not file more than three petitions. Maryland Matters.Â
Last Week – it seems like ancient history now: State Officials Grapple With Trump Freeze, Then Reversal: Maryland Democrats at the state and federal levels huddled Wednesday to figure out a response to a Trump administration proposal that threatened billions in federal aid to the state before apparently being reversed, all in the span of 48 hours. “Chaos” was the word of the day. Maryland Matters.
“It had been done with such haste, and such lack of thought and such frankly ham-handed ways that we have now seen three decisions made within 48 hours essentially — it's on, it's off, we're not sure where it is,” Congressman Steny Hoyer told reporters Wednesday afternoon, shortly after OMB rescinded the freeze order. WYPR-FM.
Reading Scores Jump for Maryland 4th Graders Maryland standardized reading test scores for fourth graders jumped from 40th in the nation in 2022 to 20th place in 2024, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress report released last week. The NAEP, often referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, also said reading scores for Maryland eighth graders improved from 25th to 21st during the same period. Maryland Matters.
With Rough Road Ahead, Maryland Slips In Addressing Climate Change: Maryland is slipping behind schedule as it races to curb its contributions to climate change, and the road only looks likely to get rougher with President Donald Trump back in charge. Baltimore Banner.
Annapolis Legislation Takes Aim At Sky-High Heating Bills Driven By BGE’s Pipeline Replacement Program: Excessive pipeline replacement work would get some checks and balances aimed at efficiency and safety under legislation sponsored by two Baltimore lawmakers. Baltimore Brew
Moore Calls On PJM To Change Its Pricing, Power Procurement: Gov. Wes Moore is calling on PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission operator responsible for Maryland’s power grid, to change its pricing model and power procurement rules to prevent higher costs for ratepayers. Moore joins governors of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Illinois and New Jersey who have voiced similar concerns about PJM’s pricing model and the impact of PJM’s power procurement methods on its customers. Frederick News Post.
Bird Flu Raises Concerns About Poultry, Wildfowl In Chesapeake Region Bird flu is back, sending shockwaves through the Chesapeake Bay region’s poultry industry and fueling concerns about wildfowl, as well as “spillover” infections in humans. Bay Journal
THE OTHER 49
Sources: Pluribus, Â States Newsroom and Route Fifty
CONSUMER PROTECTION: Republican lawmakers in at least six states have introduced bills to require special labels on new cultivated meat products — though those products are not yet widely available in the United States. Bills in Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota and Virginia would bar lab-grown products from implying they are made from meat or eggs. (Pluribus News)
Alabama and Florida banned the sale of cultivated meat in 2024, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a labeling law similar to those introduced this year.
SOCIAL MEDIA: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a temporary injunction against a California law requiring social media platforms to provide minor users with a chronological feed and limiting notifications to minors during school hours and overnight. Industry groups have argued the law violates free speech rights. (Sacramento Bee)
HEALTH CARE: Illinois lawmakers have introduced legislation to create a prescription drug affordability board to cap the cost of medication. The board would set upper payment limits for each step of the supply chain. Eleven states have created such boards, starting with Maryland in 2019. (Capitol News Illinois)
MORE: A bipartisan group of Wisconsin lawmakers has introduced legislation to extend Medicaid coverage to new mothers for up to a year after they give birth. Current law gives new mothers Medicaid coverage for only 60 days after birth. (Wisconsin Examiner)
EDUCATION: Tennessee lawmakers have approved a bill expanding school vouchers to 20,000 students who would receive about $7,000 each for private school tuition. The bill would reserve half those vouchers for low income students, while the other half would be available to any student. (Associated Press)
MARIJUANA: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) will propose legalizing recreational marijuana in his annual budget address this week. Senate Republicans say they have logistical reservations and concerns that the state could sustain a recreational market. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Every state that borders Pennsylvania, [including Maryland but] Â except West Virginia, allows recreational pot.
No DEI next door, thanks: WV: WVU shuts down DEI office after West Virginia ban goes into effect |Â West Virginia Watch
NATIONAL AND THE FEDS
From NOTUS:  Four Trump Nominees Wouldn’t Tell Congress If They’d Refuse Illegal Orders: Senators asked Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth about how they would respond if they received an illegal order from Trump.
And here is this week’s update on the chaos in DC from Megan E, federal affairs director at our national affiliate, People’s Action:
Hello People's Action,
I hope you were able to escape Trump and Musk's chaos this weekend better than I did. Here in the Capital region, everywhere I went friends and neighbors are impacted by furloughs at nonprofits that provide food and healthcare abroad and intimidation at federal government jobs. Ezra Klein helpfully reminds us to remember that Trump doesn’t have the power that he is claiming to.
Last week, a court quickly blocked Elon’s unconstitutional memo seeking to freeze all federal funding last week but not before the Medicaid payment system was temporarily shut down. That got Republican governors’ attention,  causing the White House to issue a document saying that Medicaid was not impacted. That hastily written memo by Musk’s DOGE squad (apparently he has a 19-year-old former intern writing memos to all civil servants) has been rescinded but the White House clarified that there is a freeze on all climate money and other programs.Â
22 Democratic attorneys general sued over Trump’s executive order blocking climate spending. On Friday a federal judge blocked the order and ordered the administration to resume funding for those 22 states. The majority of IRA money was set to go to red states. Republican governors are an important target as Trump’s actions decimate their states’ budgets.
Unelected, self-appointed Musk has shut down USAID and all employees have been told to stay home after his stooges struggled with USAID top security personnel over access to secure spaces in the building. Â
 Trump took action Saturday to impose new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, which could have a sweeping impact on the American economy. He’s implementing a whopping 25% tariff on allies Canada (with an exception of only 10% on oil and energy from Canada) and Mexico and only a 10% tariff on imports from China. Canada and China have announced retaliatory tariffs on American goods and Mexico said they will announce tariffs and other retaliatory measures today [see leader, above, on Mexico’s deferral]. Some provinces in Canada are only targeting goods produced in states that supported Trump. The tariffs are set to go into effect on Tuesday. Global markets which opened earlier today are down, as well as futures trading. Oil prices are up, likely due more to Trump’s anti-climate executive orders than tariff policies.Â
US  House Speaker Johnson has directed the House Budget Committee to release the text of the budget resolution this week, which will outline their plans to make massive cuts to healthcare, housing, food assistance and climate programs so they can cut taxes for billionaires and corporations. However, it seems they won’t make that deadline with disagreement between the far right of the party and  swing district Republicans.Â
So: The government will shut down on March 14th if Congress doesn’t pass a government spending bill. The far-right Freedom Caucus members never vote for government spending bills, giving Democrats significant leverage. Democrats must craft a big list of demands in order to secure any votes. Republicans will own any government shutdown. Some Democrats will likely need some strong encouragement to use this leverage. The same challenges exists to lift the debt ceiling, but that has a moving deadline that may be pushed to summer.Â
>> Thousands of protestors in LA shut down a highway against immigration enforcement.Â
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Teach-in on the Tax & Budget Fight Join us for a teach-in on Wednesday, February 5th at 7pm ET/6pm CT/5pm MT/4pm PT, where we’ll dive deep into the impact of these dangerous cuts to health care, housing, food stamps and climate funding and how we can push back together. This teach-in will focus on Republicans’ attempts to deliver their biggest handout to billionaires and corporations, all while gutting funding for critical services.
WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW RESOURCES
Direct File: There is a lot of bad news these days as Trump tries to dismantle our federal government and take away rights from women, LGBTQ folks. This online tax tool may seem small but this Biden Administration IRS program will actually save poor and working people hundreds of dollars so let’s help spread the word.Â
From our friends at Economic Security Project: Last year, for the first time in American history, the IRS rolled out a free, simplified, public online tax filing tool: Direct File. The pilot launched in 12 states and covered a small share of the taxpayers. It was a huge success! Direct File was a free, simple and user-friendly filing process that delivered!
As we move toward Tax Year 2025, Direct File is now permanent and has expanded to more filing situations and includes 25 states, which means an estimated 32 million households will be eligible. Direct File is available in 25 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. See page 2 of this toolkit for more information on the states.Â
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ISSUE UPDATE: CLIMATE
The climate funding freeze is causing uncertainty for farmers. “Farmers received more than $10.5 billion in direct government payments in 2024, nearly half of which came from conservation programs. That figure does not include Federal Crop Insurance, which accounted for over $19 billion in 2022.”
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ISSUE UPDATE: HEALTHCARE
The Senate Finance Committee and the Senate HELP Committee held confirmation hearings last week for RFK, Jr. who is picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to being a leader in the anti-vaxxer movement, Kennedy showed a lack of knowledge of Medicaid and Medicare except that he is clear that he wants to promote Medicare privatization and cuts to Medicaid. When Senator Sanders asked him if he believes that health care is a human right, he responded that it’s not like other human rights because someone who smokes for 15 years draws down on the system more (?!?).Â
In solidarity,
Megan
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