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It would be hard to find a more insulting offer than to exchange money for your vote. That’s exactly what President Donald Trump did in announcing that if voters keep Republicans in power come the midterms, he’ll send every adult citizen a $5,000 check.
Now, one would not put money on that promise. Even if Republicans do retain control of both the House and the Senate, the promise will surely be thrown in the same manila folder as the vow to release the Epstein files, all of them.
Of course, Trump would not be paying us five grand -- the federal government would. That would cost around $1.2 trillion. Trump says the money would come from his tariff collections. The math doesn’t work. The tariffs so far have raised only about $270 billion after subtracting the court-ordered refunds to importers.
To be fair to Republicans, the offer has turned a number of their stomachs. “I disagree with it,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). “It’s pay-to-play … Plus, where are you getting the money? I think we’re in debt $40 trillion.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was less diplomatic: “Some of us think dependency is evil and soul sucking, in all its forms.”
Others skipped the moral disapproval but questioned the mechanics of handing out all that dough. Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) said, “The devil’s always in the details.”
Actually, the devil is in the offer. It is a buying of votes. If Republicans attempt a partisan comeback by arguing that Democrats do it, too, they have a point. Democrats do buy votes, though they usually couch the exchange in less vulgar terms.
Was Joe Biden buying votes when he promised to help pay off student loans? He was. He announced his student-debt cancellation plan, which would have erased up to $10,000 in debt for qualifying borrowers, shortly before the 2022 midterms.
Helping pay for education sounds nice on the surface. But it raised resentment in families who saved money for college. One middle-income father, ordinarily a devoted Democrat, complained to me that he sent his high-achieving son to a community college for the first two years because it was free.
Has New York Gov. Kathy Hochul put votes on the auction block by mailing checks of up to $200 “to help families keep pace with the rising cost of energy”? Of course. A Democrat up for reelection, Hochul is in a surprisingly close race with Republican Bruce Blakeman, a Nassau County executive.
Her pitch is pretty blatant: “You don’t have to do a thing. No application, no paperwork … If you’re eligible, the check is coming to you.” She pretties it up by calling the payments an investment.
These days, Vice President JD Vance sees himself as Trump’s sander, smoothing the abrasive edges of his policies without sounding overly critical, important if he harbors his own presidential ambitions. Vance also suggested that wealthy Americans wouldn’t get those $5,000 checks.
“What the president is saying,” Vance explained, “is if you keep us in power and allow us to continue to do these things, then you’re going to share in some of the benefits …”
Which of “these things” is he referring to? Surely not the tariffs, the Iran war, the government borrowings that have made life in America a lot more expensive.
There’s the argument that farm subsidies and tax cuts are also payoffs for votes. One difference is that the farm money goes mainly to farmers and the tax cuts go mostly to the upper incomes who least need the help.
All politicians should be called out for vote buying with taxpayer dollars. Trump’s $5,000 bid just adds insult by being so blatant.
Follow Froma Harrop on X @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.
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