Staff Reports
In a classic case of political plagiarism, Vice President Kamala Harris has apparently been inspired by former President Donald Trump’s recent proposal to eliminate federal taxes on tips for service workers. This idea has not only resonated with many Americans but has also been regarded as a potential stroke of genius for the Republican nominee. Coincidental timing or outright theft? The answer appears to lean heavily toward the latter.
Originally, Trump voiced this sensible proposal about two months ago, after hearing from a beleaguered server in Nevada lament the tax burden on her hard-earned tips. Since then, he has repeated his commitment to remove these taxes if re-elected. It’s a straightforward idea that appeals to the pocketbooks of working Americans, a quality that seems to have evaded the Biden administration until now.
One of the first new policies Kamala Harris has introduced in her presidential campaign is eliminating taxes on tips for service workers — an idea the Trump campaign is accusing her of stealing from them.@weijia asked at Monday's White House press briefing about where the idea… pic.twitter.com/8I24WaRdCU
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2024
Fast forward to a recent rally in Las Vegas following her endorsement by the culinary workers union, and Harris took to the stage like a magician revealing the final trick—only to find it’s a trick she definitely did not create. She proclaimed her supposed promise to eliminate tip taxes as though it were part of her original policy toolbox. It would be laughably ironic if it wasn’t frustratingly deceptive. The White House has since jumped on this bandwagon, asserting that President Biden, too, is completely on board with this initiative. However, it turns out their track history tells a different story.
Last year, under Biden’s leadership, the IRS had the audacity to propose a more stringent crackdown on taxing tips, laying down the law for service industry workers who weren’t keeping up with their tax obligations. Clearly, the IRS wasn’t interested in lowering the burden but rather expanding it. The blatant contradiction between past IRS proposals and the current political rhetoric leaves one scratching their head over who is really playing the game and who’s just following the scripts from 2020.
At a recent press briefing, a journalist had the audacity to point out the uncanny resemblance between what Harris has recently claimed and what Trump has championed for months. The response? A flurry of convoluted reasoning from press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that somehow justified Harris’s sudden change of heart. She insisted that Biden is all in favor of eliminating tip taxes while maintaining the narrative that they are the champions of working families. In any realm outside of politics, this would be labeled as shameless opportunism.
Ultimately, while the Biden administration scrambles to don the robe of populism, Trump stands firmly as the original pro-worker advocate on this front. His competitors may try to co-opt his ideas, but the underlying hypocrisy and confusion within their policies only serve to highlight their lack of genuine concern for the working class. As they flounder around looking for popularity points, it’s clear that when it comes to authentic economic relief, innovation, and respect for the working American, it’s Trump who still calls the shots.
