While President Trump prepares to tout America's economic resurgence in tonight's State of the Union address, a dirty little secret haunts the halls of Congress: many of the same politicians who will stand and applaud calls for American manufacturing are busy destroying the tax policies that make it possible.
The weapon of choice? Screaming about so-called 'tax loopholes' – a term that sounds sinister but often describes the very incentives keeping American factories competitive against Chinese slave labor and foreign subsidies.
Here's what the swamp creatures don't want you to know: those 'loopholes' they love to attack aren't handouts to billionaires. They're lifelines for American workers.
The Manufacturing Reality Check
Take the domestic production activities deduction – politicians love calling this a 'corporate giveaway.' In reality, it's the difference between an American company building widgets in Ohio versus shipping jobs to Vietnam. When Congress can give tax breaks to Hollywood producers filming movies, why is helping a steel mill in Pennsylvania suddenly corruption?
The depreciation schedules that let businesses write off equipment purchases? That's not a loophole – that's recognizing that a $2 million factory machine loses value over time, just like your car. Without these deductions, American manufacturers can't compete with countries that literally subsidize their industries with government cash.
'What critics dismiss as loopholes often serve as the incentives that help ordinary Americans build wealth and keep jobs in America,' explains one tax policy expert.
President Trump understands this. His first-term tax reforms recognized that punishing American business with the world's highest corporate rates was economic suicide. The results spoke for themselves: manufacturing jobs returned, wages rose, and energy production soared.
The Swamp's Favorite Lie
But the establishment – both Republican RINOs and radical Democrats – can't resist the political theater of attacking 'tax loopholes.' It plays well with voters who don't understand that eliminating these incentives means eliminating the jobs that depend on them.
As Trump takes the podium tonight, remember this: every politician applauding American strength while voting to eliminate manufacturing incentives is playing you for a fool. Real economic patriotism means supporting the policies that keep American workers employed, not just the soundbites that get applause.