Opinion piece penned by Case Dixon and published by 1819 News
Every administration wants to claim the economy is strong. But the more Washington insists, the more families across Alabama check their wallets and wonder what being an “economic power” really means.
For most families, it doesn’t feel like prosperity – it feels like pressure. Grocery carts are lighter. Savings accounts are smaller. And searches for “second job” and “job security” are hitting record highs – higher than during the 2008 crash or the 2020 pandemic. That’s not the mark of a healthy economy. That’s what happens when government policy gets in the way of real, sustainable growth.
Let’s start with tariffs. We were told they’d rebuild American industry and punish bad actors abroad. Instead, they’ve punished American consumers here at home. Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple – paid by American importers and passed down to families through higher prices.
Farmers are paying the price, too. For years, American soybeans fed China’s demand. Then came the trade war, and that market all but vanished.
Now the administration is floating a farmer bailout to patch over the losses. But that bailout would be paid for by the very same consumers already footing the bill for higher prices caused by tariffs in the first place. That’s not economic strength – that’s circular policy. We’re taxing one group of Americans to subsidize another because of a problem government created.
And it doesn’t stop at home. The U.S. just put $20 billion on the line to prop up Argentina’s economy. The problem? With $37 trillion in national debt, we don’t exactly have money to spare. Then Argentina turned around and sold even more soybeans to China, filling the market we lost because of our own trade policies.
At the same time, there’s talk in Washington about sending out “tariff rebate” checks – direct payments to offset higher consumer prices. But those payments would come from the very revenue tariffs produced in the first place. It’s a political loop: raise costs through policy, redistribute the proceeds, and call it relief.
We’ve seen this play before. During COVID, government flooded the economy with stimulus money, giving a short-term boost but leaving a long-term bill: record inflation and a weaker dollar. Sending out more checks now, whether they’re called rebates or relief, would only repeat the same costly mistake.
The reality is simple: you can’t print, borrow or redistribute your way to prosperity. Every new dollar the government spends must come from somewhere – higher taxes or more debt.
If this economy was as strong as advertised, we wouldn’t need bailouts, rebates, or borrowed money to hold it together. A strong economy doesn’t depend on government intervention; it thrives on free markets, hard work, and predictable rules.
That’s what we’ve lost – the discipline that once defined our economy and made America the envy of the world. Both parties bear responsibility for that. Spending keeps climbing no matter who’s in charge. Deficits are treated like talking points instead of real numbers. And the people who end up paying the price aren’t in Washington – they’re here in Alabama at the checkout line, the gas pump, and the grocery store.
It’s time for a course correction. That means less government involvement in trade, not more. It means balancing our budget before trying to balance the rest of the world’s. It means standing for free markets, not politically managed ones.
The solution to our economic strain isn’t another bailout or rebate – it’s restraint. We should be cutting spending before cutting checks, focusing on real productivity rather than political optics, and letting the markets, not Washington, determine winners and losers.
Because if the economy truly was booming, Washington wouldn’t need to prop it up.
Case Dixon is a Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in Alabama’s 6th District.
