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PaperclipPerfector  13d ago (text post)   29349 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 28, 2025

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I think the problem is that this is the first time they've done it. California specifically has messed with shipping and importing a lot recently. Things like the Advanced Clean Truck Act (and similar bills) as well as increased port fees.

But they never added on a "California compliance charge". So this would be seen as a direct protest because it's Trump.

Plenty of restaurants in SF have an "SF living wage" or "employee benefits" line item or similar.

Even still, there have been other direct protests in this vein before, so I don't see what the big deal is. In 2008 Allegheny County instituted a "poured drink tax" of 10% on alcohol sold in bars and restaurants to cover a funding gap for public transit. It was passed by county council and signed into law by county executive Dan Onorato over the objections of the local bar and restaurant owners association. All the bars and restaurants that weren't chains immediately added an "Onorato Tax" line item to their receipts, in addition to putting signs in their windows protesting "Dan Dan the Tax Man". Onorato defended the tax but didn't seem to take any of the protests personally, and never suggested they should stop doing it. And the proposals here aren't saying "Trump Tariff" or anything similar.All this demonstrates is the inability of republicans to handle any criticism.

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