LETTER: Harris gets sucked in to Trump’s pandering

I am disappointed that Kamala Harris got conned into Donald Trump’s obvious pandering to Las Vegas tip-earning workers by seconding his off-the-wall proposal to exempt tips from taxation. I suppose she felt the need to respond due to the importance of Nevada voters in deciding the presidential election.

But instead of going along with Mr. Trump, Ms. Harris should have said that she would consider signing such a plan only after our legislators considered the effects of the tip proposal on the deficit, Social Security and other possible downsides I don’t see. I don’t have the answers to these considerations, but I’m certain Mr. Trump hasn’t even thought of them, much less come up with answers.

Regarding Mr. Trump’s equally spurious comments about not taxing Social Security benefits, it bothers me that taxpayers must pay tax on Social Security benefits without fully taking into account what they paid in to receive those benefits. But, once again, I’m ambivalent about the proposal due to its effects on the deficit.

Between Mr. Trump’s two proposals, the deficit would balloon by billions of dollars. So how does he propose to offset that? By his proposal to impose a 10 percent tariff on all imports? That would help, but then ultimately who benefits? Economists largely agree that tariffs are really taxes on consumers — and highly regressive, to boot. So the tariffs would more than offset any savings on tip income and Social Security benefits for the lowest-level workers and retirees.

What’s next? If Mr. Trump feels the need to attract farm votes, will he propose not taxing farm income? Take Mr. Trump’s proposals with a lump of salt. And Ms. Harris shouldn’t be so quick to get sucked into his pandering.