The $5,000 payment may sound tempting to you, but the big question is: Where is the money going to come from? If about 200 million people got $5,000 each, that would cost around $1 trillion. The government isn't currently bringing in anywhere near that much from tariffs. The government would have to get the money from somewhere else. That means adding even more to the national debt.
President Trump talked during the 2024 campaign about reducing and even paying off the national debt. His campaign proposals were estimated by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget to increase the debt by about $7.75 trillion over the following 10 years. Now we're talking about another $1 trillion on top of that?
Instead of promising everyone a $5,000 check that could add even more to the national debt, why not focus on letting people keep more of the money they already earn? Lower income taxes, cut unnecessary government spending, and work on getting the federal budget under control.
But that would make too much sense, I suppose.