I feel like we should just normalize the acronym WTYS (“We Told You So”) now, to save time when we’re invariably arguing with Trump voters on the internet about why things have gone so wrong.

Don’t get me wrong: This sounds cliché, but I actually do hate to say I told you so. But it’s just going to be entirely too much work to explain to people over and over again that they voted for the things that they’re experiencing now. And what’s coming down the pike is going to be worse.

From tax hikes to tariffs, folks are finding out that not only are Trump policies going to be bad for the Average Joes who voted him into office, but that they just weren’t listening when he told them this was what he was doing.

Wait a minute, tax hikes? Didn’t he say he was going to bring taxes down? He sure did — for a certain group of people. Here’s a picture of Trump’s current tax proposals if they were passed exactly as he campaigned on them.

See all those yellow bars with the plus signs? That’s you and everyone you know or have ever been friends with. See the blue ones? That’s never, ever you. See, it’s not that Republicans think there should be NO taxes — they know that taxes are the price of civilized society. They just want YOU to pay for that society, not them, and not their rich friends.

WTYS.

You know what else works like a tax, though? Tariffs. There really hasn’t been a thorough enough explanation of tariffs, in my opinion. Maybe it’s the lack of civics classes in high schools across America, but tariffs should be taught in history, anyway.

Tariffs were a good thing way back in the day. Back when America’s economy was basically still in its infancy, tariffs grew domestic production of products and raw materials. It was a good way to encourage people to buy American-made goods and supplies. It discouraged any kind of leverage held over us by foreign countries.

Most importantly, it was a good source of revenue. For a relatively broad window of time, federal tax income — the money taken in by the American government to run the country — came from tariffs.

Who pays tariffs has never changed. It’s the company or industry that wants to import goods from somewhere else. The American company, not the exporting country. That’s right, the vast majority of taxes taken in by the federal government used to come from the companies that were using our land, our natural resources, and our labor to build and create.

And they were happy to pay them.

In the 1800s, when you either bought a Chesterfield sofa from London or one from Virginia, the maker in Virginia had the same access to wood, horsehair for tufting, and leather for covering the piece, and was incentivized to make more. Our Founders, led by Alexander Hamilton, felt that political and national independence came from economic independence.

America therefore used protectionist policies like tariffs to ensure that American companies would grow and invest in our own industry, and the theory held: Tariffs were very useful in industrializing the country.

But after World War II, we began to promote international free trade. And say what you will for or against it, that’s been the policy since. Tariffs do not fit that policy. Tariffs began to decrease as a percentage of federal tax revenue, and by the 1980s, America had become a consumer economy, not a manufacturer economy.

We began to rely on the low prices that cheaper imported raw materials and manufactured goods promised. We did it to the point that some industries actually died out in this country, and we became entirely reliant on foreign sources.

You can’t name a single television manufacturer in the United States, because there isn’t one.

Donald Trump (you knew I’d get back to that guy eventually) wants to use tariffs as leverage over other countries who have come to rely on exporting their materials and products to America to service their own economies.

Who pays the tariffs has never changed. But American companies have. And they pass on every penny in cost to the consumer, with no added benefit of growing an industry here in America. If we import TVs from China, it’s not going to suddenly create a television manufacturing industry here in the US if they cost more. They’re just going to cost more.

MAGA voters are finally figuring this out, and they’re stocking up. Financial advisors are pointing people to a whole list of things they should be buying now before Trump’s tariffs take effect and prices skyrocket for no reason other than to give Trump more political power.

WTYS.

Check out the list of things the experts are recommending you buy before costs become prohibitive:

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ELECTRONICS

This one’s going to hit hard. Almost everything that makes a beep comes from China — your Playstation, your TV, your cell phone, and your computer are all made at least with parts from China, if not manufactured there entirely. Economists predict that the cost of a smartphone will increase by more than 25% after Trump’s tariffs kick in, and that’s just the pocket devices. Your XBox or Playstation? Up by about 40 percent. Your laptop? Almost 50 percent.

Just make sure you wave that American flag while you buy your kid’s replacement game console that costs more than ever for absolutely no reason, because screw China, right?

THE APPLIANCES IN YOUR HOUSE

We actually already know these are going to go up, because Trump tried tariffs when he was president the first time, it the price of a new fridge went up by nearly a hundred bucks overnight. And that was just from tariffs on steel and aluminum, not even final products. Trump is proposing a blanket tariff on China on all imports across the board.

Remember, all this is going to do is make all appliances more expensive. It’s not going to make American products any cheaper. They’re just relying on you still buying them even though you have no cheap option anymore.

FURNITURE

This one I actually know first hand. I spent a decade running a furniture store in Western Washington, and the reason you can buy a sofa set for a thousand dollars is because the manufacturing industry for furniture is HUGE in China and Vietnam, and really not so big here. I was in charge of every stage of marketing furniture to buyers, from procurement to unloading to stocking, arranging, and selling, and even delivery into homes.

I know what those things cost, and believe me when I say that if I couldn’t have purchased a sofa for $200 and a matching love for $150 (plus usually about $25/cushion for shipping; 5 cushions per sofa/love means $125 shipping, you would never have seen a sofa set for a thousand dollars in your life.

Get ready to sit on the same furniture until you can save up. Because as American as “Ashley” and “United Furniture” and “Simmons” all sound, the American end of building that furniture is usually at most just assembly.

FOOD AND DRINK

Guess where guacamole comes from, even if it’s homemade. That’s right, gardens that can grow avocados, tomatoes, onions, and peppers whenever you want. Did you ever wonder why WE didn’t invent that stuff? Because Mexico has all of those things. Prepare yourself for clam dip during the Super Bowl in 2026, because that’s the off season for American produce.

And just forget the tequila.

AUTOMOBILES

Yup. Even if you keep your clunker, you’re still going to pay more for parts when it comes time for repairs. The US auto industry is so heavily reliant on foreign manufacturers that US automakers have never dreamed that one day they’re have to go without. There is no backup plan, and without an economic advantage to making parts in America, they’ll just keep importing, and you’ll pay more.

Even the cars that are assembled here in America rely on foreign parts. Those cars are going to jump at least two grand in price, and if the car is MADE in Mexico or Canada, you can expect to see sticker prices go up eight to ten thousand dollars.

Remember, Trump isn’t promising to bring the prices for American companies to make these products down or anything. There is literally no incentive for US companies to do anything other than keep importing and pass the cost on to you.

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The thing is, the price of things isn’t the only consideration. If the cost of production goes up, jobs will be lost. It will become cyclical. People out of work won’t buy. American companies have even less incentive to build.

All of those small businesses that have been complaining about the supply chain or inflation can kiss the days of that being a minor inconvenience goodbye. Tariffs will crush small manufacturing.

You can shelter yourself from all of this, of course. You can buy used things, you can do more repairs, or you can just get used to telling yourself that you don’t need the newest, fastest, or best things the day they come out.

But if you look at the bigger picture, you begin to understand why MAGA voters are about to get the biggest wake-up call of their lives. These people are Walmart shoppers. Walmart is basically a made-in-China outlet mall. That’s why their prices are so low.

We’re all going to feel bad for you, red state voters. But WTYS.