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Is the US government making $2 billion a day on tariffs?

The question was: "Is the US making $2 billion a day on tariffs?"

My answer: explaining that tariffs do not bring any money into the US at all.

It was deleted in seconds. Noted "Not an answer to the question. Deleting."

How is it not an answer? I think it is entirely on point.

And doesn't deleting usually require a vote? Isn't the moderator overstepping their authority by deleting it unilaterally?

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    While I understand why this question was downvoted, I do think that it is a question that should not be discouraged. It's worthwhile to reinforce the, "Sorry, but we don't care about your political opinions," mindset. If it should be marked as a duplicate, then mark it as a duplicate. The userbase here that will even come to Meta is so small that we can't afford to make them think that they can't ask a question. Commented Apr 10 at 19:54
  • I wasn't expressing a political opinion. I just commented upon the factual accuracy of a statement made by a politician. Commented Apr 10 at 20:26

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The question was: "Is the US making $2 billion a day on tariffs?"

Yes, and from context, the "US" clearly referred to the Federal Government of the United States of America.

There was a comment on the question suggesting an edit to make that explicitly clear. I don't know why that user didn't just edit it directly, so I went ahead and did that (among other copy-edits) and deleted the now-redundant comment.

You chose to misinterpret it so you could include a off-topic political rant. Sorry, but we don't care about your political opinions.

You went on to say:

I don't know how much revenue the government is raising through tariffs. It might be $2B per day. It might not be.

But that was the question, so you clearly didn't answer it.

And doesn't deleting usually require a vote? Isn't this guy overstepping his authority by deleting it unilaterally?

Deleting it requires a vote, unless you are a mod or employee of Stack Exchange. They are authorised to delete unilaterally.

If you think a mod hasn't behaved in accordance to the Moderator Agreement, please use the Contact link at the bottom of the page to report them.

Oh, and another thing: Not a single reference. We were just expected to take your word for it. That isn't acceptable here.

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  • Balderdash. Trump's claim is based on a misunderstanding of Tariffs. The OP asked if Trump's claim is true. Pointing out his misunderstanding is a complete answer to the question. It is not a political rant. It is a simple factual statement. Not did I "choose" to "misunderstand" the question. It is exactly what the question asked. As for not answering the question, I clearly did. Commented Apr 10 at 2:58
  • Also, you claim that my answer doesn't match the OP. But YOU changed the OP into a different question. You made an assumption about what the OP would have asked, if only he were as smart as you, and altered it to match. I answered what the OP asked. Commented Apr 10 at 3:12
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    The goal is to make the question about the notable claim; if the OP worded it poorly, we should go to the source for context and make it match. In response to your complaint, I edited it again. This time, I directly quoted the speech (with references). He did not say "the US", he said "we". Your claim that Trump does not understand tariffs remains an unreferenced political attack, not an answer. Commented Apr 10 at 3:41
  • << If you think a mod hasn't behaved in accordance to the Moderator Agreement, please use the Contact link at the bottom of the page to report them.>> Okay, done. Commented Apr 10 at 4:50
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    There are many forums you can make your opinion of political decisions known. I absolutely sympathise with your opinion, but I also absolutely know that it is not appropriate to express it here. Stack Exchange (whether Skeptics, or Politics, or Law, or Philosophy) must be entirely evidence based. Leave your opinions at the door and only bring what you can prove. Commented Apr 10 at 19:44
  • I didn't give any opinions. I stated facts. Commented Apr 11 at 9:57

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