Billions in Biden Administration Trade Refunds Flow to Corporations Instead of Households; Populists on Both Sides Take Turns Being Fine With It

WASHINGTON — Refunds central to the Biden administration's trade policy are flowing to corporations rather than American households, according to critics, in what economists describe as money behaving the way money always has, regardless of the speech that launched it.

The policy was sold as relief for working families, a phrase that appears in the promotional materials of every trade action since the invention of trade. The billions have instead settled comfortably into corporate accounts, where analysts expect them to trickle down any day now, as they have been expected to do continuously since 1981.

Defenders of the administration explained that corporate refunds ultimately benefit workers through investment and hiring. The Press notes this exact sentence was previously issued by the other party, and before that by the first party again, and that it may be the single most bipartisan artifact in American politics.

Asked whether the arrangement contradicted the administration's populist branding, one official said the White House remains "laser-focused on working families," who could not be reached for comment, as they were at work.