Bulwark Takes: "Your Tax Dollars Are Funding the DUMBEST Bailout Ever!"

Date: September 28, 2025
Hosts: Tim Miller, Charlie Sykes
Theme:
A passionate critique of the Trump administration’s tariff-driven economic policy, the resulting crisis for American farmers, and the newly proposed taxpayer-funded bailout. The episode dissects how a supposed pro-farmer and pro-America trade war amplified costs for everyday Americans and backfired on the very rural communities it promised to help.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. John Thune’s Role and Republican Leadership

• Low-profile Majority Leader:
  Tim and Charlie highlight how John Thune, Senate Majority Leader, has kept a low public profile while uncritically enabling Trump’s trade policies.

  • "You don't see much of John Thune these days. You might not even realize he's actually the Senate Majority Leader." — Tim Miller [01:33]
  • "There's no hand, John. The isn't doing anything. He's doing whatever Donald Trump wants. Like he might as well not exist." — Charlie Sykes [02:06]

• Contrast with other Republicans:
  They joke about how even fringe right figures like Candace Owens might have shown more backbone than Thune, who hasn’t stood up to Trump’s policies even when they harm his own state.

2. Cycle of Policy Failure: Tariffs, Trade War & Farmer Bailout

• Tariffs backfire on rural America:
  Trump’s tariffs were supposed to trigger a “golden age” for rural areas but quickly triggered a trade war that locked American farmers out of global markets, especially for soybeans.

  • "Tariffs caused a trade war. Trade war caused escalating conflict economically and consequences. And as a result... farmers in his state can't sell their product, can't sell their soybeans." — Tim Miller [03:33]

• Resulting harm to farmers:
  Instead of boosting agriculture, the policy has left farmers with unsellable crops, now rotting in storage, while Trump and Thune scramble to propose a taxpayer-funded bailout.

3. Deconstructing the Bailout Justification

• John Thune’s defense:
  The show plays a clip of Thune on TV, explaining the bailout as "financial assistance" using new tariff revenue, and justifying it as supporting farmers until new markets open up.

  • "Our farmers are probably going to need some financial assistance this year, and a lot of the revenue coming in off the tariffs is what they would use to provide that." — John Thune [06:14]

• Hosts’ incredulity and frustration:

  • "I cannot overstate. This is the stupidest policy that I think I've ever seen." — Tim Miller [04:05]
  • "This is the stupidest shit I've ever heard in my life." — Charlie Sykes [09:25]

4. Impact on Ordinary Americans: The Real Cost of Tariffs

• Higher prices on everyday goods:
  The hosts walk through how Walmart shoppers are hit with higher bills on everything from groceries to clothing to appliances due to tariffs pushing up import prices.

  • "You check out and the bill is significantly higher than it would have been had there been no tariffs." — Tim Miller [08:23]

• Money redirected, not reinvested:
  Instead of using tariff revenue for public investments, the government is simply funneling it to bailout farmers—who are now in crisis due to Trump’s own trade war.

  • "Not reinvested in your schools, not reinvested in your roads, not invest in our national defense. They're going to take that extra money... and give it to the farmers." — Tim Miller [08:33]

5. Comparison to Other Bailouts and Political Accountability

• Bank bailouts vs. farmer bailout:
  They liken public anger over corporate bailouts to what Americans should be feeling about this “farmer bailout,” which is needed only because of political recklessness.

  • "Everybody should be that pissed about this... people should have their pitchforks up about this farmer bailout. Nothing against the farmers. They got screwed over." — Tim Miller [12:32]

• Failure of leadership principles:
  Particularly critical of Thune, who is portrayed as abandoning traditional conservative and constitutional principles for political ambition.

  • "John Thune was never a tariff guy... but he wanted the gavel." — Tim Miller [13:03]
  • "He wanted to be the Senate Majority Leader, so he went along with this. He didn’t do his job, which was to control the power of the purse, to make sure that Donald Trump couldn’t recklessly ruin the economy." — Tim Miller [13:10]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "This is fucking idiocracy." — Tim Miller [09:23]
• "This policy should have like 2% support. You remember the bank bailouts? Remember how mad people were?" — Tim Miller [11:48]
• "Everybody in the country, you’re getting screwed by their dumb policies. You got to call them out." — Charlie Sykes [13:54]
• "The extra tax you’re paying is going to bail out the farmers because their food is rotting, because China won’t buy our food anymore. That’s what Donald Trump has given you." — Charlie Sykes [14:11]
• "John Thune should be fucking ashamed of himself. You want to talk about kitchen table issues? This is a fucking kitchen table issue." — Tim Miller [13:29]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:29 – Tim and Charlie introduce John Thune and discuss his lack of resistance to Trump [01:29–02:49]
• 03:14 – Transition to the "coming farmer bailout" and how tariffs caused the crisis [03:14–03:54]
• 05:12 – John Thune’s TV justification for the bailout [05:12–06:14]
• 06:21 – Analysis of the “logic” behind the bailout and impact on farmers [06:21–07:54]
• 08:00–08:33 – Story illustrating higher bills for Americans at Walmart due to tariffs
• 09:25 – Denunciation: "This is the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard in my life."
• 11:48 – Comparison to bank bailouts and call for outrage [11:48–12:38]
• 13:29 – Criticism directed personally at John Thune’s leadership
• 14:09–14:11 – The “kitchen table” summary of the situation

Tone Notice

The conversation is fast-paced, pointed, and peppered with sarcasm, exasperation, and occasional profanity. Both hosts express deep frustration at what they view as economic self-sabotage and political cowardice, calling for more public indignation and political accountability.

Summary:
Tim Miller and Charlie Sykes use this episode to lay bare the farcical logic of the Trump-era tariffs and the resulting farmer bailout. With direct language and clear analogies, they expose the circular pain for both rural producers and everyday consumers — blaming political self-interest and a lack of true leadership, particularly from Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Their message: the trade war and its “dumbest bailout ever” are policy failures that all Americans, not just farmers, are paying for.