A tale as old as time: a tone-deaf leader, a pile of hoarded cash, and a starving child. Today's Marie Antoinette isn't in Versailles—he's in the White House.

When we have money to fund tax credits for powerful film studios, but no money to invest in tax credits for our keiki, the lines between fictional exploitation and the dismal reality of life start to feel blurred. Are we not, in fact, living The White Lotus?

Between President Trump’s tariff chaos, haphazard cuts to government functionality via Elon Musk’s rogue agency DOGE, and Congress advancing $5.1 trillion in tax cuts for the rich on the backs of the rest of us, it’s looking like the U.S. economy and the empire that supports it are headed for a painful, stupid end.

There are always winners and losers in every proposed budget, but some of the guests at this year’s budget banquet might be consuming more than makes sense, while others could use more than breadcrumbs.