The American family table is under assault not just by inflation, but by a staggering display of corporate greed that defies common decency. A class-action lawsuit filed this week in Washington accuses the retail behemoth Costco of 'unjust enrichment' on a scale that should shame any honest merchant. The complaint alleges that Costco collected billions from its members through elevated prices during the height of the recent tariff turmoil, only to then sue the federal government to recover those same payments for itself.

This is a betrayal of the middle-class families who form the bedrock of our communities. When these tariffs were implemented, Costco executives were quick to tell their shareholders that the costs would be passed directly to the consumer. Now that the courts have ruled these taxes unlawful, the company plans to pocket the $166 billion windfall rather than returning it to the mothers and fathers who actually paid the bill. They call it 'macroeconomic stabilization,' but a man who takes a dollar from his neighbour’s pocket and refuses to return it when the error is found has a simpler name for it: theft.

At a time when the Department of Homeland Security is mired in gridlock and families are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of bread and meat, this hoarding of wealth by retail giants is an affront to the national covenant. Our economy should serve the person, not the other way around. We applaud the plaintiffs in Washington, Ohio, and California who are standing up to this corporate arrogance. The American people are not a 'stranded asset' to be mined for profit; they are a sovereign people who deserve a marketplace built on the traditional virtues of honesty and fair dealing.