Thank God for A Republican House, Biden's Team Has Lost Its Mind.

New calls to dramatically increase taxes and reverse the powerful and successful tax actions taken during the Trump years.

Thank whomever you thank in times of great appreciation that despite many brand issues, Republicans managed to win back the House by winning the popular vote in the most recent midterms. I said it before, and I stand by it still, another two years of Biden and an enabling legislative body, would be a colossal disaster and dramatically alter our nation and its course through history.

Biden has once again confirmed that my suspicion was correct. Today he proposed that 1. we should tax billionaires 25%, regardless of how their earnings were made, and in total disregard to the legal tax code. 2. He wants to go after high-income earners, those filing jointly, making over 693k. Currently, they are taxed at 37%; he wants to take that to 39.9%. I would say that at 40%, many people will find new ways around the code, or retire and say, "you want me to work 4.7 months of the year for the government, before even looking at state and local taxes? Forget about it." It's also outrageous to ask people to essentially work for the government for half a year, considering how bad the services they get in return are. I wouldn't even mind if Medicaid, EBT, etc., were run better. Still, these people in government are absolute professionals at wasting and poorly spending money to the lowest possible return per dollar spent. Another issue, 693k is a ton of money, don't get me wrong. But if you have a family of 4-5 living in a major metro hub, it suddenly is much less than it sounds. You also likely carry substantial student debt with that income level.

The other fact, the tax brackets were designed so long ago, inflation has completely changed the scale. Yes, the levels get adjusted for inflation. However, they were structurally designed long ago and had many more brackets than we have now, covering a much wider income span. In 1913, the highest rate was 7% on 500k; the lowest rate was 1% on 0, 2% on 20k+, 3%+ on 50k, 4% on 75k+, 5% on 100k+, and 6% on 250k.

Let's ignore all the brackets and look at the top bracket, $500,000 of 1913 money in 2023 is worth 15,109,595.96. 7,554,797.98 taxed at 6%, 3,021,919.19 at 5%, and so on. So today's taxes are far more punitive on much smaller amounts of wealth than when our modern system was created. I would have no problem expanding the brackets and increasing the rate, considering there are 22mm millionaires, (8-9% of the population, or 11% of households); however, a 690k max bracket level is far too low of a threshold and far to a high of a rate. A code with 0, 15, 22.5, 28.5, 32.5, 35, 37.5, and 40 makes far more sense to me, and it should cap out at least 10% of the original income tax levy back in 1913. The difference between someone making $700k and someone making $1.5mm a year is enormous. Grouping those two earners into the same tax penalty box are outrageous.

So with what I am proposing, the highest income bracket should sit at 1.5mm, and I'm ok with being in that position and paying 35-40%. But what Biden proposes is just taking the piss. The worst part? That's not the worst part of his proposal. It deserves its own post. It's that absurd. And again, I’ll add. I wouldn’t mind the thef…sorry, taxation, if only the government did its jobs far better, more efficiently, and more frugally than they do currently. There are layers and layers of excessive bureaucratic bloat that make everything involving the government slow, dated, and cumbersome. I would be terrified if I had to count on the US federal government for crucial aid.. The only thing the government manages well is spending far too much money for far too little. Ask anyone that receives government benefits of some sort. I guarantee you, even as net beneficiaries, they will say the system is terrible, there are constant delays or mistakes, and the people being served are treated like numbers in a system. If we have to pay half of our yearly incomes, we better get the best government money can buy.

But. All that said, but never going to happen! There is less than zero chance of this Congress passing any fiscal bill this President puts forward. I was worried about this group, and still am, but I'm very thankful they are there for this one. The real problem is part of Biden's proposal I will comment on next. I have serious thoughts about it and am, candidly, highly subject to it. Beyond personal reasons, the activity it will restrict or outright eliminate plays a vital role in the many achievements and accomplishments made by mankind, spanning technology, services, healthcare, social functions, logistics, transportation, and much more, all of which are improvements made by our capitalist system through a process this financially clueless administration wants to slam the breaks on, right as the economy starts tipping into a recession due to the Federal Reserve needing to essentially cause a recession to slow down inflation that Biden legislative "achievements" played a huge role in.