Flat tax

The idea of a flat tax to replace income tax is once more in the news. The proposal is an 18% flat tax on all purchases with a $35,000 personal exemption for a family of four. Right now, a family of four with and income of $75,000 pays zero income tax. Subtract $35,000 and 18% of the remaining $40,000 would be $7,200 in taxes. Now compare that to family earning $1 million. Under current law they would pay $261,000 in federal income tax plus state income tax. Using the flat tax this family would pay $180,000 assuming they spent the entire one million. The higher the income goes the greater the disparity between the rich and the non-rich. This plan is not likely to garner enough support to become law.

Democrat policies

The democrats, being the out of power party, see their job as keeping Trump under control. As the outs they see their job as pointing out failures and not being responsible for solutions. This is the norm for US politics. If the democrats had to lay out policy it would be simple and straight forward and based around redistribution of income and wealth. They would use the progressive tax system to equalize income and a wealth tax to close the wealth gap. They would be responsible for taking money from one group and giving it to another with them maintaining control over who gets what, when and how. This puts the power of the purse strings under their control. A glimpse of this can be seen in the policies of NY Mayor Mamdani. He plans to increase taxes corporations and high-income residents along with a wealth tax on luxury homes. With this money he plans to offer free bus service, build city owned grocery stores, build 200,000 homes and provide universal childcare. In addition, he plans to freeze rents and a $30 minimum wage. He has not proposed any plans to grow the economy and create new jobs. He faces a $5 billion dollar deficit this year but continues to spend $4 billion per year on illegal migrants including food, shelter and medical. This is considered a compassionate and caring way to help the poor.

Trump policies

While the news tends to concentrate on the various quirks surrounding Trumps words and personality oddities, his policies remain out of the news. What are these policies and what do most people think of them? He wants to bring back manufacturing meaning better paying jobs. He wants to double the industrial capacity using domestic and foreign investments. He wants Europe to pay more for their national defense and rely less on America He wants to secure the border and deport illegal migrants. He wants to combine the power of Saudi Arabia and Israel to rebuild Gaza. He wants reciprocal tariffs. The US rate equals the rate of others. He wants nuclear power to replace fossil fuels. He wants to get rid of critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) He wants to keep biological males out of women’s sports and locker rooms. He wants to get rid of gender surgery on children. He wants NATO and world groups like the UN, WTO and WHO to pay their fair share. He wants the US to be energy independent. He wants lower taxes He wants a peaceful end to the Ukraine War. He wants to prevent Iran from terrorizing the world. He wants a strong military and is willing to back local police.

Trump ways

The controversy surrounding Trump can be explained in many ways, one of which, is often stated as he is not presidential. There is no doubt that he is different from the normal president but the question is, in what ways. One way to better understand this is to look carefully at other politicians, especially other democrats. Many Democrats are actively trying to appear more authentic and "normal," aiming to bridge an "authenticity gap" that critics say has made them seem out of touch with average Americans. While it seems odd to speak about learning to be authentic, in this case it means overcoming the habits of people-pleasing and fear-based thinking. A recent news report stated they were trying to find their own Joe Rogen a person who exemplifies authenticity. Trump is the poster child of authenticity and this is seen as an asset by some and a fatal flaw by others. Once again, a good way to understand this is by comparing him to others and the best example is former President Obama. When Obama speaks, he mentally considers every word before he speaks. The long pauses between sentences and often times between words give the impression that he is trying not to say something that could be misinterpreted. Trump is just the opposite, much to the dismay of some of his followers, who often say Trump is his own worst enemy. In a recent rally he said, “I hate my enemies”, and people gasped. Many politicians may feel that way but they would never say it that way. There have been many times over the past years that Trump has made un presidential remarks and the press considered them as career ending but he survived. In his own crude and un presidential way he is authentic. He just comes out with it and opens himself up to harsh criticism but he doesn’t change.

Seats

The redistricting plan for Virginia is in the news primarily because of Arlington County which is where most of the people who work in DC live. The county votes 80% democrat. This is understandable because republicans are always preaching small government while the democrats push to enlarge government. A person who works for the federal government sees republicans as a threat to their job security. Based on data from early 2026, the second Trump administration has significantly reduced the federal workforce, cutting roughly 220,000 to 355,000 positions by April 2026 through hiring freezes, buyouts, and structural changes. Some republicans are upset with the Indiana which has as republican governor and a super majority in both house and still refuses to redistrict between censuses. The republicans expect to gain seats in the 2030 census since people are leaving red states and moving to blue states, often because of high taxes and high cost of living. These population shifts are expected to cost the democrats ten seats in the upcoming 2030 census.

Education

Over the past 50 years test scores in K-12 education have not improved but the cost per student has quadrupled in real dollars. Teacher salaries have kept ahead of inflation and class size has been reduced from 22 to 15. During these years the experts have tried things like No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top but these have only made things more complicated for teachers. Some have proposed that student discipline problems have disrupted the system and others go even further to suggest that this is because of the lack of fathers in the home. Teachers are being asked to take on the responsibilities of parenting. Students who receive private tutoring show marked improvement and this leads to the question of using AI as a one-to-one student/teacher program. Something different is needed.

More tax on the rich

Since the end of WW 2, government intervention in the economy has expanded social safety nets characterized by increased regulation, growth of entitlement programs and increased popularity in ideas like universal healthcare, childcare and free college. The number of federal government regulations have increased from 400,000 in 1970 to over one million today. Government spending increased from 31% of GDP in 1980 to 120% of GDP today. Where did the money go? Between 1989 and 2026 the top one percent gained $21 trillion in assets while the bottom 50% lost $900 billion. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. During these years and continuing today the cry of tax the rich has been heard and in 1980 the top one percent of earners paid 19% of all income tax and today that number is 38%. The concept of income redistribution sounds reasonable but is not working. As the rich paid more the gap widened. The same can be said for the education gap. In 1970 the cost per student was $4,000 per year (inflation adjusted) and by 2020 it was $15,000. In 1970, 39% of high school grads were reading at grade level and in 2020 that number was 37%. Once again, money is not the answer. Perhaps it is time to try a new approach. This will be difficult because the cry of tax the rich sounds so good. As a matter of fact, tax anyone but me sounds good to most people.