Following economic challenges caused by the US dollar’s peg to gold and the oil embargo, Ronald Reagan was elected on a platform of reform focused on shrinking government and lowering taxes. His promise was that smaller government and policies that favored the business community would generate a booming economy and that the benefits would trickle down to ordinary Americans in the form of a strong labor market and increased wages. He was wrong.

His policies failed to deliver as promised, and instead resulted in stagnation of working class wages and a 50 year long transfer of wealth upwards that today has the wealthiest 1% of households owning 32% of our nations wealth.

Money Doesn’t Trickle Down, It Bubbles Up

Since then the government has been running continuous deficits, meaning that they spend more than collect in income. So what happens to the money that is left in the economy?

The working poor spend all of the money that they receive on basic necessities. Food, housing, transportation, childcare, healthcare, etc. The middle class may have a small surplus that can be saved or invested, but the bulk of their income is also spent.

All of this spending bubbles up to the owners of the farms, grocery stores, banks, landlords, hospitals, etc. that make up the bulk of the wealth of the United States. Over time the result is a continuous concentration of wealth among a smaller and smaller number of individuals. And what do they do with their profits? They compete with each other to buy more assets, inflating asset prices and ultimately pricing out average Americans3.

They can also use their money to lobby bribe politicians to further reduce regulations, lower taxes, and shrink government. The result is that asset owners get wealthier while working people and the middle class see their wages stagnate and their cost of living rise.

How Do We Fix It?

As the Roosevelt administration demonstrated, the solution is to reclaim the deficits that bubble up to the top by raising taxes on the wealthy and using the resulting tax revenue to rebuild the American Dream which promised that a comfortable life is available to anyone who is willing to work for it. A government that fight for all citizens. That believes in the power of public education, universal healthcare, and a living wage. A government that will temper the excesses of unrestrained capitalism. A government that will fight to protect our environment and defend our democracy.

We know that any benefits received by working people will immediately be recycled into the economy. That a healthy working and middle class will re-invigorate our economy through increased consumer spending and the financial freedom to pursue better jobs and start businesses. This is the real engine of a healthy economy.

And as the wealth of the 1% decreases, asset inflation will decrease and create an increased incentive to invest profits on workers and capital expenditures rather than executive salaries and stock buy-backs.

We Can Do This

This transformation requires that we dispel the myth propagated by the wealthy that free markets are efficient and that government is inherently incompetent and should be minimized. The proper role of government is to limit the excesses of unrestrained capitalism and build an economy that benefits all citizens. History tells us that if we fail, the result will be the end of our democracy and the American Dream.

I believe that the excesses of the Trumpublican administration have given us a historic opportunity to reclaim our power and the promise of our founding principles. An opportunity to build a government of, for, and by the people. Join the fight. Make your voice heard. Stop funding the oligarchs. And vote like our future depends on it.

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So I decided to stop sending them money and switch to open source2 based applications from ethical and privacy focused companies who are still working to build good products for their customer’s benefit. Here are the steps that I followed.

1. Switch to an open source, privacy focused browser.

This one is easy. Chrome and Safari are constantly mining your activity to sell to data brokers and AI companies. Most privacy focused browsers won’t monitor your activities, will strip trackers and third party ads and will deliver search results without any personal profiling.

There are a lot of good options including Brave, Duck Duck Go, and Firefox. I’m currently using Brave. It is free, open source, and available on most platforms including Windows, iOS, Linux and Android.

Start by trying one (or more) of the options and use it in parallel with your current solution. If you decide to switch, most of the alternatives make it easy. For instance, Brave can import settings from your current browser including saved passwords and menus with a single click. The result will be search results without ads and the knowledge that you’re browser isn’t constantly watching.

2. Get a new email provider

My main motivation for switching from Gmail was less about privacy. It’s just another step on my journey to escape the Google ecosystem, (no more yachts for Sundar). Completely abandoning your Apple or Google account will take time, but you can start by setting up an alternative email account and only switch completely if and / or when you’re ready.

Good alternatives include Fast Mail, Proton Mail, and Tuta. These are roughly in order of ease of use and focus on privacy, which are inversely related. Fast Mail is the most polished and easy to use but slightly less secure, while Tuta is utilitarian with the highest level of security. Keep in mind that increased security tends to decrease responsiveness and reduce functionality due to the costs of encryption. (Click here for an in-depth comparison of these options.)

Fast Mail is a great choice for most beginners but it wasn’t available on Linux when I began my migration, so I chose Proton Mail from a privacy focused company based in Switzerland3. Their mail system is open source and includes lots of privacy related features including end to end encryption4, additional email address and aliases. As a bonus, it’s part of a suite of apps including a VPN, password manager, cloud storage, and office apps. (I also use ProtonPass which is a big improvement over my previous solution LastPass.)

You can experiment with Proton Mail by signing up for a free account that includes one email address and 1GB of storage. Matching the 15GB of free storage that you get from Google costs $5/month. (Or use my personal referral link and get a two week free trial of any Proton Plan.)

If you decide that an alternative email provider is a good solution you can migrate your existing logins to your new solution over time, or continue to use them in parallel.

3. Ditch GoogleDrive, iCloud, and OneDrive

Until recently I have been paying $10 / month for a GoogleOne account and $99 / year for a Microsoft 365 family account. Privacy oriented alternatives like Sync.com, Proton Drive, or pCloud can provide the same level of service from companies who aren’t in the business of collecting and then selling your personal information. I’m currently using a 2TB pCloud plan that costs $100/year.

pCloud is available on iOS, Windows, Andriod, and Linux and can easily import your Google Drive, Google Photos, OneDrive, or iCloud files. It also includes a photo viewer that provides some basic photo viewing and sharing functionality.

It’s easy to experiment with one of these alternatives, but completely switching cloud providers is a bit complicated and can take a while. Issues include getting used to a new user experience and the time it takes to move large amounts of data from one cloud to another. I recommend that you start slowly and keep your existing solution until you’re comfortable with your new one and can can confirm that all your data was transferred safely.

4. Switch to a Linux Desktop

If you still use a desktop you can trade macOS or Windows for a Linux based alternative. If you hear the work Linux and immediately think of a terminal with hundreds of lines of cryptic text I can tell you that the current consumer oriented Linux distributions are very similar to your existing desktop. Modern Linux based desktop environments are very polished and easy to use and come with a suite of typical office applications like mail, document editor, spreadsheet, etc. Popular options (called distributions) for casual users are Linux Mint and Zorin OS.

Switching your desktop is a big job, but you can get a feel for Linux by booting your existing desktop from a usb drive. This is a safe and easy way for you to get a feel for Linux without making any permanent changes to your system. If you decide to build a Linux desktop either Mint or Zorin will provide easy to follow, step by step instructions for a fully functional installation.

I started by installing Zorin OS on my Windows PC in a dual boot configuration. This means that, when my computer starts up, I can choose to run either Windows or Zorin OS. Over time I’ve used my Windows environment less and less, as most of the functionality that I need is available on Zorin.

If you spend most of your desktop time in a browser you won’t notice much of a change. But there are desktop programs that won’t run in my Linux environment. For instance, the desktop versions of Quicken and Turbo Tax. For these I can use their web based options or boot into Windows as needed. Other complex programs like Adobe Photoshop and video editing software will not be compatible, but there are free alternatives in the Linux world.

More Opportunities for de-Shitification

For years now, large corporations have been focused on profits over customer satisfaction. Monthly subscriptions rather than products for sale. And consolidation enabled by the lack of anti-trust enforcement.

But we don’t have to be willing participants. Consumer spending makes up close to 70% of the US economy. We are in charge. We don’t have to accept the products offered by the billionaire monopolies.

Take a look at your spending and spend a few minutes to decide if you’re doing business with people that share your values. Be willing to get out of your comfort zone to look for alternatives. You may find that there are lots of companies whose business model is to offer really great products and services at a fair price. Check out Matthew Cooks “Better Living Through Boycotts” list for ideas.

Here’s an example of a change that I recently made. I switched my music streaming service from Spotify to Tidal. Spotify has one of the lowest payouts for artists and, until the funding ran out, was running recruitment ads for ICE. Tidal is a great alternative which is has a reputation for artist empowerment and no connection to the Trumpublican administration. Here are some other music streaming alternatives to consider.

We Have the Power to Build a Better On-Line Experience

Bottom line, consumers have to power to shape the products we buy. All it takes is a willingness to trade captivity in a gilded cage of en-shitified convenience for deliberate and thoughtful choices. Join the revolution. De-fund the billionaires.

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But there is a way to protest against the Trumpublican regime silently and effectively, and that is to vote with your wallet. You might think that boycotts are ineffective and/or futile, but there’s plenty of evidence that they can work.

When Brendan Carr, Trump’s FCC Chair, threatened ABC and parent company Disney, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair immediately cancelled the show. ABC suspended the program and asked Kimmel to apologize. (Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2bn merger with Tegna.1)

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The backlash was immediate. Hundreds of celebrities and politicians criticized Disney and ABC for caving to pressure while thousands of subscribers cancelled their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions2. Within a few days ABC, Nexstar, and Sinclair reinstated the show.

This is a perfect illustration of the lack of principle and cowardice of corporate America. The cancellation was done in fear of reprisal from Trump, and the reinstatement fear of lost revenue. There is no underlying moral calculation. The decision making is completely financial.

And we’ve seen this before.

• Since Target announced cancellation of it’s DEI program on January 24th it’s stock price has dropped by 50%.3

• Elon Musk’s DOGE debacle caused Tesla auto sales to plummet and Twitter/X ad revenue declined by half.

• Since Jeff Bezos’ change in editorial policy the Washington Post’s daily paid readership has declined to under 100,000, down from over 250,000 just five years ago.4

So how do you use your power? Here’s a road map.

Resist and Unsubscribe

NYU professor and author Scott Galloway has put together a website, Resist and Unsubscribe, that identifies the small number of large corporations (Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Paramount+, Meta, Uber, Netflix, OpenAI, X) that are providing the data, infrastructure, and logistics that enable the Trump administration’s attack on our democracy. This may seem like a drop in the bucket, but Galloway points out that at their current valuations of up to 40X of revenues, any action that you take becomes much larger. For instance, cancelling your $20 per month ChatGPT subscription can result in a $10,000 decrease in their market cap. That’s a great return on your dis-investment.

So take a look at Scott’s website and do your part to send a message to the oligarchs that they’ll hear loud and clear. Leave a comment below with which of the tech giants you’ve stopped supporting.

From the perspective of a business owner the appeal of replacing human employees with automatons is clear. No more health insurance, vacations, unions, salaries, etc. Essentially a tech based version of slavery.

Of course this presents a problem for society as a whole. What happens to workers who are displaced by these techno-slaves? According to Elon Musk the increases in productivity will result in an unimaginable level of abundance which will make work optional.2

Although this may be possible it’s highly unlikely. In the first place, A.I. has yet to deliver on the promise of capable workers.3 And Generative A.I. based on Large Language Models (LLM) is increasingly coming under attack as a dead end.4

But more importantly, since the Reagan era, increases in productivity have failed to trickle down to workers as promised. Instead they have trickled up, creating a huge increase in wealth inequality and a struggling working class.5

The only solution to this imbalance is for government to tax and re-distribute wealth, which will require major changes. It’s time for working people of all political persuasions to join together to dismantle the current oligarchy run by billionaires and their fascist and neo-liberal enablers and replace it with a government that reflects the intentions of our founders.

It didn’t work. Ever since then, with the exception of the Clinton administration, the federal government has been running consistent deficits resulting in a rising federal debt and more money left in the economy. (Federal deficits are the difference between what the federal government spent and what they collected in the form of taxes.) Where did all that money go? It trickled up. Today, the top 1% of households own 31% of the nations wealth while the lower 50% of households own about 2.5%.

How Money Trickles Up

When the government injects money into the economy it gets spent. Lower income families spend any money they have on payroll taxes, rent, food, car payments, and other expenses. There’s usually very little left for savings or investing.

Middle class families spend most of their money on expenses but may have enough surplus to save and invest. And although money is an asset, it isn’t a very good one since inflation shrinks its value. Stocks, bonds, houses, and businesses are assets that can build wealth through appreciation and passive income.

But the truly wealthy, say someone who earns $1M a year in passive income, spend a relatively small portion of their income on expenses. And their income doesn’t come from work. It comes from the assets that they own. So what do they do with more money? They buy more assets. This may explain why wealthy conservatives are willing to run federal deficits in spite of their claims that they oppose them.

This is a continuous process, where all the spending by the less wealthy creates additional income for asset holders, which allows them to buy more assets. And since assets are limited, the competition to buy assets causes their prices to rise. The result? A never ending increase in wealth at the top.

Tax Wealth, Not Work

The solution? The government needs to recapture the ‘extra’ money that trickles up to the wealthy by raising their taxes. Who’s wealthy? Not the lower 50% of US households with an average net worth of $60,000. But clearly the upper 1% who own 30% of our nations wealth and whose average net worth is $37M.

And the best way to do this is to tax wealth, not the wages of working people who are already burdened by payroll taxes to fund their retirement and health care plus regressive taxes on spending (sales taxes). A wealth tax only taxes those who can afford it.

If you’re interested in learning more about money vs. wealth, income inequality, and wealth taxes take a look at these resources…

• Paul Krugman

• Gary’s Economics, Gary Stevenson

• Wealth and Poverty, Robert Reich

• Capital in the 21st Century - Thomas Piketty

How do we get there?

Certainly changing tax policy to a system that would collect more from the wealthy will face fierce and well funded opposition. But if we don’t fix this problem the future for our economy is bleak. We have to fight. Here’s what you can do…

• Educate yourself and others on the topics of wealth inequality, money versus assets, and how inequality is destroying our economy.

• Vote for progressive candidates that will fight for workers.

• Advocate for unions, raising the minimum wage, repealing Citizen’s United, limiting campaign contributions, banning stock purchases by congressional representatives. Get money out of politics.

• Support bloggers, writers, politicians who are fighting for equality by subscribing to and sharing their work.

This will not be a quick or easy fight. But our future depends on winning it. Join the battle to Tax Wealth, Not Work!

So why is airline travel so bad? Why do I get the feeling that the airline doesn’t really care about my experience and that their primary goal is to maximize their profit? And come to think of it, isn’t that how I feel about my interaction with most large corporations? In a recent presentation at Cloudfest Cory Doctorow described the transformation from a great product or service to a bad extractive relationship as “enshittification”.

Here’s Doctorow’s explanation of how it works.

A new transformative technology is developed and introduced, for instance Google ‘s search engine. At first the experience is amazing. Type in any question and you immediately get a wealth of information on the topic. Based on their initial success, Google spent billions of dollars a year to make sure that they dominated the search space. This is stage one where Google is good to its users.

Once Google had a monopoly on search they started to exploit their users tracking their behavior and selling targeted advertising to businesses and web publishers. At this point their end users become the product. This is stage two.

Stage three happens once the commercial clients are also captive to the monopoly, allowing Google to focus on extracting as much value as possible from the platform while making it a worse experience for their end users and commercial clients.

This three step process has been repeated throughout our economy, enabled by monopolies and technology. Customer ‘service’ no longer includes a human. Self checkout is everywhere. Microsoft and Google watch all of your online activities and sell the data. And it’s all possible because of the combination of a few large corporate monopolies and the ability of technology to manipulate their customers.

The end game appears to be a world built around humanoid robots and AI, eliminating the need for human workers as much as possible. Which leaves the question of how ‘real’ people will get the money to buy whatever the plutocrats are selling.

Monopolies are the Problem

So is there any hope for a future where businesses would return to a business model that is dedicated to serving customers instead of investors? This won’t happen until we get big money out of government and the big monopolies are broken up.

This means stricter limits on campaign contributions, restricting investments by congresspeople, and other reforms to policies that allow the wealthy to purchase influence, like reversing the Citizen’s United decision.

But we can also take action on our own by opting out of the surveillance economy. Here are some examples.

Ditch Safari and Google

A pain free way to start your path to privacy is to start using a browser and search engine that doesn’t allow ads or tracking and doesn’t feed you results based on what it thinks you want to see. Take a look at Brave, Firefox, DuckDuckGo or other browsers that have a focus on privacy. It’s easy to try any of these without making any changes to your existing setup. I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo (I know, stupid name) and haven’t had any issues.

Ditch Apple Mail and Gmail

The next step takes more effort. Switch to an email service that doesn’t allow surveillance to collect and sell your data. This article from PC Magazine provides a good overview of the most popular options. Use your new browser to explore your options. I’m slowly migrating to Proton Mail but will keep my Gmail account for personal contacts until it’s no longer useful.

Ditch MacOS and Microsoft Windows

OK, this is a big step and maybe not practical for many. But if you still use a desktop it can be surprisingly easy to create a desktop on your Mac or PC that will let you explore the Linux experience. This step allows you to escape from the Google/Microsoft/Apple monopoly and work in an environment that is built for the user instead of a corporate monopoly.

Over the last couple of days I’ve managed to set up a dual boot system on my existing Windows PC that lets me choose to run either Windows or Zorin Linux at startup. Here’s what my Linux desktop looks like.

Since I’m mostly using my system for writing and research I haven’t run into any problems and can even access my Gmail, Chrome, and windows files. If most of your desktop interaction is via a browser or office productivity apps it’s an easy transition.

What About Your Mobile Phone?

Of course your biggest exposure to commercial and government surveillance is through your mobile phone, and there are few practical alternatives. But I believe that privacy advocates will make progress in this space as well. A few examples of existing solutions are the Librem 5 from Purism, UP Phone from Unplugged, and a software option based on VoIP called Brax.me.

What’s the Future?

Long term I’d like to see a world where companies once again offer products that are optimized for the benefit of their users rather than their sellers. This can’t happen until our government takes action against monopolies.

But as individuals we can play a role by weaning ourselves from ‘free’ services that make their money by selling our personal information. Stop participating in the theft and join the fight to de-fund the billionaires.

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So what can we do? It’s time to change our tax system and stop the unsustainable accumulation (trickle up) of our nation’s wealth to a tiny fraction of our citizens. The best way to do this is to tax net worth instead of income. In other words, tax results (wealth) instead of effort (work). This would automatically lower the tax burden for those who are struggling, including the middle class, and collect a larger percentage of tax revenue from the most fortunate of us. (Click here for more information on taxing wealth.)

But if the super rich control our government how can we ever implement a policy that would threaten their wealth? Here’s another of Gary’s videos that lays out his strategy and why he thinks we can win.

The last piece of the puzzle is how to implement the plan and gain the momentum required to make such a massive change. Here’s how you can participate.

I believe that our economy and democracy can only be saved by eliminating the obscenely unequal distribution of wealth and returning control of our government to its citizens. Where votes are earned instead of bought. Join the fight. Tax Wealth, Not Work and defund the billionaires.

Get your Tax Wealth Not Work T-Shirt

Share your thoughts about taxing wealth in the comments below.

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As soon as the election was over Trump abandoned his populist promises to working Americans. Instead his administration focused on further enriching the wealthy and further empowering the powerful while illegally dismantling government protections for ordinary citizens.

And true to form for Republican administrations, as soon as the election was over concerns about the federal debt and deficit have been replaced with the zombie-like claims of trickle down economics, which have never delivered the promised growth and universal prosperity.

Pre-election complaints of weaponization of government have been replaced by goon squads disguised as ICE agents terrorizing and deporting legal residents2 and US citizens3 without due process and ignoring court orders that require remedy. The Department of ‘Justice’ has arrested a member of Congress4, is threating others, and is now threatening to arrest judges5.

We can no longer pretend that this is politics as usual. We have to accept that we’re in a fight for the soul our our democracy and that we could lose.

Is there any Hope?

On the bright side most of these policies are wildly unpopular with the majority of Americans. As the effects on our economy and personal freedoms become apparent and the apathetic center begins to experience damage to their personal finances they may decide that they should have voted in the last election. And at the same time working class Trumpublicans may begin to emerge from the fog of propaganda and false promises and realize that they were played.

The conventional wisdom is that the House and Senate will flip in the 2026 mid-term elections. But tremendous damage can be done between now and then, including damage to our election system that could render your vote meaningless.

Join the Fight!

Pay Attention, Stay informed

Billionaire owned media companies like ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, The Washington Post, New York Times, or Wall Street Journal will not report on how the Trump administration is dismantling our Democracy. They have capitulated to Trump’s threats and the fear of losing market share. And while corporate social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are equally vulnerable to Trump’s threats X actively encourages them.

But a new media infrastructure is emerging that isn’t beholden to corporations. Many of the journalists that have left corporate media in protest are now writing on platforms like Substack and Bluesky. And independent journalism is still alive at sources like ProPublica and The Atlantic. Here are some sources to consider that aren’t afraid to report on current events;

• For a quick (and entertaining) daily summary of Trumpublican attacks on our democracy take a look at The Fucking News by Jonathan Larsen.

• The Meidas Touch Network is the fastest growing independent pro-democracy news network in the world and provides comprehensive coverage on a broad array of topics.

• For economic analysis consider following Paul Krugman. Krugman is a former NYT columnist and Nobel Prize winning economist who summarizes economic news daily on Substack.

• For legal news I’d recommend Democracy Docket by Marc Elias. Marc is a long time defender of our democracy and worth your financial support.

• Another good resource for legal insights is Civil Discourse by Joyce Vance.

• For historical context, Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American.

I’d recommend choosing a few of your favorites and supporting them via a subscription. A much better use of your money than a subscription to the Wall Street Journal or free shipping from Amazon.

Make Noise

• Contact your congressional representatives regularly and let them know what you think. Politicians want to get re-elected and will change course if they think they’re likely to lose. You can find their contact information here.

• Attend your school board, city council, and HOA meetings.

• Attend public protests.

• Write letters to the editor

• Share your concerns with friends and family

Now is not the time to keep your head down and wait for the storm to pass. If the Trumpublicans are successful history tells us that the outcome will not be good.

Run for Office

Any office. There are many local elections that are uncontested. We need a grass roots effort to eliminate Trumpublicans from all levels of government. They need to be challenged at every level, from dog catcher to President.

Vote

The second Trump election was won by apathy. Biden, like RBG and the geriatric Democratic establishment, overstayed his welcome and fatally wounded what could have been a successful opposition. The result? Thirty percent of the electorate didn’t bother to vote, handing our democracy over to the current band of fascists and grifters.

Our path to victory is clear. Citizens who believe in the American promise of liberty and justice for all need to band together and elect a new cadre of leaders who will defend the constitution and fight for the average citizen rather than the billionaire class. People like AOC, Pete Buttigieg, Melanie Stansbury, and Jasmine Crockett instead of the current cadre of octogenarians that have presided over the massive transfer of wealth to the billionaire class.

And don’t tell me that these people are too ‘radical’ to get elected. The American People are desperate for change. Desperate enough to elect a felon, sex offender and serial liar to the presidency. I believe that candidates that are willing to fight for our founding principles can win against the Trumpublican dystopian chaos.

We can win if we fight.

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How can this happen in the wealthiest country in the world? And especially when our government struggles to provide public services that are common in other wealthy countries?

The fact is that the problem is not difficult to solve, but it will take politicians who are willing to do their job. Here’s how.

1. Pay Our Bills

Congress is responsible for the federal budget, both spending and income (mostly via the income tax). This means that congress is solely responsible for any budget deficit.

For instance, the 2024 federal budget authorized $6.8T in spending. This would require $6.8T in income, but the government only collected $4.9T. This means that there wasn’t enough income (taxes) to pay for the authorized spending. If we truly want to eliminate the deficit the solution is simple and completely within the power of the Congress. Enact a balanced budget where authorized spending is funded via adequate taxation. In short, pay our bills and stop the annual charade of passing popular legislation that costs money and then refusing to pay for it.

2. Fund Social Security and Medicare

Currently Social Security and Medicare show up on the Federal Budget as 35% of total expenses. But these programs are intended to be self funding via a payroll taxes and the Social Security Trust Fund. They should have no effect on the federal budget or income tax. But years of easily corrected shortfalls and congressional inaction has resulted in depletion of the trust fund and now Social Security is projected to run out of money in the next few years. With no changes the result will be a reduction in payments. Once again the US Congress is responsible. Either fix the program or let it fail and suffer the wrath of voters. Don’t allow the shortfall to add yet another line item to our annual deficit.

3. Tax Assets, Not Wages

Government isn’t free so governments need a source of funds. Ideally that funding would come from all residents who benefit from the government’s services. Today that system is the federal income tax. But is taxing income the most equitable way to raise funds? For a majority of the population income is earned by work and is a poor measure of ability to pay. Here’s why…

In 2024 the median household income in the US was about $80,000 resulting in a federal income tax of $5,632 using the standard deduction. But not all households are the same.

• A typical working family would pay an additional $6,120 in payroll taxes, leaving take home pay of $68,248 to cover all of the expenses of raising a family. They have fixed expenses including rent or a mortgage, health care, child care, and probably have very little in savings or other assets.

• Compare that with a 70 year old retired couple who collect $80,000 from a combination of $40,000 in Social Security and $40,000 IRA distributions. They would pay $3,232 in federal taxes leaving $76,768 in income. Their expenses are comparatively low. Their home may be paid off and their healthcare is covered by Medicare. And since the median net worth for a 70 year old couple is estimated at $500,000 to $750,000 they have the ability to weather any financial shocks. Clearly taxes are more of a burden for the working couple.

But independent from the ability to pay, do income taxes spread our government’s financial burden fairly? The staggering increase in wealth inequality is proof that they don’t. At the extreme end of the scale it’s estimated that the wealthiest Americans pay a tiny fraction of their realized (as opposed to taxable) income1. And as of the end of 2024 the wealthiest 0.1% of US households had a combined net worth over 5 times that of the entire lower 50%2. Clearly our system isn’t fair.

So how can we fix this? One answer is to tax net worth3 rather than wages. This automatically shifts the tax burden to those citizens who have gained the most while helping those just starting out or less fortunate build their own American dream. No savings? No tax. Net worth of $1B? You’re taxed on that regardless of your ‘income’.

Workers would continue to pay into Social Security and Medicare, but no more income tax or capital gains tax. This means that a young family just starting out will keep more of their wages. And there are other benefits. No tax on IRA distributions or capital gains from the sale of a house or business for instance.

A Model

So what would a net worth tax look like and how would it compare to the current system? Here’s an example which, although is overly simplified and likely flawed, can give a feel for how a net worth based system could work and what the outcome would be for taxpayers.

In FY 2024 the federal government had expenditures of $6.8T and income of $4.9T leaving a deficit of $1.9T. If we eliminate Social Security and Medicare from the mix total expenses were $4.4T. Total net worth for all US households and corporations was $222T, so the tax rate on net worth required to pay the expenses would be 2%.

Although this rate could be applied to all payers equally a series of tax brackets with a progressive rate structure would be more effective in reducing inequality. Here’s one approach:

• For entities with a net worth at the 50th percentile or lower a rate of 0.5%

• For entities with a net worth in the 50th to 90th percentile, a rate of 1%

• For entities with a net worth in the 90th to 99th percentile a rate of 2.5%

• For entities in the 99th to 99.9th percentile a rate of 4%

• For entities in the top 0.1th percentile a rate of 6.5%

Given this model let’s see how it would compare to the current system.

Examples

Let’s revisit the examples above.

• Assuming that the young couple earing $80,000 has a total net worth of $40,000. Instead of $5,632 in federal income tax they would pay a $200 tax on their $40,000 in assets. They would still be responsible for the $6,120 in payroll taxes. But these are dedicated to funding Social Security and Medicare so it is effectively a form of saving.

• The retired couple has no payroll tax, so assuming a net worth of $750,000 their only obligation would be a wealth tax of $6500 instead of the $3,232 in income tax. They pay more under this system, but it’s a small fraction of their assets and well under the return of even the most conservative investment portfolio.

• Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $206B would pay a 6.5% wealth tax of $13B. This is a lot, but Jeff Bezos’ also has a lot of money, much of it earned by paying substandard wages to his employees at Amazon4.

Finally, if you compare the ROI on assets with the proposed tax rates, in each of these cases the taxes could be paid with passive income from the investments.

Can It Work?

I think that a tax on net worth is a better way to fund our government than a tax on work. It taxes results rather than effort and would significantly lower the tax burden on the struggling working class. And unlike the trickle down myth of the right it would stimulate the economy. Why? Working people spend their money on consumption and more consumption means more production and more profits for the business community. On the other hand the super rich spend a tiny fraction of their income on consumption. They spend their money on acquiring assets and maximizing their return which drives up the price of assets, the products that they produce, and lowers wages and employee benefits.

Of course the billionaire class will use all their resources to block a net worth tax, and if one were implemented they would find ways to avoid it. But hiding assets may be much more difficult than hiding income. But that’s no reason not to try. And one way to begin this transition is to implement a small net worth tax in addition to the existing income tax and transition away from income taxes over time. I’ll explore that option in a future article.

Questions

Is inequality a threat to our democracy?

What changes to our tax code would you be in favor of?

Leave a comment

Another stake in the heart of our democracy came with the Covid crisis which was exploited by the conservative rage machine and transferred a huge amount of wealth to the already bloated billionaire class.

And yet today the Republican Trumpublican party is insisting on even more tax cuts for the wealthy, paid for by vandalizing the social safety net and further impoverishing the working class. History tells us that we are on an unsustainable path where the outcome is invariably “massive and violent disruptions of the established order”.1

We have been here before. During the gilded age2 oligarchs dominated the economy and controlled government until they were defeated by popular unrest resulting from the great depression and world war. This is a rare example of a decrease in wealth inequality that occurred without violent revolution. If we hope to avoid catastrophe we need to find a way to do this again. Here’s how…

Defund the Plutocrats

Our government has been sold to the wealthy. But the solution is in the hands of our citizens. You can help by not giving your money to billionaires.3 Cancel your Amazon subscription and buy from ethical suppliers like Costco and Trader Joe’s who haven’t caved to Trump’s DEI BS. Our Democracy is worth more than saving a few dollars and overnight shipping. Shop locally, whenever possible from local sources. Buy from your farmer’s market instead of Whole Foods.

Quit Facebook and X and follow the ethical journalists who have fled corporate media to Bluesky and Substack. Cancel subscriptions to corporate media like the Wall Street Journal and find non-commercial sources. Stop watching network news which has refused to hold the Trumpublicans to account.

Fight for Our Democracy

Vote. (30% of eligible voters didn’t in the last presidential election). Follow local politics and vote in every election. Run for office. Call or write to your congressional representatives and let them know how you feel. It matters. Attend local protests and rallies. Make your feelings known. Now is not the time to hide. It doesn’t work.

Elect ‘Radical’ Progressives

The traditional Democratic politics of appeasement and compromise hasn’t worked. The old guard of the Democratic party needs to be replaced with a new generation of warriors who will fight against oligarchy and for progressive democratic principles. For those who fear that a progressive candidate can’t win remember that in 2016 the most popular candidates were Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Both candidates who promised radical change. The Democratic machine choose Hillary Clinton and lost.

Democrats need to address kitchen table issues by talking to working people. They have been left behind by 50 years of wage stagnation and unlike the middle class their economy is not good. We need to talk to voters where they live and refuse to kowtow to commercial media talking heads who have a financial interest in balanced politically neutral coverage.

We need to return to core democratic principles of fairness, democracy, the rule of law and compassion. Champion increasing the minimum wage, support for unions, strengthening Social Security, health care reform, worker protections and defend the government services and protections that the Trumpublicans are dismantling in the name of inefficiency, woke policies, and religion. We need to deliver a message that our government may not be perfect, but it is good. That improvements are needed, but they aren’t accomplished by chaotic destruction. That privatization is a handout to billionaires whose profits will come from higher costs. And that compromise is essential to democracy.

Tax Wealth, Not Work

The only way to reverse the obscene level of wealth inequality is by taxation. And although proposing a tax increase is assumed to be a political death sentence it’s time to challenge the laughable and empirically false conservative dogma that government is bad and tax cuts for billionaires will deliver prosperity to all.

How? Typically debate around taxation focuses on income tax. Why? Because it’s the tax that most citizens are familiar with, it’s easy to understand, and the rich earn a relatively small amount of their wealth as taxable income and can afford to pay accountants and lobbyists to minimize their exposure. But the steady increase in wealth inequality resulting in the wealthiest 1% owning 30% of the nation’s wealth is proof that our tax policy favors the rich.

Reducing wealth inequality will require a new type of tax. A tax on wealth rather than on work.4 For instance, in the US the top wealthiest 1% have an average net worth of $13M plus and own about 30% of all the wealth in the US, or about $50T. A flat 3% wealth tax on this group would generate $1.5T annually, enough to eliminate the 2024 deficit. Combined with a more aggressive policy on income/earnings for this class we could start to end and ultimately reverse our country’s descent into economic ruin.

Make Government for the People Again

The fact is, wealth inequality is recognized as a problem that is destroying economies worldwide5. But I believe that the chaotic and destructive Trump administration has elevated awareness of the problem and support for change. Because of this we have an opportunity to build a progressive movement, reclaim our Democracy, and create an economy that works for all. Join the fight. We can win.

What is unusual is the relatively stable period prior to the 1980’s. So what changed?

In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected president on the promise to reinvigorate the US economy via tax cuts for the wealthy, a policy he labeled “supply side economics”. (At the time the highest marginal income tax rate was 70%.) The claim was that lower taxes would free the wealthy to invest and cause a growing economy which would “trickle down” benefits to all. The policy was a failure, causing inflation, a federal deficit, and the beginning of the increase in wealth disparity that has continued to this day.

So why did Reagan’s tax cuts cause this trend? To understand that you need to understand how money moves through the economy and how it affects wealth distribution.

The Asset Economy

Many people think of wealth as money. But wealth is made up of assets.3 And although money is an asset, it is not a particularly valuable one. Why? Money has a relatively low rate of return, typically just slightly above the rate of inflation if invested, and negative if held as cash. But other types of assets can generate significant (passive) income.4 Desirable assets (and related income) include land (food or natural resources), real estate (rents), businesses (equities), and mortgages (bonds). For instance, a 5% return on a $2M asset would yield a passive income of $100,000 a year, well above the median income of US households.

But the average household earns their money in the form of wages and spends the majority of what they receive on expenses like food and shelter. For the poorest, who live paycheck to paycheck, there is little to no opportunity to save or invest. Those in the middle class may be able to save and invest a small portion of their income, for example in a house and/or 401K. But their house is usually shelter and not a particularly valuable or liquid investment5 and a 401K typically generates a fairly small percentage of their income requirements and isn’t readily accessible.

On the other hand, the wealthiest citizens living expenses are easily met via passive income which can then be used to buy more assets. As wealth gets increasingly concentrated the wealthy have to compete among themselves to buy these assets causing asset prices go up and making it even more difficult for lower income households to purchase them. For instance, the graph below shows the increase of US home prices compared to median household income.

A dramatic demonstration of this cycle is found starting with the huge injections of money into the economy during the covid crisis. When the government used deficit spending to help struggling families and businesses the money ultimately flowed to wealthy asset holders, causing an explosion in their wealth as shown in the chart below. In response home prices and the stock market soared.

Trumpenomics

Trumpublicans (and conservatives historically) claim that our economy is at risk of collapse due to debt and deficits caused by excessive government spending riddled by waste, fraud and abuse6. But the persistent budget deficits and growth in wealth of the super-rich implies that there is plenty of money. The real problem is that government deficits flow to the wealthy whose taxes are too low to repatriate them.

The conservative remedy? Cut taxes for the wealthy in pursuit of the ever elusive ‘trickle down’ benefits, but also cut already approved government spending via haphazard vandalism7 including cuts to the IRS workforce that will further reduce tax receipts. How is it possible that one of the wealthiest countries in the world with objectively the strongest economy is simultaneously vandalizing our public services while cutting taxes?

The answer is two fold:

The government owns a lot of valuable assets including public lands, buildings, and what are essentially non-profit businesses that provide public services such as healthcare, social security, the park service, transportation (roads, bridges, etc), and defense.

A major role of government is consumer protection via regulations related to anti-trust, banking, and product safety.

So the problem isn’t that government is inherently wasteful or incompetent, but that it is competing for assets and business opportunities with the private sector while restricting their ability to cheat their customers. Trump and his billionaire supporters see an opportunity to acquire and privatize them. And privatizing non-profit government services would only increase the cost to the average citizen.

This is a perfect example of a common theme among conservatives, running government like a business. Specifically like a billionaire hedge fund which takes over a company, strips it of its assets and cash, and leaves a rotting corpse.

Government for the People

So what can we do? Government needs to tax the wealthy and return our country to an economic system where all citizens share in our national wealth. The first step is to retake control of our democracy. Step two is to tax the wealthy and return the taxpayer dollars that are being hoarded by the super rich to our government.

How do we do it? It won’t be easy, and it won’t be fast. It will require a new political focus on inequality and the working class with new leadership from young progressive politicians.

Ready to take action?

Attend your local protest this Saturday the 19th. More info here.

Call your Senators and Representative and ask them to take action! Find your congresspeople here.

Leave a comment

But Trump campaigned on Biden’s ‘disastrous economy’1 and made promises to lower prices, bring back auto manufacturing, and get gas prices to $2.2 And he won.

So is the economy good or bad? It turns out that it depends. Most economists and news headlines focus on metrics like inflation, the stock market, and employment. But these are broad averages. And although most economists, politicians, and TV personalities are experiencing a great economy a lot of US citizens aren’t.

One clue as to why may be found by comparing worker compensation with productivity, the amount of value that their labor produced. (graph below) It’s clear that something changed around 1970, when wages no longer increased at the same rate as the value to their employer.

At the same time, according to the Pew Research Center, the share of US income held by the middle and lower class began to decline rapidly3.

So what happened in 1970? Both of these trends initially started during the Carter administration’s stagflation4 crisis. But they were accelerated by Regan’s ‘remedy’ of supply side economics which promised that tax cuts on high income individuals would re-invigorate the economy, and ‘trickle down’ to everyone. They did not5.

In spite of this failure and 30 years of objective proof that it has never worked, conservative politicians continue to insist that taxes on the rich and government spending are the root of all economic woes.

But the ultimate result of post Regan economic policies can be seen in changes in wealth. The chart below tracks total wealth held by percentile. The black line, which is almost unchanged since 2001, represents the net worth of the least wealthy 50% of all households. The other lines track the 50th to 90th percentile (green), the 90th to 99th percentile (red), and the top 1% (blue).

It’s clear that the gains from the US economy have not been distributed equally, with the vast majority of wealth accruing to the very richest individuals. And for most politicians, economists, and talking heads the economy is doing great. But this trend is not sustainable. An economy needs consumers to buy the products that it’s producing, and they are increasingly unable to do so.

Where does this wealth come from? Lower income people spend most of their income on consumption (food, housing, etc.). But when they spend their money it is accumulated by the wealthy who own the assets. Food purchases go to owners of farmland and food production companies. Mortgage payments go to lenders. Rents go to owners of houses and apartments. And profits from thousands of public companies go to stockholders. The cycle is predictable and inevitable6. Money continually flows from consumers to asset owners. And the only way for the government to get this money and wealth back is via taxation.

So what does the future look like? If the concentration of wealth continues it is inevitable that our economy will continue to decline and ultimately collapse.

How Do We Fix It?

I recognized this problem instinctively quite some time ago, but didn’t have the understanding or knowledge to explain it or propose a solution. But I recently came across Gary Stevenson, an economist and former Citibank trader who made millions predicting and betting on how wealth inequality will lead to the decline and ultimate collapse of the world’s economies. The story of his origins as a poor kid growing up in London to the most successful Citibank trader in the world is fascinating and a great read7.

But Gary’s success led him to question the morality of the system that created it and he quit to pursue a mission to educate the world on the economic death spiral that inequality creates and try to stop it. The result is a YouTube channel titled “Gary’s Economics” which currently has over a million subscribers and is growing rapidly. His videos include an extensive course on economics that is easy to follow.

The short clip below is from a 45 minute video titled “This is How We Stop It” which is a summary of the wealth inequality problem and a roadmap for action; “Tax Wealth, Not Work”.

I believe that Gary’s diagnosis and prescription are accurate and timely. My goal is to help share this message.

Questions:

• Do you believe that the economy is good or bad?

• Is wealth inequality a problem?

• Is it possible to tax wealth?

Leave a comment

Since the start of Trump’s first campaign in June of 2015 it’s been a wild ride starting with a charismatic if unconventional candidate who promised to enact a conservative agenda. Unconventional because Trump wasn’t a traditional, or even conservative candidate. He was unconstrained by facts and openly violated the norms of respect and civility while his behavior was celebrated by supporters who praised him for his ‘honesty’ and ‘telling it like it is’.

When, early in his campaign, he claimed that undocumented aliens were “…bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Maybe you could brush it off as “Donald being Donald”, even though you knew immigrants that were hard working, dedicated employees. The immigrants that cleaned your house, tended your yard, or cooked the food and washed the dishes at your favorite restaurant. The immigrants that harvest our crops, build our houses, and care for us in our old age. But you also knew that his supporters wouldn’t object. After years of struggle chasing the elusive American Dream they were desperate for an answer to why they had failed. And Trump provided it in the form of an easily identifiable enemy while conveniently distracting them from looking in your direction.

But what about when he said that John McCain was “… not a war hero … He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured”? I suspect that you were privately shocked, although careful not to comment publicly. Did you really believe that Senator McCain was a “loser” for having been held as a prisoner of war? The Republican party has had a long history of revering our troops. How were you able to ignore or even defend this attack knowing that Trump was able to avoid the draft because he was wealthy?

When Megan Kelly asked Trump about his insults directed at women, saying "You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs' and 'disgusting animals” I suspect that you were uncomfortable. After all Republicans have had always claimed to be protective of the “weaker sex”. Maybe you thought it was justified because he was talking about the enemy, women who had criticized your leader. But how did you look into the eyes of your wife, daughter, or son (or in the mirror) and believe this?

I can’t imagine how you explained your acceptance of his comments overheard on an Access Hollywood bus. "I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the p***y. You can do anything." How did you justify your silence and continued support? Maybe you forgave him when he publicly “apologized” in a desperate attempt to avoid censure, and his wife Melania called it “boys using locker room talk”.

After his election you and many Democrats may have expected or hoped that Trump would become more “Presidential”. But these hopes were dashed by his erratic and uninformed response to the Covid crisis, which ranged from “we have it under control”, “its just the flu”, to "It's going to disappear. One day it's like a miracle, it will disappear. And from our shores, you know, it could get worse before it gets better. Could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows."

And how did you feel when he discounted the advice of medical professionals and suggested the use of bleach and light as cures. Did you tell your family not to wear masks or to take ivermectin (veterinary de-worming medications) instead of the newly developed vaccines? Or did you quietly follow the advice of your doctor while publicly ignoring Trump’s incoherent ramblings?

When it became apparent that he was threatening to withhold already authorized military support from Ukraine unless President Zelenskyy helped to legitimize the Biden investigations how did you feel? Did you believe that Trump was pursuing a legitimate investigation, or did you recognize it as another case of Trump’s single minded focus on his own best interests?

And then came January 6th. Many of you were in the Capitol and experienced the fear and chaos of that day. You watched as Trump complained that Mike Pence wasn’t brave enough to ‘do the right thing’, and then spent hours watching television as the mob beat up Capitol Police and a protestor was killed. Although many of you expressed outrage at the time, within weeks the news was dominated by talking points designed to normalize the events as a peaceful public protest. Did you repeat them, or just avoid commenting?

When the January 6th committee was formed and carefully documented the events and Trump’s culpability, how did you find a way to vote for acquittal? Did you really think that he was innocent, or was it just expedient? Did you believe that Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were traitors, or did you admire their courage and willingness to sacrifice their privilege for moral clarity? And for the next four years while Trump continued to claim a stolen election in spite of all evidence to the contrary, did you ever wonder about the damage being done to our tradition of free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power?

Now that we’re in his second term and Trump has put a private citizen in charge of unilaterally dismantling agencies and programs that the Congress created and funded, are you privately thankful that it removes your obligation to actually make policy in a public forum? Are you concerned that, having ceded your authority to an autocrat, you no longer serve any useful function? Can you reconcile your talking points about ‘unelected bureaucrats running the government’ with Elon Musk’s current role as head of the DOGE wrecking ball?

But the ultimate betrayal of Republican beliefs has to be Trump’s abandonment of eighty years of post World War II support of democracy and freedom in favor of an axis of autocrats led by Russia’s Putin. Could this be a bridge too far? Or just another step on the rapid descent into autocracy in service to plutocrats? Have you begun to wonder if Putin has ‘kompromat’ that compels Trump’s loyalty?

Washington insiders claim that many of you are privately repulsed by Trump and his actions, but continue to appease him because you are either unwilling to give up the power and privilege of your position or afraid of threats from Trump’s mob. In either case, I’d remind you of your oath to defend the Constitution. Will history record your actions as an active participant in the destruction of our 250 year old democracy and leader of the free world? Is there no bottom to your servitude to Trump and his cadre of plutocrats? As Joseph N Welsh, Chief Counsel for the US Army said to Joseph McCarthy, “sir, have you no decency”1?

I believe that it’s long past time to reflect on your legacy, and for true patriots to either actively resist or quit and let someone with the courage to do so take their place. It will take only a very small number of you to put a stop to the chaos and reject tyranny.

Here’s how things stack up …

Florida's 1st Congressional District

• Date: April 1st, 2025

• Candidates: Gail Valmont (D) and Jimmy Patronis (R)

• During a previous run for this seat Gail lost to Matt Gaetz by a margin of 66% to 34%.

Florida's 6th Congressional District

• Date: April 1, 2025

• Candidates: Joshua Weil (D), Randy Fine (R)

• Michael Waltz was re-elected to this seat in 2024 with a margin of 66.5% to 33.5%.

New York’s 21st District

• Date: tbd

• Candidates: tbd

• Elise Stefanik won this race in 2024 with a margin of 62% vs 38% for her challenger. She is currently nominated to be the US delegate to the United Nations. If she is confirmed, a special election will be held to fill her seat. The current rules require the governor to hold it within 70 to 80 days.

Can we do it?

In the past these would all have been considered solid Republican wins, but there is evidence that some former Trump voters are starting to regret their choice. For instance, in a recent election in Iowa Senate district 35, Mike Zimmer beat the Republican candidate by 52% to 48%. This same district voted for Trump with 60% support. Given the chaos and disfunction of the Trump administration we may see a combination of increasing support for Democrats and a lack of enthusiasm for the Republicans.

How to Help

If you want to help flip these seats here are some ideas…

• Share this post with friends and family so that they know about this opportunity to put an early stop to Trump’s assault on our Democracy and sell out to Russia.

• If you live in the district, in addition to your vote you can work with local the campaign staff to make calls, door knock, write postcards, etc.

• If you’re not a resident of the district you could make a donation to one of the candidates or volunteer via Democrats.org or your favorite activist organization.

You might expect that an effort of this size would start with an analysis of past results and ongoing investigations by the Office of the Inspector General, the federal agency established in 1976 for this purpose. For example, in FY2024 Health and Human services Inspector General Christi A. Grimm reported savings of over $7B2.

But early in his presidency Trump fired 17 of the IGs overseeing federal agencies, including Christi Grimm, saying “I don’t know [the fired IGs], but some people thought that some were unfair or were not doing the job.”3

Rather than an analytical approach, DOGE appears to be indiscriminately cutting staff and terminating programs, similar to his approach to cost cutting at Twitter X which resulted in massive disruption and an estimated 80% loss in valuation. So much for Elon’s business acumen.

Here are some examples of DOGE actions since Trump’s inauguration4.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• protects consumers from financial fraud

• 2024 budget of $804M or .0008% of the target

• Recently authorized to oversee privacy issues, fraud and how disputed transactions are handled at mobile payment apps like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Cash App — and X's proposed money service.

Federal Aviation Administration

• In spite of an increase of accidents since the beginning of the Trump administration, DOGE terminated hundreds of probationary5 FAA employees6. (Probationary employees are those who have been in their current position for less than a year). They are now trying to fill open positions for air traffic controllers.

• In September of 2024 SpaceX was fined over $600,000 by the FAA for failing to follow license requirements for two rocket launches.

• FAA is proposing to cancel an existing contract with Verizon in favor of a new contract with Starlink, another one of Musk’s companies7.

Internal Revenue Service

• Annual budget of $12.3B, or about 1.2% of the target

• Collects $5.1 trillion in revenue for an ROI of 415:18.

• DOGE laid off over 6000 probationary employees

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

• Provides foreign aid to build goodwill and influence in developing countries

• Total budget of $21.7B or about 2% of the $1T target

• Was investigating Musk owned Starlink operations in Ukraine

  Click here to check out The Murrow Project Store. Get a t-shirt or bumper sticker to show your support for democracy and the Constitution.

Can DOGE find One Trillion Dollars?

Spend a few minutes with the Balance the Budget game and you’ll quickly realize that this would only be possible by huge reductions in government benefits and services that are universally supported by American voters regardless of party affiliation.

The question that never seems to be asked is, can we balance the budget by raising taxes? The answer, of course, is yes. Give it a try yourself by playing the Balance the Budget game here.

But a more interesting question is “do we have to balance the budget”. In spite of the constant fear mongering by politicians, the national debt and deficits are not existential threats and in themselves are not harmful. This is commonly understood by economists. To understand why take a look at “The Deficit Myth” by Stephanie Kelton or google MMT.

Summary

Although there is certainly waste, fraud, and abuse to be found in the federal government, DOGE’s slash and burn approach is not an effective way to address it. In fact there is ample evidence that after dismantling the exiting oversight capability, DOGE is a leading source of all three.

The federal debt is not an existential threat, it is simply a measure of the difference between the money government has spent and taxes it has collected. Given the unprecedented increase in wealth inequality it seems clear where the money went and that the proper way to solve the problem is not to cut government support for ordinary citizens, but ask the wealthy for some of our money back.

Questions

• Why do conservatives refuse to consider increased taxes as part of the solution to deficits?

• How does defunding the IRS make sense?

• Why are cuts to spending concentrated on programs that benefit the average American while tax cuts are always primarily for the wealthy?

Leave a comment

But ultimately real power comes from the people. Things change when citizens rise up and resist. And since this is an administration led by grifters and plutocrats, one way to get their attention is to stop sending them money. Here are some ideas…

Boycott Trumpublican Billionaires

Cancel your Amazon account, or at least try not to buy anything there. If you find something you want on Amazon, buy it from the manufacturer or a local retailer.

Cancel your subscriptions to commercial media companies. The Washing Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS, and NBC are all afraid to challenge Trump. Switch to Substack and Bluesky where you can find all the journalists that quit in protest in a non-commercial environment. People like Jim Acosta, Adam Kinzinger, Paul Krugman, Dan Rather, Joy Reed, Robert Reich, Jennifer Rubin, and Joyce Vance and Barry Weiss.

Looking for a antidote to Fox News? Follow the Meidas Touch News, The Contrarian, or The F**king News. Cancel your Twitter X account and join Bluesky.

Shop at Costco instead of Walmart. Lowes instead of Home Depot. Bank at your local credit union instead of Wells Fargo and Bank of America. No more Airbnb. Do your research and find out which companies align with your principles.

Want to know who’s on the Trump bandwagon? Here are a few sources…

• Businesses supporting Trump list from Newsweek

• Trump Inaugural Top Donations from Fox News

• The People’s Union USA

Fund the opposition

Send your money to people who are actively resisting. Politicians like AOL, Jasmine Crockett, and Elizabeth Warren, Chris Murphy. Donate to organizations that are funding court challenges like ACLU, Public Citizen, and Democracy Docket

Join National Protests

• Feb. 28 - 24 Hour Economic Blackout. No/minimal spending for the day

• March 7-14 - Amazon blackout. No Amazon, Whole Foods, or Prime orders.

• March 14 - National strike. Skip work for a day.

If you have suggestions for other sources or vendors please add them in a comment.

Leave a comment

Make Noise

Call your congressional representatives and let them know what you think. Attend town halls and school board meetings, protests and rallies.

We Can Win This Fight

The congressional Trumpublicans may be hiding under their desks for now, but they can’t hide from the voters forever. We know that many of them hate Trump and Musk, but they are afraid of Trumps enforcers and of losing their jobs. But Trump is a lame duck and his approval rating is fading fast as his supports realize that he has no intention of following through on his populist promises. Just three or four defectors will flip the house and senate. Join the fight for our democracy!

But starting with the civil rights reform the party began to shift to a more populist philosophy based on traditional conservative principles such as religious faith, individual liberty, and small government. Common themes were respect for the constitution, Christian values and morality, law and order, support for our troops and police.

But as Trump’s influence has grown, Republican politicians seem willing to abandon traditional values to stay in his good graces. Over time, the list has become more extreme. Here are some examples.

Respect for the Constitution

Originalism, the principle that the Constitution should be followed literally, is a core belief of conservatives. But conservative judges on the supreme court have found ways to interpret the Constitution in ways that seem to violate their adherence to ‘originalism’. Examples include the Citizen’s United decision and Trump v. United States, the recent ruling that grants the President immunity from crimes committed as part of their “official acts”.

“A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution” Donald Trump

Support for Christian Principles, The Moral Majority

Support for the Christian religion has been unwavering throughout the history of the Republican party. But over time the actions of party members has deviated from core Christian principles with little effect.

"I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the p****y. You can do anything." Donald Trump

Support for our Troops

Traditionally conservatives have shown reverence for US soldiers as part of their belief in maintaining a strong military. But over time Trump has attacked individuals, gold star families, and veterans programs with no reaction from the party.

(John McCain is) a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you. - Donald Trump

“[The Medal of Freedom is] actually much better because everyone [who] gets the congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers … They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead.” - Donald Trump

Individual Freedom

Protection of citizens from government is another key principle espoused by conservatives. But the current administration seems less committed to universal rights and more inclined to attack anyone who is critical of the MAGA agenda.

“60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election. They deserve a long prison sentence.” - Elon Musk

Back the Blue

The former “Law and Order party” always showed unwavering support for police. Just after the January 6th insurrection there was universal condemnation for the actions of the rioters. But more recently Republicans have been more willing to reinterpret the events in a less critical light.

“You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.” - Andrew Clyde

The recent pardons and commutations of violent offenders has not faced criticism by the majority of the Republican administration.

The Party of Law and Order

In the recent past, any hint criminal behavior would be disqualifying for a political candidate. This may still be a factor for some, as demonstrated by the recent censure of Robert Mendez by the Democratic party, but the Republicans have become very flexible over time. During the first weeks of Trump’s second administration there have been a blizzard of immoral and illegal actions, mostly led by Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts.

Offer of a quid pro quo to Eric Adams

Firing of inspectors general, some of whom are investigating Musk’s companies

Defunding of the CFPB which protects citizens from financial scams

The Future or The Republican Party

So what does it mean to be a Republican today? It seems that the party has abandoned their former core principles in favor of obedience and fealty to the Trump/MAGA agenda. Here are some questions

• Are most Republicans supportive of this shift or just too scared to oppose him?

• What are the options for those who aren’t?

• Is the Republican brand permanently captured by Trump/MAGA?

Leave a comment

The founding principles and Constitution of the United States are the ultimate expression of DEI. Diversity because except for our indigenous population we are all immigrants. Equity as expressed in the promise that all men people are created equal. And inclusion, which is nothing more than ensuring equality for people who don’t conform to social norms.

Efforts to remove barriers to marginalized populations have proven to be effective and to benefit our society and economy by enlarging the pool of talented workers. According to an article in Forbes magazine “the impact of DEI is overwhelmingly positive”1.

So if DEI initiatives are aligned with our founding principles and beneficial to our economy why would the current administration expend so much effort to attack them?Their claim is that, rather than remove barriers, these policies somehow deliver an unfair advantage to the recipients, who then take jobs from more deserving candidates and lower the quality of the workforce.

But if that’s the case it seems that legacy admission programs at Ivy league universities should also be eliminated. For an extreme example of unfair advantage we just need to consider Trump’s recent cabinet picks, which demonstrate a complete lack of concern for experience or ability in favor of loyalty.

And a recent proposal to support Afrikaners immigration due to government oppression while deporting brown skinned people fleeing the same threats seems based on race rather than principle.

The real reason may be that opposition to DEI is more about the recipient's race or gender than ability. Recent actions by the Trump administration don’t mention any specific deficiencies or objective facts. Just a wholesale purge based on identity. A credible approach to addressing concerns about the potential for unqualified employees would focus on performance. Here are some recent headlines as examples

• Trump Orders NASA to Purge All Mentions of Women in Leadership On Its Websites3

• Trump fires first woman to head a US military service4

• Trump administration puts federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff on leave5

While these policies aren’t consistent with their claimed goal of ‘leveling the playing field’ they are consistent with a long standing conservative philosophy based on white Christian nationalism6 where women and minorities are assumed to be inferior.

Questions

• Do DEI initiatives give their recipients an unfair advantage?

• Will Trumps anti-DEI actions improve our workforce?

• Is racism and sexism prevalent in US society, or are all people treated equally?

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