Donald Trump is making so many alarming appointments that it’s hard to keep up with all of them. Just yesterday, Trump appallingly announced his plan to put election denier Kari Lake in as head of Voice of America.
But in this installment of “On-Target,” Mark Jacob and I discuss one you might have missed. We discuss how Trump wants to reward his super-rich supporters (and himself) by installing an IRS commissioner who thinks the IRS should be abolished. The New Republic’s Timothy Noah has written an excellent piece about Trump’s IRS pick, Billy Long, a former congressman who tried to dismantle the IRS when he was in office.
Jacob is author of the outstanding “Stop the Presses” newsletter. Check it out if you haven’t already.
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The Republican Platform : trump, taxes, tariffs. I think of Bugs Bunny saying " Tha- tha-that's all, folks."'
The Republican senators have to be aware that Trump is looking to destroy our country. I mean, why else would he be looking to appoint the very worst people to head our most important institutions - justice, health, education, defense, intelligence and administration - if not to destroy our country from within? It is appalling that these senators are playing along under the cover of governance in normal times by providing nominal pushback and then falling in line. The mainstream media, of course, have proved worthless in standing up to him and calling out his lies.
This is not just shameful, it is dangerous in the extreme. We, the people, need to seize the initiative by making our voices loud enough so that we cannot be ignored.
Yet one more page in the Bannon "blow up the government" playbook. I'm just wondering how all this is going to work after all the destruction is done? I fear that the rich will do just fine, build walls around their estates to keep the masses out, and the masses will sink into pits of directed education, poor health care, and rotting cities.
He’s dominating the news just like he prefers, and the outrageous appointments are part of the plan to gain attention … and it’s working! Could we stop with the 24/7 attention? He doesn’t have any power to appoint anyone yet … why do we fall for this???? 🤮
I hear you, Christine. But I would say that paying attention is part of how we prepare the opposition. It would be a mistake to ignore plotting this until Jan. 20.
Of course we do, it’s a problem for sure. Can’t we pay attention without allowing his every move to hog the headlines? It’s seems disproportionate given how much of it is designed primarily to get attention … I have no good answer.
And who will a flat rate 30% sales tax hurt the most? The poor, low income and middle income people. Let’s hope those who believe that Trump stands with “the people” will wake up and vote against his lackeys in the 2026 midterms.
And so the daily assault continues, welcome to "Trumpmerica".
All part of the master plan - cut taxes for the wealthy - and take what few crumbs regular folks have away to support the wealthy. When is everyone who voted for this oligarch dictator going to learn? Rise up folks. The wealthy have moved from a cold war to all out war. Take off the gloves and manners and fight.
If I remember correctly Billy Bob or one another goof who proposed this do away with the IRS wanted to end payroll deductions for federal taxes. It set off a panic because the Soc Security Administration is funded through payroll deductions. Supposedly to fix that SSA would be empowered to collect the taxes and pay states. That & enforcement required a new large bureaucracy. It was goofy and died under its own weight and the prospect of a 30% sales tax.
Sadly fiscal goofiness this is not limited to Congress and a GOP desire to eliminate the IRS.
Riding the wave of Covid relief provided to states some decided to use surpluses as an argument for reducing income taxes; eliminated Covid benefits early and ‘banked’ the $.
The goal is to gradually eliminate income taxes. (40% of state revenue) Our Dem gov vetoed the first version. 2nd version with a veto proof legislature contained ‘guardrails’ to protect fiscal stability based on revenue & projected impact of a tax cut. In 2023 the Covid $$ was gone. Revenue did not meet the standards for a tax cut. 2024, a tax cut is now “#1 priority” of the GOP. While KY is projected to have a net revenue loss of 1.4% in the next fiscal year. The legislature intends to enact a 0.5% income tax reduction anyway.
I say this not because KY is so important, but because this approach to taxation & revenue has infused much of country. Despite the fact that Biden will leave office and hand over a strong national economy the GOP is working hard to crash it.
Each day we hear of another tearing apart of our beloved democracy.
Let’s not just agonize over the mess we’re in, let’s organize and do something that will kill two birds with one stone - keep democracy alive while bringing back real schools. Check out WhiteChalkCrime.com and listen to teacher whistleblowers who for years have been trying to do something about the corruption in our schools that’s been slowly dismantling democracy. They can teach you what needs to be done so that democracy regains its rightful place in our schools. Getting the public to distrust teachers was the ingenious act that stole our schools - democracy’s foundation - from us. Turning teacher’s unions into servants for those in power left teachers too fearful to report the truth in the same way most fold under Trump’s power. Trusting called to teach teachers is the only way to get our foundation back. Then run or help others run for school boards on a “save democracy” and “end school shootings” platform. You don’t need a child in the school to do so. We have corrupt schools because good, democracy loving people don’t run for school boards, plain and simple. And now these boards are the only thing we can seize and flood with democracy. So go for it - either run or help people run in blocks to control each board.
They are all anarchists. We must continually stand up against this.
https://albellenchia.substack.com/p/we-the-corporate?r=7wk5d