Trump’s next tax cut should make Americans owners



America may be entering a period of extraordinary economic opportunity. Artificial intelligence could drive a wave of investment, construction, productivity, and growth. The question is whether ordinary Americans will own enough of that growth to benefit from it.

That makes tax policy about more than rates and revenue. If Washington wants Americans to build wealth, it should make it easier to own appreciating assets — stocks, funds, homes, and businesses — and keep more of the gains they earn over time.

Building wealth requires more than rising wages. Americans need the ability to acquire assets, hold them, and benefit from compounding over decades.

President Donald Trump is reportedly looking for new policy wins ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, including capital gains reform. The White House and congressional allies are considering indexing capital gains for inflation and creating a new exemption for certain home sales, reportedly including homes worth $2 million or less.

Both ideas move in the right direction. They would let Americans keep more of the returns on investments they have held for years and reduce tax penalties that can discourage people from selling appreciated assets.

The usual objection is that capital gains reform is a giveaway to the rich. But IRS data cited by Americans for Tax Reform show that 74% of tax returns reporting capital gains come from households with incomes below $200,000. Millions of Americans own stocks through brokerage accounts, mutual funds, and retirement plans. The tax code should not treat long-term wealth building as something reserved for the affluent.

Inflation makes the problem worse. A taxpayer can owe capital gains tax even when part of the apparent gain simply reflects a dollar that has lost purchasing power. Indexing gains for inflation would make the tax apply more closely to real economic profit rather than paper gains created by rising prices.

Housing presents a second opportunity. Expanding or exempting capital gains treatment for certain home sales could encourage more owners to put appreciated properties on the market. Many older Americans remain in homes that no longer fit their needs, in part because selling can result in a sizable tax bill.

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Reducing that penalty could make downsizing more attractive and free larger homes for younger families. It wouldn’t solve the housing shortage — America still needs to build more homes — but it could help the existing housing stock move to people who need it.

The broader principle is more important than either proposal. Building wealth requires more than rising wages. Americans need the ability to acquire assets, hold them, and benefit from compounding over decades. Ownership is how economic growth becomes personal.

The White House should therefore think bigger than a handful of tax tweaks. The next phase of Trump’s economic agenda should aim to turn more Americans into owners.

A serious capital gains overhaul could encourage people to invest, save, start businesses, sell homes when it makes sense, and accumulate wealth over time. If the coming AI boom creates enormous new fortunes, ordinary Americans should have a better chance to own a piece of it — not merely watch Sam Altman get richer.

Jeff Bezos blames government policy — not billionaires — for America’s economic problems



In a recent interview, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pushed back against claims that taxing billionaires more would meaningfully improve life for working Americans, arguing that even dramatically increasing his tax burden would do little to solve inflation or lower costs for families.

“People sometimes say that, you know, I don’t pay taxes. That’s not true. I pay billions of dollars in taxes ... if people want me to pay more billions, then let’s have that debate, but don’t pretend that that’s going to solve the problem,” Bezos said.

“You could double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens. I promise you. You can’t connect those two things. Not logically,” he added.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray couldn’t agree with Bezos more, pointing out that he also “bleeds terribly” during tax season — but the government largely just wastes his money.


“And so, what happens is you could double that, or you could triple it, or you could quadruple it. It’s still going to the government, and they’re still wasting it on crap,” he adds.

But Bezos wasn’t done, taking on high rent costs as well.

“I recently saw somebody blame it on Airbnb. OK, Airbnb is not the cause of expensive rent ... it’s already been outlawed in New York City and rents are still very high. So we know Airbnb isn’t causing high rents,” he said.

“What’s really causing high rent is government intervention. We subsidize demand with things like tax policy, which is fine, but at the same time, we constrain supply. We constrain supply with things like zoning and permitting. Why does it take so long to get something permitted to build?” he continued.

“If you want rents to come down, econ 101, really simple,” he said, explaining that you can’t subsidize demand and constrain supply.

“If you do, prices are going to skyrocket. But this is not anybody’s fault other than government policy. And this is fixable. Again, this is a skills issue,” he added.

“We should put together an economic commission. Featuring Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, you probably want to avoid Bill Gates,” Gray comments.

“But you know, get these guys together who know how to be successful and understand economics and help us craft a makes-sense tax policy in this country where you’re not just pounding people who are successful,” he adds.

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House GOP insists on Senate cooperation as reconciliation talks resume: 'We must act'



House Republican leadership members are applying pressure on the Senate GOP to take up their reconciliation budget blueprint as negotiations resume on Capitol Hill.

While both the Senate and the House passed their respective budget resolutions, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) are set to meet Tuesday to discuss a path forward. House Republicans are set on advancing their "big, beautiful bill," which President Donald Trump has endorsed, and they're putting the Senate on notice.

'We encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington.'

"The House is determined to send the president one big, beautiful bill that secures our border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, grows our economy, restores American energy dominance, brings back peace through strength, and makes government more efficient and more accountable to the American people," the statement reads.

"We took the first step to accomplish that by passing a budget resolution weeks ago, and we look forward to the Senate joining us in this commitment to ensure we enact President Trump's full agenda as quickly as possible," the statement continued. "The American people gave us a mandate, and we must act on it."

Despite the public push for the House resolution, Republican leadership remains divided on the competing blueprints. While the GOP is still hammering out the fine print on issues like tax policy and budget cuts, House Republicans insist that their version will be the best option to implement Trump's agenda.

"We encourage our Senate colleagues to take up the House budget resolution when they return to Washington," the statement reads. "This is our opportunity to deliver what will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in the history of our nation. Working together, we will get it done."

Congress has about two weeks to make progress on reconciliation talks if Republicans want to pass a final budget by April 7, an ambitious goal set by Johnson. Although Congress typically operates at a glacial pace, negotiations are set to resume Tuesday.

Some Republicans, like Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, are less optimistic than the leadership.

“Probably what we are going to do is talk each other to death, stare at each other, and then eventually, you know, confuse the issue so much that it takes two months to unravel what we agree to,” Paul said.

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Biden voters tell CBS reporter they're ready to support Trump after he makes unique tax proposal: 'Would change their vote'



A CBS News reporter spoke to a group of swing-state Biden voters who may be persuaded to support Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

While speaking at a campaign rally in Nevada on Sunday, Trump promised supporters that one of the first things he will do if he wins re-election is eliminate the taxation of tips.

'That is enough to make them switch from voting Democrat to Republican if Donald Trump is promising something like that to them.'

"For those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy. Because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips," Trump said. "We're not going to do it, and we're going to do that right away, first thing in office because it's been a point of contention for years and years and years. And you do a great job of service, you take care of people, and I think it's going to be something that really is deserved."

The proposal is red meat in Nevada because "hospitality and leisure" workers comprise 23% of the state's workforce. Each of those roughly 361,000 people would greatly benefit if the Internal Revenue Service stopped collecting taxes on tips.

It turns out the policy would also benefit Trump.

On Monday, CBS News reporter Olivia Rinaldi said she talked to a group of service workers who confirmed they would change their vote to Trump because of his promise.

"I did talk with some hotel workers yesterday, some service workers here in Las Vegas about how that is playing with them," Rinaldi reported.

"And about six people told me that would change their vote," she revealed. "That is enough to make them switch from voting Democrat to Republican if Donald Trump is promising something like that to them."

CBS' @olivialarinaldi says 6 people in Nevada told her that President Trump's pledge to eliminate taxes on tips would change their vote from Democrat to Republican in November. pic.twitter.com/kzfpj00O0X
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 10, 2024

Ending the taxation of tips requires congressional authorization because the IRS currently views cash and non-cash tips as taxable income.

However, making the change is not out of the realm of possibility.

If Trump wins the White House and Republicans retake control of the Senate and retain control of the House, they could pass new tax reforms that include the elimination of tip taxation.

Considering that employers in most states are allowed to pay tipped employees a significantly lower wage than non-tipped employees, the policy would likely receive widespread support.

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Biden’s budget wages war on wealth



Like everything else emerging from this economically and morally bankrupt administration, Joe Biden’s campaign promises disguised as a budget are packed with lies and destruction. While presidential budgets typically don’t survive Congress, Biden’s $7.3 trillion spending proposal offers a glimpse into the tactics the Democrats will use to come after your wealth, and it should scare the heck out of you.

The White House says the budget is aimed in part at “lowering costs and giving families more breathing room,” which is weird and inconsiderate gaslighting of struggling middle- and working-class Americans. While the rate of increase in prices has come off its June 2022 peak of 9.1%, costs remain high, and families are still stressed.

Americans need to wake up or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.

Assuming Biden’s insane proposals did not undermine the economy and send interest rates skyrocketing, his budget would add trillions to the national debt, bringing it to $45.1 trillion in the next decade under the rosiest of scenarios.

Biden proposes the largest tax increase in history on the people who pay the lion’s share of federal taxes, all in the name of “fairness,” of course.

He also wants to hike the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, an effort that may sound appealing but would likely make America’s corporate landscape less competitive. And taxes are never paid by corporations themselves. Businesses pass the additional burden along to employees and consumers, who are suffering enough already.

These proposals, should they take hold, would not only have a material adverse effect on the economy but of course would be benchmarked for everyone so that government will be set up to steal more and more of your wealth to pay for its own power-grab.

Capital gains in the crosshairs

One of the most egregious proposed shifts is changing the capital gains rate to an ordinary income rate. Capital gains are what you pay on money you risk, which has already been taxed, should there be an increase. The proposal starts with people earning $1 million or more a year. Not only would that have a massive impact on capital allocation and liquidity, but once in place for higher-income earners, it could easily creep down to middle-class brackets. It’s happened before and could easily happen again.

Changing the capital gains tax rate could also impose a massive penalty on family businesses when they have a once-in-a-lifetime exit.

Biden also sows class division by conflating wealth and income. Another White House budget “fact sheet” repeats the lie that “billionaires make their money in ways that are often taxed at lower rates than ordinary wage income, or sometimes not taxed at all.” As a result, the administration claims, “many of these wealthy Americans are able pay an average income tax rate of just 8 percent on their full incomes — a lower rate than many firefighters or teachers.”

Now, if you are wondering how billionaires end up with an 8% income tax rate — because that sounds amazing — they do not. The claim originated with a White House “study” that purported to examine “income from unsold stock.” What on earth does that mean? Tax rates on qualified dividends are 0%, 15%, and 20%, depending on income. So what are they talking about?

Not surprisingly, it is unrealized stock appreciation at a given point in time. This is a made-up proxy for a wealth tax. This is not how income tax works, and it is a straight-up lie to say this is an actual income tax rate for billionaires and portray it as the average tax rate of the “wealthiest.”

Property rights in peril

But why expect any truth from this administration? Why expect any fiscal discipline? And why expect anything other than trying to grab more of our wealth to secure governmental power?

While many Americans may be inclined to support higher taxes on billionaires, don’t be fooled. It’s a trick to get you to surrender your property rights. The billionaires will find other loopholes. Middle- and working-class wealth will be vulnerable to government plunder. (To understand the threat in detail, read my recent book, “You Will Own Nothing.”)

The Biden administration is proposing trillions of dollars in government spending as a means of “helping the middle class.” You’ve seen what government help has done to your quality of life, and you can’t afford any more.

Speaking of affordability, the administration laughably claims its budget will make college more affordable through larger Pell Grants. More government spending doesn’t cut costs; it simply creates another mechanism for colleges to raise tuition, making college less affordable.

With the national debt projected to top $45.1 trillion, it’s clear that any promise to “cut the deficit” is more than a joke. It’s a recipe for financial ruin.

While presidential budgets are never realistic or final, it’s a good reminder that this administration only cares about preserving power and expanding government, rather than securing the American dream or restoring our financial foundation. Americans need to wake up, or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.

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