Point of View September 18, 2024 – Hour 1 : Tax Policies

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Hour 2 Welcome to Point of View, I'm Merrill Matthew sitting

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_00]: in for Kirby Anderson today and we have a great show for you.

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_00]: In our second hour we will start with Carlos Whitaker.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: He is the author of Best Selling Christian Author but he decided to put his cell phone

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_00]: aside all social media, went and lived two weeks in a monastery with monks, another

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: two weeks with the Amish and then three weeks at home without his cell phone once.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: What he learned from that, we will be talking about his new book Reconnected and after that

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_00]: we will be going to Dr. Al Maredith.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He was past pastor of Wedgewood Baptist Church on September 19, 1999 25 years ago when a

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: shooter came in, ended up killing several people in the church along with wounding

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_00]: several more.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_00]: What Pastor Al Maredith has learned from that and just some reflections on what's happened

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: on an issue that's become much more common these days.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But first we're going to go to Dan Pilla.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both are out there talking about new tax proposals they

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_00]: want to implement if they are elected present.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I know you have some questions about those, there is a bunch of tax changes they're

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: proposing and when we do that we always go to our tax expert extraordinaire Dan

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Pilla.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: He has been associated with Point of View for decades now.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_00]: He is one of the leading experts in the country about taxpayer rights, defense and

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: also IRS abuse prevention.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: He's the author of 14 books, dozens of research papers, hundreds of articles.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan was a consultant to the National Commission on restructuring the IRS.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: He is also a member of the editorial board of the Roadmap to Tax Reform and he's

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: executive director of the Tax Freedom Institute that's a national association of

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: tax professionals.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan thank you for joining us.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Well it's my pleasure Meryl thanks for having me.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Well we've had you on many times and we always have you on to sort of just provide

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: some clarity about what's going on.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes that's about the our upcoming tax obligations on April 15th but this

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: time we've got two presidential candidates who are proposing a number of tax reform

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_00]: proposals out there and I wanted to sort of get you to help walk us through some of

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: these.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll start with Harris, she says a couple things, you know she wants to increase

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_00]: some taxes.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_00]: She keeps trying to say well we're not going to impose new taxes on lower income

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: people or middle income people but she certainly has some tax increases and one

[00:03:01] [SPEAKER_00]: of them is the capital gains tax rate.

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: She wants to raise that to 28 percent she says.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah and that's a serious problem Meryl.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_01]: First of all this idea that none of her tax proposals are going to hit anybody

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: earning less than $400,000 a year that's just nonsense.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_01]: The Biden administration said that you know four years ago when they took

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: office three and a half years ago when they took office and they've been

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: telling people this over and over and over again and it's just simply not

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: true.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: When it comes to enforcement for example former IRS commissioner Charles

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Reddick made the comment that with respect to the $400,000 they were

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: not going to enforce collection against anybody making less than $400,000

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_01]: in excess of historical standards.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Alright so he put that qualifier in there, historical standards.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Well when you look at the historical standards of enforcement 60 percent

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: of all IRS enforcement audit and collection has been focused on small

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_01]: businesses and self-employed.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_01]: The people who by definition are making more less than $400,000 a year

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and there's no doubt in my mind that Harris would do the same thing.

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_01]: You know first of all the increasing the capital gains tax rate of 28%

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: can hit just about anybody Meryl, there's no question about that

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's a serious mistake in tax policy to increase capital gains rates.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_01]: If anything the capital gains rates should be cut considerably

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_01]: because what happens is when you have high capital gains rates

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_01]: then folks tend not to sell the assets.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So it creates a condition that economists refer to as lock in

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and what that means is people opt not to sell the asset in the hope

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: that down the road somewhere two years, four years, however long

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_01]: there may be a break in capital gains taxes

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and of course there generally is as you well know as politicians come

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: and go and ideas come and go these rates go up and down like yo-yo's

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_01]: as we all know.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So what happens is the government almost always ends up collecting

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: less revenue at higher rates than they do at the lower rates

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and so the idea that high tax rates collect more money

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: is just simply not true.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: You know a capital gains tax is where if I have an investment

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and I end up selling it and I've held it for a certain amount

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: of time I think it's a year now then I get a typically

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: get a lower rate than if I sell it very quickly

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and even though some people may think well that's really

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: just for high income people and awful lot of people have IRAs

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and other investments things an awful lot of people are involved

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: in the stock market that aren't necessarily high income people.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah exactly right and that you just hit the nail

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: right on the head over 50% of Americans have some kind

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_01]: of investment in the market whether it's through a 401k

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_01]: or an IRA I think the numbers about 56% of Americans have

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and a retirement account IRA or 401k and I would argue

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: that significantly more a greater number of folks have some kind

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: of market presence and those transactions

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01]: in the marketplace are subject to capital gains.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_01]: So if Congress raises the capital gains rate to 28%

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: every single one of your investment assets as the

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_01]: buying and selling occurs with these investment assets

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: are going to be subject to a higher tax.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: So the return on your investment is going

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: to be considerably lower and that directly impacts

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_01]: lower income people certainly income folks

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: or folks with income under $400,000 Merrill

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_01]: there's just no doubt about that.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_00]: You know another one of my concerns is that they want

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: to raise the corporate tax rate now for our listeners

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the corporate tax rate used income tax rate used

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: to be 35% that was lowered in the 2017 tax cuts

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: and jobs act I believe it was lower to 21% which put us

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: once you add state corporate income taxes on there

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_00]: it puts us a sort of in the middle there about where

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: other European countries are now she wants to raise

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that from 21% up to 28%.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah and that's a fundamental mistake.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The fact of the matter is Merrill

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_01]: that the tax rate on corporations should be zero

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: right it should be zero and I know a lot

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_01]: of people bluster when I say this

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_01]: but here's the reality corporations don't pay taxes anyway

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: people pay taxes when you impose a tax on a corporation

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_01]: which is a fictitious person or it's not a real person

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: it exists only by government edict and the various laws

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: under the various states that allow

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_01]: for these corporate organizations.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So the corporation itself does not pay tax

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: never does pay tax when we're looking at a corporation

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: that corporation is made up of people

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: that are broken down in three different areas.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: You got people that make up owners

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_01]: you got people that make up employees

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_01]: you got people that make up the customers right

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_01]: so when you impose a tax on a corporation

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_01]: then one of those three bodies of people

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and generally a combination of all three of them

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_01]: end up paying the tax the owners pay

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_01]: in the form of reduced profit

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_01]: the employees pay in the form of reduced employment

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_01]: benefits or wages or fewer employees

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and the customers pay in the form of higher prices.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_01]: So under no circumstances does the corporation

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: pay the tax and the fact that the corporation

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: tax rate was dropped to 21% with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: it spurred massive amounts of investment

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and hiring Merrill during 2018, 2019 into 2020

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: before we got clobbered with COVID

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_01]: there was massive amounts of investment hiring

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: that's the benefit of lowering corporate tax rates.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Hold that thought we'll come back

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: and talk about the tax break

[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_00]: for starting a new business when we come back.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_04]: This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Peter St. Ange asks, how did American voters get so dumb?

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_03]: If you've ever watched the answers given by people on the street

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_03]: to historical or political questions

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_03]: you know that many voters are not well educated

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_03]: about our history or form of government.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Jay Leno's Jay Walking and Jesse Waters' Waters World

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_03]: provide many laughs but also cause us to shake our heads.

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_03]: When he was a professor Peter St. Ange ran

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_03]: an inaugural address through a flesh-kincade text analysis

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_03]: to measure the grade level.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Most of the inaugural addresses during the 20th century

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_03]: were written at the 13th to 14th grade level.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Barack Obama's inaugural was at the 8th grade level

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Donald Trump's inaugural was 9th grade level

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Joe Biden's inaugural was the 7th grade level.

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_03]: George Washington's inaugural began with

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_03]: among the vicissitudes incident to life.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Andrew Jackson's inaugural began with

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_03]: undertaking the arduous duties that I've been appointed.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Joe Biden's inaugural began with

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_03]: this is America's day.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Back to the original question, how do we get so dumb?

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_03]: His answer the public schools.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_03]: He reminds us that the modern government school

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_03]: came from the 1800s Prussia

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_03]: that suffered from worker riots and present revolts.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_03]: The goal was indoctrination not education.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Parents and taxpayers have a right to ask

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_03]: what are we teaching in these schools?

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Graduates who we see interviewed on the street corner

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_03]: don't seem to have a clue about this nation's history

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_03]: or about the structure of government.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Many of them could not pass the citizenship test

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_03]: we give to people who come here from other countries

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_03]: in desire to become U.S. citizens.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Unfortunately they will vote in November

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_03]: even though they don't even know enough

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_03]: to make an informed vote.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm Kirby Anderson and that's my point of view.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Free booklet on a biblical view of Patriot Preachers

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_04]: go to viewpoints.info slash patriot preachers

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_04]: viewpoints.info slash patriot preachers

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_04]: You're listening to Point of View

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_04]: your listener supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And I guess for this hour is the tax expert

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and appointed views long time expert

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and go-to person in all things taxes, Dan Pilla.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And Dan you are an expert on small business taxes

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00]: you've published a book on that we've highlighted it here

[00:11:18] [SPEAKER_00]: in the past.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And now Kamala Harris comes up and says

[00:11:21] [SPEAKER_00]: she wants a new small business tax break

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_00]: of up to $50,000.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Now that sounds like it would be beneficial.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: What do you think about that?

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Well yeah you're right Marilla

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_01]: it does sound like it would be beneficial

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and frankly it's not a bad idea

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: but I would say it's not new alright.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: We already have in the law

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_01]: a deduction available to any business smaller

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_01]: otherwise for start-up costs

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_01]: that a business incurs.

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Now normally Marilla you cannot

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_01]: as a business you cannot deduct

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_01]: the cost of expenses

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_01]: unless you're actually in business

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_01]: in other words you've turned the light switch on

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and now you're open for business

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and now the expenses incurred

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_01]: become deductible.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Well not the

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_01]: problem is that we have

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: a start-up cost right?

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_01]: We have ramp up expenses

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that individuals incur to start their business

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_01]: because those expenses are incurred

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_01]: before the actual light switch turns on.

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Those expenses are limited right now

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_01]: to $5,000 they're called

[00:12:20] [SPEAKER_01]: start-up expenses right?

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Expenses incurred before you're actually

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: in the business operating open for business

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: so that's the line in the sand

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that the law creates.

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So now what she would do is she would increase

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: that to $50,000

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_01]: but under her plan

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_01]: it would be consistent with the current rule

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and that is it has to be amortized over time

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_01]: right? You can't just write off

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: the whole thing in one year

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: it's generally spread out over a number of years

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and so that would be

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: the nuance to her plan here.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Now as I said

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_01]: the $50,000 is not a bad idea

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think that's

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_01]: fundamentally crazy

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: which is a departure from her thinking by the way

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_01]: because the majority of her tax ideas here

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: just about all of her tax ideas

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: really run afoul

[00:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: of common sense and sound economics.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Well speaking of crazy ideas

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_00]: the next thing on the list created $25,000

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_00]: tax credit for first time

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_00]: home buyers. $25,000

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_00]: for first time home buyers

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_00]: that's a lot of money

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and what you'd expect on something like that

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_00]: is it would dramatically increase demand

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_00]: when we already have a shortage

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: apparently. Well

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: there's two problems Marilyn

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and you just identified one of them

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: the second problem is that's just simply

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_01]: going to add

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: $25,000 to the cost of every home

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_01]: for sale out there

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_01]: at least

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_01]: to these first time buyers there's no doubt about

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_01]: there's just no doubt about that

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_01]: there's just no question about that

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and then I look at that and I say

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_01]: what is the constitutional authority

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: for the federal government to essentially give a gift

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_01]: of 25 grand

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: to first time home buyers

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: you might recall during the

[00:14:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Biden administration there was a first time home buyer credit

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: as well not Biden

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: the Obama

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_01]: administration there was a first time home buyer

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_01]: credit as well I think that was $7,500

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and that spurred a lot of home

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_01]: purchases no doubt but it had

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_01]: upward pressure a lot of

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_01]: upward pressure on the price of the home so it

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: is not going to do anything

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_01]: to alleviate the housing crisis

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and this is the irony of this proposal

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_01]: as Harris claims

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that this is specifically designed

[00:14:30] [SPEAKER_01]: to alleviate the housing crisis

[00:14:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and get low income people in homes well

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_01]: all it's going to do is increase prices

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_01]: for homes by 25 grand

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and as you said

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: increase sales pressure which

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_01]: is already going to put

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_01]: which itself

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_01]: will create upward pressure on home prices

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_00]: you know in the economics of this

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_00]: is if I'm going to

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_00]: go to the hardware store

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and I've got a credit there

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_00]: of $10, $15

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and I see the price of something

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I think well this is higher than I had to pay

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_00]: at Walmart or something but

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I've got this $10 or $15 credit

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I am willing to spend more

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_00]: because I'm being insulated from the price

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_00]: of it and that puts that

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_00]: upward pressure on there and is allowing

[00:15:14] [SPEAKER_00]: allowing people who are sellers

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_00]: to charge more.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah no question about it

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: it's an inflationary factor

[00:15:22] [SPEAKER_01]: where you're increasing purchasing power

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_01]: but you're not increasing

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_01]: the goods and services that

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that purchasing power is chasing

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and so that drives prices up

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Well let's talk about the one that

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_00]: both candidates seem to endorse

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_00]: at least on the Republican side

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_00]: JD Vance has endorsed it

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: increasing the tax credit

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: now we did that during the pandemic

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: that tax credit that child tax

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_00]: credit scale back I think we increased

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_00]: it to $3,000 it scaled

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_00]: back to what I think $2,000 something like

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: that but she wants to increase it

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: to $3,000 I believe for most

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_00]: for all families but

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_00]: $6,000 for new parents

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah that's exactly right

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and what we're talking about here

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Merrill is

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01]: a refundable credit alright

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_01]: so in other words a refundable

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_01]: credit occurs

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_01]: what happens is that when

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: your tax liability drops

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: to zero

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and you don't owe the government any money

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_01]: they actually end up giving

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_01]: you money back through the

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_01]: refundable credit mechanism and the

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: earned income tax credit is the best example

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_01]: of that earned income tax credits often

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_01]: bring

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_01]: an individual's tax liability down below zero

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and so they end up getting a refund

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_01]: from the government of cash

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_01]: it's not really a refund

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_01]: it's a welfare payment

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: that's what it is alright

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_01]: they get this additional payment from the government

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_01]: over and above

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: what they ever paid in in the first place

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_01]: so they're getting more money back than they ever paid

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_01]: in this is a welfare program

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_01]: administered by the internal

[00:16:56] [SPEAKER_01]: revenue service these refundable credits are responsible

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_01]: for billions

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and billions of dollars in government

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_01]: revenue every year and

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_01]: the problem with these things Merrill

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_01]: apart from the economics

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_01]: of the government giving away free money

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_01]: the problem is that

[00:17:12] [SPEAKER_01]: the internal revenue service gets more

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and more and more burdens

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_01]: put on their plate for

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: administering these programs

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_01]: that have nothing to do with the core

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_01]: function of the IRS

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_01]: their responsibility is to process

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: tax returns and collect revenue for the government

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_01]: their responsibility is

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_01]: not to administer welfare programs

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_01]: but they're doing that

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: the Affordable Care Act is administered by the IRS

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_01]: the Earned Income Tax Credits administered by the IRS

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_01]: they have

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_01]: the

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_01]: of course the PPP loans were administered by the IRS as well

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_01]: so on

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and on with these programs

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and it's just it is stretching the IRS

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_01]: thin so we

[00:17:50] [SPEAKER_01]: went through this great debate here in the last couple years

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_01]: about

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_01]: whether the IRS needs this massive additional funding

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: and these

[00:17:58] [SPEAKER_01]: tens of thousands of new agents and you and I talked about that in the past

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: the fact of the matter

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_01]: is if the IRS was

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_01]: left

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: to do what it's supposed

[00:18:08] [SPEAKER_01]: to do we wouldn't need

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_01]: this massive agency doing all these functions

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: well you know you mentioned

[00:18:15] [SPEAKER_00]: the if somebody

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_00]: if you don't have a tax obligation

[00:18:18] [SPEAKER_00]: we're talking about income tax not payroll tax

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: but

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: listeners may be thinking well who doesn't

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_00]: who doesn't owe income tax

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_00]: well it turns out the tax foundation

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: has been tracking this for years

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and the latest report from the tax foundation

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_00]: if I remember correctly

[00:18:34] [SPEAKER_00]: of the bottom half

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_00]: of the income tax payers

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_00]: bottom 50%

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_00]: pay only 2.7%

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_00]: of all federal income taxes

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_00]: the top half of

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the tax payers

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_00]: paid 97.2%

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_00]: of all income taxes so

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_00]: an awful lot of people have very little or almost no

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER_00]: income tax obligation

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah that's exactly

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_01]: correct and those numbers

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_01]: resonate with what I recall as well

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_01]: from the tax foundation

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: the top 1% of income earners

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_01]: are paying

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_01]: they pay about 22% of all the

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_01]: taxes paid so this idea that rich people

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_01]: pay no taxes is nonsense

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_01]: it's demonstrably false the fact

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_01]: that the matter is high income people

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: are paying all the taxes Merrill they're paying all

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_01]: of the taxes and the problem

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_01]: is that we have got a

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_01]: growing

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_01]: federal

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: budget right they're spending more and more money

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: every year and the federal government

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: is asking fewer and fewer

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: people to pay

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: for that growing budget so we got

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_01]: more and more people that are being taken off

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_01]: the tax rolls entirely so that means

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_01]: we got more and more people out there

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: that have no interest at all

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_01]: in keeping the cost of government down

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_01]: right and these people vote they vote for

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_01]: benefits that they never have to pay for

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and when you have a growing share of

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_01]: the population that is voting

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_01]: for benefits that they never have to pay for

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_01]: there is no economic model

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Merrill that can support

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_01]: that kind of imbalance it just it will collapse

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_01]: at some point and you know one

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: of the points on that somebody pointed this out

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_00]: to me some years ago is if you wanted

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: to have a broad based

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_00]: low flat tax where everybody paid

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_00]: a certain amount above a certain high

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_00]: threshold or

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_00]: it you wouldn't you would

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_00]: in essence be increasing the taxes

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_00]: on an awful lot of people because so many

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: don't pay income taxes

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_01]: well that's true but now having said

[00:20:28] [SPEAKER_01]: that we still have

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_01]: a substantial

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_01]: amount of these lower income

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_01]: people that are paying

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_01]: so security taxes right

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01]: so when you're a wage

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_01]: earner you've got

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_01]: 7.5% it's actually 7.65%

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_01]: of your wages coming out

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_01]: to pay for so security

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and Medicare benefits right and that's even

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_01]: if you don't have any income

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_01]: tax liability now the income

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_01]: tax credit is specifically designed

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_01]: to mitigate some of that

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER_01]: but the fact

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_01]: of the matter is Merrill that

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_01]: you're exactly right if you

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_01]: if you impose a

[00:21:05] [SPEAKER_01]: flat income tax

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_01]: across the board at some

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_01]: x% whatever that number

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_01]: may be even taking into consideration

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_01]: a substantial standard deduction

[00:21:16] [SPEAKER_01]: for example more and more people are going to be on the tax rolls

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and I don't think that's a bad thing

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I think what that does is put

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_01]: pressure on government to keep the cost down

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Hold it there Dan we'll be back after the break

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_04]: at point of view

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_04]: we believe there is power

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_04]: in prayer and that is why

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_04]: we have relaunched our

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Pray for America campaign

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_04]: a series of weekly emails

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_04]: to unite Americans

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_04]: in prayer for our nation

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_04]: imagine if hundreds

[00:21:48] [SPEAKER_04]: of thousands of Americans

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_04]: started praying intentionally

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_04]: together on a weekly basis

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_04]: you can help make

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_04]: that a reality by

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_04]: subscribing to our Pray for America

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_04]: emails just go to

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_04]: pointofview.net

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_04]: and click on the Pray for America banner

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_04]: that's right there on the homepage

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_04]: each week you'll receive

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_04]: a brief news update

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_04]: a specific prayer guide

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_04]: and a free resource to equip

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[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_04]: not only pray with us

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_04]: each week but to share these

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_04]: prayers and the resources with others

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_04]: in your life

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_04]: join the movement today

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_04]: visit pointofview.net

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_04]: and click on the banner

[00:22:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Pray for America

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_04]: right there at the top

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_04]: that's pointofview.net

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_04]: let's pray together

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_04]: for God to make a difference

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_04]: in our land

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Point of View

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_04]: will continue after this

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_04]: you are listening to

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Point of View

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_04]: the opinions expressed on Point of View

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_04]: do not necessarily reflect the views

[00:23:07] [SPEAKER_04]: of the management or staff

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_04]: of this station

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_04]: and now here again

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_04]: Dr. Merrill Matthews

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and we're back with our tax expert

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan Pilla talking about Trump

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: and Harris tax proposals

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_00]: that they would do if elected president

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and we have information to find out

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_00]: so you can reach out to Dan

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_00]: if you want to he's an expert

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER_00]: on small businesses and all things tax

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_00]: especially if you're having trouble with the IRS

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_00]: if you've got challenges there

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd encourage you to go to the Point of View website

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_00]: pointofview.net and you'll have contact information

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_00]: for Dan there

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan as we transition from

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_00]: the Harris proposals to the Trump proposals

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_00]: another one they are both discussing

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Trump apparently came up with this

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_00]: after he heard something

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_00]: from a waitress

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00]: and then Kamala Harris followed

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_00]: on suit with that is to

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_00]: not tax tip

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_00]: to remove the tax obligation

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_00]: for tips earned what do you think about that

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_01]: well I think it's going to be very difficult

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: to enforce but I'll tell you this

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Merrill I find

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_01]: it hysterical how the

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_01]: legacy media has handled that issue

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_01]: you know Trump came out with that idea last

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_01]: what Mayor June or so

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_01]: approximately and then all the

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_01]: talking heads on the left

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_01]: side of the aisle were

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_01]: pontificating about how this

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_01]: was nothing more than a back

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_01]: door tax increase for the rich

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and that it was a scam

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and it was just designed to mislead voters

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and no way that this was going

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_01]: to ever going to work and it was nonsense

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and on and on and on right

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and then Harris comes along

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and she jumps on precisely

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_01]: the same idea

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and now exactly the

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: not exactly the same pundits

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_01]: that were criticizing it you know

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_01]: three weeks previous are talking about

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_01]: what a great idea this is and how she

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_01]: is so original in her thinking

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and how this is going to make such a great

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_01]: change for you know low income

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_01]: workers because their service oriented workers

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_01]: primarily and you know on and on

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and on with the with

[00:25:05] [SPEAKER_01]: with now all the positive attributes

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: of the point the fact of the matter is

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that the fact of the matter is well what

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_01]: we need to do is recognize

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_01]: that our tax system is fundamentally

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_01]: broke all right we need to bulldoze

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_01]: this thing and start over again I

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: don't believe we should tax tax tips

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_01]: but I don't believe we should tax

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: income at all right I think

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: that the tax base has got to be

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: consumption based not income

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_01]: based you cannot

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_01]: look at you buddy you know this

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_01]: as well as anybody and that is

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_01]: this what you tax you get less

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_01]: of what you subsidize you get more

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_01]: of all right we have a

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_01]: primarily a free market

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_01]: economy of course there's arguments

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_01]: to be made aware where governments interfering

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and then we don't have a pure free

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_01]: market anymore and that's certainly true

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_01]: but the fact of the matter

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_01]: is in a situation

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_01]: where people buy and sell

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_01]: on a voluntary basis

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_01]: you need an

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_01]: income you need a tax system

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_01]: that is not going to

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_01]: punish production

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_01]: and income and creativity

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_01]: and that's what an income tax system

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: does all right what you tax

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_01]: you get less of well we tax income

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_01]: we tax productivity we tax

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_01]: creativity all right that is

[00:26:18] [SPEAKER_01]: the wrong model right we need

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_01]: to raise revenue based on

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_01]: consumption not based on income

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_01]: so I think I think at its core

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_01]: this is a good idea but it is

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_01]: way way way too little in terms

[00:26:30] [SPEAKER_01]: of a fundamental reform of the system

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_00]: okay speaking of taxing

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_00]: consumption the country initially

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_00]: and in our early days the

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_00]: primary tax was a tariff on

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_00]: imports because we didn't have

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_00]: an income tax at that time

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and Donald Trump has become

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_00]: a big fan of tariffs

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: and he

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_00]: initially proposed a 10% tariff

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_00]: on all imports he's now

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_00]: saying may raise it up to a

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_00]: 20% tariff on all imports

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and looking at a 60%

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_00]: tariff on China

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_00]: what do you think about the tariff

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_00]: and a tariff is a tax what do you think about the tariff proposal

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: well well

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_01]: first of all historically you're exactly right

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_01]: there were two primary means of raising

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_01]: revenue for the federal government

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_01]: you know back in the

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_01]: in the

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_01]: initial stages of our

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_01]: nation right up really up until

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_01]: the turn of the 20th century

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_01]: our nation was primarily funded

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_01]: by two taxes

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_01]: import duties is one of them

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_01]: tariffs and the other one was

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_01]: manufacturers excise taxes on such things as sugar

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and alcohol and so on

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_01]: so those two

[00:27:37] [SPEAKER_01]: revenue sources

[00:27:39] [SPEAKER_01]: represented all the revenue

[00:27:40] [SPEAKER_01]: collected by the federal government

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_01]: really up until

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_01]: World War II when the income tax really took hold

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and it was all downhill from there

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and so

[00:27:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I am not fundamentally

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_01]: opposed to tariffs I know there's a lot of

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_01]: free market economists out there that

[00:27:56] [SPEAKER_01]: do oppose tariffs because

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_01]: tariffs have a tendency to raise prices

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_01]: for consumers and to

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_01]: reduce

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_01]: options, reduce choices for consumers

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_01]: which is generally not a good idea

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_01]: the problem is we're dealing with countries out there

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_01]: China in particular that

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_01]: just simply don't play fair

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_01]: on the international trade

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_01]: playing field and so

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's foolish

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and short-sighted for America to take a position

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_01]: that we're not going to have tariffs

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_01]: because it raises prices

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_01]: for consumers well hopefully what it does

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_01]: is it drives

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_01]: domestic production

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_01]: we certainly want to drive domestic

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_01]: production no doubt about that

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_01]: but in order for that

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_01]: to work Meryl there's got to be

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: tax reduction

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_01]: across the board for businesses

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and there's got to be regulation

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_01]: reduction across the board

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER_01]: for businesses you can't just impose

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_01]: a 60% share if on Japan

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and then tax the snot

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_01]: out of American producers

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and regulate the snot out of American

[00:28:58] [SPEAKER_01]: producers because you're going to end up with

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_01]: the worst of both worlds

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: for American consumers if you do that

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_00]: my own sense was that

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_00]: the tax cuts and jobs act of

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_00]: 2017 which lowered the corporate

[00:29:10] [SPEAKER_00]: income tax rate from 35

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to 21% and now

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Donald Trump is looking at

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_00]: lowering it to even 15%

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_00]: my own sense is that

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_00]: 2017 legislation

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_00]: was one of the primary drivers

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: to sort of get companies

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_00]: reshoring manufacturing here

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: because you've so dramatically lowered

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the corporate income tax rate here

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_00]: and I would think if you lowered it to

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_00]: 15% you'd see even more of that

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_01]: oh yeah I couldn't agree more

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_01]: you're 100% right about

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_01]: your phrase reshoring

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_01]: production here in the United States

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_01]: it did two things it reshored production

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_01]: no question about that and it also

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_01]: was responsible for

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_01]: repatriating trillions

[00:29:52] [SPEAKER_01]: of dollars in corporate revenue

[00:29:54] [SPEAKER_01]: that was held offshore

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_01]: because they didn't want to pay the American

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: tax at 35%

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_01]: so my challenge to you

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Merrill is if 15%

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_01]: is a better idea than 21%

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_01]: why wouldn't 10% be a better

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_01]: idea than 15% and

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_01]: as long as we're going down that road why not 0%

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_00]: well an awful lot of people

[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_00]: have suggested that

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's gonna be hard to get through congress

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_01]: but it'll be a tough sell

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_00]: if we get to 15%

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I think we'd be making steps in the right direction

[00:30:24] [SPEAKER_00]: okay the next thing

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_00]: that really got my attention is when Donald Trump

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_00]: came out and said he wanted to eliminate taxes

[00:30:30] [SPEAKER_00]: on social security benefits

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_00]: for those of our listeners

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_00]: who aren't on social security and aren't aware about this

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_00]: social security is a tax

[00:30:38] [SPEAKER_00]: the government takes money out

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_00]: payroll tax from your employer

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and from you and when it gives you that

[00:30:44] [SPEAKER_00]: money back when you retire

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_00]: it was paid as a tax

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_00]: but then they kind of tax it if you make some income

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: so they're taxing a tax they were giving back

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_00]: to you

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah that's exactly right social security

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_01]: proceeds are subject

[00:30:57] [SPEAKER_01]: to double taxation no doubt about that

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_01]: when your income is above certain

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_01]: threshold amounts and the amounts aren't that high

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_01]: you know I don't have the charts in front of me

[00:31:05] [SPEAKER_01]: but it's roughly $40,000

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER_01]: a year if you're making income

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_01]: from another source

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_01]: in excess of that threshold

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_01]: your social security income becomes

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_01]: taxable and it's fundamentally

[00:31:17] [SPEAKER_01]: immoral

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_01]: because as you point out

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_01]: they took the money from people's checks

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_01]: to begin with

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_01]: people never got a deduction

[00:31:26] [SPEAKER_01]: for the social security taxes they paid in

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_01]: you don't get a tax deduction for that

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_01]: so the tax that you pay

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_01]: is based on

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_01]: the gross wage income

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_01]: or self employment income that you earn

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_01]: then it gets paid in

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and now when you start taking it back

[00:31:42] [SPEAKER_01]: it can be taxed again

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_01]: up to 85% of your social security proceeds

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_01]: can be taxed

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_01]: it's not an 85% tax rate

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_01]: it's 85% of the proceeds

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_01]: are subject to tax

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and you can thank Bill Clinton for that

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_01]: because in the 1990s

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_01]: in his first term

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_01]: that's one of the things that he did

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_01]: to quote unquote balance the budget

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_01]: was to raise taxes

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_01]: on social security proceeds

[00:32:08] [SPEAKER_00]: just a repair when you

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_00]: said income coming into seniors

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: that's not working

[00:32:15] [SPEAKER_00]: it's working income

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_00]: but it's also if you're getting a pension

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_00]: or if you're just taking an IRA

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_00]: now and I'm cashing out my IRAs

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and put it in that becomes

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_00]: income that makes you

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_00]: susceptible to the social security tax

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_01]: yeah that's exactly right

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and Pete here's what

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_01]: the fundamental disconnect is

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_01]: in people's minds

[00:32:35] [SPEAKER_01]: all their working life they pay

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_01]: into social security

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_01]: most people not all of us

[00:32:41] [SPEAKER_01]: but a lot of people think

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_01]: that they're making contributions to some sort of retirement plan

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_01]: that's administered on their behalf

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_01]: by the federal government and that is simply not true

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_01]: you alluded to it

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_01]: in your remarks just a minute ago

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_01]: the social security tax is a tax

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_01]: it's a second income

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_01]: tax on your wage

[00:33:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and self employment income

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_01]: it's a flat income

[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_01]: tax is what it is really

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_01]: on your wage and

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_01]: self employment income it's not

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_01]: a retirement plan contribution

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_01]: you don't have a bank account

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_01]: in Washington DC with your name on it

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_01]: if that were

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_01]: in fact the case then it might not be

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_01]: so bad but

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: at the same time you don't get a

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_01]: deduction for the quote unquote

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_01]: contributions which is really

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_01]: a nonsense word they use

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_01]: they're not contributions at all they're confiscations

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_01]: right but you don't get a deduction

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_01]: for that on the front end so it is in the purest sense

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_01]: double taxation

[00:33:38] [SPEAKER_00]: when we come back we'll ask the question about

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_00]: taxing overtime pay

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_04]: stay with us to point of view

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and we're back on our

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_00]: final segment with tax expert

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Dan Pilla and Dan I have to say

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_00]: that when politicians start throwing out

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_00]: all kinds of

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_00]: tax reform proposals but they're not

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_00]: sort of fundamentally

[00:34:14] [SPEAKER_00]: focusing on the real structure

[00:34:16] [SPEAKER_00]: they're just tossing out ideas

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_00]: it begins to sound a little desperate

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_00]: to me even if it's a good idea

[00:34:22] [SPEAKER_00]: and Trump has come out with this idea of

[00:34:24] [SPEAKER_00]: ending taxes on

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_00]: overtime pay which strikes me is that

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_00]: you know

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_00]: for employers that may make it a little more

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_00]: difficult but is ending taxes

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_00]: on overtime pay a good idea

[00:34:36] [SPEAKER_01]: well you know as I said a minute ago

[00:34:38] [SPEAKER_01]: ending taxes on anything is a good idea

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_01]: reducing taxes everywhere

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_01]: is a good idea but the problem with this

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_01]: is I tend to agree with you that this is

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_01]: just kind of throwing out

[00:34:48] [SPEAKER_01]: sparkly shiny

[00:34:49] [SPEAKER_01]: objects for people to

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_01]: latch onto as

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_01]: as some sort of a

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_01]: some sort of a panacea

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_01]: you know I don't think this really

[00:34:59] [SPEAKER_01]: fixes all that much and plus the fact

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_01]: that I think we have

[00:35:03] [SPEAKER_01]: we will have an

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_01]: administration problem with this

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_01]: how are you going to first of all they got to define

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_01]: what constitutes overtime and now

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_01]: what are they going to say

[00:35:12] [SPEAKER_01]: are we going to have congress come

[00:35:14] [SPEAKER_01]: along with a statute that says

[00:35:16] [SPEAKER_01]: alright a 20 hour work week is considered

[00:35:19] [SPEAKER_01]: is anything over 20 hours

[00:35:21] [SPEAKER_01]: is considered overtime well they're

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_01]: sure as heck not going to do that

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_01]: they're going to do the opposite they're going to come out and say ok yeah

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_01]: overtime is not sub-attacks

[00:35:29] [SPEAKER_01]: but now we're going to

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_01]: a 65 hour work week

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01]: that's considered the standard

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_01]: work week now are they going to say

[00:35:37] [SPEAKER_01]: that so that they basically

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_01]: eliminate what might be considered

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_01]: overtime of course the unions would never go along with that

[00:35:43] [SPEAKER_01]: but that

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_01]: illustrates the kind of problems we would have

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_01]: in administering

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_01]: that sort of system so now you'd have to have

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_01]: a completely new

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_01]: reporting regime that's set up

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_01]: on forms W2 these are

[00:35:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the forms that are sent by employers

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_01]: to the government that reports to the IRS

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_01]: what the wages

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_01]: were paid and what

[00:36:05] [SPEAKER_01]: the tax deductions were

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_01]: and you know the payments for Social Security

[00:36:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that form would have to be redesigned

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_01]: to split between

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_01]: regular wage income

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and overtime pay

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_01]: and so we'd have all kinds

[00:36:20] [SPEAKER_01]: of different computer programming

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_01]: requirements on the part of the IRS

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_01]: same with the tip thing right

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_01]: it's exactly the same problem we'd have with the tips

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_01]: where now

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_01]: service workers would be hired by employers

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and say we're not going to pay you a dime

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_01]: in wages but we're going to put a great big sign up

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_01]: in the hallway that says

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_01]: our workers work for tips only please be generous

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_01]: well ok that's

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_01]: fine I'm sure the American people will be generous

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_01]: but how do you administer

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER_01]: that see that's the problem

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and this gets me back to my

[00:36:49] [SPEAKER_01]: fundamental premise here about

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_01]: the income tax laws we've been tinkering

[00:36:53] [SPEAKER_01]: around the edges

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_01]: for 30 years with our tax system

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_01]: right in 2021

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_01]: the internal revenue code

[00:37:01] [SPEAKER_01]: consisted of about 1.3

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_01]: or 4 million words

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_01]: which is plenty enough

[00:37:07] [SPEAKER_01]: that's too many words to begin with

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_01]: but by

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_01]: 2022

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_01]: our tax code is now

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_01]: over 4 million words in length

[00:37:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and it was changed more than 6,000

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_01]: times

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_01]: in this century alone since 2021

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_01]: roughly 6,000 changes

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_01]: to the internal revenue code

[00:37:25] [SPEAKER_01]: and they just keep stirring the pot

[00:37:27] [SPEAKER_01]: every single year that comes along

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_01]: and certainly in a presidential election year

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_01]: they stir the pot and they come out

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_01]: with all these plans and all these ideas

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_01]: to the point where nobody

[00:37:38] [SPEAKER_01]: can figure out what the requirements are

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: into the tax code and this

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_01]: has just got to stop

[00:37:43] [SPEAKER_01]: we've got to stop doing this

[00:37:46] [SPEAKER_01]: we've got to bulldoze the tax system

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_01]: and start over again

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_00]: you alluded to something which is

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_00]: the fact that there are

[00:37:53] [SPEAKER_00]: economic incentives that are involved in this

[00:37:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and I think politicians oftentimes don't

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_00]: look at what economic incentives

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_00]: they're creating are setting

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_00]: aside when they do something so

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_00]: if you're going to say

[00:38:06] [SPEAKER_00]: tips will be tax free

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_00]: you sort of create an economic incentive

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_00]: for me to try to make sure that more

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_00]: of my income comes in tips

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_00]: rather than wages because

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER_00]: part of it's tax free

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_00]: if my overtime is

[00:38:20] [SPEAKER_00]: tax free then I have

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_00]: an economic incentive to consider more things

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_00]: over time there's problems with

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_00]: that but more time over time because

[00:38:27] [SPEAKER_00]: it becomes tax free

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_01]: well and you just put your finger on the difference

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_01]: between a good economist and a bad one

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_01]: alright bad economists only

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_01]: look at the immediate

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER_01]: results of their policy

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_01]: right the first level results

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_01]: of their policy we create a welfare program

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and that welfare program is going to benefit

[00:38:46] [SPEAKER_01]: these people that qualify right that's the first

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_01]: level benefit that's always a quote unquote

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_01]: good thing right but

[00:38:51] [SPEAKER_01]: the good economist always

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_01]: looks at the second question

[00:38:55] [SPEAKER_01]: the second question being

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_01]: what are the unintended consequences

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_01]: of this policy

[00:39:01] [SPEAKER_01]: alright we've got the first level benefits

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_01]: but what about the second level

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_01]: detriments the people that have to

[00:39:07] [SPEAKER_01]: pay for these social programs

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that have to

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_01]: support these social programs and all

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_01]: the money that's sucked out of the economy

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_01]: that would otherwise create jobs

[00:39:17] [SPEAKER_01]: and investment and productivity

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_01]: all of that money is sucked out of the economy

[00:39:21] [SPEAKER_01]: is laundered right the money

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_01]: is laundered through some kind of

[00:39:26] [SPEAKER_01]: government agency or another

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and then paid back

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_01]: in a fraction to the

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER_01]: quote you know so-called beneficiaries of the program

[00:39:34] [SPEAKER_01]: the good economist looks

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_01]: at these unattended consequences

[00:39:37] [SPEAKER_01]: the bad economists never do

[00:39:39] [SPEAKER_00]: hmm we're coming up

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_00]: on next year we've got

[00:39:43] [SPEAKER_00]: a number of the tax breaks from

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the tax cuts and jobs acts go

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_00]: away and at the end of 2025

[00:39:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I believe it is so we're going to have a tax

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_00]: debate over this next year

[00:39:53] [SPEAKER_00]: what are your thoughts and what do you think should happen there

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_01]: well just for clarity

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Merrill all of them go away

[00:39:59] [SPEAKER_01]: every single one of the provisions

[00:40:01] [SPEAKER_01]: of the tax cuts and jobs excuse me

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_01]: the tax cuts and jobs act go away

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_01]: effective

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_01]: December 31st at midnight

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_01]: right so January 1st

[00:40:11] [SPEAKER_01]: 2025 if something

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_01]: isn't done in the next

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER_01]: what is it well nothing's going to be done

[00:40:17] [SPEAKER_01]: this year anymore now so if something's

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_01]: not done in 2025 those

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_01]: tax cuts go away

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_01]: they go away right so

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_01]: um so

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_01]: you know what's

[00:40:28] [SPEAKER_01]: going to happen it depends on who's

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER_01]: elected office you know

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Kamala Harris has made it perfectly

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_01]: clear when she was a senator

[00:40:36] [SPEAKER_01]: that she was opposed

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_01]: to the tax cuts and jobs act

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_01]: from front to back

[00:40:41] [SPEAKER_01]: she voted against it as a

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_01]: democrat senator as every single one

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_01]: of the democrat senators in the united states congress

[00:40:48] [SPEAKER_01]: did at the time

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_01]: every single one of them

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_00]: yep not one

[00:40:53] [SPEAKER_01]: right so she vowed from day one

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_01]: to repeal that

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_01]: the biden administration's

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_01]: policy with respect to the tax cuts

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and jobs act from day one was that they wanted it

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_01]: repealed right so she

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_01]: represents the biden administration

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_01]: that's undeniable you know she keeps

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_01]: talking about turning the page but turning the page

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_01]: from what all right the last four years

[00:41:13] [SPEAKER_01]: has been has been her

[00:41:14] [SPEAKER_01]: you know her hand in glove

[00:41:17] [SPEAKER_01]: with the president on these various

[00:41:19] [SPEAKER_01]: policies she is the page

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_01]: she is

[00:41:22] [SPEAKER_01]: exactly right

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_01]: she is the page so

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_01]: we're going to turn it to what

[00:41:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and so

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't think there's any doubt that if she's

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_01]: elected she's going to do everything she possibly

[00:41:34] [SPEAKER_01]: can to eradicate the tax

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_01]: cuts and jobs act which lays

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_01]: the acts to the claim

[00:41:40] [SPEAKER_01]: that her policies will not

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_01]: affect anybody working making less than

[00:41:44] [SPEAKER_01]: $400,000 a year the fact

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_01]: of the matter is Merrill that the bottom

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_01]: 80% of American

[00:41:51] [SPEAKER_01]: workers

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER_01]: got a tax break some kind of a

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_01]: tax break under the tax cuts and

[00:41:56] [SPEAKER_01]: jobs act the bottom 80%

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the top 20% saw their

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_01]: tax liability either say this stay the same or

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_01]: go up so if she repeals

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_01]: the tax cuts and jobs act I mean

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_01]: that's an across the board tax increase

[00:42:08] [SPEAKER_01]: for the for the bottom 80%

[00:42:10] [SPEAKER_01]: of income earners those who

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_01]: by definition are making less than

[00:42:14] [SPEAKER_01]: 400 grand a year Dan take

[00:42:17] [SPEAKER_00]: about 30 seconds as we're getting ready to close

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_00]: here about how people can reach out

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER_00]: to you and what they can find on your website

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_01]: sure the website is

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_01]: taxhelponline.com that's all one

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_01]: word no spaces of any kind

[00:42:29] [SPEAKER_01]: taxhelponline.com we've got

[00:42:31] [SPEAKER_01]: all kinds of resources up there for

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_01]: those of you who have a tax problem

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_01]: with the IRS we can walk you through that

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_01]: problem you buy any book off my website

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_01]: at any price point you get

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_01]: a free 15 minute consultation directly

[00:42:43] [SPEAKER_01]: with me so you read the book and I walk you through

[00:42:45] [SPEAKER_01]: your questions if you don't have

[00:42:47] [SPEAKER_01]: any tax problems and you're operating a small business

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_01]: my latest book Dan Pilla

[00:42:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Small Business Tax Guide is

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_01]: the book you need to get you through your

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_01]: business compliance issues

[00:42:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and stay out of trouble with the IRS Dan

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_00]: thank you so much for joining us

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_00]: my pleasure thanks for having me that's Dan

[00:43:03] [SPEAKER_00]: pillow when we come back we go to Carlos

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Whitaker reconnected his

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_00]: new book about getting away from social

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_04]: media in 19th century

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_04]: London to towering

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_04]: historical figures did battle

[00:43:16] [SPEAKER_04]: not with guns and bombs

[00:43:18] [SPEAKER_04]: but words and ideas

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_04]: London was home to Carl

[00:43:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Marx the father of communism

[00:43:24] [SPEAKER_04]: and legendary Baptist

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_04]: preacher Charles Spurgeon

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_04]: London was in many ways the

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_04]: center of the world economically

[00:43:31] [SPEAKER_04]: militarily and intellectually

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Mark sought to destroy

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_04]: religion the family and

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER_04]: everything the Bible supports

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Spurgeon stood against him

[00:43:41] [SPEAKER_04]: warning of socialism's

[00:43:43] [SPEAKER_04]: dangerous Spurgeon understood

[00:43:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Christianity is not just religious

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_04]: truth it is truth

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_04]: for all of life where do

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_04]: you find men with that kind of wisdom

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_04]: to stand against darkness today

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_04]: get the light you need on

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER_04]: today's most pressing issues

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[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_04]: commentary at pointofview.net

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[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_04]: in less than two minutes

[00:44:10] [SPEAKER_04]: you'll learn how to be a person

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_04]: of light to stand against darkness

[00:44:14] [SPEAKER_04]: in our time it's free

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[00:44:28] [SPEAKER_04]: point of view will

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