A.G. Gancarski
Those who think wealthy people deserve to pay more in federal income tax will likely be discouraged by recent comments from Rep. Byron Donalds.
The Naples Republican and candidate for Governor says income tax increases for the rich are a non-starter with him and other Republicans in Congress.
“There’s been whispers of this, but this is not concrete. I don’t expect it to be in the (tax cut) package. I’ll just be clear. That’s not something I’m going to support and I know there are many Republicans on the Hill who are not going to support that. Frankly, the vast, vast, vast majority of Republicans are not going to support that,” Donalds said on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
President Donald Trump dangled the proposal as a possibility last week, but quickly walked away from it as it would be “very disruptive” and “a lot of millionaires would leave the country.”
Instead, Donalds embraces spending cuts as a way to right side the deficit-bloated federal budget, chiding colleagues who might lack the political mettle to back them.
“We can’t allow bloated federal spending that continues just because you’re worried about the midterm elections. If we cut spending appropriately, the American people see a more efficient government could still provide services and we have a better economy overall, the American people will reward us,” Donalds predicted.
Donalds has said previously $1.5 trillion in cuts is the baseline, but that $5 trillion would be possible if people had the political will. He previously said there was “at least” $600 billion in waste, fraud and abuse in Medicaid,” hinting at possible cuts to the health care safety net program for low-income people.
27 comments
Foghorn Leghorn
April 28, 2025 at 7:59 am
Here come the socialists. Tax everyone else except them.
MH/Duuuval
April 28, 2025 at 9:36 pm
Biden had it about right: Raise taxes on those making more than $400K. The second Trump tax cut, like its 2017 predecessor, will go primarily to the top one percent and create a FOUR TRILLION DOLLAR HOLE in revenues over the next decade. This will be the rationale for cuts in social programs from SNAP to Medicaid to rural broadband.
The transfer of vast wealth to the upper ten percent from the bottom 50 percent since 1980 is not enough for I M Peachy.
How Salvador Dali would have enjoyed the Trump era, parodying the rich as when he made a gold toilet as art. Now, of course, a golden “throne” and the stank of DJT are coin of the realm.
Michael K
April 28, 2025 at 8:08 am
News flash: These people only care about billionaires who do not pay their fair share. The rest of y’all are just suckers who will end up carrying the weight. Fair share. As Warren Buffett famously says, there is something seriously wrong in a system where his secretary pays a lower tax rate than he does.
Michael K
April 28, 2025 at 8:09 am
Oops: she pays a higher percentage rate than he does. My bad.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 28, 2025 at 8:41 am
What did Margaret Thatcher say about socialism?
MH/Duuuval
April 28, 2025 at 9:42 pm
Thatcher said this about Putin: “I looked at the pictures [video] of Mr. Putin trying to look for a trace of humanity. I should have known better”. (2020)
R Russell
April 28, 2025 at 8:51 am
Who cares what that POS Publicity Whore says!
Rollo Tamasi
April 28, 2025 at 10:57 am
Well said. I can tell you went through Florida K-12 where kids in English classes are taught to say it like it is. This would be a better country if all the states followed this example.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 28, 2025 at 9:07 am
Funny how all of my comments say “awaiting moderation”, yet no one else’s has that statement.
Ocean Joe
April 28, 2025 at 9:22 am
Ed, how do you know? If they’re ‘awaiting moderation’ they havent been posted yet, right? It’s not a conspiracy like chemtrails or space lasers, just an annoyance.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 28, 2025 at 9:36 am
There is obviously a tag on my name. Did you put it there Ocean? You seem to have lots of inside information.
TJC
April 28, 2025 at 11:11 am
“There is obviously a tag on my name.”
I don’t think so. The comment and the “awaiting moderation” note disappear a few minutes after both are posted, and the comment usually reappears within 24 hours or longer if it’s a weekend posting.For example, I posted a comment about Elon Musk (article was headlined “Elon Musk to spend less time in Washington”) on Saturday, April 26, and it didn’t get cleared for print until today, Monday, April 28. I’ve had dozens of “awaiting moderation” tags and only one comment never got cleared, one where I was rather brutally criticizing another commenter — it was either Impeach Biden or Peachy or Foghorn Leghorn, all the same guy as far as I can tell — and it retrospect I was rather relieved that it didn’t get posted, because it was too over-the-top.
Ocean Joe
April 28, 2025 at 3:12 pm
Ed, enough paranoia. I remember you because your comments are always the same, somewhat humorous in the past, less now as you were forced to become a Trump apologist. The comment section is pretty dry without the guy who was hung up on Kat Cammack, or Hung Wiil, or Rick from Tennessee. Even Earl Pitts is slacking.
I’d bet a boatload more of my proposed comments have been not just moderated, but blocked, than yours.
MH/Duuuval
April 28, 2025 at 8:43 pm
Hung Wiil = I M Peachy
JD
April 28, 2025 at 9:47 am
A third of mine have that. You triggered whatever keyword software or algorithm they use. It’s not just you.
Ocean Joe
April 28, 2025 at 9:28 am
Donalds crystalizes the Rick Scott version of the GOP: balance the budget on the backs of the poor and continue pretending that’s possible despite the numbers.
Steve Bannon wants Trump to raise taxes on the rich because he wants the societal changes Trump brings, but Donalds and the traditional supply siders dont really care beyond widening the wealth gap and hoping to be on the right side of it.
Anyone who’s serious about balancing our budget and reducing our debt knows you cant cut social programs a bit while letting a $4.6 trillion tax cut (revenue loss) go out the backdoor.
MH/Duuuval
April 29, 2025 at 9:38 am
Seems simple enough: None of us writing out our bills would turn away revenue due us. This is simply more reverse Robin Hood.
JD
April 28, 2025 at 10:07 am
Fixing the budget the right way will take 10 to 15 years. That is longer than any politician plans ahead, but it is the timeline our kids and grandkids will live with. We either fix it now like adults or we leave them with a wreck.”
Adult Budget Plan:
1.) Tax capital gains fairly. Raise about 35 billion dollars per year by making millionaires’ investment income taxed like work income.
2.) Close the “Buy, Borrow, Die” billionaire loophole. Tax stock-backed borrowing over 5 million dollars. Save about 15 to 20 billion dollars per year.
3.) Trim military waste. Cut 10 percent by targeting fraud and bloated programs without hurting troops. Save about 88 billion dollars per year.
4.) Modernize government retirement. New hires move to 401k-style savings, ending lifetime pensions. Save 20 to 30 billion dollars per year over time.
5.) Enforce a minimum corporate tax. Make billion-dollar companies pay at least 15 percent. Save 70 to 100 billion dollars per year.
Impact: Slow the bleeding by 200 to 250 billion dollars per year now. Combine with responsible reforms to balance within 10 to 15 years.
You cannot rebuild trust, stability, or the American Dream in two years. But you can destroy it that fast. If we care about our kids, we need leaders who think beyond the next election.
JD
April 28, 2025 at 10:29 am
And you can cut waste by dropping Byron’s salary to zero, because that’s what he’s worth.
TJC
April 28, 2025 at 11:14 am
Good ideas!
JD
April 28, 2025 at 12:22 pm
Thank you.
Chuck Anziulewicz
April 28, 2025 at 11:10 am
As of 2024, the United States is home to approximately 813 billionaires, the highest number of any country globally. This figure reflects a significant increase from previous years, with the number of U.S. billionaires rising from 735 in 2023 to 813 in 2024 .
Collectively, these billionaires hold a substantial portion of the nation’s wealth. In 2024, the 19 richest U.S. households alone saw their combined wealth increase by $1 trillion, bringing their total to approximately $2.6 trillion and accounting for 1.8% of all U.S. household wealth .
Of course these people can do things most of us in the 99% can’t, namely hide their wealth overseas and hire the very best accountants to look for tax shelters. Donald Trump famously bragged about it back in 2016: “That makes me smart.”
TJC
April 28, 2025 at 11:20 am
Well, at least Byron Donalds is telling the truth: We’re not going to have any tax increases for the very rich. I’ll bet his fellow GOP legislators are wincing at his words, thinking, Shut up, Byron, play the game!
JD
April 28, 2025 at 12:21 pm
I’ve learned not to give Republican’s credit on anything anymore because of their similar actions. It would be stony silence or complete rebuttals. They brought the bias on themselves. I was an independent that morphed into NotGOP because of their actions and inactions. F-them.
Mme DoGood
April 28, 2025 at 12:47 pm
We have a budget deficit problem. We need to figure out what we want the federal government to do, and then figure out how to pay for it. The “problem” is that with campaign finance polluting our system, the wealthy get elected and/or the wealthy support those who will protect them with campaign finance. Byron falls in the later group. In an election “we get what we vote for”…e.g. looks who’s financing the candidates.
MH/Duuuval
April 28, 2025 at 8:45 pm
Translated: Why cut taxes for the wealthy just so their pawns in DC will use the resulting deficit as a rationale to cut services that a broad spectrum of Americans use daily?
Ex-Republican
April 30, 2025 at 7:45 am
This hack would rather blow a $4 trillion hole in the budget than ask his rich owners to pay up. What an ass.
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