also why doesn't elon, who is from south africa, give his own money to africa to fill in the usaid void

Cleaning up decades of waste, fraud, and abuse looks jarring and brutal when done suddenly.

It is good and necessary. The people who should have been responsible managers of this funding have proven themselves incapable, so DOGEs methods are the best option.

I do agree that we do need to prioritize internal issues over external ones. We'll be better suited as a country to give to global causes once we're in prime shape.

But taxing the ultra-rich more seems like an obvious low-hanging fruit for acquiring funds. Why do most Republicans avoid pursuing it?

The definition of global causes worth funding has become very vague over time. Picking winners and losers seldom results in a long term positive outcome. Many causes get warped due to greed and easy graft.

I consider myself Conservative, not necessarily Republican.. Republican Only would mean I support party members over ideas - would mean I should support Liz Cheney and Lisa Murkowsky, but not Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Sinema, or Robert Kennedy Jr.

Taxation is theft. Income tax is a penalty for success. Overtaxing the country's most successful discourages success and instead incentivizes masking income and deceptive accounting.

I would personally prefer to see income tax removed entirely and the funds necessary to run the government drawn from sales tax. Let everyone earn fully. Let the spenders finance the system. Let the savers save.

Extraordinarily well said. Upvoted.

Thanks!

If you tax someone like Musk or Bezos at 90% of their earnings they'll still have billions left in take-home income. Many billionaires get a lot of their income through investments, which are taxed but at a lesser rate than income from work.

Even if the government wants to downsize to the point of being able to run on only sales tax and tariffs, it can't do that overnight because millions of American citizens depend on federal and state programs for crucial. Getting the same services from a private institution would likely be less affordable, even if it is higher quality.

Also the military requires a lot of spending to maintain and develop. We need a strong military to protect the country, and decreasing taxes would lessen their budget and their ability to do that.

But to your point, overtaxing could cause brain drain, where highly successful Americans and their businesses leave the country to another country that interferes less with their financial desires.

Bezos' ability to survive under a tax rate that would crush less-wealthy people is unjust. The U.S. Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and even the Federalist Papers all promote equality. Your suggestion is equity, a very different ideology altogether.

I would argue that private sector services and charity would be higher quality than government equivalents. I would argue that they would be funded rather quickly if a massive shift in tax policy were enacted. More money in my paycheck means more money given to my church, my nieces' homeless outreach, and other nonprofit organizations I support.

I do not expect there to be much change in current tax policy. The rates may change, but income tax won't be going to zero. Or even a flat rate equal for everyone.

Progressive tax , even if it's unconstitutional, is widely used in many sectors, especially income. I could see some of it being removed though.

I was used to to thinking that most of these billionaires' assets are just yachts and cars and mansions and gold and other fancy things, not active components of the economy. I still need to mature my thought.

Wait, let's not forget about our crazy high debt. We can't lower taxes yet, even with reducing spending

Crazy thought. Gut USAID. Literally take it doen to $0.00 funding. Put all that revenue into paying off the national debt until that is 100% paid off.

Then re-assess what happened to all the pet projects USAID previously funded, and evaluate if any of them need aid again.

I'm glad that "useless" programs are being cut - they could have had good intentions but the money gets intercepted by middlemen, causing the program to fail its task. But I'm also concerned about how wealth inequality is increasing and why the uber-rich hold on to most of their money instead of give it away.

We all put are pants on one leg at a time. Death and Taxes are the only guarantee.
Otherwise, who cares?
Free your heart and mind of such petty covet
Otherwise,
Be the best Ewe that a Yew tree can be.