Will Affordability Be the Cost of Tax Cuts and National Debt?

Government programs that people depend on have received or are facing massive cuts in spending by Republican policymakers who often cite the soaring national debt as the need to slash government spending, but some Republicans and very rich Americans are pushing back.

For decades, Republicans, with the backing of corporate America and a very wealthy elite, have argued for lower taxes, a policy stance that has created perpetual budget deficits and placed pressure on elected officials to cut funding for essential programs that improve access to affordable food, housing, and healthcare. It’s a policy position rooted in the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), who rejected the concept of good government exemplified by the expansion of social welfare programs under President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R).

Over the years, both Republican and Democratic governments have whittled away at the edges of these programs, but now, the most costly — Social Security and Medicare — appear to be headed to the chopping block. One well-known senator, Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), is trying to convince voters that Social Security is a “scam” and a “ponzi scheme” rather than the promise of greater financial security for elderly Americans. And House Speaker Mike Johnson’s call to address spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs in 2027 — if Republicans retain control of the House — has set off alarms across party lines.

Not only are Democrats expressing the expected concern and opposition to the Speaker’s plans, but so are some of Johnson’s fellow Republicans. As reported by The Hill, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who is not up for reelection this year, was blunt when asked about Johnson’s comments:

“That sounds like wealthy people who want to have all of their tax breaks and loopholes and their carried interest deductions and so forth, but they want working people who paid into all of those programs for years to take less,” Hawley said. He added that using words like ‘addressed’ and ‘reformed’, as Johnson did, is “usually code for ‘cut.’ I’m not in favor of that.”

The only way to avoid, or at least limit, cuts to these programs and begin to bring down the debt is to raise taxes.

In 2024, Oren Cass, founder of the fiscally conservative website American Compass, argued the case for raising taxes in a debate with David McIntosh, founder of the Federalist Society and president of the Club for Growth. Cass pointed out that “conservatism” does not require a commitment to lowering taxes. Rather, he noted, “We should want to only burden taxpayers with the taxes necessary to provide the services we are committed to providing.… Fiscal responsibility entails raising that necessary revenue, meaning balancing the budget at the end of the day.”

McIntosh responded by sticking to the view espoused by Republicans for the last 60 years. “The problem really is the spending,” he said, “not the tax structure.” This is a perspective reflected in Trump’s massive cuts to federal agencies and programs that have put affordable healthcare and nutritious food out of reach for millions and limited the government’s ability to respond to natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

Like Cass, the Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of wealthy Americans who think differently, believe taxes should be raised. Recognizing the danger that concentrated wealth holds for working people as well as our democracy, they actually want the government to tax them more and tax the poor less.

For the last three years, they have been working hard — “the hardest I’ve ever worked”, according to Erica Payne, the group’s president — piloting a grassroots campaign to convince working-class Republican and Democratic voters that the economy is rigged in favor of an oligarchy of the very rich (not a hard sell) and that they, the voters, have the power to level the playing field (a tougher sell). Launched in Whiteville, North Carolina, in one of the poorest counties in the state, the Great Economy Project had a big win in August: One hundred or more supporters flooded two consecutive public meetings of the Republican-led Board of Elections to stop the closing of all but one of the early voting sites in Columbus County, where Whiteville is located. The protest succeeded in keeping open all five early voting sites, though the final plan eliminated Sunday voting. It also limited Saturday voting to just one of the three Saturdays during the early voting period.

Weekend voting enables hourly and some salaried workers the opportunity to cast a ballot without conflicting with work. According to the Carolina Public Press, Republicans often argue against Sunday voting for religious reasons. Democrats support Sunday voting as many Black North Carolinians cast their ballots during “Souls to the Polls” voting events that are held after Sunday worship services.

Around the same time as the struggle over voting sites and weekend voting, Payne and her team made the decision to switch tactics, shifting from an education and civic engagement mission to a campaign to persuade voters to unseat the district’s incumbent representative, Republican Brenden Jones. Jones has a 100% approval rating from the Christian Employers Alliance, which, according to Ballotpedia, scores legislators on “how consistently their votes support limited government” and “whether their decisions protect or restrict freedom in the marketplace” — seemingly principled objectives often cited by those seeking to eliminate good government programs.

The decision to oppose Jones in this year’s election came, Payne says, once we realized “he was never going to give his constituents an audience, and he’s continuing to implement policies that are horrible for them.”

The Patriotic Millionaires are preparing to make their case in Washington. The group is developing a formal proposal based on their Money Agenda, which calls for:

• Equalizing tax rates for capital gains and ordinary income over $1 million (one way to reduce the concentration of wealth that unfairly influences policymaking)
• Providing a Cost of Living Exemption (COLE) that currently would make the first $46,000 of income tax-free (meaning about 50% of workers currently would pay no income tax)
• Incentivizing companies with revenue over $10 million to pay their workers a regionally determined living wage similar to the wages calculated by MIT’s Living Wage Calculator (reducing much of the need for social welfare programs and the taxes required to pay for them)

Payne understands that pitching this legislation in Washington is an uphill battle, particularly with entrenched establishment politicians from both major parties still in power. She also recognizes that her group might have greater success promoting their proposals if those officials who are opposed to good government are defeated at the polls. That’s why her words to the people of Whiteville three years ago still resonate even louder today as the nation begins early voting:

“You have more power than the billionaires do – if you use it.”