‘Rocket fuel for the economy’: Why Trump’s plan to raise tariffs and abolish income tax is brilliant



In Donald Trump’s bombshell interview on "The Joe Rogan Experience," the president-elect floated the idea of abolishing the income tax as well as raising tariffs.

While Glenn Beck has historically been against heavy tariffs, Trump may have won “The Glenn Beck Program” host over with his explanation.

“I’ve always been against tariffs; however, I might be wrong,” Glenn says. “Donald Trump is making a good case when he’s talking about getting rid of the income tax because tariffs will raise the prices of things, especially if he does it the way he’s talking about doing it.”

However, if Trump lowers the income tax simultaneously, the economy would boom.


“We could make up that deficit and become a very powerful nation again. Tell me I’m wrong,” Glenn challenges economic expert and Heritage Foundation visiting fellow Peter St Onge.

“That’s absolutely correct,” St Onge replies. “The vast majority of economists go after tariffs, they attack Trump over tariffs, and I think they are looking at the trees for the forest here.”

“If you replace a tariff, which is basically a sales tax, but it’s one that focuses on imported goods, if you replace that with either reducing or, in our dream scenario, abolishing the entire income tax, it is absolutely rocket fuel for the economy,” he explains, noting that Trump’s plan is reminiscent of the 1800s.

“That was before we had an income tax, was also before we had a Fed, and back then, the federal government had to live off tariffs,” St Onge says. “That was the greatest period not only of economic growth but of cultural achievement.”

“It was really the golden age of humanity, and the key there was that we did not have an income tax, we did not have a regulatory state, we did not have a Fed. So if Trump can take us back there, and all we have to do is like an 8% sales tax on Chinese stocks, that is the deal of the century,” he adds.

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Why The American Founders Would Adore Trump’s Tariffs Plan

What Donald Trump told Joe Rogan is correct: tariffs are the best way to raise federal revenue in a constitutional system like ours.

Trump targets NO INCOME TAX in final election push — but is it possible?



Last week the mother of all interviews happened when Donald Trump, arguably the most famous man on the planet, appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the top-ranked podcast on the planet.

In their three-hour interview, Rogan and Trump broached a number of issues, but one that’s getting a ton of media attention is Trump’s reiterated claims that he will potentially end income taxes by substituting tariffs.

Glenn Beck and Stu Burguiere discuss the possibility of such a drastic change to America’s tax infrastructure.

As for repealing the 16th Amendment, Stu says, “I am a huge fan.”

Glenn shares Stu’s enthusiasm and thinks that “it’s the right time” to do it.

“[Trump] is talking about tariffs in a different way. … You build your cars outside of the United States? Okay, we're going to put a tariff on it to keep cars that are made here in the United States cheaper,” says Glenn, adding that this is the first time he’s ever “started to agree with tariffs.”

“We must rebuild our infrastructure. We have to have manufacturing here in America,” he says, pointing to the fact that America “made the planes and the tanks and the Jeeps … that brought the whole world into Germany” during WWII.

“Tariffs have a chance of saying, ‘Look, you want to sell your stuff? Fine, make it in America. … We'll give you incentives to bring your company, your manufacturing here so we have these plants, we are producing our own steel, we're doing these things.' Meanwhile, we're also going to drill, baby, drill," which will “bring our energy costs down,” Glenn explains.

While Stu doesn’t love the idea of tariffs, he does love what they would do to the magnitude of our current federal government.

“The size of the government that would be required for a government to be funded by tariffs is the size of a government I like,” he says, adding that “it’s a lot smaller than the one we have.”

“Yes!” Glenn agrees. “We were all about that up until the 16th Amendment.”

However, the question still remains: Will Trump actually do it?

Even though almost all politicians promise tax cuts leading up to an election, Glenn thinks Trump “is actually going to do a lot of these things” he’s talked about during his campaign, as long as “he has the Senate and the House.”

But he also has to “turn it around quickly.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.

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Trump doubles down on possible federal income tax overhaul during Rogan interview: 'This country can become rich'



Former President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to consider eliminating federal income taxes by replacing them with tariffs.

During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released on Friday, Trump stated that the "most beautiful word" is "tariff."

"It's more beautiful than love; it's more beautiful than anything," Trump told Rogan. "This country can become rich with the use — the proper use — of tariffs."

'We were so rich because we were taxing other people for coming in and taking our jobs.'

In 2018, the former president imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum.

When Rogan asked whether he is "serious" about the possible elimination of federal income taxes, Trump responded, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Last week, during a town hall segment with Fox News at a barbershop in the Bronx, Trump was asked whether it would be possible to do away with federal income taxes, Blaze News previously reported.

"There is a way," Trump responded, adding that in the 1890s, the United States relied on tariffs and did not have a federal income tax.

"Now we have income taxes, and we have people that are dying, they're paying tax, and they don't have the money to pay the tax," he continued. "No, there is a way if what I'm planning comes out."

On Friday, Trump repeated similar comments to Rogan, confirming that it is possible to replace income taxes with tariffs.

He told Rogan, "Our country was the richest, relatively, in the 1880s and 1890s. A president who was assassinated, named [William] McKinley, he was the tariff king."

"He spoke beautifully of tariffs. His language was really beautiful," Trump explained. "'We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price. And the big price is tariffs.' And he'd speak like that, but he was right."

Trump continued, "And then around the early 1900s, they switched over, stupidly, to frankly an income tax. And you know why? Because countries were putting a lot of pressure on America, 'We don't want to pay tariffs. Please don't.'"

Trump stated that foreign countries are controlling U.S. politicians.

"We had a commission meeting in the, I think it was 1887," he stated. "Think of this problem: We were so rich, we had so much money, we didn't know what to do. So, they set up a blue-ribbon commission on tariffs, and the sole purpose was what to do with all the money we had. We were so rich because we were taxing other people for coming in and taking our jobs."

Trump noted that China relies on tariffs.

"If you want to own a factory and sell cars, if you build a factory here or have a factory, they don't take our cars," he said of China. "They wouldn't take our cars. But if you build a plant in China, you can do that."

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The end of the IRS? Trump considers biggest tax overhaul yet



As Election Day approaches, former President Donald Trump told voters that he believes he could pave the way for the elimination of federal income taxes.

On Monday, Trump participated in a town hall segment with Fox News at a barbershop in the Bronx, where he answered questions from the business' owner, employees, and patrons.

'There is a way if what I'm planning comes out.'

One individual told Trump that his biggest concern is that his two children and future generations will not be able to obtain the American dream because of oppressive over-taxation.

"When it comes to federal taxes, I'm sure you're going to start back up the pipeline, the Keystone Pipeline, which is going to generate an abundance of revenue. Also, with the tariffs that you've spoken of," he told Trump.

He asked, "With all this extra revenue that we're going to be bringing into the country, do you believe that at some point in time, we could find a way — once the country's back on its feet and getting enough revenue and pays off our debt — do you think it's possible to find a way to eliminate federal taxes?"

Trump replied emphatically, "There is a way."

He stated that in the 1890s, the United States relied on tariffs and did not have a federal income tax.

"Now we have income taxes, and we have people that are dying, they're paying tax, and they don't have the money to pay the tax," Trump continued. "In the old days, 1890, 1880, we had so much money they had to set up committees, blue-ribbon committees, how to spend our wealth. We had no idea how to spend it; it was so much money. Then we went to the income tax system, and the rest is sort of history."

"No, there is a way if what I'm planning comes out," Trump added.

The former president has already stated that he supports abolishing the federal income tax on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security.

The United States, for the first time, briefly imposed a 3%-5 income tax from 1862 to 1872 to cover the cost of the Civil War.

W. Elliot Brownlee, a historian of tax policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the New York Times that the U.S. adopted "a mass-based income tax for the first time during World War II."

From 1868 to 1913, approximately 90% of all revenue was generated from liquor, beer, wine, and tobacco taxes. Currently, income taxes generate 94% of the federal government's revenue, while tariffs make up just 2%.

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How JD Vance will put an end to 'racist' government DEI programs



Joe Biden likely won’t sign it, but regardless, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has introduced legislation to dismantle all federal DEI programs.

“If you want to root out the Deep State and the bureaucracy, you need political appointees who are aligned with the agenda. And what this legislation does — I’m not an idiot, Joe Biden’s not going to sign it — but Donald Trump would,” Vance tells Glenn Beck, adding, “What it would do is really destroy the diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracy that exists in our country.”

“People say, ‘Well, who doesn’t like diversity right? Doesn’t diversity just mean you have a nice Mexican restaurant down the street?’” Vance continues. “The way that our federal government has interpreted this is to explicitly allow racist decision-making, primarily targeting white and Asian Americans.”

One example Vance uses is of a farm program that explicitly excluded white Americans from the provision of farm assistance for American farmers.

“That’s ridiculous,” Vances tells Glenn. “You can’t discriminate, whether black or white, against people on the basis of skin color, this would proactively root this stuff out of our government, and it’s a very important first step to getting basic merit back in our federal system.”

“I don’t think that even black farmers would have wanted that,” Glenn says, agreeing. “Farmers rely on each other, and they need to help each other because you know if Bill’s crop is down this year, it might be my crop down next year. So, we’re all in this together.”

Vance believes this has a lot less to do with actually helping black people and a lot more to do with hurting white people.

“One of my theories, Glenn, is that a lot of what is broken about America is high-education whites, who really hate lower-education whites. And I think you see that as a main driver of a lot of very stupid, evil public policy in this country, so we’ve got to root it out,” Vance explains.





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Happy Tax Day! Your Earnings Paid For Cats On Treadmills And Egyptian Tourists

Plus 30 percent of our individual income taxes are merely paying the interest on federal debt.

Actor Terrence Howard allegedly said it's 'immoral' to tax 'descendants of slaves.' Now he owes nearly $1 million to IRS.



After actor Terrence Howard allegedly threatened a Justice Department lawyer and said it's “immoral for the United States government to charge taxes to the descendants of slaves," a federal judge ordered him to pay nearly $1 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

What's the background?

The Internal Revenue Service tried for more than a year to collect $578,000 in income taxes the agency said Howard — star of the hit TV show "Empire" — failed to pay between 2010 and 2019, the paper said.

After the Justice Department sued the 54-year-old actor in 2022, his sole response was a voicemail he allegedly left for the case's lead tax attorney in November, the paper said.

“Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it,” Howard said in the message, the paper reported, citing a transcript of it. “Now, you have the gall to try and prosecute and charge taxes to the descendants of a broken people that you are responsible for causing the breakage.”

According to the paper, he added in a subsequent message, “In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves. But since you do not have the ability [or] the courage to do it, let’s try this in court. … We’re gonna bring you down."

More from the Inquirer:

Despite that vow, Howard never formally responded to the lawsuit. And after a court hearing last week in Philadelphia, U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy granted the government’s request to enter a $903,115 default judgment against the actor, a ruling that was first reported by the legal news service Law360.

Efforts to reach Howard at a number he left on that voicemail and through a lawyer who at one point told Justice Department lawyers that he might represent the actor in the case were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Anything else?

Howard said in a 2019 red carpet interview that he was ready to spread truth, which included "the science that Pythagoras was searching for" and building the Milky Way "without gravity."

He noted, "I was able to open up the flower of life and find the real wave conjugations that we've been looking for for 10,000 years. Why would I continue walking on water for tips when I've got an entire generation to teach a whole new world?"

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