BULL!

It is not gas taxes that are keeping gas prices high… It is Trump!

The Republicans are at it again… don’t look behind the curtain. Look at the Democrats!

Surging gas prices shine spotlight on CT’s fuel taxes

Emergency cap saves motorists a nickel at the pumps

CT Mirror

by Keith M. Phaneuf

May 21, 2026

Connecticut motorists are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in the nation — at the worst possible time.

An emergency state tax cap has been mitigating pain at the pumps since late March, but the price hikes driven by the ongoing conflict with Iran have some ready to revisit Connecticut’s fuel tax system.

“If the disruption continues, prices today will look affordable, which is horrifying,” said Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers’ Association.

Do you remember TANSTAAFL? "There is no such thing as a free lunch," and in this case, as you cut revenue from the gas tax, what are you going to cut to offset the loss of revenue?

Of course, Trump wants to get in on the act. I wonder if his head is hollow! Sometimes you have to wonder.

An average of 51 cents per gallon goes toward state and federal taxes and fees. Federal taxes account for 18 cents of that.

NBC News

May 24, 2026

By Joe Murphy and Jiachuan Wu

As national gas price averages hover around $4.50 per gallon, one state has already suspended its gas tax, and now President Donald Trump and his Cabinet are talking about doing the same.

While a suspension would offer some relief, an NBC News analysis shows that gas prices would still average 35% more per gallon than they were at the start of the Iran war, even if all state and federal taxes were suspended. Average gas prices nationwide are up more than 50% since the war was launched at the end of February.

Trump told reporters Monday that he intended to suspend the 18 cents per gallon federal gas tax. Such a suspension would require an act of Congress. Democrats in the House and Senate proposed measures to suspend the gas tax in March.

Okay folks, the national debt is already skyrocketing… so he wants to cut revenue to offset a crisis that he created by invading Iran? He’s in a pickle and he knows it, so he is grasping at straws.

The Debt Dispatch writes that:

Gas prices have surged due to the war in Iran. In response, President Donald Trump and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) have proposed suspending the federal gas tax for up to 180 days.

The proposal has bipartisan appeal. But it would be expensive, ineffective, and fiscally irresponsible. A three-month gas tax holiday would either accelerate the Highway Trust Fund’s insolvency by roughly nine months or require at least an $11 billion general-fund bailout. Meanwhile, the average driver would save only about $3 per fill-up.

The Gas Tax Holiday Increases Federal Deficit by At Least $11 Billion

The Federal Highway Trust Fund faces a significant funding shortfall. Figure 1 shows the ending balance of the trust fund from January 2008 to March 2026. The three spikes in account balance reflect Congress’s three trust fund bailouts in 2010, 2016, and 2021. Notably, these bailouts were not accompanied by corresponding increases in gas taxes or any other structural changes to federal highway revenues or outlays. Congress just chose to spend more.

But remember, Trump just asked Congress for another $15 billion for ICE and CBP!

The left-leaning Center for American Progress writes that...

President Donald Trump’s job performance is underwater with the public, and a majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of immigration, according to an April 2026 Fox News poll. Yet congressional Republicans are choosing to again fuel reckless, escalatory mass deportation tactics that the Trump administration is doubling down on, instead of supporting commonsense measures to stop dangerous, unaccountable actions from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and bring their standards up to the level of state and local law enforcement. Rejecting accountability for the Trump administration’s out-of-control ICE and CBP, congressional Republicans are forging ahead with a new, nearly $70 billion slush fund for DHS, ICE, and CBP with no guardrails to add to the mass deportation slush fund that they created just last year.

His $100 billion ballroom!

His "Independence Arch" in Washington, D.C., is estimated to cost at least $100 million!

Remember TANSTAAFL. Remember that whatever taxes they cut have to be offset with spending cuts… so the question to ask is, “What are they going to cut?”

Thank You Donald For The Inflation...

Mini-Post: What A Spoiled Brat!

Trump is behaving like a spoiled ten year old.

He went into a temper tantrum over an ad from Canada. He is laying on the floor pounding his fists and kicking his feet. Wahhh...! Wahhh...!

Trump raises tariffs on Canadian goods over Reagan advert

BBC News

Max Matza

October 26, 2025

Donald Trump has said he is increasing tariffs on goods imported from Canada by 10%, after the province of Ontario aired an anti-tariff advertisement featuring Ronald Reagan.

The US president called the advert a "fraud" and lashed out at Canadian officials for not removing it ahead of the World Series baseball championship in a social media post on Saturday.

Ontario's premier said he would take it down to allow trade talks with the US to proceed, after Trump withdrew - but that it would still run in the US over the weekend.

They're picking on me! Wahhh...! And just like a spoiled little kid he hits back!

The US has already imposed a 35% levy on all Canadian goods - though most are exempt under an existing free trade agreement. It has also slapped sector-specific levies on Canadian goods, including a 50% levy on metals and 25% on automobiles.

Trump said while travelling to Asia on Saturday that he was "increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now". Tariffs are paid by the companies that import foreign products, not the exporters themselves.

There that will teach them... so there take that!

But the fact remains President Reagan did not like tariffs. All the economists say the same thing... it is a tax on the the people buying the goods not on the counties selling the goods. And trump is using the money that the tariffs are ranking in as a giant slush fund.

Mini-Post: A Con Artist's Shell Game.

Did you see where Trump want to give you the taxpayer $1000 to $2000 from the billions that the tariff have racked in from us… the consumer. Isn’t that a nice gesture?

You know what this reminds me of is a Ponzi scheme or shell game con artists play on a rube.

The Economic Times says that;

The United States took in more revenue from tariffs in the first six months of 2025 than it did in all of 2024, according to data from the US Treasury compiled by AFP.

The more than $87 billion in tariff revenue taken in through the end of June, compared with $79 billion collected in all of 2024, according to the latest monthly data published on Wednesday.

And he wants to give back what percentage to us? The people whose pockets were squeezed? However, there is one small problem with the “give backs” it would work! The numbers don’t add up.

That promise was just for headlines and then he will blame it on the Democrats nixing his plans! If 100 million taxpayers get $1,000 each, that’s $100 billion. Hold it! But the tariffs are only raising that much. So he is giving it all away? But… but he said it would go for paying off the debt! He is playing us for a bunch country shills!

So here is Trump’s real playbook…

1. Impose tariffs

→ They quietly raise prices on everyday goods (which most voters don’t directly attribute to policy).

2. Brag about massive “tariff revenue”

→ Framing it as money “taken from China” or “foreign cheaters” — even though Americans are paying it.

3. Promise a $1,000–$2,000 rebate to taxpayers

→ Doesn’t matter if it’s mathematically impossible — the promise is what makes headlines and rallies crowds.

4. Send the idea to Congress

→ Knowing full well it’s unlikely to pass, especially if the rebate exceeds available tariff revenue.

5. When Congress rejects or stalls it…

→ Blame Democrats (or RINOs) for “blocking your money”

→ Campaign message: “I tried to give you $2,000 — they stopped it!”

∴ Thereby:

→ He gets credit for the promise, not the follow-through.

→ Opponents get blamed for fiscal responsibility.

→ Voters remember the offer, not the mechanics.

→ Voters get stuck with the bill buried in the higher prices of imports!

→ Voters forget that the tariffs are really going to pay off the taxcuts to billionaires!

(I had a little help with the list from ChatGPT)

As those late night commercials used to say.... "But wait, there's more!"

You see Trump also promised farmers about getting a share of the tariffs! CNN Business reported last month that,

“We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers. I WILL NEVER LET OUR FARMERS DOWN!” Trump wrote on social media this week. The other is tapping into a “slush fund,” as the officials described it, at the Department of Agriculture.

It seems to me that Trump promised rainbows but will deliver nothing,

Trump To Cut Taxes On Social Security!

[Editorial]
Wow, what's wrong with that?

That really sounds great, but…

Are you paying income tax on Social Security now? Um… no. Did you know only 40% of the people pay taxes on social Security! You want to guess who the 40% are? The Social Security Administration writes...

About 40% of people who get Social Security must pay federal income taxes on their benefits. This usually happens if you have other substantial income in addition to your benefits. Substantial income includes wages, earnings from self-employment, interest, dividends, and other taxable income that must be reported on your tax return.

You want to guess who the 40% are? The eliminating taxation on Social Security benefits would higher-income recipients, for low-income individuals who receive Social Security benefits it will have no benefit.

Kiplinger reports,

What's Wrong With Trump's Pledge to End Taxes on Social Security Benefits
Eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits could impact your finances. Here's what you need to know.
By Gabriella Cruz-Martínez
12 August 2024

Former President Donald Trump is promising to repeal taxes on Social Security benefits, a campaign pledge some experts say could potentially cause more harm to the program than good.

The proposal is meant to entice the 67 million U.S. households who receive monthly benefit checks from the retirement and disability program. Currently, up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be subject to federal tax, depending on a taxpayer’s combined income. But with poverty rates among older adults and people with disabilities on the rise, people wonder who this proposed tax cut would help, given that Social Security recipients with low incomes already don’t pay taxes on their benefits.

“He’s talking about getting rid of the taxation, which increases the benefits, but the very benefits that are subject to taxation will be much reduced,” Nancy Altman, president for Social Security Works told Kiplinger. “So basically, it’s not an honest proposal.”

It figures coming from Trump.

What’s more: Fully exempting taxes on Social Security benefits could drive the program’s retirement and Medicare hospital insurance trust funds into insolvency even faster, an analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found.

In other words, millions of beneficiaries would see reduced benefits as early as 2032. Here’s what the proposal could mean for your wallet.

And that my friend is the ultimate goal of the Republicans they hated Social Security from day 1! Kiplinger goes on to write...

The Tax Policy Center (TPC) estimates that lower-income households would get little to no benefit from Trump’s proposed tax cuts on Social Security benefits.

For instance, people making $32,000 or less wouldn't receive a tax cut since most of their Social Security income is already untaxed. Meanwhile, households earning between $32,000 and $60,000 annually would get an average tax cut of about $90.

•     Less than 1% of the lowest-earning households (those making about $33,000 or less annually) would get a tax cut
•     About 28% of middle-income households would get a tax cut
•     About 20% of households earning more than $5 million a year would get a tax cut

Those earning between $63,000 and $200,000 would see an uptick as a percentage of their after-tax income, the analysis found. But only those in the top 0.1%, or those making $5 million or more annually would see the largest tax advantages. On average, they’d get a tax cut of nearly $2,500 per year.

Once it is the billionaires that get the tax cuts!

online polls

[/Editorial]

Raise Your Hand

[Opinion]

If you think billionaires should pay more taxes raise you hand!

Ever since Reagan talked about “Trickled Down” economics billionaires have been raking in the money, corporate profits have soared, while salaries of the workers have remained flat with inflation.

My tax plan…

$1,000,000 > $5,000,000 = 70% tax bracket.
$5,000,001 > $10,000,000 = 80% tax bracket
$10,000,001 > = 85% tax bracket
Put a max on deductions for incomes over a million dollars

Bring back the Estate Tax on estates over $10,000,000, the Republicans like to call it a Death Tax but I like to call it the anti-Dynasty tax to prevent people like Musk from passing billions on to their children

Corporate taxes:
Companies pay no tax! I know people are going to say “WHAT, no taxes!” Yes, no taxes on companies but… taxes on all distributions.

It will work like this…

Stock bonuses taxed as ordinary income.
Capital gains taxed as ordinary income.

Dividends taxes as ordinary income.
Stocks buy backs taxed as ordinary income which the company has to pay. In other words, buying back a $100,000,000 of stock the company will have to pay taxes on it.

Think of it as a bucket all the money going into the bucket is not taxed but anything coming out of that bucket is taxed as income. If they want to modernized their factory... not taxed, If they expand the company... not taxes. If they give out bonuses to their employees... the employees pay the tax.
 

Someone once told me don't say billionaires say economically privileged

[/Opinion]

What’s Next

We have seen the Republicans go after abortion, trans healthcare, birth control, IVF, marriage equality, and Mifepristone. So what is next on the Republican “hit parade”?

Does the Fourteenth Amendment’s Section 1 on equal protection make tax brackets illegal? Could this be the next blockbuster court case?

The Founders’ View vs. the Progressive Income Tax

Tenth Amendment

April 14, 2016

By Burton W. Folsom

America’s founders rejected the income tax entirely, but when they spoke of taxes they recognized the need for uniformity and equal protection to all citizens. “[A]ll duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States,” reads the U.S. Constitution. And 80 years later, in the same spirit, the Fourteenth Amendment promised “equal protection of the laws” to all citizens.

In other words, the principle behind the progressive income tax—the more you earn, the larger the percentage of tax you must pay—would have been appalling to the founders. They recognized that, in James Madison’s words, “the spirit of party and faction” would prevail if Congress could tax one group of citizens and confer the benefits on another group.

Of course we don't know what the founding fathers thought because there was no income tax back then. What I think pokes holes in their argument is in 1913 the first income tax had brackets! 

Biden 2025 budget…

• Major individual, capital gains, and estate tax provisions modeled:
• Expand the base of the net investment income tax (NIIT) to include nonpassive business income and increase the rates for the NIIT and the additional Medicare tax to reach 5 percent on income above $400,000 (effective 2024)
• Increase top individual income tax rate to 39.6 percent on income above $400,000 for single filers and $450,000 for joint filers (effective 2024) [My emphasis]
• Tax long-term capital gains and qualified dividends at ordinary income tax rates for taxable income above $1 million and tax unrealized capital gains at death above a $5 million exemption ($10 million for joint filers)
• Limit retirement account contributions for high-income taxpayers with large individual retirement account (IRA) balances
• Tighten rules related to the estate tax
• Tax carried interest as ordinary income for people earning more than $400,000
• Limit 1031 like-kind exchanges to $500,000 in gains

It is the increase of the top tax brackets that has the billionaires hopping mad and if they are mad so are the Republicans. So I would not be surprised to a see a tailor made court case going to the Supreme Court.