Views on the News from the Couch
My goal is to explore subjects that interest me – and might interest you – with some occasional humor and less partisan spin.
I call myself a conservative at about the 40‑yard line for Republicans but even that gets confusing given how far crazies and the media have moved the goalposts.
My aim is simple: call out the crazy on all sides and pull the conversation back toward a sane middle. AND encourage people to read the actual source material instead of just repeating headlines or relying on the media to tell us what we need to know. Full disclosure, I probably miss some of the crazy on the right.
If that sounds like your lane, give Views on the News from the Couch a try – and if you like it, please share it.
Be safe, and wear sunscreen.
Views on the News from the Couch
Tax the Rich, Kill the Host.
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In this episode of Views on the News from the Couch, I take apart the fantasy that we can fix America’s $35‑trillion‑plus debt and multi‑trillion‑dollar deficits just by “taxing the rich.” We run a thought experiment: what if we confiscated all billionaire wealth, then everything from people worth over $100 million, then over $10 million? Even after blowing up the entire top of the wealth pyramid, the debt isn’t gone—and the economy that generates future tax revenue is wrecked.
Then we look at Sweden, a country that actually does big government honestly. Swedes pay high taxes at almost every income level, not just at the very top, and they accept that broad burden in exchange for broad benefits. Americans, by contrast, want Swedish‑style social benefits with U.S.‑style taxes on everyone except “the rich.”
Finally, we talk about waste, fraud, and abuse—why it’s not a magic fix, but why both big‑government and small‑government folks should be serious about rooting it out if we care about what we’re handing to the next generation. If you want an adult conversation about taxes, spending, and reality, this one’s for you.
