Progressives Shouldn't Cut Income Taxes
Katie Porter and Chris Van Hollen are undercutting themselves by announcing "tax relief."
Democrats, even progressive ones, consistently shoot themselves in the foot by buying into Republican framing. Since Bill Clinton steered the party away from protecting workers’ rights, Democrats have run on a softer version of Republican neoliberalism. By arguing that the Free Market™️ is the source of prosperity, the party has made itself a weaker alternative to the more committed GOP. It’s the Diet Coke vs. Coke paradox that has led to Democrats’ current dismay. If Republicans say taxes are evil and promise to aggressively cut them, and then Democrats agree that taxes are evil and promise to moderately cut them, the American voter understands that taxes are evil and the Republicans will cut them more. Can we really be surprised when Americans vote Republican? This conundrum exists in most political issues. In 2024, Donald Trump positioned immigration as a bad thing and aggressively ran on stopping it through brutal deportations. Attempting to triangulate, Kamala Harris also said immigration was a bad thing and argued Trump was too irresponsible to stop it, criticizing him for killing the lauded Bipartisan Border Build. With both candidates saying immigration is a very serious matter, it’s no surprise 61% of voters said it was important to their vote and overwhelmingly went to the more anti-immigrant candidate, Donald Trump. Had Harris undercut Trump’s xenophobic message with a positive view of immigration, perhaps she’d be sitting in the White House.
Recently, two high-profile Democrats have fallen into this trap by announcing high-profile tax cut proposals. As part of her California gubernatorial bid, former congresswoman Katie Porter promised to eliminate the state income tax for families earning under $100,000. On the national scene, Maryland Senator and likely 2028 presidential contender Chris Van Hollen introduced legislation to eliminate the federal income tax for those earning under $46,000. While I am fond of both of these politicians, and I understand the desire to appear as the most affordability-focused candidate, progressive tax-cut proposals affirm the Republican worldview, weakening Democrats’ electoral effectiveness and ultimately harming the working-class Americans these candidates aim to help.
Every Republican is in lockstep on the party’s tax message: “Your life is difficult because the government steals your money through taxes, making it harder for your family to get by.” It’s a simple, understandable message that has worked extraordinarily well for the GOP. When a figure like Van Hollen or Porter announces a plan for “tax relief,” all they are doing is confirming to voters that their lives are hard because the government steals their money through taxes, making it harder for their families to get by. Chris Van Hollen is unintentionally supporting Donald Trump’s view of the federal income tax, which he called for replacing with tariffs at the State of the Union. You see the issue here. I doubt California will elect a Republican Governor anytime soon, but both Katie Porter and Chris Van Hollen are encouraging tax cuts, which undercuts their messages against both Republicans and the corporate Democratic establishment, with which they frequently oppose. This is especially foolish in California, where billionaires and their bought politicians are arguing against a much-needed billionaires’ tax. Katie Porter supports this referendum, but pushing an income tax cut undermines its effectiveness by framing taxes as a burden on the state’s inhabitants and, by extension, its economy. Instead, progressives should argue for a positive vision of taxation as a means to harmonize society and ensure a high quality of life for those in high-income areas.
One reason I’m particularly fond of Bernie Sanders is that he rejected the neoliberal agreement between both parties’ establishments and spoke to voters like adults. During both his presidential campaigns, he clearly stated that Medicare for All would require tax increases on most Americans while explaining that the program would reduce healthcare costs, leaving Americans with more money. Now, the media slandered him for it, and the billionaire-backed centrist think tanks still continue to lie about funding Medicare for All to this day.👇🏻 Despite this, 2020 primary voters preferred Sanders’ healthcare plan, tax increases, and all, over Biden, 50% to 38%.
Centrists Are So Desperate They're Faking Polls Now
There’s a new report out from The Welcome Party (a.k.a. WelcomePAC) arguing Democrats must move to the right — or “moderate,” as the authors put it —to win elections. Predictably named “Deciding to Win: Toward a Common Sense Renewal of the Democratic Party
Instead of telling voters that taxes are a burden they need relief from, progressive Democrats should take a cue from the most popular senator in the country and discuss taxes as both a path to a better life and a civic duty. By educating Americans that taxes are repayment for income and wealth created through society’s legal, physical, and social structures, we can lay the groundwork for large tax increases on millionaires, billionaires, and capitalists to fund necessary public programs and depower the American oligarchy. Rather than adopt Van Hollen and Porter’s plan, which would be difficult to message with hard income cut-offs for when taxation begins, progressives should support consistently rising tax brackets that take more from higher earners. It would be very easy to message this, as the same rules apply to every American: at times when you have less money, society expects you to pay less. But if you earn more money, we expect you to pay more. If those who earn a lot begin to earn less, they will pay less. If those who earn little begin to earn a lot, they will pay more. It’s the same rules for everyone that avoid positioning taxes as something the average working-class American should resent.
Given that the “taxes bad!” message has been reinforced by most major politicians my entire life, progressives will face temporary hurdles as they start reframing taxation. But as the success of politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani shows, talking to voters like adults is a path to continued public support and positive change. This is especially important for progressives, who correctly realize that returning to the pre-Trump political order will only recreate the conditions for another conservative demagogue to take power down the road.
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In Solidarity — Joe