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Ronald Reagan was the GOAT · Brett Keane and Eve Show

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  When you and I were boys back in the Midwest, governments,
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  federal, state and local were only taking about $0.15 out of
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  every dollar earned. Today they're taking almost half
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  of every dollar earned in the United States and most people
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  don't realize it because the taxes are hidden in the
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  so-called business taxes. You know the politician that
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  stands up and yells, oh, let's save the little man, let's tax
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  business. And everybody yells array, but
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  they haven't figured out that every tax on business is just a
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  part of the cost of production and the customer winds up paying
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  it when he buys the product. It's a hidden sales tax.
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  There's 116 of them in a the suit of clothes that each one of
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  us. Is that right?
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  Suppose. A lot of economists have
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  suggested, and I don't know if it'll ever come to be in this
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  country, that they're, if they closed all of the loopholes and
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  corporations and maybe tax loopholes and even on the rich,
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  certain loopholes and, and made a percentage income and made a
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  flat fee without all of the deductions that the government
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  might raise as much money as they do now.
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  Oh. Sure, and really the loopholes.
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  This has been overdone by the politicians too.
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  The bulk of the money that is taken by what are called
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  loopholes are the legitimate deductions with which if the
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  people didn't have them, they couldn't pay their income tax,
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  interest on their mortgage, interest on the installments on
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  their on their car, their property taxes on their home if
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  they have one, and so forth. These are in politicians size
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  loopholes, but we ought to have tax reform and we ought to start
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  by making it so simple that you don't have to hire a lawyer to
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  find out how much you owe every year.
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  That's for sure. It used to be.
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  It used to be a little simplified, but not anymore.
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  We, we Johnny, we live in the only country in the world where
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  it takes more brains to figure out your income tax than it does
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  to earn the income. I'd be.
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  Right. We've gotten in the habit over
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  the last 40 years of thinking the government has the answers.
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  There's very little that government can do as efficiently
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  and as economically as the people can do themselves.
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  And if government would shut the doors and sneak away for about 3
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  weeks, we'd never miss them. Our biggest problem is that we
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  have built a permanent structure of government, federal, state
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  and local, the permanent employees, and they've come to
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  the place that they actually determine policy in this country
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  more than does the Congress of the United States.
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  There are 14 and a half million public employees in the United
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  States. That's quite a voting bloc.
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  And the bureaus and agencies not in Washington.
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  I heard you talking earlier about some of the research
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  programs. What would you say if I told you
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  about one? A study in which this was called
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  the The Demography of Happiness. And in this study, the
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  government found out that young people are happier than old
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  people and they found out that people that earn more are
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  happier than people that earn less.
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  And they found out that, well, people are happier than six
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  people. That's.
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  Good. It was $249,000 to find out.
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  It's better to be rich, young and healthy than old, poor.
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  And a poll was taken recently that found out that only 46% of
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  the people in the poll could name their United States
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  Congressman. But what was worse, 86% of those
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  who could name him couldn't tell you a single thing that he
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  represented or stood for. They just knew that he
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  represented the. State but he was a congressman,
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  but what's he doing while he's up there?
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  And the same is true at the at the local levels of government
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  and and all the rest. But so.
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  You're saying people really have to take an active interest and
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  you have to have citizen action groups locally and.
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  And let them know it's a certain special interest groups.
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  Now, the special interest groups aren't as everyone thought.
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  Big, powerful business interests are something that are going to
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  persuade government to do things.
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  As a matter of fact, I don't know anyone with less influence
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  today in government than business.
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  They're just a convenient whipping point, but it's the
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  groups that have got a particular axe to grind.
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  You can't have a power plant because it might interfere with
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  the the seagulls. Now, I think I'm an
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  environmentalist and I do not agree with those people way over
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  the edge who pave the whole country over in the name of
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  progress. But also I don't like those on
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  the other extreme that won't let you build a house unless it
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  looks like a bird's nest someplace in the middle.
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  We got to allow people or ecology too.
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  Well, this kind of group, and they want their particular
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  program. Hundreds of dollars have been
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  added to the cost of an automobile, putting gadgets on
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  it to to clear up the air. We're the only country in the
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  world that set out to do it that way.
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  When budget deficits are what's causing inflation, I don't see
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  that there's any room to be on either side of that argument.
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  I think the answer to curing inflation is a balanced budget.
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  Now, how do you do that? I mean, it's not how do you
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  balance the budget? Well, balancing the budget is
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  like protecting you. Don't spend more than you take
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  in, right? It's like protecting your
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  virtue. You have to learn to say no.
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  There's got to be another way. What's the second option?
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  Well, well, there's some ways that this could be brought
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  about. First of all, at limitation
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  here, Here's another one. Why shouldn't we have, in
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  addition to a simplified income tax, why shouldn't we also have
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  a law that says that anytime a legislator or a congressman
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  introduces a spending program, he has to introduce with it a
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  tax program to pay for it? Then let the people find out.
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  There was a woman that from a financial firm that was back at
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  the President's economic council and her words weren't quoted.
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  Everybody else's words got in the paper all the Hellers and
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  the Galbreaths and all the so-called economists.
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  And I had AI have a degree in economics.
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  So I can say this, I think an economist is someone who has a
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  Phi Beta Kappa key on one end of his watch chain and no watch on
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  the other. This woman said that you go to
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  the polls and you ask the people do they want some social
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  service, some program the government can give and the
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  people in the polls are apartment to read and say that
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  sounds good. Yeah, but she says that isn't
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  exactly accurate. She says put $100 bill in each
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  person's hand and then show them the program and say now isn't
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  that a nice program? Do you want it?
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  Give me the $100. And she says, see what the poll
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  says then and how many people hang on to the $100 instead of
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  the program. In other words, if it's rather
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  hidden and someone doesn't know exactly where it's going to
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  come, they. All start all the government
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  programs start a dollar down and we'll catch you later.
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  And, and they they multiply all of those things that you would
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  the Office of Management and Budget in Washington that's
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  responsible for the budget putting up, putting the budget
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  together cannot even tell you how many boards, commissions,
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  agencies, bureaus and departments there are in the
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  federal government, but all of them can pass regulations and
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  those regulations have the force of law.
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  And the difference is when you break the law, you're innocent
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  until proven guilty. When you break a regulation, the
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  fellow that charges you with the breaking the regulation, you're
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  guilty. And if you want to take him to
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  court and prove you're innocent, that's up to you.
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  And all of these are things that that, yes, we can trim the
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  budget. There's enough fat in the
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  federal government that if you rendered it, you could wash the
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  world. Maybe it's time for realignment
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  between people who might be finding themselves in the wrong
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  parties. Maybe there's some people still
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  voting. I was a Democrat most of my
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  life. I became a Republican only not
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  too many years ago. And I had the pleasure of
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  telling some of those people that are saying the Republican
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  Party ought to broaden its base the other day that when I
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  switched parties, I didn't do it because the two parties were
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  alike. I did it because they were
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  different. And I think that the two parties
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  ought to stand up as to what they represent, what they stand
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  for.