Remember when America was an economic powerhouse—innovating, building highways, sending people to college, and even putting a man on the moon?
Here’s a fun fact: all of that happened while the top marginal tax rate on the Rich was a gobsmacking 94%. (With tax loopholes for job-creating industries.)
Yes, you read that right. From the end of World War II until 1963, the so-called “Golden Age” of the American Middle Class happened under the highest tax rates in our history.
Then we started slashing taxes for the wealthy:
- 77% in 1964.
- 50% in 1981.
- And by Reagan’s 1986 “reform,” the Rich were only paying 28%.
Coincidentally (wink-wink), our last truly balanced budget came just a few years after under Democrat President Bill Clinton.
Since then? Deficits as far as the eye can see.
| Factor | 1945–1963 High Taxes | Post-1964 Tax Cuts | 2025 Billionaire Tax instead of Tariffs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth during high rates | Strong—due to exemptions & public investment | Mixed—wages stagnate, inequality rises | Potential massive revenue; fairness improved |
| Top marginal rate | ~94 % nominal (effective much lower) | Cut to ~28 % by 1986 | Could be raised again, realistically get 50–60 % |
| Deficit reduction potential | Moderate (investment funded) | Less revenue, higher deficits | High impact if enforcement tight |
| Impact on middle class | Low (loopholes, few taxed) | Higher burden as revenue base shrank | Minimal if wealth broadly targeted |
| Tariffs as alternative | N/A | N/A | Regressive, harm GDP/wages; small revenue |
NOTE: The funny part is, Republicans kept selling this “tax-cut” lie to Americans saying business growth would be so massive with wealth “unleashed” that the increased tax revenue would more than pay for the tax cuts. The only result was corporate stock buybacks that made the Rich richer.
And every time it didn’t work, they said the same thing:
“Because of the Democrats, we couldn’t cut the taxes enough. We need to cut them more!”
After sixty freaking years, when the hell are things supposed to get better? For the Middle-class, that is. We have between 800-900 billionaires now in the US alone.
How much longer are we going to “buy” that Republican bullshit?
So here’s the head-to-head you won’t see on Fox Business:
🥊 Round One: The Golden Era of High Taxes
Nominal top tax rate: 94% (actual effective rate lower thanks to deductions).
GDP growth: ~3.9% annually in the 1950s.
Middle Class: Thriving. Real wages grew, union power was strong, upward mobility was real.
Government investment: GI Bill, interstate highways, NASA.
High taxes didn’t kill innovation. They funded it.
🥊 Round Two: Reagan’s “Trickle-Down” BS
The big lie was that cutting taxes on the wealthy would “free up capital” that would magically create jobs. Reality check:
Corporate tax breaks didn’t go into new factories or higher wages. They went into stock buybacks to goose share prices, making top shareholders and CEOs even richer.
Deficit reality: revenue shrank while spending grew. Who picked up the slack? The Middle Class. Payroll taxes, sales taxes, hidden fees—you’ve been paying for the Rich man’s discount.
Wealth inequality skyrocketed. The Middle Class stopped rising. The Rich bought bigger yachts.
Trickle-down economics wasn’t just bad policy. It was a con job. And millions of Americans still swallow it like communion wafers at the Church of Reaganomics.
🥊 Round Three: Trump’s Tariff Charade
Enter Trump with his “tariff war,” promising to stick it to China. What really happened?
Tariffs collected ≈ $250 billion a year at best.
Economic drag? Households lost ~$22,000 in lifetime income. GDP shrank. Wages fell. Inflation rose.
Who paid the tariffs? You did. Tariffs are just a back-door tax on consumers. They hit the Middle Class hardest, not the billionaires.
So, tariffs = regressive, inefficient, and painful.
🥊 Round Four: What If We Taxed the Rich Again?
Fast forward to 2025. America has 800–900 billionaires sitting on $6–7 trillion in wealth.
If we reinstated the 1963-style top rate (and actually closed loopholes this time):
We could conservatively raise $2–3 trillion per year.
That’s 10 times more than tariffs, without kneecapping the economy.
The burden would shift off the Middle Class and back onto the ultra-wealthy where it belongs.
This isn’t utopia math. It’s simple arithmetic. Compare it:
| Policy | Annual Revenue | Who Pays? | Side Effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trump’s Tariffs | ~$250B | Middle Class (consumers) | Inflation, wage decline, GDP loss |
| 1963-level Rich Tax | $2–3T (effective) | Top 0.1% | Deficit reduction, fund public investment |
Game. Set. Match.
⚠️ The Two-Class Future
Here’s the road we’re on if we keep buying Republican snake oil:
Middle Class shrinks.
Wealth funnels upward.
America becomes an oligarchy with only two classes: the Rich and the Poor.
Truth: We’re halfway there already.
🚀 Call to Action: How Do We Fix This?
The answer isn’t mysterious. It isn’t even radical. It’s literally how America worked during its greatest era of growth:
1. Raise top tax rates on extreme wealth back to sanity.
2. Close loopholes so billionaires can’t lawyer their way out.
3. Stop subsidizing stock buybacks—make corporations reinvest in workers and innovation.
4. Tell the truth: Trickle-down economics is a scam. Hell, George H.W. Bush called it “voodoo economics.”
Tariffs are a tax on you. Taxing the Rich is the only realistic, fair way to fix the deficit without gutting the Middle Class.
We don’t need to storm the Bastille—yet. But if enough Americans finally decide they’re done being conned, the oligarchs and their Republican lackeys will have no choice but to listen.
Because here’s the thing: history proves it. America works best when the Rich pay their fair share. And if we want to save the Middle Class—and maybe democracy along with it—it’s time to stop worshipping trickle-down fairy tales and start demanding real fiscal sanity.
The Rich can afford it. You can’t. So which side are you on?
👉 Wolverines, let’s hear it: If you’re sick of footing the bill while billionaires get tax breaks, share this post, shout it from the rooftops, and start demanding politicians show some spine. This fight is about whether America will be a democracy of equals—or a playground for oligarchs.
0 Comments