In the fifth and final episode of Fox Nation’s Special “An Unauthorized History of Taxes”, Anker Bret Baier and his guest experts examine the current state of taxation and its cause and effect.
In the post-war west, taxation rose more exponentially than in previous decades, with extremely high marginal tax rates in both the US and the UK
As Baier notes, exorbitant taxes across the Atlantic in Britain in the late 1960s and 1970s drove the legendary Rolling Stones to the south of France to record what many consider to be their most popular album – Exile on Main St.
The band escaped what economist John Tamny said during the special, an estimated marginal tax rate of 83% and capital gains tax of 98% in England at the time, and quickly made their way across the English Channel.
Later today, the Fox Nation Special went into depth on the state-to-state battle for a reasonable tax rate – and, at times, the tangible population shifts that accompany the debate.
Former President Donald Trump recognized what he viewed as an inequality between states that used a federal tax deduction for their often high state taxes and those that ultimately subsidized the deduction – known as SALT (State & Local Tax Deduction).
As the Fox Nation specifically notes, Trump’s decision to end the SALT withdrawal has been violently backed by high-tax governors such as New York’s Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey’s Phil Murphy.
Cuomo railed against Trump in a 2018 clip played by Baier, claiming the New Yorkers were sending more money to Washington than the other 49 states, and his compatriot’s Queens compatriot’s new tax law wrongly charged 11 other states like his in favor of 38 lower tax states.
Cuomo added at the time that the move was a naked partisan push against blue states voting for Hillary Clinton, while Trump claimed it was a decision based on fair fiscal outlook for all federal taxpayers.
In 2020, Murphy signed a new state bill in Trenton that proponents say will “circumvent” Trump’s withdrawal of SALT by allowing some companies to pay state taxes at the corporate level rather than the individual level.
Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Tom Wolf also said in 2017 that lifting the SALT tax deduction would be “a blow to middle-class Pennsylvanians” – while Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, on the other side of the debate, would control the tax Blue State noticed structures simply drove Northeasters – and their wallets – into the “open arms” of the Sunshine State.
DeSantis said in 2019 that he had no plans to introduce an income tax and was happy with the state’s business climate.
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The Fox Nation Special also examined how blue states experienced an exodus outside of the SALT debate, much like the 1972 Rolling Stones temporarily leaving Britain.
Eight states – Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas – don’t have state income taxes.
In business terms, the state tax structure of Delaware has made the largest city, Wilmington, a haven for financial institutions such as banks and credit card companies.
Some of these states, including Florida and Texas, saw population influx, while high-tax blue states like Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and California saw an exodus.
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In the Fox Nation special, a clip by Cuomo also stated that even within New York state there was an intra-state population shift as people left New York City to travel to Long Island and Upstate with lower taxes.
Now watch the rest of the Fox Nation special to see what the experts think of these trends, and how President Biden anticipates the potentially highest tax hike since 1993 for America’s future.
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