Steve Lamar

Congress enacted rules that were designed to tax the richest Americans.

In 1913, the income tax became a standard, regular part of American life.

on inherited properties.

And for a while, the systems worked very well.

And in fact, the system kept growing to continue to compete with socialism.

Like when FDR created Social Security, this was his way of being like, capitalism can take care of people.

When FDR created Social Security, he wanted all Americans to feel a buy-in so that it wouldn't feel like a charity.

He wanted it to look like an insurance program.

which meant all Americans had to chip in to funding it.

The systems of Social Security and Medicare are paid for by payroll taxes, which are really quite hidden.

If you work for an employer, the payroll taxes are taken right out of your paycheck.

Like that moment in Friends when Rachel got her first paycheck.

FICA is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

That's the payroll tax.

Payroll taxes are the second largest source of federal taxes, right after income taxes.

In 2012, Mitt Romney was caught saying this at a fundraiser.

So working people are paying the income tax, the payroll tax.

And get this, working people are still paying most of the tariffs left over from that old outdated system.

This is our tariff expert Steve Lamar again.

To be very clear, tariffs existed long before Trump went all trigger-happy with them, and tariffs still exist after his flagrant abuse of tariffs was deemed unconstitutional.