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Sen Van Hollen, a vocal Trump critic, on how the Democrats get back in the fight
In a clip from GZERO World’s latest episode, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen lays out what Democrats must do to reclaim political momentum—and it starts with ditching reactive politics. “Voters don’t like people who always seem to have their finger to the wind,” he says. “Probably if I’d done that, I wouldn’t have gone to El Salvador.”
Van Hollen argues that while opposing Trump’s policies is important, Democrats also need to offer a proactive alternative that resonates with working Americans. A central piece of that, he says, is countering Trump’s tax agenda, which he calls “the great betrayal.” “He’s throwing working people under the bus to help the Elon Musks of the world,” Van Hollen warns, pointing to tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of middle- and low-income Americans.
He believes the party’s path forward should include targeted tax relief, expanded access to healthcare, and a stronger focus on economic security—issues that speak directly to voters who once backed Trump but may be open to change.
Watch full episode: Why Sen. Chris Van Hollen stood up to Trump
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Graphic Truth: Where the US government gets its revenue
The US government currently raises about $5 trillion a year in revenue. That plus another $2 trillion in debt are what make up the nearly $7 trillion that Uncle Sam spends annually.
But where does that revenue actually come from? Here’s a look at the breakdown.
Bear in mind, as you look at this, that incoming US president Donald Trump has suggested he wants to replace the income tax with his new tariffs. Would that be possible?
It’s true that until the income tax was implemented in the early 20th century, tariffs provided the lion’s share of US government revenue. But that was a time before social security, medicare, or a modern military when the government spent barely $500,000 a year.
With Trump’s tariffs expected to raise, at best, about $300 billion per year, using them to replace income taxes would entail an unfathomably radical shrinking of the US federal government.
Pierre Poilievre speaks after being elected as the new leader of Canada's Conservative Party in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 10, 2022.
Lines drawn on Canadian tax fight
Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre finally showed his cards on the controversial question of capital gains taxes, voting against proposed hikes and promising to cut taxes if he takes power.
The Liberals proposed the increase in capital gains taxes – which apply when Canadians sell stocks or other investment assets such as vacation properties – this spring to help offset billions in spending on housing and social support.
Trailing in the polls but still hoping to win among younger voters, the Liberals framed it as a matter of generational fairness.
Despite Polievre’s opposition, the measure — worth an estimated $19.4 billion over five years — passed easily and will soon become law.
But the vote, which came just as MPs were set to head back to their communities for the summer, sets up an ongoing war of words over the measure, with Liberals stressing economic fairness and Conservatives arguing that Liberal taxes are killing the economy.
FILE PHOTO: Vasiliki Kostoula, a Greek breast cancer patient, listens to her doctor after a radiological medical examination in an Athens hospital October 29, 2008.
Hard Numbers: Tax hacks, Breast cancer, Google dinged, AI job risk
294,138: The Internal Revenue Service received 294,138 complaints of identity theft in 2023 and flagged more than 1 million tax returns as potentially fraudulent. AI is set to supercharge tax fraud this season, letting malicious actors more easily impersonate people and obtain sensitive information needed to file fake tax returns in their name.
250 million: The French competition authority fined Google €250 million ($270 million) for failing to notify news publishers in the country that it was training its large language models on their articles. Google has already been forced to pay publishers in Australia and Canada to license their content, and the thorny question of AI training ushers in a whole new squabble for the internet giant.
10: According to a new US government estimate, 10 percent of workers are at high risk of being displaced by artificial intelligence. The findings, from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, show that the highest-risk individuals also are the ones with lowest levels of education and income—a reality that could further disadvantage many struggling Americans.A man and woman walk in front of the World Economic Forum Convention Center in Davos, Switzerland.
Hard Numbers: Women attendees in Davos, Talks on peace in Ukraine, Taxing extreme wealth, Rebuilding homes in Gaza
80: The ongoing war in Ukraine, which is nearly two years old, was a big topic in Davos this year. National security advisors from over 80 countries gathered in the Alpine ski town before the summit officially kicked off to discuss Kyiv's 10-point peace plan. Moscow has clearly been paying attention and dismissed meetings on Ukraine's peace formula as "pointless."
250: Over 250 millionaires and billionaires, including Disney heir Abigail Disney, lent their signatures to an open letter addressed to political leaders gathered in Davos, calling on them to do more to tax extreme wealth. "Our request is simple: We ask you to tax us, the very richest in society," the letter said.
15,000,000,000: The cost of rebuilding houses in Gaza will be at least $15 billion, the head of the Palestine Investment Fund said in Davos, as the Israel-Hamas war wreaks havoc on infrastructure across the coastal enclave. Chairman Mohammed Mustafa said it's estimated that around 350,000 housing units in Gaza have been completely or partially destroyed so far.
When high inflation meets high job rates
We live in odd economic times.
Polls show Americans now feeling so glum about the economy, yet okay about their individual finances?
Why? It's the unemployment, stupid, economist and University of Chicago professor Austan Goolsbee tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
Although real incomes have dropped due to high inflation, most Americans still have jobs, and many didn't take a big hit in their bank accounts — in part because the American Rescue Plan netted households an average of a $3,500 in tax cuts.
Watch the GZERO World episode: Explaining inflation & what's next for the US economy
Closing tax loopholes: How US Congress will fund spending bill
Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC, shares his analysis on US politics.
How is Congress planning on raising your taxes to pay for their new spending bill?
The short answer is they aren't. The new spending deal being negotiated by Senate leaders relies on several provisions that raise revenue for the federal government, by allowing lawmakers to claim they aren't raising taxes at all. How's that? By closing what policymakers consider loopholes in the tax code.
A loophole is a tough thing to define. Lawmakers have spent decades mangling the tax code to create incentives and special tax rates for all kinds of activities, including investing in equipment, conducting research activities, and hiring certain classes of workers. These special provisions in the tax code are sometimes derived as loopholes, even though most of them were purposely created by Congress.
These provisions also force companies to keep two separate sets of books to account for their income. One, that investors and accountants keep track of. And one for the IRS. This difference between the income recorded for accounting purposes and the income recorded for tax purposes, is one target the Democrats are going after.
By imposing a new minimum tax of 15% on the much broader definition of book income, Democrats raise over $300 billion to pay for new green energy projects and health care spending. This is a controversial provision in the tax world, however, as it means that several things that are normally deducted from company's income for tax purposes, will be wiped out, somewhat at cross purposes with the intention of the rest of the bill, which is to incentivize companies to make investments in green energy.
Another loophole is a whole bunch of new IRS enforcement agents, who are going to be hired to increase the rates of audits and collect taxes that are owed, but not paid. That's a lot of loophole closing, and together with the savings from prescription drug price controls, this bill on net will close the deficit by about $300 billion over the next 10 years.
And of course a loophole is in the eye of the beholder, as even though lawmakers may not see themselves as raising taxes, the entities that will be paying higher taxes sure will. While some of these tax increases will have effects that spill over to affect a small number of workers. They are raising all of this money without raising a single penny from you, unless you happen to be a large corporation.
Employee at a gas station during a protest against rising fuel prices in Assam, India.
Hard Numbers: India taxes diesel exports, Donetsk citizens told to flee, France nationalizes EDF, NYC needs lifeguards
100,000: New export taxes on fuel could reduce the amount of diesel India sells abroad by as much as 100,000 barrels per day, exacerbating shortages and high prices elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Indians keep scooping up Russian oil at bargain prices.
350,000: The governor of Donetsk is urging 350,000 civilians to escape the Ukrainian province as Russia advances in its bid to seize the entire eastern Donbas region. The Russians took Luhansk over the weekend and now control about half of Donetsk.
100: France will take 100% control of the debt-ridden power group EDF. The state already owned 84%, but EDF has been sustaining huge losses after investing in more nuclear plants and footing the bill for energy price caps introduced in January. The government hopes this will help France move away from fossil fuels.