Tariffs, Income Tax, and the Tectonic Shift in American Economic Policy

The Trump administration is executing a fundamental restructuring of American economic policy, and economic historian Brian Domitrovic breaks down why these changes represent a historic opportunity to restore American prosperity.

Headlines and Current Events

Start listening at 7:52 – Hour 1 Kim opens with the word of the day and Medal of Honor quote from James Taylor, whose call to “challenge a challenge and be ready to give your life if necessary to preserve freedom for future generations” sets the tone for the show’s discussion of economic freedom.

Start listening at 12:56 – Hour 1 Headlines cover RFK Jr.’s confirmation as HHS Secretary and Kash Patel’s approval as FBI Director, with Kim noting how USA Today’s hostile framing of Kennedy as a “dangerous joke” exemplifies media attempts to shape public opinion.

Start listening at 18:16 – Hour 1 Denver Mayor Mike Johnston proposes new bond debt for city projects. Kim points out this amounts to keeping property taxes elevated rather than letting them decrease, calling it “smoke and mirrors.”

Start listening at 24:02 – Hour 1 A Tampa Free Press report reveals that Biden HHS official Robin Dunn-Marcos directed $22.6 billion in migrant assistance grants, with her former employers International Rescue Committee and Church World Service receiving $598 million and $355 million respectively.

Economic Policy and the Trump Agenda

Start listening at 30:45 – Hour 1 Dr. Domitrovic joins to discuss economic policy.

“At least since the 1950s, there has been a complete bipartisan consensus that waste, fraud, and abuse should be rooted out of government. And it’s finally happening.”

Brian Domitrovic

Start listening at 34:00 – Hour 1 On the potential for $1 trillion in savings, Domitrovic explains how government shrinkage creates a multiplier effect: “There’d be more investment by the private sector into the real economy. And so there would be this kind of double growth.”

Start listening at 37:00 – Hour 1 Kim describes the current transformation as “tectonic.” Domitrovic agrees, explaining how Reagan-era transitions created 40 million new jobs despite Fortune 500 layoffs.

Tariffs as Economic Leverage

Start listening at 38:00 – Hour 1 On tariffs, Domitrovic notes Trump’s nostalgia for the pre-1913 era when tariffs funded government without income tax. He warns of dangers if both tariffs and income tax exist simultaneously, citing the Hoover-era disaster.

“The one thing I like about President Trump’s rhetoric on tariffs is that he’s very nostalgic for the era when we did not have an income tax at all, back before 1913, when the tariff carried the vast majority of the revenue load of the United States government.”

Brian Domitrovic

Start listening at 40:25 – Hour 1 Kim asks about using tariffs as leverage with Canada and Mexico on border security. Domitrovic acknowledges the complexity of mixing economic and national security objectives but affirms that “if the final goal is lower tariffs and lower domestic taxation, everyone globally is going to be better off.”

The Case Against Income Tax

Start listening at 45:00 – Hour 1 Domitrovic traces economic problems to the income tax amendment.

“My own personal view, a little bit radical maybe, is that the United States, at least at the federal level, should have no taxation at all, in that the United States runs the world monetary system.”

Brian Domitrovic

Start listening at 48:00 – Hour 1 On ideal taxation, Domitrovic takes a radical position: the U.S. should have no federal taxation at all, given its role running the world monetary system. He advocates property taxes capped at 1% of value, citing California’s 1978 Proposition 13 as “the single greatest tax reform at the state level in American history.”

Start listening at 49:00 – Hour 1 A listener texts about residential property taxes “taxing us out of our homes.” Kim connects this to Colorado’s elimination of the Gallagher Amendment and the subsequent surge in assessments.