What to expect in 2026?
As 2026 approaches we can look forward to celebrating our Nation’s 250th anniversary as a Republic by watching Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) matches on the White House lawns which will be next to the construction of a 30,000 square foot ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood but was demolished by our current President. This big, beautiful ballroom, with a gold gilded interior, will cost over $300 million to build but our President said he is going to pay for it all by himself with money donated to him by private donors.
Look how far we have come since our Nation’s 200th Birthday in 1976, here are some comparisons. In 1976 our National Debt was just under $1 trillion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was 959. The number of billionaires in the United States was estimated at 15-17 while the only publicly acknowledged billionaire was David K. Ludwig, a self-made shipping magnate. The Corporate tax rate had been lowered from 48% to 46% and the highest individual income tax rate had been reduced from 70% to 50%. The Median Household Income was $22,390, meaning half of household incomes were higher while half of household incomes were less. The Average Household Income was close to $23,000 because higher income earners brought the average amount up a little higher than the median amount.
Fast forward to present day our National Debt is over $38 trillion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 47,954 as of this writing. The number of billionaires in this country has increased since the start of this year from 902 to 924. The Corporate tax rate has been reduced to 21% and the top individual tax rate has been reduced to 37%. The Median Household Income has risen to $83,000 while the Average Household Income is $120,950, which means high income earners bring the Average Household Income to a value close to $40,000 higher than the Median Household Income.
Republican Leadership likes to repeat the phase, “We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem”, I disagree. This Nation has a concentration of wealth in the hands of a small percentage of our population that is undermining the economic and social order of our Nation. The 5 richest men in our Nation have personal wealth ranging from almost $600 billion down to $240 billion dollars. They have accumulated that wealth mainly in technology, think Space X, Meta, Oracle, Google and retail, think Amazon. The 5 richest women in our Nation have accumulated wealth ranging from over $122 billion down to over $34 billion dollars. The women have all inherited wealth from their husbands or inherited wealth as part of a family fortune. Think about this, if you spent 100,000 dollars every year without saving a penny, it would take you 10,000 years to spend 1 billion dollars. How many billions of dollars do the 924 billionaires in this country need to live comfortably do you think? They could probably live well with ten billion dollars a year don’t you think? Currently we are paying 100 billion dollars of interest every month on the National Debt which we owe to banks, wealthy individuals and investment institutions. This wealth disparity is causing individual states, counties and cities across our country to raise property taxes and cut services.
Our current National Debt is currently 25% larger than the total yearly economic output of this nation, our Gross Domestic Product (GPD),as a Nation we cannot sustain this disparity if we are to remain economically and socially viable. Raising the Corporate tax rate and especially the tax rate on individual wealth would go a long way to help reduce our national debt as well as eliminating government fraud, excessive mandates and regulations.
Use your voice to influence the policy decisions of our elected officials and use your vote to elect leaders that will listen to and respond to the issues of concern of the majority of voters in this Nation. Here are some contact numbers for our elected leaders: President Donald Trump- 202-456-1414 ask to leave a comment; Rep. Brad Finstad-202-225-2472 press 6 to leave a comment; State Senator John Jasinski (SD19)- 651-296-9457; State Rep. Keith Allen (HD19A)-651-296-8237; State Rep. Tom Sexton (HD19B)-651-296-5368. Best Wishes for the Christmas Season and hope for better in 2026.
Philip Heim
Steele Co. DFL Chair
