Could you ever envision a tax rate or rate of employment by the government that would make you want enact cuts?

There’s a meme on the right that, if you ask a liberal about spending and taxation, there’s a general reluctance when it comes to cuts.

I’m just wondering if there’s any plausible tax rate or rate of employment by the government that might actually make you want to trim things back?

For instance, let’s say a Mamdaniesque candidate became president, and they enacted a federal jobs guarantee (unemployed people are offered government jobs even if those jobs aren’t necessary or were previously being filled by the private sector/volunteers, etc) and the top marginal tax rate on the middle class was let’s say 60% on anything earned above $60,000 (which is a plausible rate I could imagine a DemSoc implementing based on European rates & American needs), could you envision yourself voting for a Democrat at the primary stage who wants to trim that back?

Same thing with potential nationalisation of large corporations

I guess my question can best be summed up as can you envision a level of spending or taxation in your lifetime (not including taxes on billionaires) that could make you want the government to take a step back from economic control after a Democratic Socialist administration?

I mainly ask because the history of Western governments seems to be that once a new program is in, it either stays for good or ends up being rolled back by someone very conservative. Even in America, to my knowledge the only times Democrats pursued cuts was by signing Republican-authored legislation, like Clinton’s welfare compromise in the 90s.

Posted Jul 6, 2025, 9:02 PM UTC

625
Loading comments…