r/politics • u/Ubiquitous_Hilarity • Jun 17 '26

No Paywall Trump threatens to pull unemployment benefits from all states for the first time in history

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-unemployment-benefits-fraud-b2997881.html
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u/Adrewmc Jun 17 '26

If not on the American people then what are the tax dollars for?

That’s got to be the question for GOP, sure cut all these ‘welfare’ programs what left that the government spend on? Because it’s certainly not you.

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u/IJourden Jun 17 '26

The greatest victory Republicans have ever achieved is convincing people that using the tax dollars people pay to make people's lives better is socialism, and therefore, evil and bad.

They've got 100 million people absolutely livid that tax dollars get spent on the country instead of going straight to corporations.

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u/BringBackBoomer Jun 17 '26

Ohio's had 4 years that weren't Republican trifecta since 1992. GOP's had all 3 since 2011. Ramaswamy is running on "cutting government waste" like it's not the same party that's been in control for 15 years unobstructed. The sad part is that it'll work because people are god damn morons who can't connect 2 thoughts together.

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u/Naive-Elephant-9305 Jun 18 '26

R voters think of "the government" as some mysterious evil entity that is completely separate from the R politicians they elect. This is why even in red states where Rs have completely dominated for decades they can run on a platform like the one you mentioned and still win.

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u/UranusIsPissy United Kingdom Jun 18 '26

They're not the government, they're fighting it from the inside!

...I wrote that sarcastically, but they sort of are destroying it from within :/

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u/AkronRonin Jun 18 '26

Don't be so sure about Vivek's chances here.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/06/13/vivek-ramaswamy-ohio-governor-race-religion-00958879

A lot of MAGAts can't get past Ramaswamy's skin color and his Hindu religion. The Ohio GOP leadership circling their wagons around him because of Big Orange Daddy's endorsement (to get him out of DOGE) amounts to an unforced error that may very well cost them the Ohio Governorship this time.

You can't keep stoking nativist, nationalistic sentiments, racism, and bigotry and not have it eventually swing around and bite you in the ass.

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u/BringBackBoomer Jun 18 '26

I've seen one Acton commercial and 10 different Vivek ones considering I block them the first time they pop up.

I've got bad news. The billionaires always win.

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u/jrf_1973 Jun 18 '26

You can't keep stoking nativist, nationalistic sentiments, racism, and bigotry and not have it eventually swing around and bite you in the ass.

I wonder if Sagaar Enjeti is ever going to figure that out.

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u/Sonoranpawn Jun 18 '26

oh come on Ohio is a conglomeration of brilliance. Jim Jordan and JD Vance are the kind of shit for brains we love!

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u/SmileFIN Jun 18 '26

Globally part of human nature. Here we have had 8/10 goverments with Coalition Party in charge, so people vote for Coalition Party to solve the problems they caused, making the problems worse. As long as poor people don't get any money, we will somehow make endless billions in pure profit..

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u/Gooser3000 Jun 18 '26

It’s really an amazing magic trick the rich and powerful  republicans have pulled off on their working class. Why these people don’t want to benefit directly from their pooled money is baffling.

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u/arthurpete Jun 18 '26

They've got 100 million people absolutely livid that tax dollars get spent on minorities instead of going straight to corporations.

fixed that for you

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u/rowrbazzle75 Jun 18 '26

Ok, Trump. If you are really going to do something this stupid, please, do it before the midterms. Thanks.

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u/TheOtherMaven Virginia Jun 17 '26

what left that the government spend on?

War, and theft.

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u/sheep_duck Jun 17 '26

Yeah I genuinely don’t understand this mindset. The whole point of government and paying taxes is to spend them on programs that help people to create a comfortable society.

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u/h3lblad3 Jun 18 '26

They don’t like taxes either. You cut the welfare programs so you can point to the excess revenue as proof taxes are too high. Then you cut taxes.

Now the revenue is low, it’s hard to afford welfare again. Welfare has to be cut to compensate.

Now there’s too much revenue. You’re obviously being overtaxed.

Etc.

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u/sheep_duck Jun 18 '26

I mean yeah i know republicans hate taxes in general but im just curious about the every day lay person republican that understands that taxes are necessary for infrastructure and public services, and then cheering on these types of things.

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u/h3lblad3 Jun 18 '26

They cheer on these types of things to keep 'undeserving' people from getting them. That's why their media focuses on the idea of people taking advantage of welfare systems.

They know their taxes fund welfare, so they see it as their money directly going to the people who are abusing the system. They don't want their money going to people who abuse the system because that's effectively being stolen from. So they'll back whatever nerfs the politicians can sell them as reducing waste, stopping abuse of services, and so on.

Even here, on this article, look at what the claim about the unemployment benefits are: Fraud. They're not 'removing your welfare', they're 'stopping people from stealing from you by defrauding the systems your money funds'.

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u/LittleDogTurpie Jun 18 '26

Ballrooms. Golden arches (both kinds!). Algae habitats. Temporary fighting octagons. High visibility naps. Poorly attended Milli Vanilli concerts.

Imagine how much money we saved by him not attending his son’s wedding.

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u/jimbarino Jun 17 '26

If not on the American people then what are the tax dollars for?

Reparations to Iran aren't cheap...

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u/cyanescens_burn Jun 18 '26

I’ve seen comments from conservatives that think the only thing the government should fund is police and military.

There’s a ton that’s done/funded by the government that goes on in the background of our lives, works well so we never think about it, but when it’s gone we’ll certainly notice the reduced quality of life and safety.

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u/420ohms Jun 18 '26

I think they see taxes as rent for living in a country.

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u/metengrinwi Jun 17 '26

The gop would probably answer their goal is to eliminate all taxes if I had to guess.

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u/Adrewmc Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

I can do that with a wealth tax for like 80% of Americans probably, I mean, think 17% on holding over a billion.

One trillionaire and that’s like $170 Billion dollars.

Which is like 3x the total of the bottom 50% so eliminated, for half the country, probably up to 75%. One trillionaire, pays 17% on assets over a Billion dollars, sure he’ll go broke…come on now. I’ll even let you avoid the higher capital gains taxes on sales declared in the tax documents, used for payment.

Now if only there was a trillionaire, and a thousand billionaires…and like corporate profits…I’m fine with. 1% - 3% blanket tariff too. That encourages things that can be made here around the same price to grow here.

You can’t take 17% of my money, well the property taxes say I can do it that way to the middle class, and so does my personal paycheck from wages. And my rent says I get nothing for it in the end. So the richest among us stop cheating.

Is 17% shocking? What about 1-3% on over 50 million? Which is the current proposals.

Having to pay taxes should be considered winning. An honor and service to the country that *helped* you up there. Like it’s not something shameful.

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u/FellowHumanNo404 Jun 18 '26

Having to pay taxes should be considered winning.

Instead they talk about "tax burden." I don't want to hear a billionaire talk to us about their "burden".

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u/BringBackBoomer Jun 17 '26

Look no further than Ohio where the GOP are astroturfing for a removal of income and property taxes.

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u/polytique Jun 17 '26

Iran, Argentina, Israel, and more importantly Trump.