June 6, 2023
The 2024 Presidential Election is still 17 months away, and campaigning for the nominations is already heating up. The Republican list is growing, featuring these declared candidates and others likely to declare: Former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and political commentator Larry Elder.
Democrats, on the other hand, have only three interested parties, so far: President Joe Biden, environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., lecturer and author and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson.
Biden and Trump lead their respective parties at this point, and only one other Republican candidate, DeSantis, has seen much support. That has Trump firing shots across the bow, starting as DeSantis was traveling the country before he declared himself officially a candidate.
Trump, whose aggressive nature has cost him votes in the past, is focusing on DeSantis because he’s the only threat at this point. Trump has noted recently that you have to go after number two, and he is doing just that.
In addition to his penchant for name-calling, Trump has criticized Ron “DeSanctimonious” on two things recently. On both counts there is a problem with the criticism.
A political ad produced by Make America Great Again, Inc., has the narrator saying “We Can’t Afford Ron DeSalesTax,” with the tune of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” in the background. It accuses DeSantis of having voted to raise taxes when he supported a 23 percent sales tax measure while serving in the House of Representatives a few years back.
That is true, as far as that brief statement goes. In fact, DeSantis co-sponsored the Fair Tax Act in 2013, 2015, and 2017. However, there is a good bit more important information about the Act than the Trump ad tells us.
In addition to a sales tax with a high rate, the Act would replace federal income, estate, payroll and gift taxes. So instead of paying a tax on every dollar you earn and those other categories, you pay only on things you buy that are subject to the tax. That is very different than simply voting for a 23 percent sales tax, on top of the others, as the ad implies.
"In Congress, the governor supported the concept of a Fair Tax, a plan to lower the overall tax burden on an individual by replacing all federal taxes — including income tax — with a lower tax. The plan also sought to end the IRS which, at the time, was being weaponized by the Obama administration. To describe only part of the plan in an attack is dishonest," said Bryan Griffin, the DeSantis political team press secretary.
DeSantis is still a critic of the IRS, saying it has become "a corrupt organization" and would "chuck it out the window" for a single-rate taxation system. He said that he has supported all of the single-rate proposals, and believes a fair tax or a flat tax system replacing the current system would be a big step forward, and something more favorable to average folks.
The second thing Trump misrepresented is DeSantis talking about two terms in the White House. “I’ve been watching ‘DeSanctus’ go out and say ‘I’ve got eight years. It’s going to be eight years,'” Trump said. “If he’s saying it’s going to take eight years for things to change, then you don’t want him as your president,” he added. “I can turn quickly. Reduce inflation, lower interest rates and heal the economy. This will take six months,” he said in a radio interview.
But DeSantis was not saying it would take him eight years just to do those things. He was saying that he could hold the presidency for eight years, as opposed to only four years that Trump could serve. That would give his policies more time to mature and become the new normal. DeSantis’ point was quite different than what Trump implied.
DeSantis’ idea for a new tax system based on the new sales tax and eliminating the IRS, would simplify the tax situation, reduce the taxes paid by millions of Americans, reduce the federal budget and help the government live within its means, and also reduce the heavy hand that government agencies often wield over those they serve. And a system with a fair tax or flat tax would also provide benefits to taxpayers.
It seems likely that Trump would also like the ideas DeSantis has for taxation. He did, after all, cut taxes substantially while he was President.
Trump and DeSantis will likely be going at each other throughout the campaign. Hopefully, the focus will become what each candidate is for, rather than what and who they are against.
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