Gov. Shutdown?

[Jonathan Whatley]

I'm not even sure I can come up with a period in U.S. history where people were ultra-religious and things were great. Maybe some periods were great for most white people, but they certainly weren't great for everyone else. The Bible was even used to justify race-based slavery and segregation. During these religious periods, people weren't very godly.

An institution of slavery based on dehumanizing a whole race of people: ungodly.
The fact that most African Americans are mixed with Caucasian due to widespread extramarital relationships and rape: ungodly.
Jim Crow laws that denied millions of people their rights: ungodly.
Beating, jailing, and lynching people who dared to exercise or fight for their rights: ungodly.
The "No Mexicans" signs Texas businesses used to put up: ungodly.
The genocide committed against Native Americans: ungodly.

Testify.

I think it's also worth remembering here that forces fighting hard against every one of these injustices have drawn great strength from religion: The Underground Railroad, abolitionism, the Civil Rights movement. The sanctuary movement. Indigenous rights movements.

UptonSinclair brought up how the U.S. used to bring in revenues by charging tariffs. Maybe we need to go back to charging taxes on imports. Some of the most unpatriotic people/entities are the businesses that are shipping our jobs overseas to countries with little regulation. If you think little regulation is good, tell that to the families of the poor workers in Bangladesh who were crushed in a factory collapse.

Another thing the U.S. should do is increase the dividends tax. The stock market is doing great right now, but this isn't trickling down to everyone else. Investors in the top 1% should not be paying a lower tax rate than those in the bottom 99%.

I'm sympathetic to a luxury tax, or an income tax with deductions for savings and investment. About the first taxes I'd move away from would be payroll taxes. I like payrolls. We could use some more.