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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
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--:-- John Bickley: The administration scrambles to clarify remarks by President Biden after he seems to call for the removal of Vladimir Putin. For God's sake, this man cannot remain power. What is the current state of Kiev, Mariupol and other cities? And is Russia signaling a shift in strategy? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, March 28th, and this is Morning Wire. President Biden is set to propose a new tax to fund his agenda. Who would this tax affect and why are Republicans and even some Democrats opposed to it? And New York City's mayor announces exemptions to the private sector vaccine mandate, but only for performers and athletes. We'll discuss what led to the move and the fallout from what critics say is a double standard for elites versus regular New Yorkers. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned.
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--:-- John Bickley: This show is sponsored by Birch Gold Group. The market's slow decline has now worsened, and you need to make sure that your savings are protected with alternative investments. Hedge your savings today before it's too late with Birch Gold. Text the word WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver today. Again, text WIRE to 989898 to protect your savings with Birch Gold today.
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--:-- John Bickley: The Russian military claims that the first phase of their strategy is now complete. The claim comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has stalled. And after President Joe Biden delivered a controversial speech in Poland. Here to give us the latest on Ukraine is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Well, arguably the biggest story from over the weekend was President Joe Biden's apparent call for a regime change in Russia. Biden ended a three-day trip to Europe, which included attending an emergency NATO summit last Thursday with a speech in Poland. Biden called on democracies around the world to unite, which is a common thread in Biden's rhetoric, and commit to the fight against authoritarianism. But in what we must assume was an unscripted moment, Biden then said that Putin can no longer stay in power.
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--:-- Ian Howarth: A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people's love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. For free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. We will have a different future, a brighter future, rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light of decency and dignity and freedom and possibilities. For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power. He cannot remain in power.
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--:-- Ian Howarth: That's obviously a significant statement. Yeah, and to say the least, what certainly sounded like calls for regime change set off alarm bells back in D.C., and the Biden administration went into immediate damage control. That evening, a White House official said that Biden wasn't talking about Putin's control over Russia, but was instead saying that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken also walked back Biden comments With regard to the president incredibly powerful speech yesterday I think the president the White House made the point last night that, quite simply, President Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else. He then reiterated previous claims that official U.S. policy is not one of regime change.
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--:-- Ian Howarth: But given that in the last few days, Russian officials have threatened additional violence in response to what they deem international threats, the clarity of Biden's comments could have an impact far beyond the halls of Washington, D.C. And it's unlikely that retroactive redefinition of his words will do much to assuage Putin. Definitely a concerning development.
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--:-- Ian Howarth: In terms of the conflict itself, have there been any significant changes since we last spoke? Yeah, this is actually an interesting topic as there has been a change of messaging from the Russians when it comes to their military strategy. According to Moscow, the first phase of their invasion is over, and they're now going to be focusing on, quote, liberating Ukraine's Donbass region in the east of the country. Their defense ministry said that they have achieved their initial objectives, which was apparently to reduce the combat capacity of Ukraine. But given what we've witnessed in the last month or so since the invasion started, realistically, the Russians are shifting the goalposts to try and save face after what can only be described as a military disaster.
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--:-- Ian Howarth: They failed to take the capital city, Kiev, as well as several other key positions in the country, and morale is reportedly dropping by the day as they face a resilient Ukrainian military and civilian units as well. It's also important to note that this might be yet more false information, as Russian forces have also claimed to have hit the western city of Lviv with cruise missiles. And this is all while Ukrainian officials are reporting truly massive Russian losses. As of Sunday, we're talking approximately 16,600 Russian troops killed, according to the Ukrainians, which is a massive number in just a month. Just over 2,400 US service members died during the 20-year war in Afghanistan for comparison. And then there's the massive losses in terms of equipment. 121 planes, 127 helicopters, 582 tanks. The list goes on and on.
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--:-- Ian Howarth: So we might be at a crossroads in terms of Russian military strategy, but the situation has definitely been made far more complicated by Biden's apparent call for a regime change. Let's certainly hope this doesn't escalate further. Thanks, Ian.
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--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire's Ian Howarth. Coming up, President Biden is set to propose a new tax for wealthy Americans. If you're with Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, you're paying too much. Switching to Pure Talk saves the average family over $800 a year. Go to puretalk.com, find the right plan for you, and enter promo code WIRE to save 50% off your first month.
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--:-- John Bickley: Today, as part of his annual budget proposal, President Biden is set to announce a new tax on wealthy Americans, including a controversial and potentially illegal tax on unrealized gains. Here with more on who will be impacted by the proposal and how it could change the future of paying taxes is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, can you first give us an overview of the proposal and who it's going to affect? Yeah, the plan targets the wealthiest Americans, specifically those worth more than $100 million. That's a little under 20,000 households right now. The stated goal is to make sure those households are paying at least 20% taxes on their income, and more importantly, their assets as they increase in value.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: While the average person in the top 0.1% of income earners pays around 32% in federal taxes, according to the Treasury Department, those at the very top, that's the ones in question here, are often able to pay lower rates because they can do things like borrowing against their stocks and other assets, which are taxed until being sold. So the plan would essentially make getting under that 20% rate impossible in theory.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now President Biden had campaigned on raising taxes on wealthy Americans, so the fact he rolled this out wasn't a huge surprise, but the surprise was how it's going to be implemented, especially the part on taxing unrealized gains. Yeah, so tell us more about that. What exactly do they mean when they say taxing unrealized gains?
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: So a lot of people probably heard that first part on this tax only applying to those worth hundreds of millions of dollars and tuned out thinking it wouldn't impact them. But the precedent that would be set with taxing unrealized gains is absolutely something that could soon be used by the IRS to tax everyone. Typically, wealth is taxed only once it's actually realized. For example, when you sell off a stock holding or property, you're taxed on the profit once that sale is made. But in this case, a tax on unrealized gains means you'd be taxed on the real-time increase in the value of the assets you hold, even if you're not cashing them out.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: So to put it in smaller terms, if you own $1,000 in stock, the price of that stock rises to $2,000. You could then be taxed on that $1,000 increase, even if you never sell the stocks. And what's the reaction been to this aspect of the new proposal? Well, in the past, this tax on unrealized gains really only had support from the most far-left Democrats. The fact that this is now being proposed by President Biden shows how much of a shift the party has seen on economics in just a few short years.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Critics of the proposal, though, say it's a dangerous step to start taxing someone for assets that they haven't actually cashed out on. They also point to the market volatility as an issue here. For example, if a stock soars one day and a person's net worth goes up 10%, they could be taxed on that 10% increase, even though that money is technically just there on paper. It's not actually liquid for them. So if that stock drops back down to where it was before, they just paid money on supposed earnings that they never actually earned.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, there have also been some questions about whether a tax like this is even legal. What do we know there? Yeah, that's the other important part of this. If the measure is implemented, the expectation is that there will be some sort of legal challenge on constitutional grounds. It's a bit complicated, but basically the question will come down to whether this is an income tax or a wealth tax. An income tax, according to past Supreme Court cases, only applies to clearly realized wealth, which would seem to not apply to unrealized gains. And if it is deemed a wealth tax, then that opens up a whole new set of legal questions that could lead to it being struck down on constitutional grounds.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: So definitely expect to see this in court if it does go through. Now, this seems like a really odd time to bring up a controversial new tax. What's the strategy behind that? Right. Well, we've talked on the show about how inflation and the economy have quickly become the most important issue for voters right now, which is bad news for President Biden. Most polls show his approval rating on the economy sitting in the mid-30s. So the timing of now seems to imply that the president sees this as an opportunity to score some points on the economy. The idea of taxing the wealthy is typically popular with a growing number of voters. So now the question becomes whether this actually passes and how voters will respond to the specifics of the bill. More importantly, this unrealized gains part.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a lot to keep our eye on. Thanks, Cabot.
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--:-- John Bickley: That's Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips. Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced an immediate exemption from the city's private sector vaccine mandate, but only for select people. Now, professional athletes and performers can work in the city without being vaccinated against COVID-19, while many everyday employees cannot. It's a long and winding journey for unvaccinated athletes in New York City. And here to tell us more is Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan.
--:-- Joe Morgan: All right, Joe, catch us up here. What just happened in New York? I appreciate you having me on as always. So on Thursday after months of pressure Mayor Adams announced the exemption for performers and athletes citing economic factors He also said New York City athletes needed to compete on a quote level playing field Day one, when I was mayor, I looked at the rule that stated hometown players had an unfair disadvantage for those who were coming to visit. And immediately, I felt we needed to look at that. But my medical professionals say, Eric, we're at a different place. We have to wait until we at a place where we're at a low area and we can re-examine some of the mandates. We're here today.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: Adams was referring to the fact that unvaccinated visitors, such as professional athletes, have been allowed to compete in New York City. So since the mandate has been in place, unvaccinated athletes who call New York home, meaning they play for a New York home team, have been unable to play in home games. However, unvaccinated players on visiting teams have been allowed to play, which obviously makes next to zero sense. So this means that Kyrie Irving, that's the Brooklyn Nets star, can play in home games now. That's correct. Kyrie can play, along with unvaccinated members of the Yankees and the Mets, which quite frankly is why this got done.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: For Kyrie, he was able to play in his first home game all season on Sunday. It's been quite the journey for Irving, who was forced to sit out a good portion of the NBA season due to the vaccine mandate. On Saturday, Irving discussed the news. I'm very appreciative of doing what he did, and everyone in our Nets organization, everyone sending in notes to the mayor, and tweets or, you know, Instagram posts, whatever you call it. You know, now is the time to really get all of us included and get everybody back to work so we can get some normalcy around here.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: But I know everybody still feels it, and there's a whole community of people that have lost their jobs due to this mandate as well. And there's the issue. Kyrie actually mentioned it there. This exemption is only for a specific set of people, athletes and performers. Exactly. There certainly is an aspect of this that benefits the elite of society while keeping regular folks down.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: Essentially, every other New Yorker is required to be vaccinated in order to work in New York City. And remember, more than 1,400 city workers have lost their jobs due to the mandate. Adams was asked about those who lost their jobs on Thursday, and he said that they would not be getting their jobs back because, and I'm quoting here, a large number of employees were hired with the understanding they had to be vaccinated. They understood that, and they decided not to do so, so at this time, we're not entertaining it.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: But how is this not a double standard for those in entertainment and sports? Right. There's just no avoiding that conclusion. And unsurprisingly, Adams' decision has been shredded by many, including the Police Benevolent Association, the United Federation of Teachers and others, calling out the hypocrisy of allowing professional athletes to remain unvaccinated while, quote, regular New Yorkers face getting the vaccine or losing their jobs.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: Well, I'm sure this is not the last time we're going to be discussing this issue of unequal treatment with these mandates. No, and it probably won't be just focused on New York in the future. You know, these policies have had a major impact on people all over the country, John.
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--:-- Joe Morgan: Right, they have. Thanks for walking us through this, Joe.
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--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire sports reporter, Joe Morgan. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, subscribe, leave us a five-star rating, and most importantly, share our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know. If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe.
