On July 19, 1978, I wrote my first opinion column for The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin titled “It’s About Time.” The subject was the growing taxpayer revolt that had begun in California and appeared likely to spread across the country.
Nearly 50 years later, many of the economic problems I discussed remain unresolved. With the Democrats controlling Congress, the over-taxed problem may get considerably worse.
The taxpayer revolt of 1978 helped establish a movement demanding lower taxes, less government spending and greater accountability. Three decades later, those concerns resurfaced in the TEA Party movement. TEA stood for “Taxed Enough Already.”
The message was essentially the same: Government was taking too much of our money. Most Americans feel over-taxed.
The Tax Revolt Begins
In June 1978, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, which sharply reduced property taxes and limited future increases.
The political establishment was stunned. Taxpayers had finally decided enough was enough.
In my award-winning July 1978 column, I calculated that I was working approximately three and a half hours of every eight-hour workday just to pay taxes. That included federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, state sales taxes, property taxes, and numerous other mostly hidden taxes.
My argument was straightforward. Government should provide essential services but should not continually expand into activities that individuals and private businesses could perform more efficiently.
The California revolt demonstrated that taxpayers were willing to challenge politicians who continually demanded more money.
Reagan Responds with Tax Cuts
Just three years after my column appeared, President Ronald Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981.
Reagan understood that high marginal tax rates discouraged work, saving, investment and entrepreneurship. His legislation reduced individual income tax rates by approximately 25% over three years, lowering the top marginal rate from 70% to 50%.
Reagan’s supply-side economic policies emphasized that reducing tax rates would strengthen incentives to produce, invest and expand businesses.
The economy subsequently experienced a strong expansion beginning in 1983. Except for slight hiccups in 1991 and 2001, the expansion lasted until 2007.
The tax revolt had become an important part of the national economic debate.
The TEA Party Continues the Fight
Fast-forward to 2009.
Following the financial crisis, Washington responded with massive government spending, financial bailouts and an expansion of federal involvement in the economy.
Taxpayers once again became frustrated.
The TEA Party movement emerged, demanding lower taxes, reduced government spending and greater fiscal responsibility.
The parallels with 1978 were striking.
Both movements reflected a belief that government had become too large, too expensive and insufficiently accountable to the people financing it.
The TEA Party was not simply protesting taxes. It was protesting a government increasingly willing to spend money it did not have.
Although the movement eventually lost much of its organizational strength, its economic concerns never disappeared.
Trump Revives the Tax-Cutting Agenda
In 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, reducing individual income tax rates, nearly doubling the standard deduction and lowering the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%.
The legislation was designed to encourage investment, increase economic growth, and allow taxpayers to keep more of their earnings.
In 2025, Trump again acted to reduce Americans’ tax burden. His One Big Beautiful Bill made the lower individual income tax rates from 2017 permanent and added tax cuts for qualified tips, overtime income, and Social Security income.
Like Reagan, Trump emphasized the supply-side principle that lower taxes improve economic incentives.
But cutting taxes addresses only part of the problem. Government spending must also be controlled.
The Spending Problem Remains
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government spent approximately $7.4 trillion in fiscal 2026 while collecting only about $5.4 trillion in revenue.
That leaves another annual deficit of $2 trillion.
Federal debt continues to grow, so the public debt now exceeds $40 trillion. Interest payments exceed $1 trillion annually.
Politicians from both parties have contributed to this problem. Republicans frequently promise spending restraint but struggle to deliver it. Democrats generally favor expanding government programs and increasing taxes to finance them.
Neither approach has consistently produced the fiscal discipline taxpayers deserve.
It’s Still About Time
Looking back at my 1978 column, I am struck by how little the underlying argument has changed.
The tax revolt helped shape the political environment that preceded Reagan’s tax cuts. The TEA Party revived similar demands three decades later. Trump continued the tax-cutting tradition in 2017 and 2025.
Yet government spending continues to increase.
Lower taxes encourage economic growth, but those benefits are undermined when government continually spends more than it collects.
The lesson from nearly 50 years of tax revolts is clear. Taxpayers want to keep more of what they earn, but they also want government to live within its means.
As I wrote in 1978, it’s about time.
