Speaking in a powerful press conference regarding his plan to end property taxes in Florida so that Florida property owners can own their houses free and clear rather than paying rent to the government forever, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sounded off when a reporter pressed him on the plan and what it means for the state.
When pressed on the matter, the governor said, “No, you should own your property free and clear. I think. To say that someone that’s been in their house for 35 years just has to keep ponying up money that you know that is not you don’t own your home, if that’s the if that’s the case.”
Continuing, he further framed the matter as whether the house can be owned free and clear, saying, “So yes, of course, I’d like to see people be able to owe, free and clear. And it’s interesting, because it’s like, you, you know, if I go to Best Buy and buy a flat screen TV and put it on the wall, I gotta pay a sales tax on it, right? But I don’t keep paying tax on it every year. I mean, it’s just, that’s not how we do things.”
Still not done, the governor noted that in every case other than houses, we are able to own our property free and clear. He said, “It’s like, okay, if you’re going to tax something, you tax it at the transaction, and then let people actually enjoy their private property, free and clear of the government. So that, I think, is the vision, that’s the philosophical insight.”
And, building on that, the governor brought up the Federalist Papers to justify his position, saying, “And if you think about our Founding Fathers, when they were proposing the Constitution, and one of the Federalist Papers, I think it was Hamilton, he’s writing about . . . basically that you were not effectively allowed to do any direct taxation. It had to be indirect, meaning you couldn’t just, I mean, you could theoretically just apply, like a tax on land federally, but it have to be a portion among the states, so practically, it could never work.”
Further explaining that, he said, “So basically Hamilton saying, look, the indirect taxes are the most effective, efficient way to raise revenue for the government, because they basically allow the individual to choose how much tax they want to pay based on how much they’re consuming. And there’s a security, there’s a protection against excessive tax in that regard, because if the government raises consumption tax too much, it kills the golden goose, because then it causes people to stop, stop purchasing as much. But he said taxing property is one of the worst forms of taxation, because people don’t have a choice in the matter, and you’re just basically drilling these folks over and over again on tax.”
And, concluding by noting that Americans want relief, he said, “So it’s, yeah, it’s an issue that I think has pinched a lot of people, but philosophically, it was not the way that the federal government was constructed. Now, I understand local there was a history of it, and that’s kind of been, kind of been the norm, but man, I mean, you talk about family of four having the median home price that is purchased in Florida. You know, that’s a pretty hefty tax bill right there. When you come in after buying a home, when you consider what the average income is throughout the United States of America, the math doesn’t it just doesn’t add up. And I think that’s why people want relief.”
"*" indicates required fields
Watch him here: