Romney’s Pitch To Tax the Rich, 2026 Ins and Outs, Noodle Rec

Today on CityCast Salt Lake, former Utah Senator Mitt Romney wants to tax the rich. That in and of itself is rich. We discuss. Plus, what is in and out in Salt Lake City in 2026? It's Tuesday, December 23rd. I'm Ali Viarta, and here is what Salt Lake's talking about. Executive producer Emily means good morning. Good morning, Allie. We are here to discuss the news of the week. The biggest news being Mitt Romney says tax the rich. Woo! And he knows a little something about that because he is rich and his dad was rich and... Maybe his dad's dad was rich? I don't know. That's usually how it works. Yeah. New op-ed from Mitt Romney tax the rich like me. This is in the New York Times. And, okay, so the premise here is that Mitt Romney says the U.S. is barreling toward a fiscal cliff. He notes that Social Security is projected to run out in 2034. And those benefits will be cut by nearly 25%. The government will need trillions of dollars. to make up that shortfall. He's really trying to paint a picture of economic calamity here, his words. Also, just a side note, pretty well written op-ed. Like, I really enjoyed reading this just from like a words perspective. I mean, he's a deeply educated man. Yeah, yeah. So Mitt Romney has two solutions for this. One, he doesn't spend much time talking about, and that is budget cuts for Social Security and Medicare. Looking at this for future retirees, he's saying that these, what he called entitlements, should be means tested or needs based. But then his big solution here, the headline grabber, is tax the rich and close what he calls tax caverns. caves, aka tax loopholes, but he says they're way bigger than that. And yeah, let's get some more revenue in from the ultra wealthy in this country. I mean, the very fact that this was published in the, you know, liberal rag, the New York Times and not the Wall Street Journal tells you everything you need to know about how popular this idea is with other rich people. And the Wall Street Journal actually responded. The editorial board wrote a response to this. Yes. And their headline here is, by all means, raise Mitt Romney's taxes, but please spare the middle class trying to become rich like him. Oh, stop it. As a middle class woman who pays her taxes, give me a break. This is so funny because... So what do you make of this? I will say like high level. Do I think Mitt Romney should be the chief economist of the U.S.? No, never forget that he got his start before he was a politician at Bain Capital, where his job was basically to buy companies, saddle them with debt, and then destroy them. So there's likely where he got his wealth from, right? There's not a ton of good faith here, I feel like from this particular spokesperson. That said, do I think we should tax the rich? H, yeah.

about what the future holds politically and what is in of itself, like the new message. I mean, this is the new message. Like the thing we keep hearing over and over again is like federally, Trump ran on, you know, working people politics and that both Democrats and Republicans have isolated the working class. Democrats more than Republicans, according to, you know, polling and the feeling of the working class up until I would say last year. And the mum dany of it all is like, this is the new American politic. You want to win, you be the person that runs on taxing the rich. It's just that simple. Right. Well, and more and more we're seeing, you know, congressional candidates here in Utah talking about affordability. I mean, Trump wasn't Trump just on like an affordability tour or something too, where in which he called affordability a hoax? But like, I think they're all finally keying into, yeah, this is the message that resonates with the American people because of course it is. There's that saying it's the economy, stupid, right? Except it's the economy, our home economy, right? Like our wallets are being hit. Groceries are more expensive. All of this. We can't afford to buy homes. So it's about damn time that someone's keying into this, right? Mitt Romney does the point in time count and is talking to people and is like, you're a veteran? No kidding. You mean, wait, you mean you got to get to work at six? Gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Why is that? Unfortunately that this is a lesson that they're just now learning, but we'll take it. It had to be learned at some point, right? Listen, in 2026, I alleviate am a person who was willing to accept an apology. And I love when politicians change their minds in a good direction. When they change their minds. The thing that's so annoying about them is that they... instead of just saying I changed my mind and here's why, they try and act like they didn't change their mind and they've always been that way. And that's the part that makes me want to scream. Let's talk about some of the more specifics in here. He mentioned, I'm sure you noticed Emily, getting rid of the 1031 exchange. And I was like, okay, is Mitt listening to the pod? We talked about this with a realtor named Rod Moser when we brought him on and asked him what? we should do about making the housing market more affordable because clearly increasing our housing supply has only kind of been working. People in this state still can't afford to buy a house. They're still struggling to pay rent. And he said, get rid of the 1031 exchange. He said it's not popular, but he predicts it would make a huge difference. And that is basically, if you're a homeowner, you probably know what it is because it's a deep incentive for homeowners. But if you sell a home. and you buy another home or any real estate property that is even just a dollar more expensive, you can avoid paying capital gains tax on that property. So you can avoid being taxed on the increase in value.

And if you keep just flipping houses like that until you die, then your inheritance won't have to pay capital gains tax if you put all that in a trust. So that's an interesting one. And the case that Rod made was like, if people could stop using homes as a tax shelter, people and corporations, and having multiple homes for no good reason, I mean, it would open up a lot of real estate in the market. They would no longer be financially incentivized to just be hoarding property. Right. So, I mean, then we have a domino effect where, you know, potentially there is more stock for people and it lowers prices and they're finally able to buy a home, which is a huge goal of Utahans. It's one of their top issues, housing affordability. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, to me, like, the humor in that... the Wall Street Journal editorial response, which is by, please spare the middle class trying to become rich like Mitt Romney. It really seems to me that Mitt Romney's proposals specifically target extremely wealthy people, right? Like, what does it mean to be middle class? Is it owning a hundred million dollar estate? Right. Because to me, that's not the middle class. Um, so I don't know. I think that this is something that, uh, specifically targets people like Mitt, people who are extremely wealthy, who have a lot of power and a lot of sway in our politics right now. I mean, looking at, you know, the Utah legislature is given. what, five years of income tax cuts to Utahans. And we know that they have primarily benefited the most wealthy in our state. So I mean, I'm really curious to see if our legislature takes any cues from Mitt Romney here. I kind of doubt it. But him at least speaking out gives some of them cover to entertain the idea at least. Yeah. Well, and when we say tax the rich, I mean, we're not talking about people with $1 million. We're talking about people with $300 million.

$400 billion. Is that middle class? We're talking about people who make more money than every public school teacher in the country combined in a year. Like, you know, when we say the rich, we don't mean like, you know, your retired parents who can toss a thousand dollar check now and then or whatever like it's we should be clear we're talking about the uber rich Mitt Romney could pay all these taxes outlined in this proposal and he would still wake up the next morning and be rich as hell Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I will say, like, I don't know, I'm reading Stephanie Kelton's The Deficit myth right now, which is about modern monetary theory, which Emily is basically the idea that, like, taxes don't fund government spending. Taxes fund spending in our local governments because our local governments can't print money. But in a world where the Fed U.S. government can print its own money. Our taxes don't fund government spending. The government does the spending, prints the money to do the spending, and then levies taxes on us to make up for it, quote unquote, or basically just to control inflation. Anyway, long story short, read the deficit myth by Stephanie Kelton and then read this op-ed by Mitt Romney, and it adds this whole other layer of fun to reading it. I don't know. Maybe we'll talk about modern monetary day next year on this show. But that's like a fun, and that's a fun gift, you know, last minute book gift for someone in your life who's really into thinking about taxation. Nerds. Send it to Mitt. Send it to Mitt. Yeah, he would hate it. Josh Mitt Romney, if you're listening and you need a last minute gift for your dad, we've got a bookwreck for you. Yeah. Pop down to the King's English. Josh Mitt Romney, if you're listening and you want to come on this show and talk about building a shadow gubernatorial campaign, we'd love to have you. Or in general, we'd love to have you.

All right, executive producer Emily means a new year is upon us. And we're going to put together a quick and dirty list of what's in and what's out in Salt Lake City in 2026. You start. My list is kind of lame. What's out is my brain. Yeah. I get that. I get that. Okay. What's in? Neighborhood bars. The new neighbor's bar on 9th South in the milk block open this year. And it's so freaking cute. And I love that I can just walk a few blocks to it. I don't have to drive. More of that. I know it's difficult because of the liquor laws we have here in this state. But I really think that it just creates a wonderful... gathering space for residents in a neighborhood. And again, like, takes away the need to drive places. And we need less driving all around. All around. But especially when I'm having a few on a weekday evening with my neighbors. Two other neighborhood bars that opened this year, Paris Social Club in Rose Park, which is the first bar to arrive in Rose Park. And then also that kitos, that cute little kitos on the East Bench. Yep. whatever you can argue about whether that's sugar house or yale crest but yeah that's another great great neighborhood bar Cute. Love that. And then I have a food out, which might be unpopular. Brunch me hard vibes. No, we don't need any more like parties at brunch. We don't need the loud music. We don't need, you know, neon signs. It's brunch for God's sake. We don't need grass on the wall. We just woke up. Yeah, we don't need grass on the wall. Grass belongs on the floor. Exactly. I mean, I don't want to specify any particular brunch joints. But, you know, what I really look for in a good brunch spot is just like some delicious, comforting, you know, cure my hangover food. And that's it. It doesn't need to be noisy. In fact, that hurts my hangover more. You can find Emily and I having a civilized breakfast at eggs in the city. Yeah, exactly, exactly. All right, what do you got, Ellie? In and out. Okay. My inn is ice skating. I have discussed now that I am learning to ski this year. I'm starting to get a little anxious because there's still not really any snow. And I've also been learning to ice skate this year, and I think that's the most enduring inn. It's so fun. Everyone thinks it's only for the winter because that's when we get like the ranks at daybreak and the Gallivan and Mill Creek. But you can ice skate at Steiner all year round, which is a fabulous way to spend a hot, hot summer day. I saw that Gallivan itself is doing ice skating lessons every Thursday in January. It's a 30 minute lesson, which I love. It's a lunch break. It's 12.30 to 1 on Thursdays. $15 include your rental and you get a lesson.

Cute. Ice skating is in. And it's so like... Ice skating's so fun. I feel like in the way that rollerblading has been in recently. Ice skating has that sort of like futurism of gliding around in circles and like music and whatever. It just, yes, it's so in. I actually prefer ice skating to rollerblading, frankly. I don't know why. I feel more stable on the ice. What does that say about me? 100%. I agree. I am, especially on the quads, rollerblading is terrifying. Yeah. Hate that. Yeah. I mean, you can all ice skating too, but what I think we should all do is, so when I went to Steiner and was skating, I saw there were people there and they were all patted up, just like your rollerblading. Like their butts were patted up? Yes, but they... People wear the padded butts. So I think a shortcut to that is you can actually order on Amazon if you want the fake BBL underwear and wear those ice skating. And then you have a padded butt. And they're cheap. I mean, then you'll look like a figure skater because all the figure skaters have so much cake back there. Yes. The fake BBL underwear, I'm telling you. That's funny. Okay. My out is roundabouts. I think we've got enough. Whoa. Whoa. Wow. I love our roundabouts. Tell me more. And I think in many ways they've made our streets safer and slower and they work. But I now am at a place where I can't think of another intersection that needs a roundabout. I think we've, I think we've hit them all. Hmm. I mean, off the top of my head, I'm not sure. But I will say one time I saw someone getting an accident in a roundabout and like it was much better, I think, than what would have happened in a regular intersection. Yes. So I agree. You know. I like them. I just think we're going to see like different traffic measures next year. We're going to see other things start to be implemented. I mean, if the legislature lets us. That's true. That's true. Which takes me to my next in and out. Oh gosh. Okay. Which is kind of like a have my cake and eat it two situation. In cities asserting themselves and standing up for residents against dangerous or unpopular federal and state policies. Is that a haiku now? Does that go 575? Yeah, I think so. out state bullying and overreach in Salt Lake City. Yes. We saw that in many different ways this year around homelessness and public safety and transportation. Yeah. And I mean, listen, I can acknowledge that it can be a really sticky wicket for cities to step into and be like, You know, we don't like what you've done. This isn't what our residents want. It's not what they're asking of us and really stick it to the man. But I want to see them do that more as much as they can. And I want the legislature to just step off. Step off. Just step off. Yeah. It's so funny. Like, it has become such a thesis of this show discussing what is and isn't within like city's power.

And how cities can find their power and exercise it. Yeah. It's no secret that the Hill all die on is that the Salt Lake City Council should have referendumed the sales tax increase for Ryan Smith and called his bluff. But here we are. They didn't. So we're paying it. You got another one? Well, I was going to say my in is the courts and my out is the legislature, but you put it so much better. I have one that I love from our social media manager, Molly, which is in Begate. out a gate. And I think she's specifically referring to the Delta Sky Clubs. But I flew on a B gate. Well, now that we've got the tunnel. Yeah. I flew out of B gate just this week. And Emily, I know that I was just recently on this show talking about how fabulous Salt Lake City International is. But let me tell you, I arrived at the airport at 523 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight. I was in my seat on the plane by 543. I was at the gate with plenty of time. I hate that you live this way. Listen. It stresses me out so much. We live in a quiet town. You've got to find a thrill somehow. Yeah. And you're just like speedwalking through the river tunnel to be Bill Gates. Not even. Not even speedwalking. My normal pace is pretty fast. I'm leggy. But, you know. Do you have a last one? I do have one. It's a little self-serving. In? And, you know, on the note of our new social media manager, Molly, in Citicast Salt Lake on social media. Follow us at Citicast SLC. Out. Dad talk. Stop trying to make dad talk happen. These are the husbands of, you know, the mom talkers. Yeah. And they got way too much airtime during this most recent season of Secret Lives and Mormon Wives. We're not interested in the dads, okay? Just, aren't they all like sort of? Aren't they categorically, like, kind of bad dudes? Like, I didn't want, I haven't watched any of the show, but my understanding. They're certainly not our favorite characters. Based on the chatter was that a lot of these women are mom talking to, like, fuel their husband's gambling addictions. Is that really far off? I mean, it's not too far off. There are some gambling addictions. Let's see, what else? You know, funding their med school programs, funding their new hair, a lot of new hair among these dads. But I just think we don't need to see them anymore or hear from them. I mean, and then people will turn around and use the word gold digger. It's sickening. It's just sickening. Sickening. Hmm. Out. Double standards. Yeah. The double standard theme of the episode. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says tax the rich and people are like, kill her. Mitt Romney says tax the rich and people are like, can you believe he changed a diaper? Isn't that cute? An American hero. He's the best.

Today is Tuesday. On Tuesday, we do shoutouts. Emily, what you got? I wanted to shout out Salon Petine. They are a salon in Mill Creek, and they were so kind to volunteer their time to do hair at our Grinch Fest event this weekend, which was stupid cute. Like... you know, think pipe cleaners in braids and like twisting them around and making shapes on their heads. And oh my gosh, it just brought so much joy to these kids. And I will say one of my friends, Liz, is the co-owner of Salon Patine. And I think just really. She's an artist. She is truly an artist. One kid asked her for a hat, and so she made him one out of pipe clean. It was phenomenal. Yeah, that was, Grinch Fest was an incredible success. We had more than, it was a sold-out show, 180 plus families showed up. It was mostly tiny kids when I went up to welcome everyone and looked out over the audience of Grinch face painted faces. My heart grew wings. Yes, your heart grew three. Three sizes that day? Exactly. I said, Max! Bring me my cloak. So sweet. Salon Petinei crushed it with the hair. Absolutely. And they are moving to a new space soon, so they're in Mill Creek right now right on a 33rd South, but moving to a larger space. So if you're looking to get your hair did, then they're a good place to do it. Yeah. Love that. That's my shout-up. Allie, what's yours? Well, my shout out is to Nick Steffens, who is the OG producer of CityCast Salt Lake more than four years ago when we launched this bad boy. We are coming up on our 1,000th episode in January, if you can believe that. I can because that means I've talked to you 1,000. But Nick has been pursuing a new career as a clinical mental health counselor, and he's crushing it. And he's doing this men's mental health discussion group. Every Wednesday in January, it's completely free, which we know therapy or even just discussion, like mental health discussions are not always totally free. He's doing it at Marmalade Library. 6 p.m., every Wednesday in January, and you can just show up. You don't need to RSVP, nothing. Just roll in. There will be like an issue-based presentation followed by group discussion, which I think is also smart because it can be really intense to, you know, just share off the top. Not everyone is a podcaster like us, just ready to share. So, yeah, shout out to Nick. And if you or someone you know would be interested in a men's mental health discussion, Wednesdays at 6th. Love that. Much needed. We need more men talking about their feelings. Yes, I agree. And more spaces where they feel comfortable doing that and not shamed for doing that.

Totally. Okay. So this show, quickly to tell you before we go, I want to close out this year by saying thank you to all of our citycast Salt Lake neighbors. These are what we call our members. We run on a membership program. We're a people-powered show. And more than 600 of you. have supported our show this year as a neighbor. And we just simply cannot thank you enough. This is the thing that makes sure that we're able to make a show and make a newsletter for you every single day. And so one of the things we like to do on Tuesdays is pass the mic to our neighbors so that they can share shoutouts. So I've got one here from Brandon A who says, Salt Lakes go to HVAC pros air design. delivers dependable heating, cooling, and year-round home comfort. Great. Shout out to air design. Heck yeah. And this is from Chloe B. who says, noodles and dumplings and dumplings in-house. Their don-don noodles and noodle soup with pork belly are succulent. Yum. Ooh. We love food racks. We love a little noodle soup in the winter, too. Big time. Wait, where are they? Oh, they're in Mill Creek. Okay. Perfect. Love it. Love it. You can join Brandon and Chloe and all of our other neighbors by supporting this show with $10 a month or $100 a year. Go to membership.citycast.fm to do it. We cannot thank you enough. It feels good to be a neighbor to be able to listen to the show and know that you are basically a producer. I will tell you that. So membership.citycast.fm.fm. Maybe make it your New Year's resolution to become a supporter of CityCast Salt Lake. Executive producer Emily means I will see you later. See you later, Allie. Happy holidays and enjoy some well-deserved time off, Emily. We are going to shut it down for the rest of this week and take a little bit of a break, but we will be back in your feed on Monday. That is all for us today here on CityCast Salt Lake. Our executive producer is Emily Means. Our producer is Ivana Martinez. Our newsletter editor is Therina Ria and our host is me, Ali Baiyarta. Music is by the local band Maitoondria with additional music from all the kimonos, Arc de Sole, Wendy Marcini, Spend Linvall, Bagel, and Measlo. Like I said, we're off the rest of the week for the holiday, but we will be back on Monday with more from around town. Be good.