Harvard’s Dr. Tom Patterson returns to the TTP podcast to talk about the future of the Republican Party in the “post-Trump” political landscape. I put “post-Trump” in quotations because, as we discuss in this episode, the influence of Trump on the Republican Party is very much a present force in the current GOP.

But how exactly are we taxed? Where does all the money go? Who even decided that taxing Americans for working was such a good idea that it should be written into the Constitution? Americans rebelled against England, in part, over taxes, but taxes remain a necessary evil, so in this episode, I explore some the foundational questions related to the how your taxes are calculated, collected and used.

Joe Biden is barely a month in office and he’s already setting a fairly blistering pace of signing executive orders. Why so much activity so early? Is it just about undoing the Trump legacy? Is it about signaling a “energetic executive”? Is it signaling a larger legislative effort? Well, it’s a little of “all of the above”. Compared to his immediate predecessors, Joe Biden moved quickly to sign a bunch of executive orders in the opening weeks of his administration that left many critics crying “imperial presidency,” and “executive overreach!” But is it?