Transcript
THIS Democratic state just went FULL MARXIST with your paycheck?!
From Glenn Beck · Episode page · Watch on YouTube
· 13 min · 1,980 words · 17 timestamped sections
This is the full, timestamped transcript of "THIS Democratic state just went FULL MARXIST with your paycheck?!", an episode of Glenn Beck published January 23, 2026 (13 min, about 1,980 words). It mentions 6 people, works and ideas, including progressive income tax, Virginia, James Madison, Marxism, federal income tax.
What this episode is about
Virginia's Democratic legislators are proposing significant policy changes that critics label as increasingly Marxist, including expanded taxation on services, the introduction of higher income tax brackets for earners above $600,000, and preferential tax breaks for federal employees. Additionally, new legislation aims to impose stricter regulations on gun ownership, such as mandatory waiting periods for purchases and restrictions on leaving firearms unattended in vehicles.
Key takeaways
- Virginia Democrats' tax proposals reflect a Marxist playbook, conveniently ignoring their historical aversion to such extremes.
- New taxes on services like landscaping and gym memberships reveal Virginia's lawmakers want your pocketbook, not your well-being.
- Punishing success through progressive tax brackets: where fairness becomes a casualty and envy earns a promotion.
- Federal employee tax breaks signal government favoritism—are we just creating a class of citizens with cushy perks?
- Diversity training for real estate agents? A bizarre twist in the pursuit of equality that raises eyebrows nationwide.
Who speaks in this episode?
- Glenn Beck (Guest) · 12 min speaking
What is discussed, and when
- – 3:00: progressive income tax, Virginia, Marxism
- – 6:00: progressive income tax
- – 9:00: James Madison, Virginia, federal income tax
- – 12:00: progressive income tax, Marxism, federal income tax, 10th Amendment
Notable quotes from "THIS Democratic state just went FULL MARXIST with your paycheck?!"
Okay. So, the Democratic legislators are now proposing major policy changes in Virginia. And if you thought that Virginia or any of the Democrats are moderate, they are only getting worse.
about Virginia · atIt doesn't a progressive tax does not tax behavior. It taxes the outcome.
about progressive income tax · atWhich citizens would owe more than the other citizen that liberty would become conditional. James Madison was all over this. He warned against laws that would divide people and…
about James Madison · atAnything in our society that Marxists, Leninists, and progressives are shoving into your face? resentment.
about Marxism · atYes, the 16th amendment does say that we can have a federal income tax. That was the progressives back in the Woodro Wilson years, but it doesn't require Congress to abandon equal treatment. Why.
about federal income tax · at
Who and what is mentioned in this episode?
People
- James Madison — Person · Referenced founder / cited authority · 1 mention · first at
Invoked as a Founding-era authority warning that laws (including tax policy) should not divide citizens into classes, supporting the speaker’s argument against progressive taxation and unequal treatment under law.
Concepts & topics
- progressive income tax — Concept · Key argument · 4 mentions · first at
Central to the discussion on taxation policies and their moral implications, criticized as unfair and Marxist. - Marxism — Concept · Key argument · 2 mentions · first at
Used to describe the taxation policies proposed by Democratic legislators in Virginia, implying socialist tendencies. - federal income tax — Concept · Key argument · 2 mentions · first at
Discussed in the context of historical taxation and the introduction of the 16th amendment. - 10th Amendment — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at
Cited as the constitutional basis for federal income tax, criticized for enabling unequal taxation.Yes, the 16th amendment does say that we can have a federal income tax. That was the progressives back in the Woodro Wilson years, but it doesn't require Congress to abandon equal treatment. Why.
Places & events
- Virginia — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
The primary location where the discussed policy changes are being proposed by Democratic legislators.
Full transcript with timestamps
Okay. So, the Democratic legislators um are now proposing major policy changes in Virginia. And if you thought that Virginia or any of the Democrats are moderate, they are only getting worse. And this should be remembered when it comes to the midterms. Let me just give you a few things that they are proposing. Taxes and economic policy is becoming full-fledged Marxist. They are proposing new and expanded taxes. What a surprise. Um they have introduced uh bills now that will expand the sales tax base to include services like landscaping, gym memberships, vehicle repairs, food delivery, home repairs, raising the revenue beyond the uh traditional goods, the progressive income tax brackets. They are now proposing creating new tax brackets, higher tax brackets, meaning with people with taxable income over a certain a certain threshold, they're saying 600,000 uh will pay higher rates than those with lower uh incomes.
This one I really love. Uh federal employee tax. The federal employee will get a tax break versus everybody else. There are proposals now that will give special tax substra subtractions for retired federal employees and incentives for federal retirees. While you who didn't ever work for the government, you'll see a broader tax increase. What What is the purpose of that tax? Remember, you cut taxes on things you're trying to encourage. What are they trying to encourage? More people working for the federal government. They're also trying to uh have a mandatory waiting period on gun purchases. Um a ban on leaving your gun unattended in your vehicle. I don't ever Who who leaves it?
I mean, I used to I grew up in Washington State. We used to have a gun rack in the back of our truck and it would be in the back window and you'd have, you know, three rifles there and you'd pull up into school. You'd leave your doors your your car doors or your truck doors unlocked and nobody would say anything. It was not a problem. Uh but who's leaving it unattended in their vehicle? I mean, unless it's locked in your uh your trunk or locked in your uh glove box. Uh also a state firearm purchaser license licensing system. That sounds really good. An 11% tax on ammunition and guns and civil liability for the gun industry participants for crimes committed using guns that they sold or built. Oh, okay. That's really good. By the way, I can't wait to get into what they're doing in in Hawaii on guns. Wait until you hear this.
nonsense. I got a few things to say about that. Um, also there is they're trying to enact, you know, more DEI and ESG stuff. Um, and and and this one have to be really really careful because they want to expand the racial bias and diversity training for professionals, nurses nurses real estate agents, and law enforcement. Now, why does the real estate agent need diversity training? Uh, law enforcement and nurses. Let me lay down the biggest warning I could possibly lay down, and I'm not going to dwell on it or spend time today on this. The scariest people in Nazi Germany did not wear the black uniforms.
They wore the white coats. They were the nurses and the doctors. Do not train them in any of this DEI, any of this bull crap. It's very dangerous. They want to change the curricula in school. They're doing all kinds of stuff. Okay. But I I want to concentrate here for just a second on taxes because there is a quiet lie, a quiet lie that we have accepted in America. um that the same dollar that is earned by two different Americans is not the same dollar at all. That if one man earns it after years of sacrifice and years of risk and failure and another one earns it with less risk, less responsibility, the first man's dollar is someone somehow or another less his own.
This is really dangerous because this is the the moral foundation of the progressive income tax. Not that government should be funded. Uh that's not in question. But who is punished punished for making that possible? We're not talking about you know um anything even. You are punishing certain people. Okay. The progressive tax does something very very dangerous. It doesn't tax behavior. It taxes outcomes, which you never ever want to get into. It doesn't ask, "Has this dollar been earned honestly?" It only asks who earned this dollar.
Now, does that sound fair? See, fairness always breaks down because of the stories we tell ourselves around it or the stories we've allowed others to construct around. That's why the Constitution is common sense. That's why progressivism breaks down once you really start thinking about it because it you you can't follow the common sense. It it's not fair. It doesn't a progressive tax does not tax behavior. It taxes the outcome. Once you accept the principle that you don't care how honestly the dollar was earned, what you really care about is who earned it. Once you accept that principle, equality under the law dies.
And this is why you start with the taxes, everything else follows from here. You know, our founders understood this better than we understand it today because they lived under a system where the crown decided who could be squeezed and who who could not be squeezed and how much to squeeze. And they knew that once the states gained the power and they could gain the power to decide which citizens would owe more than the other citizen that liberty would become conditional. James Madison was all over this. He warned against laws that would divide uh people and citizens into different classes. By the way, James Madison was from Virginia. Hello, Virginia. Can you read your own founding principles?
Alexander Hamilton also cautioned against this. He said it taxation can never become arbitrary. So what they were saying at this point was they were not afraid of taxes. They didn't fear taxes. What they feared were unequal taxes because that's what they had come out of. Okay? And this is why our founders, this is why they avoided income tax altogether. We didn't have an income tax. The federal government was broke. The federal government had to raise money through tariffs. We didn't have an income tax up until 1913 because Americans knew this would become unfair because you're choosing who to tax, who to squeeze, and not uh and and who not to squeeze. Okay? And when when when you have uh taxes indirect, uniform and visible, then you have then you have real equality.
But the moment the government claims a larger share of one man's labor than another man's labor because that's time is money. Look at your money as the time it took for you to earn that. How many hours did you did it take you to earn that money? That's what it means. Time is money. So, how much time did it take? So, they're not taxing you the dollar. They're taxing your time. And once once you can take somebody's time, somebody's labor, and take more of it from one guy than another, and not for what they did, but just for what they achieved, you're no longer dealing with justice.
Would it be just to say, "I'm going to tax people who do poorly more than the people who do well?" Because the people who do well, let me make this argument just quickly. If you do well, you're creating jobs. You're better for the community. You're you're leading us into prosperity. But if you do poorly and you're not doing that, maybe it's because you're lazy. Maybe because it's you're not working. I don't know. Whatever it is, because that's that's the argument. And on the other side with the progressives, they say it's because every rich person is greedy. So let me just flip this over.
Would it be fair for me to say every poor person should be taxed because they're not creating enough? They're not creating jobs and it's only because they're lazy. Of course not. You would never accept that. So why do you accept the reverse? Okay, you've accepted the reverse in this country because we have been taught over and over and over again that you're not going to be able to make it. You'll never be that person. And all of those people over there, they're all so greedy. Okay? You then get to a point to where you are you're dealing with resentment dressed up as policy.
Does that sound like anything that we're dealing with today? Resentment. Is there anything in our society that Marxists, Leninists, um, and progressives are are shoving into your face? resentment. That's why the progressive income tax goes hand in hand because that's what you're dealing with. You're resenting the people who have made it and then teaching people you can't make it yourself. So, it's so corrosive because a progressive tax tells the most productive people, "Your success is tolerated, but we don't respect you.
Your effort is useful, but it's not fully yours. It belongs to us. It teaches everybody else something even worse. That the guy who makes more than you that lives down the street, he's not a full citizen. He's not really one of you. He is a funding source, but that's really all he is. And that's how societies fracture. That's how things fall apart. And our our founders knew this. And it doesn't start with riots at first. It starts with ledgers. Yes, the 16th amendment does say that we can have a federal income tax. That was the progressives back in the Woodro Wilson years, but it doesn't require Congress to abandon equal treatment. Why do we allow this to happen?
A flat tax completely complies with the Constitution. A consumption tax would honor it even more because it's not what you make, it's what you buy, it's what you consume. But what the progressive tax violates is something deeper than a clause or an amendment. It violates the understanding that that law judge judges actions, not outcomes. The law is supposed to look at actions, not outcomes. It's supposed to be actions and not people. The government is is there to protect effort, not to take effort. But every single progressive tax begins by targeting the rich. Notice the new ones. They're going to go after the rich, the super rich, the 600,000 uh and above. $600,000 a year. That's a businessman. That's not rich. You know what rich is? George freaking Soros.
But you'll notice those guys are never at the end. They'll all talk a good game. They were at Davos yesterday going, "You know what? should tax us more. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen cuz it never does cuz they'll find a way out of it. And every single time you start to expand the income tax, it always expands downward. And history is relentless on this point because once you accept that rights are proportional to income, there's no logical place to stop. You know, we we didn't we didn't fight a revolution so we could be free on a sliding scale. They thought that citizen meant something the same thing meant something and it was the same thing for everybody.
So the the question is not what the government costs. The question is who owns you your time and your labor and whether success in America is still something that we look up to and say that should be earned or is success in America something that should be really shamed and then if you give us enough money we'll forgive you.
Questions about this episode
Who speaks in "THIS Democratic state just went FULL MARXIST with your paycheck?!"?
Glenn Beck (Guest).
What is "THIS Democratic state just went FULL MARXIST with your paycheck?!" about?
Virginia's Democratic legislators are proposing significant policy changes that critics label as increasingly Marxist, including expanded taxation on services, the introduction of higher income tax brackets for earners above $600,000, and preferential tax breaks for federal employees. Additionally, new legislation aims to impose stricter regulations on gun ownership, such as mandatory waiting…
What is mentioned in this Glenn Beck episode?
6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including progressive income tax, Virginia, James Madison, Marxism, federal income tax, 10th Amendment. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.
How long is "THIS Democratic state just went FULL MARXIST with your paycheck?!"?
The episode runs 13 min; the transcript is about 1,980 words in 17 timestamped sections.
More from Glenn Beck
About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 26, 2026.