Missouri in the Upside Down World

For most Missouri families, the words “capital gains” don’t mean much. What matters is making the mortgage or rent, paying property taxes, and keeping up with child care and groceries. Over time, this has gotten harder.

Four decades ago, the average home price was about two and a half times the median salary; today, it’s over five times as much. In other words, it’s twice as difficult to afford a home these days, so many households require two incomes just to get by. Worse yet, for many families living on the edge, a medical emergency or job loss can push everything over the edge.

This is the sad reality for far too many working families in Missouri.

As if blinded to these facts, Missouri lawmakers decided to give a new tax break to the wealthy. They voted to end the state’s tax on capital gains. A “capital gain” is the profit one makes from selling things like stocks, real estate, or cryptocurrency. For families living paycheck to paycheck, this tax break means nothing. Most don’t own stock portfolios, second properties, or digital currency. Those are the play toys of the wealthy.

This tax giveaway will cost the state dearly. Analysts say Missouri could lose up to $625 million in revenue in 2026 alone. That is money that won’t go to schools, roads, or healthcare. And schools are already struggling. About one in three districts has moved to a four-day school week so that teachers can work extra jobs to cover their bills.

To avoid appearing like total sellouts, lawmakers added a few small tax breaks on everyday items by eliminating sales tax on diapers and feminine hygiene products. While these changes do help, they pale when compared to the enormous sums flowing back to Missouri’s wealthiest residents.

This is a disturbing and growing pattern in Missouri as well as the rest of the country. Large tax breaks go to the top, while working families are left with very little and, in general, finance these tax breaks with their labor. Why do many politicians give tax breaks to the wealthy? Consider that wealthy donors fund campaigns, forcing their lawmakers to listen to their needs while ignoring the greater needs of ordinary citizens. At the same time, cultural fights over immigration, abortion, or voting rights take up the spotlight. These cultural wars intentionally keep people divided and distracted so that big money interests can hide in the shadows with the real prize: the control of Missouri’s political machine.

When politicians answer to their wealthy donors instead of their voters, democracy becomes a privilege of wealth, not a right of the people.