How Bill Archer Built a Rigged Tax Code—And Why It Still Haunts Us
By TheCommonGoodParty · July 8, 2026 · Originally published on Substack
Bill Archer shaped American tax law for 30 years and died this week at 98. His legacy: a tax code engineered to protect the ultra-wealthy while ordinary families fall further behind. Today's news also showed why new savings accounts won't solve the real problem—most Americans are too broke to save at all. Plus: NATO readies for Trump. Ukraine's war grinds on. Motherhood in America costs more than ever. And the Pentagon owes answers about a missing helicopter crew.
Bill Archer and the Tax Code He Shaped: How One Man Built Today's Inequality
Bill Archer spent three decades writing nearly all House tax legislation. He died Monday at 98, leaving behind a tax system fundamentally tilted toward wealth. The New York Times obit is a reckoning: Archer didn't just pass tax bills. He engineered them. Every loophole, every rate cut for capital gains, every protection for inherited wealth bore his fingerprints.
This matters because the tax code isn't random. It's built. And for 30 years, it was built by one man who consistently chose to ask less of those who have the most. Today's inequality isn't an accident. It's policy. It's the Archer tax code still doing exactly what it was designed to do: move money upward.
The Common Good Party's platform is clear on this: "Tax code that asks the most of those who have the most." We mean it. A fair tax system isn't punishment—it's recognition that in a country this wealthy, those with the deepest pockets can afford to contribute more. Archer's legacy shows what happens when they don't.
Trump Accounts Won't Fix College Affordability—Because the Problem Isn't Savings, It's Cost
The Trump administration this week launched "Trump Accounts," investment vehicles designed to help families save for their children's futures. On paper, it sounds helpful. For wealthy families with disposable income, it might be. But here's the catch: most American families don't have money left over to invest.
The Hill's reporting cuts to the real issue. A savings tool only works if you have something to save. The core problem isn't that Americans don't want to invest in their kids' education. It's that wages haven't kept up with prices, childcare is crushing family budgets, and college tuition has become unaffordable for ordinary people. A new account doesn't change that math.
This is why the Common Good Platform focuses on economic fundamentals: "Wages that keep up with prices, worker protections that actually protect, small businesses that can compete against monopolies." You can't invest your way out of a wages problem. You have to fix the wages.
NATO Braces for Trump: Why America's Alliance Commitments Still Matter
NATO leaders are gathering in Turkey this week, and they're preparing less for geopolitical strategy than for managing the Trump variable. That's a problem—not because of politics, but because our alliance commitments are real, and they matter.
America's security depends on strong alliances. That's not ideology. It's strategy. When our NATO partners are forced to spend political capital managing the White House instead of facing actual threats, the whole alliance gets weaker. Allies who doubt America's commitment might make different bets.
The Common Good approach to foreign policy is straightforward: "Strength with values. Foreign policy that defends American interests without abandoning American principles." That means keeping commitments. Keeping allies. Keeping America strong precisely because we're dependable.
Trump Mediates Ukraine Talks as Diplomacy Window Narrows
Trump held separate calls with Putin and Zelenskyy this week to discuss ending the five-year war. Russia claims battlefield gains. Ukraine is escalating strikes on Crimea. And according to CBS News reporting, Zelenskyy is warning that the window for diplomacy is closing—fast.
War wears down everyone involved. The longer Ukraine fights without a sustainable military advantage, the more pressure its government faces to negotiate. But negotiations only work if both sides believe they have something to gain. Right now, Russia believes it's gaining ground. That shapes everything.
A durable peace requires strength, clarity, and genuine diplomacy. The Common Good position is clear: we support Ukraine's defense against invasion, and we support serious diplomatic efforts to end the war. But peace built on surrender isn't peace—it's just postponement.
The Cost of Motherhood: Why America's Birth Rate Is Falling and What Would Actually Fix It
The U.S. birth rate is dropping. But not because women don't want families. The Hill's reporting is clear: America has made motherhood unaffordable and precarious. Women are doing the math. And the math doesn't work.
Childcare costs have spiraled. Healthcare for pregnant people and newborns is expensive and unpredictable. Paid parental leave is nearly nonexistent. Housing costs in most communities where jobs exist have made raising kids economically impossible for ordinary families. This isn't a cultural problem. It's a policy problem. Policy choices built this. Policy choices can fix it.
The Common Good Platform includes concrete answers: universal childcare, healthcare access as a foundation for everything else, housing people who work in a community can afford, and education without debt. "Common Health: healthcare is the foundation everything else is built on. Universal access as a shared national investment." When healthcare isn't a financial threat, when childcare is affordable, when housing doesn't consume half your income—families can actually afford to have kids.
When a Helicopter Falls: Pentagon Accountability and What We Owe Service Members
The Navy is searching for a missing crew member after a helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea. These are the moments we have to ask hard questions: Was the helicopter maintained properly? Were crew members rested and safe? And why don't we have clear, public answers about how the Pentagon actually spends our money?
Service members volunteer to risk their lives for this country. That's not negotiable. What is negotiable is whether the government they serve takes their safety seriously, maintains equipment properly, and is transparent about how defense dollars are actually spent. Right now, the Pentagon's accounting is opaque in ways that would be criminal in any other sector. That has to change.
Real accountability isn't anti-military. It's pro-military. It means equipment that works, crews that are rested and safe, and a chain of command that answers for failures. Our service members deserve that.
Today's news cycle showed what the real policy debates look like: Who pays taxes and how much? Can ordinary families afford to save for their kids' futures? Can America keep its alliances strong? Can we end wars without betraying the people fighting them? Can we make motherhood possible? Can we hold power accountable? These are the questions that matter. They're the reason this party exists.
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The Common Good Party is a community policy party publishing 50 evidence-based policy positions on healthcare, housing, climate, taxation, voting rights, and more. Member-funded — never corporate, never PAC. Visit thecommongoodparty.com to read the full platform, or reply to this email with questions.