Politics and views in the United States

More blue states consider wealth taxes to help fund public services, new congressional maps create confusion for poll workers and get out the vote groups and experts warn voters to brace for more realistic A-I generated political content.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

There's no justifiable reason why a millionaire like me should get a tax break that I neither need nor really deserve over my neighbors who work honestly two or three jobs to put food on the table and gas in their trucks.

Wealthy North Carolina retiree Monica Lavery says when you include sales and payroll taxes, low-wage families pay a much greater portion of their incomes to the government than the rich.

She supports imposing a new 7% state surtax on income over a million dollars to help fund public schools.

At least 10 Democratic states are exploring wealth taxes amid declining revenues and reduced federal aid, while many GOP-led states aim to eliminate state income taxes altogether.

President Donald Trump says the current ceasefire with Iran is, quote, on life support after rejecting an Iranian counterproposal.

Meanwhile, with gas averaging $4.50 a gallon, Trump says he's considering asking for suspension of the federal gas tax.

If Congress approves, that would lower pump prices by about $0.18 a gallon.

Virginia Democrats are asking the U.S.

Supreme Court, with deadlines looming, to immediately restore the congressional districts voters just approved.

Party officials say the state's high court overrode the will of the people when blocking a map that could yield four more blue seats.

The nationwide rush to redistrict is creating real headaches for poll workers and those getting out the vote.

Kathy Schmitz with the League of Women Voters of Orange County, Florida, says new polling locations can cause confusion and suppress turnout.

It puts more work on our plate in many ways.

One is helping people be clear about where they are voting and who they are voting for.

And that's been a moving target for people.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new map into law last week, but a lawsuit could return voters to their previous districts.

Thousands of Louisiana voters had already cast early ballots there before the recent Supreme Court ruling sparked suspension of the primary and a sprint to redistrict.

Experts on artificial intelligence are warning voters to be on the lookout for increasingly sophisticated content during the midterms.

Kaylin Jackson Schiff, with Purdue's Governance and Responsible AI Lab says without a single standard for identifying fake content, it's harder to know when a negative or even positive ad is true.

So it's not just negative photorealistic content to watch out for, but also positive content that might be trying to draw you toward a cause to an individual, to a campaign.

And in a sign of internal debate, the Supreme Court says the abortion pill will remain available nationwide via mail for at least a few more days.

That'll give the court time to consider a lower court order banning telehealth prescription of the medication.

I'm Katherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.