Saving the U.S. means restoring the American dream. That starts in Georgia.
History rarely announces its turning points in advance. Yet there are moments when the direction of a civilization becomes unmistakably clear — when the cumulative weight of policy failures and economic distortion begins to erode what made it strong.
We are living in such a moment. If Western civilization is to endure, it will be because America endures. And if America is to endure, it will be because states like Georgia choose a different path.
The American promise has always rested on ownership — of property, of opportunity, of one’s future.
Today, that promise is slipping. Young Americans are struggling to buy homes. Older Americans are struggling to keep the ones they already own. This is not an accident. It is the result of policies that treat homeownership not as a foundation of stability, but as a recurring source of revenue for government.
Georgia tax code isn’t working for ordinary citizens
Property taxes, as currently structured, have crossed the line from fair contribution to quiet confiscation. You buy your home, you pay for it — and then you’re told to keep paying more every year just to stay. That is not true ownership.
A more just approach would tax a home based on its purchase price, for the duration of ownership, not on ever-rising valuations. And if government needs more revenue, elected officials should take a transparent vote to raise the millage rate. Faced with that level of accountability, government would quickly rediscover discipline.
For seniors, the imbalance is even harder to justify. After decades of working, raising families and paying into the system, there is little rationale for requiring a 65-year-old to continue funding services they no longer directly use.
In my home county of Forsyth, where school property taxes for seniors have been eliminated for decades, the predicted doom and gloom consequences never materialized. Schools didn’t suffer — they excelled and are among the best in Georgia. Fiscal restraint and strong public services can coexist.
At the same time, Georgia’s tax system is upside down — working for the insiders, not the people.
Despite its reputation as a pro-growth state, Georgia maintains the highest income tax rate in the Southeast, while neighboring states are at zero. If we are serious about remaining competitive, we should be serious about eliminating the income tax.
Rethink subsidies and pass common-sense laws
That effort should begin by reexamining a tax code filled with targeted incentives and lobbyist driven carveouts. Each year, more than $1.5 billion is directed to subsidies for data centers owned by companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook.
Georgia even has tax incentives for megayacht repairs and cigarette manufacturing. These policies raise a fair question: Why are politicians pushing policies that force working families to shoulder a higher burden while some of the largest corporations in the world receive preferential treatment?
The strain on the American dream is perhaps most visible in the housing market. The average first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old. Younger families are not just competing with one another, but with institutional investors and foreign-backed capital that can outbid them with ease.
A home has increasingly become a financial instrument rather than a place to build a life.
That balance needs to be restored. Single-family homes should primarily serve American families — not global investment portfolios — so I introduced a bill to ban hedge funds and all foreign investors from gobbling up single-family homes and turning Georgia into a state of renters.
A stable society also depends on a single, consistent legal framework. The U.S. Constitution is the foundation of our system, not one option among many. This is why I am leading the charge to ban Sharia law in Georgia. Parallel legal structures that do not comport with our Constitution have no place in Georgia.
I believe the stakes are clear. Our nation approaches its 250th anniversary having achieved an unprecedented level of prosperity and freedom. But that success is not guaranteed to continue.
We will save America by saving Georgia. And we will save Georgia by restoring the American dream.
Greg Dolezal is a conservative businessman, state senator and Republican candidate for Georgia lieutenant governor who grew up the son of a teacher and a paper salesman, learning the value of hard work on his family’s farm. He has built businesses that employ hundreds of Georgians and is running to restore the American dream for families across the state.
