Governor Dan Malloy’s tax bill increases the tax rates by as much as 30% on individuals whose gross incomes are less than $500,000 but only increases the tax rate on those millionaires and billionaires, residing in Fairfield County (Malloy’s county of origins) by a mere 3% in comparison.
It is time for Connecticut residents to petition Governor Malloy and their State Senators and Representatives by demanding a more equitable tax bill for the middle class: that is, one that spreads the pain more evenly to all of its citizens.
If the tax rates on middle class citizens can increase by as much as 30%, then certainly the tax rates on millionaires and billionaires can increase by at least that amount as well.
If you wish to add your name to the petition that we will be submitting to the State of Connecticut to amend Senate Bill No. 1239 (SB1239), please include your name, address, and email address on the petition that appears below.
Let’s spread the pain equitably all around so that everyone shares the pain, including the aristocratic class in Fairfield Country, one of the richest counties in the entire United States, where many of those Wall Streeters, who were responsible for our country’s economic collapse, live.
Do you want the most wealthy in Connecticut to pay their fair share in taxes? Do you want the Wall Streeters who caused our economic collapse to pay more in taxes? If you do, then click on the link below and sign the petition.
CENK UYGUR, HOST: The Republican reverse: Robin Hood strikes again. Tonight, Chris Christie whacks the workers in New Jersey. This is about one thing, raw political power. Republicans continue their war on the middle class.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took a victory lap today after his state approved a rollback of benefits for 750,000 government workers and retirees. They must be so proud. The bill increases what workers contribute for their health insurance and pensions, suspends cost of living increases to retirees` pensions, and curbs the contract bargaining rights.
But wait a minute. It curbs union bargaining rights? That`s funny. Just three months ago, Christie was all for union rights. Remember? This is what he said —
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I love collective bargaining. We`re ready to collectively bargain. And let`s have it be real collective bargaining where someone is in there representing the people who pay the bills.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UYGUR: Now he seems to have conveniently forgotten about that as he took away their bargaining rights anyway. And this morning, he defended his plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: A bipartisan plan where we compromised to put the people first, Matt. The taxpayers is going to save over $130 billion over the next 30 years. We needed to bring equity and shared sacrifice into this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UYGUR: Shared sacrifice? I see where the workers are sacrificing. Where is the sacrifice for the rich? Remember, Christie just vetoed a bill that would have increased taxes on millionaires. He saved them hundreds of millions of dollars for the rich. Where is their shared sacrifice?
In New Jersey, equity and shared sacrifice has actually meant outing state aid — cutting, I should say, state aid for needy cities. And the results honestly have been disastrous. Newark alone was forced to cut 167 police officers. The result, murders are up 65 percent from a year ago. Jesus, 65 percent.
You know why that happens? That happens when you take cops off the street, because you just had to give more money to the millionaires of New Jersey. And then you`re surprised, right?
Shared sacrifice? What`s he talking about? When is the last time his rich buddies shared any of the sacrifice? It turns out the people of Newark are the ones getting all the sacrifice.
Now, let me show you how the GOP`s reverse Robin Hood works in general. The rich give campaign contributions to the GOP Party, who in turn cut programs for the working class to fund tax breaks for, you guessed it, the rich. Funny how that works.
Today, the great example of that comes from the other favorite union-buster, Scott Walker. This Sunday, he will sign a budget that includes $2.3 billion in tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. Up until a few hours ago, he was going to sign that bill at, you guessed it, the business of a man convicted on charges of tax evasion.
The irony here is that the man didn`t need to evade those taxes at all. All he had to do was wait for Scott Walker to get into power. Then he could have qualified for legalized tax evasion through the Republican Party. And that about sums up the state of the Republican Party right now, legalized tax evasion for the rich and pain and sacrifice for the rest of us.
Joining me now, Democrat from New Jersey, Senator Frank Lautenberg.
SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D), NEW JERSEY: Hi.
UYGUR: Senator Lautenberg, great to have you here. Chris Christie is unpopular right now in New Jersey. He`s got an overall unfavorability rating, but yet he is still getting this done. Why do we have this deal in New Jersey today?
LAUTENBERG: Well, because a lot of people capitulated their beliefs and threw their hat in the ring to be friendly with this bullying governor of ours. And remember what this governor is doing. Not only is he cutting people`s incomes, increasing their costs, but also, he is has taken the liberty of giving away New Jersey money.
We had a $6 billion transit commitment from the federal government and the New York Port Authority and he gave it away. We took $400 million worth of education money that was going to the benefit of people living in New Jersey, and he lost that. And he`s given away further assets, and we just don`t understand it. Why is New Jersey the giveaway state when we need so much help?
UYGUR: Well, Senator Lautenberg, I understand what you are saying. You mentioned the word “capitulation,” though, and I think that`s an interesting word to use there, because, look, we have seen this over and over. Republicans come in like tough guys, and Christie — and I`m calling Christie “Governor Paulie Walnuts” now, yelling at his own constituents in harsh ways, et cetera, et cetera.
I understand that. But Democrats had to sign off on this in New Jersey. My God, why in the world would you do that?
LAUTENBERG: Why? Because I`m sure that it`s not without getting something for their own need in return. And it`s the wrong way to do it. We have to stand tough, because we`re being slashed at all across this country.
And I say we, the Democrats, but I`m concerned more about the people who work for a living that permit those of us who have been successful to be successful. And it`s not happening. So they`re just quitting and going along with the governor, with whom they violently disagree but don`t have the guts to stand up to.
UYGUR: Senator, I want to talk about how we fight back. Right? Because I want to show you two sets of numbers here which I think are so his stark and could help in fighting back.
We told you about Newark. And you know about Camden, of course. You`re the senator from New Jersey. What they did was they initially had to cut half of their police budget and half of their police department because they didn`t have enough money from the state government. Violent crimes spiked 18 percent just in the first quarter alone, and then they had to panic and hired back those 50 police officers, because you can`t have cities without police officers.
This is crazy. And why do they do all this? Well, again, Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have raised $637 million because he wanted to protect millionaires.
I mean, isn`t this an amazing case to make to the voters of New Jersey? Shouldn`t Democrats be on fire in New Jersey making this case?
LAUTENBERG: Yes, you`re darned right. And the fact is that in Camden, police weren`t available enough to go to burglary scenes, but had to record it on a disk and check up on it later. It`s outrageous.
And we`re being swept away by a bullying governor who promises retribution if you don`t go his way. Well, the retribution, in my view, is going to come from the next election, and we`re going to see it directly as his numbers fall now, and I believe will continue to fall heavier, in the very near future.
UYGUR: Last question for you, Senator. Do you think Chris Christie is really playing more to a national audience, a national Tea Party Republican audience, rather than your own state, in order to — I don`t know if he is trying to be president, vice president. I don`t know what he`s running for. But do you think that`s the real game here?
LAUTENBERG: You put the words in my mouth. He is looking at the national picture, because what he is doing to the people in of New Jersey is going to hurt so much, that he could very well be swept away there. But he is willing to trade it for a shot at the big job. That`s my belief.
UYGUR: All right. New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, thank you so much for joining us this evening. We really appreciate it.
LAUTENBERG: OK.
UYGUR: All right. Now, let`s be clear, one of the reasons that the GOP governors are attacking unions is because they fight for Democrats. Outside groups spent nearly $500 million during the 2010 election cycle to run ads, make phone calls, distribute literature to sway the electorate. That`s how it works.
Now, during the midterms, six of the top nine groups that gave that funding were conservative. Only three were liberal, and all three of those were unions. Now do you see why they attack the unions?
But Democrats are now trying to fight back against that disparity with outside fund-raising groups of their own. They are fighting fire with fire, or you could say money with money.
Joining me now, former deputy White House press secretary and senior strategist to the political group Priorities USA, Bill Burton. Bill, good to have you here.
BILL BURTON, FMR. DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Thanks for having me on.
UYGUR: Absolutely. Look, there`s two sides of this, right? Fire fight with fire, and then there is the side of, well, then we`re in the business of taking corporate money. So, first, let`s address the first point.
You know what? Actually, let me let you respond to Senator Feingold, because he directly challenged you guys on this issue at Netroots. Let me play a clip for you guys.
BURTON: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSS FEINGOLD (D), FMR. U.S. SENATOR: I emphasize the ability to fight fire with fire. But Democrats should just never be in the business of taking unlimited corporate contributions. It`s dancing with the devil, and it`s a game that we will never win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UYGUR: Well, what do you think about that, Bill?
BURTON: Here is the question. Do you want Karl Rove as the Koch brothers to have unlimited influence on this election with no response whatsoever from the Democratic side? Our view is that, we might not like the rules, but they`re the rules that we`ve got in this election cycle, and we`re not going to give Karl Rove and the Koch brothers any more advantage than they`ve already got.
They`ve got deep pockets from the oil companies, deep pockets from their rich friends in Texas, who all can spend unlimited sums of money. We`re not in the business of saying, OK, we`re all right with your hundreds of millions of dollars washing over the candidates that we care about, the values that are important to us, just because we want to make — just because we want to make a political point. We don`t want to make a political point. What we want to do is make sure that the right wing doesn`t have undue influence in this election cycle.
UYGUR: I`m really, really split on this, because I totally here what you are saying. And look, anybody who watches this show knows I`m a big fan of fighting back. And you guys are fighting back.
BURTON: Absolutely.
UYGUR: No question about that. Right? So I get that and I love fighting fire with fire. Having said that, I`m a little concerned that, you know, look, when you take corporate money, there`s certain understandings that come along with it. Are you guys beholden to those understandings?
BURTON: We are not beholden to any understandings. Anybody who wants to participate through our group knows exactly what we`re doing and why we`re doing it.
And the best example of why our group exists became clear today. Karl Rove`s group, today, said that they are starting a $20 million advertising campaign over the course of the next two months, $5 million over the course of the next two weeks.
Now, are we to sit by as Democrats, as progressives, and say it`s OK for Karl Rove and his agenda to have all that influence, to have all that impact on the election and do nothing? Our view is that this is why we exist.
If you`re a Democrat, if you`re a progressive, if you care about the things that Democrats care about, get involved, participate. Because we cannot stand by again and see what happened in 2010 happen once again in this election where Democrats got run out of town as a result of the hundreds of millions of dollars that right wing groups were putting into this election.
UYGUR: So, again, Senator Feingold would say, yes, I get it. All right? And you don`t want to do as some people have said — I think Debbie Wasserman Schultz said you don`t want to do unilateral disarmament. I`m the last guy in the world who wants to do unilateral disarmament. So I understand that concept.
But at the same time, Senator Feingold says if you play this game, you eventually wind up losing because corporations are going to back Republicans more than they`re going to back you guys, so it`s better to just change the game rather than just to play within it.
And I get that you`ve got to do both. You`ve got do both. I get that. Right? But how do you plan, if you do it all, on changing the game?
BURTON: Well, a couple of things. We actually have no — we have no doubt that Republicans will be able to raise more corporate money. They`ve got oil companies who are making record profits right now who can cut checks for $20 million, $30 million, $40 million and not even think twice about it. It`s what they sneeze on any given Tuesday.
But what we are trying to do is make sure that Democrats and progressives and people who actually care about changing the rules get in control. We want to change the rules, but you can`t change the direction of the bus if you don`t have control of the steering wheel. And our view is, we`ve got to get control of the steering wheel.
These Republicans, Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, none of these folks who are trying to get involved and sway this election have any interest to change the rules. We do. The people we support do. And that`s going to be something that only has a chance if Karl Rove and the Koch brothers lose.
UYGUR: Bill, final thing on this, look, I get that side of the equation, again, for the eighth time. Right?
BURTON: Sure.
UYGUR: If you have a Republican in there, they`re going to let Wall Street run wild, they`re going to give any kind of break to the oil companies. There`s no question about that. It`s a historical fact. That`s what they do every single time.
BURTON: Absolutely.
UYGUR: So the alternative is hideous. I know that. Right? Now, having said that, look, right now, we`ve got President Obama having dinner with Wall Street guys in New York this month because he`s got to raise money. Right?
And we had the Dodd-Frank bill that a lot of progressives thought was incredibly weak because we didn`t want to offend the Wall Street guys. And that`s partly because the Democrats take their money, too. You`ve got acknowledge that`s a problem.
BURTON: I can assure you that there`s a lot of folks on Wall Street who didn`t like Dodd-Frank either. It`s the sort of thing where you had critics on the right, you had critics on the left, and he tried to do what he thought was best for the country. That`s the thing, is that what we believe are, you know, true core progressive values, that`s what we are trying to advance here.
And sitting by and letting one side participate with unlimited donations just isn`t going to help advance our values. What it`s going to do is going to slow us down. It`s going to make us lose elections. It`s going to make sure that the things that we care about are not advanced in Washington. We have seen enough of that. But if these guys win, we know what the outcome is going to be.
UYGUR: Right. Look, Bill, I appreciate you coming on here, Bill Burton, and talking this through. And it is interesting. My final thing from my perspective is, I wish we could do both things. Right?
BURTON: Sure.
UYGUR: But, yes, you`ve got do what you`ve got to do to win the next election. I get that. But at the same time, man, we have to spend all of our time and energy changing the game, because eventually I think Senator Feingold is right. We lose this game of corporate cash.
And most importantly, and the reason I care about it, is that the American people lose that. The corporations wind up shifting all the taxes on to all of us. And we`ve got to change that game entirely.
I we wish we could take some of the money you`re raising, everybody else is raising, and direct it towards campaign reform, because we`d all be 10 times better served.
BURTON: And let me just say as a final point, I respect Senator Feingold`s opinion, I respect what you are saying right there. And our view is that, if you want to change the game, you`ve got to be in control of it. And if the other guys are in control of it, we know exactly what`s going to happen.
UYGUR: All right. Bill Burton, you`re very clear. Thank you for joining us tonight. Appreciate it.
UYGUR: Once budget talk turned to taxes the Republicans ran for the hills. They didn`t want to be anywhere around there. So now it`s time for President Obama to step in to close the deal.
Today, we got word Obama will meet with Democratic and Republican leaders, one on one, starting Monday. The goal is to get the top leaders together so that they can finish those talks that got derailed when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl pulled out on Thursday and ran away.
Profiles in courage, those Republicans are. Very, very bold.
But it might be tough to get a deal no matter who is in the room for one simple reason. Republicans are now brazenly admitting they`re entirely unwilling to negotiate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Over the past several days, some have suggested in various news stories that the real goal of these talks is to devise a plan that satisfies one side by reducing the debt, and satisfies the other side by raising taxes. The suggestion here is that all — this is all just some quid pro quo exercise between the two parties. This is a dangerous trend, and it is wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UYGUR: Yes, that`s how negotiations work. You give something, they give something. What do you want? I want everything, and I want the Democrats to give everything to me, and I give nothing in return.
Come on, man. I get frustrated. How many times have we seen this?
The problem is that the Democrats encourage it. After reportedly giving away $2 trillion in spending cuts, they`re now suggesting that negotiations over tax cuts are just beginning.
The Democrats are now offering new concessions. Yesterday, Democratic Senator Max Baucus called for a deal that would include new taxes and “additional cuts to Medicare.” That is absolutely unbelievable.
You know, there`s another way to do this. When the Republicans say that the trillions in spending cuts don`t count, and they will offer nothing in return, you walk out. In fact, you kick them out of your office and you tell them, you know what? These talks are now over.
We will now take our case to the American people and tell them that you are protecting tax breaks for corporations, millionaires and billionaires who fund your campaigns. You are dirty, corrupt politicians who want to unload all of the country`s problems on the middle class.
In other words, here is the other alternative — you give them hell. When is the last time the Democrats did that? What, 30 years ago? Never?
You want to fight for our side? Anybody want to fight?
More concessions. Unbelievable.
All right, let`s bring in Ezra Klein, MSNBC contributor and a reporter for “The Washington Post.” He`s got a lot to say about how — why Cantor fled the budget talks and the gamble on America`s debt that both sides are making.
All right. Ezra, come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.
You give away $2 trillion and then you say, all right, now let`s talk about taxes? Can anybody be that stupid?
EZRA KLEIN, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: I think if you look at their political side, they probably think they did a good job here.
(LAUGHTER)
KLEIN: Look at where the three sides are, right? On the one hand, you have the Republicans stomping out in a tantrum from the room. You have Mitch McConnell denying that what happens in politics is under any circumstance a negotiation. That is suddenly not allowed.
You have Eric Cantor saying the Democrats gave us everything we asked for and we decided to stop negotiating with them.
And you have Barack Obama — and this is important today — refusing to fire. Jay Carney and Barack Obama continued to sound conciliatory.
UYGUR: Of course!
KLEIN: So what they think will happen here, I mean, if you look at what their strategy is, they think that they`re going to look like the bipartisan guys. And when this debt ceiling thing actually begins to implode on itself because Republicans won`t come to an agreement on it, Republicans are going to be left holding the bag. That`s their plan.
UYGUR: No, no. Look, that`s always their plan. Their plan is, never fight back, and then give the Republicans almost everything they want, and sometimes even more, and then go, aren`t I so bipartisan? Well, I`m not interested in that plan, because in that plan, the middle class gets screwed again, and the rich pay none of the share again.
Look, here`s the thing. Ezra, if they said, like you said, hey, you know what, the Republicans are walking out, we seem like the reasonable guys, and the American people will side with us, but that presupposes that they play chicken, that they go to the end here.
But they`re not going to. You know it, right? The Democrats — who loses in a game of chicken between Democrats and Republicans? One million percent of the time, the Democrats. Right?
So they`re going to give in at the last moment and give the Republicans almost everything they want, aren`t they? That`s what happens every time. I would be shocked if anything else happened.
KLEIN: I think we`ll have to see.
So there are two bets here, right? The Republicans have bet that, as you say, Democrats will not go to the edge on this, they will not play chicken all the way to the end. And Democrats are betting, or at least hoping, that when they get to the end, that Republicans will have looked so bad for what they are doing, that the pressure on them will become unbearable.
What happened in `95, when Clinton and the Republicans went to a shutdown over the debt ceiling, was they almost got to the point where they stopped sending out Social Security checks. And as the Republicans realized seniors were going to blame them and they were going to take the heat in the next election, they broke on it.
And that is — if you look at the people the White House hired, it`s all those same people from the `90s. So that is certainly the playbook they are trying to run.
UYGUR: How has that playbook worked out for them so far?
KLEIN: I think opinions vary on that one.
(LAUGHTER)
UYGUR: Yes, they vary. No, every single time they are like, oh, boy, we have got the Republicans under pressure now because we have been so reasonable in giving them everything. And they`re going to have to buckle, right?
They have not buckled once. That is the world`s worst playbook.
1995? They might as well be going to an 1895 playbook. That is so outdated.
That`s not the same Republicans. They never give in. And these people don`t seem to understand negotiations.
But look, speaking of Republicans, there is an interesting twist here within the Republican Party. Eric Cantor walked out. That wasn`t just a negotiation tactic, right? There was also some internal strife.
What`s that about?
UYGUR: It really looks like that. Eric Cantor`s statement was fascinating.
He didn`t say, as Mitch McConnell did, as Jon Kyl did, these negotiations are going terribly, we don`t want to do taxes, we`re out. He said, at this point, I can`t cut the deal for you. You`re going to have to have Speaker Boehner do it.
And what he was doing there was he was passing the bag that Boehner put Cantor in these negotiations because Cantor is a conservative emissary in the Republican House leadership. He`s the guy who the Tea Party trusts.
And so, for Boehner to cut a deal and not have the Tea Party rebel against him, he needed Cantor to be there with him there to cut it. And Cantor got it right up to the point where conservatives would stop being happy, right up to the point you needed taxes. And he didn`t stay in that room and say we`re not being able to make a deal.
And he and Boehner didn`t come out together and make a statement. Cantor walked and said it`s up to Boehner now.
And so, if Boehner ends up cutting the deal, the Tea Party is going to turn on him, and it`s going to help clear the way for Cantor to be Speaker or minority leader in a couple of years. But either way, it`s not a real profile in courage on Eric Cantor`s part.
UYGUR: So, Ezra, that leads us to the last thing here, because when you get to Boehner — and I know Obama was supposed to soften him up by playing golf. Softening up Republicans. Anyway — OK.
So they get to Boehner, right? But look what Boehner has said about taxes before. Let`s roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: Tax hikes are off the table. The American people don`t want us to raise taxes and they know that we`ve got a spending problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UYGUR: So, what is Boehner going to do? Is he going to say, OK, yes, I was kidding, now we`re going to raise taxes, or is he just going to stick to his line and think that the White House will buckle because they have every other time?
KLEIN: I think he`s going to stick to his line.
Look, Boehner is — because of what Cantor did, and because of internal dynamics, Boehner is weak. And so Boehner came out immediately and said of course I won`t raise taxes.
What Boehner eventually needs to do, and what the Republicans eventually will probably have to do, is raise taxes in way that their people don`t agree is a tax increase, something like closing budget expenditures, loopholes and tax breaks. So far, in this negotiation, they`re not willing to do it. But at some point we`re going to have to cut some sort of a deal here.
And right now — and this is true on their political team — the White House thinks they have got a winning argument. As you know, tax hikes on the rich are a heck of a lot more popular than Medicare cuts. So they`re not particularly afraid, at least in theory, of bring this to the American people. The question ends up being how afraid they are of letting the debt ceiling collapse and do damage to the economy.
UYGUR: Right, which, of course, the will, at the end, say we can`t do it. We had to give in. They held the American people hostage. You know, we had the winning argument, we just didn`t use it.
How many times have I seen that movie? You look forward to it. I could be wrong. I won`t be, but let`s see what happens.
All right. Ezra Klein, MSNBC contributor and reporter for “The Washington Post.”
All you hear today from Congress is the need to cut: cut waste, cut spending, cut the budget. But how about cutting the number of weeks vacation that members of Congress get every year? Are you aware that members of Congress take a week off for virtually every weekday holiday and weeks off for the big holidays, accumulating nearly twenty-six weeks of vacation time every year? Talk about waste!
How about cutting their vacation time? Let them just take the same number of holidays and vacation that we are allotted: the seven (7) major holidays and a couple of weeks off for a vacation. So instead of 26 weeks, let them set an example and get 3 weeks off. It’s time to cut, alright, it’s time to cut all the time off members of Congress get. Maybe by cutting all the time off, Congress will get something done and fix our economy.
There’s no talking to the Republicans literally because they will storm out of the room like little kids: “I’m taking my budget and going home.” Today a major breakdown budget negotiations as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor flat out bailed on the talks. He said he cannot deal with any more talk about raising taxes on billionaires. Poor Cantor.
Moments ago Nancy Pelosi responded to Cantor’s move in an exclusive interview with our own Lawrence O’Donnell: “It’s an interesting tactic. It doesn’t happen to be valid because the point is that we are willing to have a balanced package. They are not. They are not. They do not want to talk about taxes, Eric Cantor. But it is interesting that they—and I knew, and we all said what they are going to do is say, even though we can agree on certain cuts, you won’t go for them unless we raise taxes to the American people. No we are not. We are just saying to make our tax system fair so that everyone pays their fair share.”
Now hours after Eric Cantor pulled that, Republican Senator John Kyle did the same: “Apparently they got budget interruptus.” Until finally planned talks led by Vice President Biden were simply cancelled for the day. John Boehner says he understands Cantor’s hissy fit: “I know the frustation that he feels when Democrat members continue to want to bring tax hikes into this conversation….And I think Mr. Cantor has made it clear that these conversations could continue if they take the tax hikes out of the conversation.”
Well the obvious reality is that the GOP thinks that they can push the Democrats around, so they are drawing another line in the sand on taxes. And honestly, who can blame them? The White House as usual had an inexplicably horrible strategy in these so-called negotiations. They agreed to at least $2 trillion in spending cuts before they even started talking about taxes. And now they are expecting Republicans to discuss taxes after they already gave them the spending cuts? Why would they do that? Can anyone be really this bad at negotiation?
And by the way, if that negotiation strategy sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Obama gave Republicans more than they originally asked for when he agreed to roughly $38 billion in budget cuts to avoid a government shut down. Now who gives their opponents more than they ask for? Months before that, the President agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich.
These guys are like a reverse price line. They go in and make the highest bid against themselves and then wonder why they didn’t get a good deal. And that’s exactly why Republicans now believe that the White House will roll over every single time. But don’t take my word for it; take Mitch McConnell’s: “They could not get a tax increase on people making a million dollars and up through a Congress that they had overwhelming control of….Taxes aren’t going to be raised. If they couldn’t raise taxes when they owned the government in the last Congress, you know that they cannot do it now.”
Ah, he’s rubbing their faces in it. But the really scary thing, Democrats are signaling that they may not only back away from raising taxes on the rich—are you ready for this—they might also be willing to lower taxes on corporations; [Virginia Senator Mark Warner, a member of the Deficit Commission said], “The way we’re dealing with revenues is not raising taxes, we are actually going back to the Reagan approach, which is lowering tax rates, getting rid of a lot the tax exemptions….”
We are going to sum it up. They are going to slash programs that help the middle and low income families while lowering corporate taxes. So you tell me, are Democrats the worse negotiators in human history? Or is everyone in D.C. playing a game on us, where they know what the outcome is, where we are going to take the hit again and the rich and the powerful are going to slide again.
Alright, well let me pose that question to a man who does not play those games, Independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Senator, great to have you here. As I look at this, I think, wasn’t this the most obvious to be expected move of all time when you first give away the spending cuts and then, gee, why, I wonder why the Republicans didn’t go along with the tax cuts?
Senator Bernie Sanders: Cenk, I think you hit the nail right on the head. And here’s the pity of it all. By overwhelming numbers of every single poll that I have seen, that deficit reduction must be accomplished through shared sacrifice. That the wealthiest people in this country can no longer enjoy huge tax breaks. That corporations making billions of dollars in profits are not paying a nickel in taxes. Have got to have those loopholes addressed. That’s what the American people believe in overwhelming numbers.
My view is that the President has got to use this Republican walkout as an opportunity. And what he has got to do now, very firmly, is go to the American people and make it clear that he will never support deficit reduction which does what the Republicans want. And that is move towards a balanced budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children, and the poor. And you know what? If he does that, he is going to have the American people in huge numbers on his side.
When Mitch McConnell says, oh, they want tax increases, what we are talking about is undoing Bush’s tax breaks for the rich, plugging loopholes which allow millionaires and billionaires to stash their money in the Cayman Islands and not pay a nickel in taxes. When we say that we want to address those issues, the American people are with us. The President must take that fight to the people.
Cenk Uygur: Senator Sanders, I wished the President would listen to you. That would be awesome, that would be perfectly logical, you would have the people behind you. I really doubt it. So I am going to ask you a question about whether you think the White House is a little naïve or somehow the fix is in. Because I want to show you a clip from earlier, after we gave away all those tax cuts again to the rich, the President was asked about what is going to happen during these negotiations. And an interesting response. Let’s look at this:
Obama: “When you say that they will have a significant amount of leverage over the White House, what do you mean….Here’s my expectation, and I will take John Boehner at his word, that nobody, Democrat or Republican, is willing to see the full faith and credit of the United States government collapse. That that would not be a good thing to happen.”
Cenk Uygur: Senator Sanders, when I saw that happening when it happened, I was like, really, is he going to take Boehner at his word? I look at that and I really wonder, and you are in Washington, and you are a Senator, and you know better than I do, I think can he possibly mean that? Does he really think that Boehner would say, oh, yeah, I will do whatever you want, I will just do what I told you that I was going to do….
Senator Sanders: The President understands that for the first time in our history not paying our debts in a world economy which is on very shaky grounds would be a very bad thing. And the President is clearly right.
But on the other hand, what we also know, Cenk, is the Republicans are tough. Yeah, they understand the repercussions of this but they are prepared to take it to the President. And I think the dynamic of it is that they assume that they are going to be firm and that they are going to prevail and that the White House and the Democrats will collapse.
And again, the absurdity of this is that the vast majority of the people support the Democratic proposal. And what the President has got to say is if you Republicans choose not to raise the debt ceiling, if you choose for the first time in American history not to pay our debts, and if we enter a depression, or huge kinds of financial instability, the American people will know that that financial responsibility is on your shoulders. You are the ones who have done it. You refused to compromise and you have done it and we are going to take the case to the American people.
But to keep backtracking, to keep capitulating, I think is not what the American people want. You know, we talk in a general sense of a trillion dollars in cuts. Do you know what we are talking about? We are talking about throwing millions and millions of people off Medicaid, we are talking about making it impossible for working class families to send their kids to college. We are talking about cuts that are in nutrition, which will increase the amount of hunger.
This is a lot of pain that the Republicans are tossing out while they want to protect their rich friends. The President has got to stand tall, take the case to the American people, and hold the Republicans responsible if the debt ceiling is not raised and the repercussions are bad.
Cenk Uygur: Senator Sanders, to buttress your point, I want to give you another poll on the Paul Ryan’s plan. The American people hate it. 57% saying that we would be worse off, 34% saying we would be better off. Those are terrible numbers obviously for the Republicans.
So we got the wind at our back. But my guess is, my very, very strong hunch is, that we are going to come out of this with, they are going to take some tax loopholes away, and there’s going to be a deal at the end, but they are actually going to lower corporate taxes. When that happens, I cannot begin to tell you the disappointment in real Americans. I have seen it in poll after poll. What’s going to happen in Washington, are they just going to go along with….?
Senator Sanders: All I can tell you, Cenk, is I am going to be on the floor, I believe, at 4 PM Monday talking about this issue. This is bad public policy. The middle class is collapsing, they don’t deserve cuts, the rich are getting richer, they have got to pay their fair share of taxes.
And second of all, this is what the American people believe in. They believe in the concept of shared sacrifice, not balancing the budget on the most vulnerable people in this country. So I am going to do my best. And the American people have got to chime in very loudly and say, hey, Mr. President, stand with us, stand with us, and be prepared to take on the big monied interests. We will be at your back.
Cenk Uygur: Alright, that would be fantastic. Senator Bernie Sanders, as always, a great pleasure. Thank you for joining us.
Senator Sanders: My pleasure.
Cenk Uygur: Alright, and now with me, Dana Milbank, national political correspondent with the Washington Post, and Michael Steele, former RNC chairman and MSNBC contributor. I want to talk to you guys a little bit about why Cantor did this, why the Republicans did it, and how does this all play out.
First of all, Dana, it is also possible of course, and not just possible, certainly at least a part of the equation, is that Cantor is doing this in relationship to John Boehner. Tell the audience how that plays out.
Dana Milbank: Right. At first blush it sounds like take your children to work day up there on Capitol Hill with Eric Cantor being petulant. But there is a sense that he may be doing the bad cop thing so that Boehner can do the good cop thing.
Look, everybody knows what the deal involves. They have got these basic cuts that they want to do if the Republicans can yield on tax revenues. That doesn’t mean higher tax rates. It just means getting rid of these loopholes. Then Democrats will yield on entitlements, particularly Medicare. Then you have a deal. You can’t get a deal otherwise.
So the idea is this allows Eric Cantor to build up his credentials with the Tea Party crowd that he is very popular with. Let John Boehner go in there and take the hit for a deal that ultimately has some sort of tax revenue increases that it has to have.
Cenk Uygur: Yeah, and that’s the inside politics of it within the Republican party, too. But Michael, as you look at the actual budget negotiations, so you got the taking away of these loopholes, isn’t that the most reasonable thing in the world? Don’t we have got to look at the revenue side?
Michael Steele: Oh, yeah, I think we do down the road, and the question is at what point on that journey do you do that.
Cenk Uygur: But not right now—
Michael Steele: Well, that is where we always like to start and it is an easy place to start. The hard place to really start is with the cuts. How much are we willing to pare back on in terms of our spending. And what Dana laid out is good on the inside the politics side, I think. On the tax and spending, and what the American people perceive more broadly, the Republicans want that to be a serious part of the discussion.
Cenk, in a real sense, your problem is less with Republicans and more with the Democrats in terms of what they are willing to come to the table with and how firm they are prepared to stand so that we do have this very, I think, important discussion about the relative role of spending with respective to entitlements and all the other programs that are on the table right now.
Cenk Uygur: Well, you are mostly right, Michael. My problem is with the Democrats because they won’t kick the Republicans’ ass. You got the American people behind you. Why don’t you just go in and fight? It looks like their hearts are not into it.
Michael Steele: But Cenk, what are you kicking our ass with and over?
Cenk Uygur: Taxes. I want to raise taxes on the rich. The majority of Americans want to raise taxes on the rich. If you raise taxes on the rich, you create 23 million jobs under Clinton. If you lower taxes as Bush did, you lose 1 million jobs over 10 years. I got the facts, I got the American people, I’m going to fight.
Michael Steele: You are all loopy on the facts….
Cenk Uygur: What do you mean loopy? There they are.
Michael Steele: But you are not taking into account that under that period that you are talking about, and they are two good periods to contrast, look at the level of spending when you had Clinton and the Republicans working together to reduce spending and increase the revenue through lower taxes and you have more spending under the Bush terms while you are at the same time cutting taxes. You just can’t do it both that way.
Cenk Uygur: But, Michael, here is what everybody tells me on the Republican side. If we just cut taxes, the economy will magically grow. But we did. We cut taxes for ten (10) years and it tanked. You guys were wrong. I wish the Democrats would make that case. I got to go to Dana. Dana, when you look at the Democratic side, isn’t the real problem that they don’t believe any of this? I mean, they never take the fight to them. I mean, look at Mark Warner saying he wants to cut corporate taxes. Is that what we are going to get at the end? Is this all kabuki theatre, and at the end, all the Democrats and Republicans have made a secret deal anyway, and then they are going to come out and say, yeah, we are going to raise the debt ceiling, and by the way, we are going to lower corporate taxes?
Dana Milbank: The silliest part of all of this is that the Democrats don’t even have to be on this position of raising taxes for anybody. They can just say, look, we are just getting rid of all of these loopholes. If you do that, you can actually lower taxes for everybody.
But what I don’t understand here is that it seems that Obama is almost sticking it to the Left here, like it is some sort of humiliation here, and it has been going on with the budget talks, with tax cuts, it is going on with Libya, it is going on with Afghanistan. You can see that the Democratic members particularly in the House are just livid with what is going on, but they feel powerless, there is nothing that they can do, they cannot challenge him, they can scream and yell like Bernie Sanders did, but ultimately they are stuck and they really cannot persuade this White House.
Cenk Uygur: They are stuck with a Democratic President who is not really Progressive and as you said, he is almost rubbing it in their face. Alright, that is great. I love being stuck that way. By the way, I bet that really works out for him when he is looking for votes. Yeah, that is a great winning strategy.
Anyway, Dana Milbank and Michael Steele, we have got to leave it right there. We are out of time. I love you guys. We will talk again soon. Okay?
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I just watched Robert Greenwald’s film clip, Koch Brothers Exposed, and was blown totally away at the operation of a brilliant, well-oiled, propaganda machine, making that of Hitler and Goebbels in comparision appear infantile and primitive. This is a propaganda machine well thought out, organized, and orchestrated. In fact, it’s brilliant. Here’s how it works.
First, the Koch Brothers and other corporatist interests fund millions of dollars to right-wing think tanks of economists and political scientists, as the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, Mercatus Center, Reagan Foundation, et al, to write the script that these donors want to disseminate to the general public. These think tanks are sort of like screenwriters or script writers, composing and writing the dialogue that the donors wish to be heard by the American public.
Then attractive representatives of these think tanks, often economists and political scientists themselves, make guest appearances on media programs, such as Fox Business, Lawrence Kudlow’s the Kudlow Report, Neil Cavuto’s Your World, and other Fox News outlets, reading their carefully crafted, orchestrated scripts in an effort to get the word out about the political changes that their donors desire.
The next step then is that the various media mouthpieces, such as Lawrence Ludlow, Britt Hume, Gretchen Carlson, et al, start repeating this script as if it’s gospel since it emanated from these so-called unbiased economic experts from these think tanks. This is the important segment missing in the Hitler-Goebbels propaganda strategy. These supposed news reporters and journalists contribute just that right touch of credibility and veracity and objectivity to the political propaganda. Robert Greenwald and Bernie Sanders refer to this ingenious phenomenon as the “echo chamber”.
Lastly, politicians receiving political contributions from these corporate interests then repeat almost word-for-word these carefully crafted scripts of what has been said over and over by the think tanks and the media personalities, appearing on talk shows such as “Hardball” (which in my opinion should now be renamed “Softball”), Fox News, CNN, et al, pushing onto the public the donors’ political agenda: for example, last night on “Hardball”, Texas’ Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison just repeated their script on raising the Social Security age to Chris Matthews, who then exclaimed in his sycophant manner that she should run for President of the United States. Gosh.
It is important to note that both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels knew and proved that if one told a big lie and repeated it many times, that the majority of the general public would believe it. Goebbels further believed, demonstrated, and stated, that “the bigger the lie, the more it will be believed,” as well as “the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly – it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.” Now don’t invoke Godwin’s Law on me here: I am only comparing the techniques of propagandists, not the inhumanity of any corporatist to these Nazi demons.
And for those of you who would accuse me of being a pinko commie or socialist, here is my response: in my opinion, our government is a wholly owned subsidiary of large corporations, with our Congress and Presidents on the corporate payroll, with many receiving required campaign contributions of millions to be re-elected every couple of years. It is as guilty, if not even more so, than these corporations in the sabotaging of a free economy.
Recall that Adam Smith warned us about this conspiratorial, collusive “assemblies” of government and business, hindering free trade and a free market, in “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. Isn’t it ironic that all of these right-wing so-called “capitalists” fail to quote Adam Smith on this finer point?
For those of you who may not know, having been subjected to this propaganda over the media for months, Social Security is not anywhere near bankrupt; in fact, it has a $2.6 trillion surplus, which is projected to pay 100% of the retirees’ benefits through 2037, and then 75% of benefits thereafter. To fully fund Social Security after 2037, all the government needs to do is uncap the limit on the 12.4% payroll tax so that wages exceeding $106,800 per year would be subject to the payroll tax as well. Of course, the rich are against this tax on their million dollar incomes!
And, of course, Wall Streeters oppose Social Security completely because if it is privatized, then we would all be forced to buy into personal retirement accounts, making all those big corporations in the financial service industries even wealthier than they are now, especially when they eventually steal all of our retirement monies in a fraudulent scheme as that which occurred to many pension funds in 2008 with their secularization of worthless mortgage-backed securities.
I would, in fact, go even further than merely eliminating the cap on Social Security wages. I would also impose the 12.4% Social Security tax on all investment income, since for the rich in our country, that income constitutes the majority of, if not their entire, income. We need to recharactize all investment income as “earnings”. Why? Well, isn’t being an investor a job, a way of earning a living? Does one have to sweat all day to be subject to a Social Security tax? Cannot one who just sits on one’s butt all day investing in businesses, like an independent banker, also be subject to employment taxes? Why this preferential treatment for investors? Of course, I am being rhetorical here because don’t we all know by now that our government always confers preferential treatment on the rich?
Did you know that billionaire Warren Buffett’s effective tax rate is merely 11%, far below the national average of 18%? And he doesn’t pay the 12.4% Social Security tax on those billions every year whereas the average American pays a Social Security tax on one’s entire wages. Is this equitable?
On his weekly segment on The Dylan Ratigan Show, The Young Turks/MSNBC host Cenk Uygur explains why corporations should not get a so-called ‘tax holiday’. Past history clearly shows that repatriation of corporate monies from overseas at very low tax rates does not translate into jobs but just bigger dividends to corporations and bigger salaries for CEOs.
Bernie Sanders: “What the Koch Brothers want to do is destroy Social Security because Social Security is a Federal government program that has been enormously successful.
The Koch Brothers are funding think tanks and other organizations which are spreading an enormous amount of disinformation about Social Security.
Raising the age of retirement, if they have people who are banging nails, or waitresses, or so many blue-collared jobs out there, that you gotta keep working until your seventy (70) years of age, that is just really unfair.
Second of all, we want to give the younger generation an opportunity to get out into the work force.
The Koch Brothers fund organizations. You have economists and political scientists working there. And they are very, very good in getting on television.
Andrew Biggs, Cato Institute: “raising the retirement age….”
Veronique de Rugy, Heritage Foundation: “I would increase the retirement age….”
Jose Pinera, Cato Institute: “we will probably have to increase the retirement age….”
David Johns, Heritage Foundation: “We’re probably going to have to raise the retirement age….”
And people will not know that they represent an organization which is heavily funded by corporate interests. They are very effective in getting their positions out into the media.
Lawrence Kudlow, the Kudlow Report: “Should Congress raise the retirement age?”
Britt Hume, Special Report, Fox News: “If you raise the retirement age….”
Guest on Hannity: “Raise the retirement age….”
Blonde on Fox Business: “Let’s consider the options. Let’s raise the age….”
Another blonde on Fox Business: “…raising the retirement age to 69.”
At the same time, the Koch Brothers are putting huge amounts of money into campaign contributions.
Paul Ryan: “…very modest increases in the retirement age….”
John Boehner: “…and eventually getting the retirement age to seventy (70) is a step that needs to be taken….”
Rand Paul: “…and the age on Social Security will have to go up….”
So you have an echo chamber which starts repeating a lot of misinformation.
The Koch Brothers are funding study after study which suggests to people that Social Security is going bankrupt. Social Security is not going broke. Social Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus.
Dan Mitchell, Cato Institute: “The program is actuarily bankrupt….”
Alison Fraser, Heritage Foundation: “Social Security and medicare….They are going to go broke….”
David Boaz, Cato Institute: “the real risk is social security running out of money….”
Neil Cavuto, Your World: “Social Security going bankrupt….”
Gretchen Carlson, Fox & Friends: “Social Security already bankrupt….”
Lawrence Kudlow, The Kudlow Report: “Social Security is going bankrupt….”
George Bush: “The system will be bankrupt.”
Texas Governor Rick Perry: “Bankrupt Federal programs like Social Security….”
Congressman Paul Ryan: “Social Security is going bankrupt.”
Michele Bachmann: “Social Security is already operating in the red….”
The Koch Brothers want to privatize Social Security to invest your retirement funds on Wall Street. And you may lose all of your retirement savings when you get old.
Dan Mitchell, Cato Institute: “Real security is based on personal accounts with real assets.”
Lawrence Kudlow, The Kudlow Report: “I like the idea of personal accounts.”
Congressman Paul Ryan: “The option of investing one-third of their social security payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts….”
Bernie Sanders: “The Koch Brothers job is to do everything they can to dismember government in general. And if you have destroyed Social Security, you have gone a long way forward in that effort.”
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Democratic California Congressman Xavier Becerra: “To once again, do what FDR did so well, and do what every Democratic President did so well in those years, and that is, to talk about strengthening Social Security, not privatizing Social Security.”
Cenk Uygur: That’s Congressman Xavier Becerra standing up against the Republicans and their ongoing war on Social Security. It’s a pleasure to at least see some Democrats fighting to protect our seniors. Republicans, of course, have been chomping at the bit to dismantle Social Security.
Just this year they proposed legislation to raise the retirement age, privatize Social Security, and cut benefits. They even argued to cut benefits and use the extra money to pay off the debt. Now let me be clear. Social Security hasn’t contributed one dime to the debt. In fact, it has a $1.5 trillion surplus. Now anyone who tells you otherwise is a flat out liar.
But, of course, they’re banking that you don’t know that, which is why they are pushing Social Security cuts to be part of those debt ceiling negotiations. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said just last night, “I don’t think we can wait and I do think it should be part of the overall debate on raising the debt limit.”
Now that’s an absurd idea. But it turns out Hutchison and her Republican colleagues are getting paid by the Koch Brothers to push this nonsense. Check out this excellent clip explaining how from Brave New Films.
Bernie Sanders: “What the Koch Brothers want to do is destroy Social Security because Social Security is a Federal government program that has been enormously successful.
The Koch Brothers are funding think tanks and other organizations which are spreading an enormous amount of disinformation about Social Security.
They are very, very good on getting on television.”
Andrew Biggs, Cato Institute: “raising the retirement age….”
Veronique de Rugy, Heritage Foundation: “I would increase the retirement age….”
Jose Pinera, Cato Institute: “we will probably have to increase the retirement age….”
David Boaz, Cato Institute: “the real risk is social security running out of money….”
Neil Cavuto, Your World: “Social Security going bankrupt….”
Gretchen Carlson, Fox & Friends: “Social Security already bankrupt….”
Lawrence Kudlow, The Kudlow Report: “Social Security is going bankrupt….”
Lawrence Kudlow, The Kudlow Report: “I like the idea of personal accounts.”
Congressman Paul Ryan: “The option of investing one-third of their social security payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts….”
Bernie Sanders: “The Koch Brothers job is to do everything they can to dismember government in general. And if you have destroyed Social Security, you have gone a long way forward in that effort.”
Cenk Uygur: That was, of course, narrated by Senator Bernie Sanders.
Now understand if they privatize Social Security, Wall Street makes more money at your expense. If they cut your benefits, they give more tax breaks to the very rich, like the Koch Brothers. Don’t let anyone, Republican or Democrat, cut your Social Security. You paid into it your whole life. Raising the retirement age is an enormous cut to your benefits. You should throw every bum who suggests that right out of office. That’s my opinion.
Let’s get somebody else in here, actually the person who called them out in the first place, Emmy and Peabody award winning producer, Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films. He’s behind that clip you just saw there. Robert, that was excellent because it showed exactly where the money was coming from and exactly where it is going. So first break it down for me. Tell me about the think tanks, the media, and the politicians. How do they work in coordination to push out this message?
Robert Greenwald: Well it took us several months of research at Brave New Foundation to find all of these clips, Cenk. But what Jeff, and Joseph, and Laila did was, they really showed us how an echo chamber works.
We can talk about a conservative right-wing echo chamber all day long, but when you see in the video, it starts with ideas at a think tank, which they fund, then it goes to pundits, who they fund, then it goes to activists, who they fund, and then the exact same words come out of elected officials mouths, it’s quite brilliant and it’s quite strategic in terms of their funding and organizing right across the spectrum.
Cenk Uygur: Alright, I actually want to show audience a couple of graphs that really show what you are talking about. For example, when you go to the Koch Brothers campaign donations, you see that they have given just in 2010 $2.6 million to campaigns, and that’s the tip of the iceberg. They say that they are going to raise $88 million for the 2012 elections. And then when you go to the think tanks that they fund, look at all this money. They gave $13.6 million to Cato Institute. $9 million to Mercatus Center, $3.4 million to Heritage Foundation, $2.4 million to Reason Foundation, overall $28.4 million.
And then these guys come out and pretend like, golly gee willikers, they did some research and these are the independent ideas that they happen to have, and golly gee willikers, Fox News seems to love those ideas and pushes them out as well, and so do all the people who got the money from the Koch Brothers and our politicians. So you see all of that machine, and you guys laid it out brilliantly.
The problem is, who is on the other side? Right? Are the Democrats on the other side fighting back enough in your opinion?
Robert Greenwald: No, nobody’s fighting back nearly enough because you just said it before: this is a profound moral issue. It affects millions of people in our country. And they are trying to hide it: the Koch funded echo chamber with their think tanks, with their studies. For some reason the people in Washington have gotten caught up in some of this thinking, like they have on the war, of course.
But in this case we need to be very clear that it is money that people have worked for, it is money they have earned, and it is being taken away from them on a hypothetical idea while at the same time millionaires and billionaires like the Koch Brothers get more and more tax deductions.
Cenk Uygur: Now I want to show you a clip of Kay Bailey Hutchison. She was just on Hardball pushing the same talking points. Let’s watch it first.
Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I think that people realize that if we don’t do something, we are going to have drastic cuts and big tax increases, and people really don’t want that.”
Cenk Uygur: Now, one, is that true, and, two, what are the different talking points that they push out, Robert? What are they trying to get the country to believe?
Robert Greenwald: Well, they are trying to get the country to believe that we are bankrupt. And again, as you said before, it’s a total lie. It is a distortion. And the notion that maybe 25 years from today, possibly there might be a problem—I mean, we know how unpredictable the economy is—so it does not make any sense unless you go to motive.
And the motive is to destroy another important government program. And the Kochs have put phenomenal resources into that. And, again, they are very smart about where they invest and how they invest. And they don’t just put all of their money into a few ads for politicians. In fact, there was a great line in James Meyer’s article about the Kochs: they said, politicians read from a script. They want to write the script. And by funding ideas, and by funding activists, and by funding pundits, that is really what they are doing. They are controlling the dialogue. They are controlling the conversation. And I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is that we understand it and that we take action to reply to it.
Cenk Uygur: Alright. Robert Greenwald of Brave New films, who is definitely taking action, we really appreciate your time tonight.
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Darryl Cooper, AKA @MartyrMade, is a podcaster who had a Twitter thread go viral with 13k retweets and 20k likes of the first Tweet alone. This one is 36-Tweets long. It makes very cogent arguments of not only why millions of Trump supporters believe the 2020 election was stolen, but also why we are justified […]
COVID-19 antibodies have been found in blood samples as early as September, 2019. China knew about the virus' transmission to humans months before it announced such to the world. Why has the media and our government not investigated this gross negligence, if not mass murder? Continue reading →
Democrats and elites are making straight white men the enemy of their new world order. Blacks, hispanics, gays are now the good guys; straight white men are the bad guys. Continue reading →
This ruling class of administrative state, big tech, corporations: all of these people think that they can get rid of Trump and we'll go back to normal. They're wedded to a broken system that has sold out the American people. And now they're going to try to sell out the American people and the middle […]
The real threat is collusion. When journalists strike secret alliances with the very people they're supposed to be holding accountable, we are in deep trouble. Lies go unchallenged. Democracy cannot function. And that's what we're watching right now. Continue reading →
The CIA from the very first days of the Trump administration, even before he was inaugurated, devoted themselves to sabotaging the administration because Donald Trump questioned just a few of their pieties. And that can't be done in Washington. Whoever does that must be destroyed. And so the CIA and the Deep State operatives became […]
The problem is the corruption that is absolutely pervasive in the U.S. news media. There are newsrooms all throughout New York and Washington DC, where top editors are explicitly saying they do not want this story investigated. And they're being clear that the reason that they don't want to investigate it is because they think […]
So Apple isn't fighting for diversity. They're doing exactly what they appear to be doing: they're trying to keep wages down and keep their workers compliant by importing labor from abroad.This isn't about diversity. It's about exploitation. It always is Continue reading →
Accountants CPA Hartford, LLC
Accountants CPA Hartford Connecticut is an accounting firm in Hartford, Connecticut offering a variety of accounting & tax services.
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Governor Dan Malloy’s tax bill increases the tax rates by as much as 30% on individuals whose gross incomes are less than $500,000 but only increases the tax rate on those millionaires and billionaires, residing in Fairfield County (Malloy’s county of origins) by a mere 3% in comparison.
I just watched Robert Greenwald’s film clip, Koch Brothers Exposed, and was blown totally away at the operation of a brilliant, well-oiled, propaganda machine, making that of Hitler and Goebbels in comparision appear infantile and primitive. This is a propaganda machine well thought out, organized, and orchestrated. In fact, it’s brilliant. Here’s how it works.
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