Robert Reich on The Daily Show
April 20, 2012 2 Comments
Robert Reich appeared on The Daily Show Thursday night, making much sense on taxes, government spending, and the influence of money.
On taxes.
REICH: Under Dwight Eisenhower, the highest marginal income tax rate was 91%. He was a Republican. He was a former general. And, you know, nobody accused him of being a communist or a socialist. And I’m not suggesting we go to 91%. I’m just saying, in those years, we had three decades after the second World War, the economy grew faster than it’s grown since and even after all the deductions and tax credits, people at the top were still taxed around 55, 56 percent.
On government spending.
REICH: Big corporations in those days were much more American. Now they are global. So if we don’t have a government that is investing in our people, in education, in job skills, in infrastructure, in public transportation, in basic research and development — in all the things we need government to do, we can’t expect the big corporations are going to do it.
On the influence of money.
REICH: Even the Democrats are pretty dependent on some of those same sources: Wall Street, and big corporations, and to some extent what’s left of labor unions — not much, but they have labor unions — so where are the people, and who is representing you, and me?
STEWART: I’m rich, actually.
One opportunity that progressives have is to point out just how out-of-sync conservative values are with the America that followed World War II. Rich people not paying taxes should be framed as an issue of patriotism (which it is) and investing in America should be seen as an issue of patriotism (which it is) and big corporations not investing in America should be framed as an issue of patriotism (which it is).
Sadly, it’s hard to imagine a liberal such as Reich getting a top position in the Obama Administration.
About Matthew
I am a Democrat, if my party wants to do something constructive for election reform, let it be; 1. Abolish the Electoral College(we can read/think for ourselves), 2. Make Voter IDs a National Law, 3. Restructure the Presidency to a single 6 yr term, so the President will not be out trying to get reelected rather instead let him do his job & limit Congress to 10 yrs & out with no pension, 4. Deal strongly with the immigration law breakers as it is written, stop Amnesty as a solution to the problem. 5. They need to stop passing laws that they do not read(Obamacare) and take time to revue current laws to drop keep or change them. 60,000 laws are too many for us to fathom let alone know. 6. They should set up Congressional business on a three months in Wash, one month back home for three sessions. Congress needs to be a Citizen Congress not a retirement home for millionaires. 7. They need to cut all this primary/convention crap & have one National Direct Primary Day in all States, that means Dem/Dem, Rep/Rep & others have a write in only no crossover period. America needs to tap it’s older(we have i phones, twitter & blog) intellectual community & begin to respect what they say. For example, Obama formed the bipartisan B/S committee to come up with a budget plan & what did he do with their plan, NOTHING. I would have liked for the B/S plan to have had an open vote in both Houses. I believe most Americans whether Dem/Rep or Independent would agree with this proposition, vote for it and we would be better off. Wake Up America
1. I’m all for abolishing the electoral college and as long as we’re doing total reform I’d get rid of the Senate as it gives far too much weight to a smaller portion of the population. 2. Voter IDs are only needed if you’re a conservative wanting to halt minorities and progressives from voting, as there’s no significant voter fraud in the country. 3. Term limits could just increase the power of lobbyists, but I’d make it illegal for political representatives to become lobbyists for at least 20 years after they leave office. 4. Whether you agree with the approach or not, what President has ever deported more undocumented workers than President Obama? 5. Okay, it feels like you only say “I am a Democrat” so that you can criticize Democratic policies. I suggest you join the Republican party as those are the values you’re espousing and your own blog (from which you cut-and-pasted your comment) advocates for Ann Romney for President. 6. The best way to make Congress not a place for millionaires is to have publicly funded elections. 7. The B/S plan was undemocratic BS.