The Uber rich became rich because of the national security, markets, economy and infrastructure provided by the people collectively through the state and federal governments. You would think they would be willing to give back just a fraction of their wealth to maintain the national security, markets, economy and infrastructure that made them rich. Why are they so short-sighted? And why are politicians so afraid to make the case? Kudos to Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, two of the few with the courage to speak up.
@@elzoog I think Badger meant the military, not the police. I can imagine that developing weapons and equipment for the military is much more profitable than anything you can do for law enforcement.
@@elzoog If you do a little bit of googling you'll see that many of the biggest or oldest companies today had a hand in arms dealing or manufacturing, especially relating to WWII.
@@elzoog National security means several things, including internal political stability and a healthy foreign politics which allows a country to maintain a stable framework in which individuals can start long term entrepreneurship. The existence of such a framework is thanks to the effort of everybody.
The craziest thing is seeing this after it was posted 3 years ago, the worlds billionaires have gained on average well over 50% more wealth in the last 3 years while the working class across the world is getting destroyed even more
For fucking real. It's sickening, and we can't do anything about it. It's always the middle and lower classes who pay for everything, losing the most relatively as opposed to the rich. Furthermore, it's so damn expensive to be poor, to fucking live. And it's so hard to work your way up. And it's definitely on purpose. I'm from a European country. My mother owns a café. She also delivers cakes to other cafés in our hometown, which then get resold. You'd think she earns a very decent income, and she does in theory. Until tax deductions come in. My country practically punishes independent business owners and workers with even more tax. She lives paycheck to paycheck because of it. She is such a hard worker. Raised four kids practically alone. Two of'em still living with her. But they just take and take.
Even better: abolish the billionaire and millionaire status on a worldwide level; this'll bring back a tremendous amount of money in the many countries and states that desperately need it to face the many challenges we are all in.
Denmark has a top tax rate of about 64% and it still has an incredible economy + universal healthcare. It would be so much better if the US used rich people’s money to help people instead of being wasted away on yachts and buying Twitter.
Denmark also has a 21% tax rate for people earning 100k DKK a year, that's US$14.7k, barely any money. The economy is obviously going to be good if everyone pays crazy taxes
Australia is half way there with that. We have super which is a mandatory retirement fund and Medicare which is good. But you can still have private health care to jump the que. If your high income you have to have it. Be good to simplify it. Taxes and insurances are headfucks. Makes you want to move to Denmark.
Several countries have better life satisfaction than we do here in the supposed 'richest country in the world '. Most USA uber rich people are greedy, selfish, and have no compassion for those in need. sad
What annoys me about corporate sell outs is that they use the argument that the top 1% pays like 45% of the taxes and that they should only pay 1% of the taxes. Which is just stupid when they get 99% of the money. I say if you getting 99% of the money you should be paying 99% of the taxes. Its not fair to make the working class with 1% of the money to pay over half the taxes.
You should start with universal basic income for everyone. Enough for housing, heating, food. Healthcare, education and transportation should be free and public. Than people can earn money ontop of the ubi, that money will be taxed, less at the bottom and up to 100% tax rate above a certain amount of money.
@@RayRay-dv9xgBiggest problem is in a capital market everything ends up being more expensive to try to bridge the gap. It could work but other laws would have to be implemented to keep the same rich people from taking all that money back with their current position in the economy.
The company I retired from specialized in tax evasion "pension plans". The partners of our plan created one for themselves. The rich are experts at avoiding taxes.
Exactly why nothing Reich says would ever come to fruition. Nobody paid the 90% in the 50s, as even he clearly demonstrated. This guy is an idiot and doesn't understand wealth vs income. What he proposed would damage the retail investor the most.
@Mr.Mopar.23-7 And the willingness to work 18 hour days, develope & implement srrategy, hire and provide a salary and sometimes benefits to employees, invent new products and services. That's only a partial list. Yeah that's right you left a lot out. Now go out and create your own wealth and stop whining.
@@jamesofalo6247 Cry me a river. Just look at the hard work nurses, sailors, offshore rig workers, miners, construction workers etc. are doing and how much they get paid. You just try to justify unjust wealth differences.
Okay but like what about the companies like Nike that are MADE in Eugene but the company is no longer based out of the US such as it’s companies being based out of France or Belize. So you can’t tax anything besides capital gains of what’s sold
@@Cyrus992 While yes he supports Biden he calls out the Democrats in power like Biden to actually do something with said power. I don't think I have ever seen Reich compromise his message to placate the democrats.
@@Cyrus992 - POTUS only has the power that Congress allows. As long as the super-wealthy have control, changing the system is slower than snails with arthritis.
@@Bankz_92 there are very complicated ways to minimize this. Would you rather have 10% of $1,000 or 20% of $800? Sadly, our politicians would rather have virtually nothing for us since that gets them bribes... ahem, I meant it gets them "campaign contributions", lucrative speaking events, and future lobbying jobs.
@Red Pharaoh yes there will inevitably be some people caught where they are earning more than the average person but not enough to get lawyers to avoid taxes
It's amazing to me how such a small group of Americans would be affected by these taxes & yet, although it would not have a drastic effect on their lives, they will no doubt fight tooth & nail against it.
Mmm. Not really. If it’s fair why complain? That’s my personal opinion of course. And I think it’s more geared toward the outraged non-billionaires that aren’t even affected.
You can't tax people on the money they don't have. The billionaires he mentions have money vested in stocks, that cannot be taxed if it's liquid. That would set a dangerous precedent and damage the retail investor too. Reich is a dumbass who doesn't understand this simple concept. Plus he slams Trump who lowered taxes on americans making under 195k/year, and raised taxes on people making over that. He also doubled the standard deduction which lowers your tax liability (unless you itemize). I genuinely do not understand the morons that follow this cancerous tumor named Reich.
@@balvinen8024 If you told me that you were going to raise taxes to the 50% to 60% rate that they are in Scandinavian nations but, in return, we would enjoy the same public services, quality of life, and happiness that the citizens of those nations do, I would only ask where to send the money.
The super wealthy should pay down the deficit and big corporations too. Their tax rate should be minimum 65% on assets. I agree with everything you said here. Well done!
65%? 😮 - what gives you the right to take away more than half of a persons wealth? - what would give you the political *power* to do this to the most powerful people in your country?😂
@@theGourdReloaded as a history buff I saw 1900’s taxes for the very rich was 91% when the republicans tried to make Americans pay more with tariffs and use taxes the rich tax rates dropped, the great depression happened. I think the better it is for the masses who build and maintain this country the very rich part in America is the growth of the poor and middle class. This is America 🇺🇸 not Russia northern Korea China or Iran. I don’t know any American other than wants be oligarchs and dictators who want anything to do with that culture or economy. Yes I think it’s more than fair. It’s necessary
@@joeybru The law, which comes from the same authority that cut taxes for the rich and shifted the debt from the wealthy to the middle class. Is it only ok to shift wealth to the rich and not from them?
The funny thing is, how many people making 20 or 30 thousand a year will defend the billionaires not paying taxes. And when you point out that they made their billions by paying starvation wages and otherwise exploiting workers, those same people trot out the very tired "just get a better job" line.
@louisfriend9323 FATCA: Foriegn Account Tax Comoliance Act. The law forces offshore banks to report on the financle holdings on US Citizens. The law can be found at the US Treasury website. So, there no more hiding taxable money.
@@jlsc4125 a good addition to FATCA would be to require companies to share ownership and board members with workers in order to register on the NYSE. And limit the compensation to all executives to a percentage of all permanent and contract workers. Executive pay should no longer be in the billions and thousands of times the median worker’s salaries
@@markmyjak7739 "there no more hiding taxable money." Not quite right. All someone have a vast fortune, needs to do, is construct a postbox corporation with the help form the City of London. Thus one will become tax-anonymous. It's not enough, just the USA having tax legislation governing the offshore bank accounts of US citzens. It has tobe globle offshore tax legislation.
I once saw this image that said that if someone lived for 80 years and earned an average of $5,000.00 every day of their life, they still wouldn't be a billionaire, but rather have about $150,000,000.00. At the bottom of the image was a line that said that no one works to become a billionaire. So yeah, we should be taxing multi millionaire and billionaire individuals and corporations in this country more then we currently are!
for a bit of added context, if you were an immortal who'd sat and watched the pyramids at gaza being built and decided to be really rich and started putting $10,000 cash into a big safe every day by now you'd have accumulated around $17 billion
146M is working 365 days a year for 80 years; from birth. If you want to get realistic: Graduating directly into a career from day one out of a 4 year college at 22 years old, to retirement age of 65, is ~43 years of work. 52 weeks a year with 5 day weeks is 260 days. For funzies, may I suggest an additional 20 days of personal unpaid time annually, so 240 days. $5K(daily) * 240 days(annually) * 43 years(career) = $51.6M
If you made $5000 a day for the past 2000 years you would only have $3.7 billion which means there would be 'only' 200 people richer than you in America. Its honestly mind boggling
Back when being rich meant "millionaire", $2000 was a nice amount of cash but you were not at all wealthy. Well, the difference between 2 thousand dollars and 2 million is only 3 Zeroes. _Remember_ that if you "earn a nice income".
Thank you, Mr. Reich, for guiding us to the correct path and educating us on how corporations and the wealthy con America and American's out of their wealth! You are a true patriot!
@@roughhabit6496 Why don't you build you elementary and high schools and educate your own employees for thirteen years so that they can go on to post-secondary education and be among the most educated employees in the world? Why don't you build your own streets, airports and other essential infrastructure that corporations and billionaires have been failing to do, many evading all taxes or a large portion of it? Why don't you police your own streets and staff your own fire station and emergency services? IGNORANT! Just goes to show you how even retards can become wealthy or even own their own businesses, when a nation of taxpayers supports the development of essential and productivity increasing infrastructure--LIKE THE INTERNET--that makes it all possible!!!!!!!!!!!
Crazy that I paid 39% in taxes and live check to check. Then they get up and tell you they are for working class, lies. They talk about every other topic, tell bad jokes and insults and ppl are fooled. Smh
my income is literally so low that i don't owe federal income tax and I'm probably paying more to state and local taxes by percentage of my income than the uber wealthy pay. rich people have the capital to establish businesses and move their homes to tax haven states that result in them paying nothing or next to nothing.
Yawn… figure out your priorities if you can’t manage your money properly when you’re capable of being taxed 39%. Remember it’s a staggered taxation, not 39% on totals from $0
Yes you should pay less and not live paycheck to paycheck. But they don't pay "nothing".. Schools, even if underpaid, are paid by it. Firefighters are paid, police is paid, you have streets and electricity and water pipes.... Yes it should be spent WAY BETTER. But taxes in itself aren't bad. I have seen places with no streets. You either own a truck that can pass horrible streets or you're stuck (old sovjet places). Fight for better tax laws, not against all taxes.
@@justandhans this has nothing to do with priorities, I never mentioned what mine were so why assume that, that's what the issue is? Your just trying to defend nonsense. It's simply the cost of living.
@@johnhart3480 they pay 8.2% compared to your 13% That 8.2% is more money than you'll see in your lifetime. Raising the tax on the rich like they've done before has already proven that they will increase the cost of goods they supply to every day people which in turn causes inflation. You can advocate for that, sure. But wouldn't it be better for everyday people if you advocate to lower that 13% down to 8.2%? That would put more money back into the people's hands and help with the poverty line... or maybe this is a simple witch hunt against the rich to give more money to the government that they can send to other countries, I'm honestly not quite sure as to why this Robert guy is giving misleading information and incorrect information but maybe it is just that, an attempt to start a witch hunt.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.” - Warren Buffet "Warren Buffett doesn’t think the rich in America are paying enough in taxes. “The wealthy are definitely undertaxed relative to the general population,” he told CNBC’s Becky Quick during an interview on “Squawk Box” on Monday."
Reduce the political contribution limit to a day’s wages at minimum wage; $58 right now. Then Jeff Bezos and an Amazon warehouse worker would have the same clout. Then we could have tax reform. Not before.
Yes, every citizen should have the same voice regardless of wealth. Money distorts and amplifies ones voice and ability to influence our society. Limit political contributions and make it all public!! Sunlight is the best disinfect.
They are rich enough to buy a reputation. So many people know their bought and paid for reputation and never truly know who they really are. Thank you for sharing the truth and facts about these big corporate money donors. 💰
Believe it, I once worked for company that allowed women and children to be burned to death in accidents as it was less costly to pay the courts than to fix the issue. These people are without any morality.
I liked how our company (in 1990s) execs required the employees to only sell their stocks at few short specific times to keep prices stable, while they themselves who had by the largest amount of stocks by far were exempt. Month before everything crashed, they held a company meeting showing the future was bright and shiny while they were selling off their stocks like hot potatoes. Then 1/2 year after company crashed, it was decided that the CEO who been hired a year and half earlier before crash (a multi-millionaire who had made a lot of money before crash by selling out and was instrumental in company going down through bad decisions) had bought a multi-million dollar home, was to get a million dollar bail out as crash of company had been "unexpected" and was unfair burden for him now that he was out of job. The rest of us who were there from start and built the company were really struggling and lost significant portion of income due to stocks being worthless (having been part of our salary as they didn't have enough cash) got bupkis. Rich watching out for the rich, an American tradition.
I would ignore those orders and I wouldn't care about being fired if that much money is at stake. Transfer your stock to your own brokerage account whenever possible.
WE NEED THIS NOW! I sincerely hope that we all push hard to get these new tax plans in places. We just can't afford to keep letting such a small number of people keep so much money, when so much can be done to help the majority of the American people.
You're exactly right WE NEED THIS NOW. The ironic fact is none of this should've occurred to begin with. The Republic Party has always been the political party that drastically runs up the U.S. national debt even though they obviously fool enough people by calling themselves fiscal conservatives. The vast majority of the public need to wake up to this fact. It's been long overdue that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share of taxes but don't hold your breath because they have the money and influence. Mr. Reich, Senator Sanders & Warren are doing their best to make people aware of the rigged tax code & other major issues - I & many others are extremely grateful for their efforts.
All that taxpayers should pay for are services like the military that benefit EVERYONE. NOBODY has any obligation to pay for ANYTHING that is not to their benefit. That includes the rich being forced to pay for any social service that would be cheaper for them to pay for out of pocket than to have to pay higher taxes to provide that service to all of society.
Reich is a liar here is the proof the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare the rich get next to nothing in return
It's pretty bad information, though. The title says "What if we actually taxed the rich", then the content of the video says that we _do_ tax the rich, and he just wants to tax them _more._ The bits on tax loopholes, i.e. the _actual_ ways that rich people get out of paying taxes, i.e. tax loopholes, are there... but stuffed in near the end. It's useless to raise taxes without eliminating tax loopholes, and not really necessary to raise overall taxes if we _do_ eliminate the tax loopholes.
It amazes me how fast people can rise from humble beginnings to suddenly being filthy rich and completely forgetting how it felt to be the former. Human beings aren’t capable of handling so much wealth and power responsibly. The odds of it corrupting are overwhelming.
Part of the issue is the system. When you see every other rich person doing the same, and you fear your competitors will undercut you if you don't participate, then you have to play the game regardless.
Many of the Hollywood elites preach about redistribution of wealth but don’t practice what they preach. They don’t even live carbon friendly lives but want you peasants to
The ultra-wealthy are never from humble beginnings. They like to say so because it's good marketing, but their idea of "humble" beginnings is flying first class for around the world to eat dinner at an exclusive restaurant and then doing the same to go home *instead* of taking a personal private jet.
For those who don't know, this guy does really know what he's talking about. He worked in 4 different presidential administrations, including serving as Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labour and serving as a member of Obama's Economic Transition Advisory Board. I know to some people, these might be obvious and well known facts, but I just thought it was worth reiterating that these aren't just opinions of a random commentator - this is one of the foremost experts on what the US actually needs.
@@apjtv2540 he is the balance against Milton Friedman , Thomas Sowell, Arthur Laffer. I don’t agree with anything Robert proposes but in the best of worlds it is good to have those differing opinions and discussions.
@@markberryhill2715 I disagree. He believes that governments drive the economy. I believe supply side drives. Free market capitalism works. His talk about monopolies and breaking up the big corporations suppprts free market strategies but implementing anti trust and 90% marginal rates, etc. are difficult to pull off in reality.
@@douglastovey2685 depends on what you mean by "works". Generates a lot of profit. Sure, free market capitalism works wonderfully. Raising quality of life - generally, it works until it doesn't, and especially for poor people, it doesn't. A fair society where everyone can be happy? God, laissez-faire capitalism fails terribly at that so if you want to live a good, fulfilled live, free market capitalism does not work
Well it's a sad and provable fact that the working class doesn't use their brains properly, the fact that you are wating for something long overdue should alarm you of your own stupidity, leave the country and go somewhere they will protect your employment rights
And the commies and marxists lol. Which allows Jeff Bezos to walk away with 100% of the vast SURPLUS all those people working for him generate. He gets it all. I think you call it the American dream (tm)
Not just the USA ... the USA is not the only one with this problem... The Super-Rich have done this to almost every Nation on the planet - and (as they pretend to compete and harte each other) all those Billionaires are fully united against the Poor (who they train to hate each other... instead of their parasites).
Feel like I'm screaming into the wind saying this...but: What if, in addition to raising the Federal minimum wage and corporate/wealth tax rate, ALSO enact a Rage Ratio Law? Example: "No CEO can have a salary and interest/capital-gains holdings which exceed more than 40 times his lowest hourly paid worker"?
A labourer is worthy of his hire. If he screws up. Take away his 2 years salary which should have been kept prior in the company's corpus only to be released after he retires or renders profit to the ogn.
@@Cyrus992 ... How? You think a career economist and political figure is dirty enough to air his laundry and not pay his taxes? Or are you just jealous because he is richer than you? Hypocrisy is if he was like Trumpovich and only paid $750 on millions. You have no idea what you are talking about. Sit down, punkin.
It's all been unraveling (slowly but surely) since the 50's. Certainly by the 70's and 80's, but... wow. 2016-2020 was literally 'The Dark Ages' for some of us out there. Doesn't seem like there are many rays of hope anymore, either. :( Definitely not for me. My days are numbered and dwindling. Not reversible, either.
Send it to them. Even more effective is to write these ideas out and mail them to your reps and sens, followed by a phone call. That kind of direct action is remarkably motivating to politicians even when they send a form letter back or don’t reply at all. Their staff carefully tabulate every communication that comes in and weight them to calculate how many constituents want a certain law or policy. Make sure you get included in the calculation 👍
They don't have to hear it. They built it they way they want it. They just made sure we didn't hear it while being distracted by stagnant wage growth and many other unimportant issues.
No... It is not the oligarchs that need to hear this. If _they_ fight for more inequality it might be selfish, but not entirely unreasonable. It is the roughly 50% of voters that vote republican and are _not_ at least multi-millionairs that need to hear this. It is the democrat voters that think Biden is better for them than Sanders that need to hear this. And it is the americans that think taxing the rich and having tax-financed higher education is "evil communism" that need to hear that. but, yeah... 200.000 views.. Looks like the majority of Americans is rather watching cat-videos or iphone-unboxing
The NEON GAUD will be unveiled at the Jubilee -- I mean Re-Set -- on 09/23/26 or SOONER. hint: in GAUD we trust. Men will Lie, and Cheat, and Steal if allowed to govern themselves. And so ends our 250-year experiment in self-government. Epochal Eclipse April 8th 2024. The Aliens ask, "Will you Earthlings ever agree on OUR CREATOR?"
That's exactly it! He's not/we're not saying "oh raise the taxes so much that there are no more rich people" that's dumb. But every time this gets brought up that's exactly how it gets talked about by people who oppose "taxing the rich"
This Depresses me so much! 😢 Especially as a senior with a limited income and has to PAY THE IRS! Social Security over a certain amount is subject to Fed tax! How is that fair? RICH NEED TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!
As Mr. Reich has said more than once, taxing Social Security was a Reagan era policy. Reagan was almost as bad for the American people as Trump, just not so blatantly.
under trump black Americans were employed at the greatest level on record less illegal immegration low unemployment low gas prices low inflation low interest rates what did you not like
@@fritzforsthoefel8031 First of all, and I say this about President Biden as well, yes, we have the lowest unemployment in YEARS, but how GOOD are those jobs? MANY of those now employed people might have had jobs worth four, five, TEN times what they are making now. Is that better? Second, Bob Reich was Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, so he KNOWS what he's talking about. My money is on the person with knowledge of the facts who can explain them clearly without political doublespeak.
The doctor in NYC who works long hours and went to college maney years already pays between local state and federal half his income in taxes while you will draw out more ss and medicare than you pay for and the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare you need to pay your fair share of taxes to pay for the handouts democrats want
Robert Reich has come out in favor of government controlled banks the same innefficent government that paid Harvard university seven hundred thousand dollars to blow lizards off trees with leaf blowers running banks Reich is a communist whoes economic policy's are destroying us we have a staggering unbelievable 32 trillion dollar debt because of democrat handouts
Hi Bob, I'd like to hear you tell a parable of two Americans, one who made $5 million because they are an entertainer (athlete, singer, actor, whatever) and one whose wealth increased by $5 million because their portfolio increased in value by that amount and explain the different taxes those two would pay.
The problem is both political parties are in the pockets of these super wealthy people. They are influenced and sponsored by them, so they will never enact this change. We will need a radical overhaul of our political system for this to ever occur. But I agree, these changes would make all the difference.
@@manueldaniel108 Yet, 74 million brainwashed people, most of them non-college educated, voted for him anyways. They never realized that he was in it for himself. Even now, they are donating to the so-called "stop the steal" fund.
@@bs4638 yes. Trump says stop the steal and he is the one trying to steal the election. People hearing to many conspiracies, confusing the people. yet "they" are trying to steal from us. Getting us coming and going.
@@patguitar01 And guess? Rich business owners also receive money in the form of grants for research and development from our government, but once their products are placed on the market none of us tax payers get any discounts for the grants that our government gave them using our tax money!
I’m not American but I watch your channel because inequality is not just an American thing. I do try to put it into perspective and eliminate personal biases including those I don’t realise at the time by reassessing my beliefs over time. Changing the way the world works is both difficult and dangerous so my hat is off to you.
I’m considered rich by some sort of measurement and I feel that Trumps tax cut for my income level was unfair. Helping those that don’t need help like me is not good for the Country. And the endless loopholes of our tax code make us richer and richer. Why not pay our fair share and help close the deficit holes that Trump opened forever? I’m all for it.
Let’s raise taxes so us Dems can squander it you mean? The REAL truth is the Govt brings in plenty of money, but blindly spends it and then wants more. Reich is worth somewhere between $5,000,000 to $15,000,000, which I have absolutely no problem with. However, don’t just follow him blindly there is an agenda at play here. It’s easier to just pick on the rich then to do actual hard work and control government spending and this is how the Dems get their votes by promising these things to you Folks…you cant cure poverty by raising taxes on the rich. To cure poverty you have to stop giving free money to people and have them go to work. When you give money to people that don’t know how to properly spend or save it, they just loose it.
@@tomf9292 Absolute total nonsense. It is not just the rich but also corporate america that are significantly underpaying taxes. In 2018 the IRS total federal income taxes collected show that corporate america only paid 6% of total taxes collected whereas individuals paid 94% of total federal income taxes collected. Taxes are the price we pay for government goods and services ... military, judicial system, roads, bridges, airports, educated employees and many more. It is patently absurd to claim that corporate america only uses 6% of federal government goods and services ... nobody believes that. Thus corporate america is the real welfare queen and corporate socialism is the reality of the US tax system. With regard to taxing the "rich" individuals, they are not much different than corporate america. they get all sorts of tax advantages that are not applicable to average americans. It has been reported that the Walton family (Walmart) controls as much wealth and income as the bottom 50+ million american citizens. One doubts that the Walton's pay anywhere as much income tax as even the bottom 50 million american citizens pay. There is a reason why US wealth inequality has grown significantly since about 1980 ... and it has everything to do with the dysfunctional US income tax system and how corporate america and the very wealthy get all sorts of tax advantages from it. With regard to federal government spending .... something like 75+% of all federal government spending is incurred on only 4 items ... social security, medicare, military, and interest on national debt. And social security and medicare are largely user fee funded via payroll deductions. One potential alternative is to eliminate the income cap on social security and medicare and have it apply to all income with no limits. The very rich benefit significantly from the relatively low cap levels on this.
@@coreyham3753 you know the Walton family pays more than the bottom 50 million tax payers because 61% of American's don't pay ANY federal tax. you googled how much taxes corporations paid and that's a fair argument. but to know know that 61% of people pay NOTHING?
Look at the congressional budget office public records it breaks down who plays what the top ten percent paid over seventy percent of the federal taxes telsa the corperation paid no tax but the shareholders did and Elon musk paid a whooping twelve billion corperations are taxed three times that's not fair the top five percent pay half the federal taxes look at the cbo numbers and it will tell you so stop with the misinformation
@@rwusa1117 you guys should remoove that expression "net worth" with "net wealth". Worth is the word that means ( or should mean ) something else than wealth. And if he is so wealthy, he means himself here too. And that is fine with me.
@@majdavojnikovic The ideology is immoral. 3 people, the 2 with less vote to take property from the 3rd. We could find the poorest person you and I know (Fred) and there will still be people with less. Should they take Fred's earnings? It's about power, not true empathy.
Why? When he was in a position to something he didn't do crap... He is just another in a long line of phonies calling for "fixing the system" that he and others of his generation created... F that guy...All this craziness is partly his fault.He was with the Clinton administration when they repealed the Glass Steagal act... Hence all these HF's and banks being involved in the wallstreet casino.
Yes, these would be a great start. But the real solution is a complete overhaul of the absurd and completely dysfunctional federal income tax system. First broaden the tax base to treat all sources of income the same. Makes no difference if you income is salary , wages, interest, capital gains, dividends, food stamps, retirement income, business profits, or whatever. Second, level the playing field and have only one tax category ... namely corporate income tax. All entities should be taxed under the same rules, which is revenue minus expense equals profit or taxable income. Corporations, partnerships, individuals (corporations of one), charities, non profits, or whatever the entity should all be taxed under the same rules. Those two changes alone would make income tax simpler, fairer, logical, and enable generating the tax revenues needed to provide government goods and services. Nickel and dime changes to the tax system will not resolve the mess that is the current federal income tax system. Hard to argue that all income is not the same, and hard to argue that everyone should not have the same tax rules.
I think if people understood the cost basis loophole ( #5 ), they would be rather astounded that it exists. You might want to mention it on more of your youtube videos.
Yes, it's crazy and egregious, but eliminating it doesn't raise that much money. Still a better idea to get rid of it, though, than a 2% "wealth tax". In Bezos' case, that essentially means taking away 2% of his ownership stake in his own company a year. Declaring war on 5 very successful people (Bezos, Gates, Buffett, Musk etc - funny nobody mentions the Waltons or the Kochs) makes people feel cool and radical but down deep it's selfish and greedy. Better to just eliminate the long term capital gains rate and the dividend rate, and put them both back under the earned income rate the way it was in the 90s. But that's not cool, because the champagne anarchists will have to pay more tax.
@@asusmctablet9180 "makes people feel cool and radical but down deep it's selfish and greedy" I for one don't think we need billionaires. I think they are a malevolent force. I think it is a prerequisite to be a psychopath in order to become a billionaire and I don't want billionaires having the power coupons ($$$) to bribe congress to oppress me, which they are currently doing. So if its me or them, I'm picking me. And they have decided that it is us or them. I didn't choose that, they did. They chose it by bribing the supreme court to allow them to secretly bribe congress in the first place, and claim that their secret bribes are "free speech" when they are nothing but cash payments in exchange for favors, and criminal to boot. Bribe a cop and you go to prison. Bribe congress and the supreme court will back you. That is no way to run a society in any direction but right into the ground. Most of the Court are members of The Federalist Society whose stated goal is to replace democracy with aristocracy. Look them up, I'm not kidding.
Robert, i just found your channel. And all i can say is, i hope you dont go missing under suspicious circumstances dud to your work. Keep doing what youre doing.
THE SUPER-RICH: "What do you mean, 'You don't have a boat?' EVERYONE has a boat, don't they? I mean, I'VE got a yacht... well then, you're obviously one of those dreadful unemployed people who's never worked hard enough to have a boat! I bet you don't even have a nanny to look after your children either - deplorable! No wonder you're poor!"
I've said it for decades... The tax rates should be the same for everyone. Introducing a flat income tax rate, with absolutely no deductions or loopholes for the rich would be much fairer. Also, tax churches. I don't want to subsidize the world's richest organizations who have yet to prove the existence of a god. Another way to go might be to eliminate the IRS, and replace income tax with a national flat sales tax. That way, you are taxed only on what you spend. Of course, the rich would wail and cry "unfair". That new yacht, second or third mansion, or Lear jet Would now cost a bit more.
@@tombarclay7108 no, that wouldn’t make sense. Very poor people should not be paying nearly as much taxes as super rich people are, for the trivial reason that they literally can’t afford to. Taxes should be progressive, not flat.
@@tombarclay7108 the poor would pay proportionally more of their income in cash as tax than would bill gates. 33% of 20k/annum is a helluva higher burden than 33% of $2m/annum.
I have never had a deduction - EVER. I have always paid a third of my income. If the wealthy just paid a third like I do there would be enough to pay for what we need. If a wealth tax were enacted then we could pay for extras
You should have deductions, everyone should. Standard deduction for a single filer is $12,400. If you and Judy (one of the commenters) don't take this deduction, then you should.
@Red Pharaoh Again, why does anyone need to pay more? Investing helps drive the economy, it creates business opportunities and jobs. So, why should that action be taxed, at all?
The way I see it it this: The average salary in the US is about $48,000 a year. Jeff Bezos made over $74 billion last year. That’s 1,541,000+ times the average salary. But Jeff Bezos definitely does not do that many times the amount of work the average worker works. Probably even less than the average worker. Much less than someone working 3 jobs.
@@wilber504 Yes, I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that he made over $74 billion last year. No where did I insinuate otherwise. I don’t care where he got his money. The stock market is stupid and pointless anyway. We saw that with the whole GameStop fiasco.
@ nate, if the stock market is stupid and pointless then why is every government pension invested in it? And why does (almost) every large and successful company go public and sell stock?
@@crestoneman8497 That’s a great question. It’s a tool for the wealthy to invest in already wealthy corporations. It’s not some device for lower class people to make some side cash. That we saw when Robinhood blocked the trade of GameStop. The billionaire hedgefunds can manipulate and use its inner workings to exploit others downfall. And listen. If the government regulated Wall Street more. And didn’t protect these big billionaires with huge bailouts every time a couple of Redditors did the same thing they were doing. I’m sure the stock market would actually serve its intended purpose.
Nate, why doesn't the average worker risk everything that they have to start a new concept for a company so that they can make more money? This question is the same premise as your statement. Your "working harder" is an apples to oranges comparison. For every Jeff Bezos, there are 1000+ entrepreneurs who tried to do what he did but failed. That doesn't mean that Bezos worked 1000+ times harder than the others.
@@Cyrus992 Reich supported Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, who would have implemented all of these ideas, and Reich probably would have been one of Sanders top advisors had he become president. Reich only supported Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden after Sanders came in second to them . The alternative was Trump, so of course Reich supported Hillary and Biden, but his first choice was Bernie.
@@niko-7417 It was one of the most ridiculous things he said. The minute I heard about Trickle Down it took me 2 minutes to say "are you kidding." I still can't figure out why people still believe it.
@Nancy Desch Actually trickle down does exist. Unfortunately, the trickle itself is the result of the ultra wealthy urinating down upon the average American. In truth, one doesn’t need a Nobel prize in economics to understand that the ONLY WAY to maintain consistent economic growth, is by ensuring that the purchase power of the vast majority of working class citizens, is both reasonable, sufficient, and incremental. These combined factors create a steady demand for goods and services. This in turn creates the necessity for continuing production and labor demands, which then reinforces an enduring cycle of economic growth, with the added benefits of increased employment opportunity and greater job security. The concept is in no way complex. In fact it’s rather simple and obvious given just a modicum of consideration. Cheers!
While getting the rich to pay more is good, a couple of these points have issues: 4) A transactions tax on trades of stock We already have this - it's called capital gains. What you're looking at is increasing the capital gains tax. For most people, it's 15% tax. Increasing it by "one tenth of one percent" would push the capital gains tax rate to 15.1% instead. Yes, that would help. HOWEVER, I get the feeling that Robert is including the stock that is held within various IRA/401K and other retirement accounts. That is going to deplete those retirement accounts rather quickly for the lower-income people who have them. 5) End the stepped-up cost basis loophole Grandpa paid only $20k for his house back when he bought it in the 40's. Since your parents are established, it's getting willed to you instead. Current market value of that house is $180k. If we eliminate step-up, then you just inherited $160k of capital gain. When you sell that house, you're paying $24k to the IRS. Sure, you're keeping the other $156k, but most lower-income people get rather upset when they hear they have a $24k tax bill. Basically, these two loopholes are benefiting the 99% percent quite a bit. If you eliminate them, sure, the rich will pay more taxes.....but the lower-income people will pay more as well.
Very interesting and full of facts that are eye opening. How much could be done if the rich paid their fair share of tax? And for very little "suffering" for these wealthy individuals.
As I always said to my friends: If you make a million dollars a year and lets say you're taxed at 50% and you take home $500,000 a year and if you have trouble living off of 500,000 a year you have some very serious problems.
They're just addicted, that's all. No difference to heroin; utter lack of empathy with other humans and their needs, deep denial of the meaning of fairness or the consequences of their inaction. Believing what they want to believe.
@@TheCrumb74 It's exactly this. Their thinking is "if the average joe on the street can live a life anywhere near as comfortable as mine, that diminishes my superiority over him." They literally measure their own self-worth in terms of how much everyone lacks in comparison to them - if it isn't so blindingly obvious as to be smacking everyone in the face, then what's the point in being rich at all?
You should have been sick many many years ago. Trickle down economics didn't make you sick in 1980? It has only gotten worse, since 1980. Cheato's tax breaks for the wealthy were called 'trickle down on steroids'.
Can you imagine an America where there was no poverty, no homeless, free education, and free healthcare? So easily accomplished, and it would leave the 1% wealthiest people still obscenely rich. Six Trillion Dollars over 10 years.... wow.
@@never2late454 Cuba is a totalitarian system - a dictatorship. It's run by one man and he does not share his wealth. Socialism is when the society pays for "public" services, such as welfare, medicine, education, social security, pensions, and so much more. There are lots of social countries: The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, UK, Australia, Canada, and that's only a few. Social countries take care of their citizens, provide them with things like a minimum living wage.
0:50 - If 83% of the benefits go to the richest 1%, wouldn't the proportion that goes to the top 20% be higher than that, since the top 20% includes the top 1%?
I'd like to note that a lot of people complain about the excesses of the uber wealthy and corporations or their political influence but then they balk at taxing them like we used to when our national wealth was at it's highest.
No it wasn't when Eisenhower dramatically increased taxes on the rich we quickly went from one person to support a family of four now two people working to support a family of four our liveing standards dropped in half
@@fritzforsthoefel8031 Every Republican President in my lifetime has been a disaster for this country ! From Reagan to the Bushes & Trump ! Wages have not kept up to inflation !
Thank you for not only calling out the problem but showing clear solutions. The thing that's still amazes me is how many people in this country who aren't billionaires or multi-multimillionaires support this individual. Are they under the illusion that they're going to be a billionaire someday? If you aren't born, rich or have very rich connections, good luck on that. Why else would anybody vote for someone who lacks decency, dignity, honesty, accountability or intelligence? If the economy goes bad between now and late 24, we're going to be dealing with a fascist hell in a country that has always considered itself the beacon of freedom and democracy in the world. We need to be relentless in pointing out just how dangerous and unprecedented this threat to all of us is. Anybody not in the maga cult is accountable to get to vote out. We have apathy to blame if this monster ever assumes the most powerful office in the world again.
All that taxpayers should pay for are services like the military that benefit EVERYONE. NOBODY has any obligation to pay for ANYTHING that is not to their benefit. That includes the rich being forced to pay for any social service that would be cheaper for them to pay for out of pocket than to have to pay higher taxes to provide that service to all of society.
You are aware that the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes I can name maney formerly homeless people who are now rich democrats party of handouts at someone else's labor
But keep in mind that all of the good stuff can still be done even when the taxing doesnt get through, you just need to do it, money is not a limmitation, workforce is
@@Asytol_ thats not wat i was talking about, the state doesnt need to get the money in order to pay the people, of course taxing the rich is the right way to bring the political influence and power of the bottom and the top wealth's closer together, but money is just a tool, it can be created and deleted in however large quantitys needed to achieve the goal we vote for
The company I work for spun off and froze our pension plan, but had a different one for management. They explained that there were "Two separate pots of money" (the frozen bankrupt one for us and the hugely profitable one for them) We all agreed that was probably how God intended......
Great idea as usual but how do we implement it? With all the wealthy donors having all the say in our government, how do we ever get our voices heard? We are rapidly slipping into a second rate country in part due to the filibuster and corporations. Pay your share, no free lunch.
Unfortunately they see you as cheap labor and a revenue source for their crap products. They will never try to go back to a more equitable system. They see themselves as the French Kings did, as ordained by God to be rich and you had by God better do your part to make it happen!
The top five percent pay over half the federal taxes corperations are taxed three times at the federal level the middle class draw more ss and medicare than they pay in taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare you are the one bankrupting our nation by voteing for handout democrats the rich pay over half the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return our debt is beyond belief and democrats want more government our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because of democrat handouts shame on you
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
The Uber rich became rich because of the national security, markets, economy and infrastructure provided by the people collectively through the state and federal governments. You would think they would be willing to give back just a fraction of their wealth to maintain the national security, markets, economy and infrastructure that made them rich. Why are they so short-sighted? And why are politicians so afraid to make the case? Kudos to Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, two of the few with the courage to speak up.
"The Uber rich became rich because of the national security," Ok, so defund the police.
@@elzoog I think Badger meant the military, not the police. I can imagine that developing weapons and equipment for the military is much more profitable than anything you can do for law enforcement.
@@elzoog If you do a little bit of googling you'll see that many of the biggest or oldest companies today had a hand in arms dealing or manufacturing, especially relating to WWII.
@@elzoog National security means several things, including internal political stability and a healthy foreign politics which allows a country to maintain a stable framework in which individuals can start long term entrepreneurship. The existence of such a framework is thanks to the effort of everybody.
@@elzoog Lil bro has no idea what he's saying 😂😂😂
The craziest thing is seeing this after it was posted 3 years ago, the worlds billionaires have gained on average well over 50% more wealth in the last 3 years while the working class across the world is getting destroyed even more
Shocking that unregulated capitalism would lead to this 😑
For fucking real. It's sickening, and we can't do anything about it. It's always the middle and lower classes who pay for everything, losing the most relatively as opposed to the rich.
Furthermore, it's so damn expensive to be poor, to fucking live. And it's so hard to work your way up. And it's definitely on purpose.
I'm from a European country. My mother owns a café. She also delivers cakes to other cafés in our hometown, which then get resold.
You'd think she earns a very decent income, and she does in theory. Until tax deductions come in. My country practically punishes independent business owners and workers with even more tax. She lives paycheck to paycheck because of it. She is such a hard worker. Raised four kids practically alone. Two of'em still living with her. But they just take and take.
Across the world" waaa?
Not to mention having a whole presidential administration sit on their hands about it.
All this during the time when the politicians who support taxing the rich did nothing to tax the rich
Someone: suggests billionaires actually pay their fair share
Billionaires: Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!
Yep. And they convince Republican voters to be their foot-soldiers.
Even better: abolish the billionaire and millionaire status on a worldwide level; this'll bring back a tremendous amount of money in the many countries and states that desperately need it to face the many challenges we are all in.
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
Let's oppress them the French Revolution way: by beheading them and their children in the public square.
@@TheVeryBestBaby Huh? O_o
Denmark has a top tax rate of about 64% and it still has an incredible economy + universal healthcare. It would be so much better if the US used rich people’s money to help people instead of being wasted away on yachts and buying Twitter.
Everyone there pays high taxes, not just the rich.
Denmark also has a 21% tax rate for people earning 100k DKK a year, that's US$14.7k, barely any money. The economy is obviously going to be good if everyone pays crazy taxes
@@Swatotasticcrazy or realistic for a holistic benefit?
Australia is half way there with that. We have super which is a mandatory retirement fund and Medicare which is good. But you can still have private health care to jump the que. If your high income you have to have it. Be good to simplify it. Taxes and insurances are headfucks. Makes you want to move to Denmark.
Several countries have better life satisfaction than we do here in the supposed 'richest country in the world '. Most USA uber rich people are greedy, selfish, and have no compassion for those in need. sad
What annoys me about corporate sell outs is that they use the argument that the top 1% pays like 45% of the taxes and that they should only pay 1% of the taxes. Which is just stupid when they get 99% of the money. I say if you getting 99% of the money you should be paying 99% of the taxes. Its not fair to make the working class with 1% of the money to pay over half the taxes.
You should start with universal basic income for everyone. Enough for housing, heating, food. Healthcare, education and transportation should be free and public. Than people can earn money ontop of the ubi, that money will be taxed, less at the bottom and up to 100% tax rate above a certain amount of money.
@@RayRay-dv9xgBiggest problem is in a capital market everything ends up being more expensive to try to bridge the gap. It could work but other laws would have to be implemented to keep the same rich people from taking all that money back with their current position in the economy.
@@ShowMeYourFnKey true. There is a lot that needs to be done, I just talked about the first and general steps
@@RayRay-dv9xg If you gave all of that for free then that discourages finding employment, no?
@@Einsteinium. Exactly and people who preach for that shit just want everything handed to them.
The company I retired from specialized in tax evasion "pension plans". The partners of our plan created one for themselves. The rich are experts at avoiding taxes.
Exactly why nothing Reich says would ever come to fruition. Nobody paid the 90% in the 50s, as even he clearly demonstrated. This guy is an idiot and doesn't understand wealth vs income. What he proposed would damage the retail investor the most.
@@jdeluca6181
That's ridiculous! It has nothing to do with the small investor!
@@jdeluca6181 Back in the day, yes they did. Maybe brush up on your economics history and go back even further.
@@bad2dabone414 You don't understand how taxes work, clearly.
@@glennjarvis2672 I would advise you do the same. Or even listen to what Reich even said in this video, you donut.
The only difference between a CEO and a common criminal is a business suit and an education. Their motivations are identical.
@Mr.Mopar.23-7 And the willingness to work 18 hour days, develope & implement srrategy, hire and provide a salary and sometimes benefits to employees, invent new products and services. That's only a partial list.
Yeah that's right you left a lot out. Now go out and create your own wealth and stop whining.
@@jamesofalo6247 not all CEOs work nearly that hard, and no billionaires deserve as much wealth as they have
@@jamesofalo6247 Cry me a river. Just look at the hard work nurses, sailors, offshore rig workers, miners, construction workers etc. are doing and how much they get paid. You just try to justify unjust wealth differences.
@Aaackermann I'm responding to the initial post " common criminal" .
I'm not questioning the value of other US workers.
Okay but like what about the companies like Nike that are MADE in Eugene but the company is no longer based out of the US such as it’s companies being based out of France or Belize. So you can’t tax anything besides capital gains of what’s sold
Robert dropping the truth once again he should be heard far and wide.Thank you please keep it up brother
Republicans: “corporations are people!”
Democrats: “ Then let’s tax them as people”
Republicans: “No, wait, that’s not what we meant!”
Precisely! Lol
Love this. I wonder how many people will feel attacked by this.
If they're people, more than a couple of them ought to be put on trial as serial killers.
just a great nate. when will this crayseness stops.?
Exactly.
Robert Reich is an American hero and a national treasure.
I'd vote for him if he ran for president tbh
Nah you’re thinking of his kid…the game show guy.
He lies about Trump being a fascist, which is definitely false and debunked.
@@joiethemadscientist5675he’s been here the whole time!
He’s a thief. Why does he think he can steal other people’s money?
Closing down those Caribbean tax havens used by celebrities and sports stars would help a lot too.
Mainly corporations that evade taxes.
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
@@Cyrus992 While yes he supports Biden he calls out the Democrats in power like Biden to actually do something with said power. I don't think I have ever seen Reich compromise his message to placate the democrats.
@@nomodz4real He has tried to do so with Obama for 8 years and it failed.
Either it proves he is a con or a fool
@@Cyrus992 - POTUS only has the power that Congress allows. As long as the super-wealthy have control, changing the system is slower than snails with arthritis.
The man knows what he's talking about. It's good to hear truth.
How on earth did anyone decide trump is one of the two best options to run the US when there are people like this that could be making the decisions.
When America taxed the rich in the past like in the 1950's, America blossomed and prospered! Bring that back and America will prosper again!
I'm game for that but what do we do to prevent capital flight?
@@Bankz_92 there are very complicated ways to minimize this. Would you rather have 10% of $1,000 or 20% of $800?
Sadly, our politicians would rather have virtually nothing for us since that gets them bribes... ahem, I meant it gets them "campaign contributions", lucrative speaking events, and future lobbying jobs.
@@Bankz_92 you call their bluff
@Red Pharaoh yes there will inevitably be some people caught where they are earning more than the average person but not enough to get lawyers to avoid taxes
Maga w Bernie
It's amazing to me how such a small group of Americans would be affected by these taxes & yet, although it would not have a drastic effect on their lives, they will no doubt fight tooth & nail against it.
In all honesty, so would you if your taxes were raised. I mean, I hope you would and not just lay down and take it.
Mmm. Not really. If it’s fair why complain? That’s my personal opinion of course. And I think it’s more geared toward the outraged non-billionaires that aren’t even affected.
@@niko-7417 what is fair share?
You can't tax people on the money they don't have. The billionaires he mentions have money vested in stocks, that cannot be taxed if it's liquid. That would set a dangerous precedent and damage the retail investor too. Reich is a dumbass who doesn't understand this simple concept. Plus he slams Trump who lowered taxes on americans making under 195k/year, and raised taxes on people making over that. He also doubled the standard deduction which lowers your tax liability (unless you itemize).
I genuinely do not understand the morons that follow this cancerous tumor named Reich.
@@balvinen8024 If you told me that you were going to raise taxes to the 50% to 60% rate that they are in Scandinavian nations but, in return, we would enjoy the same public services, quality of life, and happiness that the citizens of those nations do, I would only ask where to send the money.
The super wealthy should pay down the deficit and big corporations too. Their tax rate should be minimum 65% on assets. I agree with everything you said here. Well done!
65%? 😮
- what gives you the right to take away more than half of a persons wealth?
- what would give you the political *power* to do this to the most powerful people in your country?😂
@@joeybru the law
@@mrlh61Do you consider that fair?
@@theGourdReloaded as a history buff I saw 1900’s taxes for the very rich was 91% when the republicans tried to make Americans pay more with tariffs and use taxes the rich tax rates dropped, the great depression happened. I think the better it is for the masses who build and maintain this country the very rich part in America is the growth of the poor and middle class. This is America 🇺🇸 not Russia northern Korea China or Iran. I don’t know any American other than wants be oligarchs and dictators who want anything to do with that culture or economy. Yes I think it’s more than fair. It’s necessary
@@joeybru The law, which comes from the same authority that cut taxes for the rich and shifted the debt from the wealthy to the middle class. Is it only ok to shift wealth to the rich and not from them?
The funny thing is, how many people making 20 or 30 thousand a year will defend the billionaires not paying taxes. And when you point out that they made their billions by paying starvation wages and otherwise exploiting workers, those same people trot out the very tired "just get a better job" line.
Their ego fuels their poor decisions
End the ability to offshore profits to avoid taxes.
FATCA took care of that.
how to determine that?
@louisfriend9323 FATCA: Foriegn Account Tax Comoliance Act. The law forces offshore banks to report on the financle holdings on US Citizens. The law can be found at the US Treasury website. So, there no more hiding taxable money.
@@jlsc4125 a good addition to FATCA would be to require companies to share ownership and board members with workers in order to register on the NYSE. And limit the compensation to all executives to a percentage of all permanent and contract workers. Executive pay should no longer be in the billions and thousands of times the median worker’s salaries
@@markmyjak7739 "there no more hiding taxable money." Not quite right. All someone have a vast fortune, needs to do, is construct a postbox corporation with the help form the City of London. Thus one will become tax-anonymous. It's not enough, just the USA having tax legislation governing the offshore bank accounts of US citzens. It has tobe globle offshore tax legislation.
I once saw this image that said that if someone lived for 80 years and earned an average of $5,000.00 every day of their life, they still wouldn't be a billionaire, but rather have about $150,000,000.00. At the bottom of the image was a line that said that no one works to become a billionaire. So yeah, we should be taxing multi millionaire and billionaire individuals and corporations in this country more then we currently are!
for a bit of added context, if you were an immortal who'd sat and watched the pyramids at gaza being built and decided to be really rich and started putting $10,000 cash into a big safe every day by now you'd have accumulated around $17 billion
146M is working 365 days a year for 80 years; from birth.
If you want to get realistic:
Graduating directly into a career from day one out of a 4 year college at 22 years old, to retirement age of 65, is ~43 years of work.
52 weeks a year with 5 day weeks is 260 days. For funzies, may I suggest an additional 20 days of personal unpaid time annually, so 240 days.
$5K(daily) * 240 days(annually) * 43 years(career) = $51.6M
If you made $5000 a day for the past 2000 years you would only have $3.7 billion which means there would be 'only' 200 people richer than you in America. Its honestly mind boggling
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
Back when being rich meant "millionaire", $2000 was a nice amount of cash but you were not at all wealthy. Well, the difference between 2 thousand dollars and 2 million is only 3 Zeroes. _Remember_ that if you "earn a nice income".
Thank you, Mr. Reich, for guiding us to the correct path and educating us on how corporations and the wealthy con America and American's out of their wealth! You are a true patriot!
If Walmart was dismissed shutdown how many hundreds of billions of dollars of tax money with that cut out their employees pay in
@@breannanorris3078 ?
Why don’t you try earning wealth instead of stealing other peoples?
@@roughhabit6496 Why don't you build you elementary and high schools and educate your own employees for thirteen years so that they can go on to post-secondary education and be among the most educated employees in the world? Why don't you build your own streets, airports and other essential infrastructure that corporations and billionaires have been failing to do, many evading all taxes or a large portion of it? Why don't you police your own streets and staff your own fire station and emergency services? IGNORANT! Just goes to show you how even retards can become wealthy or even own their own businesses, when a nation of taxpayers supports the development of essential and productivity increasing infrastructure--LIKE THE INTERNET--that makes it all possible!!!!!!!!!!!
It really isn't your money since no one gave it to you.
Thank you, Mr. Reich, for all you do.
Crazy that I paid 39% in taxes and live check to check. Then they get up and tell you they are for working class, lies. They talk about every other topic, tell bad jokes and insults and ppl are fooled. Smh
my income is literally so low that i don't owe federal income tax and I'm probably paying more to state and local taxes by percentage of my income than the uber wealthy pay. rich people have the capital to establish businesses and move their homes to tax haven states that result in them paying nothing or next to nothing.
Yawn… figure out your priorities if you can’t manage your money properly when you’re capable of being taxed 39%. Remember it’s a staggered taxation, not 39% on totals from $0
@@justandhans so true lol
Yes you should pay less and not live paycheck to paycheck. But they don't pay "nothing".. Schools, even if underpaid, are paid by it. Firefighters are paid, police is paid, you have streets and electricity and water pipes.... Yes it should be spent WAY BETTER. But taxes in itself aren't bad. I have seen places with no streets. You either own a truck that can pass horrible streets or you're stuck (old sovjet places). Fight for better tax laws, not against all taxes.
@@justandhans this has nothing to do with priorities, I never mentioned what mine were so why assume that, that's what the issue is? Your just trying to defend nonsense. It's simply the cost of living.
Politicians: “great ideas we’ll make sure they stay that way.”
Maybe we should start by getting money out of politics.
Trickle down effect is getting old and people know it doesn't work.
Well - I believe that Robert Reich is the first one, who support to cut the money out of politics!
Exactly!!
Help get For The People passed to stop dark money in election campaigns
Exactly.
As long as the rich are allowed to make donations (legally bribe) politicians, nothing will change.
I have long wondered why society thinks its such strange impossible idea that the super rich should have to pay tax like everybody else.
They do.
@@sephiroth8377 Thats such good news, now make them pay more.
@@johnhart3480 they pay 8.2% compared to your 13%
That 8.2% is more money than you'll see in your lifetime.
Raising the tax on the rich like they've done before has already proven that they will increase the cost of goods they supply to every day people which in turn causes inflation.
You can advocate for that, sure. But wouldn't it be better for everyday people if you advocate to lower that 13% down to 8.2%? That would put more money back into the people's hands and help with the poverty line... or maybe this is a simple witch hunt against the rich to give more money to the government that they can send to other countries, I'm honestly not quite sure as to why this Robert guy is giving misleading information and incorrect information but maybe it is just that, an attempt to start a witch hunt.
@@sephiroth8377 Tax them at 90%, they can keep 10%
@@johnhart3480 so IT IS a witch hunt then.
Have at it.
Hey Robert Reich, what about some of that money going to pay down the NATIONAL DEBT !!! Loved this just the same. Thank you.
“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.” - Warren Buffet
"Warren Buffett doesn’t think the rich in America are paying enough in taxes. “The wealthy are definitely undertaxed relative to the general population,” he told CNBC’s Becky Quick during an interview on “Squawk Box” on Monday."
Warren Buffet seems to be the only billionaire out there that is willing to tell the truth.
He knows how wrong it is. But I bet his taxes still reflect every break given the rich.
@@dumphater7632 They absolutely (and rightly) do. Genuine change begins with US demanding it--not Warren.
He says this because he knows he's not going to be around much longer AND after decades of reaping the benefits! Too little too late Warren!
@@TJWinter1221 Actually, he says this because ... he's been excoriating politicians Re: it for over 20-years.
Reduce the political contribution limit to a day’s wages at minimum wage; $58 right now. Then Jeff Bezos and an Amazon warehouse worker would have the same clout. Then we could have tax reform. Not before.
Cool idea.
I like that. And giving ownership/stock options to the workers. And not the high-up.
Or it would make it much easier to pass legislation to raise the minimum wage.
Why not do both?
Yes, every citizen should have the same voice regardless of wealth. Money distorts and amplifies ones voice and ability to influence our society. Limit political contributions and make it all public!! Sunlight is the best disinfect.
They are rich enough to buy a reputation. So many people know their bought and paid for reputation and never truly know who they really are. Thank you for sharing the truth and facts about these big corporate money donors. 💰
Believe it, I once worked for company that allowed women and children to be burned to death in accidents as it was less costly to pay the courts than to fix the issue. These people are without any morality.
Fantastic, concise, and actionable!
I liked how our company (in 1990s) execs required the employees to only sell their stocks at few short specific times to keep prices stable, while they themselves who had by the largest amount of stocks by far were exempt. Month before everything crashed, they held a company meeting showing the future was bright and shiny while they were selling off their stocks like hot potatoes. Then 1/2 year after company crashed, it was decided that the CEO who been hired a year and half earlier before crash (a multi-millionaire who had made a lot of money before crash by selling out and was instrumental in company going down through bad decisions) had bought a multi-million dollar home, was to get a million dollar bail out as crash of company had been "unexpected" and was unfair burden for him now that he was out of job. The rest of us who were there from start and built the company were really struggling and lost significant portion of income due to stocks being worthless (having been part of our salary as they didn't have enough cash) got bupkis. Rich watching out for the rich, an American tradition.
I would ignore those orders and I wouldn't care about being fired if that much money is at stake. Transfer your stock to your own brokerage account whenever possible.
That's so awful and I am sorry that happened. 🙁
Thanks Robert.
I've always appreciated your "no nonsense" approach to economics and policies.
WE NEED THIS NOW! I sincerely hope that we all push hard to get these new tax plans in places.
We just can't afford to keep letting such a small number of people keep so much money, when so much can be done to help the majority of the American people.
None of them are going to waste a second over the people's problems. They are too busy making tax deals and trying to look PC to their lackeys.
You're exactly right WE NEED THIS NOW.
The ironic fact is none of this should've occurred to begin with.
The Republic Party has always been the political party that drastically runs up the U.S. national debt even though they obviously fool enough people by calling themselves fiscal conservatives.
The vast majority of the public need to wake up to this fact.
It's been long overdue that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share of taxes but don't hold your breath because they have the money and influence.
Mr. Reich, Senator Sanders & Warren are doing their best to make people aware of the rigged tax code & other major issues - I & many others are extremely grateful for their efforts.
If you’re not already part of any activist groups you should really consider joining, we are in desperate need of people with your fire
All that taxpayers should pay for are services like the military that benefit EVERYONE. NOBODY has any obligation to pay for ANYTHING that is not to their benefit. That includes the rich being forced to pay for any social service that would be cheaper for them to pay for out of pocket than to have to pay higher taxes to provide that service to all of society.
Reich is a liar here is the proof the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare the rich get next to nothing in return
Thanks Robert. Even thought this is three years old I just posted it to my facebook and Twitter pages. Thank you always for your continued support.
Thank you for educating us Mr. Reich. You are a gift to this country.
It's pretty bad information, though. The title says "What if we actually taxed the rich", then the content of the video says that we _do_ tax the rich, and he just wants to tax them _more._ The bits on tax loopholes, i.e. the _actual_ ways that rich people get out of paying taxes, i.e. tax loopholes, are there... but stuffed in near the end.
It's useless to raise taxes without eliminating tax loopholes, and not really necessary to raise overall taxes if we _do_ eliminate the tax loopholes.
@@Tzizenorec I believe he mentioned both in the video.
Nailed it. Gratz.
@@jonathanp1884 Yes, and I mentioned that he mentioned both in the video.
He lies by withholding information from you
It amazes me how fast people can rise from humble beginnings to suddenly being filthy rich and completely forgetting how it felt to be the former. Human beings aren’t capable of handling so much wealth and power responsibly. The odds of it corrupting are overwhelming.
Part of the issue is the system. When you see every other rich person doing the same, and you fear your competitors will undercut you if you don't participate, then you have to play the game regardless.
Many of the Hollywood elites preach about redistribution of wealth but don’t practice what they preach. They don’t even live carbon friendly lives but want you peasants to
Their rags to riches stories are all fake, They were all born rich.
The ultra-wealthy are never from humble beginnings. They like to say so because it's good marketing, but their idea of "humble" beginnings is flying first class for around the world to eat dinner at an exclusive restaurant and then doing the same to go home *instead* of taking a personal private jet.
@@SkySong6161. That’s not ALWAYS true, objectively.
For those who don't know, this guy does really know what he's talking about. He worked in 4 different presidential administrations, including serving as Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labour and serving as a member of Obama's Economic Transition Advisory Board.
I know to some people, these might be obvious and well known facts, but I just thought it was worth reiterating that these aren't just opinions of a random commentator - this is one of the foremost experts on what the US actually needs.
@@apjtv2540 he is the balance against Milton Friedman , Thomas Sowell, Arthur Laffer. I don’t agree with anything Robert proposes but in the best of worlds it is good to have those differing opinions and discussions.
@@douglastovey2685I might not agree with him on his left leaning political views, but he's spot on with his financial ideas.
@@markberryhill2715 I disagree. He believes that governments drive the economy. I believe supply side drives. Free market capitalism works.
His talk about monopolies and breaking up the big corporations suppprts free market strategies but implementing anti trust and 90% marginal rates, etc. are difficult to pull off in reality.
@@douglastovey2685 free market capitalism can't work because there's no free market.
@@douglastovey2685 depends on what you mean by "works". Generates a lot of profit. Sure, free market capitalism works wonderfully.
Raising quality of life - generally, it works until it doesn't, and especially for poor people, it doesn't.
A fair society where everyone can be happy? God, laissez-faire capitalism fails terribly at that
so if you want to live a good, fulfilled live, free market capitalism does not work
Well that would make sense! Thank you for all you do Robert Reich!
💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙
Republicans don't like taxing the rich. Us working class are all still waiting for Reagan's "trickle down" economics to kick in.
Well it's a sad and provable fact that the working class doesn't use their brains properly, the fact that you are wating for something long overdue should alarm you of your own stupidity, leave the country and go somewhere they will protect your employment rights
And the commies and marxists lol. Which allows Jeff Bezos to walk away with 100% of the vast SURPLUS all those people working for him generate. He gets it all. I think you call it the American dream (tm)
To this day Ronald Reagan is still waiting in hell for heaven to trickle down to him…
It never will
@lavalampluva55401 WTF are you wating forITS UP TO YOU..
Best, most concise, clear video on what needs to be done to fix America I’ve ever watched
Not just the USA ... the USA is not the only one with this problem...
The Super-Rich have done this to almost every Nation on the planet - and (as they pretend to compete and harte each other) all those Billionaires are fully united against the Poor (who they train to hate each other... instead of their parasites).
Feel like I'm screaming into the wind saying this...but: What if, in addition to raising the Federal minimum wage and corporate/wealth tax rate, ALSO enact a Rage Ratio Law? Example: "No CEO can have a salary and interest/capital-gains holdings which exceed more than 40 times his lowest hourly paid worker"?
Communist!!
Just kidding, I totally agree
Include a tax on benefits that aren't available to all employees. Company gym, jet, car--all included on the personal tax as earned income.
You can‘t do that. This would pressure employers to pay their workers more. This attacks the employers freedom!
Republicans probably xD
So that would apply to Hollywood actors? A huge block buster movie star couldn’t make 40 times more than the extras, stunt person, makeup artist, etc?
A labourer is worthy of his hire. If he screws up. Take away his 2 years salary which should have been kept prior in the company's corpus only to be released after he retires or renders profit to the ogn.
Imagine if some of these options were to be implemented? Imagine having Universal Health Care? Imagine that! 🎉
Brilliant debunking of austerity politics, Robert! Please share this video.
It would be an amazing day in our history. We would all have much better lives.
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
@@TheVeryBestBaby Reich therefore is a con man
Yes! Quality of life would be raised for generations to come and the benefits would be exponential.
@@CynthiaSchoenbauer Well Reichs failure to hold Obama Clinton and Biden accountable isn’t helping
@@Cyrus992 ... How? You think a career economist and political figure is dirty enough to air his laundry and not pay his taxes? Or are you just jealous because he is richer than you? Hypocrisy is if he was like Trumpovich and only paid $750 on millions. You have no idea what you are talking about. Sit down, punkin.
Always excellent content
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
Crazy that in 3 years this videos still doesn’t have over a million views.
So sad how so much greed is in this country while so many people work so hard and still can't pay their bills just to raise a family !!
Greed and power grabbing
It's all been unraveling (slowly but surely) since the 50's. Certainly by the 70's and 80's, but... wow.
2016-2020 was literally 'The Dark Ages' for some of us out there.
Doesn't seem like there are many rays of hope anymore, either. :( Definitely not for me. My days are numbered and dwindling. Not reversible, either.
So how will taxing the rich change that? More welfare? Welfare has done more damage then slavery!
In the US you have welfare for the rich.
Waiting for comment on why you shouldn’t have a family if you can’t pay for it...
No one that should listen to this, will actually hear it.
Yes its a shame, but they don't have to hear this... they already know it!!
Send it to them. Even more effective is to write these ideas out and mail them to your reps and sens, followed by a phone call. That kind of direct action is remarkably motivating to politicians even when they send a form letter back or don’t reply at all. Their staff carefully tabulate every communication that comes in and weight them to calculate how many constituents want a certain law or policy. Make sure you get included in the calculation 👍
Please find a way to directly challenge the billionaire class...to their face!
They don't have to hear it. They built it they way they want it. They just made sure we didn't hear it while being distracted by stagnant wage growth and many other unimportant issues.
No...
It is not the oligarchs that need to hear this. If _they_ fight for more inequality it might be selfish, but not entirely unreasonable.
It is the roughly 50% of voters that vote republican and are _not_ at least multi-millionairs that need to hear this.
It is the democrat voters that think Biden is better for them than Sanders that need to hear this.
And it is the americans that think taxing the rich and having tax-financed higher education is "evil communism" that need to hear that.
but, yeah... 200.000 views..
Looks like the majority of Americans is rather watching cat-videos or iphone-unboxing
The super wealthy need to be broken up just like their corporations. Repeal and replace the rich. Robert
- your the man
The NEON GAUD will be unveiled at the Jubilee -- I mean Re-Set -- on 09/23/26 or SOONER. hint: in GAUD we trust. Men will Lie, and Cheat, and Steal if allowed to govern themselves. And so ends our 250-year experiment in self-government. Epochal Eclipse April 8th 2024. The Aliens ask, "Will you Earthlings ever agree on OUR CREATOR?"
Incredible good presented, easy and straight.
the crazy thing about this is that even if we did ALL of those things... THE RICH WOULD STILL BE RICH.
Yes but then the poor wouldn't be as poor
AND THE RICH WOULDN'T BE AS RICH.
they´ld still get richer even with this
Who cares? That's more money for us, for the poor, middle classes, more for everyone tax the rich please.
That's exactly it! He's not/we're not saying "oh raise the taxes so much that there are no more rich people" that's dumb. But every time this gets brought up that's exactly how it gets talked about by people who oppose "taxing the rich"
This Depresses me so much! 😢 Especially as a senior with a limited income and has to PAY THE IRS! Social Security over a certain amount is subject to Fed tax! How is that fair? RICH NEED TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!
As Mr. Reich has said more than once, taxing Social Security was a Reagan era policy. Reagan was almost as bad for the American people as Trump, just not so blatantly.
under trump black Americans were employed at the greatest level on record less illegal immegration low unemployment low gas prices low inflation low interest rates what did you not like
@@fritzforsthoefel8031 First of all, and I say this about President Biden as well, yes, we have the lowest unemployment in YEARS, but how GOOD are those jobs? MANY of those now employed people might have had jobs worth four, five, TEN times what they are making now. Is that better? Second, Bob Reich was Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, so he KNOWS what he's talking about. My money is on the person with knowledge of the facts who can explain them clearly without political doublespeak.
The doctor in NYC who works long hours and went to college maney years already pays between local state and federal half his income in taxes while you will draw out more ss and medicare than you pay for and the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare you need to pay your fair share of taxes to pay for the handouts democrats want
Robert Reich has come out in favor of government controlled banks the same innefficent government that paid Harvard university seven hundred thousand dollars to blow lizards off trees with leaf blowers running banks Reich is a communist whoes economic policy's are destroying us we have a staggering unbelievable 32 trillion dollar debt because of democrat handouts
Hi Bob, I'd like to hear you tell a parable of two Americans, one who made $5 million because they are an entertainer (athlete, singer, actor, whatever) and one whose wealth increased by $5 million because their portfolio increased in value by that amount and explain the different taxes those two would pay.
The problem is both political parties are in the pockets of these super wealthy people. They are influenced and sponsored by them, so they will never enact this change.
We will need a radical overhaul of our political system for this to ever occur. But I agree, these changes would make all the difference.
Not to mention those same super rich people are getting all the juicy contracts from the government. They get us coming and going!
that's how Fred Trump (Donald's father) got rich. he bribed NY city and state politicians to award housing construction contracts to his company.
Super rich should be taxed more.trump gave away our taxmoney to super rich.
@@manueldaniel108 Yet, 74 million brainwashed people, most of them non-college educated, voted for him anyways. They never realized that he was in it for himself. Even now, they are donating to the so-called "stop the steal" fund.
@@bs4638 yes. Trump says stop the steal and he is the one trying to steal the election. People hearing to many conspiracies, confusing the people. yet "they" are trying to steal from us. Getting us coming and going.
@@patguitar01 And guess? Rich business owners also receive money in the form of grants for research and development from our government, but once their products are placed on the market none of us tax payers get any discounts for the grants that our government gave them using our tax money!
Robert Reich is the man! I’m so glad you made this video
Robert you always right. Where do I sign up. We are drowning in corruption front the top. I am sick of it.
Show proof of corruption
@@fritzforsthoefel8031: start w/unregulated corporation price gouging, consolidation of industries, most notably farming and grocery
I’m not American but I watch your channel because inequality is not just an American thing. I do try to put it into perspective and eliminate personal biases including those I don’t realise at the time by reassessing my beliefs over time.
Changing the way the world works is both difficult and dangerous so my hat is off to you.
I’m considered rich by some sort of measurement and I feel that Trumps tax cut for my income level was unfair. Helping those that don’t need help like me is not good for the Country. And the endless loopholes of our tax code make us richer and richer. Why not pay our fair share and help close the deficit holes that Trump opened forever? I’m all for it.
Good on u for being rich and thinking about us poorer folks thxs❤
❤❤❤
Trump’s tax cuts also cut taxes for middle and working class incomes. It was a tax cut across the board
This man is a national treasure.
Let’s raise taxes so us Dems can squander it you mean? The REAL truth is the Govt brings in plenty of money, but blindly spends it and then wants more. Reich is worth somewhere between $5,000,000 to $15,000,000, which I have absolutely no problem with. However, don’t just follow him blindly there is an agenda at play here.
It’s easier to just pick on the rich then to do actual hard work and control government spending and this is how the Dems get their votes by promising these things to you
Folks…you cant cure poverty by raising taxes on the rich. To cure poverty you have to stop giving free money to people and have them go to work. When you give money to people that don’t know how to properly spend or save it, they just loose it.
@@tomf9292 Absolute total nonsense. It is not just the rich but also corporate america that are significantly underpaying taxes. In 2018 the IRS total federal income taxes collected show that corporate america only paid 6% of total taxes collected whereas individuals paid 94% of total federal income taxes collected. Taxes are the price we pay for government goods and services ... military, judicial system, roads, bridges, airports, educated employees and many more. It is patently absurd to claim that corporate america only uses 6% of federal government goods and services ... nobody believes that. Thus corporate america is the real welfare queen and corporate socialism is the reality of the US tax system.
With regard to taxing the "rich" individuals, they are not much different than corporate america. they get all sorts of tax advantages that are not applicable to average americans. It has been reported that the Walton family (Walmart) controls as much wealth and income as the bottom 50+ million american citizens. One doubts that the Walton's pay anywhere as much income tax as even the bottom 50 million american citizens pay. There is a reason why US wealth inequality has grown significantly since about 1980 ... and it has everything to do with the dysfunctional US income tax system and how corporate america and the very wealthy get all sorts of tax advantages from it.
With regard to federal government spending .... something like 75+% of all federal government spending is incurred on only 4 items ... social security, medicare, military, and interest on national debt. And social security and medicare are largely user fee funded via payroll deductions. One potential alternative is to eliminate the income cap on social security and medicare and have it apply to all income with no limits. The very rich benefit significantly from the relatively low cap levels on this.
@@coreyham3753 you know the Walton family pays more than the bottom 50 million tax payers because 61% of American's don't pay ANY federal tax. you googled how much taxes corporations paid and that's a fair argument. but to know know that 61% of people pay NOTHING?
@@tomf9292 We give free money to the rich all the time. THAT is what needs to stop. I shouldn't be paying a higher rate than they are.
Look at the congressional budget office public records it breaks down who plays what the top ten percent paid over seventy percent of the federal taxes telsa the corperation paid no tax but the shareholders did and Elon musk paid a whooping twelve billion corperations are taxed three times that's not fair the top five percent pay half the federal taxes look at the cbo numbers and it will tell you so stop with the misinformation
Thank you, Robert Reich, I’ll be sharing this with my students and colleague.
you're actually teaching this bs to students. smh.
@@anonymoususer4376 this video has so many things wrong with it, it’s complete nonsense.
“It’s not radical to increase taxes on the super and ultra rich, it’s radical not to”
Amen
Agrees 100%! Keep up the good job 💪💪
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
Been following you for quite a while, Robert. Your work is enlightening and much needed!
I love Dr. Reich’s videos. He makes it short and to the point. And his graphics are always entertaining. 💕
Look up his net worth, he's in the top 1%. I wonder how much he donates to the homeless.
@@rwusa1117 you guys should remoove that expression "net worth" with "net wealth". Worth is the word that means ( or should mean ) something else than wealth.
And if he is so wealthy, he means himself here too. And that is fine with me.
@@majdavojnikovic The ideology is immoral. 3 people, the 2 with less vote to take property from the 3rd. We could find the poorest person you and I know (Fred) and there will still be people with less. Should they take Fred's earnings? It's about power, not true empathy.
Why? When he was in a position to something he didn't do crap... He is just another in a long line of phonies calling for "fixing the system" that he and others of his generation created... F that guy...All this craziness is partly his fault.He was with the Clinton administration when they repealed the Glass Steagal act... Hence all these HF's and banks being involved in the wallstreet casino.
Yes, the simpleminded are easily entertained.
The fact that 75k households hold the rest of the country hostage is absolutely mind boggling.
It's straight up bad for the economy too
If the money was distributed to all the other people, nothing would change. Everybody would have more money and bid up the prices of things.
@@123lowp oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the top 75k household are actually saving us lowly sobs from uncontrollable inflation.
Many, if not all of these, would be a great start.
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
Yes, these would be a great start. But the real solution is a complete overhaul of the absurd and completely dysfunctional federal income tax system. First broaden the tax base to treat all sources of income the same. Makes no difference if you income is salary , wages, interest, capital gains, dividends, food stamps, retirement income, business profits, or whatever. Second, level the playing field and have only one tax category ... namely corporate income tax. All entities should be taxed under the same rules, which is revenue minus expense equals profit or taxable income. Corporations, partnerships, individuals (corporations of one), charities, non profits, or whatever the entity should all be taxed under the same rules. Those two changes alone would make income tax simpler, fairer, logical, and enable generating the tax revenues needed to provide government goods and services. Nickel and dime changes to the tax system will not resolve the mess that is the current federal income tax system. Hard to argue that all income is not the same, and hard to argue that everyone should not have the same tax rules.
@@coreyham3753 👍
Thank you for sharing this important content!
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
I think if people understood the cost basis loophole ( #5 ), they would be rather astounded that it exists. You might want to mention it on more of your youtube videos.
Yes, it's crazy and egregious, but eliminating it doesn't raise that much money. Still a better idea to get rid of it, though, than a 2% "wealth tax". In Bezos' case, that essentially means taking away 2% of his ownership stake in his own company a year. Declaring war on 5 very successful people (Bezos, Gates, Buffett, Musk etc - funny nobody mentions the Waltons or the Kochs) makes people feel cool and radical but down deep it's selfish and greedy. Better to just eliminate the long term capital gains rate and the dividend rate, and put them both back under the earned income rate the way it was in the 90s. But that's not cool, because the champagne anarchists will have to pay more tax.
@@asusmctablet9180 "funny nobody mentions the Waltons or the Kochs"
Charles Koch was depicted in one of the group pics of billionaires.
@@asusmctablet9180 "makes people feel cool and radical but down deep it's selfish and greedy"
I for one don't think we need billionaires. I think they are a malevolent force. I think it is a prerequisite to be a psychopath in order to become a billionaire and I don't want billionaires having the power coupons ($$$) to bribe congress to oppress me, which they are currently doing. So if its me or them, I'm picking me. And they have decided that it is us or them. I didn't choose that, they did. They chose it by bribing the supreme court to allow them to secretly bribe congress in the first place, and claim that their secret bribes are "free speech" when they are nothing but cash payments in exchange for favors, and criminal to boot. Bribe a cop and you go to prison. Bribe congress and the supreme court will back you. That is no way to run a society in any direction but right into the ground. Most of the Court are members of The Federalist Society whose stated goal is to replace democracy with aristocracy. Look them up, I'm not kidding.
@@havable Well said!
I support the cost basis loophole 100%. I am not rich and want to inherit stocks from my family
Robert, i just found your channel. And all i can say is, i hope you dont go missing under suspicious circumstances dud to your work.
Keep doing what youre doing.
Thank you Robert all the best. 🌍
It makes me feel sick that the rich get away with that..just looking around and see how it would effect most people.
stop shopping on Amazon, at wall-mart, using Microsoft software. YOU made them rich. Stop bitching.
You should feel sick that you believe in taxes at all. 🤪🤪🤪
@@traviswall1982 hope your house doesn't ever catch fire...
@@markbrownner6565 Yeah, there was no fire departments before taxes. 😂🤣🤪
@@traviswall1982 Do you pave the street by yourself?
The super-rich says that if their yacht rises, your boat will rise. How can that be.? Their yacht
is in the ocean. Your boat is in a pond.
Better yet, we’re the ones holding the yacht on our backs
What boat? I don't even have a boat.
THE SUPER-RICH: "What do you mean, 'You don't have a boat?' EVERYONE has a boat, don't they? I mean, I'VE got a yacht... well then, you're obviously one of those dreadful unemployed people who's never worked hard enough to have a boat! I bet you don't even have a nanny to look after your children either - deplorable! No wonder you're poor!"
Mine is in my bathtub.
Awwww
America doesn’t see itself as one country, pulling together. But rather a battleground for survival of the fittest.
You mean survival of the richest...
The rich and corporations should pay the same rates as most Americans.
I've said it for decades... The tax rates should be the same for everyone. Introducing a flat income tax rate, with absolutely no deductions or loopholes for the rich would be much fairer. Also, tax churches. I don't want to subsidize the world's richest organizations who have yet to prove the existence of a god.
Another way to go might be to eliminate the IRS, and replace income tax with a national flat sales tax. That way, you are taxed only on what you spend. Of course, the rich would wail and cry "unfair". That new yacht, second or third mansion, or Lear jet Would now cost a bit more.
@@tombarclay7108 no, that wouldn’t make sense. Very poor people should not be paying nearly as much taxes as super rich people are, for the trivial reason that they literally can’t afford to. Taxes should be progressive, not flat.
@@tombarclay7108 the poor would pay proportionally more of their income in cash as tax than would bill gates. 33% of 20k/annum is a helluva higher burden than 33% of $2m/annum.
So zero?
I have never had a deduction - EVER. I have always paid a third of my income. If the wealthy just paid a third like I do there would be enough to pay for what we need. If a wealth tax were enacted then we could pay for extras
Same here...60,no kids, not married. I owe 9 k....cant just give them 750 bucks like some billionaires
If you taxed all of the billionaires at 100%, there would still not be enough money to pay for "everything we need."
You should have deductions, everyone should. Standard deduction for a single filer is $12,400. If you and Judy (one of the commenters) don't take this deduction, then you should.
@Red Pharaoh why? Why do they need to pay more?
@Red Pharaoh Again, why does anyone need to pay more? Investing helps drive the economy, it creates business opportunities and jobs. So, why should that action be taxed, at all?
Mr Reich...you are the BEST!
THANK YOU for your voice in service to equality and justice!
Incredible facts. The injustice of all these tax breaks for the super wealthy needs to be addressed as Mr Robert Reich has pointed out.
Another brilliant piece. Keep them coming Robert!! Hopefully you'll make enough people mad enough to do something!!
Lol you think its brilliant.
Robert, YOU ARE MY HERO!
The way I see it it this:
The average salary in the US is about $48,000 a year.
Jeff Bezos made over $74 billion last year. That’s 1,541,000+ times the average salary. But Jeff Bezos definitely does not do that many times the amount of work the average worker works. Probably even less than the average worker. Much less than someone working 3 jobs.
your ignorance is showing. His worth is in the STOCK he owns in his companies, not his hourly wages. You make n=me giggle.
@@wilber504 Yes, I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that he made over $74 billion last year. No where did I insinuate otherwise. I don’t care where he got his money. The stock market is stupid and pointless anyway. We saw that with the whole GameStop fiasco.
@ nate, if the stock market is stupid and pointless then why is every government pension invested in it? And why does (almost) every large and successful company go public and sell stock?
@@crestoneman8497 That’s a great question. It’s a tool for the wealthy to invest in already wealthy corporations. It’s not some device for lower class people to make some side cash. That we saw when Robinhood blocked the trade of GameStop. The billionaire hedgefunds can manipulate and use its inner workings to exploit others downfall. And listen. If the government regulated Wall Street more. And didn’t protect these big billionaires with huge bailouts every time a couple of Redditors did the same thing they were doing. I’m sure the stock market would actually serve its intended purpose.
Nate, why doesn't the average worker risk everything that they have to start a new concept for a company so that they can make more money? This question is the same premise as your statement. Your "working harder" is an apples to oranges comparison. For every Jeff Bezos, there are 1000+ entrepreneurs who tried to do what he did but failed. That doesn't mean that Bezos worked 1000+ times harder than the others.
Nothing says, "Tax The Rich" like a space race between billionaires.
Excellent Presentation!
Reich is a hypocrite.
He keeps supporting folks like Biden who has done very little stop the tax loopholes!
He always presents well.
@@Cyrus992 Reich supported Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, who would have implemented all of these ideas, and Reich probably would have been one of Sanders top advisors had he become president. Reich only supported Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden after Sanders came in second to them . The alternative was Trump, so of course Reich supported Hillary and Biden, but his first choice was Bernie.
But the point that Biden and his advisors are cautious and not doing nearly enough is correct.
Robert Reich for president.
Yes. If only!!!
While we're at it, Robert Reich for national tax collector.
@@waderidsdale7853 he’ll be the one that knocks
A superb choice but I fear for his life after what they did to JFK
He's too old 😢
And rich people that is super rich - the more they make the less they pay their employees - there is not trickle down.
Trickle down has been disproved at every turn. Idk why people think it’s a thing...
There never was Trickle Down to begin with. Power does not relinquish - you have to take it. And we used to do it - 74% and then came Reagan.
Glad to hear someone else acknowledge Reagan was a putz.
@@niko-7417 It was one of the most ridiculous things he said. The minute I heard about Trickle Down it took me 2 minutes to say "are you kidding." I still can't figure out why people still believe it.
@Nancy Desch Actually trickle down does exist. Unfortunately, the trickle itself is the result of the ultra wealthy urinating down upon the average American.
In truth, one doesn’t need a Nobel prize in economics to understand that the ONLY WAY to maintain consistent economic growth, is by ensuring that the purchase power of the vast majority of working class citizens, is both reasonable, sufficient, and incremental. These combined factors create a steady demand for goods and services. This in turn creates the necessity for continuing production and labor demands, which then reinforces an enduring cycle of economic growth, with the added benefits of increased employment opportunity and greater job security. The concept is in no way complex. In fact it’s rather simple and obvious given just a modicum of consideration. Cheers!
While getting the rich to pay more is good, a couple of these points have issues:
4) A transactions tax on trades of stock
We already have this - it's called capital gains. What you're looking at is increasing the capital gains tax. For most people, it's 15% tax. Increasing it by "one tenth of one percent" would push the capital gains tax rate to 15.1% instead. Yes, that would help. HOWEVER, I get the feeling that Robert is including the stock that is held within various IRA/401K and other retirement accounts. That is going to deplete those retirement accounts rather quickly for the lower-income people who have them.
5) End the stepped-up cost basis loophole
Grandpa paid only $20k for his house back when he bought it in the 40's. Since your parents are established, it's getting willed to you instead. Current market value of that house is $180k. If we eliminate step-up, then you just inherited $160k of capital gain. When you sell that house, you're paying $24k to the IRS. Sure, you're keeping the other $156k, but most lower-income people get rather upset when they hear they have a $24k tax bill.
Basically, these two loopholes are benefiting the 99% percent quite a bit. If you eliminate them, sure, the rich will pay more taxes.....but the lower-income people will pay more as well.
Very interesting and full of facts that are eye opening. How much could be done if the rich paid their fair share of tax? And for very little "suffering" for these wealthy individuals.
What is a fair share?
@@WinterberryThyme-3333 zero
@@schloughed Zero? Why?
“ThEy EaRnEd It FaIr AnD sQuArE” 😂
The top ten percent pay over seventy percent of the federal taxes
I am all for it. How do we do it? This has been an issue for years now
As I always said to my friends:
If you make a million dollars a year and lets say you're taxed at 50% and you take home $500,000 a year and if you have trouble living off of 500,000 a year you have some very serious problems.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵,
𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴𝘈𝘱𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳,𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘤𝘩,𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.
Dm
W.... H....A.....T....S.....A.....P.....P + 1. 2. 1. 3. 8. 7. 3. 3. 7. 1. .8.
@@robertreich5241 Your not the real Robert Reich.
Earn a million, 30% taxes on the first 300k then 45% in the next 700k. That’s more reasonable definitely not a whole 50%.
We have a progressive tax rate and the "rich" pay the overwhelming majority of the taxes.
The government is not entitled to your wealth.
I just discovered Robert Reich a few days ago and I love him oh so very much.
Can anybody understand what these people are afraid of? Do their lungs implode in an atmosphere of fairness?
They're just addicted, that's all. No difference to heroin; utter lack of empathy with other humans and their needs, deep denial of the meaning of fairness or the consequences of their inaction. Believing what they want to believe.
It's not enough to be rich, everyone else has to be poor also.
@@TheCrumb74 It's exactly this. Their thinking is "if the average joe on the street can live a life anywhere near as comfortable as mine, that diminishes my superiority over him." They literally measure their own self-worth in terms of how much everyone lacks in comparison to them - if it isn't so blindingly obvious as to be smacking everyone in the face, then what's the point in being rich at all?
The pain of losing something is magnitudes greater than the joy in gaining something.
@Solstice of Snow well, they have well over 90% of the income and way more than that of the disposable income
This physically made me ill. Do you think this will ever end? How?
In blood
No it will only get worse unless we get unlimited bribery out of elections.
You should have been sick many many years ago.
Trickle down economics didn't make you sick in 1980?
It has only gotten worse, since 1980.
Cheato's tax breaks for the wealthy were called 'trickle down on steroids'.
I don’t care rich people can be rich but when they interfere in the running of countries, the media, unions, workers, health care, I care.
I think this is how most people feel. Unfortunately most of the rich seem to live by the mantra "I can't be really rich unless you're really poor."
@@hundejahre Poverty is the source of their wealth. The more desperate and fearful of destitution workers are, the more they can be exploited.
That's really nice?
Bravo!
@@namvet1968 Hi
Can you imagine an America where there was no poverty, no homeless, free education, and free healthcare? So easily accomplished, and it would leave the 1% wealthiest people still obscenely rich. Six Trillion Dollars over 10 years.... wow.
Socialism, yeah look how well that's working out for Cuba right now.
@@never2late454 Cuba is a totalitarian system - a dictatorship. It's run by one man and he does not share his wealth. Socialism is when the society pays for "public" services, such as welfare, medicine, education, social security, pensions, and so much more. There are lots of social countries: The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway, UK, Australia, Canada, and that's only a few. Social countries take care of their citizens, provide them with things like a minimum living wage.
0:50 - If 83% of the benefits go to the richest 1%, wouldn't the proportion that goes to the top 20% be higher than that, since the top 20% includes the top 1%?
I'd like to note that a lot of people complain about the excesses of the uber wealthy and corporations or their political influence but then they balk at taxing them like we used to when our national wealth was at it's highest.
No it wasn't when Eisenhower dramatically increased taxes on the rich we quickly went from one person to support a family of four now two people working to support a family of four our liveing standards dropped in half
@@fritzforsthoefel8031 Every Republican President in my lifetime has been a disaster for this country ! From Reagan to the Bushes & Trump ! Wages have not kept up to inflation !
Thank you for not only calling out the problem but showing clear solutions. The thing that's still amazes me is how many people in this country who aren't billionaires or multi-multimillionaires support this individual. Are they under the illusion that they're going to be a billionaire someday? If you aren't born, rich or have very rich connections, good luck on that. Why else would anybody vote for someone who lacks decency, dignity, honesty, accountability or intelligence? If the economy goes bad between now and late 24, we're going to be dealing with a fascist hell in a country that has always considered itself the beacon of freedom and democracy in the world. We need to be relentless in pointing out just how dangerous and unprecedented this threat to all of us is. Anybody not in the maga cult is accountable to get to vote out. We have apathy to blame if this monster ever assumes the most powerful office in the world again.
All that taxpayers should pay for are services like the military that benefit EVERYONE. NOBODY has any obligation to pay for ANYTHING that is not to their benefit. That includes the rich being forced to pay for any social service that would be cheaper for them to pay for out of pocket than to have to pay higher taxes to provide that service to all of society.
Zach..Bot Bot Bot
@@suemccord2633, nah! I am real!
You are aware that the top five percent pay over half the federal taxes I can name maney formerly homeless people who are now rich democrats party of handouts at someone else's labor
Democrats party of handouts vote out democrats before it's to late our children will thank you for it
But keep in mind that all of the good stuff can still be done even when the taxing doesnt get through, you just need to do it, money is not a limmitation, workforce is
We can’t have slave workers.
They need to get paid, with food, company, living and entertainment.
Our way of distributing this is through money.
@@Asytol_ thats not wat i was talking about, the state doesnt need to get the money in order to pay the people, of course taxing the rich is the right way to bring the political influence and power of the bottom and the top wealth's closer together, but money is just a tool, it can be created and deleted in however large quantitys needed to achieve the goal we vote for
The company I work for spun off and froze our pension plan, but had a different one for management. They explained that there were
"Two separate pots of money" (the frozen bankrupt one for us and the hugely profitable one for them) We all agreed that was probably how God intended......
God is the god of hierarchies after all
Sounds to me like grounds for a lawsuit.
@@TzizenorecObviously some fail to realize the practice of Law has become the practice of loopholes!
Great idea as usual but how do we implement it? With all the wealthy donors having all the say in our government, how do we ever get our voices heard? We are rapidly slipping into a second rate country in part due to the filibuster and corporations. Pay your share, no free lunch.
Unfortunately they see you as cheap labor and a revenue source for their crap products. They will never try to go back to a more equitable system. They see themselves as the French Kings did, as ordained by God to be rich and you had by God better do your part to make it happen!
The top five percent pay over half the federal taxes corperations are taxed three times at the federal level the middle class draw more ss and medicare than they pay in taxes and the average person draws out three dollars for every dollar paid in medicare taxes the poor get subsidized housing food assistance cash assistance and free healthcare you are the one bankrupting our nation by voteing for handout democrats the rich pay over half the federal taxes and get next to nothing in return our debt is beyond belief and democrats want more government our children will inherit a bankrupt shell of a nation because of democrat handouts shame on you
Tax them and make them pay their employees well. Also, hold them accountable for everything they have done for the environment
You drive a car you are a big polluter mabey you should be held accountable
Thank you for making this video!