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Jun 1, 2023Liked by Robert Reich

Just read an article that went right along with your comments. Essentially it said that the tax cuts of Regan, Bush and now Trump have caused the financial mess this country is in, stating that if we had the Corporate taxes from those 3 cuts back we would not have the debt that is now carried and America would be in decent shape. AND I just read another article that says Republicans are "secretly" planning another tax cut for the wealthy! One of the points was that America's middle and poor class programs and benefits can never be cut enough to slow the accumulating deficit. America has a tax problem, not a debt problem.

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I'll give you an example of Robert's greedflation in practice. My son applied for a standard credit card which he felt was necessary for practical and safety reasons. I handed the incoming envelop to him upon it's arrival, he opened it and proudly showed me the shinny piece of plastic that now gave him the power to purchase on demand. This new freedom carried an interest rate of 28% APR. OUCH, and that is an honest way to conduct business, greedflation personified.

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of course i want more jobs with higher wages: who wouldn't?

but i'm confused about what the average consumer can do to force greedy corporations to get their grabby paws out of our collective pockets? (nothing, i'm guessing.) i also would like to know what greedy corporations think will be the ultimate outcome to their avarice? these people are richer than gawd, so i'd guess they have an adequate education, right? if so, haven't they read their history? or listened to their great/grandparents talk about what started WW2, or a plethora of other wars? people don't just magically decide to go to war, they must be faced with a reason that makes their (potential) deaths worthwhile.

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We are living in a Reaganesque world of corporate socialism. Piketty is right, Smith was right, Reagan was wrong.

Reverse Reagan, break up monopolies, tax windfall profits, and tax wealth.

70% of American voters would approve of this return to democratic capitalism.

But will the corporation-infected DNC approve?

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Many people who take the responsibility to think for themselves while sifting through the available news and financial reports have put the crazy increase in the cost of living where it belongs. That is right in the lap of the greedy, monopolistic corporations.

A fine example of this gouging is the price of fuel. The United States is and has been since the Obama administration the worlds biggest producer of petroleum liquid fuels.

Check out the profit sheets of the petroleum producers. There is no reason we should be paying the high prices for fuel other than they can do it so they will.

Our food industry is making a killing but the food producers are not seeing the same increase in profit after they pay their inflated overhead. I totally agree that the action must be taken to break up the monopolies especially in necessary consumer goods. Competition in any market bring prices down. If a consumer has several choices of where to buy it will show up in the weekly budget.

There are many tools the federal government can use to conquer the big shots. The windfall profits tax is one that should mark a new beginning for the working stiffs in our country.

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Robert Reich suggestion is so simple it will never pass. Why do something intelligent when you can sit back and get unlimited campaign contributions from corporate hogs? Solving the problem of social security and Medicare is simple too, just eliminate the cap so the wealthy have to pay a percentage on all their income, including capital gains (and make corporations match for their executives as well). It is so simple it will never pass. Congress does not like simple. They want systemic collapse. The present system using baling wire and duct tape to hold the government together in its infinite nonsensical complexities is doomed, but congress will not fix it as long as they are getting corporate kickbacks.

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The growth of monopolies is the end of free enterprise. Adam Smith made that a core point in The Wealth of Nations. Erich Fromm in his 1941 book Escape Fromm Freedom pointed out that monopolies destroy the middle class and make authoritarian leaders very attractive. That's what going on here and now in America. The fact that the monopolists control the purse strings of power anti-trust laws do not get enforced. I will say it again, Bernie Sanders was the only man running for President who directly addressed these issues.

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I remember in the early 70ths President Carter enforced price controls to stop inflation. I am sure big business lobbied to make sure that never happened again. There are days like now when we all start to feel it is futile to protest and say it’s too late for the US. We have lost our way; will we ever be able to find it again?

The debt deficit deal is done, and more Democrats voted to approve it than Republicans. 165 Democrats and 149 Republicans voting in favor, for a final vote of 314 to 117. Seventy-one Republicans and 46 Democrats opposed the bill. This vote should frighten everyone. The Republican party was willing to let this country go into a deep recession to have their own way. We are past bipartisan until there is a social revolution. Which we can hope will happen in 2024.

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As usual, you see things clearly and put the case in simple terms. I agree with your plan of attack. But, until we return this country to universal education as we had after WWII, and giving educated attention to those systemic weights on select populations, we will continue to have significant portions of voters who do not have the education necessary to protect all Americans from greed and class divisions. Then we can spread equal opportunity even beyond our shores.

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Can the Board of Governors of the Fed be dismissed for insanity? After all, isn't is said that insanity is trying the same thing, repeatedly, expecting a different outcome? TEN consecutive meetings, trying the exact same thing over and over. If they can't be sacked for insanity, how about gross incompetence? What does their charter say about NOT taking actions that they KNOW _will_ hurt The People? There MUST be some way to get rid of these nincompoops before another tsunami of home foreclosures commences.

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How do we push/advocate to make it a campaign issue, Robert. It is clear to me that my voice and people like me are not being heard.

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founding

Love it. Also, top management CEOs ect have to keep their salaries at 10xs and have the same benefits the average employee. Repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. Wealth tax not just income tax. Stop undermining small investors.

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If Democrats can't figure out how to message Republican fealty to the rich and powerful then shame on them. This is a slam dunk issue that would resonate with all Americans; specifically Republican demands to cut IRS funding. Wake up-- get woke !

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That is what I was thinking when they started raising interest rates because that had always worked To decrease inflation but the reason It had workChanged whenBig corporations were not paying their share of taxesSoThe same solution could not help a different problem.

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To me one of the greatest disconnects o.f the Republican obsession with cutting taxes to cut spending is that we are a population that has grown significantly in the last 43 years. Population in 1980 was 226,545,805, and in 2020 the population grew to 331,449,281. We need MORE services, more road maintenance, more infrastructure investment, more staff in government offices - especially in the grossly understaffed IRS, - more regulation of businesses and business practice (therefore MORE staff), better and more law enforcement and emergency services, and so on. Cutting taxes to levels that are too low to fund the basic needs of citizens is nothing short of criiminal.

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Our Congress should repeal a lower tax rate on capital gains. All capital gains should be treated as ordinary income.

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