34 - The Right-Wing's Worst Nightmare: A Tax On Extreme Wealth

BLAST THE RIGHT

Jack Clark

Cnn, Government & Organizations, Kcrw, Coulter, President, Hartmann, Bush, Politics, Abc, Limbaugh, Fox, Randi, Npr, Morning, Comedy, Slate, Christian, Story, Reilly, Majority, Cbs, Conservative, Liberal, Nbc, News & Politics, Bill, Sean, Spirituality, Al, Religion & Spirituality, Franken, Maher, Newsweek, Rush, Obama, Society & Culture, O, Democracy, Sedition, Day, Rhodes, Hannity

4.7 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2006

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Congress repeatedly passes tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the richest among us, it might seem quixotic to speak of a tax on wealth. But political precedent -- you won't believe what you hear FDR say about the greedy right-wingers of his day -- and emerging public opinion trends indicate that enacting a wealth tax could well become feasible in the near future.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Blast, the right, the right, the right, Blast, the right, the right, the right, Blast!
0:17.6	Greetings!
0:18.6	This is Podcast No. 34 of Blast, the right.
0:22.4	I'm Jack Clark from TheRationalRadical.com, www.TheRationalRadical.com
0:30.9	Today we have one big subject, something that in right-winger eyes is the scariest thing in the world.
0:39.9	Let's get right into it.
0:42.9	Back in Podcast No. 7, we discussed the concept of a living wage.
0:48.9	That is, raising the minimum wage, preferably nationwide on the federal level,
0:55.9	to an amount that lives a family of three above the poverty line.
1:00.9	I titled that piece, Scarer Right Winger to Death,
1:04.9	Advocate Reducing Poverty by raising the minimum wage to a living wage.
1:11.9	Today, I want to talk about another social justice measure, a tax on wealth.
1:18.9	Even more than living wage laws, the concept of a wealth tax gives right-wingers apoplexy.
1:28.9	Let's first establish why would such a tax be necessary?
1:35.9	In Japan, CEOs get paid ten times the wage of an average worker.
1:43.9	In the United States in 1980, CEOs got paid forty times the wages of an average worker.
1:52.9	Not good, but get a load of this.
1:56.9	The present figure is anyways from 300 to 500 times,
2:02.9	depending on the exact recent year and measuring tool used.
2:06.9	US CEOs now get paid 300 to 500 times the average worker's wage.
2:16.9	Over time, unequal income levels result in even worse unequal and unjust wealth distribution.
2:27.9	The latest figures available for 2001 show that the richest 10% of Americans own 70% of all the wealth.
	...

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