Jim Hightower's Lowdown

The Plutocrats Cry, People Cheer


Listen Later

“Outrageous,” screeched the US Chamber of Commerce. “It doesn’t feel fair,” whimpered a top corporate executive.
The wailing by those who run corporate America is not for the plight of the workaday families who’ve seen their incomes stagnate and even plummet to zero during the past months of the coronavirus pandemic. Rather, this chorus of woe comes from powerful plutocratic interests that have been enjoying windfall profits. Why? Because, they cry, that meanie in the White House, Joe Biden, intends to jack up their corporate tax rate.
But wait didn’t Trump and the GOP Congress slash the corporate share of our nation’s upkeep nearly in half just four years ago, shifting the burden to the middle class and poor? Yes. And didn’t they promise that those cuts would create millions of new jobs? Yes, again – yet corporations got richer and working stiffs got shafted.
Still, here they come again, howling that raising corporate taxes would crash the stock market. Well, the day Biden announced his plan, stock prices did fall… by less than 1 percent. The next day, they bounced right back, and they’re still booming.
Moreover, those are crocodile tears the rich are shedding, for they know that – as Biden himself makes clear – his proposed uptick in their tax share “is not going to affect their standard of living at all. Not a little tiny bit.” They’ll still have their two or three big houses, private jets, and yachts. But, with them paying just a bit more toward the Common Good, our country will be able to reinvest in society’s physical and human infrastructure, making America stronger and fairer for all.
That’s why there is broad and deep public majorities – even among Republicans – for Biden’s infrastructure plan and the taxes to pay for it. For more information go to AmericansForTaxFairness.org.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Jim Hightower's LowdownBy Jim Hightower

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

334 ratings


More shows like Jim Hightower's Lowdown

View all
On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,104 Listeners

CounterSpin by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

CounterSpin

493 Listeners

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy by BestOfTheLeft.com

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

3,357 Listeners

Ring of Fire Radio with Farron Cousins by Audio Matters LLC

Ring of Fire Radio with Farron Cousins

478 Listeners

Ralph Nader Radio Hour by Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader Radio Hour

1,179 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,623 Listeners

The Nation Podcasts by The Nation Magazine

The Nation Podcasts

398 Listeners

The DSR Network by The DSR Network

The DSR Network

1,724 Listeners

The Hartmann Report by Thom Hartmann

The Hartmann Report

1,347 Listeners

The Atlantic Interview by The Atlantic

The Atlantic Interview

1,736 Listeners

Gaslit Nation by Andrea Chalupa

Gaslit Nation

3,942 Listeners

The Al Franken Podcast by ASF Productions

The Al Franken Podcast

8,673 Listeners

Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast by WNYC Studios

Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast

673 Listeners

The PoliticsGirl Podcast by Meidas Media Network, Leigh McGowan

The PoliticsGirl Podcast

4,145 Listeners

Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American

5,006 Listeners