1 00:00:44,711 --> 00:00:45,712 Hey! 2 00:00:48,257 --> 00:00:49,424 Thank you. 3 00:00:49,508 --> 00:00:51,260 No! Good evening. 4 00:00:51,802 --> 00:00:54,096 My name is Jon Stewart. Please, sit. 5 00:00:54,179 --> 00:00:59,101 I'm excited. Tonight's show, we're talking death and taxes, bitches. 6 00:01:01,603 --> 00:01:05,065 In these uncertain times, they're really the only two things we can count on. 7 00:01:05,147 --> 00:01:08,193 Taxes, you can always count on to infuriate you. 8 00:01:08,277 --> 00:01:10,112 And death, you can always count on 9 00:01:10,195 --> 00:01:13,448 to prove that the Jews were right all along. 10 00:01:17,786 --> 00:01:20,247 No, I actually don't even know what Jews believe-- 11 00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:22,875 It's probably in the Torah, but don't spoil it for me. 12 00:01:22,958 --> 00:01:24,543 Don't tell me how it ends, please, guys. 13 00:01:25,043 --> 00:01:26,044 Do we make it? 14 00:01:26,879 --> 00:01:27,880 Probably. 15 00:01:29,756 --> 00:01:32,009 Hating taxes is America's founding principle, 16 00:01:32,092 --> 00:01:36,638 and we're still as mad about it today as we were in 1776. 17 00:01:36,722 --> 00:01:39,266 I go to the grocery store, guess what? I pay taxes. 18 00:01:39,349 --> 00:01:41,685 I go buy tires for my Ranger, I pay taxes. 19 00:01:41,768 --> 00:01:43,896 Everything we do, we pay taxes. 20 00:01:43,979 --> 00:01:48,192 I freaking hate the government and all these stupid taxes. 21 00:01:48,275 --> 00:01:50,068 No more taxes. 22 00:01:50,152 --> 00:01:51,904 No more taxes. 23 00:02:01,663 --> 00:02:04,750 The plaintive wail of the young libertarian. 24 00:02:05,709 --> 00:02:11,215 "Why should I pay for infrastructure I don't even use?" 25 00:02:13,675 --> 00:02:15,177 Americans can't make a buck 26 00:02:15,928 --> 00:02:19,973 without Uncle Sam reaching his dirty little paw down our pants. 27 00:02:20,724 --> 00:02:21,767 We pay federal taxes, 28 00:02:22,809 --> 00:02:24,186 state taxes, 29 00:02:24,269 --> 00:02:25,729 property taxes, 30 00:02:25,812 --> 00:02:27,022 tax on gas, 31 00:02:27,105 --> 00:02:29,024 alcohol, cigarettes, 32 00:02:29,107 --> 00:02:30,859 diapers, tampons, clams. 33 00:02:30,943 --> 00:02:33,028 There's even a tax on sound effects. 34 00:02:37,407 --> 00:02:39,159 Oh, yeah. 35 00:02:46,250 --> 00:02:48,961 It sounded like an ocean liner just came. I don't know… 36 00:02:50,587 --> 00:02:53,465 We gotta be the most taxed people in the world. 37 00:02:53,549 --> 00:02:54,842 What do we got there? 38 00:02:54,925 --> 00:02:59,555 Really? Eight percent is the average tax burden in the United States of America? 39 00:02:59,638 --> 00:03:00,681 That can't be right. 40 00:03:00,764 --> 00:03:02,182 The point is this, it's low. 41 00:03:02,891 --> 00:03:04,101 Lower than you'd think. 42 00:03:04,768 --> 00:03:06,436 So, I mean, if we're mad, 43 00:03:07,020 --> 00:03:12,276 those 38 percent-paying, meatball-eating Scandis 44 00:03:13,902 --> 00:03:17,489 must be absolutely outraged. 45 00:03:18,448 --> 00:03:20,617 I love to pay my taxes. 46 00:03:23,495 --> 00:03:28,000 I pay because I think it-- the system works. 47 00:03:28,083 --> 00:03:30,210 Yeah, I like pay taxes. 48 00:03:37,259 --> 00:03:40,721 From your lighthouse in an Ingmar Bergman movie? 49 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:45,309 By the way, that gentleman is now available at IKEA. 50 00:03:45,392 --> 00:03:46,476 He's called… 51 00:03:49,563 --> 00:03:51,523 But these folks bring up an interesting point. 52 00:03:51,607 --> 00:03:57,696 They seem pleased to pay taxes because their system is working. Why? 53 00:03:57,779 --> 00:03:59,615 We don't have to worry about getting sick, 54 00:03:59,698 --> 00:04:01,408 we don't have to worry about insurances. 55 00:04:01,491 --> 00:04:03,577 Day care for our kids, free school. 56 00:04:03,660 --> 00:04:06,788 When you go give birth, it's almost free. 57 00:04:06,872 --> 00:04:09,374 Things in Finland's government-issued baby box 58 00:04:09,458 --> 00:04:10,751 that just make sense. 59 00:04:10,834 --> 00:04:13,462 All the pads for your new leaking body. 60 00:04:13,545 --> 00:04:16,714 Condoms so don't you pop out another one right away. 61 00:04:17,298 --> 00:04:18,634 They get a fuck box? 62 00:04:20,469 --> 00:04:22,638 You go to Finland, you get a taxpayer-funded fuck box? 63 00:04:22,721 --> 00:04:26,600 Although I guess, you know, to be fair, any box could be a fuck box if you're… 64 00:04:30,312 --> 00:04:32,314 Pandemic, two and a half years in, you know. 65 00:04:33,023 --> 00:04:35,901 "You gonna finish that Happy Meal? No, no. I don't want the food." 66 00:04:38,028 --> 00:04:39,196 "Just really like the box." 67 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:40,280 Anyway. 68 00:04:40,948 --> 00:04:43,700 But those are socialist countries. Ice hippies. 69 00:04:43,784 --> 00:04:47,579 Surely countries that don't use reindeer bones for money 70 00:04:47,663 --> 00:04:49,206 are singing a different tune. 71 00:04:49,289 --> 00:04:52,543 If you're diabetic, your prescriptions are free, so I don't have to pay. 72 00:04:58,507 --> 00:05:00,926 The children get free medical care. 73 00:05:01,009 --> 00:05:04,513 There is no extra charge, whether for regular checkups, for treatments, 74 00:05:04,596 --> 00:05:06,014 or for prescription medicine. 75 00:05:06,098 --> 00:05:07,975 Wow. It's amazing what you can pay for 76 00:05:08,058 --> 00:05:10,018 when you haven't been allowed to have an army. 77 00:05:10,102 --> 00:05:11,103 Now… 78 00:05:14,189 --> 00:05:16,567 Right, I invaded Poland. Yeah! 79 00:05:16,650 --> 00:05:17,985 It was me! 80 00:05:20,529 --> 00:05:26,410 In 2022, Americans paid almost five trillion dollars to the government 81 00:05:26,493 --> 00:05:28,954 in federal taxes alone. 82 00:05:29,580 --> 00:05:30,831 So what do we get? 83 00:05:30,914 --> 00:05:34,960 I've spent many days on the phone crying with the insurance 84 00:05:35,043 --> 00:05:38,922 because I can't not let my daughter have her medicine. 85 00:05:39,006 --> 00:05:42,593 There was no way we-- I was gonna be able to ever afford day care. 86 00:05:42,676 --> 00:05:44,303 No vacation, no benefits. 87 00:05:44,386 --> 00:05:46,305 $65,000 in student loan debt. 88 00:05:46,388 --> 00:05:47,890 I can't afford to retire. 89 00:05:47,973 --> 00:05:50,976 I feel like I'll be in debt the rest of my life. 90 00:05:51,059 --> 00:05:54,563 So what accounts for the vast chasm 91 00:05:55,147 --> 00:06:00,360 between their satisfaction in other countries 92 00:06:00,444 --> 00:06:06,033 and our, let me check my notes, debt for the rest of our lives? 93 00:06:06,909 --> 00:06:07,993 Two reasons. 94 00:06:08,076 --> 00:06:11,205 One: what the government spends its money on. 95 00:06:11,288 --> 00:06:16,210 In America, almost one-fifth of all the money collected in federal taxes 96 00:06:16,293 --> 00:06:18,170 goes to defense. 97 00:06:18,253 --> 00:06:21,673 Eight hundred billion dollars. 98 00:06:21,757 --> 00:06:27,012 We spent more than the next nine largest industrial countries combined 99 00:06:27,095 --> 00:06:28,347 on defense spending. 100 00:06:28,430 --> 00:06:32,643 If nearly 20% of all your money is going to defending a thing, 101 00:06:32,726 --> 00:06:36,104 chances are that thing is going to deteriorate 102 00:06:36,188 --> 00:06:38,440 into something not worth defending. 103 00:06:38,524 --> 00:06:41,777 Which brings us to point number two: how the money is spent. 104 00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:44,029 Not where, but how. 105 00:06:44,112 --> 00:06:49,117 We do put 1.4 trillion into health care and we put $200 billion into education, 106 00:06:49,201 --> 00:06:51,745 but Americans are still paying out of pocket 107 00:06:51,828 --> 00:06:54,248 for insurance deductibles, prescription medicines, 108 00:06:54,331 --> 00:06:56,083 still taking out loans for college, 109 00:06:56,166 --> 00:07:00,087 and wondering where our fuck boxes are. 110 00:07:02,130 --> 00:07:07,219 Having a baby in America can run you almost $20,000. 111 00:07:07,302 --> 00:07:08,178 And for what? 112 00:07:08,262 --> 00:07:11,682 They depreciate as soon as you take them out of the hospital. 113 00:07:15,936 --> 00:07:18,272 Not to rain on-- There's a couple here having their first baby. 114 00:07:18,355 --> 00:07:21,525 I-- They-- It gets better. 115 00:07:24,403 --> 00:07:26,530 I wish I had never met them in warm-up. 116 00:07:29,533 --> 00:07:32,786 We're not going bankrupt in this country because of our taxes, 117 00:07:32,870 --> 00:07:37,791 we're going bankrupt because of all the things we're paying for out of pocket 118 00:07:37,875 --> 00:07:41,670 that other countries pay for with taxes. 119 00:07:41,753 --> 00:07:43,714 Because here's how the system works. 120 00:07:43,797 --> 00:07:46,216 The basic tax proposition is simple. 121 00:07:46,300 --> 00:07:50,053 You pay taxes to the government in the form of the money. 122 00:07:50,137 --> 00:07:54,141 The government pools that money and uses it to provide the people 123 00:07:54,224 --> 00:07:57,019 with essential goods and services that they need. 124 00:07:57,686 --> 00:08:00,898 That would be efficient, but there's one catch. 125 00:08:00,981 --> 00:08:02,441 We can't do it that way, 126 00:08:02,524 --> 00:08:05,027 because getting anything directly from the government 127 00:08:05,110 --> 00:08:08,864 or through cost-controlled industries would be considered… 128 00:08:17,539 --> 00:08:18,540 socialism. 129 00:08:26,006 --> 00:08:27,799 There was big discussion on whether the thunderclap 130 00:08:27,883 --> 00:08:31,178 should come after "socialism" or before "socialism", 131 00:08:31,261 --> 00:08:33,179 and I thought, "Let's try before, 132 00:08:33,263 --> 00:08:36,015 because I'm an old man and I don't know where I am." 133 00:08:39,061 --> 00:08:42,813 In this country, we've got a different system for getting the things we need. 134 00:08:42,898 --> 00:08:44,107 Take health care. 135 00:08:44,191 --> 00:08:47,069 We pay taxes to the government, there's the money, 136 00:08:47,152 --> 00:08:49,988 and the government gives our money to a middleman: 137 00:08:50,072 --> 00:08:53,492 for-profit insurance companies or for-profit health providers. 138 00:08:53,575 --> 00:08:56,995 And the insurance companies provide the health coverage 139 00:08:57,079 --> 00:08:59,790 in exchange for maybe some more money from us. 140 00:08:59,873 --> 00:09:02,251 And a deductible that covers not everything, 141 00:09:02,334 --> 00:09:04,419 certainly not your teeth or your skin or your eyes. 142 00:09:04,503 --> 00:09:07,923 It's a pretty good system if you own an insurance company. 143 00:09:09,341 --> 00:09:10,342 Anybody here? 144 00:09:11,093 --> 00:09:13,303 Anybody? Make some noise if you own an insurance… 145 00:09:13,804 --> 00:09:15,722 Aetna in the hizzy? No? Nothing? 146 00:09:16,682 --> 00:09:19,226 Companies like UnitedHealth and Aetna 147 00:09:19,309 --> 00:09:22,938 collect 70% of their health plan revenue from government programs. 148 00:09:23,021 --> 00:09:26,024 Humana, 90%. 149 00:09:26,108 --> 00:09:29,903 These health plan businesses would not exist without our tax money. 150 00:09:29,987 --> 00:09:31,238 We keep them afloat. 151 00:09:31,738 --> 00:09:35,701 And yet, which customer seems happier with their investment? 152 00:09:38,662 --> 00:09:42,040 Medical costs are the largest driver of bankruptcy in this country. 153 00:09:42,124 --> 00:09:47,546 Meanwhile, those companies made over $40 billion in profits in 2021 alone. 154 00:09:48,046 --> 00:09:49,256 And it's not just health care. 155 00:09:49,339 --> 00:09:50,966 It's pharma. 156 00:09:51,049 --> 00:09:52,885 It's oil and gas. 157 00:09:52,968 --> 00:09:55,345 It's higher education. 158 00:09:55,846 --> 00:10:00,475 Taxpayers subsidize these industries, who then take their profits, 159 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,646 and we still pay so-called free market rates for their product. 160 00:10:04,730 --> 00:10:06,273 It's a classic double-dip. 161 00:10:06,356 --> 00:10:07,357 And thus, 162 00:10:09,026 --> 00:10:10,277 the problem with taxes. 163 00:10:10,777 --> 00:10:13,655 The American system of taxation and government services 164 00:10:13,739 --> 00:10:16,742 is the worst episode of Shark Tank ever. 165 00:10:16,825 --> 00:10:18,744 Shell, Aetna, Pfizer, 166 00:10:18,827 --> 00:10:22,456 they all come into the tank looking for a billion dollar investment 167 00:10:22,539 --> 00:10:26,585 in exchange for 0% of their company. 168 00:10:26,668 --> 00:10:27,836 We don't own any of it. 169 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,714 We don't even get to leverage our buying power to control costs. 170 00:10:30,797 --> 00:10:33,926 We don't even get a fucking employee discount. 171 00:10:35,344 --> 00:10:39,264 Our taxes guarantee customers and funding to for-profit companies 172 00:10:39,348 --> 00:10:42,726 but do almost nothing to lower the price of the shit we desperately need 173 00:10:42,809 --> 00:10:44,645 from those for-profit companies. 174 00:10:45,145 --> 00:10:48,315 So we get the worst possible service for the highest possible price. 175 00:10:48,815 --> 00:10:52,027 Our tax is a wealth redistribution scheme. 176 00:10:52,110 --> 00:10:56,698 It redirects our money from the middle class to the middleman. 177 00:10:57,199 --> 00:10:58,492 You need medicine? 178 00:10:58,575 --> 00:11:00,285 For over a decade, 179 00:11:00,369 --> 00:11:05,123 our tax money has funded every new pharmaceutical to hit the market. 180 00:11:05,624 --> 00:11:07,251 Every single one. 181 00:11:07,793 --> 00:11:11,880 Xtandi, Neupro, Mirapex, Jizzadrene, Ana-Lex. 182 00:11:14,842 --> 00:11:15,926 Ball o' jizz. 183 00:11:17,177 --> 00:11:21,223 In exchange, we pay more for prescription drugs 184 00:11:21,306 --> 00:11:24,184 -than any other developed country. -Wow. 185 00:11:25,060 --> 00:11:26,186 College education? 186 00:11:26,270 --> 00:11:29,523 Our federal tax dollars go directly to for-profit colleges. 187 00:11:29,606 --> 00:11:33,652 Seventy percent of their revenue comes from the taxpayer. 188 00:11:33,735 --> 00:11:35,237 Return on investment? 189 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,991 You'll pay more for college here than almost anywhere else in the world. 190 00:11:39,074 --> 00:11:43,287 And "wow" is right. The audience is-- Their minds are blown! 191 00:11:45,205 --> 00:11:46,582 But hope is on the horizon. 192 00:11:47,624 --> 00:11:52,588 As we speak, there is a hero working on the taxpayers' behalf. 193 00:11:53,130 --> 00:11:56,341 A middleman for the little man, if you will. 194 00:12:08,103 --> 00:12:10,355 I don't know why we worked so hard on everything else. 195 00:12:14,109 --> 00:12:16,236 A middleman for the little man. 196 00:12:17,529 --> 00:12:18,780 Hell of a bumper sticker. 197 00:12:20,449 --> 00:12:23,327 This middleman is a consulting company called McKinsey 198 00:12:23,827 --> 00:12:25,787 and it's been hired-- Wait. 199 00:12:27,998 --> 00:12:31,710 McKinsey's been hired by our government to rethink, quote, 200 00:12:31,793 --> 00:12:37,090 "public-sector contract negotiations to secure value for taxpayers." 201 00:12:38,008 --> 00:12:42,179 I believe the government pays McKinsey tens of millions of dollars 202 00:12:42,262 --> 00:12:43,764 for the work they do for us. 203 00:12:44,515 --> 00:12:45,682 So let's meet them. 204 00:12:46,266 --> 00:12:49,436 We don't do small stuff, we do the big stuff. The big insights. 205 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,564 -To help governments… -Reshape some of the biggest problems. 206 00:12:52,648 --> 00:12:56,777 At our heart, we're a firm of people who like helping other people. 207 00:12:57,569 --> 00:12:58,570 Wow. 208 00:12:59,821 --> 00:13:01,949 The new season of Severance looks amazing. 209 00:13:05,452 --> 00:13:08,497 Most recently, we learned McKinsey did a good thing. 210 00:13:08,997 --> 00:13:11,583 They helped find a way to lower prescription drug prices 211 00:13:11,667 --> 00:13:15,087 by making generic drugs more available to the public. 212 00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:19,174 It was a win, but not really a clean one. 213 00:13:20,133 --> 00:13:21,385 Because unfortunately, 214 00:13:21,468 --> 00:13:25,806 the pharmaceutical companies hired their own powerful consulting firm 215 00:13:25,889 --> 00:13:30,185 to help them raise prescription drug prices in the United States. 216 00:13:30,769 --> 00:13:36,358 -That firm, say it with me, McKinsey! -McKinsey. 217 00:13:38,819 --> 00:13:40,028 Motherfucker! 218 00:13:41,071 --> 00:13:44,950 While we were paying McKinsey millions of dollars to bring prices down, 219 00:13:45,033 --> 00:13:48,370 pharma was paying them to bring prices up. 220 00:13:48,453 --> 00:13:50,372 How much did pharma pay McKinsey? 221 00:13:50,455 --> 00:13:52,416 Information not available. 222 00:13:52,499 --> 00:13:55,919 Error message: 404 file not found. 223 00:13:56,503 --> 00:13:58,255 Now, last year we tried a different method. 224 00:13:58,797 --> 00:14:00,007 Simple tax proposition 225 00:14:00,090 --> 00:14:02,092 that delivered value straight to the taxpayer. 226 00:14:02,176 --> 00:14:03,886 We expanded the Child Tax Credit 227 00:14:04,386 --> 00:14:08,182 and gave money directly to parents every month. 228 00:14:08,265 --> 00:14:09,641 How did that go? 229 00:14:09,725 --> 00:14:14,938 Child Tax Credit money has really helped us with medical expenses. 230 00:14:15,022 --> 00:14:17,649 I was able to purchase my daughter school supplies. 231 00:14:17,733 --> 00:14:22,446 Back to school clothes, haircuts, shoes. 232 00:14:22,529 --> 00:14:25,616 It's gonna put us just into that bracket 233 00:14:25,699 --> 00:14:28,577 where we can afford to live somewhere outside of government housing. 234 00:14:28,660 --> 00:14:30,245 It means we're gonna have a home. 235 00:14:30,329 --> 00:14:32,497 It's gonna change everything. It's gonna change our whole lives. 236 00:14:33,207 --> 00:14:38,545 The expansion of the Child Tax Credit alleviated child poverty by close to 30%. 237 00:14:38,629 --> 00:14:40,047 Thirty percent. 238 00:14:40,923 --> 00:14:44,718 Once again, here's the system we had in place. 239 00:14:45,552 --> 00:14:47,596 Here's the system we put in place. 240 00:14:48,555 --> 00:14:50,933 Guess which one we ended first. 241 00:14:51,934 --> 00:14:56,313 Yeah. They ended the Child Tax Credit program, 242 00:14:56,855 --> 00:15:00,275 that solved child poverty by 30%. 243 00:15:01,401 --> 00:15:03,987 What the ever-loving fuck. 244 00:15:04,738 --> 00:15:07,241 So ask yourself this simple question. 245 00:15:07,950 --> 00:15:12,871 What would you say if you were a shark sitting in the tank, 246 00:15:13,580 --> 00:15:14,748 sharking it up, 247 00:15:16,083 --> 00:15:20,629 and you were asked for a billion dollar investment in a company 248 00:15:20,712 --> 00:15:24,675 in return for zero percent equity, no discounts, 249 00:15:24,758 --> 00:15:27,719 higher prices and shittier service? 250 00:15:27,803 --> 00:15:30,222 You're an ****. Get the **** out of here. 251 00:15:30,305 --> 00:15:31,807 It's a joke. It's a scam. 252 00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:33,767 -I don't get this. -You're just unrealistic. 253 00:15:33,851 --> 00:15:35,519 Take this behind the barn and shoot it. 254 00:15:35,602 --> 00:15:36,436 So for those reasons… 255 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:37,521 -I'm out. -I'm out. 256 00:15:37,604 --> 00:15:38,689 -I'm out. -I'm out. 257 00:15:40,399 --> 00:15:42,734 And we should be, too. Take a look at this. 258 00:15:43,318 --> 00:15:45,028 -Give me your money. -I need more money. 259 00:15:45,112 --> 00:15:46,071 -I like that… -Money. 260 00:15:46,154 --> 00:15:47,823 Money, money, money. 261 00:15:47,906 --> 00:15:51,243 Give us your money because we will put it to good use. 262 00:15:51,326 --> 00:15:53,996 That's what we say but apparently that's not what we do. 263 00:15:54,079 --> 00:15:55,455 Because in reality… 264 00:15:55,539 --> 00:15:56,540 -We won't… -Give any… 265 00:15:56,623 --> 00:15:59,668 -Money back… -To Americans and America's children. 266 00:15:59,751 --> 00:16:02,796 -And don't expect… -Cheaper oil and gas… 267 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:04,715 …For your education or roads. 268 00:16:04,798 --> 00:16:06,383 No child care. 269 00:16:06,466 --> 00:16:08,385 -No health care. -No medicine. No food. 270 00:16:08,468 --> 00:16:10,053 -Because… -That's socialism. 271 00:16:10,137 --> 00:16:11,889 I almost said yeah. Yeah. 272 00:16:11,972 --> 00:16:14,183 -It's easier… -Simply to give other people's money… 273 00:16:14,266 --> 00:16:15,225 To ExxonMobil. 274 00:16:15,309 --> 00:16:16,101 -Pfizer. -Graft. 275 00:16:16,185 --> 00:16:17,269 -Raytheon. -McKinsey. 276 00:16:17,352 --> 00:16:18,520 -Deloitte. -The Koch brothers. 277 00:16:18,604 --> 00:16:20,606 Tom Steyer and I believe he has a brother. 278 00:16:20,689 --> 00:16:22,649 -Big Bird. -And anybody else who asks. 279 00:16:22,733 --> 00:16:23,984 All of your money… 280 00:16:24,067 --> 00:16:26,028 -Is better spent… -On things like war… 281 00:16:26,111 --> 00:16:27,404 -Corporate bailouts… -And my… 282 00:16:27,487 --> 00:16:29,948 Cocaine-fueled sex orgies. 283 00:16:30,032 --> 00:16:33,702 USA, USA, USA. 284 00:16:33,785 --> 00:16:34,953 -You're getting… -Screwed. 285 00:16:35,037 --> 00:16:35,954 I like that. 286 00:16:41,084 --> 00:16:42,252 Welcome back. 287 00:16:43,420 --> 00:16:46,215 So, I hope you enjoyed that. 288 00:16:46,298 --> 00:16:50,093 We think of taxpayer money when it's wasted as "graft." 289 00:16:50,177 --> 00:16:53,972 But the biggest waste seems to be that we don't get the buying power 290 00:16:54,056 --> 00:16:56,391 that this amount of money would command. 291 00:16:56,475 --> 00:16:59,978 So, here to discuss how we can get a better return on our tax investment, 292 00:17:00,062 --> 00:17:03,357 Linda Miller, a ten-year veteran of the Government Accountability Office, 293 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,067 which is the auditing arm of the government. 294 00:17:05,150 --> 00:17:08,694 Ameshia Cross, who is an education advocate working for non-profits, 295 00:17:08,779 --> 00:17:11,406 and has lobbied Congress on behalf of taxpayers. 296 00:17:11,490 --> 00:17:14,242 And Wendell Potter, former VP of comms for Cigna, 297 00:17:14,326 --> 00:17:17,496 now a whistleblower advocating for health care reform. 298 00:17:17,579 --> 00:17:20,540 Hello, welcome. 299 00:17:23,961 --> 00:17:26,255 I'm gonna throw this out there-- We're gonna start with you, Wendell. 300 00:17:26,338 --> 00:17:31,218 How is this system of taxation and redistribution 301 00:17:31,301 --> 00:17:36,306 to corporate entities and middlemen not legalized corruption? 302 00:17:36,807 --> 00:17:39,101 Well, because it's been legal for quite some time. 303 00:17:39,184 --> 00:17:43,438 The big companies spend a lot of money, protection money, 304 00:17:44,314 --> 00:17:46,567 they spend a lot of money in campaign contributions. 305 00:17:46,650 --> 00:17:49,444 My staff used to dole out campaign cash. 306 00:17:49,987 --> 00:17:51,780 -It's through-- -When you were at Cigna, 307 00:17:51,864 --> 00:17:56,368 you doled out the campaign cash and what was the expectation from that? 308 00:17:56,451 --> 00:17:58,787 That they would be there when you needed them. 309 00:17:58,871 --> 00:18:02,583 That if you needed them to vote a certain way on a bill 310 00:18:03,542 --> 00:18:04,751 you could call on them 311 00:18:04,835 --> 00:18:07,337 and they'd be more likely to vote the way you want them to. 312 00:18:07,421 --> 00:18:10,924 -That's what I-- When I say protection-- -How explicit is that arrangement? 313 00:18:11,008 --> 00:18:12,634 It doesn't need to be explicit. 314 00:18:13,218 --> 00:18:16,972 When you give a campaign contribution there is that expectation that-- 315 00:18:17,055 --> 00:18:20,309 And these companies have many, many lobbyists as well too. 316 00:18:20,392 --> 00:18:21,810 They spend a lot of time on Capitol Hill, 317 00:18:21,894 --> 00:18:23,145 if you're talking about Congress, 318 00:18:23,228 --> 00:18:26,106 and they have easy access to these lawmakers. 319 00:18:26,190 --> 00:18:28,066 Most folks don't have that kind of access. 320 00:18:28,150 --> 00:18:30,986 I can't tell you how many times we'll be sitting in the little-- 321 00:18:31,069 --> 00:18:33,488 You know, these congressional offices all have a little sitting area. 322 00:18:33,572 --> 00:18:35,949 And you're waiting and no one is talking to you, 323 00:18:36,033 --> 00:18:37,492 and then all of a sudden 324 00:18:37,576 --> 00:18:40,245 five, like, pretty heavyset dudes walk out and you're like, "Who are they?" 325 00:18:40,329 --> 00:18:41,663 And they're like, "Oil lobby." 326 00:18:42,372 --> 00:18:45,417 And they just stroll right past you, and nobody talks to you. 327 00:18:45,501 --> 00:18:48,128 That I think is the biggest problem, because at the end of the day, 328 00:18:48,212 --> 00:18:51,048 for massive non-profits, non-profits that either exist 329 00:18:51,131 --> 00:18:53,133 at the federal level, like several that I've worked for, 330 00:18:53,217 --> 00:18:55,511 or those that exist in cities and states across the country, 331 00:18:55,594 --> 00:18:59,389 you do not have a blank check to write to specific campaigns. 332 00:18:59,473 --> 00:19:00,974 That is not something that we do. 333 00:19:01,558 --> 00:19:04,895 In my role it has largely been working with specific elected officials, 334 00:19:04,978 --> 00:19:07,397 trying to devise plans that will help people who need it, 335 00:19:07,481 --> 00:19:11,610 specifically, most recently, on the student loan debt crisis. 336 00:19:11,693 --> 00:19:16,448 We wanted to have a 50,000 forgiveness as the bare minimum. 337 00:19:16,990 --> 00:19:19,576 And there was so much pushback from banks. 338 00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:22,329 So much pushback from the lobbyists for banks. 339 00:19:22,412 --> 00:19:25,123 So much pushback from those who have essentially given money 340 00:19:25,207 --> 00:19:27,084 to various members of Congress, 341 00:19:27,167 --> 00:19:29,378 that that was basically going to die on the vine. 342 00:19:29,461 --> 00:19:30,921 I've walked into Congress members' offices 343 00:19:31,004 --> 00:19:33,048 with people who have mountains of student loan debt. 344 00:19:33,131 --> 00:19:36,426 People who are teachers, whose been fighting the good fight 345 00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:37,845 in districts across this country 346 00:19:37,928 --> 00:19:39,888 where they're bringing toilet paper for their students, 347 00:19:39,972 --> 00:19:42,099 -washing the kids' clothes at school. -Right. 348 00:19:42,182 --> 00:19:43,767 They're bringing lunches for the students 349 00:19:43,851 --> 00:19:46,395 because they do not have food stamp benefits. 350 00:19:46,478 --> 00:19:50,732 It is very difficult to be that person who is the stand-in essentially 351 00:19:50,816 --> 00:19:52,359 for these families that are suffering. 352 00:19:52,442 --> 00:19:53,986 When you get to those congressional offices, 353 00:19:54,069 --> 00:19:56,238 who are supposed to be working on behalf of these people, 354 00:19:56,321 --> 00:19:59,867 in all honesty, it is-- it becomes annoying 355 00:19:59,950 --> 00:20:02,119 because the people who line those offices outside 356 00:20:02,202 --> 00:20:04,162 when I'm going to meet with them are all lobbyists. 357 00:20:04,246 --> 00:20:06,081 Those are the people who are the gatekeepers. 358 00:20:06,164 --> 00:20:07,958 Right. They're the real owners of the government. 359 00:20:08,041 --> 00:20:09,376 Linda, you're in GAO. 360 00:20:09,459 --> 00:20:15,382 Have we devised an upside down system, that no matter how you audit it 361 00:20:15,465 --> 00:20:21,221 won't reveal the true dysfunction that exists in it? 362 00:20:22,222 --> 00:20:24,224 Well, yeah. I'll start by saying yes. 363 00:20:24,308 --> 00:20:26,393 -I wanted to thank you-- -We're done here. Thank you. 364 00:20:26,476 --> 00:20:27,352 Yes. 365 00:20:28,353 --> 00:20:29,521 I also wanted to thank you 366 00:20:29,605 --> 00:20:32,107 for giving a shout-out to the Government Accountability Office. 367 00:20:32,191 --> 00:20:34,484 That's right. I saw a lot of this. 368 00:20:34,568 --> 00:20:37,863 A lot of this. GAO. 369 00:20:39,198 --> 00:20:42,034 GAO is the most unsung agency in government. 370 00:20:42,117 --> 00:20:46,205 They return $160 for every one dollar that we invest in GAO. 371 00:20:46,288 --> 00:20:48,332 -Right. -I think that's a really important point, 372 00:20:48,415 --> 00:20:51,960 is that, you know, oversight is not something we're seeing a lot of. 373 00:20:52,044 --> 00:20:54,296 There's an enormous amount of corruption going on. 374 00:20:54,379 --> 00:20:57,633 Not just the lobbying, which is a significant issue, 375 00:20:57,716 --> 00:20:59,092 you know, buying congressmen, 376 00:20:59,176 --> 00:21:00,802 but there's also buying agency leaders. 377 00:21:00,886 --> 00:21:03,180 -There's also buying, you know, big-- -Explain that. 378 00:21:03,263 --> 00:21:06,016 What do you mean by buying agency leaders? You mean like FDA, that kind of-- 379 00:21:06,099 --> 00:21:07,518 Yeah. Well, like, for instance, 380 00:21:07,601 --> 00:21:10,437 the really big scandal that the Navy has recently gone under 381 00:21:10,521 --> 00:21:12,814 with he's called "Fat Leonard." 382 00:21:12,898 --> 00:21:15,025 -I'm not shaming him. That's just how-- -Understood. 383 00:21:15,108 --> 00:21:16,777 -It's what he calls himself. -Understood. 384 00:21:17,277 --> 00:21:19,154 And he-- and he's now on the lam. 385 00:21:19,238 --> 00:21:21,698 He's cut off his little tag and he's-- 386 00:21:21,782 --> 00:21:24,284 Shouldn't be too hard to find Fat Leonard, I wouldn't think. 387 00:21:24,368 --> 00:21:26,036 Yeah. He's-- He's robust. 388 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:27,204 But he-- 389 00:21:29,206 --> 00:21:30,791 Did I say that? 390 00:21:30,874 --> 00:21:34,044 -Again, he asked to be called this. -I understand. 391 00:21:35,212 --> 00:21:39,633 So this-- this guy, Francis Leonard, bought off many senior naval officials 392 00:21:39,716 --> 00:21:41,802 in order to know where these ships were gonna go 393 00:21:41,885 --> 00:21:44,429 so that he could service those ships and take all the money. 394 00:21:44,513 --> 00:21:46,223 He was-- There was prostitutes involved. 395 00:21:46,306 --> 00:21:49,810 There was all kinds of really lascivious and, you know, 396 00:21:49,893 --> 00:21:52,729 kind of sexy, exciting things for an oversight community. 397 00:21:53,605 --> 00:21:56,817 And-- and what we saw-- Yeah, we were excited about that. 398 00:21:56,900 --> 00:21:57,985 No, I understand. 399 00:21:58,694 --> 00:22:00,445 -You don't get a lot of the sexy audits. -No, yeah. 400 00:22:00,529 --> 00:22:02,948 -No, that's good. -Yeah. It's a lot of numbers usually. 401 00:22:03,657 --> 00:22:04,533 Here's what's shocking. 402 00:22:04,616 --> 00:22:08,287 So, all agencies at government level have to undergo an audit. 403 00:22:08,370 --> 00:22:10,122 And speaking of the Department of Defense, 404 00:22:10,205 --> 00:22:12,833 they're the one agency that's never passed an audit. 405 00:22:12,916 --> 00:22:14,168 -Correct. -Not once. 406 00:22:14,251 --> 00:22:17,713 And they have this terrible scandal with Robust Leonard, 407 00:22:17,796 --> 00:22:20,215 and they have all these other situations. 408 00:22:20,299 --> 00:22:23,886 And the penalty and accountability for their corruption 409 00:22:23,969 --> 00:22:29,141 and for their malfeasance was an enormous jump in their budget. 410 00:22:29,224 --> 00:22:34,938 They got almost $100 billion more into their budget, 411 00:22:35,022 --> 00:22:39,109 after we ended 20 years of war and they failed their audit. 412 00:22:39,193 --> 00:22:40,861 -Yeah. -What are we supposed to make of that? 413 00:22:40,944 --> 00:22:43,405 There's no incentives. I'm not even exaggerating. 414 00:22:43,488 --> 00:22:47,242 There are no incentives, for-- almost at any level of government, 415 00:22:47,326 --> 00:22:49,494 to be accountable to the taxpayers. 416 00:22:49,578 --> 00:22:53,457 The concept of program integrity is really, really, really missing. 417 00:22:53,540 --> 00:22:56,793 The focus a lot in Congress is let's put a program out 418 00:22:56,877 --> 00:22:59,630 and then look how great that is. Look, we put this program, everybody. 419 00:22:59,713 --> 00:23:01,006 -Isn't this great? -Right. 420 00:23:01,089 --> 00:23:02,674 They put the press release and then walk away. 421 00:23:02,758 --> 00:23:08,096 The program then is being fleeced by a million types of private-- of companies. 422 00:23:08,180 --> 00:23:09,890 And how frustrating is that for you, Ameshia, 423 00:23:09,973 --> 00:23:14,853 because you see these programs going out and you see the giant trough 424 00:23:14,937 --> 00:23:18,273 that people are dipping into from private companies 425 00:23:18,357 --> 00:23:20,400 and contractors and all these things. 426 00:23:20,484 --> 00:23:23,237 And you're with people that need this help. 427 00:23:23,779 --> 00:23:25,572 And you can't get the access. 428 00:23:25,656 --> 00:23:27,616 The belief is that it's just not working for them. 429 00:23:27,699 --> 00:23:29,284 And to be honest, it's not. 430 00:23:29,368 --> 00:23:33,080 A lot of places have received funding for violence prevention, 431 00:23:33,163 --> 00:23:36,291 have received funding for educational supports 432 00:23:36,375 --> 00:23:38,710 for students who are falling behind for various reasons. 433 00:23:38,794 --> 00:23:42,130 And at the end of the day, that money is like Puff the Magic Dragon. 434 00:23:42,214 --> 00:23:43,674 Nobody has any idea where it's going 435 00:23:43,757 --> 00:23:46,176 but it's not touching the communities that need it the most, 436 00:23:46,260 --> 00:23:49,513 even though those are the people who have been stomping the ground. 437 00:23:49,596 --> 00:23:51,515 And it makes my position extremely difficult 438 00:23:51,598 --> 00:23:54,685 because I have to believe that things can get better. 439 00:23:54,768 --> 00:23:58,438 And because there aren't that many people who are lobbyists "for the people." 440 00:23:58,522 --> 00:24:01,108 So, when you walk into this you know what you're up against, 441 00:24:01,191 --> 00:24:04,570 but there's also a recognition that somebody has to shake the ship. 442 00:24:04,653 --> 00:24:06,572 -Somebody has to change. -Terribly frustrating. 443 00:24:06,655 --> 00:24:09,908 And it seems like we're moving in the opposite direction. 444 00:24:09,992 --> 00:24:12,327 Because we're increasing privatization. 445 00:24:12,411 --> 00:24:15,372 Like Medicare proved to be an incredibly popular program. 446 00:24:15,455 --> 00:24:16,748 And so we went the other way 447 00:24:16,832 --> 00:24:21,587 and said, "What if we turn that into another trough?" and spiraled costs. 448 00:24:21,670 --> 00:24:25,007 How is that privatization enriching middlemen? 449 00:24:25,090 --> 00:24:27,968 Well, it's enriching the big, few big companies. 450 00:24:28,051 --> 00:24:30,846 There are seven companies that are for-profit companies. 451 00:24:30,929 --> 00:24:33,640 Their stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. 452 00:24:34,183 --> 00:24:36,101 Since the Affordable Care Act was passed, 453 00:24:36,185 --> 00:24:39,021 the stock of those companies has increased from-- 454 00:24:39,104 --> 00:24:41,523 Like Cigna, where I used to work, about 1,000%… 455 00:24:41,607 --> 00:24:43,317 -Wow. -…since the ACA was passed. 456 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,653 United Health Care, probably 5,000%. 457 00:24:46,737 --> 00:24:47,988 That's where the money is from. 458 00:24:48,071 --> 00:24:50,991 The Medicare program has become the big cash cow 459 00:24:51,074 --> 00:24:52,284 for insurance companies. 460 00:24:52,367 --> 00:24:55,037 We talk about the Medicare, you'll hear politicians talk about, 461 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:57,456 the Medicare trust fund is gonna go broke. 462 00:24:57,539 --> 00:24:59,082 One reason is because the government 463 00:24:59,166 --> 00:25:01,001 -is overpaying these companies. -Right. 464 00:25:01,084 --> 00:25:02,878 Not only are they-- 465 00:25:02,961 --> 00:25:05,756 Not only is it being privatized, but the government 466 00:25:05,839 --> 00:25:08,675 several years ago, decided to pay these companies bonuses 467 00:25:08,759 --> 00:25:10,177 to get them into this program. 468 00:25:10,260 --> 00:25:14,848 And we're just about a year or two away from the majority of people on Medicare 469 00:25:14,932 --> 00:25:16,975 being enrolled in one of these plans. 470 00:25:17,059 --> 00:25:18,560 For these companies, some of the times, 471 00:25:18,644 --> 00:25:20,604 we're 90% of their business, 70% of their business. 472 00:25:20,687 --> 00:25:23,857 We are an enormous profit center for them. 473 00:25:23,941 --> 00:25:28,904 Why can we not leverage that purchase power for better deals, 474 00:25:28,987 --> 00:25:32,824 lower prices and better function? 475 00:25:33,325 --> 00:25:35,494 Well, I think because, as we were talking about earlier, 476 00:25:35,577 --> 00:25:37,287 there's a really, really powerful lobby. 477 00:25:37,371 --> 00:25:41,500 I mean, one of the things we saw right after the CARES Act was passed 478 00:25:41,583 --> 00:25:45,504 and the Paycheck Protection Program was pass-- was created 479 00:25:45,587 --> 00:25:49,007 and the banks made a lot of money in fees. 480 00:25:49,091 --> 00:25:51,468 A lot of money. What we saw when we were doing oversight 481 00:25:51,552 --> 00:25:54,888 was banks were creating, you know, three or four entities 482 00:25:54,972 --> 00:25:57,850 to-- in order to get three or four times the fees. 483 00:25:57,933 --> 00:26:00,602 They passed another law to re-up PPP nine months later 484 00:26:00,686 --> 00:26:04,273 and they added six billion dollars in fees for banks, 485 00:26:04,356 --> 00:26:08,110 -and they reduced the accountability-- -And that is the appropriators, 486 00:26:08,193 --> 00:26:11,029 and that's where the heart of it lies. 487 00:26:11,113 --> 00:26:15,868 We're gonna go talk with the chair of the House Appropriations Committee 488 00:26:15,951 --> 00:26:18,954 to get some sense of what-- why is this. 489 00:26:19,037 --> 00:26:20,789 Ameshia, I'll give the last word to the taxpayer, 490 00:26:20,873 --> 00:26:22,249 to the advocate for the taxpayer. 491 00:26:22,332 --> 00:26:24,168 What would you like to see in a system 492 00:26:24,251 --> 00:26:28,380 that functions with more fairness and more responsibility? 493 00:26:28,463 --> 00:26:30,757 One that's responsive to taxpayer needs, 494 00:26:30,841 --> 00:26:33,218 one that meets the goals of the taxpayers. 495 00:26:33,302 --> 00:26:35,345 As someone who has had several family members, 496 00:26:35,429 --> 00:26:37,973 including my mom and my grandmother, pass away from cancer 497 00:26:38,056 --> 00:26:40,100 because of some of the things that we mentioned earlier, 498 00:26:40,184 --> 00:26:43,061 with the fight to actually get your health insurance to pay out 499 00:26:43,145 --> 00:26:44,646 for things you need to survive, 500 00:26:44,730 --> 00:26:47,107 we need to make sure that we have a system 501 00:26:47,191 --> 00:26:51,445 that fights for the people as much as expected as us, as Americans, 502 00:26:51,528 --> 00:26:52,696 are fighting for our democracy. 503 00:26:52,779 --> 00:26:55,407 Because our democracy is not currently functioning in the way that it should. 504 00:26:55,490 --> 00:26:57,367 -so that means accountability. -That's the issue. 505 00:26:57,451 --> 00:27:00,037 Your money goes in, it goes in for taxes and what comes back to you 506 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,123 is something not worth that value. No-- No return on investment. 507 00:27:03,207 --> 00:27:05,918 Wendell, Ameshia, Linda, thank you guys so much for being with us. 508 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:09,046 Take a look at this. 509 00:27:10,839 --> 00:27:12,674 Here's to the middlemen. 510 00:27:12,758 --> 00:27:14,885 The pushers, the takers, 511 00:27:14,968 --> 00:27:17,012 the PowerPoint makers 512 00:27:17,095 --> 00:27:20,849 that America depends on for something. 513 00:27:20,933 --> 00:27:23,685 They don't build our roads or provide our health care 514 00:27:23,769 --> 00:27:26,313 or teach our children or grow our food. 515 00:27:26,396 --> 00:27:28,148 They're at a desk somewhere, 516 00:27:28,232 --> 00:27:32,569 making a call to another guy to do some other thing. 517 00:27:32,653 --> 00:27:36,907 Or filling out a form that allows the thing to go to the place, 518 00:27:36,990 --> 00:27:39,159 directing the money to the other money. 519 00:27:39,243 --> 00:27:42,746 Making sure the what-chama gets to the who-chama. 520 00:27:42,829 --> 00:27:45,958 Listen, we don't know what they do. 521 00:27:46,041 --> 00:27:49,503 Without them, we'd be fine. 522 00:27:49,586 --> 00:27:51,755 And things would probably be cheaper. 523 00:27:51,839 --> 00:27:53,507 So here's to them. 524 00:27:53,590 --> 00:27:55,592 You middlemen motherfuckers. 525 00:27:55,676 --> 00:28:00,472 You sick, slicked-backed hair suck-ass twats. 526 00:28:00,556 --> 00:28:03,058 Paid for by the American taxpayers. Go get fucked. 527 00:28:06,687 --> 00:28:07,688 Now… 528 00:28:09,940 --> 00:28:11,692 the Appropriations Committee 529 00:28:11,775 --> 00:28:14,570 is one of the most lobbied committees in Washington, 530 00:28:14,653 --> 00:28:17,072 and they also happen to decide where our tax money goes. 531 00:28:17,155 --> 00:28:20,492 So, I figured why not go down there, speak to the chairwoman, 532 00:28:20,576 --> 00:28:22,452 maybe do a little lobbying myself. 533 00:28:25,330 --> 00:28:26,874 -Congresswoman… -Yes. 534 00:28:26,957 --> 00:28:30,043 …Rosa DeLauro, thank you so much for joining us. Democrat, Connecticut. 535 00:28:30,127 --> 00:28:35,549 Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. 536 00:28:35,632 --> 00:28:36,633 You got it. 537 00:28:36,717 --> 00:28:39,887 Appropriations is, if you're gonna be on a committee… 538 00:28:41,096 --> 00:28:43,348 -'cause you're the-- This is the bank. -That's right. 539 00:28:44,016 --> 00:28:49,188 So we're talking about how Americans hate to pay taxes. 540 00:28:49,271 --> 00:28:53,650 If you were to do an overlay of what people said they needed 541 00:28:53,734 --> 00:28:55,652 -versus what they get… -Well-- 542 00:28:55,736 --> 00:28:57,529 …and some of that has to do with, 543 00:28:57,613 --> 00:29:04,286 we allow corporations to use the American government 544 00:29:04,369 --> 00:29:07,789 as a trough filled with customers, 545 00:29:07,873 --> 00:29:10,501 and we don't ask anything of them 546 00:29:10,584 --> 00:29:14,880 for the priority of having access to those customers. 547 00:29:14,963 --> 00:29:18,842 So their profits go up, their prices go up. 548 00:29:18,926 --> 00:29:21,512 We get caught in a spiral in the American government 549 00:29:21,595 --> 00:29:26,058 where the amount of dollars that we have to pay out to get those same services, 550 00:29:26,141 --> 00:29:27,392 -it seems-- -Well, that's our problem. 551 00:29:27,476 --> 00:29:32,356 One of my roles in my job is, I feel, is we have to let people know 552 00:29:32,439 --> 00:29:36,485 what are the kinds of things that we're engaged in, 553 00:29:36,568 --> 00:29:40,280 that their taxpayer dollars are being used for. 554 00:29:40,364 --> 00:29:44,201 We have shifted funding, so that we are now, 555 00:29:44,284 --> 00:29:47,454 where there were cuts before, we are now shifting, 556 00:29:47,538 --> 00:29:51,166 so we have increase in dollars for national institutes of health, 557 00:29:51,250 --> 00:29:55,712 for mental health, for childcare, for early childhood education. 558 00:29:55,796 --> 00:29:57,923 Education in general. 559 00:29:58,006 --> 00:29:59,800 Your mom was a schoolteacher. 560 00:29:59,883 --> 00:30:00,884 What? 561 00:30:00,968 --> 00:30:03,470 -Yeah, so public education-- -She never told me that. 562 00:30:03,554 --> 00:30:06,139 -Public education, transportation. -Right. 563 00:30:06,223 --> 00:30:08,141 -Pandemic preparedness. -Right. 564 00:30:08,225 --> 00:30:09,476 We were not ready. 565 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,771 So we have moved dollars in that direction. And I-- 566 00:30:12,855 --> 00:30:14,940 Is the government looking at it from the wrong end? 567 00:30:15,023 --> 00:30:20,153 So we're basically providing customers to private institutions. 568 00:30:20,237 --> 00:30:23,824 The government is saying-- Obamacare is a great example. 569 00:30:24,366 --> 00:30:26,618 We're not giving people health care. 570 00:30:26,702 --> 00:30:30,205 We're giving people a voucher that they can give to Aetna 571 00:30:30,289 --> 00:30:33,083 or Blue Cross Blue Shield or somebody else, 572 00:30:33,166 --> 00:30:36,503 and they will get their health insurance through this private company, 573 00:30:36,587 --> 00:30:37,838 but we don't control cost. 574 00:30:37,921 --> 00:30:40,257 You know, you talked about health care. 575 00:30:40,340 --> 00:30:44,386 Historically, the federal government has not been able 576 00:30:44,469 --> 00:30:47,181 to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. 577 00:30:47,264 --> 00:30:48,473 Right. 578 00:30:48,557 --> 00:30:51,185 -We now have that ability. -Right. 579 00:30:51,268 --> 00:30:53,228 -And so-- -But, see, that seems insane. 580 00:30:53,770 --> 00:30:56,607 Well, it may seem insane, but you're working in an institution-- 581 00:30:56,690 --> 00:30:58,442 -That's insane. -That-- 582 00:30:58,525 --> 00:31:02,863 You know, you have two political parties, you have different philosophies. 583 00:31:03,447 --> 00:31:04,615 Look, I was here 584 00:31:04,698 --> 00:31:09,578 on that bill when we dealt with the negotiation of Part D of Medicare… 585 00:31:09,661 --> 00:31:11,788 -Right. -…when we're up all night. 586 00:31:11,872 --> 00:31:12,706 You know, there were 587 00:31:12,789 --> 00:31:17,169 between the House and the Senate, 536, 535 members. 588 00:31:17,252 --> 00:31:22,716 They prohibited us from being able to negotiate price, 589 00:31:22,799 --> 00:31:25,469 -but we vote on these things. -Right. 590 00:31:25,552 --> 00:31:27,221 And that is critical. 591 00:31:27,304 --> 00:31:30,307 -You have to have the votes to pass this. -Right. 592 00:31:30,390 --> 00:31:34,228 So, when you're negotiating that bill, how many lobbyists were there? 593 00:31:34,311 --> 00:31:35,521 600 or more. 594 00:31:35,604 --> 00:31:36,605 600. 595 00:31:36,688 --> 00:31:42,069 And how many of those lobbyists were taxpayers saying, 596 00:31:42,945 --> 00:31:44,863 -"Wait, why are--" -Yeah. 597 00:31:45,572 --> 00:31:47,282 "Why are you privatizing something 598 00:31:47,366 --> 00:31:49,701 and it's going to spiral the cost of my things?" 599 00:31:49,785 --> 00:31:54,498 In other words, is this system that we've set up, give no access-- 600 00:31:54,581 --> 00:31:56,959 -We're the ones footing the bill. -There is access. 601 00:31:57,042 --> 00:31:59,127 -I'm going to point to you on access… -Okay. 602 00:31:59,211 --> 00:32:02,631 …because this is-- What your recent advocacy… 603 00:32:02,714 --> 00:32:04,591 -Right. -…your recent work, 604 00:32:04,675 --> 00:32:07,052 veterans, et cetera, you know, 605 00:32:07,135 --> 00:32:11,390 it took a while and there was the setback there, 606 00:32:11,473 --> 00:32:17,187 but you advocated for something to happen that makes a difference in people's lives 607 00:32:17,271 --> 00:32:19,064 and saving their lives. 608 00:32:19,147 --> 00:32:21,733 And that happened. 609 00:32:21,817 --> 00:32:23,402 -So-- -That happened. 610 00:32:23,485 --> 00:32:25,112 -If-- If-- -Not because you didn't-- I-- 611 00:32:25,195 --> 00:32:26,905 -If I may? -Yeah. 612 00:32:26,989 --> 00:32:29,658 -So, for 10 years… -Yeah. 613 00:32:29,741 --> 00:32:32,035 -…those folks knocked on doors here… -Yeah. 614 00:32:32,119 --> 00:32:34,246 -…and got nowhere. -I hear ya. 615 00:32:34,329 --> 00:32:36,373 And the threat of cameras-- 616 00:32:36,456 --> 00:32:42,379 It-- It can't be that for the American taxpayer to get some foothold on policy, 617 00:32:42,462 --> 00:32:45,716 they've gotta find a celebrity spokesperson… 618 00:32:45,799 --> 00:32:47,426 -Yeah. -…that comes in. 619 00:32:47,509 --> 00:32:52,014 Are we not recognizing how broken and corrupt a system is, 620 00:32:52,097 --> 00:32:54,683 that when you're negotiating Medicare Part D, 621 00:32:54,766 --> 00:33:00,731 which for the most part affects people above the age of, what, 65? 622 00:33:01,231 --> 00:33:02,482 Who are going for the things, 623 00:33:02,566 --> 00:33:05,944 and none of them are here, but 600 lobbyists, 624 00:33:06,028 --> 00:33:09,698 the majority of whom are from insurance companies and Big Pharma-- 625 00:33:09,781 --> 00:33:11,325 -Yeah, but-- -Is that a system-- 626 00:33:11,408 --> 00:33:12,576 -I'm not disputing… -Yeah. 627 00:33:12,659 --> 00:33:16,205 …because, look-- I really am not. The process is maddening. 628 00:33:16,288 --> 00:33:17,623 It can be frustrating, 629 00:33:17,706 --> 00:33:21,043 but like you, you don't give up, like others that don't give up. 630 00:33:21,126 --> 00:33:22,127 -Right. -I don't give up. 631 00:33:22,211 --> 00:33:23,754 -You just keep at it… -But the point is-- 632 00:33:23,837 --> 00:33:25,214 …and we are making strides. 633 00:33:25,297 --> 00:33:27,341 Are we making incremental strides, 634 00:33:27,424 --> 00:33:31,512 and are there foundational changes that we need to start thinking about-- 635 00:33:31,595 --> 00:33:36,058 -There is a paradigm shift in moving this. -Right. 636 00:33:36,141 --> 00:33:38,810 It's like the-- moving the Titanic, if you will. And-- 637 00:33:38,894 --> 00:33:41,647 Right. Please don't-- Can't we just move a different boat? 638 00:33:41,730 --> 00:33:44,024 -Let's move a boat that actually made it. -Made it. Okay. 639 00:33:44,107 --> 00:33:45,526 -We're gonna make it. -Yeah, that's not-- 640 00:33:45,609 --> 00:33:47,069 -Okay. Yeah. -We are going to make it. 641 00:33:47,152 --> 00:33:51,156 You now have a focus on children, on families… 642 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,660 -Understood. -…on education, on health care, 643 00:33:54,743 --> 00:33:56,370 -on small businesses… -Yes. 644 00:33:56,453 --> 00:33:59,039 …on the environment, on veterans, 645 00:33:59,122 --> 00:34:02,292 -and that, as I said, is a paradigm shift… -Yes. 646 00:34:02,376 --> 00:34:06,755 …in where federal resources are being used. Now-- 647 00:34:06,839 --> 00:34:09,550 But it's not just-- it's not just where they're being used… 648 00:34:09,632 --> 00:34:11,760 -And for whom. -…it's-- it's how they're being used. 649 00:34:11,844 --> 00:34:18,809 Taxpayers are angry because they feel like they put all this money out 650 00:34:18,891 --> 00:34:20,811 but they don't get the value back. 651 00:34:20,893 --> 00:34:25,565 It's a middleman system rather than a system that's more direct. 652 00:34:25,649 --> 00:34:28,150 -Well-- But I-- -And is that the problem? 653 00:34:28,235 --> 00:34:30,320 -Well, yeah, but I-- -Are we getting value with… 654 00:34:30,404 --> 00:34:32,155 -Yes. -…the amount of money that comes in. 655 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,324 -We are. -Do you think we're getting the value 656 00:34:34,408 --> 00:34:35,534 we should be getting? 657 00:34:35,617 --> 00:34:37,578 Well, that's a different question. Yes-- 658 00:34:37,661 --> 00:34:39,288 -That's the question. -Well, no, it's not, 659 00:34:39,371 --> 00:34:43,458 because it is where we are trying to address that… 660 00:34:43,542 --> 00:34:45,335 -Yeah. -…to be able to do that. 661 00:34:45,418 --> 00:34:49,505 You know, when-- After we passed the Rescue Plan, 662 00:34:49,590 --> 00:34:51,592 -I went all over my district. -Right. 663 00:34:51,675 --> 00:34:55,596 People, for the first time in a very long time, Jon, said, 664 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:59,266 "Rosa, if it hadn't been for the federal government, 665 00:35:00,142 --> 00:35:02,311 my business would not be here today." 666 00:35:02,853 --> 00:35:06,732 Hospitals, "Rosa, we could not have survived. We were going under." 667 00:35:07,232 --> 00:35:09,443 But PPP and those programs in the pandemic 668 00:35:09,526 --> 00:35:12,946 were the opposite of everything that the government has done 669 00:35:13,030 --> 00:35:14,531 over the last 50 years. 670 00:35:14,615 --> 00:35:18,202 -It was direct payment, it was immediate. -Well-- 671 00:35:18,285 --> 00:35:23,040 How do we change the system to deliver value that's universal-- 672 00:35:23,123 --> 00:35:26,585 I don't know how to convince you that we are… 673 00:35:26,668 --> 00:35:31,006 -Yes. -…really working to try to do that. 674 00:35:31,089 --> 00:35:34,134 That, for me, is what needs to be conveyed, 675 00:35:34,218 --> 00:35:38,430 so that the public understands what role that government has in your lives. 676 00:35:38,514 --> 00:35:44,811 Is that shifted here because the lobbyists have such access to the halls of Congress 677 00:35:44,895 --> 00:35:47,856 and the people don't to the same extent? Is that part of it? 678 00:35:47,940 --> 00:35:50,275 Yeah, I think the lobbyists have-- Yeah, I think it's-- 679 00:35:50,359 --> 00:35:53,612 So would that be-- Would a fundamental change occur 680 00:35:53,695 --> 00:35:58,450 by finding a way to limit their access and their financial ability? 681 00:35:58,534 --> 00:36:02,955 Look, you are a powerful voice for all of this, 682 00:36:03,038 --> 00:36:04,915 but you have to play the game too. 683 00:36:04,998 --> 00:36:07,543 McDonnell Douglas gave you $70,000. They-- 684 00:36:07,626 --> 00:36:09,545 No, and it's not McDonnell, it's Lockheed Martin. 685 00:36:09,628 --> 00:36:11,296 -Lockheed Martin. I'm sorry. -Lockheed Martin. 686 00:36:11,380 --> 00:36:13,674 -McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin. -United Technologies. 687 00:36:13,757 --> 00:36:14,925 -You know what I'm saying? -Yeah. 688 00:36:15,008 --> 00:36:16,426 So that's a defense contractor. 689 00:36:17,511 --> 00:36:22,015 Defense contractors spend tens of millions of dollars lobbying this government. 690 00:36:22,766 --> 00:36:26,687 And their return is hundreds of billions of dollars. 691 00:36:26,770 --> 00:36:31,024 The American taxpayer doesn't get the return on investment 692 00:36:31,108 --> 00:36:32,860 that its money should warrant. 693 00:36:33,485 --> 00:36:34,987 -Yeah-- -For someone like you 694 00:36:35,779 --> 00:36:38,866 to have to play that game as well, when, I think, 695 00:36:38,949 --> 00:36:42,911 clearly from the way you speak, you're aghast by it. 696 00:36:42,995 --> 00:36:47,124 Doesn't that show how entrenched those interests are here? 697 00:36:47,207 --> 00:36:51,920 The issue is, how we go about creating a balance. 698 00:36:52,004 --> 00:36:52,838 Right. 699 00:36:52,921 --> 00:36:57,134 I view that that is what my role and responsibility is to do, 700 00:36:57,217 --> 00:36:58,719 -is to create that balance. -Right. 701 00:36:58,802 --> 00:37:01,096 Is to shift these resources. 702 00:37:01,180 --> 00:37:04,850 Is there a more robust auditing process-- 703 00:37:04,933 --> 00:37:07,269 We do. We do that all of the time. 704 00:37:07,352 --> 00:37:09,563 -I'm gonna give you a very good example. -Yes. 705 00:37:09,646 --> 00:37:11,565 -That's what I'm talking about. -I think. I hope you do. 706 00:37:11,648 --> 00:37:15,444 Look at what happened with this infant formula crisis, okay? 707 00:37:15,527 --> 00:37:20,240 You had a corporation who sold a contaminated product. Okay? 708 00:37:20,949 --> 00:37:23,160 IG is looking into that and I'll get-- 709 00:37:23,243 --> 00:37:28,582 and FDA, an agency that dragged their feet looking at this. 710 00:37:28,665 --> 00:37:30,792 The whistleblower's report comes out in October, 711 00:37:30,876 --> 00:37:33,086 no one interviews him until December, 712 00:37:33,170 --> 00:37:36,381 nothing happens until February with a recall. 713 00:37:36,465 --> 00:37:40,594 Infants at risk, several die, et cetera. 714 00:37:40,677 --> 00:37:42,304 No supply on the shelf. 715 00:37:42,387 --> 00:37:46,016 So we have health issue and a supply issue, 716 00:37:46,099 --> 00:37:48,310 and there's not one or the other. We have to deal with both. 717 00:37:48,393 --> 00:37:49,895 And a monopoly issue in that there's only-- 718 00:37:49,978 --> 00:37:51,563 Now that I want to go to what's fundamental, 719 00:37:51,647 --> 00:37:53,524 -because you asked about fundamental. -Yes. 720 00:37:53,607 --> 00:37:56,985 For me, what's fundamental to that is the consolidation of the industry. 721 00:37:57,069 --> 00:37:59,863 -Yes. -Four corporations have… 722 00:37:59,947 --> 00:38:02,157 -Right. Right. -…the market on infant formula. 723 00:38:02,241 --> 00:38:07,704 Abbott has 43% of the infant formula, 724 00:38:07,788 --> 00:38:09,706 most of which is served through the WIC program. 725 00:38:09,790 --> 00:38:12,501 -Right. -I am looking at the consolidate-- 726 00:38:12,584 --> 00:38:16,004 -First and foremost, IG is doing-- -Haven't you just made my point for me? 727 00:38:16,088 --> 00:38:18,048 -No, but listen to me, IG-- -Yeah. 728 00:38:18,131 --> 00:38:20,592 But you're saying it's not being done. It is. IG-- 729 00:38:20,676 --> 00:38:22,177 No, it's not that it's not being done, 730 00:38:22,261 --> 00:38:26,807 it's that the system is designed for that outcome. 731 00:38:26,890 --> 00:38:29,935 -We give-- How much of their-- 43-- -It's not designed. 732 00:38:30,018 --> 00:38:33,146 It's moved in that direction. Let's unravel that. 733 00:38:33,230 --> 00:38:36,233 -But that's-- -Let's unravel it and we can. 734 00:38:36,316 --> 00:38:38,610 -That's your point. -Right. 735 00:38:38,694 --> 00:38:40,571 -That's your point. I'm there. But it's-- -Right. 736 00:38:40,654 --> 00:38:44,783 But what I'm saying is your example is a perfect encapsulation 737 00:38:44,867 --> 00:38:48,704 of the way this system operates to the detriment of the taxpayer. 738 00:38:48,787 --> 00:38:54,918 So you have a company that owns 40% of a really important public health issue, 739 00:38:55,002 --> 00:38:56,170 -which is baby formula, right? -Right. 740 00:38:56,253 --> 00:38:58,839 So that should never have been allowed to happen. 741 00:38:58,922 --> 00:38:59,965 -Right. -So somewhere, 742 00:39:00,048 --> 00:39:02,634 in terms of corporate oversight, we never should allow that to happen. 743 00:39:02,718 --> 00:39:04,094 -Right. -Second of all, 744 00:39:04,178 --> 00:39:10,350 the government is providing a tremendous amount of money to Abbott 745 00:39:10,434 --> 00:39:12,436 to make this baby formula 746 00:39:12,519 --> 00:39:17,274 and yet, doesn't leverage the fact that they're Abbott's biggest customer 747 00:39:17,357 --> 00:39:21,361 to make the changes that would allow this to be more resilient. 748 00:39:21,445 --> 00:39:24,031 An agency of the government did that. 749 00:39:24,656 --> 00:39:25,866 And that's what we're investigating. 750 00:39:25,949 --> 00:39:27,367 I understand what you're saying. 751 00:39:27,451 --> 00:39:29,328 -You see my point? -I do understand your point, 752 00:39:29,411 --> 00:39:32,414 but I'm not a-- a doomsday-- I'm gonna… 753 00:39:32,497 --> 00:39:33,832 I understand you're not doomsday. 754 00:39:33,916 --> 00:39:39,046 I'm just telling you that scenario is how-- 755 00:39:39,129 --> 00:39:40,756 It's not an aberration. 756 00:39:40,839 --> 00:39:42,591 It's how the government operates 757 00:39:42,674 --> 00:39:46,929 and it leads to those outcomes more frequently than not. 758 00:39:47,012 --> 00:39:50,807 And that's the thing that fundamentally feels like it has to change. 759 00:39:50,891 --> 00:39:52,100 Well, we can change it. 760 00:39:52,184 --> 00:39:53,560 We can change it. 761 00:39:54,186 --> 00:39:56,271 Well, why didn't you tell me that at first, Rosa? 762 00:39:56,355 --> 00:39:59,358 But it's not easy. It's not easy. 763 00:39:59,441 --> 00:40:01,568 I believe you. I feel your fire. 764 00:40:01,652 --> 00:40:04,655 -I feel it. -We have the wherewithal to do that. 765 00:40:04,738 --> 00:40:07,699 You have to stand up and fight. You can't get tired. 766 00:40:07,783 --> 00:40:09,701 You can't get, you know? 767 00:40:09,785 --> 00:40:14,164 My mother, God rest her soul, died five years ago at age 103. 768 00:40:14,248 --> 00:40:17,000 -What? -And she said to me always, 769 00:40:17,084 --> 00:40:20,796 taught me many things, but, "Never give up and don't take no for an answer." 770 00:40:20,879 --> 00:40:23,757 -Right. -So those are guiding principles. 771 00:40:23,841 --> 00:40:28,011 Right, and government has a responsibility then to show its competence 772 00:40:28,095 --> 00:40:29,721 -and to show, you know… -That's right. 773 00:40:29,805 --> 00:40:31,557 …that it has some oversight and accountability. 774 00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:34,810 Yeah. No, oversight, I believe in that. 775 00:40:34,893 --> 00:40:36,979 -You're with it. All right, beautiful. -I'm there. I'm there. 776 00:40:37,062 --> 00:40:40,148 You're a patient and tenacious person and I appreciate you. 777 00:40:40,232 --> 00:40:41,441 Thank you. 778 00:40:47,072 --> 00:40:51,743 I don't understand, why didn't my hair turn purple when I got old? 779 00:40:53,704 --> 00:40:55,664 That's our show. I hope you're still mad about taxes, 780 00:40:55,747 --> 00:40:59,418 but perhaps in a different way than you were before. 781 00:40:59,501 --> 00:41:01,670 If you want to quit your job and become a tax detective 782 00:41:01,753 --> 00:41:05,048 here's a great starting place, or you can check out our website. 783 00:41:05,132 --> 00:41:07,843 Be sure to clear your cookies first, unless you want targeted ads… 784 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:10,220 that come from me. 785 00:41:11,471 --> 00:41:13,390 We also have a podcast that I record naked. 786 00:41:13,473 --> 00:41:15,100 I have a tattoo of a T-shirt on my body. 787 00:41:15,184 --> 00:41:17,561 You think I'm wearing a T-shirt, but it's not a T-shirt, it's a tattoo. 788 00:41:17,644 --> 00:41:18,896 All right, everybody, that's my time. 789 00:41:18,979 --> 00:41:20,731 Here's your headliner, the funniest man alive, 790 00:41:20,814 --> 00:41:24,109 and now here it is, your Moment of Cruz. 791 00:41:24,193 --> 00:41:26,570 Hi, I'm Ted Cruz. 792 00:41:26,653 --> 00:41:28,947 Well, it's happened again, it's tax day. 793 00:41:29,031 --> 00:41:30,532 I don't think it's any coincidence 794 00:41:30,616 --> 00:41:33,076 that the month of April begins with April Fool's Day 795 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,412 and then two weeks later tax day comes.