The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Walmart Employees Strike Back & Twinkie's End | TDS Time Machine

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

The Daily Show jumps back in time to this day in 2012: host Jon Stewart covers employee protests at Wal-Mart during the Thanksgiving weekend and Twinkie production was suspended after Hostess Brands declared bankruptcy and ceased operations. Warren Buffett and financial journalist Carol Loomis discuss the American tax code and their book "Tap Dancing to Work." Buffett also argues that he should pay higher taxes and shouldn't be treated like a bald eagle.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Stewart here, unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show, we're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. November 27, 2012. From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is the Daily Show. My name is John Stewart. My guest tonight, Warren Buffett and financial journalist Carol Lumas. They are on the show tonight and financial journalist Carol Lumas. They are on the show tonight and uh tonight meeting for the first time on this show.

So. So, they wrote a book together. Now as you know, if there's one thing all Americans can agree on, we love Black Friday. Whether you're a fan of shopping or trampling. Which is why I was just, I was so upset to see on this holiest of days a news story about people protesting in front of their local Walmart. Thousands of Walmart employees are staging walkouts and protests over this holiday weekend.

The workers are upset about having to work on Thanksgiving Day and they're also speaking out for better pay and benefits. What? You bastards? You bastards. You get to work at Walmart on Thanksgiving Day. A ringside seat to the greatest show on earth. It's a black Friday tradition. Go the f-bomb-down.

Push one of my keys down. We'll stab one of you, moth-a- Do you know how much people pay to go to fights like that? Push one of my keys down, we'll stab one of you, mother-a-bott! Do you know how much people pay to go to fights like that? You get paid some to see it. Isn't that benefit enough? Truly your vest runneth over. But that's not enough for you.

Greedy, hourly, slightly over the federal poverty line employees. Now you want to unionize. Besides, everyone knows comparatively speaking, in the Walmart world, you've got it pretty good. Violent protests in Bangladesh this morning after a deadly garment factory fire fire Saturday's fire killed at least a hundred and at least 112 factory workers. The factory is owned by an exporter whose clients include Walmart. See? I work at Walmart in the United States. I can't afford to take my kids to the doctor. Well at least where you work, there are exits.

And the worst part of that fire... Thank you. Oh. Ah. The worst part of that fire is the devastating impact that it's going to have on Walmart. This is the big giant prize for unions. This is a big giant prize for those who are anti-capitalism. If it's not this, it will be something else. I think it's a stretch, an amazing stretch to sort of try to pin this on Walmart.

I can't think of a worst target. Oh, I actually, I believe that's Walmart's slogan. Think of a worst target. But I'm sorry, you were being... Yeah, that was Joe. Joe came up with that in the meeting and we're all like, we're using that. But I'm sorry, you were, I'm sorry, you were being callously dismissive about the working conditions in Bangladesh to score points against American unions, continue. Don't think that the people in Bangladesh who perished didn't want or need those jobs as well.

You know, I know we like to victimize everyone in this country, particularly when it comes to the for-profit motivation, which is being assaulted. Again, it's tragic and you know listen it's one of the things I don't think it's something like this will happen again. Okay that's a relief. So um your first argument appears to be yes okay they died in a fire but they had jobs. You know I think it's reasonable to assume your job won't entail some kind of inferno unless it's mentioned in the ad, which it's... Oh, okay, well that, I didn't realize. Now your second argument is this. Your second argument appears to be, your second argument is, hey man, this is just a one-off.

Which could be a powerful hypothetical argument that I might buy into if moments earlier, the giant graphic next year had not mentioned, the 500 people over the past two decades killed in garment fires. Although perhaps you're just saying this type of fire won't happen again in this particular now burned down factory, to which I would say, touche.

But I guess the point is unions will will stop at nothing to destroy our way of life. And Walmart is not the only American treasure on their hit list. If you love Twinkies, sorry, brace yourself for this one. Let me stop you right there. If you love Twinkies, you're probably already used to being told to brace yourself for bad news. Only usually, it's from a guy who looks like this. But all right, continue. If you love Twinkies, sorry, brace yourself for this one.

Time is run out for America's iconic baking company. After 82 years, hostess is shutting down following a bankruptcy filing. No more Twinkies, no more ho-hoes, no more snowballs. No more ring-dings, no more ding-dogs, no more dong rings. No- Right. Oh my God, that's not cream. Hostess will... It's jelly.

Hostess will be no more. It's jelly. Hostess will be no more. Oh no! Where will I go now for my stomach aches and self-medication? Where will I get the crap to fill the bottomless pit in me that will never be filled? Boxed wine? Arby's?

I'm not going back there. What could have destroyed this beloved American diabetes dispensary? That the unions really did it in because they would not allow hostess to operate efficiently. Hostess, which was forced to close its doors due to union demands. They couldn't afford to stay in business during a long worker strike.

The union preferred killing the company to accepting what they thought was a bad deal. Unions. You got to imagine Gingrich is taking this heart. He is after all all, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, the the the they thought was a bad deal. Unions. You got to imagine Gingrich has taken this heart. He is, after all, half snowball on his father's side. Just to play Devil Dogs Advocate here, could there be another reason hostess went bankrupt? This company could not run itself efficiently. In the last 10 years they've had seven CEOs. Oh, uncertainty. I'm told the market abhorse it.

After the 2004 bankruptcy, the workers took wage and benefit cuts. It wasn't enough. The CEO gave himself a 300% raise. So the unions had already taken a cut in somewhat inverse proportion to the CEO's rising compensation, which you totally deserve for convincing the union to take that cut. Anything else other than unions that could have sabotaged the company? Sales dropped as moms began swapping out those fat-filled goodies and white bread for healthier lunchbox foods. F. Moms. How dare you moms?

You know maybe I just love America this much but I say let Mars have them. So Mars needs... I see a lot of children's movies. Because I have children. You know what I also think, and this is just a marketing tip, let's not forget that the hostess mascot is some kind of high-spirited country western dildo. But as always, the real victims here, be the children. But as always, the real victims here, be the children. Just sad that they're not going to know what Twinkies are. They're going thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi's just just just just just thi's just just thii's just just thiiiiiiii's just just just thiiiii's just just just thi. And thi. And thi. And the children. Just sad that they're not going to know what twinkies are. They're going to grow up not knowing what twinkies are.

You know, each generation has its burdens. My kids might never know the pleasure of doing donuts in their high school parking lot in an AMC Gremlin. I grew up not knowing polio. You get the. And if we're really craving a hit-at-twink, we can always make our own. There are 37 ingredients in this little cake, many you'd expect. Some flour, lots of sugar, corn syrup. But how about corn dextrin? That's the sticky glue found on the back of envelopes. And that smooth, creamy center?

It's made from cellulose gum. That's used in hair gel, shampoo, even rocket fuel. Rocket fuel! That explains the blue flame that shoots out of my ass whenever I eat a Twinky. Reckton we have a problem. You know what though? When I was making my Twinkies, I forgot the cellulose gum. Oh, I'm an idiot.

But you know what? I made myself Twinkie using only 36 ingredients. It probably won't make that big a difference. I'm sure it's going to be about the same, right? It's going to be, oh, they're ready. Let's see what we got. We'll be. Kill me. Please, kill me. I'm so sorry. We'll be right back.

Hey, everybody. Hey, everybody. John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?

Listen to the weekly show withkshire Hathaway. She is the senior editor at Large in Fortune magazine as well as author of the new book, Tap Dance and Work, Warren Buffett on practically everything, 1966 to 2012. Please welcome to the program Warren Buffett and Carol Loomis. How are you? Never better. Great to see you guys. The book is called Tap Dancing to Work. Tell me about this collaboration, first of all. You are a very renowned and well-respected financial writer. You run some type of stand. Oh myaugh. How did this come to be? How did this come to be? Yes. Oh, well, I got the idea for it, actually, when we had been covering Warren for 40 years,

I thought we had to pull all this together because we'd had a great collection of stories. Many of them written by other writers, not me at all. And I thought we should do it, and then it only took me six years to get it done. Oh, that's not the time, six years? Is that a problem? Now, are you a font of wisdom to some extent? Is that the, were you aware that someone was collecting your thoughts from 1966 on until now? I've had very few since that actually. But Carol's been an observer for a long time. We, we talk almost every every day and she knows more about me than I hope she put in the book. That's for volume two. Volume two, I like this. More salacious. Yeah, now we're getting somewhere.

Obviously you've been at the forefront of the news lately because of this argument that we're having in this country now about taxation, how to fund the government while dealing with a deficit, you have suggested something which coincidentally is called the Buffett rule, which I think, like Lou Gehrig's disease, is very unbelievable that this rule would just happen to be proposed. The diseases were already taken. Exactly. That's incredible. That's...

It's not right. It's not right. I assume buffering has something to do with it. You have come out and said you would prefer something where the rich pay a flat at least 30% on their money. Why do you say that? Well, if they make over a million, I say on the amount over a million they ought to flat at least 30% on their money. Why do you say that? Well, if they make over a million, I say on the amount over a million, they ought to pay at least 30% and then over 10 million they ought to pay 35%.

Most of the people, in fact, virtually all of the people in my office, 20% or so people, between payroll and income taxes pay more than 30% and a number of the th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the amount, the amount, thi, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, their their their their the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the amount, the extremely wealthy people pay less than 15% and some pay less than 10% and the capital gains and the Cayman Islands and bags that are kept dangling. You're getting warm. Exactly. What then about the argument where they say, you know, that's double taxation if you do capital gains and that will hurt investment. This is clearly something that you also have to, to to 10 percent. This is th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the argument where they say, you know, that's double taxation if you do capital gains and that will hurt investment. This is clearly something that you also have to deal with it at the magazine. Oh, well, we hope so. Double taxation.

Double taxation. But what is that a valid thing to say? Well, if somebody out there is making $70,000 a year, whatever their job, th, th, th, thip, th, thip, thip, thip, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, is something something something something something something something something something something something is thi, is thi, is thi, is something is thi, is something is thi. thi. thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. thi. thi. thi. thi, they're paying income tax on it, and they're paying payroll taxes on it, they're getting tax twice too. And in my own case, I paid a very low rate in 2009, which I wrote about, practically all my capital gains came from bonds. There was no double taxation there. So it's not about investment. They're saying that unless the rich can pay less, they won't invest in companies and America. That their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're't invest in companies and America, that the job creators must be, and we should also get them, I guess it's called feather beds. Maybe, I'll do this, I'll call you at one o'clock tonight, and I will tell you, John, I've got the best idea I've ever had,

I'm going to put every penny I've got in it. You want to come along and will you say how much tax do I have to pay when I make a fortune? I think the first thing I would say is why are you calling me a 1A? What's going on? I would say this, Warren, what's this really about? This, here's what's been fascinating to me is sort of now the traditional conservative argument is we must have low taxes or the economy won't flourish. But I guess in my mind, I think of traditional economy being the post-new-deal economy of relatively robust high tax rates on high earners and a social safety net that is part of the social compact. To me that's tradition. That's 80 years. That's America. And I've, you know, I've been

working at investments, well really I bought my first stock when I was 11, but I started selling stocks when I was 20 and I sold stocks when personal income tax rates got as high as 91 percent. I've sold them when capital gains rates got as high as 39.6 percent and actually we had th that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that's that's that's that's that's th th th that's th th th th th th th th th that's th that's that's that's that's that's that's that's th th th th th th th th th's 80 th's 80 th's 80 that's 80 that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's th's th's th's th's th's th's th's th's th's th's thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi's thi. toda today's today's today's today's today's today's today's 80 today's 80 today's 80 thi. th high as 91%. I've sold them when capital gains rates got as high as 39.6%. And actually we had some wonderful periods of growth in GDP and the middle class as well as the rich prospered when tax rates were much higher than they are now. Well, that's what we'll do. We'll take a commercial. We'll take a commercial. We'll be right back. More from Warren Buffet and Carol Lum. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. We'll thi. We'll thi. We'll thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. the. thi. thi. toe. toe. toe. toea. toe. toe. the. We're thi. We're thi. We're thi. thi of the math of this and some other financial goings-ons in the world. We'll be right back. More from Warren Buffett and

Carol Lumas right after this. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election.

Economics, earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You know, we're talking with Warren Buffett, and Peral Lumas.

You know, we're talking with Warren Buffett. You know, we're talking a little bit. I almost, I consider you sort of an icon of the value economy as opposed to, I don't even want to say the growth economy, but this like, for instance, the financial sector became, I don't know the exact same, but something like 20 percent of our economy over the last 10 or 20 years. That seems like an awfully volatile sector to be relied upon to drive that much of the GDP. Is that incorrect or correct? Well, and more and more of the Forbes 400 come from the financial arena.

I mean, we've got a huge economy, and people that catch the crumbs falling off the table can make a lot of money. That's an incredibly honorable way to describe them. Trump catchers! Do you think we have a satisfactory domestic economic policy? Well I think what made America great is going to continue to work, but I think that the last year, you know, the last year, a couple of years, Washington's kind of tested the patients of the rest of the... But we've got 312 million people that, I don't think, 5, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I don't th th th th th, I don't th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, I don't, thi, thi, thi, tham, tham, tham, the, th, th, th, th, th, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thin, that, that, that, thee, theeeei, tham, tham, theeeeeei, tham, tham, tham, that, thi,, a couple of years, Washington's kind of tested the patients of the rest of the, but we've got 312 million people that I don't think 535 can impede their progress over time. Now, you guys have been friends for a long time.

For 45 years. Right. He is, I don't know if it's the eighth largest company or the most. I think of a very nice woman who's, that, that, that, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, thi, I, th, th, th, that's, that's, that's, that that that, that, that, that, that, th, th, th, th, th, th, I th, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I thi, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm thi, I'm thi.. that's, I'm thi. thi. that's, I thi. I don't, I th it was seventh that anyway, hi. And you were a very nice woman who's done very well for yourself. Do you resent his success? Are you... Are you... When you talk to him, do you say to him? Why don't you distribute the wealth? You know, that's the initial five minutes of every conversation we have. Yeah. First question she asked me is why aren't I in your will? So, let me just, why isn't she in your the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... the... I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Do, do, do, do, do, do. Do. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Do. Do. Do, do, do, do, do, I, I th. Do, I th. Do, I th. Do, I th. Do, I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the theat, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Do I mean. So, um, let me just, why isn't she in your will? No, I want to hear the answer. Yeah, I'm kind of a good thing.

Let's show you the subject. I will, I will point out, in the last 10 years, I have probably paid taxes, counting payroll taxes at a higher rate, or a lower rate than Carol has. Right. It's wrong. Is it because we've gotten to a place where we are valuing the investor class more than the working class? Because I'm stunned now at the conflation of unobstructed capitalism and the American dreams.

Somehow that's been conflated on that side, the right-wing economics, that you cannot impede the capitalists in any way if you want the right-wing economics, that you cannot impede the capitalists in any way if you want the American dream. But that strikes me as false. That unions, worker protections, that's an inoculation against socialism and communism. Yeah. They think I'm a protected, that I should be a protected species, you know, kind of like the bald eagle or the, right? that if anything is done, that's... You'll take your ball and... I'll play, I should that I should that I should that I should that I should that I should th some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some, I'll play some, I'll play some, I'll play, I'll play, I'll play, I'll play, I'll play, I'll play, I'll, I'll play, I'll play, I'll play, I'll, I'll, I'll, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the.... the, the, the, the. the. the. the, the. the. the. the. the. the. the.a, the.a, the.a, the.a, the.a, the.a, the.a, the. the. the, the, the, the, the. the. the some kind of thing. I mean, you know, that if anything is done, that's... You'll take your ball and go. I'll play someplace else. Exactly. And, and, and 20 years ago, the Forbes 400 had an aggregate wealth of 300 billion. Now it's more than quintupled. That has not happened with the middle class. Yeah, yeah. Very slow.

And I don't think the American public really understands that. It kind of snuck up on them. The tax rate, I mean, you've got of the 400 highest incomes in the United States in 2009, the most recent years we have figures for, a quarter of the people paid taxes at a rate less than 15%. The payroll tax was 15.3% in that year, I I I I I I I I I, I, I, I, I that, I that, I that, I that, that, that, that, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thiia, that's thi, that thi, thi, that's that's that's that's that's that's that that that that that that that that that that that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that's that's that's that's th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th of the people paid taxes at a rate less than 15%. The payroll tax was 15.3% in that year. And six of them paid nothing at all. I mean, they were part of the 47%. I mean, these people were big time mucers.

It seems like too that this idea of, oh, the people were black, all that. But this idea, because in Bangladesh and China, they accept working conditions that Americans would not consider optimal, that you can't ask for anything anymore because, hey, man, we'll just send our stuff over there. And I understand that, but there has to be some sense of domestic policy that keeps that in there, yes? Right. Well, I'm very glad.

I would like the two of you, if I may, to keep you in a curio cabinet, because you are the two nicest people I think I've met. And if I could just keep you in there and open it and go in and visit with you every now again. Top dancing to work. Warren Buffett on practically everything. It's on the bookshelves now. Two of the nicest communists you will ever meet your life. Warren Buffett and Carylum as Berkshire Hathaway and Fortune magazine. We'll be right back after. Explore more shows from the Daily Show Podcast Universe by searching the Daily Show,

wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election.

Economics. Ingredient to Bread Ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart. Wherever you get your podcast.