The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.16 WOW! This Billie Eilish Problem is Bigger Than Billie & A Fun New Way The Rich Are Stealing From You

Starting point is 00:00:00 We've got to talk about why this Billie Eilish problem is actually an everybody problem. Scandalous new report just dropped exposing how billionaires screw over everyday people. An elected official had to crawl on stage for their debate. We're going to talk about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show, so buckle up, hit that like button, and a quick update. So I accidentally lied. Yesterday, I announced all the good stuff that I've launched in like about the past week. Right, all that I love naps goodness on our usual comfiness,

Starting point is 00:00:24 but also on crew necks and a champion hoodie, emotionally exhausted on an obscene number of colorways. And the helpful reminder that's the go easy on yourself gear, but this is really more your fault than it is mine. I underestimated people's desire to buy our most expensive things, so the champion hoodie sold out. So it's no longer available, but I have a batch of specially tie dyed champion hoodies that I can get custom embroidered. I just threw that up in three different colorways. They might sell out again just as fast. Hey, this is me trying to keep up with the demand. That said, this is a news show.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Let's talk about the news. Let's jump into it. Starting with this Billie Eilish story, because it's really more than a Billie Eilish story. Billie recently did an interview with Lana Del Rey, and she opened up about what it's like to see others discuss her on social media and the toll that it takes, saying sometimes she feels very hated and disliked,

Starting point is 00:01:04 explaining, I have this inevitable feeling of, oh, everyone hates me, and adding, with the world of TikTok and social media and the toll that it takes. Saying sometimes she feels very hated and disliked. Explaining, I have this inevitable feeling of, oh, everyone hates me. And adding, with the world of TikTok and social media, there is a level where it's kind of true. I'm lying in bed last night and I go on TikTok because I'm falling asleep and I just want to be mindless for a second. I keep scrolling and I'm thinking, Billy, put your phone away. You're getting tired. Then I swipe onto the next one and it's a video with millions of likes and it's something about how I'm a horrible person. And all these comments are like, I'm so glad you guys are seeing through her. And I'm like, damn. And so with that saying, you know, then she'll feel like the world's against her. Everyone hates her, even though it's really just

Starting point is 00:01:29 a tiny fraction of reality. But I'll tell you as someone that has like 1% of her fame, when you're confronted with that kind of hate, it's hard to understand the reality of it in the moment. Even with it being a tiny fraction, it can feel all encompassing. Here's the deal. This isn't a boo who feel bad for Billy story. So please understand the people that you're watching, they're people, like real people with feelings. But any kind of negative content can make you feel less than, can hurt you, and we're seeing that especially in young people and teens. With a recent CDC report finding that teens, and girls in particular, are dealing with more suicidal thoughts and mental health issues than ever before. And actually with this, you had Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, explaining to PBS that a number of factors contribute to a teen's worsening mental health. But the instant they go on social media, by the instant, I mean like within a year, the depression lines begin to go up. Plus,

Starting point is 00:02:14 there is direct correlational evidence that the more you use it, the more depressed you are. You can even see some of the impacts of social media in the CDC's report, especially with girls. With 57% of teen females saying they felt persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness over the past year, which is nearly double that of males. A figure that is also a notable and dramatic increase from 10 years ago. You also had 41% of female high school students saying they experienced poor mental health in the last 30 days, which was also well over double the 18% of male students. And then we can also see that teen girls were far more likely to have been electronically bullied over the past year.

Starting point is 00:02:44 And there are other horrific factors at play as well, including the fact that the reports on increases in female students experiencing sexual violence. There were also reports of depression, suicidal thoughts, and violence being high in gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth as well. And so with all of this, you have the head of the CDC's adolescent and school health program saying, I think there's really no question what this data is telling us. Young people are telling us that they are in crisis. And so that's why I open up this story with Billie Eilish. This is something that's going to impact people that have very little or nothing all the way to people that seemingly are on top

Starting point is 00:03:12 of the world. And we need to have conversations about this. We need to have resources for this, not for any one group, but for the growing reality that things are getting worse and they will continue to get worse if we don't try to remedy the situation. Which is also why, whether you're in high school, college, you're a parent, you got a job, you're a whatever. I'd love to know your thoughts around this situation, stories with this situation, because what we're talking about is the data and what you have is an actual lived experience. And then, it's no secret that America's prison system sucks, but they're nothing compared to the county jails. But some of the worst conditions behind bars in the U.S. are at the local level where you have money and oversight lacking.

Starting point is 00:03:45 And in some places like Harris County, the FBI has taken notice. With them announcing this week that they were launching a civil rights investigation into the deaths of Jakari Simmons and Jacoby Pillow. Simmons died in 2021 and Pillow died just last month. The FBI also adding that these investigations will be fair, thorough, and impartial

Starting point is 00:04:00 and will proceed independently of any state investigations involving incidents at the jail. Because the key thing here is it's not like investigations have not been done. An internal investigation found that multiple policy violations occurred that led to Simmons's death, and Pillow was found unresponsive in his cell and a cause of death has not been publicly made. But for many, multiple policy violations, that's not enough, especially as inmates keep dying. In fact, county records show that at least 21 inmates have died in the jail in 2021, and then 28 in 2022. In just a month and a half into 2023, four are dead. And at least on the surface, Harris County Sheriff

Starting point is 00:04:30 Ed Gonzalez supports the investigation, saying in a statement, I look forward to learning the FBI's findings because we must all know the full truth if we are to improve our operation and make the jail as safe as possible for everyone entrusted in our care. Now, while Harris County might be the current poster child for poor jail conditions in the United States, it is hardly the only one. Because while Harris County is getting scrutiny, there's also this story out of Alabama that's horrifying. There, you had 33 year old Anthony Mitchell dying of hypothermia while in custody. And it's such a weird way for someone to die in jail that the physician who tried to treat him said, I'm not sure what circumstances the patient was held in,

Starting point is 00:05:01 incarceration, but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit while someone is incarcerated in jail. And adding, the cause of his hypothermia is not clear. It is possible he had an underlying medical condition resulting in hypothermia. Do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment. But closing, I do believe the hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death. Some of that mystery is being figured out after Mitchell's family filed a lawsuit against jail officials and workers, with it being alleged that Mitchell was actually thrown naked into a walk-in food freezer as punishment for giving the officers a hard time. Now, normally, you can just get out of those freezers, but reportedly, Mitchell

Starting point is 00:05:31 was strapped to a restraining chair to keep him in place. And after hours there, they finally got him out, and he was obviously unresponsive, with them then reportedly dragging him naked throughout the jail before putting him in a patrol vehicle and driving him to the hospital. And at no point was an ambulance called. And the family apparently only knows so many of these details because a hero officer at the jail recorded the security footage on her phone and handed it to the hospital. And at no point was an ambulance called. And the family apparently only knows so many of these details because a hero officer at the jail recorded the security footage on her phone and handed it to the family. And this is a story that should matter in general, but one that also especially matters with the United States because we imprison more of our population than any other country in the world. And then when it comes to homophobia, I think that a lot of people are like, oh yeah, we as a country have moved past that.

Starting point is 00:06:02 But one, not as much as you would expect. But also two, it's important to realize that when homophobia or bigotry of any nature is part of the government institutions, it can have long-lasting impacts that you normally wouldn't think about. And there are a number of examples, but the specific reason I'm talking about this today is because of the policy, don't ask, don't tell. Or because you may not realize this, but for most of the country's existence, gay people have actually been barred from military service. Then, in 1993, President Bill Clinton changed that, but on one condition. Commanding officers do not ask anyone if they are gay, and service members do not tell anyone if

Starting point is 00:06:32 they are gay. Hence, don't ask, don't tell. But from that point forward, the military basically turned into the Salem Witch Trials, with gay service members trying to hide their identities and everyone else rabidly sniffing them out. Or as one veteran describes the paranoia, If you put your hand on your hip, if you sit with your legs crossed, like it was always like the witch hunt was always around no matter what during those times in the military.

Starting point is 00:06:51 And then when someone was suspected of being gay, they were discharged, often dishonorably, which as this vet explains, was soul crushing. Did it change your sense of self? Yes, I'm less than. Mm-hmm. Less than. Yeah, I'm less than honorable. But arguably worse was the legal stain that it put on them, because now they couldn't access

Starting point is 00:07:11 military benefits like VA loans, tuition assistance, healthcare, and some federal jobs. With an estimated 14,000 service members who just wanted to serve their country getting discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell by the time it was repealed in 2011. And horribly, only around 1,200 of those people have had their dishonorable discharge updated, meaning so many more are just suffering this lingering injustice. And for many of those still barred from benefits, they say it's just too hard to navigate the bureaucracy, or they just haven't even bothered trying.

Starting point is 00:07:35 And on the other side of this, you have the Pentagon saying they've made an effort to reach out to affected veterans, but they also admit there's still a lot of work to do. And then, if you've been getting crushed in the markets like pretty much everyone over the past year or two, you're going to be happy to hear that treasury yields are currently surging. Right now, you can actually gain a 5% yield on your cash

Starting point is 00:07:50 when you purchase government-backed treasury bills. That's a higher yield than a typical high-yield savings account. Unlike a traditional savings account, the yield you get with treasury bills is a fixed rate, so you always know the rate you'll get when you purchase. Now, historically, the problem is that buying U.S. treasuries is super complicated,

Starting point is 00:08:03 but luckily, that brings us to the sponsor of today's show, Public.com, an investing platform where you can buy, hold, and sell thousands of assets like stocks, ETFs, crypto, fine art, and collectibles. Because Public has just launched treasury accounts, a shiny new way for you to access the 5% yield of U.S. treasuries directly on your phone with the flexibility of a bank account. No minimum hold periods or settlement delays. And because it's government-backed treasury bills that we're talking about, it's an incredibly safe place to park your cash. So go to public.com slash DeFranco to start getting a 5% yield on your cash, which again is way more than a run-of-the-mill savings account and even higher than a high-yield savings account. And then a Denver councilman was forced

Starting point is 00:08:35 to crawl on stage for a debate or lose over a hundred grand in campaign funding. So Chris Hines is the council member in question, and the debate was on Monday for the District 10 council seat. And everything was going just fine until Hines realized that the venue didn't have a ramp for him to get on stage. And Hines couldn't just say, oh well, no accessibility, because $125,000 in campaign financing was on the line, and if he didn't debate, he'd have to forfeit it. And so Hines was forced to crawl onto the stage in front of dozens of people, and later telling the Denver Post, it was a choice between my campaign's viability or my dignity. And to make an embarrassing matter, it was a choice between my campaign's viability or my dignity. And to make an embarrassing matter even worse,

Starting point is 00:09:07 the event was delayed during the process of Heinz getting on stage. And then the event staff couldn't even get Heinz's electric wheelchair up there. So they decided to just move the debate to the floor in front of the stage. Which side note, why didn't you do that in the first place? Did no one see the wheelchair?

Starting point is 00:09:20 And actually with that, the location has come out and said that they didn't receive any special requests for accommodation before the debate But here's the thing that that's not an excuse as a host of a public event You are supposed to adhere to federal and state standards for accessibility and it's not just me saying it That's according to the director of an accessibility nonprofit in Denver and Heinz is an active advocate for Denver's accessibility It says that is well known that he uses a wheelchair saying that someone didn't even do basic Checking on who the elected council member is for the debate

Starting point is 00:09:43 We're having is kind of nuts and then that they, oh we'll just lift him up is also nuts. The whole reason I'm going for re-election is not because it's easy, but I feel like I have an obligation to represent my community. And the Denver clerk who vets the venues for debate said that the location informed them that their building was ADA accessible by a back entrance. That clerk still apologizing to Heinz, saying no one should have that experience and saying they apologized to the councilman personally. And it's just wild to me that this is a story because I mean the Americans with Disabilities Act is more than 30 years old. When the laws are older than every woman Leonardo DiCaprio has ever dated, it's been long enough for you to change things.

Starting point is 00:10:14 And then, y'all, ProPublica has uncovered a banking conspiracy that will blow your mind. Like I think in general, we all understand the situation's fucked. But finding out about and understanding the specifics, it's a whole different thing. And at the center of what we're talking about is wash sales. So in a nutshell, wash sales are when you sell shares in a company, buy them right back after, then claiming that initial sale is a loss on paper, even though you made your money back right after.

Starting point is 00:10:36 That way you can write off the loss on your tax forms, even though you didn't actually lose any money. Though unsurprisingly, that practice was banned in 1921. And for most of the century, the law worked. But over the past 25 years, banks have discovered a loophole. Where you can't sell a stock and then buy the same stock back for a tax loss, we know that. But, what if when you sell the stock, you then just buy another stock that's slightly, technically, kind of different from the first one, but not really. And then like before 1921, you claim a tax loss on that.

Starting point is 00:10:58 Well, even though that's technically illegal, the law is so vague and rarely enforced that you'd be in the clear. And as it turns out, that's exactly what former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did for years. And understand, he's just one example, selling off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of shares in the oil giant Shell and the mining giant BHP, then buying back a different version of the same stocks that are legally distinct, allowing him to plausibly claim a loss. And because both versions of the stocks are from the same companies, they perform reliably about the same. Right, when one goes up, so does the other. Meaning Ballmer gets to make all his money back and still tell the IRS he lost money.

Starting point is 00:11:28 But again, this is not a Ballmer-centric problem. This goes all the way to the top because banking giant Goldman Sachs, which executed trades on Ballmer's behalf, orchestrated the entire strategy. They know that despite momentary ups and downs, the stock market generally trends upward over long periods of time.

Starting point is 00:11:42 And so reportedly, what they did is they carefully selected stocks that would track the market as a whole and then pulled hundreds of them into tax-advantaged loss harvesting accounts, where they sat, at least until inevitably some of the individual stocks of the whole market dipped, at which point the bank pounced, selling off those stocks and buying back the distinct yet equally valuable versions right afterward. And just by doing that, which again is essentially them doing nothing, Ballmer saved at least $138 million over four years. This strategy reportedly included the likes of billionaires

Starting point is 00:12:06 like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Walmart's Air, Jim Walton, WhatsApp's co-founder Brian Acton, and Goldman's far from the only bank doing this, right? This scheme is actually commonplace across the financial industry, leading to billions of dollars that should have paid for your healthcare, education, and public services

Starting point is 00:12:20 staying in the pockets of billionaires instead. Meanwhile, most ordinary people only have investments in tax-protected retirement funds, so they, and probably you, are locked out of the room where the big money is being made. So with this, one of the questions is, how did all of this happen over the past couple of decades? And there, we actually saw ProPublica blaming it on several things, such as better computers, new financial products, and cheaper trading costs, among other changes which made this loophole feasible, which is also why some argue that we need a wash sales ban for the 21st century. And if at this point you're still like,

Starting point is 00:12:44 Phil, I don't know what the fuck was happening. I don't understand. That's kind of the point. They don't want regular people being fucking aware of this. But at the end of the day, all you really need to know with this story is, rich people no pay taxes, poor people yes pay taxes. And if we want this to change, one, we need more people to be aware of what's happening. And two, we have to apply pressure or get new politicians elected who aren't just gonna take money from these people because money moves everything. And that's where today's show ends. Thank you for being subscribed to these daily dives in the news. If you missed yesterday's

Starting point is 00:13:11 show, I got you here. If you want to check out a brand new international shorts, I got you here. But as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you Sunday.

Your Ad Here

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.16 WOW! This Billie Eilish Problem is Bigger Than Billie & A Fun New Way The Rich Are Stealing From You

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.