The Young Turks - Off The Script

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

President Biden said that Putin cannot remain in power and everyone freaked out about it. Biden proposed a budget that includes more military & social spending and a new minimum tax on billionaires. Uninsured Americans will now be charged $125 for a single PCR Covid-19 test. A whistleblower is alleging that Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes. Fox News’ John Roberts cornered Rick Scott (R) when the Florida senator tried to write-off the controversy of his policy ideas as “Democrat talking points.” *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews https://youtu.be/GXZC1OOzhXA https://youtu.be/PxxA61OVgl4 https://youtu.be/dko5OG20N5M https://youtu.be/k6xtZo5k3Wc https://youtu.be/WisfFO5JT1E https://youtu.be/23igwWe64A0 https://youtu.be/LGgps7SZPL0 https://youtu.be/AAHfbgSVNVE https://youtu.be/yPwKr0S80M0 https://youtu.be/T_bxw-ATe2A Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space that does it all for you, no matter the size. Whether you're taking over your parents' basement or moving to campus, IKEA has hundreds of design ideas and affordable options to complement any budget. After all, you're in your small space era. to own it. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca. All right, well, I'm the Young Turks, Jake Eugenica, Sparing with you guys.

So big day ahead, huge show, obviously we've got the war stories, we've got cultural war stories, unfortunately in America, and Anna, we got Will Smith versus Chris Rock. We're gonna have our own take on that, the slap hurt across the world. How you doing, Anna? I'm doing, I'm doing great, I'm sure. that audience members are going to wonder why I'm working from home this week. And I am going to just come out and say that I tested positive for COVID. I'm feeling great aside from a little bit of fatigue.

But to keep my colleagues safe, I will be working from home until I test negative. So I just wanted to give you guys the deets. Okay, Deets with Smeats, mission accomplished. That's a reference to a bonus episode for members. Hey, t.y.com slash join. All right, Anna, take it away. All right, let's do it. A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase the people's love for liberty.

Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refused to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. We will have a different future, a brighter future, rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light of decency and dignity of freedom and possibilities, for God's sake, this man cannot remain in power. For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power. Those were the controversial statements that President Joe Biden made over the weekend. And it's now being referred to as the moment that Biden went off script and allegedly crushed this delicate balance that he's

been trying to strike since the beginning of Russia's invasion into Ukraine on February 24th. Biden's aides actually spent some time trying to walk back the statement that he made there to give the impression that the United States is not attempting to change the regime in Russia. Now, Biden's AIDS quickly insisted that the remark delivered in front of a castle that served for centuries as a home for Polish monarchs was not intended as an appeal for for regime change. Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov also wasted no time in releasing his own statement, saying, quote, it's not for Biden to decide the president of Russia is elected by the Russians.

And when it comes to further condemnation, Emmanuel Macron also jumped in and said that he would not have used Biden's words, adding that he saw his task as achieving first a ceasefire and then a total withdrawal of Russian troops by diplomatic means. He told broadcaster France three, quote, we want, if we want to do that, we can't escalate in either words or actions. And he was also specifically referring to Biden's decision to refer to Vladimir Putin as a butcher. And look, I don't blame Biden for going off the cuff and expressing his personal opinions in regard to Vladimir Putin and his actions. In fact, it's now being reported that Russian troops are using missiles or weapons that include white phosphorus, which is incredibly dangerous. I'll give you more details on that in just a moment.

But before I do, just want to make it clear that independent sources have not fully confirmed that yet. However, the Ukrainian officials have come out and said that these are the types of weapons that are now being deployed, Cenk. All right, and we'll tell you why the American government is not making a big deal out of that as well. So first on Biden's speech, it was actually a really strong speech, well crafted, tough, but walked a right line, really well received all around, except for that last improvised sentence. And now, of course, it's a big one. And so we always push for everybody to be more

authentic, people in news, people in politics, except these cases. And so there's a reason why there's a script because these are delicate negotiations. And you could say it's silly, okay, fine, fair, it's silly. But is it important? Yes, it definitely is important. Why is it silly? Because we have to like find a way to call Putin a butcher but say that he should not be removed.

Because if you say he should be removed, that signals regime change, which actually, you know, logically Putin is the one creating the problem. so you would think as a normal human being, well, that would solve it, right? But no, that indicates a larger attack against the Russian government itself. And of course, people in power take that stuff way more personally. Their egos are involved and maybe their lives are involved. And so that could upset the peace talks, et cetera. That's why Macron jumps in because the French are trying to, in their own way, lead peace talks.

So you shouldn't have gone off script like that. if you're a Republican saying, oh, can you believe Biden went off script and did it poorly? Are you kidding me? Let's just put that aside. Donald Trump often went off script. And by the way, to his significant political advantage, because he came across his authentic because he wouldn't stick to a script. The reality is he's, of course, a giant con man. He just couldn't stick to a script because he has trouble reading. And when he went off script, he would say things like maybe you should inject bleach into your lungs. a total lunatic, okay? So this is not at that level, but this is a very delicate situation,

and that's why it's receiving so much attention. But it also shouldn't distract from the fact that Biden did a great job of rallying allies in Europe. And we know the sanctions are working, because as we'll show you later in the program, the oligarchs are now starting to cry and cry at significant levels. And that's real pressure on the Russian government. Right. I mean, over the weekend, Biden had many meetings with the homies, NATO allies, of course. He met with EU leaders. And so look, again, on one hand, I don't blame him for feeling this way. But he does have to be strategic and control the rhetoric because what he said there in implying or making it seem as though regime changes what the United States government wants, it plays right into the propaganda from black. Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin itself.

This idea that the real enemy here is the United States. The reason why this invasion happened is because of the United States. I mean, it's ridiculous propaganda, but Biden's words could be used to add some credibility to that nonsense propaganda coming from Vladimir Putin himself. I do also want to talk about some of the reports coming from Laviv, where allegedly Russian troops have deployed six missiles while Biden was giving that speech. And the accusation is that Russia has now resorted to using weaponry that includes white phosphorus. Now that is a serious allegation, but I want to make it clear that this is the type of weaponry that the United States military also uses. Although they claim they use it to create smoke screens, not to target civilians. I'll let you do with that information what you will.

But here are the details we know. we know. Now, Ukrainian forces shared photos of the white phosphorus raining down days after President Zelensky had warned the world that Russia was using phosphorus bombs against peaceful people in Ukraine. White phosphorus is a highly toxic chemical substance known for its ability to burn. As one chemical weapons expert put it, very vigorously through human flesh. In fact, this next video gives you some more information on this type of weapon and how it

is considered a crime, a war crime to use it against civilians, but again, its use is pretty widespread. Let's watch. Phosphorus bombs utilize the white form of the chemical substance phosphorus, and white phosphorus is notorious for its horrific capacity to burn through human flesh with a combination of heat and fire. Bombs, rockets, mortars and shells loaded with white phosphorus ignite as soon as that chemical substance comes into contact with the air, essentially upon delivery. If they land on a person, they can burn that person all the way down to the bone. And if the person survives, they can suffer respiratory damage, infection, and organ failure as a result. So it's illegal to use phosphorus bombs on civilian targets, and most definitely

a war crime to intentionally airdrop them on densely populated civilian areas. But as a general rule, white phosphorus actually isn't banned outright by international weapons law or the law of armed conflicts. So when we talk about chemical weapons and how Russia potentially using chemical weapons should be considered a so-called red line, we have to take into account that some chemical weapons don't count, including white phosphorus bombs, because other countries, including the United States, also happens to use it, although again, they claim they use it for different purposes. Yeah, well, the U.S. explanation is horse crap. Israel says the same thing. But, But you just saw the explanation of it.

As soon as it comes into contact with air, it instantly goes into effect. Well, I don't know if you guys know this, but smoke travels. Oh, no, no, we didn't use it on civilians. Really? Well, you exploded in the air. Especially in places like Gaza Strip, where is it going to go where there isn't civilians? It's an absurd claim. Or does the white phosphorus look down and go, oh, no, no, there's people down there.

No, let's not land there. No, white phosphorus is terrible, should not be used. The only reason why it's not a massive international story now is because the U.S. and Israel also use it. So it's funny. Our media, I mean, we make fun of the Russian outlets and their obvious propaganda. Ours is a little bit more subtle, right? because if the US and Israel didn't use white phosphorus, not just our government, but our media right now would be like, this is an outrage. It can vigorously burn through the flesh of

Ukrainian children, which by the way is true. But our press doesn't say any of that because we do the same thing. Exactly. Now, back to Biden's comments. Just today, he was asked whether or not he had any regrets for using that type of rhetoric and referring to Vladimir Putin. And here's what he had to say. You now regret saying that because your government has been trying to walk that back. Does your words complicate matters? Well, yes, three different questions. I'll answer them all. Number one, I'm not walking anything back.

The fact of the matter is I was expressing the more outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing in the actions of this man, just brutality. half the children in Ukraine. I just come from being with those families. And so, but I want to make it clear. I wasn't then, nor am I now articulating the policy change. I was expressing the moral outrage that I feel and I make no apologies for it. Jank, I feel like that was a near perfect response to the question, right? No, I'm not apologizing for what I said. Our policy hasn't changed. Let me be clear about that. But I'm not going to apologize for referring to him as a butcher. I'm not going to apologize for saying that this is not a person

who should be in charge of Russia. Yeah, no, I love that answer. It's the dichotomy between domestic policy Biden and foreign policy Biden is one of the most amazing things I've seen in politics. In domestic policy, he is a disaster, which we're going to talk about in just a minute. But in foreign policy, I mean, he often nails it, right? And so I know the mainstream media loves endless wars. That's why they're pushing him to a World War III here. Oh, why don't you do a no-fly zone? Why don't you bomb them harder? Why don't you speak tougher on Afghanistan? They're like, God damn it, why are you withdrawing? So, but they're wrong about all of that. I'm glad we withdrew from Afghanistan. He put us in the Paris Climate Accords. That was easy.

He could definitely do more. He should restart the Iran Accords, et cetera. But overall in Ukraine, he's walked that line nearly perfectly. And here, even when he got it a little bit wrong with that last sentence, his follow-up to that reporter, I agree with that. And it was near pitch perfect. So, God damn right, Putin's a monster. But no, we're not changing our policy. Well, why don't we move over to domestic policy?

because Biden has engaged in a little bit of performative politics here. And I say performative because let's just be absolutely clear, this proposal is going nowhere. But you should know the details of what Biden has proposed in his latest budget. So let's do it. President Joe Biden's latest budget, proposal calls for more funding in many areas, including policing in America, defense. It's a lot of bad things, but also he's proposing funding for a lot of great things.

The big takeaway here though is none of it is likely to happen with the exception of additional defense spending. Let me give you the details. Now Biden will request $813.3 billion in national security spending. And that's an increase of 31 billion or 4% from the 2020 budget. And that's according to people familiar with the proposal. Now just to break it down a little further in regard to the proposal for defense funding, the funding for the defense department will also include $4.1 billion to conduct research and development defense capabilities.

Okay, let's just pause for a second. We'll come back to this graphic. Do these private military contractors not have enough profit, do they not have enough resources to conduct their own research and development? Like why does the federal government with the use of taxpayer money need to give this to defense contractors to do their research and development? I mean, this is just a perfect example of how rigged this system is thanks to legalized bribery. Defense contractors fund the politicians and then the politicians give them all sorts of goodies, including funding for research and development. It's just, it's mind blowing.

But let me give you more details here. Nearly $5 billion for a space-based missile warning system to detect global threats and nearly $2 billion for a missile defense interceptor to protect the United States against ballistic missile threats from states like North Korea and Iran. There's also some funding there for veterans, which I have absolutely no problem with. I think this makes a lot of sense. The White House will for the first time propose that veterans affairs medical funding be given its own discrete stream of funding. The administration plans to use the defense proposal to send a message to Congress that funding for veterans deserves the same sense of urgency as investments in national security.

I would venture to say it deserves way more priority than the money that we typically provide for weapons development and stuff like that. Yeah, so the budget has to pass. So some version of this will pass. So what will remain in the bill and what will be stripped out is the question. So all the deposit spending will remain in the bill and maybe even be increased. Anything that helps corporations and donors will remain or be increased. There will be a lot of talk about deficit reduction, but they will do as little of that as possible. It's always marketing. Not one person in Washington means it. No corporate Democrat means it, no Republican means it. It's just a talking point. So in terms of marketing, Biden's saying we're going to reduce the deficit over 10 years by a trillion dollars. No, he won't. And this one is not because he doesn't want to.

He loves being a deficit hawk. That's kind of a Republican position overall. So he'd like to be right wing like that. But the problem is the only way to do it these days is to increase taxes on the rich. rich. So he included that in the proposal so it could have good marketing around that, hey, I'm fighting the deficit, plus I'm going to tax the rich, right? But those two things will not happen. There's no way in the world they're going to happen. Not only his mansion is cinema opposed to it, Mansion says he loves his billionaires and those poor, poor guys

shouldn't get taxed. So that's obvious. And the only reason why it's not going to happen, it's enormously popular, by the way. Almost everybody in America agrees to it. It only applies to people making above $100 million, okay, but the people making above $100 million or have assets of above $100 million, they're the ones with almost all of the power. So they're not going to let their servants that are the senators and congressmen pass this, including their Democratic servants. By the way, speaking of which top hostess, if you will, of the rich Nancy Pelosi, also against it. She's made that clear in private conversations, why she's also spectacularly wealthy,

and so are almost all of her donors. So what you're seeing, guys, is a lot of nonsense talking, you'll see months of it from the mainstream media, pretending as if there's anything real happening in negotiations. But we can tell you ahead of time right now, the day that it is proposed, what will and won't be in it, and you'll see that we are 100% right, because the only thing, that dictates policy in Washington is corruption. Yeah, you know, it's it. You're absolutely right, Jank.

I agree with you. In fact, look, to be fair, even Trump would come out with his annual budget proposal. And, you know, most of the items in there would never even make it into any legislation. The only thing he really accomplished during his stint was the $2 trillion in tax breaks for the rich.

And so to your point about how this is nothing more than like a PR stunt, It's not really going to go anywhere, at least the more popular, important parts of his proposal. It's incredible because he's bragging about the wealth tax, right? And how it's going to increase revenue for the federal government. You said to the tune of $1 trillion over 10 years, other estimates are far lower than that. So let me give you the details. And then I'll get to the point I'm trying to make.

So the budget will outline a minimum tax on billionaires, which would require that American households worth more than 100 million pay a rate of at least 20% on their income, as well as unrealized gains in the value of their liquid assets, such as stocks and bonds, which can accumulate value for years, but are taxed only when they're sold. So that wealth tax is expected to bring in $360 billion in revenue over 10 years. We know it's not going to go anywhere. We know they're not going to pass this. So if he's just doing this as a marketing thing, then why didn't he just say, I propose we reverse the Trump-era tax cuts, which would raise two trillion dollars in revenue over 10 years. You get what I'm saying? Yeah, I do. Even the nonsense PR that he's doing

is weak as hell. Yeah, I hear you. So just to be clear, the tax increase portion of the budget would result of $360 billion extra into the American budget and reduce the deficit. The overall package they Biden's team says would reduce deficit by a trillion dollars, the whole budget together, okay? So so why not just say two trillion? There's a couple of reasons why. Their own donors won't allow Biden to do that. So for example, Biden says we're going to bring the tax rate back to 28%. Well, it wasn't 28%. It was 35% before Trump and the Republicans and some Democrats implicitly cut it, right? So why not, to Anna's point, why not bring it back to 35 percent? Why not even try for 35 percent? You know you're not going to pass it anywhere

because their, his donors would be furious. And they would say, now remember, the most you could even pretend to do is 28 percent. And don't you dare say a nickel more than that. Okay, so, and then of course, he'll heal and he'll do as he's commanded. So, but it Guys, at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. It's all theatrics. So the idea of that billionaire tax passing, even though it is massively popular in the country, about three quarters of America's want it, and we live in a so-called democracy. It has a 0% chance of passing.

Zero, none. Any talk of it now is total nonsense. So do not, and how much credit do I give Biden for at least proposing it? Also, zero, because he doesn't mean it. He's lying. He's not even going to try to pass it. We've seen this movie before, and here's a guy who's giving him a ton of credit on foreign policy. I'm telling you on domestic policy, it's nothing but a lie.

They won't even bother trying. Yes, and to your point about the overall proposal raising, you know, one trillion in revenue, Other proposals within this include a tax, just a 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks, which sounds all great and dandy, that will likely go nowhere. And even that proposal is weak compared to what we had in the country in terms of regulations previously. We did not allow companies to artificially inflate the value of their shares by buying their own stocks. And those regulations were loosened over the years. And now we have companies spending a whopping just last year alone, $882 billion in corporate stock buybacks.

And this year, they're expected to spend $1 trillion in corporate stock buybacks. And by the way, speaking of that number, $1 trillion, how soon before we see the defense budget balloon to a trillion dollars? We're getting closer. Yeah, so again, the corporate buyback provisions have a 0% chance of passing. like one provision in there says that even if you do buybacks, executives cannot participate for three years. Corporate executives run this country completely and utterly. They're not going to let you touch their own compensation.

That's going to get laughed out of the building by the bosses in Washington who are those same corporate executives. And if you're a right winger or a left winger, you all know this. The only people who don't know it are the people who read the New York Times. and watch CNN and MSNBC. They get brainwashed and they're thinking, oh, there's a real drama here. Oh, the Democrats are trying so hard. Oh, golly gee, they're trying so hard to get accountability.

No, there's no way they're going to do that. New York Times had a hilarious description of this where they say, well, some executives, there's theories out there about how executives might be doing the buybacks, because when they do, they sell their own stock and at a higher rate, because it increases the value of their own stock prices. Oh, is there a theory about that? Okay, oh wow, there's also a theory on gravity. Yeah, neither one is in is the actually fits the definition of what we colloquially think of as a theory.

No, if you take a step off a building, you're going to fall. Gravity is real. And corporate executives are not, don't care a little bit about their compensation. They're obsessed with their compensation. Everything they do is to get a higher compensation. That's why they're doing hundreds of billions of dollars in. stock buybacks, and there's no way in the world that their own servants, the politicians, are going to defy their masters. No, they will heal, they will get back in line. No good

part of this bill will pass. Well, we're going to take a break, but don't you worry, when we come back, we have more news for you, including a federal judge making it clear that he believes that Donald Trump has committed felonies. We'll give you the details on that and more when we come back. All right, back on TYT. Jake and Anna with you guys, and it's got more news. A federal judge has made clear through his ruling that he believes that Donald Trump and his former lawyer, John Eastman, likely committed felonies with their attempts to overturn

the results of the 2020 presidential election. Now, regardless of what this judge thinks, I want to make clear that he does not have the ability to prosecute Trump for these. alleged felonies, but he does have the ability to help hand down rulings in regard to what kind of documents can be subpoenaed in the investigation into January 6th. Now here are the details. Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California released a court filing in which he wrote that Trump, quote, more likely than not, end quote, committed felony obstruction, conspired to defraud the United States and dishonestly conspired with Eastman to obstruct the joint session of Congress by trying to have his election loss overturned.

Carter also ordered Eastman, and this is where he has some power, to turn over his emails to the January 6th committee after he refused to cooperate with their investigation after getting subpoenaed. Now he actually issues some pretty harsh statements in this court filing. I want to read you a few excerpts from it. For instance, on page 36, he writes that the illegality of the plan was obvious. Our nation was founded on the peaceful transition of power, epitomized by George Washington, laying down his sword to make way for democratic elections. Ignoring this history, President Trump vigorously campaigned for the vice president to single handedly determine the results of the 2020 election. He continues to write that as vice president

Pence stated, no vice president in American history has ever asserted. such authority. Every American and certainly the President of the United States knows that in a democracy, leaders are elected, not installed. With a plan this bold, President Trump knowingly tried to subvert this fundamental principle. And then he also writes, based on the evidence, the court finds it more likely than not, it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the joint session of Congress on January 6th, 2021. Now, again, neither Carter nor the January 6th committee have the authority to prosecute Trump for criminal conduct. Carter acknowledges this in his statement.

It's really up to the DOJ to do something about this. And he's hoping that with this type of statement, this type of filing, maybe it'll convince Merrick Garland, the attorney general, to do something about this. He writes more than a year after the attack on our capital, the public is still searching for accountability. If Dr. Eastman and President Trump, Trump's plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution. If the country does not commit to investigating and pursuing accountability for those responsible, the court fears January 6th will repeat itself. I would venture to say, Jenk, that those fears are very likely to come true because the thought of Trump actually facing prosecution for these

Felonies is in my, in my mind, just completely impossible. We don't ever hold people in positions of power accountable, certainly not former presidents. Yeah, so there's a couple of important things here. First of all, there's a specific crime that's mentioned, felony obstruction of justice, or in this case, of a session of Congress, right? And so did Trump do that? Well, here's a judge stating on the record that he most likely did it. Obviously, you'd have to adjudicate it all the way through.

But for the purpose of his ruling, he has to decide, was there a potential crime committed here and should the hence, does Congress have the right to these documents? And he says, yes. Now, was that crime actually committed? There's absolutely no question about it. I mean, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon wrote a book about how they planned to commit that crime and that President Trump was involved. You've got the text from Mark Meadows to Jenny Thomas, among others.

Trump absolutely positively did not want Pence and he has said it a thousand times publicly did not want Pence to certify the election that in itself is obstructing Congress in in actually declaring who the actual president is it's against the law so just understand there's almost no question that Trump didn't just do something wrong he committed a crime in trying to block the certification of the election especially as a sitting president who was involved in that same election, it just does not get any more corrupt on that. Now, having said that, of course, Anna's right. The Justice Department is led by a coward Merrick Garland. Almost all the Democrats in leadership are cowards. They would never

prosecute a fellow elite. They're too worried about their own hide. And the minute the Republicans say, oh, yeah, we might do it to you. They will back away and run away from the building like their hair is on fire. Donald Trump has already committed many obvious crimes. I mean, look, I can give you a half a dozen, but there's no one thinks that there's any dispute that he paid hush money to his mistresses during the campaign. That's a clear campaign finance law violation. It is a crime, and his co-conspirator already went to prison for it.

There's absolutely no doubt, and still, DAs who are largely Democratic in those cities and states like New York are also incredible cowards and they also get hints et cetera from Democratic leadership. Don't do it. We're just doing theatrics here. We're just trying to do marketing, raise more money

and win more elections. But there's no, like it would be shocking if they held Trump accountable for the many crimes he's committed, including the crime against our own democracy. You know, we see what the consequences are when the American people lose faith and trust in their institutions. We see it when it comes to losing faith or trust in local police departments and how that plays out.

We see it happen on a federal level with various federal agencies, whether it be the CDC in the middle of a global pandemic or the FDA when it comes to approving vaccines. Look, on one hand, it's frustrating because the lack of trust oftentimes translates into people doing reckless things that only harm themselves. But at the same time, how could you blame them for losing faith in our institutions? Here's a perfect example of how we do have a two-tier justice system. We've known that, especially when it comes to ordinary citizens based on their identity, their background, their race, what have you. But on a federal level, when we see the type of treatment, the elite get when they are engaging in potential felonies versus ordinary people. I mean, when it comes to financial fraud, any ordinary American would definitely be prosecuted for that. If they're lying on their IRS forms, if they're lying when they file their taxes, if they're inflating assets to obtain insurance or loans, they're going to be prosecuted for that.

And then you look at Donald Trump and all of a sudden you have federal prosecutors kind of backing off of their criminal investigation into the financial fraud that he allegedly committed, financial fraud that was corroborated by his own former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. So I give you all that context to just make this point about how the reason why we're seeing American society crumble the way that it is is because the very people in positions of power, the people who are supposed to be those. handing out the consequences or, or ensuring that there's accountability for bad behavior, typically don't do that when it comes to people in positions of power. And that has to change if we're ever going to get to a better place overall in this country. Yeah. So I want to just build off of that. So Republicans commit more crimes, especially white collar crimes. And we've proven that over and over again throughout our coverage. It's not that Democrats don't commit crimes, the republicans just are brazen and are over the top at a much higher rate.

And part of the reason for that is because Democrats never prosecute white collar crimes. Never. So the only way you're ever going to get prosecuted by Democrat or Republican is if you stole from other rich people like Bernie Madoff did and there's one partner at Goldman Sachs who stole from the other partners at Goldman Sachs. Those are the only well-known cases. Those are the only cases, period. So the rich run this country.

You know, we talk about the oligarchs in Russia. Our oligarchs are arguably stronger than the Russian oligarchs. They have an iron grip on both of our parties. They set up this beautiful theater where it looks like there's actually competition going on and back and forth. But Democrats are good cops. Republicans are bad cops. They work together on behalf of the rich. So every actual American knows this.

But if you turn on CNN, will you ever see them saying that? Never. They'll treat these stories like, oh, okay, well, then we might have prosecution and we'll see what Merrick Garland does. And they treat it as if it's real. Biden's budget proposes a billionaire tax, and they're all having earnest conversations about it. MSNBC, oh, what a great proposal by Joe Biden.

Go get him, Tiger. They're all lying to you. It's a joke. They know that that budget's never going to pass. Do you guys know what the average billionaire pays in taxes? 8%. They pay way less than you. They pay way less than you in federal taxes.

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Conditions apply. None of them ever go to jail for any other crime breaking, or law breaking. And so here's Donald Trump, the top con man, the top criminal, the one that the Democrats say they are most concerned about. And the one that if he wins a re-election could single-handedly end democracy, especially if you don't hold him accountable now. Still, the Democrats will do nothing in their infinite cowardice and corruption. Now, I tell you all that with great confidence ahead of time. And for all the Democrats who are crying, oh no, Joe Biden, Merrick Garland are great and honest people.

They will hold people to account. Okay, you want to bet? I guarantee you I'm right. What would you like to bet? There is no chance you're right. So you will see. And then after I'm right for the thousandth time in a row, Democratic establishment shills will come and go,

but Jake, there was nothing we could do. Mansion, cinema, parliamentarian, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, we do the real news. So if Trump is going to be held accountable, there is going to be a massive, there would need to be a massive sea change in American politics that does not exist today. I'll give you one last detail.

Anna told you about the financial corruption that Trump and fraud that Trump was definitely involved in. There's no question. His top lawyer said, here is how we cooked our books. There's no question at all, right? The Manhattan DA backed off that investigation. I don't know if it's because he's the world's largest coward or if he's just specifically corrupt or if the Biden administration told him, hey, remember we're Democrats, we don't

ever actually do anything. Everything we say is a lie in for marketing purposes. But either way, the Manhattan DA is currently refusing to, and for, and prosecutors within that office, top prosecutors, really well respect to prosecutors, resigned and then said publicly, we definitely have the evidence and they are choosing not to pursue it. So this system is rigged, and ironically, it's rigged in favor of Donald Trump by Democratic So when you have a party this complicit, this corrupt, that's when fascism sees an easy rise to power. And that's exactly what we're in the middle of right now.

All right, we're going to take a brief break. But when we come back and definitely stick around, there are a lot of great stories that we want to get to, including Fox News asking a Republican, some tough questions. Rick Scott in the hot seat, we'll give you that story and more. We'll also, of course, talk about the moment from the Oscars that everyone's talking about. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on the face, on stage. We've got those details and more. Stick around. All right, back on CYT, Chank and Anna with you guys. Anna's got more news.

All right, let's do it. That would raise taxes on half of Americans and potentially some. programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Why would you propose something like that in an election year? It's rare, but this is one of the few times of Fox posts. And John, that's, of course, the Democrat talking points. It's a plan. No, no, it's in the plan.

It's in the plan. But here's this thing about reality for a second. Let's talk about Medicare. But Senator, hey God, John, it's not a democratic talking point. It's in the plan. That's right. Fox News every once in a while we'll ask a Republican a tough question, especially when that Republican has a proposal that could lead to political suicide for the Republican Party. So Rick Scott has continued pushing his proposal. He refers to it as

Rescue America, which would, of course, make the poorest Americans pay federal income taxes. And it would also lead to the very popular universal programs of Social Security and Medicare to sunset after five years. So that's what he got called out on. And he really struggled to answer those questions because again, the host is asking him about what he's reading specifically from the proposal itself. And Scott tried to pretend like that's not the case. Later in the interview, he said, no one that I know of wants to sunset Medicare or Social Security. But what we're doing is we don't even talk about it. He asserted that the plan was about reorganizing such programs because, quote, we ought

to figure out how we preserve those programs. Now clearly he has no interest in preserving those programs because again, his plan would lead to these popular universal programs to expire to essentially lose the funding necessary. And the reason why the Republican Party overall, including Republican leaders, has slapped this down is because these are programs that are incredibly popular, even among Republican voters. For instance, why don't we take a look at Social Security? A public policy polling survey conducted in 2018 found that 56% of those who voted for Donald Trump and 55%

of those who identify as Republican would be more likely to vote for a candidate who, quote, supported expanding and increasing social security. And the results are even more significant when you take a look at Medicare. So large majorities across demographic groups say Medicare is important to them and their families. If you look at party identification among Democrats, we're talking about 88%. Among Republicans, we're talking about 77%. These are people who love Medicare, in fact, would like to see it expanded further. Jank.

Well, Rick Scott's been trying to destroy Medicare for a long time. He committed the largest Medicare fraud in American history when he was a CEO of a health care company. And if you think that's an exaggeration, you can go ahead and look it up. Just Google it. You'll see. In fact, it was the largest fraud against the American government at that point. But Republicans don't look at criminals, mainly white, white collar criminals, and think bad guy. They think smart, savvy guy who knows how to rob us blind.

Oh, please take my money, sir, and destroy Medicare while you're at it, sir. So they've elected him many times. So he thinks, let me just finish the job. I stole tons of money from them. What did you get about $300 million in compensation for that theft? And by the way, the company was criminally convicted. So there's no question about any of this. Rick Scott is one of the biggest criminals in American history.

And now he's going and saying, well, look, I don't think they'll sunset Medicare and Social Security, but they would have to have affirmative vote in the, in a direction to say that they're going to keep it. You see a lot of affirmative votes in Congress? No, anybody can stop a vote. Just say filibuster, Manchester, Manchester, Manchester, Sinema, Republicans, it doesn't matter. They'll end Social Security and Medicare instantly. But by the way, why, though, when even an overwhelming majority of your voters want it?

Because the rich don't want it. It bothers them. They're like, wait, now, if we have Social Security and Medicare, then people retire at the age of 65. I don't want them retiring. I want them back in the mindset. I want them to keep working. And if they get health care,

they won't be beholden to me. They won't be my slave. So they can just then get health care and retire. And then they contributed it in and the government gives it back to them instead of handing it to me. No, they hate it. They've been trying to kill Social Security.

Republicans have been trying to kill Social Security and Medicare since the day that it was launched. While they fought tooth and nail against FDR to make sure it didn't get launched. So it's not a, the problem that other Republicans have with Rick Scott is not that he's trying to kill Medicare and Social Security, it's that they think he's being ham handed about it, that he's being too obvious. Yeah. They're like, no, you idiot. We're trying to kill it in a much more subtle way. And they almost pulled it off under Obama, where McConnell got Obama to propose cutting Social Security and then laughed at him and blamed him for it. And so this is as old as time, it's just Rick Scott is doing it in a clumsy way. Yeah, I love that you brought up what happened during the Obama administration. That's my favorite example.

And the fact that Obama fell for that garbage just just shows you the, I mean, he's a smart guy except when it comes to Republican strategy, he fell for it. He would take the bait and it was a disaster. But I do want to just quickly point to the reason why these programs are popular in the first place. The reason why they're popular, the reason why they have enjoyed the longevity that they have is because of the fact that they're universal programs. Everyone pays into it, everyone benefits from it. Even if you're ultra wealthy, you pay into it. And if you want, you get to take advantage of that program later. Obviously, no one can survive just on social security during retirement, but it was a,

it's been a tremendously important program in providing supplemental income for retirees, ensuring that people are made whole and that they don't end up on the streets in their, in their senior years. And so when we're talking about policy proposals and why it is that you want it to be universal rather than means tested, this is why. You want programs that everyone gets to take advantage of. You don't pick winners and losers. And yes, as long as everyone pays into it, everyone gets to take advantage of it. So it's just something to keep in mind as Democrats continue putting out or rolling out proposals that are like so heavily means tested that of course the most affluent people in the country are going to fight back against it.

So that's my only commentary here. And I love the fact that Rick Scott is such a moron that he doesn't understand that, just brazenly attacking tremendously popular programs ain't going to fly. Right, but there's one other dynamic here that's really important. And he's not strictly a moron. There is a real reason why he's doing it. But first, I just want to make a quick point about two of the things we were discussing. On Social Security and Medicare, the Republicans have been calling it an entitlement this whole time.

They're like, oh, look at these people, they feel like they're entitled. As you all know, because you paid into Social Security and Medicare your whole life, yes, you are entitled to it because it's your goddamn money. But then the Republicans make it seem like, oh, I guess you just feel entitled to the money. Yeah, I'm entitled that money, and you're not allowed to steal it, Rick Scott, okay? And he's like, oh, God damn it, why aren't I allowed to steal it? So that's who Rick Scott is. And I can say all of this brazenly on air, because it's true.

Rick Scott, come at me, bro, right? He won't because he's a crook and he's a criminal. And the rest of the mainstream media, they report it, you could look at us. up, but then when they talk about Rick Scott, they will not clarify that he's one of the biggest criminals in American history. It's amazing. All right. So that leads us to the taxes. He wants to raise taxes on 50% of the country. And where does he want to concentrate the extra taxes? The poor and the middle class. I'm not exaggerating. Meanwhile, Biden proposed earlier today a bill that would hit people making with people that have assets over $100 million.

That has no chance of passing because it affects the rich. It's intensely popular. The Democratic proposal is, wait, the rich paid, the billionaires pay 8% in taxes on average. That's a crime. That's unbelievable. And they have plenty of money. They should pay their fair share. Now, the Democrats don't mean it, but rhetorically, it's true.

And I wish to God they meant it because that makes sense. The Republicans now, through Rick Scott, are saying, no, leave the poor rich alone. Let's hammer the poor and the middle class and raise taxes on that. So why is he doing it? Okay, there's an internal battle within the Republican Party. And on one side is Trump and fellow criminals like Rick Scott. So both Trump and Scott, to be fair to them, we say they're stupid, but are they? They've both made hundreds of millions of dollars ripping people off.

And they both committed crimes. They've both gotten away with it. and they're both spectacularly wealthy because they're lifelong criminals and they understand that this system, the minute you steal the money and you, as long as you stole enough of it, right, once you have it, then you're above the law and you're never going to be held accountable. So he's going with a blunt instrument. Let's just steal all their money now. Let's go get the poor in the middle class.

Let's rob him like Trump wants to. McConnell is on the other camp. McConnell is a more crafty thief. And he's been milking the American people through decades. But there's a power struggle within the Senate. So McConnell says, I'll go to Graphic 4 here, we will not have as part of our agenda, a bill that raises taxes on half the American people and sunset Social Security and Medicare within five years that will not be part of the Republican Senate majority agenda.

While they were in a press conference together, McConnell made a reference to Rick Scott, who had already walked away from McConnell and walked away from the press conference. So it's clear to me that Trump is going to put somebody like, if he wins, is going to put someone like Rick Scott in charge and say, let's hurry up on the theft, right? And so that's the battle. Rick Scott versus Mitch McConnell, but Scott is a proxy for Trump. So this is Trump versus McConnell. And one is saying, let's steady as we go.

We've been robbing this country blind for 40, 50 years. Don't get overly greedy. And the other side saying, there's no law anymore. Just take the goddamn money and give it to us. Yeah, I think your prediction is exactly right. And it's amazing because when you look at the amount that they would save in taxes, it's such a minuscule amount. And the amount of pain and suffering that it would lead to if we cut the taxes that are necessary to fund social security.

I mean, it's just so they can save a little more money. But I mean, it's not surprising with someone like Donald Trump. who never misses an opportunity to scam people just so he could pat his own pockets. So again, not surprising. This is who they are. This is the Republican Party. And keep that in mind as they pretend to be these economic populace. They're not economic populace. The last thing they would want to do is reverse the damage that's been done by the rigged economic system that we're living under. All right, we got to take a quick break. When we come back, We will get into the whole Oscars drama involving Will Smith.

We have a great poll on that for you guys as well. So stick around. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work. Listen ad-free. Access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple. com slash t-y-t.

I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.