The Young Turks - TYT Extended Clip - March 26th, 2020

Episode Date: March 27, 2020

Small businesses are getting screwed while big businesses get bailed out. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down. 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. All right, welcome the Young Turks, Jank U Gran and Kasparian with you guys. We have really, really interesting news about coronavirus, of course, and the stimulus bill associated with it. As usual, we will give you a perspective that not very many other media outlets are giving you right now. Everybody on TV is high-fiving over the stimulus package. As Anna's about

to explain to you guys, there are massive problems with it. And when I saw that Trump was celebrating how reasonable Schumer was, I knew we were in trouble. So we'll get to that in a second. But guys, there are real needs that businesses have. Have they actually been addressed equitably? apparently not. But I can tell you this, we're one of those businesses. So we appreciate everybody watching. We appreciate everybody participating in every way that they can. And we understand obviously that some folks are on very hard times now. But if you can, it's super important to keep us on air to give you that different perspective. And we were already doing a fundraising drive. We need more than ever now. Tyt.com slash go. We're trying to get the 200,000 by the end of

this month. We're at 193,000 right now. And obviously, time is running very, very low now. And we need to get there and a lot more honestly to keep us sustainable. So, t-y-t.com slash go, please, to make that happen. Now, let's do what we're really good at, which is to give you a different perspective on what's actually happening and to give you the actual facts that you will not see on television. Late last night, the Senate actually passed a whopping $2 trillion stimulus package in order to help both businesses and U.S. workers. But as usual, something that we've been arguing throughout this entire negotiation process, the final bill, which the Senate unanimously, meaning every single senator voted in favor of,

still has a giant problem with prioritizing massive businesses, massive corporations, above the best interests of American workers. So I want to do this deep dive and give you the details of what the Senate has approved. It still needs to be approved by the House, but it is expected to be approved by the House. So this is likely the final version of the law. So based on what we know, and this was reported by Zach Carter at the Huffington Post yesterday, but this still applies to the final passage. The new law would establish a $4.5 trillion, trillion with a T, corporate bailout fund

overseen by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin with few substantive constraints. Some outlets are reporting this as a $500 billion fund, but the $425 billion that's going toward these massive corporations will be leveraged 10 times over by the Federal Reserve, resulting in a multi-trillion dollar program. Okay? So that still remains. These companies will still be bailed out. In addition to that, the bill permits bailed out companies to lay off up to 10% of their

workforce over the next six months with no restrictions after that. So there will be some oversight when it comes to keeping people employed for the next six months. But after that, these corporations, which are now being bailed out by us, the U.S. taxpayers, can go ahead and fire as many people as they want. Keep in mind that Mnuchin would have the authority to waive any upside for the public in its new investments. And the bill's restrictions on stock buybacks at bailed out firms are too temporary to be significant, bailed out companies can even pay dividends to their shareholders. These issues remain, okay? And it's a huge problem, especially when you consider the fact that the stimulus checks that are going to be sent out to Americans are means tested, meaning

they're going to ensure that you're not making too much money to receive those checks. So at about $75,000, you will receive about $1,200. That'll be the one-time check. check you receive, and then it starts tapering off in amount until you get about $99,000 a year. At that point, you don't get any stimulus check. I bring that up because they means test us as U.S. workers, right? But keep in mind that the companies that are likely to be bailed out are airline companies. And JetBlue, Alaska Airlines Group, and Delta, those are three airlines companies that paid $0, nothing, $0 in federal taxes in 2018 following Donald Trump's massive tax cuts for the rich. So they pay nothing into the federal government. We pay our taxes.

And when push comes to shove, when things start to get ugly for these companies that, by the way, have been price gouging us as well, they get bailed out by us, the U.S. taxpayer. So I need somebody to explain to me why there's these giant differences. between small businesses and big business. Look, spoiler alert, it's because big businesses have lobbyists and they bought all of our corrupt politicians. Small businesses are screwed. So do some big businesses potentially need help? Absolutely. So there's a good question as to whether those should be loans, grants, what should be the interest rate on those loans? We need airline industry once we come out of this mess. At the same time, I hear from libertarians and

white-wingers all the time. Hey, if your business can't survive, sad day, sad day. So who cares? Bootstraps, bootstraps. Certainly if you're an individual, they say that to you a thousand times over. Oh, you couldn't pay for your house. Ha-ha, the bank took it. You should get some bootstraps and see how you deal with it. That's free market economics, baby. But when it comes to Boeing, all of a sudden, nobody's interested in free market economics. The audacity of the Boeing CEO and that he got away with it because he knows he already bought all of Congress. They start talking about equity stake if you're going to bail out these companies. He said, absolutely not.

How dare you? Don't you know, I'm your boss? And he said, you know, we have many other options. Well, if that's true, I invite Boeing to go ahead and piss off and go and do whatever the hell they're going to do with there are other options. Wait a minute, if you say I need it, small businesses need it, TYT needs it, TYT dot com slash go, okay, and we're going to use whatever resource we can get from the government, but it isn't going to be enough.

because we're a small business. But if Boeing says they don't need it, then what the hell are we given them money for? And why are there two different rules? I like the rule where it's a small business must protect our employees. Now, that gives less so-called freedom and more restrictions on small business owners such as myself. Fine, good. I want to protect the employees. But why doesn't big business have to play by the same rules? They have more money. They have more power, they're getting literally 10, 15 times the amount of money small businesses getting. So why don't they have to play by the rules? No, they can fire 10% of their employees right now.

They already fired a lot of their employees already. No consequences for that. And then after six months, they can fire them all if they want, right? And at the same time, here you go, dividends to shareholders and all the other things. Can small businesses do any of that? No, because you weren't as corrupt as big business. and you didn't buy all of our stupid corrupt politicians. So are you seeing that on TV?

No, you're not on TV because they're owned by large corporations. They're all applauding. Bravo. Bravo. Way to give it away to us. Yeah, a lot of the great analysis that I've seen on this Senate bill has been done on independent media outlets and print journalism, some print journalism. But I do want to note that the way they're defining small businesses is if you have

500 employees or less. And the reason why I bring that up is because the massive corporations that do not have to abide by this, you know, strict employee rule, they employ more people in the country, right? Because by their very nature, they have more employees as big businesses, big companies, they have more employees. So if you genuinely care about rewarding companies who keep their employees because you want people to stay employed, then having a different standard for small businesses makes no sense. And the standard, by the way, for small businesses is that the federal government will come in and provide loans in order to keep the companies afloat. However, those loans will only be forgiven if the small businesses

maintain their workforce. With the corporations, it's a little different because these are, you know, bailouts. So they're loans by their very nature, but they don't have to abide by any strict rules when it comes to keeping their employees, because you're right, Jank. I mean, I think corruption does have a lot to do with it. And Boeing tells these lawmakers to jump and they jump. You know, it's amazing to me that he has the audacity to say that the U.S. government has no role in owning equity in Boeing when the U.S. government's coming in to save them right now.

Yeah. Look, if you're doing emergency financing of any of any business under normal circumstances, meaning for whatever reason they need emergency financing, keep it real. If you know anything about business, that means you have all of the leverage. So in this case, the government has all the leverage. Now, if Boeing says, I don't need your money, so you have no leverage, fantastic, great, then we won't give it to you. But for the government to say, oh, please, please take my taxpayer money.

I'm going to, by the way, taxpayer money isn't free. Where does it come from? It comes from all of us. So I'm going to take from the middle class and I'm going to pretty please give it to you under the conditions that you will, that you will impose upon us. That's not how it works. Boeing should get zero, zero, zero. If they don't want it, they should shut up and go away.

So it is absolutely outrageous. Part of it is for the airlines, which are in the biggest trouble. Again, understand that I have tremendous sympathy, even for the large corporations that are going through incredibly tough times, as long as we're fair to everyone. But some of those folks are going to get grants. Some of the largest corporations in the world are going to get grants. That means free. Take it.

It's yours. Is it going to be same rules for small business? Is it going to be same rules for the employees? Oh, hell no. No, no, no, no. The richest people, as usual, in this deeply corrupt, country get the most. And as a progressive, if you're curious to find data that supports what we're saying, a good

way of looking at it is to just take a look at how much share prices went up for Boeing following the passage of the stimulus bill, even when it was being negotiated yesterday, I mean, record share prices or increase in share prices in a short period of time. And it's because everyone knew, these investors knew that, don't worry about it, the Senate's going to look out for Boeing. Now, look, I mentioned that it was passed unanimously because I was pretty disappointed to see that every senator, including a senator that I have a lot of admiration for, Bernie Sanders voted in favor of it.

However, I do want to point out some of the good parts of the stimulus bill because there are some incredibly important concessions that Bernie Sanders was able to. to get from Republicans, okay? So first off, when it comes to these bailouts, there are big businesses that do not qualify. And this is a good thing, okay? So the oil industry is getting nothing. And for some reason, the cruise industry also isn't getting anything. But I think it has to do with, you know, just the whole issue that I brought up when it comes

to bailouts overall, which is tax subsidies and things like that. I mean, it's amazing that we get. means tested, and then the companies that haven't paid anything in federal taxes end up getting bailed out. Now, cruise companies apparently don't fall under that category, but I'm really happy to see that the oil industry isn't going to get any of this bailout money. Also, the administration can take equity stakes in airlines that received aid to help compensate taxpayers. It would also send $100 billion to hospitals. By the way, AOC on Twitter said it's actually $200 billion. There's a discrepancy there, but I want to look into that and give you guys the actual.

number, but somewhere between $100 to $200 billion to hospitals on the front lines of the pandemic. Okay? So those are some good things. Weirdly, the postal service isn't getting any help. I don't know why. That makes absolutely no sense. The post office has been hurt by this economically because people aren't working, obviously, and they're not sending mail.

So the post office is in a disastrous situation right now. I don't know why they're not included in the, you know. The economic relief package. Can I guess? Okay, I'm going to guess it's because they don't have any lobbyists and they serve actual people and they don't charge at least 20 bucks for every package. So they don't have enough money to bribe U.S. politicians. So look, here at the Young Turks, we do nuance.

So, and if you don't like that and you want a black and white world, it's all right. There's plenty of options for you guys. So, when you do nuance, you recognize the good parts of the bill and you recognize the necessity for some sort of stimulus bill, no question. And you recognize that getting checks to folks making less money is a good thing. You recognize that increasing unemployment is a good thing. The incentive for companies to keep employees is a good thing. But you also recognize the downsides.

And so, you know, that's why independent media is so important. I don't mean in this case, just Young Turks, as Anna pointed out, Zach Carter in Huffington Post, David Dayan, who comes on the show from Time, Time, America Prospect, really, really good articles that actually explain to you what no one else is explaining. That's why you'll go on TV, and TV makes it sound like a Shangri-La. And the reality is, we got giant giveaways to multinational corporations, and is there equity in it? So, again, no one's explained to me why cruise companies get nothing.

and they're absolutely devastated by this, and airlines get loans and grants. So I could see the need for airlines to get both depending on how you structure it. Do we get equity stakes? What kind of leverage did we use? What are the terms of it? But I could also see that for cruise lines. So but why, if you're asking me to guess, I would guess that the airline companies have way way way, their union might for the flight attendants is actually, excellent. So they might have used leverage with the Democrats to say, no, you'll give money to the airlines. And if the cruises aren't unionized and they don't have the unions pushing the Democrats to support them, sorry, all the cruise companies go bankrupt. But that's the problem with this.

This isn't based on need. It's based on corruption. Right. I agree with you on that. One other thing I wanted to bring up when it came to the cruise companies is an argument is, hey, they're basing their headquarters in places where they wouldn't have to pay anything in taxes to the U.S. government. And that could have factored into their decision. But tax dodging is a favorite American pastime for a lot of these corporations that are going to get the economic relief. Well, Anna, I love that explanation. And if that's true, let's make it uniform. Any company trying to dodge U.S. taxes, look, I love my iPhone, but Apple, I don't know what they're doing in Ireland. And if you're an Irish company, well, okay, I guess sad day for you. And then it goes on,

I don't know that Apple needs anything in this context, right? But whichever company is not based in America and is trying or has put a subsidiary in a foreign country in a way to avoid U.S. taxes, bye-bye. You shouldn't get anything. So I wanted to also just give you guys all an update on some of the other concessions that were secured by Democrats, right? So So yesterday there was a hilarious headline on CNBC about like, panic, Bernie Sanders is threatening to hold up this bill or block it if they don't agree to expanding unemployment insurance, along with ensuring that people who made less than $2,500 in, you know, the last year would also get some help because the Republican version would not offer help to people

who weren't making enough money to qualify for that stimulus check. And so the Dow dipped and they were trying to like, you know, push him or intimidate him into just like caving into what the Republicans wanted. And he didn't do it. So to his credit, he didn't cave. He demanded more. And luckily, this is the best part of the bill, in my opinion, they did manage to expand unemployment insurance. So Americans who have been laid off or people who have been forced to stay

home as a result of COVID-19 can apply for unemployment. And apparently on top of their state unemployment benefits, they will also receive $600 a week in unemployment insurance for four months. I mean, that is pretty robust. And Republicans were whining and crying about it. But I do like that portion of this economic relief bill. Also, when it comes to the actual economic relief checks, the stimulus checks, that's unchanged, with the exception of what I said about people making less than $2,500. So, for instance, if you are an adult making up to $75,000, you will get a check, a one-time check for $1,200.

After that, up to $99,000 a year, you get about $6,000. $600. If you make more than $99,000 a year, you get nothing. And if you are with children, if you have children, you get some extra money for that as well. I believe $500 per child. So again here, context is important for Republican senators, including Lizzie Graham, were complaining, oh my God, you know, people on unemployment insurance, they might actually make a nickel more than they did when they were employed. Heaven forfend, as Bernie Sanders basically says things along similar lines, mocking those Republican senators as he should have.

But is there any conversation from those same Republican senators of, wait a minute, Boeing might actually come out ahead here. They spit in our face earlier and said they don't need any of our money, but demanded that we give it to them with no strings attached anyway. And they might get not just loans, but potentially grants, and they might come out ahead in this deal. And if they come out ahead in this deal, are we going to get our money back? Or does Lindsey Cram or any of the Republican senators care about that? No, because they get paid by those guys. Since they're bribed by them, they're like, oh, that's fantastic.

But you, average American worker, I have nothing but disdain for you, is what Republican senators say brazenly to your face. This is why it's so frustrated with the mainstream media. Do they then go out all in unison and clarify, Republican senators are concerned that the average American might get five or ten bucks more, but they're not at all concerned that giant multinational corporations might come out way ahead on this, but they're not, but they don't care about that. And by the way, do any of them explain that those same politicians are literally legally bribed by those corporations?

They literally write checks to their campaigns and then hand it to them, and then gee, I wonder why they do what they do. That's why the rest of the media sucks because they never, ever discuss the number one motivation for politicians in America, which is the checks in the form of campaign contributions and independent expenditures that they gave from those same giant corporations. So when we come back from the break, I actually do want to focus, like laser focus on what Bernie Sanders said on the Senate floor and how he managed to get those concessions. and we do have some video featuring Lindsay Graham feeling very upset, very aggrieved at workers,

maybe making a little bit more than they usually make during this, you know, pandemic. We'll be right back. We need to talk about a relatively new show called Un-F-The Republic or UNFTR. As a Young Turks fan, you already know that the government, the media, and corporations are constantly peddling lies that serve the interests of the rich and powerful. But now there's a podcast dedicated to unraveling those lies, debunking the conventional wisdom. In each episode of Un-B-The-Republic or UNFTR, the host delves into a different historical episode or topic that's generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called powers that be. Featuring in-depth research, razor-sharp commentary, and just the right amount of vulgarity, the UNFTRTR podcast takes a sledgehammer to what you thought you'd,

knew about some of the nation's most sacred historical cows. But don't just take my word for it. The New York Times described UNFTR as consistently compelling and educational, aiming to challenge conventional wisdom and upend the historical narratives that were taught in school. For as the great philosopher Yoda once put it, You must not learn what you have learned. And that's true whether you're in Jedi training or you're uprooting and exposing all the propaganda and disinformation you've been fed over the course of your lifetime.

So search for UNFDR in your podcast app today and get ready to get informed, angered, and entertained, all at the same time. All right, back on a young turks. Let me read your comments as usual. Go to the members first, as usual. TYT.com slash join. And as a percentage of what we do,

the programming, membership gets more these days than anything else. We do an extra half hour live for the members right after the show. So, t-y-t.com slash join to become a member. So Jeffrey's one, and he says, it's a Scrooge McDuck-sized fortune with few strings attached for corporations and loose change found in the couch cushions with means testing for the people. Unfortunately, that's true.

Tokyo Viking says, I can't donate more, but I will promise to stay on as a member. Thank you. We appreciate it. Look, everybody, do only what you can, okay? Everybody, look, you got to look out for yourself, your family as well, in tough times. No one understands that better than we do. But thank you for staying on as a member. It goes a long, long way, especially now.

Ruth Iverson says, I just upgraded to producer membership. I see so much inaccuracy and fear in TV, and I need my TYT now more than ever. Thank you, Ruth. Really, really appreciate it. And by the way, Anna and I are doing live videos throughout the day as well. And you could get that on t-y-t.com, but also on YouTube.com slash t-y-T where we're going live. Nipple Pierce Jenkins. Skinny Jean says, suddenly all these large companies love socialism since they need money.

Yes, always socialism for the rich and rugged capitalism for the poor. We told you during the campaign, and here it is undisplayed, yet no one on TV talks about it. No one on TV says, how are you going to pay for that? Okay, as we're talking about multi-trillion dollar stimulus packages, nobody on TV says, hey, wait, isn't socialism bad? And remember all the debates when they all asked, does anybody agree with Bernie Sanders socialism? Is anybody asking you right now?

Does anybody agree with Donald Trump's socialism? Anyway, last one here. This is using YouTube super chat, which also helps the show. So thank you. K.S.H.D. Jackson is getting unpaid furlough starting next week for at least four weeks, keeping my $100 a month, TYT membership. Wow, TYT is needed more than ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Again, guys, do only what you can. Okay, don't put yourself in peril either, obviously. And we're all community and we're all going to try to help one another. And yes, these are perilous times for TYT as with all small businesses. There's no question about that. But we appreciate everybody's wonderful generosity. and obviously the fundraising campaign is t yt.com slash go. All right, thank you. Anna, what's next?

All right. Well, despite the fact that the Senate bill does have some pretty giant flaws in it, including those bailouts for massive corporations, luckily the final version, which the Senate unanimously passed, included an expanded version of unemployment insurance, which would cover everyone, including people who work in the gig economy, And it would also provide more in federal funding so people who do need that unemployment insurance will make enough money, the same amount of money as their salaries, in some cases more money

than they would typically make in order to make ends meet during this difficult time, during the coronavirus pandemic. Now, that was not an accident. It was because we had someone like Senator Bernie Sanders fighting for it on the Senate floor. And he certainly went after Republicans aggressively. Take a look. And now I find that some of my Republican colleagues are very distressed. They're very upset that somebody who's making $10, $12 an hour might end up with a paycheck for four months more than they received last week. Oh, my God, the universe is collapsing. Imagine that.

Somebody who's making $12 an hour now like the rest of us faces an unprecedented economic. economic crisis with the 600 bucks on top of their normal, their regular unemployment check might be making a few bucks more for four months. Oh my word! Will the universe survive? How absurd and wrong is that? What kind of value system is that? Meanwhile, these very same folks had no problem a couple of years ago voting for a trillion dollars in tax. breaks for billionaires and large profitable corporations, not a problem. But when it comes to low-income workers in the midst of a terrible crisis, maybe some of them earning were having more money than they previously made. Oh, my word, we got to strip that out. I love that he made that argument on the Senate floor, and I liked that he called those Republicans out.

And by the way, the only critique I have for the statement he made is that the trillion-dollar tax cut for the rich was actually a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy over 10 years. Yeah. Look, it's so refreshing to see Democrats fight back. And of course, they almost never do it. And you knew this bill was trouble when Trump said, oh, Schumer's been very reasonable. So I was happy to give him like some $25 million for the Kennedy Center or whatever pittance that they did. Because, yeah, Democrats have the same corporate donors, et cetera. Here, actually, look, I love Bernie's speech there. I love that he fought for the unemployed and for the average American worker.

But as we discussed earlier in the show, there's a good case to be made to vote no on this bill and have more accountability. Look, we're trying to survive here as with any small business. That's why we're doing t.yt.com slash go. But at the same time, I wish we had more money, rather than less money. Why? I would love to hold Mnuchin and the Trump administration and all these politicians accountable afterwards. Who did they give the money to? How much did they give? How much of it was loans? How

much of it was grants? To have kick-ass reporters like David Dane and Ryan Grimm, works with us obviously as a contributor, but to have all of those guys and so many more to chase down all the corruption in Washington. Yeah, absolutely. And Bernie Sanders went even further to talk about how, you know, some members of Congress just don't see working Americans, especially if they happen to be poor, as people worth representing. Take a look. When the McConnell bill first came up, unbelievably, and I know many Republicans objected to this, they were saying that, well, we want to give a, whatever it was, a thousand or twelve hundred

bucks, but poor people should get less. You see, because poor people are down here, they don't deserve, they don't eat, they don't pay rent. They don't go to the doctor. They're somehow inferior because they're poor. We're going to give them less. Well, that was addressed. Now, everybody is going to get the $1,200. But some of my Republican friends still have not given up underneath to punish the poor and working people. You haven't raised the minimum wage in 10 years. It's just, what are we doing, guys? Like, what are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing in the Democratic Party right now? We have, like, Joe Biden as a Democratic frontrunner, he

He's a complete and utter disaster, can't even get his, like, sentences straight in a single cable news interview, doesn't know how to hire the right people to get his live streams going, right? I mean, where's, where's the tough talk coming from Joe Biden? There's been none, zero, zero. What are we doing? Why are we wasting our time right now? It's just, and we're told that this man that you're looking at right now, Joe Biden is the

most electable person. I mean, his silence really has been. deafening on all this. Yeah, I thought he was going to end this speech with, hello somebody. Oh, God, it's just, are you talking about Nina Turner? Yeah.

Yeah, no, I love it. Because he's talking about the average guy. Isn't it amazing last thing on this? That the one senator, the one politician in the country, clearly fighting for the average American, and all TV hates him. Oh, they hate him.

Yeah, and not just TV, New York Times, NPR, they're like, oh, fighting for the average guy. Yeah, yeah, definitely not him, okay. The guy who can't figure out how to make Skype work and has, you know, says nothing will change. Oh, that guy's awesome. That guy's awesome, right? So the guy who argued to, that there should be democratic socialism, now there's socialism for the rich. No one's saying a word. The guy who argued that there should be health care for everyone.

All of a sudden, everybody's saying, hey, we should have health care for everyone during this crisis. Well, how about every other crisis? No, but he never gets credit for any of it. All he gets is disdain and hatred from the elitists that run our mainstream media. Yeah. Yeah. We need to wake up.

All right, I want to reset for this Lindsey Graham video because I think it is important for everyone to see the type of policies, these gross Republican politicians are looking to push. So the poorest people suffer the most. So during the negotiations on the Senate version of economic relief for Americans, there were Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham who were aggrieved at the notion that unemployment insurance would be expanded to the point that people who make the lowest wages would actually earn a little bit more under the unemployment insurance. Keep in mind that unemployment insurance is a limited period of coverage, okay?

You would get paid for four months under this new plan that was passed by the Senate. And Lindsey Graham doesn't like it at all because he thinks, no, you should be paid starvation wages, even in the middle of a pandemic. Take a look. My wildest dreams, I never believe we would pass a bill that would give you a pay raise if you got unemployed. I want people to get their income while they're unemployed, but I don't want to increase their wages because you incentivize people to lead their job. In this bill, you'll have 50 to 150.

pay raises for people if they leave the workforce. Good luck with Amazon hiring 100,000 people because the unemployment benefits in South Carolina equal $23 an hour. How are you going to hire people in South Carolina when you're competing with government wages at $23 an hour? There's a lot of good in this bill. I'm going to vote for it. Their medical supplies that nurses and doctors and hospitals need. Mnuchin's done a good job very much trying to keep the Democrats from putting their Green New Deal into the bill. But here's what we've done. In the name of doing good,

we're going to make it hard for the next four months for employers to find workers, and we're going to incentivize people to leave the workforce because the first time in my lifetime, America will pay you more not to work than work. He started that argument off by saying, if you got unemployed, if the onus is on us, okay, as workers,

it's our fault that they, there is a pandemic that the executive branch completely underestimated, minimized, just so Donald Trump can look good. And it got so bad that now the virus has spread quickly. By the way, we don't know how much it's spread because we still don't have enough testing available. And so people have to stay home because of social distancing, right? But it's our fault. It's our fault that that's what happened, right? It's the workers' fault. He's disgusting. So look, again, at TYT, we do nuance and we're rational actors. So if you had a bill that in the long term paid more to be unemployed and then to be

employed, would it be a problem? Yes, it would. Is this for the long term? No. Would any rational person decide, hey, you know what? In the middle of this crisis, I think it's a great idea to be. to get unemployed, as Lindsey Graham would say. So let me go and get myself fired or quit because for a brief period of time, I might, I might get a couple of bucks more, right? And then at the end

of that four months, I don't know if I'll ever find a job again, but let me go get unemployed. No, that is not how people think. Yes, they respond to incentives and disincentives. But the idea that you're going to take a risk that you might not be able to get a job again, nobody thinks that way in the middle of this crisis. And that's crazy talk. And I want to come back to his different rules for the rich in a second. But go ahead, Anna. Yeah, no, but here's what his thinking is, right? And I think that this is a problem not only with Republican lawmakers, but just our way of thinking in America overall. I see Democrats thinking this way as well, which is to say, well, if we offer too much help to these people who these workers who were making minimum wage, well, then maybe that

will dissuade them from going out and finding another minimum wage job. But really, these wages need to be increased. If these companies are paying employees so little that unemployment insurance makes more sense economically, then there's a problem with what these employers are paying, Right? Because what he's really referring to right now are minimum wage workers, right? So he's thinking, well, I mean, they were making minimum wage before. Why are we going to pay them more? Because they should be paid living wages, not starvation wages. You know, these companies should give people an incentive to want to work for them, but they don't. So two more quick things on this. One, he used Amazon as an example, a curious example in this case,

because now they're reports out that Amazon's forcing people to work in tight quarters, and then people are getting a coronavirus in a warehouse, and good luck, boom, spreads like wildfire, right? So, Lizzie Graham is saying, poor Amazon, how are they going to force people to work in tight quarters now if we're actually giving people unemployment insurance? Okay, but it's always my poor beloved multinational corporations that legally bribe me every single day. So you see Lindsey Graham going, well, you know what, at the end of the day, with all these loans and grants, Boeing might come out ahead. And that's an outrage. Nope, doesn't care at all. Doesn't do any accountability on that. And they wouldn't come out a dollar or two ahead. They might come out hundreds of millions of dollars ahead. Like the banks did the last time we did a bank bailout. Did Lindsay Graham care about that? No, he loved it. As long as it's going to his rich friends and his rich donors. The number of people who filed for unemployment due to the coronavirus has reached 3.3 million Americans, okay?

This is a crisis. It is a disaster. And to hear a Republican lawmaker complain that people who were typically paid starvation wages might get a little bit more in unemployment insurance is just gross. We should be encouraging people to stay home, to stay safe, and to slow the spread of COVID-19. But these disgusting, greedy Republicans who are looking at out for the best interests of their corporate donors, don't care about our lives, don't care about our best interests. And they certainly don't care enough about slowing the spread of this

virus, which is totally slamming our health care system. All right, we got to unfortunately take another break. That's okay. Here, let me give you one more updated before we go, and we'll check in afterwards, too. We were asking you guys to go to t-y-t.com slash go to keep us sustainable in these tough times. We started the show at $193,000. Right now, we're at $193,000. 395, 393. I love you guys. Please keep it going. It'd be amazing to get to 200 right now. Thank you. We appreciate it, especially in tough times. We love you for it. Let's take a quick break, and we've got a lot more really important news about the disaster when we come back. At TYT, we frequently talk about all the ways that big tech companies are taking control of our

online lives, constantly monitoring us and storing our data. But that doesn't mean we have to let them. It's possible to stay anonymous online and hide your data from the prying eyes of big tech. And one of the best ways is with ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN hides your IP address, making your active ID more difficult to trace and sell the advertisers. ExpressVPN also encrypts 100% of your network data to protect you from eavesdroppers and cybercriminals. And it's also easy to install. A single mouse click protects all your devices. But listen, guys, this is important.

ExpressVPN is rated number one by CNET and Wired magazine. So take back control of your life online and secure your data with a top VPN solution available, ExpressVPN. And if you go to ExpressVPN.com slash TYT, you can get three extra months for free with this exclusive link just for TYT fans. That's EX, P-R-E-S-S-V-N dot com slash T-YT. Check it out today. All right, we're back, guys. Now, remember our aspiration sweepstakes. We were going to do dinner in L.A. with me, Anna, and John. Well, time to pick our winner because that dinner is tomorrow. We're flying you out tomorrow. Just kidding. We obviously

because of social distancing and the current pandemic, we're going to have to delay the dinner a little bit, but we are definitely, definitely doing it. We're just going to do it at a time that is safe. Thank you to all of you that participated. We're about to show you how we are using a random number generator to pick our winner so that it is fair, okay? So, and we will tell you, of course, in a little bit, when dinner is going to be. But we had almost 50,000 entries. You guys are amazing for taking part. There were even over 500 maileden entries from those who read the sweepstakes fine print. So you guys are wonderfully dedicated. Thank you. So the winner is Darlah Norton.

We needed it. You're in a little low-tech sound effects from our home studios. Anyway, Darla, you're awesome. You've been an aspiration member since 2019. Thank you for supporting us in aspiration, which does not put your money into fossil fuel companies and keeps your money clean and gets you some great returns as well. It's a wonderfully progressive financial institution. That's why they're a sponsor.

They have free ATM withdrawals, and we'll do more sweepstakes as we go forward. course, as well. And if you also want to sign up, we're going to have a lot more fun with these different events that we're doing for Aspiration. So Aspiration.com slash TYT, especially now with social distancing, it's great to do it online. Everything is super convenient. And again, you can use any ATM you want, so you're covered on that front as well. All right, Darla, looking forward to seeing you soon. Now, let me give you some quick comments. member comments, the artist known as Tiffordoodles, writes in saying, salty Bernie and salty Anna are the best.

Thank you. Luana says, joined a few days ago on my son's recommendation. So glad I did. I hope you guys get a network eventually to show people what real journalism is and used to be. Thank you for the facts and science. Thank you, Luana. We super appreciate it. Obviously, t.yt.com slash join or if you're watching on YouTube, click the join button

underneath and there's several different layers. The 499 layer gets you the post game we're about to do for the members. And by the way, we do have a network 24-hour channel on Roku, Pluto, Zumo, Comcast, Xfinity. Please check those out. You get all of our shows, including Damage Report, Old School, and the others. I bathe in a very stable genius as Tears says, I never knew how much I needed to hear sarcastic Bernie until now. And a lot of wonderful supportive comments on YouTube super chat as well.

Liz Smith saying, hang in there, guys. We need you now more than ever. And DES just saying, here's what I can give. Love you at TYT. Because when you use YouTube super chat, that also helps the show. And again, t.yt.com slash go for fundraising right now to help TYT. All right, Anna, what's next? The Trump campaign is sending out cease and desist letters to individuals, local television stations

that have decided to air an ad that's been put together. by Priorities USA. And the whole point of the ad is to draw attention to and highlight how Donald Trump did not take the coronavirus seriously until it was too late to really mitigate the damage that it's doing to us right now, including slamming our health care system, destroying our economy. Unfortunately, today was a grim day when it comes to the number of coronavirus deaths. We have now passed 1,000 Americans who have died as a result of the virus.

and the number is going to continue ticking up. So he originally referred to it as a hoax. And Priorities USA called him out on it. Take a look. The coronavirus. This is their new hoax. We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China.

One day it's like a miracle and will disappear. When you have 15 people and within a couple of days, it's going to be down too close to zero. We really think we've done a great job in keeping it down to a minimum. I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised if I understand it. No, I don't take responsibility at all.

Priorities USA action is responsible for the content of this ad. So the campaign is real quick, Jane. Yeah, I want to clarify a couple things there. So in terms of what he called a hoax, in that speech, he said the media coverage was the hoax. But everything else is 100% true, including him totally, utterly minimized. it and the number of cases is skyrocketing. We pass a thousand deaths this year. I mean, just today on coronavirus. And one more thing before Anna gives you the rest of the info. To me, one of the most damning parts of it is what he says about himself. He said there,

like, nobody thought it I would know anything about this. Yeah, because nobody thinks you're smart. And he throws around things like that all the time. Yeah, you're an idiot. We all know that. That's why you thought the cases would go down to zero, and now they're past 70,000. Let's just watch what Trump actually said. Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. They're politicizing it.

We did one of the great jobs you say, how's President Trump doing? They go, oh, no good, not good. They have no clue. They don't have any clue. They can't even count their votes. in Iowa. They can't even go. No, they can't. And this is their new hoax. But, you know, we did something that's been pretty amazing. We have 15 people in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early, we went early, we could have had a lot more than that. We will do everything

in our power. So to be clear, he referred to coronavirus as a Democrat hoax during his South Carolina rally on February 28th. He called it a hoax. That's exactly what he did. There's no, there's no excuse. And so they're sending out cease and desist letters and threatening local stations by taking their licenses away. By the way, they have no legal ground to do it. But they're saying, look, we have a problem with that one line accusing Trump of calling it a hoax. That's exactly what he did. So they have no legal ground. And it's a political ad. There are no rules for political ads, as we know. There's all sorts of lies in political ads, but in this context, it's not even a lie.

It's literally what he said. Yeah, I hear you. I actually think they have a case to make that the interpretation of that was he was saying that the media criticizing him for it was the hoax. But it doesn't matter at all on a couple of grounds. Number one, the Republicans are the ones bragging about how they could do false advertising. So when Facebook said, we're not going to take down false ads from Donald Trump's team, the Republicans are like, yes, freedom of speech. We get to lie in ads. Now you have something

they, at best case scenario, can be interpreted in two different ways as a small part of overall 100% accurate depiction otherwise. And then they turn on and go, can you believe it? Taking something out of content, they should take it down immediately. You guys are the ones who were bragging about lying in your ads a minute ago. And then second of all, guys, you saw the overall context of it. The guys was bragging about how there was 15 cases and it was going to go down in zero. Now, there's 70,000 cases, you incompetent buffoon. So, and then finally, the most important part is, if a person who's already in charge, the president, can say, you're not allowed to run ads against me. And not only will I ban you from running ads against me,

but I will take away the license of any company and destroy it and destroy freedom of press for anyone daring to oppose me. To say that that's a dangerous precedent is underselling it by a country mile. It destroys the constitution and our former government if the president is allowed to ban ads against them. Yeah. And I mean, there are his, words, there are things that he's said during rallies, but more importantly, it's the stuff that he's done that's helped to really compound the problem. So, for instance, political reported that the Trump White House repeatedly missed key moments in its early response to the global COVID-19 outbreak, leaving it as much as two months behind in testing for the virus,

as well as a dissemination of critical equipment necessary for treatment. Also, the Trump administration failed to follow a comprehensive National Security Council playbook on pandemic response developed by the Obama White House back in 2016. And that was during the Ebola outbreak. I mean, the way the Obama administration handled the Ebola outbreak, it was great. It was actually one of the things that I think the Obama administration did a really good job in. And I think just because these guidelines were coming from his administration, Donald Trump

is like, no, no, not going to adopt them. F off. Okay, well, Americans are going to die as a result. And what I'm sick of is how people just like, they're so fluid in their defenses and what they believe about Trump, right? So they just adapt to whatever new lie he has. He lies to them to their faces and they somehow find a way, I'm talking about his supporters, obviously, they somehow find a way to make excuses for it or to justify it. He doesn't care about you. Like Trump supporters don't get it. He doesn't care about you at all. He referred to it as a hoax. He didn't do anything about it in the beginning because he thought that it was a PR stunt to destroy his reelection chances. He doesn't care

about you. He doesn't care if you die. He doesn't care about where you are economically. He just cares about himself, period. Yeah. So look, even to this day, they passed this new bill And the bill does have money for hospitals. That's good. But does the bill require production of the tests, of mass, of ventilators? It does not. Governor Cuomo is saying, where the hell is the help? You pass this giant, multi-trillion dollar bill, it helps the biggest corporations.

It doesn't actually help sick people nearly enough. So he's still doing it in an incompetent way. Look, he canceled a pandemic office. That's outrageous. He should be impeached on that alone. Right, that's who he is. All right, we got to end the show soon, but I want to let our members know we will have a postgame show,

and we'll talk about the insane conspiracy theorists who are putting stuff out there about Anthony Fauci. You don't want to miss that. TYT.com slash join. We'll see you soon. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen to ad-free, access members, only bonus content, and more

by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.com slash TYT. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon. Thank you.