Did anyone watch David Cay Johnson on Bill Moyer's Journal last night?

[graywarrior]

Or has anyone read his book FREE LUNCH: HOW THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS ENRICH THEMELVES AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE (AND STICK YOU WITH THE BILL.) ?

Link to the transcript
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01182008/transcript.html

Here is part of the transcript that sent me over the edge.
BILL MOYERS: You mentioned Warren Buffet. I was impressed in the book that you do name names. And so let me mention some of the names that you talk about in the book. Warren Buffet. Everyone respects him as the world's greatest investor. Yet he's in your book on free lunches.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: In Several places.

BILL MOYERS: Several places.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: He got a $665 million interest-free loan for the utility he has in the Midwest. Now--

BILL MOYERS: From? He got the loan from?

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: From the taxpayers. Now, imagine for a moment that the house you live in today, you bought it 24 years ago and you agreed to pay the price then. And now you've got to pay back with no interest half the price in the dollars you agreed to in 1924. You could be rich just from that alone?

BILL MOYERS: But those are the rules. Buffet was doing something legal.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: That's right. And that's always the biggest scandal is what is legal. Steve Jobs. Well, Steve Jobs got $70 million of stock options at a meeting of the board of Apple company directors that never took place.

BILL MOYERS: In fact, you say Steve Jobs arranged to have his fraudulently-issued options exchanged for restricted stock worth hundreds of millions. And the government has yet to take any action.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, not against him.

BILL MOYERS: But not against him.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: They prosecuted two people under him, one of whom said, "I warned Mr. Jobs about this." Mr. Jobs says, "You know I really didn't understand the rules."

BILL MOYERS: Donald Trump.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Donald Trump benefits from a tax specifically levied by the State of New Jersey for the poor. Part of the casino winnings tax in New Jersey is dedicated to help the poor. But $89 million of it is being diverted to subsidize Donald Trump's casino's building retail space.



And this made my head explode

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Well, this is one-- this is a great irony. George Bush owes almost his entire fortune to a tax increase that was funneled into his pocket and into the use of eminent domain laws to essentially legally cheat other people out of their land for less than it was worth to enrich him and his fellow investors.

BILL MOYERS: By building this stadium in Arlington, Texas

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: For the Texas Rangers.

BILL MOYERS: --baseball team-- Texas Rangers.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Right.

BILL MOYERS: That's right.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: One of the key sources I quote is a prominent Republican lawyer married to a United States senator who is the expert in Texas on municipal finance. The subsidy, he says, is $202.5 million. And Bush and his partners captured about 168 million of it.

BILL MOYERS: Bush, you say, used eminent domain to claim the land on which the stadium was built, right?

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Right.

BILL MOYERS: And Bush advised his investors, his co-investors this is a sweet deal …

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Oh, yeah. He said that I mean, here's this money losing team. It's got this little stadium. It can't make money. But if we can get a stadium built, it'll be worth a lot of money. And that's going on all over the country. All you have to do is get the stadium built and we'll-- you'll be rich.



Meanwhile, here in Florida, people with degrees are scrambling to take jobs at call centers. I know...I'm one of them. I seriously want to kick the shit out of some people.

[Cleita]

1. Yes, I saw it and it's no surprise if you really think about where

your tax dollars are going. The real welfare Queens are the corporations who are making a business of robbing our Treasury.

[graywarrior]

3. It has been suspect, but when you hear it all in one interview, it makes you want to scream.

And without a doubt, 90% of American has no clue that this has been going on.

[spanone]

2. K&R

[graywarrior]

4. Kicking...just coz it's kinda important.

[donkeyotay]

5. Yes, I saw it. I've reached the end of my political rope.

This corporate takeover of the country came under the guise of freedom and free markets. It was a bait and switch. It was a fairy tale. I'm giving up on the American people. I used to think they'd eventually figure it out, but now it seems a little late anyway.

[graywarrior]

6. Too many diversions for the average Joe to pay attention

Although, that is no excuse.

[VotesForWomen]

7. yes; excellent. nt

[slipslidingaway]

8. Missed it but will watch online, thanks. K&R n/t

[femrap]

9. K and R

Best damn show on TV.

I love PBS on Friday nights! I love Eleanor Clift giving it to the right wingers, buchanan and crowley. And 'Now' always has a good topic or two.

I can't wait to read this book...I'm 7th on the list at the library.

I had to work at a call center, too....horrible. But I was asked to leave...'too smart and asked too many questions.' Yeah, I would like to kick the crap out of some people, too.

[DemReadingDU]

10. watching now on Internet

and a previous interview on NPR...

1/3/08 David Cay Johnston on How the Rich Get Richer - Free Lunch
Fresh Air from WHYY, January 3, 2008 · Investigative reporter David Cay Johnston explores in his new book how in recent years, government subsidies and new regulations have quietly funneled money from the poor and the middle class to the rich and politically connected.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17808622

[LuckyLib]

11. His best line was that in Washington, there is only one party -- the party of money.

[graywarrior]

12. We're watching that party at work right now.

[Red Knight]

13. Harry Reid

Harry certainly has his party hat on.

Some leader.