Episode 183: The People Should Own The Vaccine; Joe’s Bad Tax Ideas; A Union Spends Bucks To Save Members’ Lives

If I say that drug companies are sleazy leeches whose CEOs make millions of dollars while basically killing thousands of people who can’t afford outrageous drug prices, you’d shrug your shoulders and say, “yeah, well, duh.” Drug companies make these huge profits largely because of an absolutely insane system of patents, which you could stop with a change in the law. It’s especially important to get this idea in our heads right now with the rush to create a vaccine for COVID-19, which makes drug companies salivate over the prospect of pocketing huge profits for something that should be ours to own—which is what I talk about with Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Here is a prediction that I’d go to Vegas and bet a huge pile of money on: when it comes to making up big state budget deficits looming in the coming months because of the pandemic-caused economic crisis, and eventually in a year or two when the hand-wringers in Congress consider the pandemic-generated larger federal debt, it isn’t going to be rich people paying, nor corporations. It will be regular people. Politicians will cut jobs and screw workers, cut pensions and screw retirees and cut school funding and screw children. This is all a consequence of bad tax policy over many decades—and Joe Biden is only making it worse by promising not to raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000 a year, which lets plenty of well-off people off the hook. Matt Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, and I chat about Biden’s folly as well as the not entirely surprising hypocrisy of a Wall Street titan, Jamie Dimon. I also reflect on the amazing and shocking news that the American Federation of Teachers dug into its own treasury and spent $3 million to buy 500,000 N95s, 50,000 face shields, and more than 1 million surgical masks to make sure its members—thousands of whom are frontline workers—do not get sick and die. Amazing because it shows the greatness of the labor movement. Shocking because it exposes how the country’s political leaders running the show are just deeply dysfunctional and incompetent. Please become a financial supporter of the podcast here so we can continue to bring you unique content . In today's Working Life Podcast: Ep 183: The People Should Own The Vaccine; Joe’s Bad Tax Ideas; Union Spends To Save Members’ Lives Episode 183: If I say that drug companies are sleazy leeches whose CEOs make millions of dollars while basically killing thousands of people who can’t afford outrageous drug prices, you’d shrug your shoulders and say, “yeah, well, duh.” Drug companies make these huge profits largely because of an absolutely insane system of patents, which you could stop with a change in the law. It’s especially important to get this idea in our heads right now with the rush to create a vaccine for COVID-19, which makes drug companies salivate over the prospect of pocketing huge profits for something that should be ours to own—which is what I talk about with Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast Here is a prediction that I’d go to Vegas and bet a huge pile of money on: when it comes to making up big state budget deficits looming in the coming months because of the pandemic-caused economic crisis, and eventually in a year or two when the hand-wringers in Congress consider the pandemic-generated larger federal debt, it isn’t going to be rich people paying, nor corporations. It will be regular people. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast Politicians will cut jobs and screw workers, cut pensions and screw retirees and cut school funding and screw children. This is all a consequence of bad tax policy over many decades—and Joe Biden is only making it worse by promising not to raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000 a year, which lets plenty of well-off people off the hook. Matt Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, and I chat about Biden’s folly as well as the not entirely surprising hypocrisy of a Wall Street titan, Jamie Dimon. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast I also reflect on the amazing and shocking news that the American Federation of Teachers dug into its own treasury and spent $3 million to buy 500,000 N95s, 50,000 face shields, and more than 1 million surgical masks to make sure its members—thousands of whom are frontline workers—do not get sick and die. Amazing because it shows the greatness of the labor movement. Shocking because it exposes how the country’s political leaders running the show are just deeply dysfunctional and incompetent. Support the podcast here: www.patreon.com/WorkingLifePodcast -- Jonathan Tasini Follow me on Twitter @jonathantasini Sign up for The Working Life Podcast at: www.workinglife.org Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.tasini.3 LISTEN NOW Support the Working Life Podcast on DONATE NOW

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