Yes, Maria Bartiromo, There Is Class Warfare
Yesterday, I was on CNBC's Closing Bell to debate the absurd notion that public employees are the people to blame for state government budget problems. But, what was most interesting about the debate with CNBC's anchor Maria Bartiromo is how she became speechless -- and that ain't no easy feat -- when I challenged her about class warfare.
The quick lead-up was this: the premise of the program was that those big, bad public unions were using their power to direct stimulus to states in order to save union jobs. To which I said "amen":
If I can first address the main point: thank God for the public sector unions. Because if it wasn't for the public sector unions, and the stimulus money coming to states to save jobs, this economy would not just be in a so-called recession, we'd be at the bottom of the abyss. It's actually the stimulus money that has saved part of the economy and kept that sector going while in fact the private sector has declined because there's no credit as you well know in the private sector, and jobs have been lost like crazy.
You can watch the whole back-and-forth on this point. But, then, I made this observation on state budgets:
There are two reasons states are in trouble in terms of their budget. One is the overall collapse of the economy thanks to Bernie Madoff, Wall Street, AIG, and all your other friends. The second point is this: we do not have a progressive taxation system anymore. In New York state, which Steve and I both live in, if we went back to a more progressive taxation system, and taxed just the top one percent, we would have about eight or nine billion dollars more which would solve the crisis.
Which sent Bartiromo over the edge (this begins at about 6:48 of the clip):
BARTIROMO: Look, I can't allow you to fan the flames of class warfare on this program. You said, you said "Wall Street and all your other friends." Who's they?
TASINI: Class warfare is, does exist in this country. The problem is, the class that's being affected are 95 percent of the population. Are you telling me there isn't class warfare in this country?
And, then, this:
BARTIROMO: Well, workers are being affected, however, I'm trying to get at the point of why we have these troubled...
TASINI: We have the biggest gap between rich and poor that we've ever had in probably a hundred years. Productivity in the last 30 years has skyrocketed, and workers have gotten no benefit, that is the definition of class warfare.
And Bartiromo, you can tell, is caught for a moment trying to figure out how to dispute the truth. So, instead, she asks her other guest from the wacky Manhattan Institute to respond.
It gets more amusing when Bartiromo throws out the word "socialist" (that's always a show-stopper). But, what I ultimately found interesting -- and said so at about 8:57 on the clip -- is that neither she or her other guest responded directly to address the FACT that there is class warfare in the country.
I did want to say that there was another important exchange in the "debate" around health care. Bartiromo and other people in the media regularly try to blame the problems in various industries, particularly, auto, on unionized workers. But, they are incapable of dealing with the facts -- ideological opposition for all these years to a single-payer, "Medicare for All" system has saddled business with billions of dollars in costs that are killing the economy. In other words, if you were to follow simply the economics -- rather than ideology and the coddling of the insurance industry -- you would have to conclude that single-payer is the only sane alternative. This regularly escapes these folks.
Anyway, you can watch the whole thing here.
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
This column is brilliant in its content if not in its conclusions. It clearly shows taxation for what it is: A weapon of the state. In a democracy where there is more poor people than rich people, the politicians will be summoned to aid the masses in stripping the wealth from the rich; in a plutocracy, the rich have all the power, and will use taxation to keep the poor at the bottom. Any societal division can be exploited in this manner.
People don't realize that it is the government that is the ruling class, not the rich (all there is some recent collusion that should be investigated) nor the poor. They are the ones with the monopoly on violence, and they will play rich against poor, black against white in order to stay in power and keep their monopoly on the real source of political power according to Mao, the barrel of the gun.
I'm going to have to side with you on this one. There is class warfare in this country. But unlike the class warfares of previous generations, this one isn't getting quite as ugly as it might. The 'working poor' is growing fast, but the 'hoarding rich' still sits atop the pile, despite the continuity of their incompetence.
In the minds of Wall Street investors, class warfare only exists when union wages are impacting the profits of business executives and dividends to stock holders, there is no such thing as class warfare when union or non-union employees are impacted by salary cuts made by employers, to Wall Street this is smart business practice, not class warfare.
Mr Tasini, you were very adept at pointing out the double standard hypocrisy of these dishonest greedy investors, it is always the labor of others that make these investors wealthy, yet they seem to have such contempt for the workers that help make them rich, especially if they are making anything more than surviving wages, every penny Wall Street can cut from labor costs means an additional penny in their portfolio profits. Class Warfare, only exists when workers want a raise, not when management wants to cut their salaries.
You think your comments won the debate? Anyone who denies the auto unions roll in their own demise is being driven by ideology, not empirical facts. No one can win a "debate" with anyone who begins from that premise, but still, your smug surety must make even you question yourself a little.
As we know the GUN Industry is having a bumper year.
Ever wonder what the targets will be in the future?
Angry that you lost your job, your house , your 401, your health.........................................
Vengeance is the best motive in any B grade movie, hopefully it will not be visiting a screen near you.
A most emphatic "amen" to that. One would think from listening to CNBC that "capitalism" is second only to "godliness" in virtue; with "socialism" its demonic antithesis. Their audience is so specific that commentators like Bartiromo are, for the most part, completely insulated from reality check. Only the occasional opportunity for contradiction is offered, and when it is, the setting is usually a snakepit of rabid capitalists and "free" trade advocates to whom the contrarian is offered for lunch. Good for you for braving the spin-cycle on behalf of the other 95% of America!
Ms. Bartiromo and the laissez-faire clowns that she so adamantly defends love that many have bought the argument that unionized labor/labor is the root of all evil in this financial crisis. Bartiromo and her ilk have convinced the average American worker that their fellow workers are their enemy and that they are the hard working exception. The collaterized debt securities, off balance sheet accounting and fraudulent loans have caused state budget shortfalls. In short the home value freefall. Homes have lost their value and as a result will collect less revenue. Let us not miss the foreclosures that add to loss of state revenues and layoffs. Essentially Ms. Bartiromo puts forth the defense that workers are coporate America's problem. It is not their management ( or lack of), it is not their accounting practices or tax loopholes. No the financial crisis is the fault of the American worker who selfishly wants retirement and medical coverage- you know the same benefits as their coporate overlords. She has served her masters well.
Finally a voice of sanity. In particular your last point regarding single payer health system. It has boggled my mind why business would even want the responsibility of funding health care for their employees and families. To me this goes right against the conservative ethos and makes no business sense. Business doesn't need or want the responsibility of dealing year in and year out with an expense that is continually rising and is becoming too complex and time consuming to navigate.
Continually I hear from conservatives that I don't want some public servant telling me which doctor I can go to but if you look at the current system that is exactly what you have with your employer. It is the employer who determines what cover they can afford for your family not you and the insurance company that decides what treatment they will pay for. The doctor and the patient are at the mercy of these two parties.
If people are so concerned with having a single payer system then there is nothing stopping them from getting their own private insurance except maybe the cost.
Nothing makes me angrier than someone telling a lie. I come from Europe and you pick your doctor just like you do here. So please quit telling these GOP Talking Points againt DEMOCRATIC
healthcare. Nothing changes, no waiting time, no being told what doctor to see.
Thanks, Jonathan. The gazillion-pound gorilla in the room is health care and the need for single-payer. It's such a simple thing when you say it -- and then you see all the forces at work -- all the greed not willing to give anything up. My guess is that when recovery does begin, Europe will recover faster than we do, and that may simply be because their population will remain healthier as Americans become sicker and sicker as fewer and fewer can afford health care, whether they have insurance or not.
As for the rest of the interview, it's hard not to laugh at the absurdity of the whole thing. Watching the CBNC crew at work is like being in an alternate universe.
She is so out of touch with 95% of the population, it's a wonder she still has a job. But don't blame her, blame the network CNBC. They have plotted to destroy America as we know it. It's called daylight robbery folks and she's one of the ring leaders.
Like she would know what is it like to not know where your next meal, paycheck or bed will come from. Why do the conservatives hate the unions? Oh, yeah, I know, because they look out for each other and make sure your civil rights are protected. Well, if you have a wall street job, you make far more than 250k a year so your taxes are going up and back to where they should be. Cry me a river.
Well, but that's the point -- that 5% is still running the show and they're being give a lot of taxpayer money to do it.
Ronnie Raygun really kicked off the era of Repub greed. He lowered the top marginal rate while increasing payroll taxes, which disapporitonately affect the poor & middle class more than the wealthy. Ronnie raided the Social Security trust fund to keep the government in spending cash. Deregulation made sure that soul-less corportations could pollute and stick it to their workers with impunity.
Cutting the taxes for the rich and Raising the taxes on the poor and middle class is CLASS WARFARE....
Warren Buffett.... June 19th, 2005 ... CNN
"BUFFETT: Yeah. The rich people are doing so well in this country. I mean, we never had it so good.
DOBBS: What a radical idea.
BUFFETT: It's class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn't be."
From the time he could first remember, Warren Buffett wanted to be, and is, a capital investor. That is what he does. That is who he is.
His success in investing over decades has not been some mystical prescience to see the future. It has always been his ability to clearly see "the present". He does not fight or change reality, he looks for present investment opportunities which have a high financial "predictability" to stay strong over the long term. He will not step in to "cure" a situation, but he does acknowledge it. And maintains an acutely everpresent eye on what is going on at any moment.
Maria Bartiromo pales to alabaster, in the face of, arguably, the greatest American financial pragmatic in the past 100 years.
READ FREE LUNCH.... Buffett is getting his profits from the government and the peons..... Read it and weep.....
And you begrudge him for eating it?
26 members of my wife's family were lined against the rock wall of one of their barns and executed by firing squad. The women and children were shipped off to Siberia.
That is class warfare.
That's how class warfare ends, what we are seeing is how it begins.
Absolutely!
And so you foolishly and blindly support the Wall St. ruling class...does that mean you're awaiting your turn at martyrdom?
The Great American Illusion for the ruling class is that h.itt can go on forever--but if it doesn't then worst that can happen is they'll lose their not-so-hard-earned wealth.
The reality probably isn't so pretty or democratic or sane, and certainly isn't non-violent.
Thanks for sticking up for us and sticking it to Maria B. She seems to think if she delivers her spiel fast and loud, it makes it true. The Class War is the root cause of this economic meltdown.
That is exactly what the Repugs have done for the last 30 years, they keep saying it fast and loud and lyiing.... and it WORKED because of the lousy job that the MSM has done...
The same rich friends that propped up Disco Queen at the clubs when she was tipsy are the same ones propping her up now. She's truly a leech spouting their talking points, nothing more. She couldn't care less about you, me, or what destruction "her friends" have heaped on us.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
