Monday, March 7, 2011

America Is Not Broke

Video Summary: I'm not a huge Michael Moore fan but this time he nails it. Here are some of the best quotes his speech about what is happening budget-wise in Wisconsin and across the U.S. and even the world.

"America is not broke."

"Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich."

"Today just 400 Americans have the same wealth as half of all Americans combined."

"Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have as much loot, stock and property as the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can't bring yourself to call that a financial coup d'état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true."

..."But if those who have the most money don't pay their fair share of taxes, the state can't function. The schools can't produce the best and the brightest who will go on to create those jobs. If the wealthy get to keep most of their money, we have seen what they will do with it: recklessly gamble it on crazy Wall Street schemes and crash our economy. The crash they created cost us millions of jobs. That too caused a reduction in revenue. And the population ended up suffering because they reduced their taxes, reduced our jobs and took wealth out of the system, removing it from circulation."


Why You Should Watch: The speech is 30 minutes long, but just watching the beginning and reading the quotes I posted will help you understand what is really going on in these budget situations.

Length: 29:51

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