The rich, we speak to former labor secretary robert reich. If our democracy are working as it should, the rules of the market would help most of us. Instead, as income and wealth is concentrated at the top of the last 40 years, so has the power to make the rules of the market, influencing the politicians, regulatory heads, and even the courts and the lawyers who appear before them. With a result the market is rigged the benefit of the few. Amy robert reich on his new book. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In afghanistan, the u. S. Military has carried out two airstrikes in efforts to bolster the Afghan Governments attempts to retake the Northern City of kunduz. It became the first major city to be taken over by Taliban Forces since 2001 on monday. The Afghan Government counteroffensive appears to be faltering. The u. S. Strikes come despite president obamas declaration of an official end to the u. S. Combat mission in afghanistan. President obama and cuban president raul castro met tuesday, marking the first time a u. S. President has met with a cuban president on u. S. Soil in more than 60 years. The meeting came one day after castro called for an end to the u. S. Embargo and a return of guantanamo in an address to the un general assembly. Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said castro reiterated the calls in tuesdays meeting. , that foran president cuba and the United States to be ,ble to have normal relations the embargo that has caused damages and hardships to the cuban people and affects the interests of american citizens should be lifted. Base interritorial guantanamo should be returned to cuba. Amy meanwhile, british Prime Minister David Cameron has also called for guantanamo to be closed and has welcomed the news british resident shaker aamer will soon be released. Aamer has been cleared for release from guantanamo since 2007. He is the last british resident to be held at guantanamo. Planned parenthoods president Cecile Richards faced off with republican lawmakers before a house panel tuesday amid renewed republican attempts to defund the National Health organization. During the hearing before the House Oversight and government reform committee, richards responded to utah congressman jason chaffetzs claims that planned parenthood uses federal misuses federal funding. There has been a great till of misinformation and i want to be absolutely clear at the outset, the federal funding that planned parenthood receives allows our doctors and clinicians an hour l centers to provide birth control, cancer screenings, and testing and treatments for sexually transmitted infections. Amy Cecile Richards then went on to testify that planned parenthood does not sell fetal tissue to researchers, and that the videos republicans are using to make these claims are heavily edited and do not serve as evidence. The outrageous accusations leveled against planned parenthood based on heavily doctored videos are offensive and categorically untrue. I realize, though, the fact have never gotten in the way of these campaigns to block woman from health care they need and deserve. Amy the hearings come after Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell failed to secure enough votes to defund planned parenthood last month. A recent reuters poll shows the majority of americans support federal funding for planned parenthood. In georgia, Kelly Gissendaner was executed early wednesday morning, after the Supreme Court denied three lastminute requests to stay her execution. She is the first woman to be executed in the state of georgia in 70 years. She was sentenced to death in 1998 for recruiting her boyfriend to kill her husband, douglas. Her execution is the First Time Since the Death Penalty was reinstated in 1976 that georgia has executed someone who did not personally kill the victim. Gissendaner had received a flurry of support in recent days, including from pope francis. Randall savage of the local tv station wmaz described her final moments. She apologized for what she did. She said she was sorry that that amazing man lost his life because of her. And once the execution started, she began singing Amazing Grace and saying it all the way through. Amy Kelly Gissendaner was the 21st person executed in the United States so far this year. Two more people are slated to be executed in the United States in the coming days. Today, the state of oklahoma is scheduled to execute Richard Glossip. In 1997, glossip was working as a manager at the best budget inn in Oklahoma City when his boss, Barry Van Treese, was murdered. A maintenance worker, justin sneed, admitted he beat van treese to death with a baseball bat, but claimed glossip offered him money for the killing. The case rested almost solely on sneeds claims. Sneed did receive the Death Penalty. No physical evidence ever tied glossip to the crime. Meanwhile, on thursday, Alfredo Prieto is scheduled to be executed by the state of virginia. The salvatori and national is convicted of multiple counts of murder. His lawyers maintain prieto has an intellectual disability that renders his execution unconstitutional. Well have more on glossips execution later in the broadcast but sister Helen Prejean and his attorney don knight. The governor of the bank of england has issued a sharp warning about the financial risk of investing in fossil fuels. Mark carney said tuesday night that investors could face potentially huge losses if reserves of oil, coal and gas are deemed unburnable. Environmental groups have long warned companies of the Financial Risks of not divesting from fossil fuels. Carney said the window for fossil fuel divestment is closing. The combination of the weight of scientific of evidence in the dynamics of the Financial System suggest that in the fullness of time, Climate Change will threaten Financial Resilience and longerterm prosperity. Act, butstill time to the window is finite and closing. Amy carneys warning comes as new york mayor bill de blasio called on new york Pension Funds to divest from coal companies. The 160 billion funds currently have 33 million invested in coal. Meanwhile, republican president ial candidate jeb bush has promised to approve the keystone xl pipeline and bolster the Energy Sector through deregulation if he becomes president. He was speaking during a Campaign Stop to the shale gas producer rice energy in canonsburg, pennsylvania, tuesday. Promising to create 1 Million Manufacturing jobs, bush said, we need to embrace the energy revolution. Russia, ukraine and the European Organization for security and cooperation have reached an agreement for the withdrawal of tanks and weapons from the frontlines of the conflict in eastern ukraine. This comes one day after ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko blasted russian president Vladimir Putin in a speech at the United Nations over the ongoing conflict. The leader of the Colombian Rebel Group farc, or the revolutionary armed forces of colombia, says that all its members are committed to the peace talks. This comes after the colombian government and farc announced a historic breakthrough last week in the talks to end the fivedecade conflict that has killed over 200,000 people. Farc leader rodrigo londono, known as timochenko, said the group would continue to work to implement its agenda, but without violence. We must create an environment where all of these fights will be continued, the fight for land, will development, Public Services in the cities, the fight for Better Health care. The essence of all of this is for us to achieve these goals without shooting at one another. Amy jamaicans are calling for britain to pay billions in reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, ahead of british Prime Minister David Camerons First Official trip to jamaica today. Writing in the jamaica observer, hilary beckles, chairman of the Reparations Commission of the caribbean community, called on cameron to recognize the uks legacies of slavery that continue to derail, undermine and haunt our best efforts at Sustainable Economic Development and the psychological and cultural rehabilitation of our people. In the United States, Border Patrol agent Lonnie Swartz has been indicted on seconddegree murder charges for the 2012 shooting of 16yearold jose antonio rodriguez. Agent Lonnie Swartz killed the unarmed mexican teenager by firing through the border fence from the u. S. Side. The teen was walking unarmed on the sidewalk in nogales, sonora, en route to buy a hot dog. The lawyer for Rowan County Court Clerk Kim Davis is claiming she had a private davis had a private meeting with pope francis during the popes historic sixday visit to the u. S. Kim davis was briefly jailed in september for refusing to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples, following the Supreme Courts decision to legalize Marriage Equality nationwide. In a statement posted on the website of Christian Lobby Group liberty council, kim davis is quoted as saying she was humbled by the experience, and that she is just a county clerk who loves jesus. Davis lawyer claims the pope francis told davis to stay strong. A new sixmonth investigation by awardwinning reporter victoria law has revealed pregnant women documented the Inhumane Treatment of pregnant women incarcerated in the United States. It begins with the story of a woman who gave birth locked in a texas jail cell without any medical attention in 2012. The baby was born dark purple and unresponsive with the ability court wrapped around the neck. The baby died. The investigation also revealed pregnant women are sometimes shackled during labor, even in states that of outlawed the practice. A woman imprisoned in arkansas tells of giving birth while shackled in 2010. Once i arrived at the delivery room, the labor room, i was shackled my feet or shackled to the bed in my hands or shackled to the iv real. I asked for the change to be removed and for Pain Medicine and i even asked my pain was so tremendous, i asked for a cesarean. I did not have any Pain Medicine. I was only given to tell and all. When he nurses can, the guard would remove the chains, but as soon as the nurses would leave out of the room, the guard would shackle me back. Within two or three minutes, once they changed me checked me, the guard would put the chains back on me. I felt the guard somehow was try to teach me a lesson of being pregnant and being in prison. Amy and nsa whistle blower Edward Snowden has made his twitter debut tuesday. He has already attracted nearly 1 million followers. His first tweet was a reference to nsa spying and a verizon advertisement was can you hear , me now . And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Prisoner Richard Glossip is slated to be executed this morning. An Oklahoma Court recently rejected a request for a new hearing in the case. In 1997, glossip was working as a manager at the best budget inn in Oklahoma City when his boss, Barry Van Treese, was murdered. A maintenance worker, justin sneed, admitted he beat van treese to death with a baseball bat, but claimed glossip offered him money and Job Opportunities for the killing. The case rested almost solely on sneeds claims. No physical evidence ever tied glossip to the crime. In recent months, two men who served time in jail with sneed , have come forward saying sneed framed glossip to avoid the Death Penalty himself. On monday, the court ruled this evidence merely builds upon evidence previously presented to the court and rejected a stay of execution. More than 240,000 people have signed a petition to spare glossips life. Amy well, for more, were joined now on the phone by don knight, one of the two pro bono attorneys representing glossip, and sister Helen Prejean. Shes the author of the bestselling book dead man , walking an eyewitness account of the Death Penalty. Don knight, your boat in oklahoma about to head over to the prison you are both in oklahoma about to head over to the prison where Richard Glossips, scheduled to die at 3 00 p. M. Oklahoma time. Can you tell us what the latest is, what you have filed to try to prevent his execution and why youre contending he is an innocent man . Forhank you, amy and juan having us on your program. This is a very, very important issue for everyone today. We have filed two matters pending right now, one is with the governor here mary fallin. We have once again asked her for a 60 day stay of execution so we can have an opportunity to get back in front of the clemency board and ask once again for clemency for Richard Glossip. With our new evidence as the basis for the clemency claim. The second issue is pending a front of the United States of green court this morning on a writ asking the court to grant a stay and give us an opportunity for a hearing. The basis for our claim in front of the Supreme Court, first off, Richard Glossip is innocent. There doesnt seem to be any doubt and all of the doubt that is ever been in this case seems to be disappearing very quickly because we have really uncovered isdence that justin sneed categorically unreliable. He remains so today in a recent interview he lied several times in the interview, made up new facts just something to fit whatever in narrative he had going on that particular day. This was an interview with a woman reporter from a magazine called the frontier. But his testimony has been pretty unreliable ever since the first time he ever opened his mouth with the police. He told four different stories just in one interview way back in 1997. So our basis is the fact that the eighth amendment to the constitution requires reliability and fairness in capital cases. And in this particular case, theres simply no reliability. If he is to be executed today, there is no fairness in the a commitment. , what are youon knight claiming needs to be reviewed . We have uncovered information, and this is new evidence from three individuals. The first one just sort of in time is the man who was selling justin sneed drugs. Justin sneed was portrayed as being somebody who was simply a drifter, sort of a loner, but he did not have a real drug problem, just occasionally used drugs. Kind of a lazy guy hanging around the motel, and was ofehow subject to the whims mr. Glossip, who had some control over him. The drug dealer will testify, actually, justin sneed was her basic meth head. He was constantly using the drug, using it intravenously, stealing from cars and motel rooms. And that is what happened here. He went into the motel room and beat Barry Van Treese to death and an attempt to get his car keys to take money from the car. He did not need to be nor was he directed to do so for Richard Glossip. The second new evidence, new witness we found was a man who spent time with justin sneed shortly after justin sneed was arrested in 1997. He was his cellmate in a county jail. And that individual will testify that mr. Sneed told him all about the crime on many occasions and never once mentioned it was a murder for hire, never once mentioned Richard Glossips name, basically said he did with the money for the money, which is what we know he did. The third witness will testify after the second trial while he was in prison with mr. Sneed, overheard mr. Sneed telling a very close friend of mr. Sneed, in fact, laughing about the fact he had set Richard Glossip up so sneed could get a life sentence and glossip was going to die. Amy i would like to play short clip from the interrogation video of the key witness against Richard Glossip justin sneed. The jury was not shown the video. The video is taken directly after his arrest for the murder of their van treese. The amount ofout money he received and how it was divided. The scene carefully as the Audio Quality isnt very good. Got the money from the car, took it back to my room. So we would split the money. How much money did you get . I think about 1900. He tell me the guy was sitting on like 7000, but it only, to be a little less than five i think. Amy that was justin sneed, 19 years old at the time, being interrogated for the murder of barry van trees. Last year, justin sneeds oryan justine sneed, wrote a letter to the oklahoma pardon and parole board seeking clemency for glossip and asserting his innocence. She also said her father had spoken to her of recanting his testimony. She wrote i strongly believe is an innocent man sitting on death row. For a couple of years now, my father has been talking to me about recanting his original testimony. But has been afraid to act upon it, in fear of being charged with the Death Penalty. His fear of recanting, but guilt about not doing so, makes it obvious that information he is sitting on would exonerate mr. Glossip. So this whole issue of this teenager who was charged at the time being told by the Police Detectives that he would not be put to death if he implicated glossip him is that right . Basically what happened here. They did not come right out and use those terms, but everything they said basically pointed to him making sure that he the namelossip Richard Glossip was brought up by the police, driven home by the police, and after mr. Sneed gave a couple of versions that included mr. Glossip and the police like the final one he gave, they told him that he had basically helped himself out a great deal. We know from the first witness that we have found after this matter took place, the one when he was in county jail, that witness told us that justin sneed was terrified of the Death Penalty and would do anything to get out of the Death Penalty. It appears that is what he has done. Juan have you been able to talk to glossip in the last day or two . Give us a sense of his state of mind right now. I know sister helen is on the line with us and i believe she is spoken in more recently. I will turn it over to her, if that is ok with you. Juan satisfying. Sister Helen Prejean . I spoke to richard twice yesterday. Richard is in this place, he has come close to death three times, and each time he came through unscathed. Always is,n to me sister helen, what do you think is going to happen. Up until this point, i just said, youre not going to die, richard. Look at all of the forces being assembled for you, all of the people speaking for you, all of the support. But recently when we talked, i knew i had to say to him, richard, you are like in the whitewater rapids right now in your boat and the waterfall is right there. You can hear it. You and youying for have got to position yourself to either go over the waterfall, which means the state is actually going to kill you for this, or to live. As he made in his own statement, which was read on the dr. Phil show by susan sarandon, i dont want to be a martyr and i dont want to die, but if in fact this attention to my case and all that could go wrong in this and that you could actually put an innocent man to death, if it could bring attention in this country to all the people going through this and it could help end the Death Penalty for everyone, then my life will not be in vain. These are not just words he says off the top of his head. It is really within his being. And i think richard is poised, this point, to live or die. I will hardly be able to believe it if he dies. The system in our criminal justice system, particularly the administration of the Death Penalty, is so corrupt, so messed up. And just what don knight was saying about justin sneed being terrified of death, that is a tactic prosecutors use all the time to get people to confess or to buy their version of the story. And the reason Richard Glossip is even facing death today at 3 00 is because the prosecutor bob macy got 54 Death Penaltys every time he did, he cut a notch on his belt. Richard had a miserable defense. He had on was no defense. And there was no way investigation would be done. These witnesses that don knight and the stalwart team have come together now, it was not done. The jury never heard it. So the jury only bought the version of what had happened from the prosecutor. And that is the soil in which this tree produces such terrible fruit of people actually going to their death on the word almost completely of another man who has been shown to be a serious meth addict and stole all the time. You dont introduce Richard Glossip to be the mastermind. Justin sneed was going sometimes the drug dealers said he would bring his coins. He stole from bending machines. Sometimes he brought him food stamps, a stereo from a car because he was on drugs. Why introduce richard into the scenario at all that he had to be the mastermind . Why . Because the one aggravating circumstance the prosecutor used to get the Death Penalty was murder for hire. That qualifies for the Death Penalty. And Richard Glossip is staring down death at 3 00 today because of that. That is how broken this ink is. Sister helen, talk about the injustice of the Death Penalty for some many others. This last week, pope francis he was speaking to Congress Called for the abolition of the Death Penalty. This is what he said. Rule also the golden reminds us of the responsibility to protect and defend human life. [applause] this conviction has led me to the beginning of my ministry to ofocate the global abolition the Death Penalty. [applause] i am convinced that this way is the best since every life is sacred. Is andn Person Society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Presently, my brother bishops here in the United States renew the call for the abolition of the Death Penalty. Not [applause] them, buto i support forso offer encouragement those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation. Juan that was pope francis speaking to Congress Last week. Sister Helen Prejean, your sense of the impact of the popes words and what a this is going to have some kind of an effect in terms of achieving the abolition of the Death Penalty here in the United States . Well, a lot of people heard those words, and words that speak truth to us and call us to the more noble parts of ourselves, the protection of life not just of innocent life that was a big surprise, because it was sustained applause when the pope said, protect life at every stage. And i think everybody thought they knew what was coming next and it would have to do with innocent life. But he held up the guilty. He held a people who have done terrible crimes, that they have dignity so that the global abolition of the Death Penalty. So the words are out there in some heart seal off the words and refused to let them come in. But i knew Supreme Court Justice Anthony kennedy was sitting there. He is the fifth vote on the Supreme Court we need, which could abolish the Death Penalty in the Richard Glossip case could be the case that just shows exactly how broken this thing is when you let the states like oklahoma be the administers of the Death Penalty. All the politics, all the culture comes in, so you get a bob macy and you get people running for political office, off of the deaths of people. So i can only hope the popes words spoken in such truth to us will have an effect on hearts. Amy sister Helen Prejean, can you say what is going to happen today . You have walked many men to death row. What will happen when you get in your car right now with don knight and head over to the prison . What is the schedule of the day . We get to the present around 11 00 were little bit before 11 00 hasdon and another one of the lawyers will be visiting with richard from 11 00 to 1 00. I, we get a witnesses, will be put into a van and brought back to wait in a room because were the ones who will be witnesses for richard. Pot will have a coffee going. Theyre going to be polite to us. And theyre going to say, do you need anything . Treeses will be brought to a room to wait, this is the moment of justice they have an promised. And because the murder victims family. Right. The last time richard got a stay and they brought back to the van, i looked across the way and there was the van treese family being put into a van to be taken out of the prison. Look what happens to the victims families. They wait for this moment of justice. Sorry,n there let out, not today, you will do your justice may be in two weeks. It is unlike anything i know to describe. I know what the lawyers have filed with the Supreme Court. I know of Justice Breyer posits Strong Defense when they did the lethal injection on the glossip case. I can only hope they are persuaded by the arguments and dont just fall back behind procedure and say this should have been filed much sooner, which is what the court of criminal appeals did in oklahoma. Procedure bars you from raising these issues. We have already looked at these issues. Which meant they were impervious to look at the new information and the new facts because procedure bars you from looking. I only hope that this court will have the heart and conscience to widen it to see that to kill a human being, especially an innocent human being, is cruelty, is torture, and it is against our noblest the leafs. It is like putting your vote on a wave and you write it. Dont let the time philip as we are waiting, as i am waiting. They have a bathroom in that place where you can go and have a little privacy. And i plan to retreat to that little place of privacy as often as i can. Amy don knight, of course im sure many people are asking, presenting innocents at the last possible minute . Justice sneed is justin sneed has been the key to this whole case. The truth of the matter is, he was a 19yearold meth addicted person with a criminal history. He is not the kind of percent that you would have ever counted on to do anything. If you had asked him to take money to the bank for you, you would know categorically he would not get that money to the bank, that he would use of her himself. He was not a reliable or send when he was 19 reliable person when he was 19. He is still unreliable. It is disgusting, really, to think were going today to maybe kill a man raced upon the word of someone that no one would count on under any circumstances , and that is what we are facing today. Amy i want to thank you for being with us, don knight, will be with Richard Glossip today and has appealed the case to the Supreme Court in this last minute. Will beelen prejean accompanying Richard Glossip on whatever it is that happens today. We will keep you updated, even after this broadcast at democracynow. Org. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. When we come back, we will be joined by the former secretary of labor robert reich. Stay with us. [music break] amy dead man walking, bruce springsteen. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan on the campaign trail, republican candidates are proposing massive new tax cuts for the rich despite growing economic inequality across the country. On monday, donald trump unveiled a plan to lower the income tax rate to the lowest level since 1931, cut corporate taxes and abolish the estate tax. If youre single and earn less and 25,000 or married and 50,000,arn less than you will not pay any income tax. Nothing. This eliminates very strongly and quickly that marriage penalty very unfair penalty. In eliminates the amt, the alternative minimum tax. It ends the death tax. A double taxation a lot of families go through hell over the death tax. It reduces or eliminates most of the deductions and loopholes available to special interest and to the very rich. Amy meanwhile, former Florida Governor jeb bush has proposed broad tax cuts for individuals and corporations as part of his economic plan. Under the plan jeb himself would , save millions of dollars in taxes. He was questioned about this on Fox News Sunday by chris wallace. And analysis of your tax returns the last six years, which you have released to the public, the last six years indicates that you would save under your tax plan 3 million. Does jeb bush need a 3 million tax cut . The benefit goes disproportionately to the middle class. If you look at what the middle class pays today compared to what they would a on our tax to point increase in aftertax higher income people pay more taxes now im proportionally, everyone would get a benefit but proportionally they will pay more and with my plan than what they pay today. Forgive me, sir, but 2. 9 seems like it is less than 11. 6. 1 of people pay 40 of all the taxes. Of course, tax cuts for everybody is going to generate more for people that are paying a lot more. That is just the way it is. Juan while the republicans are pushing for tax cuts to the rich, many others are questioning how our Economic System is working. Senator Bernie Sanders, a selfidentified socialist, has soared in the early polls for the democratic primary. In britain, socialist Jeremy Corbyn has just been elected the leader of the labour party and pope francis continues to critique the modern capitalist system. A new tyranny. Amy to talk more about the economy, we are joined by robert reich. He served as labor secretary under president clinton and is professor at the university of california, berkeley. His newest book is, saving capitalism for the many, not the few. Welcome back to democracy now. It is great to have you with us. Start off with trump. Tax thehe is there to Hedge Fund Guys, but then he lays out his tax plan. It will keep the Hedge Fund Guys as well off as they are right now, if not doing better, including private state people and everybody else. The trunk tax plan cuts the top rates from nearly 40 down to about 25 . It is a huge windfall for those at the top and there is no indication of how it will be paid for. All of these republicans, all they do is do exactly what started under Ronald Reagan and that is they say trickledown economics. The fact of the matter is, nothing ever trickles down. Juan what about his claim that folks at the lower end of the income spectrum will end up paying virtually no tax . People at the lower end, they pay right now huge Social Security taxes, state and local taxes, sales taxes that is where most people get hit. Obviously, this plan does not amy what about jeb bush . It is about the same. It is not quite as audacious and responsible as trump, but that is not saying much. It gives huge tax break to people at the top. One analysis i read yesterday showed the bush tax plan provides about 1. 4 million a earners. He top income this is at a time lets remember when inequality is wider today than it has been in the United States at least since 1927, and by some measures, since 1880. Why republicans think of business is there to provide even more tax breaks for the wealthy is beyond me. And that only means less money for every thing from National Defense to medicare to the little bit were now paying for the poor. Amy lets turn to the democrats. The sucking sound from the bottom to the top has a been quite as loud. In july, Hillary Clinton outlined her vision in a speech at the new school here in new york city. First, hardworking families need and deserve tax relief and supplementation simple petition. Second, those at the top have to pay their fair share. That is why i support the buffet role which makes sure millionaires dont pay lower rates than their secretaries. I have also called for closing the carried interest loophole, which lets wealthy financiers hate and artificially low rate. And lets agree hugely Successful Companies that benefit from everything america has to offer should not be able to game the system and avoid paying their fair share. Especially while companies who cant afford highpriced lawyers and lobbyists and up paying more. Amy your response to what Hillary Clinton has said . It is a step in the right direction, but not far enough. We do have to substantially increase taxes at the top if were going to have enough money to do everything that needs to be done with regard to infrastructure, education, do a lot of things despite president obamas efforts have still not been done. I think we have to go beyond change the way the market is organized. If you look at antitrust law, for example, you have huge combinations in Health Insurance , in airlines, in banking food. That means americans are spending much more than otherwise for all of these basic necessities airlines may not be a necessity, but certainly, the others are necessities. That is the redistribution upwards. The new recently and york times talked about the digital monopolies and the need to break up some of these companies now that have such enormous influence over our lives, googles and amazons and facebooks. Until quite recently, we at antitrust scrutiny, very careful antitrust group meet of these big hightech firms. They are creating larger and larger entry barriers. It is harder for other companies to get into the business because they have platforms that are basically network monopolies over whether it is search or shopping or whatever you want. And those huge that huge market power, network monopolies into giving them the power to keep competitors out. Ultimately, charge higher prices but also deter innovation. We need to apply antitrust law. I dont think we necessarily have to bust them up, but we need to make sure we dont stifle innovation and make absolutely sure that consumers down the line are not ending up paying too much. Juan you mention in your book that google and apple are spending more money acquiring the patents of others then they are and fighting over these patents in court cases than they are in actually new research and development. And also on litigation and lobbying. Google is now the number one lobbyist in washington. Simply its something kind of a consequence of having more and more market power. A badt saying google is company. Im not saying apple is bad. Im not saying anybody companies are not bad. People are not companies. Companies are not people despite what the spring courses. What you have to be careful in and of the economy is the market power that turns into political power inevitably. We have seen that again and again. That is what antitrust laws were created for in 1890, the sherman act, and yet antitrust scrutiny has waned over time. Amy i want to go to Bernie Sanders. He is a socialist. He is a democratic president ial candidate. In july he was interviewed at the newseum in washington, d. C. He was asked about his position on Financial Institutions, and his support for reinstating the glass steagall act, which separated commercial from Investment Banking and was repealed in 1999. This is part of what he said. We have six of the largest Financial Institutions in this country who have assets equivalent of about 10 trillion which is equivalent to about 60 of the gdp in the u. S. Point number one, yet a handful of huge Financial Institutions that have Enormous Economic clout. They issue a significant amount of mortgages in this country and the credit cards in this country. So the first issue is, for a vibrant economy, do we think it is a good idea for a handful of Financial Institutions to have that much economic clout . What wall street has done is create a Business Model which says, we really dont care about small and mediumsized businesses. What we care is about being an island unto ourselves, coming up with the most be so tarik financial tools esoteric financial tools that nobody in the world knows that enables wall street to make huge, huge amounts of money in highly dangerous and speculative activities. That led us to the wall street crash of 2008, which created the worst economic downturn since the great recession. I personally believe that the Business Model of wall street is flawed. When a was in the house, i was a member of the House Financial Services committee that dealt with the regulation. We had the clinton people and the republicans. Remember what they said . They said, it is a great idea premerge and invest in banks with commercial banks, with large insurance companies. It will be great press internationally. I never believed it for one second, fought against it. To my mind what we have to do is to reestablish glasssteagall, but secondly, we have got to break them up. Amy that is Bernie Sanders. Glasssteagall was repealed under the Clinton Administration in 1999, robert reich. Bernie sanders is right, we have to reestablish glasssteagall. Amy explain why it is so important. 1929, thehe crash of United States set out to prevent that kind of crazy risk taking by the Banking Sector that led to the crash. We are not talking bout 2008, this is 1929. One thing we did was separate commercial banking from Investment Banking so peoples deposits ordinary savings of ordinary people would not be used for gambling operations by the investment banks. We ought to maintain that. That is one of the reasons we got into trouble again. We also need to bust up the biggest banks. Bernie sanders understated the reality. The five biggest banks. They used to have 10 of the total banking assets back in 1990. Now have 44 of total banking assets in this country. They are far too big to fail. They are so large that just because of their political clout and their scale, they are gaining more and more market share of the entire banking industry. That is dangerous. It is dangerous for the economy and dangerous for our political coulter because those banks have a great deal of political power. Amy you have also talked about welfare reform. You were the labor secretary when president clinton signed off on this. And your experience that the is was signing off in the white house . You are his guy, but you are not standing next to him. I was disappointed he signed that bill that came over from the republicans to basically get rid of welfare and substitute a fiveyear maximum lifetime Public Health for people. Because five years in someones lifetime may not be enough. We discovered in the great recession, it was not enough. But look, if youre in the president s cabinet, youre not going to agree with him on everything and are certain things you have to ask yourself is it worth resigning over or can i do more good inside . Theres no easy answer. Amy and hillarys stance at the time . I dont know. I dont think she ought to be whatd or accredited for her husband did as president. I dont think that is fair to her. I think she has to stand as a candidate separately. But she needs to be come as every candidate needs to be, including Bernie Sanders, pushed to be bolder on issues that are really critically important to america at this time. Amy we will talk to that in a moment. Were speaking to robert reich, former labor secretary the first term of clinton. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Our guest is robert reich, former labor secretary under president clinton and professor at the university of california, berkeley. Business book saving , capitalism for the many, not the few. , in the titleeich of your book, im sure many people in our audience would say, why save capitalism . Why not contain or control capitalism for the many, not the few, or up and capitalism . Ive been out on the book tour and there are two cups of people, one that says, why . Oure criticizing capitalism it is perfectly fine as it is. Other groups has come a wide you want to save it . The title is actually doing what i had hoped, and that is riling up everyone. The most important point is to recognize that even denmark and sweden and socalled social democracies are still capitalists phenomenally. That is, fundamentally. Even china is becoming a capitalist nation. Forgetting the ism, the real issue is, is the system working for most people or is it working for a very small group, becoming smaller and smaller, at the top are gaining more and more economic power that is being transformed into political power . The answer is, in the United States particularly, yes, unfortunately, the system is not working for most people and the beneficiaries are really getting smaller and smaller and richer and richer and richer. That is not sustainable. We talked about inequality. We talked about insecure work. We talk about the engulfing of our democracy and money. These are all connected. The reason, i believe, that so Many Americans are so angry, whether their anger is transferred into a Donald Trumplike scapegoating or whether it is becoming Bernie Sanders phenomenal reform, it is still populist anger of a kind that, hopefully, will fuel reform. That is what we had in 1900. Juan one of the refreshing aspects i found in your book is your main idea that the free market is a myth, in essence, what is occurring constantly is a battle in terms of the different groups in society that government to better regulate the existing system, and that there are many decisions made, not only big ones but the small ones, regulatory decisions that have a major impact on the kind of economy we have. There is no free market. I want to state that again, there is no free market. The kind of battle that we have between liberals and conservatives the past 40 years or 50 years between do you trust the market or do you trust government, is silly battle because you can have a market without government creating the rules of that market. And it is in those roles, exactly as you said, this is the point of the book, it is inside those roles that you find the most important issues that ought to be debated. For example, look at wall street. One of the reasons you have so many people on wall street making so much money off of everybody else is that we have in this country the weakest laws against Insider Trading of any advanced country. We also have high pharmaceutical prices. Why . Partly because revealed the country that allows pharmaceutical companies to pay off generic companies, generic pharmaceuticals, to delay introduction of generic pharmaceuticals. And go on down the line. I mean, there are hundreds and hundreds of hundreds of examples of ways in which the deck has been stacked, the dice have been loaded, the game has been rigged in favor of very wealthy, very powerful people and companies and banks. Amy you talk about the different groups critiquing or title. Lets go outside the system to pope francis. Earlier this year, he spoke of the world meeting of popular movements in santa cruz in bolivia or he focused on the damage done to the earth by capitalism. Time my brothers and sisters, seems to be running out; we are not yet tearing one another apart, but we are tearing apart our common home. Today, the Scientific Community realizes what the poor have long told us harm, perhaps irreversible harm, is being done to the ecosystem. The earth, entire peoples and individual persons are being brutally punished. And behind all this pain, death and destruction there is the stench of what basil of caesarea called the dung of the devil. An unfettered pursuit of money rules. The service of the common good is left behind. Once capital becomes an idol and guides peoples decisions, once greed for money besides over the entire socioEconomic System, it runs society. He condemns enslaves men and women. It destroys human fraternity. If thats people against one another. As we clearly see, it even puts at risk our common home. Amy basically, you pope francis talking about capitalism as the dung of the devil. There is and should be a moral core to any economy whether it is called capitalism or any other system. If it doesnt have the moral core in which we agree on basics, kind of minimum standards of decency, we agree that we understand that trust is critical if an Economic System is going to be maintained and sustained, then youre in trouble. I think one of the problems in the United States and one of the problems with contemporary capitalism as practiced by the american model is that it celebrates greed as the central principle. But that cant possibly be the central crystal because if it is all about greed, then you end up spending more and more georesources protecting yourself from everybody elses unvarnished greed. I mean, what is happening, if you look at the gdp, were spending more on protection that is, a lawyers and accountants and auditors and security guards and everybody are protecting us from each others greed than we are on actually producing goods and services and food and Everything Else we need. Juan i am interested in your critique that dovetails a lot of the stuff that Bernie Sanders has been saying on the campaign trail. Your sense of what hes bringing to the debate now in america . I think he is telling the truth and i think people are responding with extraordinary enthusiasm, even many conservatives and republicans i need, to a truth teller. Amy robert reich, thank you for being with us former labor , secretary under president clinton and professor at the university of california, berkeley. His latest book saving , capitalism for the many, not the few. He is also chair of common cause. That does it for our show. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ]
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