Billionaires are running America. The current shutdown proves it.
The current shutdown of the federal government is more than just a dispute between two parties with different policy ideas. It’s also a stark example of how America’s massive wealth inequality continues to weaken our democracy. Taya Graham and Stephen Janis break down the evidence that billionaires are running the show.
Credits:
Written by: Taya Graham
Studio/Post-Production: David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Taya Graham:
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Inequality Watch Report. I’m Taya Graham, your inequality watchdog. Now, these past two weeks, Washington didn’t just shut down the government. It shut down equality because when the government stops working, inequality doesn’t take a break. It actually cashes in. Now Republicans are saying that the shutdown is about bad policy from Democrats, but we see something different that it is fundamentally about inequality and we can prove it right, Stephen?
Stephen Janis:
Yeah, absolutely. This is what I think we are going to start calling the first full throated inequality shutdown. It’s not just about politics. It’s not just about who has different policy proposals. I think we’re seeing something really, really different. It’s been evolving and it’s been on the horizon for a long time, but walking around Capitol Hill, we are seeing a different force here that is kind of defining the moment. I think it has a lot to do with economic inequality.
Taya Graham:
Now, what have you been seeing on Capitol Hill? I mean, we’ve been going to DC I would say, every other day for the past two weeks monitoring this shutdown. What have you