CNN recently had a political
playbook co-author on by the name
of Rachel Bay to explain why
conservative Democrats like
Senators Joe Manchin and
Kirsten Sinema are voting against
the budget reconciliation bill.
Or at least serving as an obstacle
to its passage.
Now this is the exact type of
lazy and inaccurate analysis you
can expect from DC reporters.
Get a load of this
inaccurate conventionalism.
>> There's also a divide amongst
Democrats about what will it take
to be successful in 2022.
You have progressives who say look,
we campaigned on things like free
child care, universal pre K,
free college.
If we don't deliver on these,
the base isn't going to show up.
But then you have moderates who
are in the swing districts who
are vulnerable and say, look, if we
pass a huge package like that,
then I'm definitely going to
lose my seat.
And so there's just
a fundamental disagreement and
a very diverse party about what it
takes what they should pass to
protect themselves in 2022.
>> So the conventional wisdom
is that if it's a Democrat who's
running for re-election in a purple
state, he or she needs to be really
careful when it comes to
funding social safety net programs.
And the budget reconciliation bill
is the example that she's
specifically talking about here.
But why don't we take a look at
what the data indicates?
Because while people will have you
believe, especially the media,
corporate media would have you
believe that there's just this
massive divide among Democrats and
Republicans.
In reality, on bread and butter
issues there's a lot of agreement,
so let's look at West Virginia
first then we'll look at Arizona.
In West Virginia, if you look
at the number of voters who support
the Build Back Better plan, that's
the budget reconciliation bill,
there's actually widespread
support.
So when it comes to West Virginia
voters overall, there's a 68% who
do support the bill.
Among Democrats of course,
the number is much higher,
90% among independents 64%, and
wow, would you look at that!
Even among Republicans, 56% support
Biden's Build Back Better plan.
I have more data that backs
this up including support for
specific provisions in the bill,
but Cenk, why don't you jump in?
>> Yeah, so when you look at
the policy provisions that Ana is
going to read for
you guys in a second, you see that
it's actually stronger than what
even the overall numbers indicate.
Because when you say it's Biden's
plan, a bunch of Republicans just
at a gut instinct say no,
I don't want it, right?
But when you break down
the specific proposals
they're like, my God, I love it,
I definitely want it, right?
So, but here's the most important
thing here.
There they are on CNN,
you got a political reporter.
This is epicenter of mainstream
media, and
they're telling you, well,
progressives say that this doesn't
play well in their districts.
But the moderates say they're
definitely going to lose because
this size of this package would not
be popular in their states.
But wait a minute, don't you have
an obligation to check the polls
before you declare that it is
unpopular in their states?
We showed you in West Virginia,
we'll show you in Arizona, too.
They are wrong.
And look, I don't know if they're
wrong because they don't know
politics, that's totally possible
that they're lazy.
And they just never looked at
a poll, they have no idea what
the people of West Virginia or
Arizona think, or they're lying to
you on purpose, but neither one of
those scenarios is good.
But these are incredibly popular
bills and
provisions in West Virginia.
And does it never occur to you
that hey,
maybe it's actually the donors, and
since they got the money their
voting No based on that instead of
their honest assessment of where
their voters are in West Virginia.
Which you didn't check and
took their word on instead of being
an actual journalist.
>> All right, so let's look at
individual provisions, and again
we're focusing on West Virginia,
we'll look at Arizona in
just a moment.
So, everything seems to be
incredibly popular among
West Virginia voters, including
investments in long-term care,
86% of West Virginia voters
are in favor of that.
When it comes to expanding Medicare
coverage 82% of voters in
West Virginia support that.
Same with childcare investments you
have 73% of voters in favor, when
it comes to extended tax credits
for families 70% are in favor.
>> Paid family and medical leaves,
69% of West Virginia voters are in
favor of that, Universal pre-K,
67% of West Virginia voters are in
favor.
Extended Affordable Care Act
subsidies, 65% are in favor, and
then when it comes to clean energy
investments, a little lower but
still, the majority of voters in
West Virginia at 60% are in favor.
>> I'll just give you the quickest
little context is 60% is
a golden number in politics.
You'd be so lucky to get 60% of the
public on your side in any issue.
The least popular provision in
the bill is at 60% and that's
the one that's about clean energy.
The one they tell you on television
all the time, that the people of
West Virginia do not want.
They only want dirty call,
they don't want clean energy.
We just showed you, no,
that's not remotely true.
60% of the people in West Virginia
do want that investment.
So it is an indisputable fact that
Manchin's lying to you.
The question is, are CNN and
Politico lying to you on purpose,
or are they the world's worst
journalists?
>> So when it comes to pay
fors, right?
Tax increases famously happen to be
like the most sticky issue for
Democrats running for
reelection in purple districts.
But if you look at how
West Virginians feel in regard
to the pay fors that were initially
included in
the Reconciliation Bill, seems like
they were incredibly popular.
They want tax hikes on the rich,
in fact,
they want to limit deductions for
wealthy business owners,
74% of West Virginians want that.
72% of West Virginians are in
favor of higher income taxes for
the wealthy.
69% of them are in favor of
increased capital gains tax for
the wealthy.
68% are in favor of IRS enforcement
just to ensure that wealthy people
are not dodging their taxes or
evading their taxes.
And 65% of West Virginians are in
favor of increased corporate tax
rates.
And when you look at Arizona you
see similar support.
Which is why, again what you hear
from that political reporter in
that CNN interview is complete and
utter nonsense.
So let's take a look at Arizona.
Voters overwhelmingly do support
Biden's Build Back Better agenda,
and I'm talking about
the Build Back Better agenda before
it was stripped down as a result of
Manchin and Sinema's opposition.
So 65% of likely Arizona voters
are in favor of it.
Among Democrats that number jumps
up to 95%, among independents 58%,
and even among Republicans 43%
are in favor of
the Build Back Better agenda.
You look at specific provisions,
and again, very similar to what we
experienced in West Virginia,
85% of people in Arizona do want to
expand Medicare coverage.
85% want an investment in
long -care,
71% want child care investments,
69% want clean energy investments.
68% extend tax cuts for families.
67% paid family and medical leave,
in favor of.
66% are in favor of universal pre K
and 64% are in favor of extended
Affordable Care Act subsidies.
And the pay fors, I mean,
just take a look at this chart.
Again, you see overwhelming support
for tax increases at the very top,
75% of people in Arizona
want higher income taxes for
the wealthy.
The lowest number you see here is
66%, which is still incredibly
high, 66% of people in Arizona want
increase corporate tax rates.
>> Okay, so both in West Virginia
and in Arizona, you have
a nearly identical number on
increasing the corporate tax rate.
It's near the bottom of
the priorities.
Everything else is even
higher, okay?
But you just take that minimum
number, it's 65 and 66 or
two thirds.
Two thirds of the voters in a very
red state like West Virginia, and
in a purple state like Arizona say,
no, we definitely want higher taxes
on the rich, and we definitely want
higher taxes on corporations.
Manchin comes out and says, and
Sinema, they both say, no, in our
states, since they're red and
purple, nobody wants higher taxes
on the rich or on corporations.
And every reporter, like an idiot,
in a best-case scenario,
because the other scenario
is they're lying to you on purpose,
and they're not manufacturing news,
they're manufacturing consent.
And they're the lowest workers in
the corporate rule totem pole,
which is really sad and pathetic
that you spent your life doing
marketing for corporations when
you thought you were a journalist.
But let's assume they don't have
bad intent.
Well, then they don't know
anything about their own jobs.
They don't know anything about
the news, they don't know
anything about the people in
West Virginia or Arizona want, and
worse yet, like fools they go
talk to senators, politicians.
And they go, what do the people
of your state want?
They want lower taxes on
the wealthy?
They want lower taxes on big
business?
They love big business, and
they don't want anything for
themselves.
Child care, no,
they don't want that.
Paid family leave, no.
Medicare expansion, dental vision.
They don't want teeth,
who needs teeth,
to see things when they're older?
They don't need any of that.
Now we'll write it down and
we'll say it on television, why?
To trick the rest of the voters
into thinking that you're a good
person, and
you're acting honorably, and that
we don't live under corporate rule.
And that you didn't do all this
because the bribes you received
from those industries.
Well then, you're not in news!
You're not in news, and
they all say that.
You've seen them say that 1,000
times on television.
Did you know these numbers?
One part of the reason some of you
don't know the numbers is because
all the mainstream media are liars,
and they don't tell you.
They know these numbers,
and New York Times will say I have
plausible deniability.
I once printed these numbers on
page 8,
27 in a tiny little paragraph and
I never came back to it.
But in every other article I said
that the people of West Virginia
and Arizona don't want this bill,
when they definitely,
definitely wanted.
They don't want to tax the rich
one, they definitely,
definitely want to tax the rich.
Look, the mainstream media,
they're part of corporate rule.
So when you see crap like
that on air,
don't believe what they're saying.
>> Yeah, I mean,
they're just stenographers.
They'll get interviews with these
senators or members of the House,
and they'll just regurgitate what
they're told.
But they never look at the actual
influences behind the scenes.
They never look at the personal
investments of these members of
Congress.
They never look at the conflicts of
interest.
They just regurgitate what people
in positions of power say.
That's all they do.
And that's not journalism.
Journalism means that you actually
go out there, and you,
first of all,
assume that people in positions of
power are lying to you.
That should be number one.
Maybe people might think that's
a little pessimistic, but
that's what politicians do.
That's what people in positions of
power do.
They want to maintain their power,
they will do anything and
everything necessary to do so.
So assume they're lying to you and
investigate what their claims are,
but they don't do that.
They just regurgitate what these
lawmakers say.
Instead of actually looking at
the money that influences them,
the personal financial investments
that motivate them, and other,
narcissistic self-interested
factors that lead to the decisions
that they make.
That's really what's going on.
>> One last thing, guys.
It's not like the these reporters
are just angelic people who just
naturally support everyone and
believe everyone and trust them,
they go well, if you're seeing
something I'm going
to write it down like it's true.
No, if you're an outsider,
they say you're not credible.
By the way, all voters
by definition are outsiders, okay?
So you guys are not credible.
If you say something, we're not
going to take it seriously.
No way, and we'll look at it super,
we'll write it skeptically, etc.
But if someone in power like
a senator says it, well,
then I just write it down.
I have no skepticism.
No, journalists are supposed
to do the exact opposite.
You're supposed to look at people
in power with skepticism.
They're going to want to maintain
their power.
The people who are giving money
to politicians are likely
to give money because they want
to make more money!
They want to maintain their wealth.
That's obvious to any rational
human being.
That would be the very first step
of journalism.
David Serota
on CNN over the weekend, and
give credit to Brian Stelter for
having him on Reliable Sources.
When Stelter asked them, what's
the one thing that you think the
mainstream press is doing wrong?
Serota had an excellent answer.
He said, you're not
following the money.
You never talk
about the corporate contributions.
And Brian's face in the beginning
was like this.
Like he didn't expect that answer.
What are you guys doing?
What are you doing?
Do journalism or just clean up and
go home,
not challenging the powerful,
instead challenging the powerless.
It's disgusting,
it's the exact opposite of what
real reporters are supposed to do.