People like to argue with me a lot on Twitter,
but a lot of what they have to say
is just plain wrong and mean.
Limiting my responses to 280 characters
won't do a lot of these justice.
So let's get into it.
Here's an example:
I tweeted,
I got a bunch of replies on that one.
I'm 75 years old, Dr. Phil McCracken.
As much as I'd like to move to Hungary
to take advantage of their parental leave,
I do fear my child-rearing days are
behind me.
Another response to my paid leave tweet.
Employers in the United States
have to abide by basic wage
benefit and workplace safety laws,
and regulations to do business, such as the abysmally low
federal minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws,
overtime rules, child labor bans, OSHA regulations.
Now, adding paid family leave to
the list is just common sense.
Not only would it help workers cope with the cost of caregiving,
but studies show it would also help businesses by boosting
employee retention, productivity,
and labor force participation.
This is the richest country in the world — in the history of the world —
and yet we're the only rich country who doesn't offer paid leave.
I mean, talk about American exceptionalism.
Lastly, parents in the United States shouldn't have to move
halfway across the world to get the absolute basics
that the rest of the industrialized world provides.
I tweeted,
And I got this as a response.
Ummmm. You know it isn't cyclical Husky_Fan_335?
John Deere’s enormous executive salaries
— every year.
In 2020, the company laid off hundreds of workers
while its CEO's pay increased by 160%.
The spike in CEO pay isn't just a result of a record year of earnings.
This is a systemic problem.
The average CEO in America now
earns 351 times as much as a typical worker.
That ratio was 21 to 1 in 1965.
Back to John Deere.
The company has spent over
$1.7 billion on stock buybacks
in the first nine months of 2021.
That's a billion, with a B!
Here's another tweet of mine.
Here's a reply.
Actually, John,
America's billionaires have helped
create the system in which they thrive.
They lobby Congress for huge corporate tax breaks and subsidies,
and to keep our tax system riddled
with loopholes that they can exploit.
They bankroll politicians who have systematically gutted the IRS,
so the agency doesn't have the resources to audit them.
Sure, technically, today's billionaires didn't create the system,
but they use their enormous wealth
to keep rigging it in their favor
at the expense of everybody else, including you, John.
Here's another reply.
Trying to help other people do well
is kind of my whole thing.
It's why I became labor secretary decades ago
and why I've continued sounding the alarm about inequality
— at the youthful age of 75.
The trouble comes when a small cluster of people
hoard resources in a way that means millions
will be without food, shelter, job security, or education.
You know, there are basically only five ways to accumulate a billion dollars in America.
In fact, we made a video that explains these five billionaire tricks in detail.
It's called “Should we abolish billionaires?”
Sorry if I've already spoiled the ending.
And yes, I do resent the fact that Elon Musk, the richest man in the history of the world,
pays a lower overall tax rate than the median U.S. worker pays.
You should too.
OK, here's another response to my tweet.
Here's some of the replies.
Well, I'm with you,
that we all benefit from all these policies.
Where I differ is who should pay for them.
Everyday Americans already pay their fair share of taxes.
You know who doesn't?
America's 745 billionaires who got 70% richer
during the greatest global health crisis in a century.
Their wealth gains during the pandemic alone, $2.1 trillion,
could finance all of Biden's $1.75 trillion “Build Back Better” plan,
with plenty left over for them
to toss Skittles in zero gravity.
The wealthy and privileged have socked away
a record amount of the nation's wealth.
They must now pay their fair share to fix the rest of the nation.
Here's another response.
Please. Can we get a fact check on this?
Thank you.
Yeah, this is what I thought.
Most of the public is with us on this.
Don't let the corporate media fool you into thinking
the Democrats have gone too far to the left.
The real problem is they have so far failed to deliver.
Far too many of them are in the pockets of billionaires and corporations.
These moneyed interests don't care
about political affiliations.
They only care about protecting their bottom lines.
The real divide in America isn't right versus left.
It's democracy versus oligarchy.
That's it for this round of “Taking on Your Tweets.”
Please feel free to keep arguing with me on Twitter.
@RBReich
And you can also make my phone go bzzt
on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube at the same handle.
Try to be
nicer, though.