Notes on "Tax the Rich" Forum Inspired by Patriotic Millionaires

Here are the notes I took yesterday at Manny's:

Erica Payne was the first to speak and introduce the other speakers.  She's the founder and president of Patriotic Millionaires and the mother of a 4 1/2 year old childd.

The economic inequality is the greatest in 50 years.  Why was it greater in 1968?

For the first time ever, life expectancy is starting to go down in the US..

Erica Payne said that not all of the world's problems can be solved with money, but a heck of a lot of them can be.

Was it Robert Reich who said that too many people nod their heads in agreement so we need to get people who aren't in agreement to agree.  He introduced Jake Kornbluth, who I guess is the brother of Josh Kornbluth, who did "Love and Taxes."

 They all believe that all people, including the richest, will be better off in a more equitable society. 

Consumer debt is now higher than in 2008.

When Robert Reich went around the nation with Jake Kornbluth in 2015 to see who the most desperate supported for president, the likeliest candidates appeared to be Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.  But the people they talked to said they liked Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump because they'd really shake things up.  Robert Reich also said he didn't think Trump was the cause of our present problems but the culmination of it.

Reich mentioned the positive election results in Virginia, Kentucky, and other places.

He said something like "Thank God for Donald Trump because he woke us up.

Eric Schaumburg talked on video about his wife and his income tax and how unfair it was--to their benefit.  We tax investment less than labor.


 We can find more info on https://taxjusticenow.org/ 

They say "America's ruanaway inequality has an engine:  our unjust tax system.

Even as they became fabulously wealthy, the ultra-rich have seen theri taxes collapse to levels last seen in the 1920s.  Meanwhile, working-class Americans have been asked to pay more. 


The US Flat Tax--what Romney said about 47% not paying their taxes.  They don't pay federal taxes, but they do pay payroll taxes and consumption taxes.

The Progressive Fiscal Tradition in America from 1913 on?  This was when FDR's asking congress to tax the rich 10% on anything over $25,000 after taxes.  Congress agreed not to 100% but to 93%, and this went on until several decades afterwards.

Help the American public re-connect.  Rise and Fall of Progressivity.  Corporate Tax for the wealthy .  In the 1950's revenue came form corporate tax. 

European countries abandoned their wealth taxes because they made the wrong choices.

Looney Tunes cartoon Tax the Rich.

Leslie Marshall.
Barbara Pearl

If you die before you sell your stocks, the person who gets them won't be taxed the same?

If you donate appreciated stock, you can deduct the gain?

Bob Friedman

Are we investing in inequality?

The GI bill could be for women and people of color.
Bring back death taxes.
Richard??  serial entrepreneur

Carried interest loophole
Venture capitalists said it would drie companies out of California.

New Yorker article on David Rubenstein, who wants to keep the loophole open donated to the Washington Monument.


The most interesting presentation in my opinion was that of Paul O'Brien for Oxfam.  He showed a picture of a golf course within a square mile of Kibera in Nairobi.

The word "Neoliberal" came up, defined as apolicies that place profits over people.  O'Brien spoke of disconnection and despair, cigarettes, alcohol, junk food.    "Trump performed best in places of the most despair.   

Someone spoke of a Marshall Plan for the 21st Century.

The next speaker was Bill Lazonick, who spoke on "sustainable prosperity" and the Geni Ratio.

PVE stands for Predatory Value Extraction.  We need a value-creating economy. 

Manny's Hosts "Tax the Rich"--What a Good Idea!

This morning's SF Chronicle was particularly interesting.  One of the most interesting articles was on millionaires begging to be taxed.  I attended the first two hours--a limitation due to the fact that I drove and had only two hours permitted in the meter I chose.  (Another argument for public transportation, but I was under a time constraint today.)

It was fascinating and convincing. 

Here's what I posted on Facebook (getting next to no interest--but still more than I get for this blog).

Well, that was fascinating--and inspiring!

Millionaires urging higher taxes on themselves! "Inequality isn't just morally wrong--it's unsustainable." "Patriotic Millionaires say that Income inequality is un-American. It's time to tax the rich."

I went to Manny's this afternoon to hear a forum of "Patriotic Millionaires" advocating for their paying more of their fair share.

Among the people I heard speak were Robert Reich (not a millionaire but on to their gaming the system), Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, Bill Lazonick, Leslie Marshall, Shannon Monnat, and Paul O'Brien. I could stay only two of the three and one-half hours, but I learned a lot and got a lot of swag including red, white, and blue M & M's saying "Tax the Rich." Let's do it!.

A True-False Component to the Glass Room Experience

I forgot to mention this, but there's a true-false component to the Glass Room.

True or false?

You can preserve your brain and upload it to Cloud before you die.
There's a smart fork that will vibrate when you're eating too fast and show a green light when it's okay for you to start eating again.
There's an app for birth control.
There's an app for undocumented people trying to cross the border.

The Glass Room--in More Detail

Jenny Goodman, the amazing daughter of My Best Friend in Peace Corps Tonga, showed me The Black Mirror when she was here this year on her way back to Thailand.  So I wrote her this letter:

Dear Jenny,

I don't know whether you've seen my post on Facebook, where I share some pictures about the Glass Room, an exhibit that's been in Berlin, London, New York, and is now in SF.  

I thought of you when I got to The Smell Test, a way of rating people that reminded me of "Nose Dive."  In fact, I told one of the guides there that it reminded me of a program in which people rate each other all the time and--He knew I was talking about The Black Mirror episode you showed me.  It also reminded me of the Korean film I recently saw, "Parasites," in which the very poor interlopers overhear the very rich talk about their  smell, like the smell of the people who ride the subways.  (How would they know?)

Just now as I was looking for a link to give you background, I see that The Black Mirror is mentioned!

So this article can give you background, and I'll just focus on what I enjoyed doing and what impressed me.

The Glass Room is intentionally like an Apple Store, but instead of selling tech, they're warning us against it.  The first exhibit I saw shows various tech companies--Google, Facebook, Hewlett Packard, etc--and citizen action both by them and against them.  For example, when Trump announced his policy to keep Muslims out of the country, 2,843 tech employees signed a petition that they would refuse to create a data base identifying people by their religion.  It also shows protests against and boycotts of the companies for specific reasons.

Getting into the more personal, I looked into a  facial recognition mirror and saw all the faces that looked like mine come up.  I was jealous because the woman who did this after I finished had prettier faces come up to match hers.  

I also took a personality test, and the results showed I was outgoing, extroverted, and not very agreeable. (They had statements like "I know how to comfort people" with choices of "Very accurate, fairly accurate, somewhat accurate, somewhat inaccurate," etc., and I know I don't know how to comfort people so I rated myself low.)  But the area they said most defined me was neuroticism because I was 68% less neurotic than most people, which made me a target for a particular kind of campaign, one to give people who've been in prison a second chance!

Of course, I also enjoyed the exhibits giving me a chance to wear a crown or a puppy's mug and see a reflection of myself with ever- changing analyses like "You are 35% one of them,"/"...5% autonomous"/..."83% surprising"/"...

On one screen I got a smiley face emoji and hearts on my eyes with the words "reaction to yourself:  good" and "estimated income:  $31,099."  If I got $31,009, I don't think my reaction to myself would be very good.  They also told me my estimated IQ was 100!  I think it's like that study done (Forer)  where people took a personality test and were then given results that were so generic that all thought the analysis described them perfectly, only to find out later that everyone was given exactly the same results.  But, hey, an IQ of 100??  I know I'm struggling to understand this world, but still...  

Someone in dating services was quoted as saying, "When two people are told they have a lot in common, they tend to make this true" or something like that.  

Another part of the exhibit, Invisible Labor,  shows the labor that goes into making our tech projects like tablets and smartphones.  I thought this was going to include the poor people who mine the minerals used in our products, but it shows instead all the movements that go on in the factories after the excavation.  

The exhibit has four main areas:  Red is "Trust Us," blue "Highly Personal," gray "Invisible Labor," and green "Big Mother."  Big Mother shows how high tech tries to "protect" us.  

It's all very interesting, and I have Maxine Anderson to thank.  She's another board member of OWL and on OWL's Political Action Committee who told Kathie Piccagli and me about this after our meeting this past Thursday.  

Here are some pictures as well as the official link:

The Glass Room

The Glass Room Shared with Dropbox

The Glass Room – Looking into your online life.

The Glass Room – Looking into your online life. The Glass Room is a pop-up exhibition that’s starting a global conversation about data and privacy.

Meanwhile, California is burning.  I may join a friend (Robert Liu--He's the one we met at Samovar and later went on the march with) and the Red Cross at St. Mary's Cathedral this coming Sunday to help evacuees a little bit.

How are YOU doing?

Love,

Tina

The Glass Room

I wore myself out having fun and learning stuff at the Glass Room today.  But tomorrow I'll be back to describe the experience.

Here's a link to some photos.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p7g1t2rrmu8xe3i/AAAm1JAiVdQFYmKbk8wGLI2Xa?dl=0

Walking and Taking BART to keep cars off the road

Today's San Francisco Chronicle reports that there may be a security clearance perk for riders of BART to SFO!  The BART board may vote to approve new technology to scan Clipper cards and BART smartphone apps so that riders who show proof of payment can stand in a separate line--one shorter and faster.  They have a perk like this in Boston, where people who take the bus to Logan International Airport get to cut in front of everybody else.  

They might try this at Oakland Airport too.  

That's because BART riders have decreased since Uber and Lyft became popular, so they need to offer perks.  

The Race to Chase

In today's Chroncle, October 24, 2019,  was a report "The Race to Chase," about the Chronicle reporters out to investigate the fastedst way to Chase Center.  Would it be walking, Lyft, MUNI, bike, scooter, or private car?  

I'm so glad that the walker won and not just because I love Steve Rubenstein, the Chronicle's Mark Twain.  My friend Bill Shoaf and I walked San Francisco in 2016 in preparation for the Camino de Santiago and loved seeing the city on foot.

Among our routes were Stern Grove to Ocean Beach to Sutro Park, From the Conservatory of Flowers to Church and 30th to McLaren Park and the Philosopher's Way, from Castro and Market to Corona Heights, Mountain Lake, Bakers Beach, and Golden Gate Park, from Hoffman and 24th to BillyGoat Hill with our friend Janet, who walked with me from Ocean Beach and Fulton to Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury, Post Street and the Embarcadero and  joined us from Castro and Market to Sausalito and from Castro and Market to the Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, Russian Hill, and Chinatown.

I also took some solo walks including one from 19th and Vicente to Wisconsin, a pilgrimage to honor a friend on her retirement.

Walking really is the best way to go if you're not carry8ing a lot of heavy groceries and if we can spare the extra time.  (Sometimes, as iwith the "race to Chase") walking takes less time, not more!