Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Michael Graetz THE POWER TO DESTROY: How the Antitax Movement Hijacked America

Michael J. Graetz is professor emeritus at Columbia Law School and Yale Law School. He is a leading authority on tax politics and policy, having served in the US Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and been an expert witness on a variety of tax matters before Congressional Committees.

He has written or co-written many books, including DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS: THE FIGHT OVER TAXING INHERITED WEALTH; THE WOLF AT THE DOOR: THE MENACE OF ECONOMIC INSECURITY AND HOW TO FIGHT IT; and TRUE SECURITY: RETHINKING AMERICAN SOCIAL INSURANCE.

His latest book, is THE POWER TO DESTROY: HOW THE ANTITAX MOVEMENT HIJACKED AMERICA, published by Princeton University Press. We spoke with him via Skype on February 6, 2024.

Articles pertinent to this interview:

Michael Zweig: An Economicst With an Alternative View of the National Debt https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/01/nyregion/long-island-qa-michael-zweig-an-economist-with-an-alternative-view.html?searchResultPosition=1

It Shouldn’t Be a Crime to Disclose Tax Returns https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/01/24/opinion/thepoint#trump-tax-return-public

Everyone’s Income Taxes Should Be Public https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/opinion/sunday/taxes-public.html

Former Contractor Who Leaked Trump’s Tax Returns Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/us/politics/irs-trump-taxes-prison.html

Imagine Getting $840,000 a Year. Not as Your Pay—as a Raise. https://newrepublic.com/article/178570/executive-compensation-rising-congress

How Congress is planning to lift 400,000 kids out of poverty https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/1/16/24035922/child-tax-credit-wyden-smith-deal

‘A Mockery’: House Passes Tax Bill That Favors Corporations Over Children https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporations-child-tax-credit?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=34e881a33a-Top+News%3A+Thur.+2%2F1%2F24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f33353396e-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

T.E.A. (Taxed Enough Already?!) by emma’s revolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGpRN7ZWlp8

Ray McGovern, Veteran CIA Analyst Co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

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Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years, from 1963 to 1990, where he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President’s Daily Brief, which he briefed one-on-one to President Ronald Reagan’s five most senior national security advisers from 1981 to 1985.  He received the Intelligence Commendation Medal at his retirement, but he returned it in 2006 to protest the CIA’s involvement in torture.  In 2003 he co-found Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. He speaks fluent Russian and has studied Russia for more than 50 years.

In this interview originally broadcast on January 18, 2017, he discusses Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence, the ethics of whistle-blowing, comparing her case with those of General David Petraeus, who became CIA Director, and General Cartwright.

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Pre-emptive leaks by government agencies.

The Stuxnet Virus used against Iran, destroying 100s of their centrifuges, introducing a whole new kind of warfare: cyberwarfare. Russia’s proposals for a treaty to govern cyberwar, which have been rebuffed ever since.

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Allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 elections vs. wikileaks revealing the efforts by the Democratic National Committee to sabotage Bernie Sanders’ campaign.

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Director Colby’s testimony that the CIA controls just about everyone in the US media & his subsequent firing.

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The popular vote vs the Electoral College.

Donald Trump’s relationship with the “Intelligence Community” & the rise of “The Deep State”.  “After 9/11 everything changed…” Syria as a proxy war… and more