Reverend William Barber schools GOP talking point echoer Jamie Weinstein
Jamie Weinstein, Senior Editor of the Daily Caller appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher. On the Overtime segment he attempted to trip up Reverend William Barber with one of the typical Ayn Randian Right Wing question.
“May I ask the Reverend a question?” Jamie Weinstein asked. “… You say denial of Medicaid is one thing with race. Sometime in the 2030s Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and interest on the debt is going to take up all the revenue that comes to our government. Do you not think that is a serious problem?
The reality is that is a lie that is told because of how taxable income is defined. There is no shortage of income that should be taxed. Those enriching themselves from the labor of the many so that a few can accumulate the capital generated by said labor simply do not pay equitably into the system that gave them the wherewithal to be rich.
Reverend William Barber was ready for this lightweight. He immediately schooled him. Watch as Jamie Weinstein had to take refuge in his coffee cup.
“The problem with your question is the premise.” Reverend William Barber said. “First of all you have extremist who have made themselves out to be Republican. You rob the bank, give all the money to the wealthy and then say the bank will be broke. And that’s been going on for the last how many years? If you look at the racial dimension of entitlements, once entitlements became open to more Brown people and Black, all of a sudden everything that helped many Whites come up was somehow bad. If you did fair tax cuts to the right people, we would not break the bank. You are breaking the bank when you, .. sick people cannot inspire an economy.”
Jamie Weinstein staying away from the moral truth of Reverend William Barber’s answer sheepishly responded, “All I am saying is that the numbers don’t add up. You can tax the rich all you want, you are not going to be able to stop entitlements.”
Reverend William Barber responded with reality based facts. “In our state the Republicans raised taxes on 89% of North Carolinians. … So they could give 11% of North Carolinians a tax cut. That’s wrong. That’s immoral. And that’s why we have these problems.”
America needs more messengers like Reverend William Barber. He is very effective. He visited Netroots Nation 2014 and gave an electrifying speech. After that speech a gay attendee said that he was so moved he would begin reengaging with Republicans to find common ground as the Reverend did with Belhaven North Carolina Republican Mayor Adam O’Neil. Others said they felt empowered to simply continue the fight throughout the country, including Red States irrespective of poll numbers.