S08.E07: US National Debt

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic: US National Debt

Also:  Bridgerton; Nic Cage pillows; Amazon workers; Rudy Guiliani describes Little Nas X's video; Rep. Gaetz sex trafficking allegations; Peeps Pepsi

Original air date 2021.04.04

[Annber03]

Fight the good fight, Amazon workers. Here's hoping their efforts pay off in a big way.

Gaetz thinking Tucker Carlson's show, of all places, will help him prove his innocence is...a choice. And on a similar note, Rudy, you really need to just sit down and be quiet. About everything. And we're not even going to get into Sarah Palin. 

I don't know what weirds me out more, the idea of a marshmallow-flavored Pepsi, or that Nicholas Cage pillow. I love how John didn't even wait to show off that he got a couple, because OF COURSE HE DID. His wife must be so pleased :p. 

(But seriously, why is that pillow a thing?)

[paigow]

[Staff Zoom Call]

John Oliver: The show is in a budget deficit position...so Year-End bonuses will be paid in Nic Cage pillows

[swanpride]

Maybe the pillow was inspired by the Japanese pillows with printed anime figures aso on them so that you can basically cuddle with them?

Anyway, good job pointing out who is actually responsible for the US debt, and I completely agree with the conclusion that it always depends for what you actually use the money (to simplify, investments good, spending on already rich people not so good). Thus said, constant grow isn't sustainable, hence there is no reason to get crazy with debt.

[Robert Lynch]

2 hours ago, swanpride said:

Maybe the pillow was inspired by the Japanese pillows with printed anime figures aso on them so that you can basically cuddle with them?

Anyway, good job pointing out who is actually responsible for the US debt, and I completely agree with the conclusion that it always depends for what you actually use the money (to simplify, investments good, spending on already rich people not so good). Thus said, constant grow isn't sustainable, hence there is no reason to get crazy with debt.

Absolutely. For them to be pointing fingers at the other party that saves the day, nice try. And to think it started with Reagan! That clip from Johnny Carson speaks volumes. Oh, my goodness!

[ahisma]

I”m super impressed with John’s very specifically on-point observations about Bridgerton, including that it’s in character for the Duke to start something he doesn’t finish!

[PrincessPurrsALot]

John's Ted Cruz Dr. Suess-esque soliloquy:

Quote

I do not like that man, Ted Cruz,
I do not like his far right views,
I do not like him in these reeds,
I do not like him when he feeds,
I do not like him by a wall,
I do not like this shit at all,
I do not like him as Santa's elf,
That man Ted Cruz can fuck himself. 

 

[MrWhyt]

need to find a way to work "a man willing to dig a big hole is willing to dig a smaller one" into my next conversation with my nieces and nephews.

[SnideAsides]

"Nobody wants to endure a bag of shit over breakfast. That's why Piers Morgan no longer has a job."

Oh how I laughed.

[Victor the Crab]

As soon as I found out PepsiCo was introducing a Peeps flavoured Pepsi, I was hoping for the segment And Now to bring it up using the monster truck voice to react. They did not disappoint!

[Enigma X]

Has the Monster Truck voice-actor changed? I know this is a weird nitpick, but I preferred the old voice.

[Hanahope]

Great show, teaching people about how the national debt got so big in the first place, and how the GQP has manipulated the viewpoints.  I've always said, no problem paying taxes when it goes to good things, like the social safety net, infrastructure, public services, but not so much when its giving money back to rich people to buy another boat.  Very timely with the episode given Biden's proposal for a significant infrastructure bill (because we're decades behind) and wanting to raise corporate taxes to do so.

And I certainly hope the workers and union prevail in that Alabama vote.  Obviously they need a union when Amazon won't even recognize that their employees are human beings who have human needs, like peeing and pooping.  that is just ridiculous.

I love John's lighter bits, like the Nic Cage pillow. 

Ugh, Pepsi is bad enough to begin with. 

[attica]

There is a new-ish school of economic thought called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). It theorizes -- with math!-- that deficits won't cause inflation as long as there is room in the economy to grow. Which, for the US, is around $14 trillion worth of room, iirc.  So we could give everybody many free things: college, childcare, college, healthcare, and on and on, without a negative economic impact.

Of course, this runs contrary to established learning, and certainly runs headlong into the bias against letting poor people off the mat that we cherish so much here in the US, so top economists would rather say 'Derp, we don't know' than 'hey this thing might be worth a try'.

[iMonrey]

Why is it that whenever Tucker Carlson is listening to his interview guest, he has this look on his face that makes him look both constipated and confused?

Has John moved on from his Adam Driver man crush to Nick Cage? That pillow was so absurd I can't decided if they invented it just for this show or if it's a real thing.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, iMonrey said:

Why is it that whenever Tucker Carlson is listening to his interview guest, he has this look on his face that makes him look both constipated and confused?

He looks that way even when he's not interviewing people, too, from the clips I've seen. I think he just lives in a general state of confusion about the world and how it works as a whole. 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Annber03

[SnideAsides]

9 hours ago, Annber03 said:

He looks that way even when he's not interviewing people, too, from the clips I've seen. I think he just lives in a general state of confusion about the world and how it works as a whole. 

I feel like if I was Tucker Carlson and woke up every morning realising I had a national TV show and a high profile in the media despite being Tucker Carlson, I would be at least twice as permanently confused by it as he is. So I guess he's doing... well, not well, but adequately?

[Lantern7]

With all the talk about Dr. Seuss getting "canceled," I think that I was waiting for John to break out more rhymes on Ted Cruz.

Good episode. Anytime you end with kids griping and openly cursing, it's a good night. "Clock, not a clock. Clock, not a clock."

Weirdest thing that caught my eye: the coverage from the riots in Greece, where it looked like a dog was following a bouncing smoke bomb

[peeayebee]

On 4/7/2021 at 11:16 AM, attica said:

There is a new-ish school of economic thought called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). It theorizes -- with math!-- that deficits won't cause inflation as long as there is room in the economy to grow. Which, for the US, is around $14 trillion worth of room, iirc.  So we could give everybody many free things: college, childcare, college, healthcare, and on and on, without a negative economic impact.

Of course, this runs contrary to established learning, and certainly runs headlong into the bias against letting poor people off the mat that we cherish so much here in the US, so top economists would rather say 'Derp, we don't know' than 'hey this thing might be worth a try'.

I follow Paul Krugman on Twitter, and just today he mentioned MMT. I wasn't sure what it was, so thanks for the info. I read him hoping that some knowledge will seep into my brain. Not always often successful.

Edited April 13, 2021 by peeayebee
Honesty.