On this edition of Parallax Views, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnston has becomes widely known for his reporting on Donald Trump. He first reported on Donald Trump in 1988 and his since written three books on the former President: The Making of Donald Trump (2016), It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration is Doing to America (2018), and The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family (2022). Before writing those books on the MAGA movement leader, however, David wrote about what he refers to as the "hidden-in-plain sight system we have that takes from the money and redistributes to the very few". Turns out, there's a connective tissue between Davide's books on Trump and his reporting on that hidden system. Namely, David says, Trump is the embodiment of that system. In this interview, David and I will delve into how his books Temples of Chance: How America Inc. Bought Out Murder Inc. to Win Control of the Casino Business (1992), Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich—and Cheat Everybody Else (2003), Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense and Stick You With The Bill (2007), The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind (2012), and Divided: The Perils of Our Growing Inequality (2014). We'll delve into Trump's pro-corporate, anti-working class agenda; some of the specific mechanism that have been used to make massive wealth transfer to the rich at the expense of the working class and poor since Reagan; the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025; the Build the Wall charity scam; President Joe Biden, the U.S. economy, inflation, job creation, and wage increases; Trump's views on minimum wage not being pro-worker; Trump's reverse Robin Hood tax policy and tax cuts to the rich; the problem with big mainstream media today and why the legacy media outlets don't intensively cover issues effecting everyday Americans enough; the warping of the campaign finance system since the Watergate scandal; how the donor class became so powerful in the American political system; a history lesson going back to the Civil War through to the Nixon years and beyond on how we got to this moment; the Supreme Court decisions that helped shaped politics in favor of big business; the poverty found in low-tax societies and David's reporting on "hidden taxes" in Singapore; the modern world's need for investments in public infrastructure and the creation of common wealth that benefits all; issues facing the education system today and how failing literacy rates in America are ruining the American political system; China's innovations in education and what it means for America; and much, much more! This is by far the best interview of had with David Cay Johnston.

Robert H. Ferrell

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