“America must deal once and for all with an utterly irrational health care financing system that allows private interests to make billions in profits from the pain and suffering of their fellow citizens. America is the only country in the industrialized world that does not provide tax-supported universal health care coverage in some form.” WorldDoeCountryCarePainAmericaFormSufferingInterestDealsCitizensTaxesUniversalFellowsProfitBillionsHealth CareIrrationalCoverageFinancingPain And SufferingUniversal Health Care Book:Life Support: Three Nurses on the Front Lines Source: Life Support: Three Nurses on the Front Lines
“When I care about something, I care about something. I think I have an obligation as an American to - and as a citizen, as - as a human being, to help others. Smoking is going to kill a billion people this century. I've put six hundred million dollars from my own money into trying to stop the tobacco companies from getting kids to smoke and convincing adults that it's not in their health.” PeopleThinkingTryingHumansHelpingCareKidsMy OwnHuman BeingsCompanyMillionsCenturyCitizensSixHundredAdultsDollarsBillionsHelping OthersObligationSmokeSmokingI CareConvincingMillion DollarsTobacco Author:Michael Bloomberg
“[M]y conception of liberty does not permit an individual citizen or a group of citizens to commit acts of depredation against nature in such a way as to harm their neighbors and especially to harm the future generations of Americans. If many years ago we had had the necessary knowledge, and especially the necessary willingness on the part of the Federal Government, we would have saved a sum, a sum of money which has cost the taxpayers of America two billion dollars.” IfsWayYearsDoeTwoGovernmentAmericaIndividualLibertyGenerationsGroupsCitizensCostYears AgoDollarsHarmNeighborBillionsSavedCommitWillingnessConceptionPermitElectricityConservationFederal GovernmentFuture GenerationTaxpayers Author:Franklin D. Roosevelt
“It will be good for us in the long run, and I mean there are six and a half billion people in this world. And it's great for 300 million to keep enjoying more and more property, but I think it's terrific if the remainder do. And I think if they can learn something from us in terms of our system, and I think they have, they are learning more about how to unleash the potential of their citizenry to turn out more goods and services that their citizens want or that we want, I think that's terrific.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWantMeanLongRunningTurnsEnjoyTermHalfMillionsThis WorldCitizensSixPropertyBe GoodBillionsGoodsLong RunsTerrificCitizenryGoods And ServicesLearning More Author:Howard Warren Buffett
“What's important to remember politically about this, is if you’re a state and you don’t set up an Exchange, that means your citizens don’t get their tax credits. But your citizens still pay the taxes that support this bill. So you’re essentially saying to your citizens, you’re going to pay all the taxes to help all the other states in the country. I hope that’s a blatant enough political reality that states will get their act together and realize there are billions of dollars at stake here in setting up these Exchanges, and that they’ll do it. But you know, once again, the politics can get ugly around this.” IfsKnowsMeanStillsImportantCountryStatesEnoughHelpingRealityTogetherRememberPoliticalRealizingPaySupportCitizensTaxesBillsDollarsUglyCreditBillionsSettingSettingsStakesWhat's Important Author:Jonathan Gruber
“The factory meat industry has polluted thousands of miles of America's rivers, killed billions of fish, pushed tens of thousands of family farmers off their land, sickened and killed thousands of U.S. citizens, and treated millions of farm animals with unspeakable and unnecessary cruelty.” AmericaAnimalMillionsLandIndustryCitizensRiversFishesBillionsMilesTreatedCrueltyMeatFarmsFarmersFactoriesUnnecessaryUnspeakableMeat Industry Author:Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“It's tax day and while many Americans are filing their taxes with a groan, taxpayers in the Badger State have reason to cheer. In Wisconsin, we have enacted more than $2 billion in tax cuts, giving our citizens much-needed relief, call us crazy Midwesterners but we think you know how to spend your money better than the government.” ThinkingKnowsGivingStatesReasonGovernmentKnow HowCuttingCrazyNeededCitizensTaxesBillionsReliefCheerTaxpayersTax CutsWisconsinFilingTax DayBadgersMidwesterners Author:Marco Rubio
“Higher education isn't just a personal investment. It's a public good that pays off in a more competitive workforce and better-informed and engaged citizens. Every year, we spend nearly $100 billion on corporate welfare, and more than $500 billion on defense spending. Surely ensuring the next generation can compete in the global economy is at least as important as subsidies for big business and military adventures around the globe. In fact, I think we can and must go further - not just making public higher education tuition-free, but reinventing education in America as we know it.” ThinkingKnowsYearsImportantFactsBigsAmericaNextPayEducationEconomyGenerationsMilitaryCollegeAdventureHigherCitizensInvestmentSpendingDefenseBillionsCorporateWelfareEngagedGlobesNext GenerationBig BusinessHigher EducationGlobal EconomyWorkforceSubsidiesPublic GoodTuitionReinventingEducation In AmericaCollege TuitionDefense Spending Author:Robert Reich
“Environmentally, business in America in 1970 was very similar to business in China today. Even if a CEO wanted to be a responsible corporate citizen, he (and they were all "he's" then) simply couldn't invest a billion dollars in pollution controls to produce a product that was indistinguishable from those of his competitors. His products would be priced out of the market. Passing laws that created a clean, level playing field for whole industries had to be a core focus of the 1970s.” IfsWholeWould BeTodayWantedAmericaLawLevelsFocusFieldsProduceProductsIndustryCitizensResponsibleDollarsCleanChinaBillionsCorePassingPassingsCorporatePollutionCeoCompetitorsPlaying FieldsLevel Playing FieldPollution ControlPassing Laws Author:Denis Hayes
“Human beings are hardwired by however many millions or billions of years to orient toward their own survival. That's why we're tribal people. That's why we're prejudiced people. That's why we treat women as second-class citizens, that's why we are homophobic, and that's why we make religion a weapon to prove we're superior to other people.” PeopleYearsHumansHuman BeingsClassMillionsCitizensProveWeaponsSurvivalTreatsBillionsSuperiorsHomophobicSecond Class Citizens Author:John Shelby Spong
“Resurrecting American democracy is vital to averting climate catastrophe. We must first repeal the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, which has flooded elections with billions of oily petrodollars from carbon tycoons.” FirstsUnitedDemocracyCitizensElectionCourtClimateBillionsSupremeCarbonCatastropheSupreme CourtRulingAmerican DemocracyCitizens UnitedTycoons Author:Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“In the last presidential election Obama and Romney raised about $1 billion each. The Koch brothers, the second wealthiest family in America, now say they will raise nearly $1 billion for the 2016 elections. When one family can raise as much as an entire party, the system is broken. This is oligarchy, not democracy. We must overturn Citizens United.” LastsAmericaUnitedPartyDemocracyBrotherBrokenCitizensRaisesElectionRaisedBillionsPresidentialRomneyOligarchyPresidential ElectionCitizens United Author:Bernie Sanders
“There are three major political organizations in this country: the Republican Party, the Democratic Party and the Koch Brothers Party. With billions to spend on campaigns. think tanks and 'educational' organizations, the Koch brothers are the most powerful. We must overturn Citizens United, move to public funding of elections and pass real tax reform.” ThinkingRealCountryMovingPoliticalThreeUnitedPowerfulPartyBrotherCitizensRepublicanTaxesMajorsOrganizationElectionDemocraticEducationalBillionsCampaignsReformMost PowerfulRepublican PartyDemocratic PartyFundingTanksTax ReformCitizens United Author:Bernie Sanders
“The United States is the most indebted country in the world. It has almost 17 billion dollars of debt with the rest of the world while living off the world's savings. They are living off the savings of the people of Greece, the savings of the people of Spain, France etc. All of those countries that save their reserves in the banks in dollars are simply financing the American economy, and that is why the average American citizen consumes two and a half times more than their income.” PeopleWorldTwoCountryStatesUnitedHalfUnited StatesEconomyCitizensDollarsAverageDebtBillionsIncomeSavingFranceEtcReservesSpainGreeceSavingsAmerican CitizensFinancingIndebtedAmerican EconomyHalf Time Author:Alejandro Castro Espin