The Story of Broke (2011)

http://bit.ly/storyofbroke — The United States isn't broke; we're the richest country on the planet and a country in which the richest among us are doing exceptionally well. But the truth is, our economy is broken, producing more pollution, greenhouse gasses and garbage than any other country. In these and so many other ways, it just isn't working. But rather than invest in something better, we continue to keep this 'dinosaur economy' on life support with hundreds of billions of dollars of our tax money. The Story of Broke calls for a shift in government spending toward investments in clean, green solutions—renewable energy, safer chemicals and materials, zero waste and more—that can deliver jobs AND a healthier environment. It's time to rebuild the American Dream; but this time, let's build it better.

In Season One of The Story of Stuff,
we looked at a system that creates way

too much stuff, and way too little of
what we really want. Now we're going to

start looking at the stories
behind the Story of Stuff.

That's where we'll find ways to turn
this situation around.

Welcome to Season Two!

These last few years, I've had to get
a lot more careful about how I spend

my paycheck. Everyone has.

Like I'm eating out less often,

holding back on expenses I don't really
need, saving for my kid's college.

I'm getting more responsible,
taking control of how I spend.

But one thing I can't control is that
every month a big chunk of my paycheck

goes off to the government.

It's not the most fun part of my budget,
but I believe in paying taxes.

Not just because it's the law

but because that's how I invest in a
better future that I can't afford

to build on my own.

You know that future we all want and
nearly every candidate promises us —

great schools,

a healthy environment,

clean energy, good jobs. But a funny
thing happens to our money on its way

to that better future.

It seems to disappear.

And by the time we get around to
investing in it, all we hear is,

"sorry, not this year, we're broke."

In fact, we're so broke, they say,

that we have no choice but to slide
backwards,

cutting things that made this country
great — like schools and the EPA,

maybe even Social Security and Medicare.

Wait a minute. Broke?

I'm sending in my share of
hard-earned cash every month and so are

you!

If everyone did, we'd have
plenty of money.

Now, what we've got to work with shrinks
a lot thanks to corporate tax loopholes

and unprecedented tax breaks for the
richest 1%.

But even after those, we've

still got over a trillion dollars.

So if we're broke,

what's happening to all that money?

I decided to look into it and it turns
out this whole "broke" story hides

a much bigger story

— a story of some really dumb choices
being made for us —

but that actually work against us.

The good news is that these are choices,

and we can make different ones.

So, where is all that money going?
Well first the military takes a big

chunk --

$726 billion in 2011.

Wow! We could build a lot of better
future with that kind of money.

Spending billions on fighter planes
we don't need or wars with no end, and

then saying we're broke,
just isn't honest.

It's like calling your kid from your
billion-dollar yacht to say you can't

afford her lunch money.

Then hundreds of billions more go to
propping up the dinosaur economy.

You know, the obsolete system we talked
about in The Story of Stuff —

the one that produces more pollution,
greenhouse gasses and garbage than any

other on Earth —
and doesn't even make us happy.

In so many ways, it's just not working,

but we're keeping it in on life support
instead of building something better.

A lot of that life support comes in the
form of subsidies.

A subsidy is a giveaway that gives some
companies a lift over others.

That's not necessarily a bad thing —
we should help companies that are

building a better future.

The problem is the government keeps
lifting up companies that are actually

dragging us down.

Everywhere you look along the dinosaur
economy, you'll find these subsidies.

There's spending subsidies: where the
government just gives our money away —

like payments that benefit big
agribusiness, while helping drive family

farms off a cliff.

Or the less obvious version where the
government foots the bill for things

corporations should pay for themselves

like cleaning up toxic chemical spills
or giant livestock manure ponds.

Or building roads that go to only
one place — a new Walmart.

Or paying for polluting and wasteful
garbage incinerators that would never

make financial sense to build on their
own.

Then there's tax subsidies:

which excuse big corporations from
contributing their fair share —

like the enormous tax breaks granted
to oil and gas companies

even in times of record profits.

These subsidies amount to billions of
dollars we should be collecting

and putting to good use.

And there's risk transfer subsidies:
where the government acts as an

investment bank and even an insurance
company for corporations doing risky

things, like building nuclear reactors.

If anything goes wrong,
we have to cover for them.

There's freebie subsidies:

where the government gives stuff that
belongs to all of us to corporations

for cheap or even free.

That's billions more we should be
collecting but never see!

Like permits to mine public lands,
granted at prices set in the Mining

Law of 1872.

Really. 1872.

President Grant signed this law to
encourage settlement of the West.

News flash:

it's settled.

And all this doesn't even count
externalized costs. They

don't show up on any spreadsheet and
could amount to trillions of dollars —

they include the damage to the
environment,

public health and the climate that this
dinosaur economy causes.

Without laws that make the polluters
pay, we all pay with the loss of clean

water and air,

or increased asthma and cancer.

By the time we've handed out all these
subsidies, there isn't even enough money

to pay our bills —

forget about building the better future.

So why is there always enough money for
the dinosaur economy, from big oil to

bailouts for big banks, but when it

comes to building a better future we're
supposedly broke? Maybe it's because

these guys know how to ask for it.

Their lobbyists and giant campaign
contributions let the government know

what they want,

and what they'll do if they don't get it.

And it works.

US Senators who voted to keep big oil
subsidies in 2011 had

received 5 times more in Big Oil
campaign cash than those who voted to

end them. So, while subsidies should
be a tool for government to help

companies that are helping all of us,
instead, they've become a prize for

those with the most power
to get on the handout list.

But you know who has the real power?

We do! What if we got as protective of
our tax dollars as we are with

the rest of our money?

What if we told the government
what we want and what we'll do if we

don't get it -- starting with
voting them out!

We could re-direct these dinosaur
subsidies,

freeing up hundreds of billions of
dollars. Forget broke, we could

build a better future right now!

We could start by reinvesting the
$10 billion in oil and

gas subsidies to renewable energy and
energy efficiency projects.

With just half of that amount, we could
put solar systems on over two

million rooftops. Then use the
rest to retrofit half a million homes,

creating jobs and saving energy
year after year.

The average cost of cleaning up a
toxic site on the Superfund list is

$140 million.

Let's make the polluters pay and instead
invest our money in developing safer

materials so we don't have to worry
about them spilling in the first place.

Most chemicals today are made from oil —
that's why they are called

petro-chemicals.
Switching just 20% of them

to bio- based materials would create
over 100,000 new jobs.

Instead of subsidizing garbage
incinerators, let's subsidize

real solutions, like zero waste.

Raising the US recycling rate to 75%
would create one and a half million

new jobs — with less pollution,
less waste,

less pressure to harvest and mine new
stuff. What's not to like?

That would still leave hundreds of
billions of dollars

for improving education — the best
investment for a healthy economy.

With $100 billion, we could increase
the number of elementary school

teachers by over 40%

and give college scholarships
to over 6 million students.

See, we can rebuild the American Dream;
we can afford to

have a healthy environment, good jobs,
and top-notch public education.

But not if we continue subsidizing the
dinosaur economy.

So next time you have an idea for a
better future and someone tells you,

"that's nice, but there's no money for
that,"

you tell them we're not broke.

There is money, it's ours,
and it's time to invest it right.