my resignation. what's interesting now is that the party in power here now the conservative party is also getting increasingly frustrated with the house of lords a hardline bragg's it is in particular because the lords keep rejecting he brags that legislation that the government here is trying to push through rather embarrassing to reason may's administration has suffered fifteen defeats in the house of lords over the past few weeks and whenever the lords reject legislation that politicians in the commons are trying to push through there is always talk of a constitutional crisis because they say elected politicians are trying to enact the will of the people whereas the on the elected laws are blocking those efforts or holding them up at least and there is on the other side of the argument argue

well it's the job of the house of lords to hold politicians to account and to scrutinize the laws that they are trying to pass. now here are some of you may not expect to see that apparently are enough opioids in the waters off seattle on the west coast of america that shellfish there are no toasting positive for the drugs scientists so it reflects the high number of people in the surrounding area who take the substances. eat in what we excrete goes into the puget sound telling me that there's a lot of people taking arctic zero down and you know in the puget sound area it's coming likely from the wastewater treatment plant so how do i know this well clean muscles were put into more than a dozen locations are there and it turned out that three of the areas were later confirmed to be contaminated waste water management can't filter out the opioids so it seems the muscles are unable to metabolize metabolize these drugs but it seems others see life can and they may have become addicted the story gets weird it well

this is the first time scientists have discovered the drugs and shellfish there and believe it highlights the extent of the nationwide opioid epidemic in the us there have been more than two hundred thousand prescription overdose deaths in the u.s. since one thousand nine hundred ninety nine between one thousand nine hundred twenty sixteen seems overdose deaths of almost quadrupled six hundred fifty thousand opioid prescriptions are dispensed daily policy research clagny thinks that overprescription is behind the epidemic to. the real problem is not that you can detect oxy caught on and shellfish the the real problem is that over exposing the united states to this highly addictive drug has led to an epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose deaths in the united states doctors are prescribing opioids for very common problems where opioids should not be prescribed these are good medicines for treating pain at the end of life there are good medicines when used

for a couple of days after major surgery but the bulk of the prescribing the bulk of the consumption in the united states is for long term common problems where opioids are much more likely to harm patients than help patients if other countries increased prescribe in the way we did in the united states i'm afraid that they will follow in our footsteps come another set of even us military soldiers tipping them to torture interrogations in secret prisons in yemen and cobra says the mother universe to get to among the stories still ahead here on r.t. international. i've been saying the numbers mean something they matter the u.s. is over one trillion dollars in debt more than ten white collar crimes have been each day. eighty five percent of the global wealth you long for the old for rich with six percent market saw

a thirty percent rise last year some with four hundred to five hundred three per circuit per second and bitcoin rose to twenty thousand dollars. china is building a two point one billion dollar ai industrial park but don't let the numbers overwhelm. the only numbers you need to remember one one is the road you can't afford to miss the one and only. twenty five years ago come. is a go public as a way to expand there will be a viable corporation you have to meet certain criteria for being a viable corporation and then you are allowed to go public there are no such criteria so if you're essentially burning stores and going bankrupt or using the public marketplace to bail out a losing position. again

thanks for watching tonight we have you around the world so next claims that u.s. military personnel have been involved in torturing detainees in secret prisons in yemen has seen congress vote to demand the pentagon investigate the claims the un report says suspects at the sites were exposed to beatings electrocution and sexual violence some were imprisoned in a metal cell in direct sunlight others were denied medical treatment there are reportedly eighteen secret torture prisons in yemen and neighboring countries to those sites are mostly run by one of the main u.s. allies in the region the united arab emirates seems those prisons were reported on in an investigation by the associated press their sources at the pentagon acknowledged that u.s. forces indeed had been involved in interrogation but denied any participation or knowledge of abuse even so american personnel could still be liable for complicity in torture if they question detainees who have also been subjected to torture human

rights advocates accuse the u.s. of inertia here the u.s. hasn't learned the lesson that cup orating with forces there are targeting detainees and ruling families apart is not an effective way to fight extremist groups well for its part the united arab emirates denies being involved in running secret prisons in yemen and refutes claims of being linked to torturing suspects political analysts told us they should be though an independent investigation. because not to be an executioner and then be the investigator you cannot be the judge and investigate and then execute but this is what the u.s. is doing basically the u.n. should be doing this should be the job of the u.n. the u.n. should be doing this investigation widely and with the support of the so-called civilized western world which is obviously not source of allies as we have seen with the tortures and as we have seen also with the cover ups this is what the u.s. has been doing all over the world in every base that it has every time they can't someone be allegedly someone who is linked to terrorism or at least someone who was

against the u.s. imperial demands or requests inside of this country they are treated like animals even worse. billionaire philanthropist george soros is pouring millions of dollars into the campaigns of selected district attorney candidates in california and at the same time leaked documents revealed he's also spending millions on a group in the u.k. next to caleb maupin looks at how far the billionaire sphere of interest extends. now with all this talk of foreign meddling you would think that the activities of a hungry and billionaire pouring money into american politics might get more mainstream media play george soros is a long time liberal money man and right now he's trying to influence the election of district attorneys across the united states basically he's pouring money into the campaigns of prosecutors he thinks will enforce the law in line with his liberal politics my name is noah phillips and i'm running for district attorney we've got some work and some healing to do to rebuild trust so we can keep

sacramento safe forever. now getting supported by george soros isn't always a plus the man has plenty of detractors what is the out of state billionaire funding no with phillips campaign not telling us no with an unethical teacher is wrong for. george soros has been sticking his nose into politics around the world for decades he started out funding anti communist dissidents during the late period of the cold war more recently he's been backing best for britain and anti brags that group in the u.k. we've got one mission and that is to try and stop writes it george soros is foundations have along with a number of other major donors also made significant contributions to i would indeed through his foundations he's contributed four hundred thousand pounds he's been working to try and repeal the abortion laws in ireland.

the activities there have actually been deemed illegal with amnesty international being ordered by the authorities to return his donations that hasn't stopped him or even given him pause in trying to influence the politics of a foreign country that is just another example. outside interference by. very young kids and it matters concerning where she is in the ocean surface recently experienced a few setbacks in hungary central european university which is very close to was unaccredited so what did he do to move it over the border into austria george soros has no problem crossing borders moving money and creating a ruckus in order to further his political agenda the man has actually gone as far as to speak of himself in divine terms i admit i have always hob with an exaggerated view of myself and putin's to put it bluntly i fancied myself as some kind of good or an economic reform alike or even better

a scientist like einstein but all this talk of washington corruption and big lobbyists don't forget about the big man himself george soros is globally oriented and he has no problem going to other lands and telling people how to live their lives they will mop and r.t. new york american journalist max blumenfeld believes lobbying in the united states is a type a corruption covered up his business. good kind of a cook narrative that leaves out the real source of corruption in washington which is our allies buying influence and taking american policy over the brink in the middle east foreign governments are paying billions of dollars into think tanks. lobbying firms and even hollywood in order to curry favor in the u.s. the term collusion can certainly be applied to this lobbying this is the story i

think that everyone in washington is missing out on because it's considered business as usual and it's basically collusion only takes place. as a grim new assessment of progress made by the united states and it's drawn a mission in afghanistan government all of the say efforts of stoled best and it was failing is don't call to you think that after sixteen years the u.s. led mission in afghanistan would finally have something to show for its trouble well here's how the federal authority tasked with overseeing reconstruction sees it . between two thousand and one and two thousand and seventeen years government efforts to save the licencee cure in contested areas in afghanistan mostly failed the us government greatly overestimated its ability to build and reform government institutions in afghanistan a pretty clear picture from cigar but top brass in washington though wants to assure you they have everything under control now looking at

a twenty eighteen as president gandhi said he believes we have turned a corner and i agree. the momentum is now with the afghan security forces and the taliban cannot win in the face of the pressures that i outlined you think they're talking about two completely different wars but they've been at opposite poles before just last year cigar said the u.s. failed to properly mentor afghan forces let alone give them the momentum to beat the taliban with the enormous personal and financial sacrifices already made by afghans in their international partners the country my have relapsed to control by extremists and terrorists and again us generals are reading from an entirely different script. afghanistan special operations forces are becoming the best in the region and the afghan air force is neighboring those ground elements there is more work to be done and it will take time however this remains a very very worthy investment failing or not u.s.

military leadership doesn't seem to be that bothered about how much this war is costing either flashback to twenty fourteen cigar reported that afghan reconstruction had exceeded the true cost of the marshall plan you know the us is project to reconstruct all of western europe after world war two yeah it sounds like a budget busting hefty price tag for american generals though it's a necessary expense to get things just right for a victory we should be seeking to win this war counterinsurgencies take a while i think we have gone a long way to setting the conditions for what generally would usually is the defining factor in winning a counterinsurgency which is to set the conditions for government so that the conditions for the rule of law set the conditions for economic opportunity go back farther to two thousand and nine and things already weren't looking so good then president obama had committed over thirty eight billion dollars to repair efforts

in the region and that money was going to who exactly. our office also initiated preliminary inquiry. into twenty three allegations of fraud waste and abuse even then u.s. military leaders optimistically saw the situation as a great springboard for their military campaign i'm not prepared to say that we have turned the corner but i think we have made significant progress in setting conditions in two thousand and nine and will make a real progress in two thousand and ten it takes a lot to keep that optimism up all these years but one thing the us generals might have lost sight of is that if you plan to keep turning corners you'll end up right where you began donald quarter r.t. check it out facebook twitter you tube so much more there for you to enjoy from us hopefully for now though for me kevin i would hear a moscow this saturday evening is twenty four minutes past eight in the evening thanks for watching this news that we've got more programs for you lined up especially for you right after this break.

a little blog so you on the idea that dropping bombs brings police to the chicken or forcing you to fight the battles that. you stopped by to tell you that the because of the public that. doesn't tell you that you are not pulling out like. that we all. want. these we continue to discuss on the about some amateurs of the maastricht. come

back six boxes and we don't have nothing to give to the next generation and he's going to reach to be proud to be utopian these is the reason all of us can . this is boom bust broadcasting around the world from washington d.c. i'm part chilton thanks for joining us up on the program today for this broadcast we do something a little different and that we're going to focus the entirety of the show on taxes to help us out we'll be joined by the renowned professor of economics a meritless at the university of matches massachusetts richard wolfe plus the c.e.o. of straw mark hillary for which looks at the highest and lowest tax rates around

the globe and we have a special panel to discuss and i bet they the new u.s. tax law and where it is right now plus alex one hyla bitch will tell us about one provision of the new tax law that may impact life love and even finances all that ahead on our tax theme program so let's bungle in the jungle and start with some. speaking of texas corporate stock buybacks hit an all time record of one hundred seventy eight billion dollars in the first quarter of the year the u.s. tax reform law approved late last year cut the corporate tax rate from thirty five percent to twenty twenty one percent and has been a boon for businesses and has helped boost the overall economy but most of the benefits have been used for companies to buy back stock as opposed to what proponents of the tax changes argued would be a benefit that would. trickle down to workers and average families some are now wondering if they have been trickled upon with the release of several studies

studies showing that tax cut benefits are going predominantly to stock shareholders a bloomberg analysis determined that roughly sixty percent of the tax cut benefits will go to shareholders whereas employees will only receive five percent another such study by morgan stanley estimated that forty three percent of tax cut savings will go to stock buybacks and dividends and just thirteen percent to employees by way of pay raises bonuses or employee benefits. and harley davidson has announced that they are shutting down their factory in kansas city which employs eight hundred workers some of the jobs will be transferred to a facility in new york pennsylvania harley davidson is also expanding operations to highland some say the move is due to u.s. markets which is contract in recent years harley davidson has their sales have dropped by eight and a half percent sales abroad have dropped by three point nine percent the announcement of the plant closure came just days after harley davidson said they

too would provide shareholder dividend increases the iconic motorcycle company was touted by both president trump and speaker of the house paul ryan as examples of businesses which would be big beneficiaries from the tax cut law and this is it appears that the benefits from the new law are being used to outsource jobs and pay shareholders in a contract in market. or not to tax was once upon a time undoubtedly the question but as a civil society we've want to go past the point of if there will be taxes the question by most policymakers is who or what will be taxed and how much and here to provide his seasoned and professional perspective we are joined and honored to be joined by richard wolffe a professor emeritus in economics at the university of metro fears that and her professor thank you again for being with us i'm very grateful for your time is

there a perfect tax a tax that is really fair and provides good for all the people. i doubt it i think that taxes have been with us for a long time and that they are basically a way that we hold ourselves together as communities. taxes are a recognition that some things are better done if we pool our resources together and if we go you know individually let me just give you the simplest examples if we want to have a lovely wooded area in our community to have picnics to go with our children we could each strider somehow i maintain a plot of wooded land but the absurdity of the expense is silly and so we get together pooling our resources so that we can have a central park in the middle of your own or a prospect park in brooklyn or

a golden gate park in san francisco that we can all enjoy and so we all kick in a little bit of money far far less than we unify ourselves in order to have a collective resource we couldn't otherwise really afford at least many of us could most of us and the same that. clive's the roads and highways in our prayers and national defense and a whole lot of other things so that once you explain to people what the taxes are out basically building the institutions that serve us as a community of people they understand the logic of it and even when the paying full bill comes to pay it and the struggles begin about who should pay what only should of it that's when things get dicey and in their upset about not wanting to pay

some groups begin to question the whole notion of the tax itself but as i say that's a kind of point of view that does not bear any serious investigation. what do you think professor are sort of let's accept that there were going to be taxed at the question of who are water how much what or what are you in your view are you looking around the world and look at the neck not economic for your whole career what are the most unfair types of taxes and where in the world do they exist today . well for me from my perspective one of the things a tax can do besides providing us collectively important resources like parks like highways like schools and all the rest of that one of the other things a tax could do is go somewhere toward alleviating aspects of our economic system that are no good in other words we can fix the broken aspects of

our economy by the means of taxes and for me one of the most importance in holding any community together is to avoid extreme has a wealth on the one hand coupled with the extremes of poverty on the other so for me one of the extra benefits of a tax is that it can do something to lessen the inequality of a society so for me the most unfair tax is that time x. that not only doesn't lessen inequality but actually makes it worse and let me give you an example here in the united states and we're not the only country of course that does this we rely on many many of our states on something called a sales tax that's for example taxing a shirt you might buy in

a department store by adding five percent to whatever the price of the sugar is when you do that you charge exactly the same amount of money but say it's one hundred dollars sure so then it's five percent that would be a five dollar tax you're charging the same five dollar tax to a person who has a very low income as you would to a rockefeller are jeffrey b.'s ost who with who counts his wealth in the billions i think that's. unfair that's a situation in which a broken part of b. economy that lends some people have more money than they know what to do with while other people don't have enough food or shelter ok and pay their kids' way to college etc this is a an unfair tax which by the way was recognized here in the united states one hundred years ago when we began the income tax and we structured it as what we call

eight progress of tax and what that simply means there's the higher your income the larger the personally job bit you are required to pay in tax because you can no forty more you are asked to kick in more and the logic of that is again to use the tax system to offset any qualities that if you don't offset them will destroy your community create tension within it and eventually blow it up. we've just got about sixty seconds but i want to try to squeeze in one more question so when you talk about wealth inequality and then various tax provisions like in the the recent tax reform law that was passed some would argue that well the wealthy are going to you know make all these profits and they will therefore buy a lot of shirts or buy a lot of gasoline and then the people that make the shirt for help get the ghastly

they will ultimately trickle down to them how that's how is that working out so far professor that's not work at all because it was never true it was just a rationalization invented by rich people so that they could continue to get a disproportionate amount of wealth by telling us that if you do that it will trickle down to you because they will buy more the thing about rich people is they are already consuming more than most of the rest of us killing imagine and by giving even more money and then you're not going to get them to consume more you're going to get them to make a lavish investments in other parts of the world you're going to get them to do it best in harebrained schemes a bit coin or god knows what ever is speculation that's what we've seen the tax cut the end of december for example gave more wealth to big companies or using it to distribute to their shareholders they're not hiring workers the way they promised

they would they're not getting a higher wages the way they promised those promises are made to get the money into their hands and then they're just as quickly forgot professor emeritus in economics at the university of massachusetts richard wall we're always smarter after you have joined us our thanks thank you very much glad to do. some companies treat their employees to perks such as sports tickets other luxury items however after passing of a new tax law some corporations are having to cut back on their gifts or take it in the workers are to correspondent ashley banks with the latest new tax laws will soon be either a limit or eliminate al many capitals game tickets and your employer will provide in the near future changes in the law eliminate deduction for sports tickets concerts other client entertainment and employee meals these changes were designed

to help offset corporate tax cuts according to a survey done by wall street journal including eight hundred sixty five firms forty five percent of those firms say they will be affected by the new tax laws forcing them to cut spending or make adjustments which will impact their employees big corporations will not feel the impact as much the cut in the corporate tax rate of twenty one percent lower the deductions value and as for small businesses their tax higher between twenty nine percent and thirty seven percent small firms also operate with thinner margins and are usually more sensitive to tax rate changes some businesses have annual client appreciation day at sporting stadiums however they may have to cancel this year due to the tax loss because under williams chief executive of a tech consulting incorporated says quote we have season rams tickets the invoice

is sitting on my desk do we do this or do we not what is our return on investment joseph hine c.e.o. of voice and data networks incorporated says he had to sell off the company's extra seats because most of the company's owners could no longer deduct the expense as a result some teams are exploring options as to how they can help companies claim deductions tony not c.e.o. . of ticket manager incorporated which manages and track sports tickets for businesses says usually when we hear teams talk about an increase in non renewables winning teams and big markets are immune we're getting calls from teams that are winning that have huge fan bases saying we're losing customers because of the deduction sports teams aren't the only ones taking a head restaurant and catering businesses are suffering as well so much so businesses are cutting back on and plea dinners and events the owner of do par and company says we had an absolutely dead january february and march some businesses

have also had to stop reimbursing employees for commuting expenses because they too were no longer deductible these new laws are set to take us back to this year possibly changing the perks that businesses offer to their employees and washington actually banks arts he. can up for a quick break but hang here because when we return henry ford which the c.e.o. of droll mark looks at the highest and lowest tax rates around the globe plus we have a special panel to discuss the new u.s. tax law and the current implications plus how it's my heart which tells us about a tiny u.s. tax provision that might impact life love and finances as it goes or we do go to break here's a quick question for you which of the following us states have no individual income tax the last the forego the bottom up to go to texas washington or wyoming which ones have no stake in the visual tax the answer right after.