Bill Maher

Not without a miracle. So I've written several books. One of them is called Change to Change. I go through all the world's history and I track empires. Debt is always the precursor to an empire collapsing. The Roman Empire, it expanded, expanded. But then when Hadrian built its wall, it was this far and no further. And they had to live within their means and they couldn't.

And they got in debt and then they ended up collapsing. The Spanish Empire. was getting gold from America, but they were spending it as fast as they got it. And when they lost their Spanish armada in 1588, trying to attack England, then they lost another armada a few years later. And then another one, Spain went bankrupt and they couldn't maintain their global empire.

And they got in debt and then they ended up collapsing. The Spanish Empire. was getting gold from America, but they were spending it as fast as they got it. And when they lost their Spanish armada in 1588, trying to attack England, then they lost another armada a few years later. And then another one, Spain went bankrupt and they couldn't maintain their global empire.

And that's when, you know, England and France and others began to settle colonies in America. France, under Louis XIV, became the biggest empire in the world. But then France helped us with our Revolutionary War. Thank you. But what did they get in return? Nothing but debt. You fight a war, you should get something in return. They didn't get any trade agreement.

And that's when, you know, England and France and others began to settle colonies in America. France, under Louis XIV, became the biggest empire in the world. But then France helped us with our Revolutionary War. Thank you. But what did they get in return? Nothing but debt. You fight a war, you should get something in return. They didn't get any trade agreement.

They just got nothing but debt, and then a couple years of crops failed, and France went bankrupt, and they had a French Revolution, and it collapsed. You look at the the Ottoman Empire and it expanded and was it would only it would tax the non-Muslims. And after centuries, the non-Muslims turned into very small minorities and the tax base was gone. And then the Ottoman Empire fell.

They just got nothing but debt, and then a couple years of crops failed, and France went bankrupt, and they had a French Revolution, and it collapsed. You look at the the Ottoman Empire and it expanded and was it would only it would tax the non-Muslims. And after centuries, the non-Muslims turned into very small minorities and the tax base was gone. And then the Ottoman Empire fell.

And then how did we get rid of the Soviet Union, the arms race? Reagan was spending on military. Russia tried to keep up and they couldn't. And they took all their money out of their GDP and put it in the military and they collapsed. And so we have been doing to ourselves voluntarily what we did to the Soviets to collapse them.

And then how did we get rid of the Soviet Union, the arms race? Reagan was spending on military. Russia tried to keep up and they couldn't. And they took all their money out of their GDP and put it in the military and they collapsed. And so we have been doing to ourselves voluntarily what we did to the Soviets to collapse them.

We got them to spend, spend, spend, and they went in debt and collapsed, and here we are. So debt is fat to the body politic. Mm-hmm. What's fat? Well, you eat something you shouldn't and then it turns into a fat cell and you got to carry it around. It's not a brain cell. It's not a muscle cell. It doesn't add anything to you, but you got to keep it alive. What's debt?

We got them to spend, spend, spend, and they went in debt and collapsed, and here we are. So debt is fat to the body politic. Mm-hmm. What's fat? Well, you eat something you shouldn't and then it turns into a fat cell and you got to carry it around. It's not a brain cell. It's not a muscle cell. It doesn't add anything to you, but you got to keep it alive. What's debt?

Well, you spend what you shouldn't have and you have interest and you got to keep paying that interest. It doesn't add anything to you. So America is like a 400-pound patient on the emergency room table and And the Democrat comes in and says, I think you can handle another hundred pounds of debt. We can keep this spending going. And Trump's like, we need to put in some stints.

Well, you spend what you shouldn't have and you have interest and you got to keep paying that interest. It doesn't add anything to you. So America is like a 400-pound patient on the emergency room table and And the Democrat comes in and says, I think you can handle another hundred pounds of debt. We can keep this spending going. And Trump's like, we need to put in some stints.

We need to do some radical surgery here. We need to cut back on this. And so America is at a very vulnerable spot. Trump is trying to fix it.

We need to do some radical surgery here. We need to cut back on this. And so America is at a very vulnerable spot. Trump is trying to fix it.

You know, I did a book on the history of socialism, and a socialist tactic is you get a country to go into debt, and then when they're destabilized, they also add in pitting groups against each other, victims and oppressors, but then they destabilize the country, and then everybody cries out for the government to help, and the government says, we'll help, we're just going to take control of your lives.

You know, I did a book on the history of socialism, and a socialist tactic is you get a country to go into debt, and then when they're destabilized, they also add in pitting groups against each other, victims and oppressors, but then they destabilize the country, and then everybody cries out for the government to help, and the government says, we'll help, we're just going to take control of your lives.

But you look at the countries that fell... behind the Iron Curtain, they were all destabilized and debt was a chief factor in that. So Trump's trying to turn things around. I think if he, you know, Kennedy talks about that. He says, if we could cut taxes, it will spur economic growth. And then we'll be able to get our economy growing again.

But you look at the countries that fell... behind the Iron Curtain, they were all destabilized and debt was a chief factor in that. So Trump's trying to turn things around. I think if he, you know, Kennedy talks about that. He says, if we could cut taxes, it will spur economic growth. And then we'll be able to get our economy growing again.

And so Trump's taken this attitude of let's free up individuals so they can keep their money and then the economy can grow. In one of my books, I did a book called The Interesting History of Income Tax. And John F. Kennedy talks about FDR's high taxes and how they've been chasing money out of the country and doing this outsourcing.