Income. Today, we'll be talking about money. Funds.
Resources. Budget. Capital.
Moolah. Cash. Dough.
Change. Gravy. The way we refer to money says a lot about ourselves.
If you call it "funds", it's because you have it. If you call it "capital", then you're against those who have it. If you call it "budget", you're asking for it.
If you call it "change", you don't want to give it away. If you call it "moolah", then you already got the second COVID vaccine shot. Congrats.
If you call it "cash", not only you got both shots, but you might be thinking of getting the third one. And it's for your sake that Rádio MEC is still up. Thank you.
We don't talk a lot about money here, for various reasons. Firstly, we're Humanities graduates. I don't get numbers.
I have a Languages degree. So, I suck at math. I might be good at it if we lived in Ancient Rome.
When math would be XIII times VIII. . .
X. . .
Then raise the X, drop the V. . .
Answer: XIVIRIVIX. There, done. It's true!
You can try it at home! But more than being good or sucking at math, the truth is that we, Humanities people, don't really like talking about money, especially in huge numbers that we'll never ever have. So, we end up bending to people who like talking about it.
Problem is, everything we believe and dream for a better society is hindered by budget constraints. Which is fancy talk for "being short on cash". We have these utopian ideas for Brazil - extended school programs, six-months paternity leave.
. . And right-wingers play the poor.
Just like my parents, who'd tell kid me, "We'll buy it on our way back". For instance, when I asked for a Knights of the Zodiac action figure, they'd say, "We don't have money". It was crazy expensive.
It was made of gold. Almost literally, with the Gold Knights and such. It really was very expensive.
But I'd tell them, "Can't you use checks? Just write a number on them and it'll work! " And they'd answer, "No, Gregório.
You have to pay that number to the bank later. " And I'd go, "Then you can use your credit card! " And they'd go, "How would we pay for the card?
" And I'd go, "With a check! " And they'd look at me, thinking, "He's definitely going to study Languages. " The government does the same thing to us.
It acts like a dad going, "Sorry, we're short on cash", whenever we mention our dreams for the country. We've been hearing nonstop for five years that Brazil is broke. In our families, when income is lacking, or when the level of our expenses is too high, we cut expenses.
Don't buy sneakers to our kids, stop going to restaurants, have soup on Sunday nights instead of pizza. . .
That's how it works. The government must be that strict. It annoys me to no end, Onyx pretending that he ever goes through that scenario.
He goes, "When WE don't have money, what do we do? We cut expenses. .
. " No, Onyx. YOU pocket 100,000 reais in slush funds, then sign a deal, say you're sorry, and tattoo a bible quote.
Solved. If only every family man could do that. .
. That clip was filmed in 2020, back when he was Minister of Governance, a position that was still in the hands of a civilian. Onyx, to be specific, who's a veterinarian, and thus was probably picked for the job because he can handle cattle.
And he's not alone in saying Brazil is broke. Bolsonaro, for instance, promised to lower income tax, exempting more low income individuals, but didn't. He explained why, whining as usual.
Brazil is broke, my man. I can't do anything. I wanted to change income tax, you know?
-They don't want it! -This virus, potentiated by the crooked media we have. .
. you know? So, Bolsonaro WANTED to lower taxes, but the virus, "potentiated by the media", wouldn't let him.
Yep - the media "potentiated" the virus. It's reporters, you know? They tend to bite pens, then borrow them.
. . There - a new virus variant is born.
The main claimer that Brazil is broke is Paulo Guedes. He has said that, this year, Brazil is too broke to do the Census and to carry out the national college entrance exam, in addition to still cutting the education budget. Brazil's biggest university, UFRJ, even threatened to close in July should they not be given back resources.
Budget cuts hit Brazil's largest university full force. 2021's budget is approximately half of what it was back in 2012. We've increased the number of students, labs, and research activities, but the budget was slashed by half.
And half of that half is pending Parliament approval. Therefore, UFRJ has 1/4 of the budget compared to 2012. .
. I know money is short, but there's extra "oo" in "too-elve". Rio people love doing that.
I sympathize. I "toook" "too-elve" "too-lips" "too" "schoool". According to Onyx Lorenzoni, UFRJ, one of Brazil's largest universities, is the "pizza" you need to replace with soup.
And the soup he wants us to have is. . .
I don't know, UNIP? Eustácio? But it wasn't just education.
Even health budgets were cut. Yes, mid-pandemic. When explaining why, he said something that sounded like a threat to his own boss.
They're advising us to "cut in line", to "drill the ceiling". . .
They're leading the President to a zone of uncertainties. A dark zone. A zone of impeachment, of fiscal irresponsibility.
. . And the President knows that.
He always looks like a sad puppy dog. Dropy eyebrows, and all. .
. It's like you found poop in the pillow, then called him, "Guedes! What is this?
", and he came all. . .
Humiliated in advance. Always. In the CPI, governing entities always parrot that lack of money spiel.
Governing senators worry heavily on how governors spent money they got from the government, but don't seem that worried about the reason why vaccinations are late in Brazil, killing people who didn't have to die. Bolsonaro said multiple times that he wouldn't "buy vaccines for the price the caboclo asks. " Thus, being the first person to ever call Pfizer "caboclo", or "mestizo".
I picture an interpreter translating that to a Pfizer executive. "He doesn't want to pay the price a. .
. caboclo? How do you say 'caboclo'?
That a 'caboclo' wants. . .
" Former Minister of Health Eduardo Pazuello said in his testimony, in his own words, that he didn't buy more vaccines because it was too expensive. I will give you some interesting data - Pfizer offered the vaccines for US$10 per shot, and we were negotiating them for US$3. 75.
It was three times more expensive. You referred to COVAX and Pfizer prices, and protested the prices. You saw price as such an important detail when faced with the prospect of immunizing the Brazilian people?
Look, the chief of controlling bodies can't see price as irrelevant. It has to be fair, and entirely proven. If Brazil is broke to the point of not buying vaccines for a disease that has killed 500,000 people, then we have to balance the scales urgently.
To go from deficit to surplus. But then they think, "How do we do that? " The answer is obvious to every economy analyst, to every Globo News shows, for instance.
The editorials of every newspaper say the same thing. . .
The main recommendation for the new Esplanada team was cutting expenses. We need to cut government expenses and sell assets to quell debt, just like regular families do. And when money is tight, there's no secret: we have to cut expenses.
Here, Luciana and Alex have two great allies: the pen and a notebook to do their planning. Alex, it isn't easy cutting expenses, is it? It's very hard.
We, in our family, talked and negotiated heavily. . .
And much negotiation will be needed for the government to cut expenses, which is one the country's main challenges. Sweet Jesus. .
. I imagine it dawning on the chief reporter. .
. "That's it! We can send a reporter to the home of a family having money problems, to sit between the couple, and compare their situation to that of the Congress.
That's how we make Brazilians understand that they no longer have the right to retirement! " That kind of news story justifies what the government's been doing for years: cutting investments on education, holding Family Grant money, canceling the emergency aid, radically reducing investments in science, infrastructure, and retirement, closing down hospitals. .
. Funny thing is, those cuts are selective. Because while they'll slash funds to health and education, there are certain areas that the government will leave alone.
In fact, they're getting even more! This year, for instance, Bolsonaro increased minister salaries up to 69%, and its own, 6%, all while suggesting for people who need emergency aid to "go to the bank and ask for a loan". In 2020, we've spent on emergency aid a value equal to ten years of Family Grant.
And some people criticize that, saying they want more. . .
As that just plunges the government in debt, if you want more, just make a loan in the bank. That's like 6-year-old me talking to my parents. "Don't have money?
Sign a check. " Bolsonaro is like Marie Antoinette 2. 0.
"No bread? Eat condensed milk! Eat expensive passion fruit muffins at my son's store!
" Like, what? People don't have money. .
. I know what you might be thinking. That the extra money Bolsonaro gave his ministers wouldn't be enough to pay for everything Brazil needs.
The emergency aid, for instance, costs way more. Sure. But we DO have that money.
We have a lot more than that. It's just hidden. And in this show, I'll show you that we don't even need, like, new taxes to get that money.
It's already there. Basically, we just need to collect taxes and fines that already exist. Because we have a crapload of hidden money.
There's this term in the Constitution, "tax expenditure". Please don't leave. I, too, lose interest as soon as I hear the word "expenditure".
But relax - it's just another way of saying "money". Your money. Tax expenditures is basically the money the government chooses not to make, allowing for certain people and companies to not pay taxes, fines, or debts.
Tax expenditures is one of the most well-kept secrets of the public budget. It's basically like we had a chest full of money hidden in Brazil, and no one told us that. And yes, we know that there is money hidden in Brazil, in every corner.
In Senator Chico Rodrigues's underwear, for instance. In Rocha Loures's travel bag. In Geddel's apartment.
Which, in fact, was the largest cash seizure the Federal Police has ever done: 51 million reais in cash. So much money, that people use it as a reference for food deliveries in Salvador. "In front of the building with Geddel's bags.
" And Brazil is a huge underoos stuffed with money. There's tons of money available. And not only stemming from corruption.
There's a lot of money that should be ours, we just need to charge. Using the metaphor Onyx loves so much, it's like the family man was banning pizza and getting his kids out of daycare, but distributing billions to his billionaire friends. The kid would go, "The fuck, dad?
Gimme my pizza, damn it! You're giving billions to those bozos! " That money exists, and we can salvage all of it, or at least almost.
There's a share of that tax expenditure that is justified. For instance, there are tax exemptions that ensure jobs, that prevent bankruptcy, or to bring down the prices of essential products, like wheelchairs. Early this year, the IRS National Tax Auditors Association carried out a study that separated tax expenditures as justified and unjustified.
In other words, all reliefs and exemptions that aren't used for anything super relevant to Brazil. The end result was sinister. First of all, they calculated that Brazil will skip collecting circa 450 billions reais in tax reliefs this year alone.
And the worst part is that only 141 billions are justified. The remaining 316 billions reais make no sense. It's what auditors call "tax privilege".
And if you, too, are a Humanities person and don't understand what that number means, that'd let them immunize Brazil 11 times, using the Pfizer vaccine. The US$10 per shot one. It'd be enough to get 22 shots for every Brazilian, 11 to each arm.
Almost "too-elve". It'd be this big vaccine open bar. An immunization buffet.
What's worse - in the Bolsonaro administration, tax expenditures increased compared to previous years. In a pandemic, where people are dying! It only goes to show that leaving Brazil broke is not only stupid, but also evil.
Which would actually be the perfect slogan for Bolsonaro. "Evilness above all things, stupidity above all people". One of Brazil's biggest tax privileges are profits and dividends, which should be deduced from income tax, but aren't, due to an exemption established in 1995.
Only Brazil and Estonia have that kind of exemption. Charging up to 27. 5% over the distribution of profits among the companies could generate 60 billion reais still in 2021.
Also, this year, Brazil will miss the chance of collecting circa 30 billion reais just from companies that were exempt from the Simples Nacional tax due to the pandemic, but that raise over 1. 2 million reais per year. i.
e. , they could pay taxes. Companies that made over a million, yet won't even pay the Simples, which isn't simple.
It's complicated, at the very least. And there's more: the Manaus Free Trade Zone holds 24 extra billions. And you might be thinking, "But the Manaus FTZ is important.
It creates thousands of jobs and develops the Amazonas region. How could we give up on that kind of exemption? " That does make sense, but many of them don't even fulfill the basic requirement for tax exemption, which is giving a part of their profits to studies in, and the development of, the region.
There's no monitoring or transparency in those procedures. And it's TCU saying that, which my eternally immature brain sees it as an acronym for "Titties Control U". It's like the "RCHLO" situation.
Remember? "TCU"! But the question is - who reaps the benefits from tax benefits?
Certainly not the TTCU, or "Titties That Control Us". But don't worry - there's a lot of money flying around. For instance, REFIS, the Tax Recovery Program.
REFIS is a renegotiation the government does with people who owe a lot of money. It gives them a little discount. Those can be of up to 90%.
"The boss lost his mind! " The "boss" being the Congress, who has its head firmly in place, as it rewards bad payers who often finance their campaigns. So, it isn't "the boss lost his mind", but rather, "the Congress is grateful!
" With REFIS, the government loses its right to raise over 22 billion reais, or two Pfeizer shots per adult Brazilian. And the loss of the employers' social contributions that companies should include in their payroll holds extra 9. 8 billions.
That exemption, in fact, was schedule to expire last year, but was postponed for another year by the Congress, right after a lobbying of over 17 sectors. So, the source of our problems was expertly interpreted by the great minds of Claudinho & Bochecha, in their song, "Just lobby, just lobby. .
. " Or Ivete Sangalo, with her hit song, "Lobby, lobby, lobby with you". You think Ivete is apolitical?
Wrong - you have to read between the lines. Also, the taxation of agribusiness exports, which basically does not exist, will stop Brazil from collecting extra 9. 2 billions in 2021, or almost one Pfeizer shot for every adult.
To be fair, the agribusiness does pay taxes, but you know how much? How much public money was raised with the sales of all agricultural exports in 2019? 16,000 reais.
The combined number of all exporting taxes over Brazil's most exported produce in the entire year can't even buy a 2005 Fiat Uno Mille. The agriculture people sure are stingy. You can complain about that friend who won't take a political stance, but agribusiness is the true non-player.
Products such as fertilizer, corn, grains, soy, seeds, pesticide, and feeds pay no exportation taxes. And for the few that do, their rate is of 0. 000003%.
Yep, there are six zeroes before three. Zero-zero-zero-zero- zero-zero-three. Got it.
Definitely not heroes - they're zeroes. Which means that the government collects 1 centavo for every 323,000 reais a soy exporter makes. And we're talking about a sector that uses trillions of liters of water, that encourages deforestation, that employs very little personnel, since it's all automated, and that spend tons of money with TV ads selling them as "pop".
Though the agribusiness does look like a pop celebrity, as it's fussy, spoiled, and irresponsible. Brazil also exempts from taxes factories of naval and airship parts, which total 3. 4 billion reais per year, and also gives Ambev a nice exemption.
Yes - thanks to Bolsonaro, Ambev alone is exempt from paying 1. 5 billion per year. According to the auditors' reports, without a single new tax, we can find a treasure worth 300 billion reais.
Enough to finance the entirety of Brazil's public health and education sectors. So, why don't we start charging that money? Because the government simply doesn't want to.
The government is the world's cutest loan shark. It sees a billionaire and goes, "It's okay. They need the money.
You need it more than I do! Stop insisting! " Maybe it's the word "tax" that gives off the wrong idea.
We should change it. Maybe call it "suggested value". In Brazil, taxes are basically a "tip".
But it isn't just taxes that Brazil is missing out on. There's also another big source of money that we're simply ignoring: fines. Especially environmental ones.
The unpaid fines IBAMA charged since the Bolsonaro administration began total circa 3 billions per year. In fact, only 5% of the fines IBAMA charges tend to be paid. If we do the math taking the last 25 years into consideration, only 1% of all fines were paid.
But you? Just try not paying the DMV's tickets. .
. I guess the only way to be punished for deforestation is if you don't wear a seat belt in your tractor as you do it. And the opposite too, maybe - if they catch you doing a serious offense, like drunk driving, just tell them, "Relax!
I was just deforesting! " So, if you're drunk, drive a tractor. Then they'll go, "It's fine, they're just killing nature.
" And what's worse, fewer and fewer fines are being charged, and fewer and fewer crimes can be fined. Thanks to the cattle that Minister of Environment Ricardo Salles "passes on" since he got the job, trials of tax assessments fell sharply in 2020. Now that's a crime that does pay, as people not only aren't punished, but can keep the money they got by committing the crime.
In 2016, before Bolsonaro and Salles, we had 27,006 fines per year. In 2017, the Temer year, they were 21,001. In 2018, the election year, 23,836.
And from 2019 to 2020, we saw a huge drop: a little over 5,000. And that wasn't because loggers stopped deforesting. Bolsonaro had the gall to say that fines dropped because they started "advising" debtors.
The number of fines fell sharply because we chose, before all else, to give advice and pointers. Fines, only in last-case-scenarios. How cute, seeing Bolsonaro arguing for negotiating with criminals.
I admire these human rights folks greatly, y'know? "C'mon, don't land-grab, man. .
. I won't say it again! " "Oh, land-grabber, you.
. . " You like land-grabbers?
Then house them! Though maybe he already does. .
. Another blatant example is Samarco, responsible for the 2015 Mariana environmental disaster. The company was notified by IBAMA 73 times, and received 25 tax assessments from the government until 2019, for a total of 350 million reais.
Not one was paid so far. And that's not even the only government debt Samarco has. In fact, they owe us circa 6 billion reais.
Same goes for Vale, that was fined 250 million reais by IBAMA for 2019's Brumadinho tragedy, that left 270 dead. Vale made a deal to improve Minas's national parks, and the fine was never paid. I guess that self-help book was about Vale, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck.
" And what's really bizarre is that Vale still pays dividends to their shareholders, 100% exempt from paying taxes. A listing of all fines handed ever since the environmental crime law was promulgated showed who are the main entities fined by IBAMA - people who commit the crime of deforesting the Amazon. They're big companies, foreigners, politicians, a company tied to a banker, society column regulars in the Southeast region, and three men who exploited slave labor.
In total, their hundreds of fines reach 3. 58 billion reais. When adjusted, that value would rise to 6.
3 billions. Do note that fines lapse after five years, at the end of the lawsuit. And that environmental lawsuits tend to go for three years.
For that reason, there is still an insane number of fines that the government ignores, because, as the lawsuits aren't digitally recorded, they end up lapsing. And guess how much money has already been lost? Just because we miss the deadline to charge people?
20 billion reais. Or, one Pfeizer shot per adult. That we lose because fines just aren't enforced.
It should be obvious that in a country like Brazil, one with so much tax exemption and amnestied fines, people would at least pay the tributes they're required to, but no. You probably know very well that we have an infinite numbers of businessmen who don't pay their taxes. Brazil misses out on gathering over 417 billion reais per year thanks to tax evasion by companies.
The most evaded tax of all is income tax, and the biggest evaders are companies, followed by companies of the financial market. But there's also commerce, such as Bolsonaro supporter Luciano Hang's Havan stores - a man who, last year, owed over 2. 5 billions to the IRS.
This list even has churches, religious entities that owe the IRS an accumulated debt of 460 million reais. One of them being the church of Silas Malafaia, another Bolsonaro supporter, which, along with his publishing company, owes 4. 6 millions in taxes, which are being generously split in installments, without interest.
As the Bible goes, "unto Silas the things that are Silas's, and also unto Silas the things that are Caesar's. Unto Silas every-fucking-thing. " The agribusiness sector is one our top debtors.
The grains sector alone owes 23. 6 billions. One of those companies being Agropastoril Café no Bule, owned by TV host Ratinho, who owed 76 millions to the IRS, at least until 2020.
Apparently, Bolsonaro's entrepreneurs are united by the fact that all of their companies owe millions to the government. The combined debts of the companies belonging to the Havan Geezer, Silas Malafaia, and Ratinho, total 83 million reais, enough to buy 1263 medical ventilators. There's also the debtor caucus, featuring 275 former and current congressmen whose companies owe money to the IRS.
Combined, they owe the IRS 2 billion reais in open debt, according to the National Treasury Attorney General's Office. So, the swindlers' lobby is like a high lobby, because they negotiating that debt with the government is like El Chavo buying churros from himself. For instance, Senator Kajuru alone, right now, is hard.
It's unrelated to the tax evasion. I just wanted to remind you of that. Adding up all of that money lying around that the government opts for not collecting, we get several hundreds of billions of reais.
Almost a trillion, in fact. Like the ones Guedes said he'd get from the privatizations, and that he's still looking for. It's enough to give Brazilians emergency aid for the rest of the year, plus vaccinating everybody.
But if there's so much money, why do so many people say they have none? Easy: because the government budget is being disputed. A violent dispute that grows ever more violent during this crisis.
Those who have power want to keep the money that they have, and try to convince you that they have no money, because "Brazil is broke". Neither you, nor me. .
. No one tries to dispute it. Just look at the emergency aid case.
The government had to find money to pay 600 bucks so that people wouldn't starve during the pandemic, right? That happened because some members of society organized, pressured them, and the aid was issued. Then they started saying they couldn't keep on paying because there was "no money".
That whoever wanted more could ask for a loan at the bank. And they forgot to say that the government only spent circa 220 billion reais on the emergency aid, which is almost 100 billions less than we miss out on thanks to tax privileges. That's why this government's game is always weakening those who organize the people.
Unions, class associations, parties. . .
An unorganized people will never get their share of the budget. Who has lobbies to owe money? Companies such as Ratinho's, agribusiness', billionaires, landowners, land-grabbers, Silas Malafaia, the Havan Geezer.
. . It's thanks to those lobbies that they keep on owing, and we keep on paying.
Politics are a dispute for public money, and we need to learn how to dispute it. There's a lot of money on the line, and it's ours. We tend to get outraged upon corruption and fight over which is the biggest corruption scandal in history, but there's no doubt there.
It's definitely the money we didn't even get to receive, which are tax expenditures and tax evasions. It only doesn't feel like the money was stolen from us because it was never given in the first place. But it belongs to the people, who needs it now, more than ever.
Therefore, we need to shout out loud, like the people from Bahia did when they were robbed by fake clowns in the well-known Patati revolt: "We want my money! " That's it for this Greg News!
