Will there be an end to the perpetual war?
Yesterday, President Obama spoke to a crowd at the National Defense University, and laid out his vision for the future of counter-terrorism. In his speech, the President addressed the controversial use of drones, the on-going fight to close Gitmo, and the need to repeal the Authorization for the Use of Military Force.The audacity of Apple's "ingenuity"
This week, Apple CEO Tim Cook was questioned in a Congressional Hearing about his company's complex scheme to avoid paying taxes. According to Mr. Cook, the company's stash of billions of dollars in overseas shell corporations was not tax dodging – it was ingenuity.Will Democrats ever learn how to negotiate?
The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced a so-called comprehensive immigration plan. And, as usual, Democrats conceded to Republican demands in the name of compromise. Over the last five days, the Judiciary Committee members considered over 200 proposed amendments to the plan, and approved several of the most egregious changes to the legislation. Super-Storms: The New Normal
Yesterday, the city of Moore, Oklahoma was devestated by a monster tornado. The two-mile wide twister claimed the lives of dozens of people, and injured hundreds. And, the number of fatalities will likely rise as search and rescue operations continue. Oklahoma's Lt.We're subsidizing the group that wants more GOP obstruction.
For over a week, Republicans have refused to focus on anything but so-called scandal. And, it turns out, that's exactly the way they want it. On Thursday, the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, sent a letter to GOP leaders, and told them to avoid working on any legislation that could take the focus off of the Obama Administration. The NLRB needs our help!
For decades, unions have been fighting to preserve workers' rights, but that fight just got a lot more difficult. Yesterday, two separate events illustrated just how extreme the war on labor has become. First, Republican judges on Third Circuit Court of Appeals struck down President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board. It doesn't take $50 million to make a point.
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made their point – they hate Obamacare. And, just in case anyone didn't get the message the first 36 times they made that point, they're about to waste even more taxpayer time and money on one more attempt to repeal the healthcare law. The Real IRS Scandal
Yesterday, in response to recent IRS admissions, President Obama called the enhanced investigation of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status “intolerable and inexcusable.” And, Attorney General Eric Holder announced a criminal investigation into the allegations against the IRS. But both of them are missing the point. We must protect our Fourth Estate.
The Associated Press has accused the Justice Department of “massive and unprecedented intrusion.” That's according to one of the AP's top executives, after learning that the government secretly acquired two months of the news agency's telephone records.SCOTUS upholds Monsanto's patents.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, Monsanto has the right to control our food supply. In a unanimous ruling released this morning, the nine Justices sided with the agricultural giant, and held that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto's patent by planting seeds produced from genetically modified soybeans.Republicans don't really want immigration reform.
Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first of many hearings on comprehensive immigration reform. In the seven and a half hour hearing, senators debated 32 of the three hundred proposed amendments to the bill, and adopted 21 of the changes. The proposals ranged from plans to correct technical immigration issues, to Sen. Ted Cruz's amendment to triple the number of border control agents, to Sen.GOP "whistle-blowers" blow the lid off Republican talking points.
Yesterday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives postponed all floor votes so they could hold their ninth hearing about Benghazi. Instead of working on any number of pressing issues effecting Americans, Republicans spent nine hours on a political witch hunt. Lawmakers ignore Treasury Secretary Jack Lew
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew appears to have the right ideas. But, it doesn't seem like any of our elected leaders are listening. On Monday, Secretary Lew sent letters to members of the House financial services committee, urging them to uphold provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that regulate derivatives.Never settle with the Banksters.
Last year, five major U.S. Banks and 49 state attorneys general agreed on a $25 billion settlement to compensate victims of abusive bank practices and foreclosure fraud. But, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the banksters are violating the terms of that agreement.The Cancer-stage of Capitalism.
Unregulated capitalism is cancer on our nation. Like tumors, greed has metastasized, strangling once-healthy parts of our economy, and our social safety net. A new piece on Alternet lists several ways this cancer capitalism has taken hold. For starters, the hoarding of wealth by the banksters and the 1% has diverted resources away from nutritional aid programs.The Constitution is not a la carte!
This may come as news to some Red state lawmakers, but there's more to the Constitution than the Second and the Tenth Amendments. The background check bill failed the Senate, but that didn't stop several Republican states from passing bills to exempt themselves from federal gun laws. "Radical Islam" isn't our biggest threat.
While many on the Right fear monger about so-called “radical Islam,” and it's threat to our nation, a new poll shows that Muslims aren't the ones we should worry about.Should a CEO make 1700 times a worker's salary?
Most of us are still feeling the effects of a struggling economy, but the corporate elite and the Wall Street banksters are doing better than ever. Many corporations have seen record profits in recent years, which have fueled buying sprees on Wall Street, pushing the DOW Jones to it's all-time high.The potential poison pill in the House immigration bill.
Living as an undocumented immigrant in this country is a civil infraction, not a criminal act. But, some members of our House of Representatives are working to change that. According to the Think Progress Blog, the bipartisan immigration bill that is coming together in the House would force all undocumented immigrants to plead guilty for breaking the law, and serve at least five years of probation.Tanks aren't the only way to support an economy.
Sequester cuts are hitting vital programs like Meals on Wheels, Head Start, and cancer treatment centers. So, it's difficult to understand why Congress would be pushing to spend $436 million on tanks that the Army says it does not need.
Thom Hartmann Radio Program
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