• Attack ads.
• Instant Runoff Voting.
• Guest: Jim Trippon "Becoming Your Own China Stock Guru ".
• Guest: Ed Begley, Jr. Author, "Living Like Ed". Living green.
• Christy Todd Whitman ruled not liable for lies about air quality in NYC after 9/11. Political interference in EPA.
• Guest: Christy Harvey, Center for American Progress. "News Under the Radar".

Topics, guests, upcoming events, quotes, links to articles, audio clips, books & bumper music.

Thursday 24 April '08 show

• Article: NY appeals court: Whitman not liable in Sept. 11 air case.
• Article: 60 Percent Of EPA Staff Have ‘Personally Experienced’ ‘Political Interference’.
• Article: McCain asks NC GOP not to run ad.
• Ad: Narrator: "Tamika McFadden-Harris, murdered leaving church choir practice. Cut down by gang gunfire while shielding her six-year-old daughter. Mike Boyd, killed at 15, beaten with bricks after a gang member crashed into his car. Severo Enriquez, just 14 years old when he refused to flash a gang hand sign. He was shot five times in the back. They all died in 2001, in Chicago. The Sun-Times called it "urban terrorism," and demanded action on gang violence. But that same year, a Chicago state senator named Barack Obama voted against expanding the death penalty for gang-related murders. When the time came to get tough, Obama chose to be weak. So the question is, can a man so weak on the war on gangs, be trusted in the war on terror. The National Campaign Fund is responsible for the content of this ad."
• Article: Clinton says she leads in popular vote.
• The popular vote. Caucuses, people have fear of speaking.
• Bumper Music: Fire It Up, Modest Mouse.
• Article: A Runoff for House Seat Set in Mississippi.
• There's a very real probability that Willie Horton ads, swiftboating will not work.
• Run-off for Trent Lott's replacement's seat. The result was Democrat 49.4 percent, Republican 46.3 percent.
• Julie Nixon Eisenhower has donated the maximum to Senator Obama.
• Article: Jenna Bush not yet on board with McCain.
• Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
• Push the Democratic Party to use IRV for the next primaries. If the popular vote is to be counted, go back to caucus states, apply weighting to allow for the lower turnout at caucuses - this would give Obama a massive lead in the popular vote. Thom is still waiting to hear why he should vote for Hillary. Why is she not speaking of her health program?
• Article: Fact Check on Willie Horton-Style Ad on Obama and the Death Penalty.
• Darfur. China selling the government weapons, bombs. Spielberg pulled out of the Olympics. Political prisoners. Censoring free speech. Organ donors from political prisoners. Thom suggests boycotting the opening ceremony like France, Germany. China cares about face. Shame v. guilt.
• Guest: Jim Trippon, Certified Public Accountant. Author, "Becoming Your Own China Stock Guru: The Ultimate Investor's Guide to Profiting from China's Economic Boom ". There are two Chinese stock markets - the internal one which tumbled recently, and the sale of Chinese stocks in London, etc. China is not perfect. Japan carried out WW2 atrocities, never apologized. Did Spielberg pulling out of the Olympics lead to a delegation speaking to Kiir? They tend to push back if we tell them what to do. We can't afford to stop trading with them. Tariffs. Now textiles have moved to Vietnam because it is cheaper. We don't have the manufacturing, so not buying Chinese would cause inflation.
• Bumper Music: Let Me Take You There, Plain White Ts.
• Article: McCain opposes equal pay bill in Senate backed by Obama, Clinton.
  "Republican Senator John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, says he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits.

  Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a 56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to full debate and a vote. Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, had delayed the vote to give McCain's Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.

  McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans.

  "
• Bumper Music: I’m American Too, L.K. Potts.
• [Terry McAuliffe]: "There are 122,000 more people have now voted for Hillary Clinton than voted for Senator Obama. In Florida, yes, we won that by 300,000 votes. You mentioned Michigan earlier with Senator Bayh. Let's be clear on Michigan. Senator Obama was on the ballot. He chose for political purposes, (1) he thought he was going to get beaten in Michigan, number (2) he wanted to curry favor with ? New Hampshire. He took his name off the ballot. Let's be clear, Andrea. I've been in politics a long time. You don't take your name of a ballot if you think you're going to win the state."

  [Andrea Mitchell, NBC News]: "Well, there was a ? there and it was obviously trying to appeal to people in New Hampshire and to Iowa. All the candidates took themselves off. She was the only one who left herself on."

  [Terry McAuliffe]: "God bless Hillary Clinton. You know what, because she knows how important Michigan is. These people went out and voted. They voted. These votes were certified."

• Thom:
  

  Everybody has a line. Everybody has a point where they say, "OK, the line has been stepped over". And I know that many of our listeners feel ... that the Clinton campaign, if not Hillary Clinton herself, have stepped over the line, particularly in Bill Clinton's comments, or comments that could be taken as playing the race card, that kind of thing and that that's wrong. In my mind they're awful close. They're awful close. I'm not willing to say that I've stepped over that line. And frankly, the position that I've taken all along is that I respect the intellect of my listeners enough to believe that if I simply talk about what I'm seeing out there and just laying it out, people can draw their own conclusions and, you know a well informed electorate, you know, as Thomas Paine said, is the necessary precursor to a self-governing nation, and that people can just make up their own decision... Me, personally, it hasn't hit that point yet. I'm still looking at both of these people as viable candidates.

  The story that I tell myself when I see Hillary's campaign or Hillary Clinton fighting this hard is that, OK, we need somebody who's really going to take names and kick butt when it comes to John McCain, and why isn't Barack Obama being a little more aggressive in some of these areas. And that's not an endorsement of Hillary Clinton at all. On the other hand, I deplore some of the tactics that have been used against Barack Obama that are implicitly, I think, Republican talking points and implicitly, very subtly, but implicitly racist. So I think it's possible to condemn the campaign's behavior and still think that the candidate might make actually a good president.

• Thom:
  

  What I've been saying, and I'll be completely transparent here about my preferences... I'll just lay it out, or my actions, rather, and I guess it's a matter of public record anyway. And that is that I've been watching this thing. You know, originally I was with Dennis Kucinich on the issues and I thought that John Edwards would make a great president. And I think Dennis Kucinich frankly would probably make a relatively good president, but I thought John Edwards would make a brilliant president, although I never endorsed him, you know. But he was on the program a couple of times, one of the few candidates, he and Barack Obama and Chris Dodd were the only candidates, or among the few candidates who were willing to come on the program without requiring that I use scripted questions and not do follow-ups and all that sort of nonsense, which I just will not do.

  And so now, and in fact I contributed, and I told my listeners on the air every time I did it. I did it 5 different times, I contributed to the Edwards campaign twice, I contributed to the Kucinich campaign when I thought, when they did things I thought worthy of my going to their web site, clicking the button and sending them anywhere from 25 to 100 bucks. And twice now, when Barack Obama gave his speech in Philadelphia about race, after I heard that speech I went to his web site and donated a hundred dollars to him. And when he came to Portland, Oregon and he gave an absolute brilliant barn burner speech and I went to his web site and I contributed money to him. And I have been saying ever since then, I am waiting to hear a speech from Hillary Clinton that will inspire me enough that I'll go to her web site and contribute money to her campaign. I would love to hear that speech. And I'm still waiting. I'm still waiting.

• Caller Jeff said that caucuses are more democratic. They had high turnout, people brought kids. People get educated there, candidates come. IRV. You can change your mind if your own preference loses. You can help create the platform. It's closer to Athenian democracy.
• Article: "If You Want To Win An Election, Just Control The Voting Machines...", Thom, Jan 31 2003.
• Guest: Ed Begley, Jr. Author, "Living Like Ed". Living green. He picked low hanging fruit first, starting in 1970, and it is easier now. Vampire power, parasitic devices. Underwriter Laboratories UL certification only for over 50W. Get as much legislative help as we can get, and enforce what we have. CAFE standards were just raised a bit, but not California greenhouse gas regulation. We have 4 times as many cars but less smog, so we are part way and did not go broke doing it. Car manufacturers and Firestone bought up public transportation systems and took them apart. Energy companies should be able to sell renewables.
• Bumper Music: Radio, Hackensaw Boys (video).
• There's a solar program already, and it has been so successful, if they don't renew it, it will close at the end of the year, call congress to renew tax credits.
• Bumper Music: Attitude, the Kinks.
• Thom has been doing the show live from New York this week. He'll be home tomorrow.
• Article: NY appeals court: Whitman not liable in Sept. 11 air case.
• " "By these actions she (Whitman) increased and may have in fact created the danger to plaintiffs," Batts stated. "Without doubt, if plaintiffs had not been told by the head of a federal agency entrusted with monitoring the environment that it was safe, plaintiffs would not have so readily returned to the area so soon after the attacks." "
  Judge Says Government Misled Public on 9/11 Air Quality, February 06, 2006.
• Article: 60 Percent Of EPA Staff Have ‘Personally Experienced’ ‘Political Interference’.
• Guest: Christy Harvey, Director of Strategic Communications at the Center for American Progress, MicCheckradio.org. "News Under the Radar". People in New York City are dying from being at Ground Zero, They were told by Christy Todd Whitman the air was safe. She is off the hook after an appeal court ruling yesterday that she was relying on the Bush administration told her. The original case. She "increased and may have in fact created the danger". Her autobiography. A study last year showed that Ground Zero workers are 12 times more likely to have asthma. The White House stripped the warnings, pressured her to lie. Waxman, EPA, Union of Concerned Sciences report yesterday, of 1600 EPA scientists, 60% personally experienced political interference. Waxman wrote a letter to the EPA's Stephen Johnson yesterday about the study. Johnson's testimony postponed from today to May 5. John Yoo, scary guy, glibly says to set aside human rights during the war. He's teaching at Berkeley. He was up to appear before Conyers about his memos. He says he does not have the OK from the Department of Justice. So Conyers is going to subpoena him. Congress is reduced to suing in civil court.
• Bumper Music: Ferry Cross the Mersey, Gerry and the Pacemakers.
• Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News. A Senate committee has decided to overturn an FCC ruling that you could own different media in same market. Thom should come for the inauguration. Democrats on oil and gas prices, "Pelosi's premium". $40-50 due to speculation? Deregulation at the end of Bill Clinton's presidency. Production, Saudis producing less, some Senators said it is time to say we are not going to sell weapons if they don't produce. The Saudis and others upped their declared reserves, without evidence that they had them, so they could borrow. They are at, near or past peak oil? Republican representative Roscoe Bartlett is the only member of Congress saying we are in big trouble. Thom should get him on the show. Pelosi etc, take kids to work day, not mentioned by the White House, they let kids ask questions at the press conference, said strategic oil reserve 97% full and we are still adding to them. Last night Jenna was on Larry King. Voter registration has gone down.