April 6th 2009
By Louise
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Topic: Is health care around the world than in America? Thom speaks with T.R. Reid about his documentaries "Sick Around the World" and "Sick Around America"
Topic: "Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism" Thom asks author Kevin Phillips how did we get here and how do we fix it? www.bad-money.com
Topic: The Secret about making your business work. Roy Spence, author of "Its Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For," joins Thom www.itsnotwhatyousell.com
Comments
#2
Here's a great interview with William K. Black by Bill Moyers. Black was the Director of the Institute for Fraud Protection and the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.
He offers a scathing account of what happened and who is covering up how bad it really is.
#3
Thom,
You asked what someone could do that would be worth being paid $50,000 an hour.
I would suggest it would have been worth it to pay both Bush and Cheney $50,000 an hour to do absolutely nothing over the last 8 years. I'd even expand that and pay all Republicans elected to public office $5,000 an hour to do nothing while they were in office.
#4
Good Health Care include preventive medicine: Making sure we know about exercise and good nutrition. Making sure we know how to brush our teeth. Helping us exercise with deals at gyms.
To the women who does not want people to eat candy all day: who is going to tell them that what they are doing is bad? The ER doctor at 2 am when their teeth fall out could tell them, but that is a little late. Good AFFORDable Health Care means preventive medicine.
#5
Thom,
Saying that 25% of all hospital deaths are iatrogenic isn't the same as saying that 25% of people who get on airplanes die in a crash.
The proper comparison would be to say that 25% of people who go to a hospital die due to iatrogenic causes, but that's not the case. And don't forget that our hospitals tend to be understaffed and the health care professionals who work in hospitals tend to be overworked.
#6
The system is supposed to service us. We are victims of a government that has been purchased, and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America. We now exist to service the system. This system must be destroyed. We need a third party; the republicans are simply the most virulent agent of corruption in the system we live under. Democrats aren't much better; when it comes to voting for the interests of the common man, they are typically asleep at the wheel, or engaged in some sort of tap dance to avoid telling us why we don't have universal health care.
#7
In order to resurrect the system we once had, we really have to do away with the religion of consumerism. That is the fuel that has gotten us in the situation we are in today. Obama represents hope. He is, however, only one man. We cannot rely on him to save us by himself. We must wake up, pay attention, and VOTE out of office all those who perpetuate this destructive system.
#8
FP is right on! Both the rise of consumerism and the constant drumbeat that the markets are gods and government is evil have given the Power Elite fertile soil in which to scam us out of trillions of dollars!
The reason we are not rising up and taking to the streets is that we are collectively (and subconsciously) afraid of doing anything that will upset the cart and keep us from buying all the stuff we are told to buy!
#9
There you go again, Thom,
Telling us that entrepreneurship is the magic lantern for us to rub to solve our economic problems. The American economy is losing jobs at the rate of around 600,000 a month for the last several months. How many new businesses can we start and how many new businesses can the economy absorb?
According to statistics from the Small Business Administration, 33% of small business startups fail within two years and only 44% last four years. And as you know, it can take one to two years or more, to start turning a profit.
Among the most common causes for small business failures are poor management skills and insufficient capital. Where are your average laid-off workers going to come up with the capital or management skills? I can tell you that for the great majority, the answer is nowhere?
Using Southwest Airlines is absurd. Even a four seat aircraft made in the 1960s can cost 10s or 100s of thousands of dollars.
What you should be addressing, and what I’m not hearing on your show is how the American people, or at least liberals and progressives can get organized to get our government to stand up for the people and not for finance capital.
#10
Thom,
I want to expand on my comment about your statement about 25% of in hospital deaths having iatrogenic causes, because you implied a comparison between standard western medical care and "alternate" approaches such as taking vitamins or naturopathy.
There are two many ways that the two aren't comparable. Many of the iatrogenic causes of death are related to infections that are related to surgeries. In addition, you have hundreds of very ill people packed into hospital wards, many with compromised immune systems. Then you have doctors and nurses working long tiring shifts, going from patient to patient, often under severe time constraints, so that proper hygienic practices are fudged on.
There are no similar circumstances in the alternatives you were comparing hospital care to.
#11
You were saying on the air earlier that we need to stop making things that blow up. I think you would also agree that we need to help our auto industry. What do jet airplanes (and other things that blow up) and cars have in common? They can both benefit greatly from using composite parts. Look at any flying machine today that was manufactured relatively recently and you will find composite parts on it. (composite parts are fiber reinforced resins, kind of like a towel with super glue poured on it, it makes really light weight and strong parts, spread this glue towel on a mold and it can be cured into almost any shape imaginable). Add to this the fact that Hemp fabric composites are becoming more common (kind of odd that it took this long considering The first Ford cars were trying to use hemp based composites). Just go to www.votehemp.com and watch the video on the homepage for "the market for hemp products". Hemp takes less water than cotton, and I assume it is more environmentally friendly (less of an impact when put in a landfill, less energy required to produce) and easier to come by than carbon fiber or some of the other fabrics they use.
#12
There is no doubt that a healthier life-style will keep Americans healthier. The sad news is that a simple appendectomy has a price tag of close to $20K.
#13
News from Milwaukee about the exact thing Thom talked about on Wednesday. Sendik's is considered "the" grocery for the high-end earners.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/04/08/ap6272732.html
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