Daily Topics - Friday July 16th, 2010
By shawnt56
Quote of the Day: "The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy." -- Montesquieu
Anything goes on townhall Friday!
Hour Three: "Brunch With Bernie" - Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spends the hour with Thom discussing the issues and answering listener questions www.sanders.senate.gov
Comments
#2
We make sheet rock here in America still, I know of a plant in Long Beach.
But I've been wondering, if labor proceeds capital, what proceeds labor... I believe its raw materials and what proceeds that natural resources. Has America pissed away all its natural resources, or do we still have enough to be an independent economic power house?
I believe we do, so why aren't we talking about our source of our economic current. They are part of the commons, or at least they were, so who owns those resources, is it America, or has it been sold off to foreign organizations?
N
#3
maybe the hundreds of other abandoned rigs will be examined for leaks
#4
Maxrot: as roseanna roseannadanna would say: "Mr. Richard Fetter, you ask a lot of questions for someone from NewJersey!"
#5
@harry re #3, and maybe Santa Claus will bring me the Super Delux Magnifico Wishing Leperchaun for Easter... dare I hope.
N
#6
re: #5: be sure to wish for more batteries
#7
I do however expect concrete legislation to be passed in the wake of this disaster though. They'll pass legislation stating that seafood doesn't have to be tested for petroleum and other chemicals, they'll pass legislation stating that food distribution companies can't label there food as not coming from th Gulf and they'll pass legislation that will demand PSAs that will claim how well and quickly the Gulf has recovered. I trust my Government reps to do these things... nice to have trust in my reps. :..-(
N
#8
Yep lets legalize hemp, we're almost there, hooray, thank god corporations can't just dump a bunch of money into campaigns against such a move, otherwise you'd might expect some of those chemical and textile companies to plaster all sorts of scurrilous lies all over the media scaring gawd feerin' christans into voting against legalizing it. After all people will dope up and just lay around on their couch (which has just got to be a moral quandry for the right wing to fight against... good lord how sweet it would be to get the population to just lay around and do nothin', but damnit they can't let all those corporate profits be taken away).
N
#9
@harry, no no no the Super Delux Magnifico Leprechaun isn't powered by batteries, its strictly ran on Kerosene and baking soda.
N
#10
We do make something in the US -- professional sports. Officials in cities like San Jose, Miami, etc. spend inordinate amounts of time trying to attract teams, players, and tournaments. Last week, the leading sports reporter for the Washington Post said that sports is the most important way that cities and towns define themselves today. Unfortunately, except for a few highly-paid owners and players, the jobs that sports creates are few and low-paying. Even the retail business sports might bring to a community is low-level. Also, too many of the values those sports bring are suspect: drugs, craziness, violence. We used to talk about cities in the context of what they produced--Pittsburgh for steel, Chicago for beef, New York for clothing, Detroit for cars. Now we talk about the teams that locate there. We don't want to work, we want to play.
#11
Our sheet rock is demonstrably superior to the Chinese alternative, too.
#12
@BookGirl, Sports aren't manufacturing jobs, they're basically glorified service jobs, they produce no tangible product. Well unless you consider overinflated egos a tangible product.
N
#13
re: George Bush taught us we can just pull out of agreements by decreeing it.
Well yeah, but the underlying point of that is George Bush has no appreciation for keeping your word, telling the truth, being honorable. I'm not sure if I want my representatives to be untrustworthy dishonorable liars (in fact I know I don't because that's what I have now).
N
#14
1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 (New International Version)
14For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, 15who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men
#15
What is the point, Dr. Ichards? Is this yet another incarnation of the 'Christ killer' ruse?
#16
Tax cuts ultimately lead to privatization. That leads to fees for things you didn't pay directly for before. Freeways become toll roads, police and fire services become a pay for play service, so on and so forth... Those that believe that cutting taxes is going to save them money, have no understanding of what their taxes are paying for in the first place, and they also don't understand how much more expensive those services get in the hands of private interests.
Tax cuts = New Fees
N
#17
n8chz
Just quoting scripture.
Not that I agree, but it is what the scripture says.
Personally, I think that Jesus Christ is a mythological character.
#18
Well all I know is "Blessed are the cheese makers"
N
#19
II Peter 3:15
#20
re #18: "Cheese makers" ?!? I thought it was "pacemakers"!
#21
It applies to the makers of all dairy products.
#22
re: 21: "Blessed are the cows"? that's hindu!
#23
The Chamber has Already Begun Their Ad-Bombing
Happy Friday all!!
I'm not at home, so can't call in. Wanted to let you all know that these ads, by the US Chamber of Conference, started last Sunday here in NorthEast PA. They're playing that damned music-"Fortuna"-while a spooky-sounding voice talks about how Joe Sestak has stood with Nancy Pelosi on all the issues. (healthcare, stimulus, financial reform, AND "cap & tax"- the latter two which hadn't even passed yet). Excuse my "abbreviation", but WTF is it with Conservatives and that goth-sounding music?? I think they've played it for EVERY issue-beginning with Obama in the election- usually accompanied by apocalyptic scenery-even THIS one that's "warning" the folks here in PA how dangerous Joe Sestak is-done in black & white with what appears to be a post-apocalyptic scene behind the B&W images of Pelosi &Sestak!!
Methinks these PR people need to take a break from watching Glenn Beck!!
Y'all have a GREAT Weekend!!!
Elaine/SoloPocono
A devout Liberal hiding out in the Northern Poconos!!
Sent from my iPad
#24
re: the music: no doubt contains subliminal messages
#25
regarding unemployment. Personally what ever length they extend unemployment to, at then end of that period, instead of ending the payout, I'd like to see the payment reduced to say $50 a week. Not so much that I expect it will help the unemployed all that much, but it would allow us to be far more accurate about the unemployment numbers.
N
#26
Actually I would assume that you can get actual yearly numbers of employed people from income tax filing, then from that you can at least determine how many people out of the population worked during that year. Not as accurate monthly, but it would help figure out the real unemployment rate.
N
#27
The estate tax is really a big tax cut for middle class heirs. In exchange for paying that tax on a portion of large estates (the portion over 1.2 to 8 million - depending on certain factors) the heirs get an exemption from having to pay any past capital gains tax when/if they sell the property - this is called the 'step up basis', it means heirs have to calculate the gains from the date they inherited the property rather than from the date their parents acquired it. The step up basis is available to ALL heirs - not just the very wealthy 2% or so who would be subject to the estate tax. So if we permanently lose the estate tax there will be a big tax INCREASE on middle class heirs
#28
@Blue Mark, oh no, oh heavens what are we to do.... oh wait the middle class is being whittled down and will soon be disposed of so in the long run the estate tax still will not effect the majority.
N
#29
Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection - by D. M. Murdock and Acharya S
http://www.amazon.com/Christ-Egypt-Horus-Jesus-Connection-Murdock/dp/0979963117/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279305219&sr=8-5
#30
Whatever threat the estate tax poses to middle class heirs pales in comparison to the latest invention among financial WMD's touted as the 'reverse mortgage.'
#31
dont forget Sander's figures: the richest 400 families own assets of over 1.2 trillion $$.
#32
1.2 Trillon divided by 400 familes = 3 Billon per family on average. Christ all mighty these poor fellows can't have the estate tax applied to them, they may only end up with 2.99999... Billon when daddy tips over :..-(
N
#33
Debate this guy!
Hi Thom, I just heard you say, "capitalism hits the fan." I just last night watched the DVD of the same name: Capitalism Hits the Fan by Richard Wolff. He is to the LEFT of you! It would be nice to hear you debate someone who's not a right wing blowhard. Have you ever had Richard Wolff on your show? Here's his website:
#34
re: #32: that's chump change! you can hardly buy a country for that!
#35
www.pahrumplife.org writes: People are concerned that the left is not doing enough to protest what is happening to the US today. Perhaps one need look no farther than main-stream media, “the Faux News,” to get a hint at what the left is doing. Most of the left is now the right and has been, at least since the Clinton years and the anchoring of the Corporatocracy. You can even see “every night” all the main players plying their spiels on the Keith Olbermann Show or the Rachel Maddow Show, namely Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sarah Palin, etc, etc, etc, in the name and guise of being ugly or the worst, in an every night campaign, press, press and more press. The only big campaign of protesters is the clueless tea-baggers who are just doing what they are told to do by the Faux Media or should we say their sponsors.
Promote Free Speech TV. Make movies. Start a radio show, a blog, or how about more television networks sponsored by US the People.
#36
What can we say to uninformed when republicans tells lies as follows? We did not vote for healthcare because it did not have a public option. We did not vote for financial reform because it did not break up the big monopolistic banks.
#37
@charell, thank you for the heads up on Richard Wolff. I have heard him speak on various topics and he conveys worthwhile information.
#38
I want to share with you some words for anyone who has lost a loved one. The Capuchin Missions in Detroit had these words on a prayer card.
We Shall Meet Again
If I should leave this world without a warning, and not even whisper a fond farewell, grieve not for one more message from the lips that God has stilled. But just remember me with love and prayers for my soul’s journey to that fair land beyond life’s tears. For I have believed with all my heart in its existence, and I know that God is good, for He has come to me through the life of Him whose very garment I have sought to touch. It may be lonely, and I hope you miss me just a little, because I have loved so deeply my own family and faithful friends.
Forgive me if I have ever hurt you and remember me for what I longed to be. Have faith that I am nearer than your dreams and fondest longings. For the God of love shall keep all kindred spirits close together, though the misty vale between this world and that to come, keep us from each other’s sight, for a few precious moments. Whisper softly that you love me and it shall linger on within my soul until you come. Say not goodbye, for on some bright tomorrow we shall meet again!
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
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From Cracking the Code:
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"The powers that be are running roughshod over the powers that OUGHT to be. Hartmann tells us what went wrong — and what you and I can do to help set American right again."
BP capping the leak seems to good to be true. Is it just me, or has their incompetence and pathological lying made most people just as cynical too?
And now that the oil has stopped spewing into the Gulf, is the Government going to do one damn thing to outlaw the toxic dispersants, raise the quality assurance expectations for blow out preventers, demand that all such wells have simultaneous relief wells drilled, redefine the cap on liability to a percentage of the damage instead of a fixed monetary value and perhaps just perhaps start enabling and supporting a real quality push for clean alternative energy?
Sadly I doubt it.
N