Daily Topics - Monday April 25th, 2011
By shawnt56
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Truthout proudly presents weekly installments of Thom's bestselling book "Unequal Protection"
Hour One: Are the Republicans buying public opinion? / Plus, Latest Labor News: more recalls filed in Wisconsin - Doug Cunningham, Workers Independent News
Hour Two: Why did MI Republicans close a successful school and arrest the students? Shanta Driver, By Any Means Necessary (BAMN)
Hour Three: Why do conservatives want Americans to work til they drop? Tom Blumer, Pajamas Media
Comments
#2
Tom Blumer is confusing life expectancy at birth (the phrase he used) with life expectancy at 2 years of age. Most of the extension of life expectancy at birth is due to a reduction of infant mortality. Plenty of people even in the middle ages got to 65 years old. And think of what ages the first several U.S. Presidents got to--Washington died at 67, Adams at 90, Jefferson at 83, Madison at 85.
#3
Thom!!!! I taking you up on your bet to name one old-style Republican remaining in Federal office:
President Barack Obama.
He is the last one . . . Okay, there is Senator Max Baucus (D-Corporate America) and Senator Ben Nelson (D-Corporate America) and House Members in the 112th Congress:
1. Jason Altmire (PA-4)
2. Joe Baca (CA-43)
3. John Barrow (GA-12), Co-Chair for Policy
4. Sanford Bishop (GA-2)
5. Dan Boren (OK-2), Blue Dog Whip
6. Leonard Boswell (IA-3)
7. Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)
8. Ben Chandler (KY-6)
9. Jim Cooper (TN-5)
10. Jim Costa (CA-20)
11. Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
12. Joe Donnelly (IN-2)
13. Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8)
14. Tim Holden (PA-17)
15. Jim Matheson (UT-2)
16. Mike McIntyre (NC-7)
17. Mike Michaud (ME-2)
18. Collin Peterson (MN-7)
19. Mike Ross (AR-4), Co-Chair for Communications
20. Loretta Sanchez (CA-47)
21. Adam Schiff (CA-29)
22. Kurt Schrader (OR-5)
23. David Scott (GA-13)
24. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Co-Chair for Administration
25. Mike Thompson (CA-1)
#4
Trump's hair is actually a double combover.
#5
On Social Security and early retirement.
If you chose (or like me are forced) to retire early and start collecting benefits before your full retirement age, you will of course receive a reduced benefit. If you later decide to return to work, even at a lower salary than you once earned, your Social Security benefit will be reduced. However, there is an upside to that. When you retire for real, your benefit will be increased over what it would have been had you not returned to work. In addition if you keep working beyond your full retirement age, you can also increase your monthly benefit above the full retirement amount. At some point you can continue working and earning without your benefit being reduced.
So there are already incentives to continue working longer in the current system should you chose to and you are able to do so.
The problem with simply increasing the retirement age of course is it assumes that everyone works equally hard (or has it equally easy) during their careers and that everyone is equally fit at an older age. It may be true that a 70 year old office worker may be able to keep working, but a 70 your old laborer would be pretty useless in most cases.
Even if a person was willing to work that long it would be hard to find an employer to hire them. Perhaps if they want to increase the retirement age for everyone they should first put in place a program that would employ older workers to perform tasks they are capable of doing.
#6
Yes, I agree with you on Ben Nelson......
I live in NE (no condolences necessary) and I only want to take issue with one thing Thom has said about Ben Nelson.
That Racoon on his head is NOT a Nebraska racoon....no self-respecting racoon in Nebraska would EVER submit to being displayed on Ben's head.....it must be a Kansas or S.D. racoon.
Tough being a progressive in NE......we have such a wonderful bunch out here......Pete Peterson is from my home town...Clarence Thomas's wife is from Omaha, etc......
But we keep the faith and listen to Thom daily.
Dave the "heartlands liberal"
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 Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"Beneath the success and rise of American enterprise is an untold history that is antithetical to every value Americans hold dear. This is a seminal work, a godsend really, a clear message to every citizen about the need to reform our country, laws, and companies."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"Thom Hartmann seeks out interesting subjects from such disparate outposts of curiosity that you have to wonder whether or not he uncovered them or they selected him."
From The Thom Hartmann Reader:
"In an age rife with media-inspired confusion and political cowardice, we yearn for a decent, caring, deeply human soul whose grasp of the problems confronting us provides a light by which we can make our way through the quagmire of lies, distortions, pandering, and hollow self-puffery that strips the American Dream of its promise. How lucky we are, then, to have access to the wit, wisdom, and willingness of Thom Hartmann, who shares with us here that very light, grown out of his own life experience."
Am I mistaken, or did Shanta Driver pronounce "revered" as "revverd"?