Daily Topics - Tuesday June 7th, 2011
By shawnt56
Get the new IPhone App for Thom Hartmann
Hour One: Are you happy? Seton Motley, Less Government
Hour Two: "When it comes to healthcare, nothing beats good old fashioned American capitalism!" Peter Ferrara, American Civil Rights Union
Hour Three: Will the Republicans blow up the economy and their chances for 2012? Ben Ferguson, The Ben Ferguson Show / Plus, fighting for child labor justice - Kerry Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
Comments
#2
As far as Anthony's Wiener goes, I don't care. But I do wonder was it all one sided, I mean were these women reciprocating with photos to him... and who initiated what. After all think about it, Wiener is a Celebrity (pseudo, but Celebrity nonetheless) and since he's in the public light he's going to attract people. So perhaps being flattered with flirtation he lost his head. I wonder too how much this was a bad decision based on temptation and how much it is a character flaw, and how much it was just stupidly not realizing the compromising position he was putting himself in. That being said, I don't see it relating to his job, so I see no reason for him to resign.
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#3
Your last caller, a right-wing talk show host, who commented about lowering or zeroing out taxes for corporations to attract them to his state as a good thing to get jobs is simply wrong. First of all look to Ireland, this is what they did in Europe. Just before the "crash" they were the new "shining star" over there and where are they now? Further I used to work in a Corporate Trust Department in a Bank in a State that did just what this caller suggests. Getting these low rates is much more than what you think (isn't it always)? Think about it. These corporations are already paying zero or negative in taxes right? So what would lowering or zeroing out their taxes actually do? I'll tell you. It all has to do with Bonds. These companies can take huge amounts of money (hundreds of millions) and issue bonds to THEMSELVES (of course under one of their subsidiary names). The interest on these bonds is HUGE, way above market value. Now remember the State has given them tax-free status so these corporations are getting this all tax free. They now take this tax-free bi-annual artificial mega profit and reinvest it in these bonds. As you can imagine it is in no time that these corporations are worth hundreds of billions to trillions all created with these artificial monetary tax-free instruments. This is the problem with having low to no taxes on the corporations and very rich. They pull their money OUT of their business and speculate driving up huge artificial amounts of imaginary money (a pyramid or ponzi scheme) which is exactly what Reaganomics or trickle-down is. By raising the tax rate to 50% or higher on corporations and the very rich they wont PAY but they WILL keep their money in their business investing in Jobs and R & D (which is EXACTLY what this country needs) as well as keeping them from creating all this artificial cash excess in the form of speculation which causes these crashes. Maybe not Econ 101 but Econ 202. Education is the savior of a civilization.
#4
Let me give you something to think about. If a corporation is attracted to a state with low or no taxes, the state wins. The corporation (a single entity) may not pay taxes, but the hunderds or thousands of employess working for the corporation do pay taxes. Plus, if they were receiving unemployment from the state, that expense will stop. It's hard for me to understand why everyone gets so upset because one corporation doesn't pay taxes, but all the employees do. Some one explain that to me.
#5
Americans are not happy because of the wealth disparity. The vast majority of us will likely not be able to live the American Dream, that we have been told that if we work hard enough we will be able to achieve. Well apparently since production has gone up and wages remain stagnant this just simply is not true. I believe that government should run many things, that taxes on the rich should be proportional to their percentage of the wealth they have (are you in the top 1%, well then enjoy your 99% tax)... capitalism if it is to survive, if so many of us are clinging on to it like it is some infallable system, then it must be heavily regulated and not just by the government but by the people. Replace the legislative branch with an internet voting system, you can not buy out 300 million voters, and if the system is good enough for the financial transactions then it is good enough for voting (I get this argument all the time from people, but yet they are willing to send their credit card info over the net, but oh no note a single boolean for a vote.
#6
With financial trasactions you get receipts that you can compare against your statements, and have a chance of redress if they get it wrong.
There is absolutely no way of checking if an electronic system has counted your vote correctly. I speak as someone who has worked with computers since 1976 and thinks they are great for many things.
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.
Images of Thom
From Unequal Protection, 2nd Edition:
"If you wonder why and when giant corporations got the power to reign supreme over us, here’s the story."
From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
From Screwed:
"If we are going to live in a Democracy, we need to have a healthy middle class. Thom Hartmann shows us how the ‘cons’ have wronged this country, and tells us what needs to be done to reclaim what it is to be American."
Ummm can't you get private insurance in Canada if you want to pay for it? I mean if Seton doesn't want Government Health Care if America had it, then he can go buy it from Blue Cross, or Kaiser, or HealthNet, or... whatever, and those of us who can't afford premium private health care can still get adequate health care instead of none. I'm sick and tired of listening to privileged a**holes who don't want their pampered high cost insurance messed with, as though they have more right to health care because they have the money to pay for it.
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