Daily Topics - Thursday January 19th, 2012
By shawnt56
Occupy the Courts this Friday for the 2nd anniversary of Citizens United! Join Thom outside the U.S. Supreme Court in DC at 12 noon or find an action in your city...click here for details!
Thom is live from radio row at Families USA 2012...guests include journalist Eleanor Clift, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD) and the FDA's Dr. Janet Woodcock
Hour One: Should ABC air the interview with Newt's ex-wife? / Plus, making "Big Pharma" accountable
Hour Two: How do we stop the GOP from destroying our social safety nets? / Plus, SOPA & PIPA...did yesterday's blackout have an impact and what's next?
Hour Three: Conservatives continue to push for cuts in health care...how you can fight back
Comments
#2
George Romney tried to run for President, but didn't get very far because he wasn't a natural-born citizen, or at least no one was sure he was a natural-born citizen.
#3
On last week's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, David Frum said the parties should go back to taking care of funding campaigns so that the politicians don't have to beg for money constantly. Unfortunately, Debbie Wasserman Schultz disagreed. She thought it would hinder the people's ability to choose the candidate they want (over what the party might decide in a secret backroom meeting).
I disagree with DWS. So long ordinary people have a way to get on the ballot, the people will be able to choose their representatives.
#4
Interestingly, proportional representation would necessitate that party-central method of funding that DWS thinks would be a problem. Of course, I would rather have a district-by-district proportionality that uses individuals instead of parties.
#5
In response to a caller in Thom's 2nd hour, SS is taxable after a certain amount of other income is added to it. Computed by taking 1/2 of SS plus all other earned income. If you;re single, and under this formula you brought in over $25K, then you'd be taxed on 50% of the amount exceeding $25K. So if you had $26K, you'd be taxed on $500.00 of your SS, which is 1/2 of the $1K over. Also, SS takes back something like $1 for every $2 earned when you start drawing at age 62. I think that once you reach 63 or so, that drops to $1 for every $3 earned. The closer you get to full retirement benefit age, the greater your benefit is. All this is right on the www.ss.gov website for anyone to look up. I happen to be a tax preparer so see this in higher income retirees, of which we have many where I live. You can make as much as you want once you reach full benefit age, which is no longer 65. I think the last generation where it was 65 were born in 1935-36. I am 71 this year and mine was 65 & 8 mos, at which point I received a letter from SS telling me I could now earn as much as I wanted with penalty. Of course that's SS, not the IRS who wants to tax it if you earn over certain amounts determined if you're single or married. I'm single and I can tell you that the amount of $25K for single filers has not changed in 5 years.
#6
I have a point regarding social security benefits. I have never received any SS money directly, but the $1200 / mouth my parents received as benefits was $1200 / month I didn't have to provide to care for my parents after they could no longer work. The same goes for medicare.
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
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
Thom & Louise at a "private audience" with His Holiness Pope John Paul II at his summer palace, Castle Gandolfo, Italy
From Screwed:
"I think many of us recognize that for all but the wealthiest, life in America is getting increasingly hard. Screwed explores why, showing how this is no accidental process, but rather the product of conscious political choices, choices we can change with enough courage and commitment. Like all of Thom’s great work, it helps show us the way forward."
From Screwed:
"Once again, Thom Hartmann hits the bull’s eye with a much needed exposé of the so-called ‘free market.’ Anyone concerned about the future of our nation needs to read Screwed now."
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."
Rick Perry has suspended his campaign, making, as he says, a "strategic retreat", which I thought Republicans had renamed "cutting and running". But he said it's okay if Sam Houston did it.
Of course, I'm sure Perry only ran in the first place because he thought "chief executive" meant he got to execute more people than anyone else.