Recent comments
ADHD: Hunter in a Farmer's World
Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
Join Thom for his new twice-weekly email newsletters on ADHD, whether it affects you or a member of your family.
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.
Dammit-the US simply can't keep their nose out of a good scrap, nor can Isreal.I want Iran to have the bomb so their neighbours will leave them alone.Can you blame Iran for wanting the bomb-after seeing what happened to Iraq?If the Gaza strip had an aircraft carrier task force, I'm sure Israel would be so much more polite.A balance of power in the middle east would be a good thing.Hey-this communist doesn't care if the christians, jews and muslims kill each other and leave the world for us commies.
Clarissa Smith
I’m not sure I understand your point.
I think you are suggesting corporate monopolies lead to communism?
I don’t think corporate monopoles lead to communist societies. (Maybe an oligarchy).
Communists take over when enough of society vilifies the rich and successful. Then they take over the corporations and convert them by force or attrition to state run industries generally overseen by corrupt bureaucrats far worse and more damning than any corporate CEO.
Liberal leftists in rose colored glasses convince themselves into believing government is a better vehicle for societal prosperity. But generally whenever power is concentrated in a central government it fails, corrupts and the people suffer miserably. Only the elites and oligarchs live lavishly. They water their gardens with the peasant’s tears.
Liberal thinking brought you the Weimar Republic, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Russia, Greece .. yawn …. Too many failures …. I can’t think of one country that benefits from socialism or communism. They survive, but they don’t live in liberty.
And stay tuned, lots more liberal nanny states in Europe are going to fall. All because they wanted the government to give them too much “free stuff” and didn’t care if it came as a result of unsustainable national debt or just a shake down of anyone who appeared to own more “stuff” than they had. They want “WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION” which basically boils down to vilifying and looting the successful sector of society and giving it to a lesser fortunate part of society.
At some point you run out of rich people. Do you think wealthy people are stupid and are just going to sit still while you tax them to death? They take their wealth out of country. POOF, now who do you fleece and vilify? The person with the more food stamps than you?
As for corporate monopolies in America, by law they are supposed to be broken up. But politicians from both sides of the isles have allowed mergers and far too many conglomerates in banking and insurance to become “too big to fail”
The answer isn’t to swing to the other side of the listing ship and make government alternately too big and powerful to respect the constitution. Or alternately hang every corporation not making I-pods from the yardarm.
The solution is clean out the corrupt sell-out politicians through the vote and put people in power that will follow the constitution. ~~ And EDUCATE yourself.
I still believe the founding fathers of America wrote the most profoundly successful rule book for society. And it works really really well if you don’t meddle with it and try and compromise it or circumnavigate it by using the commerce clause as an “Et Al” loophole to literally hijack the entire economy.
I like to debate. If I’m giving you a headache you can go back to preaching to your own choir. But then you don’t have a debate of differing ideas, you have a gaggle of agreeing people reinforcing their version of things as they see it.
I don't want another war, but it seems that it's all they know. Let's hope president does the right thing with NO MORE WAR
How can I get a headache from debating liberals? I used to be one. Clinton is one of my favorite Presidents. I know all their talking points.
But currently I lean libertarian not conservative. Like Ron Paul might say “We want Democrats out of our wallets and Republicans out of our bedrooms”. In libertarian speak, it means a desire for less government meddling, onerous job killing regulation and “wedge issue” exploitation. And instead of taxing more, spend less! At least that’s how average folks have to budget.
Obama’s goals are positive to those who want to transfer more power to a central federal government complex and create a more socialist society. If you want that, vote for him!
Any money Obama raises for the future borrowed from China or in increased taxes quickly gets spent yesterday. Or are you in denial about how much debt he’s given to America in 3 short years?
GOP has NO credibility. NO dignity NO honor No decency NO Love for America or women This is NOT the GOP I grew up with They must be pods that hatched from another planet while we slept
just one lil nuke? hmmmm, i thought we were the land of the free and the home of the brave. 10 years since 9/11 and we're more cowardess then we were then. political panzies!!!! let them have thier little bomb(s). they detinate any in any retalitory mannner and i am quite sure Iran will be come just a landscape of molten sand....tragically thats just how stupid the erudite have become!
McCain mentioned a '100 year war ' They are insane When wealthy send their kids to war Thats when I will believe its really necessary That will happen when Hell freezes over
WE must NOT let the war profiteers.. like Halliburton,Blackwater, Lockheed, GE scam us into another wasteful vile war with Iran or anyone ! go to www.congress.gov www.whitehouse.gov 202 456 1111 M-F till 5 Speak out
And where are checks and balances to be organized? Of course in the institutions of our democratic political system -- goverment departments are a part of it and very-very important!
The current GOP is fascist.
1st) The expression "American Exceptionalism" is comparable to the old German term "Großdeutschand" -- Europeans bragged that way during the early 20th century, it's a fascist attitude and dated
2nd) Overemphasis of the importance of our military forces, and aggressive overinterpretation of international conflicts -- militarism is a typical fascist attitude
3nd) Illiberal, very authoritarian behavior in things denying basic human rights and hating minorities
Today's Europe is controlling fascist tendencies fairly well, it's mostly a matter of small minorities. We are still struggling with fascist tendencies in the U.S.
Our goal has to be, making fascism a minority phenomenon! The Republicans have to renew their party and drive out fascist tendencies..... Until they've successfully done that, they won't be electable.
Deborah Tannen's book "You Just Don't Understand ... why we find it difficult to talk to the oppositve sex" shows, those very radical young males are basically NOT to trust.
As long as they feel powerless, they are revolutionaries. But as soon as they gain some power in job, market, or politics, they often change to tyrants themselves, claiming total obedience. Their radical revolt as young males is nothing but fight for personal might. If they eventually become mighty persons, they defend their might with the same radicalism.
Revolt is good -- but those extreme radicals are not to trust. It's often an expression of concealed egoism.
Any dollar the president raises is for our future -- welcome bucks!
Elioflight
Thanks for the clarification.
The only thing I am stating is my response to a few comments. Mostly I think anything that transfers more centralized power to the federal government is eventually going to cause forfeiture of liberty. And anything that creates more redundant bureaucracy with union thugs buying off sell-out politicians is a continuing malice and expense to the private sector.
Government is the employee and the private sector is the employer. But some people want that relationship reversed. And some fools think Cuba or Venezuela is a social Nirvana.
Government can never be competitive because it’s a monopoly, thus it is by nature wasteful and inefficient. Anywhere possible, government control should be restricted and the private sector should be utilized to provide services wherever possible. And companies should be subjected to open transparent contract bidding, not concocted in dark back rooms where bribes between politicians and union thugs are now the norm.
I think government is the problem, not the solution. They need to get out of the way and let the free market work.
I think Obamacare is a complete nightmare.
Issues of the Catholic Church and birth control are insignificant compared to the effect this negative 2700 page healthcare bill will have in the ongoing future, until something else can be put together.
Anyway, that’s just my 2 cents worth.
Because they are Republicans.
It seems to me to be disingenious to emply that the Democratic party is not pro perpetual war.
If Iran has the financial and technical capacity to develop nuclear energy why is it that they fail to have the ability to refine their own oil ? What is stopping them from developing their own refineries ?
Hello,
On Wed a woman from Michigan called in and was talking about a program that she qualified for in relationship to being upside down on her mortgage. She talked about how the bank had sold her note to another bank. I did not catch the name of the program she was applying for relief from. I'm hugely upside down on my mortgage and would like to seek federal assistance if there is something. So far all I've been able to find are legal firms that are charging money to represent me and promising me the world. Any advice?
Thanks,
Bobster
I just read this article and thought everyone here would like it. It is obviously buy Bloomberg (via Businessweek.com) and is yet another reason to vote Democratic in the comming election.
http://www.businessweek.com/politics-policy/joshua-green-on-politics/arc...
Story idea: Financial war against Iran.
(research links below my summary)
Summary:
While the word "monetary" can be a buzz killer, money (credit/debt) and currency is the most important least understood political-economic subject. In fact, the primary mechanism for the uploading of wealth to the 1% is the monetary system – really The System. It underpins plutocracy, and you know that without justice there is no peace – Plutocracy Prevents Peace. Iran is the prime example – and is illustrative of the class war here.
Links:
War Plan Iran: China Snubs Washington's Best-Laid Plans to Destabilize Iran's Oil Industry
01/10/2012, Finian Cunningham
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28584
“Chinese leaders dealt a blow to US plans to strangulate Iranian oil exports just hours before Washington's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner touched down in Beijing. . . Top of the agenda for Geithner's visit beginning Tuesday is to push China's leaders into cutting off crude oil imports from Iran - thus hoping to cripple the Iranian economy.”
US Sabotage of Iran’s Currency: A New Twist of the Screw to War
01/03/2012, Finian Cunningham
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28482
“The Islamic Republic has limited oil-refining capacity – one of the reasons why it is keen to develop civilian nuclear energy. Most of its earnings from hydrocarbons are derived from crude oil exports. Major buyers of Iranian crude include China, India, Japan and South Korea, as well as the European Union. Before the latest US sanctions, Washington and its allies, Britain and France, had already instated bilateral sanctions against Iranian oil companies and banks. With Washington now targeting Iran’s Central Bank, the impact will entail multilateral prohibitions that will close the net on Iranian Asian markets. A comparable impact can be expected on Iran’s nascent partnerships in Latin America.”
Instability in the Oil and Currency Markets: Petro-Dollars and the Oil Bourse
02/18/2012, Bob Chapman
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29375
“The Iranian oil bourse will start trading oil in currencies other than dollars starting on March 20th. Beware the Ides of March. This is a blatant attempt to challenge the US domination of oil markets and to try to lessen the influence of the petrodollar on the world economy. This is what is at the heart of this conflict.
Liberty-First:
I think you missed the sarcasim in my comment. I am an ex-catholic and believe the pope to be just a man heading a corrupt and powerful institution that thinks its duty is to tell all its members what to do. Religion is a farce. The pope seems to think that "health" includes men and not women--especially when it come to "down there."
It looks like you are just perusing the comments and backhanding them with your own spin.
I noticed that on Thom's RT show tonight that Thom displayed the pictures of the Republican candidates and told of who was putting up big bucks to back them...and then said that if he wins, then the wealthy backer wins. When he got to Mitt Romney (who got the most...something like $36 million) he again said that if he wins, then the wealthy backers win.
So how much has Obama gotten? Something like $76 milllion...all from elite donors several of which, playing both sides, were at the Billionaire Club Koch Brothers Seminar in Colorado. So who do you think we will be electing when Obama gets re-elected? That's right...all those wealthy elites that put Obama into office...just like Thom said (only he conveniently forgot to mention the Obama part).
Sorry, but the system is so corrupt that it really doesn't matter who is President..(although I would really detest another Republican President)...because, Republican or Democrat, they all work for the wealthy 1%. It is a real fight between the Repubs and the Dems who both want the control...but the wealthy elite wins no matter who wins...and they are having quite a time screwing with our minds.
Yes, there are all of those "hangers on" who actively support, and stand to gain, personally, from their side winning...many of whom are quite wealthy themselves...and are merely fighting over their slice of the pie...hogs at the trough...but most of us will continue to lose as we play their silly game at the polls...thinking we did something useful and important. Can't win when the deck is stacked! It's time we throw the deck away and get a new one that includes more parties and get a new shuffler and dealer as well.
I don't know if I necessarily agree that the Democrats spend more money than the Republicans...both work for the ruling elite and the Republicans want to give the wealthy the biggest tax breaks while taxing the rest of us.
That was Bush's illegal war he started which cost us dearly (although Obama didn't really do much to change that either... too weak-kneed, or he's part of the corruption). And it has been the Republicans backing Union busting and the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that let the Savings banks wildly gamble with our savings. And although it technically happened at the very end of the lame duck Clinton Presidency and after being bullied with impeachment he gave in to the Republicans..Phil Gramm, etal. And it was the Republicans who have been anti-worker...wages and benefits declined. It was largely the Republicans who invented the housing crisis (criminal schemes to push mortgages, through easy credit, to those who they knew would lose their homes), and the Wall Street Ponzi schemes. But I don't think Obama is really much of a Democrat anyway...he has been mostly just a continuation of Bush.
I'd rather see the rich taxed the most (as it was in the Eisenhower era) and have social programs rather than making the Military Industrial Complex a lot of money by killing innocent civilians everywhere. It was largely the Republicans who made the guns for drugs and drug money laundering schemes. The Republicans are total sh!t as far as I am concerned. The Democrats are just weak kneed sissies who don't stand up and fight the real baddies...the Republicans. They also know where the real money comes from and money means votes. So our system is totally corrupt and I think the only thing that will change things is for a revolution. But I don't know if we Americans have the ba!!z like the Arab countries.
One thing, sans a revolution, that just might change things would be to keep all of the known good Democrats and kick everyone else out....All Republicans...many Democrats that act like Republicans....and put in some completely different party...Greens?
We need to really shake up the corrupt system to send a very strong message that we are not going to take it anymore and we can no longer be propagandized into voting for either of the two major parties. They have a duopoly that must be broken. Talk about "too big to fail"....our two party system is at the pinnacle.
But, I doubt that many Americans will have the ba!!z to even abandon the traditional old boyz club (two party system) because they have been so manipulated and propagandized that they will go running home to mama (the Democrat Party). But mama will sell you out to the highest bidder. We need to really mess up the corrupt system and shock these traitorous criminals into playing nice again. They don't respect us...they detest us. They think we are too stupid to break the ranks of the traditional two-party system. They may be right.
And now they are trying to get the drones up into our skies to patrol our neighborhoods to spy on us, intimidate us, and eventually to kill us like they do in the Middle East. They have already used them along the border and in a few other places in the US. But they want to saturate our communities with these drones.
By the way, Thom should change that one overly played scene where he is saying, with a close up shot, something to the effect "You know when you think you know something and but then you..." (it almost sounds like Rumsfeld's "Unknowable unknowns")....and then the camera pans backward to reveal that he is actually sitting on the sidewalk and not in a studio. That was a great idea but now that we've seen it a million times... Maybe he should surprise us sometime and have a background of the Grand Canyon ...or the Taj Mahal ..or something. But I do love not only Thom Hartmann's normal show but also The Big Picture...along with Alyona and the other programs. Hardly ever watch anything else on TV anyway
HYLYQ2012279294861 which was still Beats By Dr.Dre Sale screwed up in one hand. May Beats By Dre NHL as well read it while Beats By Dre Solo the water heated. She sat New Balance Coupons down at the kitchen table, flipped New Balance New Arrival the drawing of Rain New Balance U41 onto the floor and planted her Adidas Soccer Cleats feet on top of it. Up Nike Jnr Mercurial Victory yours, too, Rainer Moerling Hartheim! See Nike Mercurial SL if I care, you great nike shoes wholesale dogmatic leather-coated Kraut twit. Got Nike Shox R5 no further use for Nike Shox TL1 me, eh? Well, nor have I Men Running Shoes for you!No doubt you're proceeding Kappa Running Shoes with your
LYQ2012279294861 istaste and got Monster Beats Headphones up quickly. A short Beats By Dre MLB walk to the kitchen, that Beats By Dre NFL was what she needed. SoNew Balance Sneakers she took a short walk to the New Balance A03 kitchen, where she New Balance a20 Navajo Shoes opened the refrigerator, reached Nike Soccer Cleats for the cream jug, opened Nike CR Mercurial Vapor Superfly the freezer door and withdrew Nike CTR360 Elite a can of filter coffee. With shox nz one hand on the cold-water Nike Shox R4 tap to run water for her Nike Shox R4 LE coffee, she looked around wide-eyed, as Women Running Shoes if she had never seen the room before. Looked at the flaws in the wallpaper, at the smug philodendron in its basket hung from the ceiling, at Burberry Running Shoes the, black pussy-cat clock wagging Dsquared Running shoes its tail and rolling its eyes
HYLYQ555-5555861 There was a letter Monster Beats from her mother on the mat. Justine Beats By Dr Dre Power stooped to pick Beats By Dr.Dre Spiderman it up, dropped her bag New Balance Running Shoes and wrap where it had New Balance 996 Shoes lain, her shoes nearby, and went New Balance 999 Shoes into the living room. She sat Cheap Soccer Shoes down heavily on Mizuno Wave Ignitus K-Leather FG a packing crate, chewing Nike 5 at her lip, her eyes resting cheap nike shox for a moment in Nike Shox NZ wondering, bewildered pity on Nike Shox OZ a magnificent head-and shoulders Good Running Shoes study of Dane taken to commemorate his Adidas Running Shoes ordination. Then she caught Asics Running Shoes her bare toes in the act of caressing the rolled-up kangaroo-fur rug
Truth addict,
Let me know when you invent those magic beans that will move us andAmerica’s commerce long distance quickly.
There is absolutely no energy alternative on the table at this time that can do that. However, natural gas is the cleanest of the bunch, and our cars can be cheaply converted for a fraction of what those cobbled together Chevy Vomits cost. Which by the way plug into the nasty coal fired electric grid to recharge their batteries. ~ Good grief, the fantasies of youth are wonderful folly.
But Obama won’t let us have any energy alternatives. He would rather throw away ½ a billion on Solyndra and other campaign bundler super packs who donated to his election.
The only difference between Democrats and Republicans is what they do with the money they loot from the treasury. And the Democrats usually loot the most. :)