Recent comments

  • Walker has pledged to layoff 2000 teachers if Senators don't return - will his divide & conquer strategy work?   14 years 16 weeks ago

    So, Mr Sandberg, in your world, where do the mentally and physically handicapped fit in? Where does my son who has been mentally traumatized by his time in Iraq doing the "Hurt Locker" thing and fighting a war for oil, for the riches of other men, and supposedly YOUR freedom--where does he fit in? Should he and others like him or my Uncle Tommie who is mentally handicapped just die and decrease YOUR burden?

    Whether you work in software or wherever, you have decent wages and a safe work environment because others suffered and fought for your currrent rights. You may have received government loans or grants for your education. Who do you think paid those? We all did. We all paid a little so that you could get a leg up, because ALL humans are worthy--even those YOU judge to be moochers. Only ANIMALS dispose of their weak. I am a human being, what are you?

    I used to edit an internationally famous physics journal. I was paid $7.25/hr for copyediting and for compuscript conversions--plus I worked part-time on a chemistry journal. When I asked to be paid what others doing the same in my field were doing (my "gracious" employer was making $150/page, while I was doing 10 pages per hour per 8 hour days for him), I was told I could go elsewhere--I did. I have worked in all aspects of the publishing industry--from creation to production to printing and never for my hard work--going to work when I was sick, taking work home, not taking vacation because I was the only person to do my job, making my deadlines, being error-free, not because I didn't ask for help, but because management didn't want to spend money for my help but would take clients out for dinners with $800 bottles of wine and give large commisions to lazy salespeople--I never made what I was worth or for what I gave to the company--any company. Then, I went freelance; that was just as bad.

    My household has ZERO debit--we are responsible people--but we do NOT believe that because we are doing well that we should not give a hand to others who are unable. I don't know any who are unwilling. And who in the Hell are you to judge a person's worth?

    Thoughts don't MAKE products--hands and arms and backs do. Thoughts don't BUY products--people who are paid decently can--then wealth gets made.

  • Who’s screwed? All of us who don’t want to be poisoned!   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Public opinion among the general population regarding safety and environmental regulation is fractured into splinters of opinions intentionally manipulated by media misinformation in order to discourage any general consensus which could rally opposition to the corporate agenda. That Corporate agenda for all practical definition may as well be described as government take over. 911 was in fact the take over of America and what we have now is the new reality of life. The standard of living for the middle class, the hope for opportunity, and the health and well being for our citizens have already been defined by an elite royal aristocracy.

    Baseball is defined as the American sport yet at least in Oregon the nations premier pitching and training products industry is all manufactured in China. The original company that developed and manufactured the Jugs radar gun and the original pitching practice machine is nothing more than a sales office, and distribution center for Chinese manufacturing with a red white and blue logo. The company is run by heirs who show up for work maybe three days max per week. One shows up once in a blue moon driving a Ferrari while some of the lower level assembly employees can be found at the local grocery stores using food stamp cards to buy groceries. The president of the company disgracefully and unprofessionally displays effigy's of democratic elected officials in offensive positions in and outside his office. Higher paid company officers have established an elite formation of cronies (mostly relatives) who are vastly unqualified for the positions they occupy and are compensated with money and power for their loyalty to the owner and the bottom line. Like many corporations in America they sacrifice efficiency for cronyism and make up the inefficiency and loss with outsourcing.

    How many occupations traditionally held by US professionals will be outsourced in the future due to mismanagement by under qualified and greedy executives ? The process of outsourcing that is brought into our ports duty free. Printing in America has environmental standards using vegetable dyes and recycled paper. Pressmen, graphic designers, shippers, workers, paper mills etc have all been affected negatively by huge outsourcing of printing in the east. Large commercial photo studios for product and catalog photography have been set up by Wall Mart and other corporations to avoid paying commercial rates for local professionals. How much of the printing from the east is done with chemical inks contaminating our environment with lead and other contaminates which is impossible the check for in or duty free outsourcing practices ? Yes and even much of the printed material for baseball pitching machines , and sporting goods is imported from the east.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Governor is a Kochadoodle

  • Governor Walker...but Wait! There's More...   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Today, on the radio Thom suggest referring to Walker as the Koch's poodle. I think mini pinscher is closer: He's an impotent, mean little yipper who is going to get kicked across the room by the good people of Wisconsin.

  • Who’s screwed? All of us who don’t want to be poisoned!   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Sorry another though

    Tom as long as corporations are treated like living people there will be these profit vs risk to human life arguments. If they arent arguing on behalf of the stockholders whom are THE PEOPLE and so on and so forth, the republicans soon will be. It is obvious to any one with a brain the answer is fund that website and empower the consumer to protect themselves from profiteering wolves as it were.

    Last and Final

    Good Day Sir!

  • Who’s screwed? All of us who don’t want to be poisoned!   14 years 17 weeks ago

    The republicans will fail because the dems have the whitehouse and house of congress. However if it went to the supreme court as an environmental protections thing, the republicans would probably win.

    I fought an environmental fight here in New Mexico and then Governor Bill Richardson really did clean up the nastiest duck, rabbit, turltle, fish and other annual wildlife kill off I have ever seen or heard about, at the golf course/country club I live on.

    We only won our fight thanks to Governor Richardson (it was over a 1 million dollar re-engineering)

    Do you guys have someone like him on your side here? I dont know that you do.

    John McKinney of Rio Rancho New Mexico

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Notice how the mainstream media has dropped the Wisconsin story. Surprising? We've got to stop the dictator from ruining our state. I cannot believe this is happening. I'm not going to let this drop. I will send out emails to everyone I know about this - where and how to sign recall notes.

  • 81% of Americans polled support higher taxes on millionaires to reduce the deficit. Will the Republicans listen to Americans?   14 years 17 weeks ago

    WE CAN SOLVE ALL OF AMERICA'S PROBLEMS BY URGING THOM HARTMANN TO BE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR

    THE AMERICAN PEOPLE'S LIBERTY PARTY.....BETTER THAN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. ALWAYS FOR THE WORKING PEOPLE.

  • Who’s screwed? All of us who don’t want to be poisoned!   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Unfortunately I believe the conservatives will prevail. No one has figured out that neo-liberalism was first and foremost "liberalism", which began in 1875 and led to the Great Depression. They will not stop until Social Security and Medicare are killed.

    By the way, you left out the Chinese wallboard that was used in constructing homes in the US. The fumes from the wallboard make residents sick and their homes uninhabitable.

  • 81% of Americans polled support higher taxes on millionaires to reduce the deficit. Will the Republicans listen to Americans?   14 years 17 weeks ago

    To: JustOneVoice Republican's is possessive. Republicans is plural. Democrat's is possessive. Democrats is plural. other's is possessive. others is plural. Voter's is possessive. Voters is plural. It.s ?. It's is a contraction of it is.

    Please take time to present a more coherent rant. Thanks.

  • Who’s screwed? All of us who don’t want to be poisoned!   14 years 17 weeks ago

    As usual, the free market is busy solving the China Problem: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/ff_madeinamerica/ 

    "When you include all the various drawbacks and costs that don’t appear in a factory’s price quote, manufacturing certain high tech goods in China can end up being surprisingly expensive. In 2008, three McKinsey consultants analyzed the production of midrange servers, taking into account everything from shipping to quality to exchange rates. They concluded that fabricating such devices in China made sense in 2003, when the required labor was 60 percent cheaper there than in the US. At that time, they estimated, the per-unit savings ran about $64. But this advantage, McKinsey concluded, had vanished by 2008: “After factoring in the higher labor and freight costs, we find that the former offshore savings have turned negative—a burden of an extra $16.”

    And its not just theoretical or limited to small companies bringing production back stateside - " In October 2009, NCR decided to stop manufacturing its North American-market ATMs at facilities in China and India and make them instead in Columbus, Georgia. Last October, General Electric elected to invest $432 million in four new US manufacturing facilities that will build environmentally friendly refrigerators and water heaters. These are precisely the sort of companies that stand to benefit the most by heading overseas. But they determined that the smarter long-term play was to narrow the physical distance between R&D and production. “By colocating all the people who are involved in bringing a product to life, we increase collaboration and problem-solving and shorten development time,” says Kevin Nolan, GE Appliances’ vice president of technology."

    Its a lengthy article, well worth a read.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Walker is not a Badger - He's a Weasel.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Thom,

    You should have asked Bryan Fischer if he believes kids should be placed with homosexual couples. Would have been interested to know his answer to that....

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    I suggest Wiener Dog!

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    How about Wanker...I mean Walker... (dog Walker, that is) is the Koch brothers' wiener dog! He's more of a short hair and he's definitely a wiener!!

  • 81% of Americans polled support higher taxes on millionaires to reduce the deficit. Will the Republicans listen to Americans?   14 years 17 weeks ago

    If someone makes 1 million

    If someone makes 1 million dollars in a year, what percentage of their income would be their fair share?

  • 81% of Americans polled support higher taxes on millionaires to reduce the deficit. Will the Republicans listen to Americans?   14 years 17 weeks ago

    My short answer to the question: "81 % of Americans polled support higher taxes on millionaires to reduce the deficit. Will the Republicans listen to Americans? My short answer is "NO"!!!

    Over the past 2 years since then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) took Presidential Office and since the Republican's regained many losses to achieve a "Republican Victory" in taking over our U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party has become the "Party of NO". They have produced more frivolous fillibusters than all previous U.S. Houses in History combined. This did this to oppose any Good that President Obama, The Democratic Party, Progressive Party, Green Party and other's have sought to create on behalf of the American People. Since the election of Ronald Reagan back in 1980, the Republican Party has Proven Time and Time again that they are the "Party of the Crony-Capitalist Elite", not only in America, but throughout the world. Their political strategy is to first, "Accuse the Democrat's of doing what they themselves are doing, thus giving some false credibility in the eyes of their Republican Voter's. "If they make these claims first, like on FOX News, that somehow It Must Be True". It.s interesting to see in recent polls that when asked the question as to whether "they found Weapon's of Mass Destruction in Iraq/", over 70% of FOX viewers claimed that "they had". From MSNBC and Other Main Stream Media viewers it was in the range of 40% and from avid viewers of PBS only about 20% believed that "They Had Found Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. The Republican Party truly does Not have what is in the best interest for the American People. The Republican Party sadly has become the political party "Of, By and For The Corporations" and Not "Of The People, By The People, and For The People" as the Democratic Party Still Is, Thank GOD!!! Please Note that the Definition of Government Run Capitalism is known as "FACISM". What we see here is a Very Unholy Alliance of The Republican Party and the worst form of Crony-Capitalism the world has ever known. They have become the Talking Heads of the NWO ( New World Order ) Elite. The NWO is also known as "The Power's That Be", The Trilateralists ( Tri-Lateral Commission ), WTO ( World Trade Organization ), The Kochs, The Bildeberg's ( Bildeberg Society ), The Rothschilds, Rockefeller's, and the ilk. They are the International Bankers ( BANKSTERS ) of our world. The More Money They Make, The More They Lust After It. Money Buys Them Power and Control over The Masses within our world. Their Money and Power Comes From Old. They Have Infiltrated Every Major Socio-Economic Sector Of Our Society. They Have Successfully Installed Their Operatives Within Our Government, Big Business, Education, Media, Military, and Yes, Even Religion. Their Power Is Given Them Only For A Short Time. As a Christian-Progressive-Democrat, I Strongly Encourage Everyone To Please Read Your Bible And Understand What Is Happening In Our World Today. GODS Message To All Of Us Is Clear. It's Not About How Much Money, Power, Control We Have In The World Which Matters, It's About What We Do Unto The Least Of These, Our People, Which Matters Most. Please Do Not Hate Them, For They Know Not What They Do. Only The Light Of Truth And Reason And Love Will Defeat The Evil Of Our World. The Battle Is Truly Over GOOD And EVIL Within Each And Every One Of Us. Please, I Beg Everyone To Hear My Warnings. Please Stand United Together In Faith In GOD Who Created All Of Us, Or Die And Eternal Death By Satan Who Attempts To Deceive Us All. The NWO Is Upon Us All. The Anti-Christ And False Prophet Are Already Here. The Age Of The Beast Has Begun With The Number Of The Beast Which Is "666". GOD Gives Us All "FREE WILL" To Decide How We Will Live And What We Will Do. We Are Supposed To Be The Caretaker's Of This World. The Republican Party Elite Has Shown Their Opposition To Everything GOOD and SACRED. They Have Defiled Those Would Otherwise Follow GOD. They Oppose The Environment, Healthcare, Free And Open Elections, Truth In Media, Truth In General. They Have Opposed And Destroyed Regulations Within Banking, Environment, Anti-Monopoly, Healthcare, Education, Etc. Google And Learn About What The Republican Party Platform Of 1956 Was And What It Has Become Today. Heed The Warning Of Former Presidents Eisenhower ( R ) and Kennedy ( D ). The Republican Party Platform For Right Now, 2011 And Beyond Is This: 1) More Tax Cuts For The Wealty-Elite, 2) Place The Burdens And Taxes On The Backs Of The People, 3) Kill All Regulation Which Protect All People, 4) Kill Environmental Regulations So Corporations Are Free To Pollute, 5) Oppose Single Payer Health Care With A Public Option, 6) Kill Education, Religion, The Arts, Freedom, Everything GOOD And Sacred To Us. If They Can Keep The Masses Uneducated, Poor, Afraid, Strip Them Of Their Faith In GOD, Then They Will Be Much Easier To Control, Without The Need To Even Fire A Shot. The Propaganda Minister Of Nazi Germany Josef Goebels said, "If You Repeat A Lie Enough Times, People Will Believe It".

    It is the Big Corporations which control "The Media" by and large in America. They control most, if not all Elected Republican's along with some Elected Democrats. Please let us VOTE NO to this Evil, Contemptable Republican Party. They Are Not "The Party Of GOD" as they would have us believe. Please VOTE Progressive And VOTE DEMOCRAT. The Eyes Of The World Are Upon Us. Please Side With GOD And What Is About Goodness, Truth, Justice, Or Condemn Us To An Eternal Hell. The Choice Is Yours And Mine To Make. "TODAY, AS FOR ME, I SHALL SERVE GOD".

    JustOneVoice.......

    Crony capitalism is much easier than competing in an open market. But it erodes our overall standard of living and stifles entrepreneurs by rewarding the politically favored rather than those who provide what consumers want.”

    -Charles Koch




  • Who’s screwed? All of us who don’t want to be poisoned!   14 years 17 weeks ago

    I realize that I'm probably preaching to the choir but I think my following rant should be circulated.

    I’m tired of hearing journalists talk about the promises that “government” can’t afford. The “government” seems to be able to afford whatever the “people in power” want. And the interests of “people in power” are usually much narrower than those of the citizens or the voters. The Republican politicians always trot out the “fiscal responsibility “ mantle when the economics don’t favor their ends or their friends or the people they hope to become in the future. It’s just as fiscally responsible to increase government revenue through taxes and fees as it is to cut expenditures. If we are going to cut expenditures, then in addition to the entitlements, our misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan and the many examples of corporate welfare must also be on the table. To increase government revenue, why not follow Bernie Sander’s advice and do the following:

    1. Eliminate the cap on Social Security contributions.
    2. Raise taxes on wealthier Americans back to at least the “Clinton” era levels.
    3. Since Corporations are now considered “Persons,” make sure that they always pay the same taxes as wealthier Americans (with no loop holes). If I had the income of Exxon-Mobil and I’d gladly pay a 90% Eisenhower era income tax.
    4. And finally, put a sales transfer fee on every share of stock that is traded on the US exchanges. If this fee were “one cent,” a typical trading day would bring in about $20 million dollars.

    I think this is a reasonable place to start. Regardless of your philosophical bent, the actions of government must be perceived as “Fair” by most Americans. If we continue to try to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class, we will see an “Egyptian like” or worse response in the not to distant future.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    Boehner passed out those checks in June 1995.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    It would be like the Democrats in the U.S. Senate holding the Republicans in contempt for filibustering.

    Yes please

    A filibuster here or there, fine. But when it is on every single thing the Senate does ... contempt qualifies.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    THOM!!!!!

    I remain disappointed at your support of and association for PD America.

    Rather than urging Israel and the folk living in the Palestinian territories to actively deal with one another in an open and forthright manner, the express (written) platform of Progressive Democrats of America actively seek to associate with folk whose express intention to foment the destruction and elimination of Israel.

    PD America actively advocates and campaigns for the unilateral divestment of Israel.

    Their proud association with “End the Occupation” is wholly inappropriate. The reasons that the Palestinian territories exist is the folk living in those regions on-going refusal to accept the selfsame U.N. Resolution that created Israel and Israel’s Arabic neighbor wholesale dumping the welfare and protection of those peoples solely upon Israel.

    If PD America wanted to do something appropriate in the Middle East their focus would be directed forcefully at the real bad actors in the Region like Saudi Arabia. PD America has notably avoided doing so AND have shunned folk (including myself) who have suggested these for more beneficial and effective policies.

    I wholeheartedly urge you to review your association with PD America.

    Respectfully,

    Richard L. Adlof

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    This whole "contempt of the Senate" thing is ridiculous. The high quorum threshold was set in the Wisconsin Constitution precisely so that a large minority could prevent bad ideas from passing. It would be like the Democrats in the U.S. Senate holding the Republicans in contempt for filibustering.

  • Will Republicans kick President Obama off the ballot in several states?   14 years 17 weeks ago

    The 'brithers have something. I don't believe that the Kocke brothers are rich because they can not produce original documents substantiating their funds. I want to see the original dollar bills and the original stock certificates. Bank records can be forged.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    mathboy - the problem isn't that Walker controls the WI capitol, it's that his fellow Rape-Public-CONS do. If there's any extent to which they allow him to exercise any control, it's because they do like a "strong" leader, after all. Sieg Heil, y'all.

    :-(

  • Daily Topics - Thursday March 3rd, 2011   14 years 17 weeks ago

    SB5 passed the Ohio Senate yesterday after some of the most corrupt maneauvering since the age of the robber barons. It IS going to pass the House and become law. For a time.

    The Ohio Constitution does not include a recall mechanism for the removal of state officials, but citizens can use the initiative process to put an amendment to the State Constitution on the ballot. No reason it couldn't be used to remove a governor and state senators.

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