Why do progressive people want the wealthy to be taxed? Gee, I don't know maybe because at the current tax rate they're getting our country is being bankrupted! The wealthy have enough money to run their business and live their lives, as well as being able to invest a good amount of money in whatever they think will expand their wealth. In other words, the tax break they get is going to Wall Street not the Main Streets of America where it is needed.

I also favor raising tariffs, it'll encourage American business to stay at home and hire American workers.... which I feel is key to our economic welfare.

N

Highest priority is getting money out of politics.

Additional notes for December 15, 2010

Let me start by saying, “I do not believe in polls.” Obama remains popular with the American people? I am a cynic because American voters have the intelligence of a door knob. If the voters are smarter, then I give them credit the polls may be a signal to the Republican Crazy Party that Americans want answers for our many problems. The Republican crazies have created this mess from Nixon to the present crazies. The American people want ideas and leadership in resolving our economic mess and our warmongering mentality. PERSONALLY, I HOPE THAT I AM WRONG ABOUT AMERICAN STUPIDITY. If you recall, I may not always be right but I am never wrong. Will I be wrong this time? I truly doubt it.

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/12/15/red-cross-afghanistan-in-worst-state-in-30-years/

Afghan war is a lost cause!!!!!

http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/15/our-leaky-world

There are only two kinds of behavior. People are either peeing on us or leaking on us.

http://www.freep.com/article/20101215/OPINION05/101215020/1322/The-wrong-reaction-to-WikiLeaks

You betcha! Expect to be murdered!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/science/16terror.html?_r=1&hp

The American government is preparing us for the rapture and the end time.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-12-15-nuclear-fallout-test_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2BUsatodaycomNation-TopStories%2B(News%2B-%2BNation%2B-%2BTop%2BStories)&POE=click-refer

More evidence that the rapture and the end time are near!!!

http://www.amconmag.com/blog/ostrich-america/

A worthwhile read!

Thom, I am sorry to say that you were seriously wrong today on your radio program. Your analysis that Obama is doing something really shrewd and clever is mistaken. Yes, if the REAL goal of all this is to get Obama re-elected, but definitely NO if it means something good for the country in the long run. What does it really matter if Obama get re-elected---his kind of Dems merely apply an anesthetic while the corporations operate on us. I mean just look at that Catfood commission he appointed. The Republicans did not force him into that one; nor the appointment of Geithner, Summers, etc. This is not a matter of a Black man who has to be careful in how he presents himself given the nature of the country. That unfortunately is partially true, but still look at what he has done when he DID have a free hand.

And by the way you were also seriously wrong in telling that caller about Hedges's essay that dissidents did not bring down the Soviet empire. You are disregarding that all those intellectuals became refuseniks and worked not at all or very weakly to support that society---all that brain power was wasted and therefore could not ameliorate the economic mistakes they were making. It was a society that was doomed because it lacked the intellectual wherewithal to analyze its problems and respond to them.... Beginning to sound like us?

Gerald

The avatar of constantine was Mithra, The sun god,, The "Jesus" of the greek codex called The Bible is a parody on the Mosiach of the children of Israel and his name is Yahshuah. Constantine kidnapped the story from the ancient text and blended the all the threads of truth into his own fabrication of his sign of the cross and in "in this this sign,, et al ad-nauseum, and started a second century cult, not unlike modern scientology. The " sign " of the true messiah/mosiach of the mighty one of Ab Raham is the menorah of seven lamps. There is no suffering , no torture, only a bloodless sacrifice/prayer/gift on the lips of the believers in the true mosiach.

I was lost in religion/withcraft like you GERALD

google "two house israel" and "Eddie Chumney " and read

I am horrified at what is happening to education. Schools are not corporations and should not be lead by business people. In the last three years I have witnessed a local school slide from a very effective community where families and faculty teamed together in the best interests of their children to a veritable prison doling out homogenous curriculum in lock-step to a schedule that allows limited creative activity for anyone involved in the "learning process."

Obama clearly demonstrated his cluelessness (or indifference?) to education by making his basketball buddy Arne Duncan secretary of education, and encouraging the firing of teachers along with the elimination of a liveable wage for future teachers. Why should he care after all when he can afford to send his own children to a private school? Why should he care about what happens to our babies with special needs when his own children apparently have no learning challenges? In the book, "The Obama Plan, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is supposed to receive increased funding, but not to improve the education of students with disabilities, rather to increase accountability.

And while his wife crusades against child obesity by eliminating junk food in the public schools, recess, music, art, physical education continue to be very low on school's priority lists as school leaders trample the future of our children in Arne's Race to the Top. The top of what??? that pile of children whose lives they're actively destroying?

It is the 2 Santa approach

The Corporatists (Republicans) when in power give as much money and tax breaks as possible to those who gave them money and any other special interest group to develop a positive valence (and break the bank to bring down government). Then when not in power the huge deficits they have created give them a lethal attack point against Democrats (Whimp-a-sauruses). It is all about the endgame with no concern about integrity or doing what is in the best interest of the country. Wasnt there about 16 years of FDR leadership that laid the foundation for much of the programs that helped make this country great? We may need 4 terms of non-republican leadership (emphasis on leadership) to overcome the damage done to this country. Unfortunately elections can be stolen and we need international monitoring to be sure elections in this Banana Republic (USA) are not rigged.

I think that as long as the Democrats can believe that we, the voters, have no other choice but to vote for Democrats (because another Republican in office is too horrible to think about) then we will continue to be suckered into the same old lies. This all plays into the hands of the wealthy ruling elite..no matter whether we pick Democrats (who say nice things and promise us anything....then don't deliver) or Republicans (who won't compromise...because why should they when the Democrats are such wimps or sellouts). As Michael Hudson, economist, says we are headed down a road to debt peonage as parasitic finance capital in the FIRE economy completely destroys democracy and our freedoms. There will be no ghosts of Christmas past haunting these capitalist ghouls as they let all the little Timmys die needless deaths. They think the world is too over-populated anyway. They don't need to send high flying jets seeding the atmosphere with some strange unknown and unspecified death spray (as some conspiracy theorists enjoy shaking in their boots about). But maybe it is not such a questionable "conspiracy theory" that they are not roiling with beneficence in helping to preserve the lives of those they see as parasitic to the system they believe will prevent their own from exploiting. Well, the true parasite is the wealthy one who makes all his/her money off of money only and who most probably inherited his fortunes from some rich dad, who may have inherited that from his rich dad...who probably got rich by screwing other people in the first place. The real parasite is the bankster and Wall Streeter and other corporate execs who get huge bonuses for screwing people.

The only way real change will happen is the way it did in the 20s and 30s when violence against the oppression became rampant and it scared the wealthy into not being so stingy. Visions of guillotines may have haunted a few wealthy industrialist's dreams and worked on their consciences a little. So let the damn Republicans take over and our ruin will be so complete that people will finally riot in the streets. With absolutely no illusions that there will be a new Democrat that will change things, as there was with the turn-coat politician, Obama, we may finally be up against the wall and be able to blame everything totally on the Republicans and they really would not be able to blame the Democrats, like they always do, and fail miserably to keep peace and order. This might even have happened sooner had Obama not been the "hope and distraction" that deflected peoples ire when they decided to bail out the banksters. Had it been McCain and his moll, Sarah Palin, trying to pass a bill bailing out the banksters...it wouldn't have gone down so easily. Obama was the smooth-talking distraction that allowed people to lose any sense of reality and to let this one by, for now, because it would have kept us from a depression.."banks too big to fail?"....yeah, right!...just delayed it so that a bigger one will happen down the road. The bubble economy seekers are high roller gamblers with no sense and don't care about long term stability and outcome. They are selling us all out for quick grab profits and to hell with everyone who can't make it.

I think we will see a rise in internal terrorism targeting certain groups that seem to be central in these anti-democratic, parasitic capitalists, and their puppet politicians. Certain actions have already started in the rebellion of groups like Wikileaks and Anonymous. Those are, so far, just internet related attacks. But other physical attacks have occurred by people frustrated by what is going on. The most recent is the guy whose wife lost here teaching job. Do you really believe that this guy was that bad a shot? Really? Do you really believe that the bullets were "magically or by the act of God" deflected from their targets? That's how the idiotic news media has played it. They take a cowering school board member, pleading for his life, and then portray him as a brave person. Well, that's the news media for you.

You're quote of the day can be applied to Wikileaks.

Thom, you've been a much needed voice of sanity and reason the past two years for me on my morning commute. I want to thank you for that. In the last few days however, you've started to embrace "the lesser of two evils" meme in regards to President Obama. Last week you courageously were holding the administration's feet to the fire, but that seems to be slipping away now.

I'm sorry, but in no way, shape, or form has Obama "compromised". Capitulated is the more accurate adjective.

He's a one term President, regardless of whether he keeps or loses the progressive/liberal vote. (Mind you, I voted for him and donated money). The republicans will see to that by purposely keeping the country mired in recession the next 2 years and hanging him with the blame, which low information voters will swallow unquestioningly. I think your earlier intuition, that if he had gone in gangbusters like an FDR, he would have been a shoe-in for re-election. But of course, he never intended to. At best, he's a corporatist, like Bill Clinton, but without the political skill and saavy. He may even have been a Trojan Horse to bring down the democratic party from within.

In any case, I'm done being frightened by the specter of "the other guy is much worse". The frog in the slowly heating water is an apt analogy. Since the Democratic party seems to have abandoned it's core beliefs, I'd just as soon have the Republicans take it all, and crash everything sooner. Maybe out of the ruins, a phoenix (or revolution) would arise, although in the case of this country, more likely a Mussolini brandishing a flag in one hand and a bible in the other. It breaks my heart to see the slow destruction of this country, loss of liberty, the rise of a new monied aristocracy. I hope in the coming year that you could use your show's influence to help raise a third party, one that was truly progressive and liberal, to challenge the status quo. We could all take a page from Bernie Sanders courage.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas to you and Louise.

John Lohr

Los Angeles, CA

Week of December 13, 2010 (15)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/opinion/14ledbetter.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

Ike

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/11/julian-assange-jemima-khan?intcmp=239

Justice and fairness

http://www.opednews.com/articles/It-s-official--You-re-on-by-Michael-Collins-101215-942.html

You’re on your own, baby!!!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/This-One-Is-For-You-Julian-by-Doug-Soderstrom-101214-806.html

This one’s for you!!!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Excellent-Job---by-David-Glenn-Cox-101213-388.html

The conservatives say screw the Golden Rule!!!!!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-plot-to-destroy-Social-by-Michael-Collins-101214-403.html

We are now the land of paupers and slaves!!!!!

Reflection of the Week**

“Let us have the courage to believe in the bright future

and in a God who wills it for us – not a perfect world, but a better one.

Human hands and hearts and minds can create this better world.”

— The Challenge of Peace (337)

Thom, your iPhone drops calls because another subscriber on their network is *making* a call and needs the circuit. AT&T does not have the capacity to service all callers in metropolitan areas, so they've got to drop calls. Can you imagine trying to make a call and frequently getting the "all circuits busy" signal? Customers would not tolerate that at all. So they let all new calls go through even when all circuits are busy, but someone else on the network gets dropped. AT&T 's lack of capacity to adequately service their customer base in metropolitan areas is the problem. Please don't blame Apple or the iPhone hardware. It is not a handset reception issue.