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.
See Higgins perform!
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/11/08/cat-slaps-dog.aspx
chuckle8, 1930's Germany and USSR thought so.
N
If a genocidal maniac, like Columbus, can have a national holiday and many cities named after him, I suppose a psychopathic killer can be a national hero.
We need a vision!!!
http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/11/03/how-to-move-the-country-to-the-left/
Best Practice???
http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/11/04/a-globalization-of-%e2%80%98best-practice%e2%80%99/
Thom on Monday, November 8, 2010 mentioned that the House passed 300 bills and the Senate did not vote on any of these bills. I DID NOT KNOW THAT! Where was the DNC or the Democrats informing us of this fact. The Democrats are too stupid and as long as they remain stupid the people will drift away from stupidity.
India: Security Council, Gandhi, Walmart and Bhopal
An Examination of Conscience for Catholics, Christians, and Non-Christians
This comment is not an attempt to convert anyone. As a sinner I do not consider myself a role model for someone to follow. My journey to the Final Judgment is a personal one but I do believe that we must examine our conscience from time to time for assisting in helping our nation and people to live in a better world.
Here are some important factors in an examination of conscience – Do you practice the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you!”), Do you live the Eleventh Commandment that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper (“Love one another as I have loved you!”), Do you also use the Ten Commandments as a guide in our life, Do you remember and reflect on the Beatitudes, and Do you take the time to reflect on the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Do I share my gifts, talents, time, and treasure to help build the kingdom of God here on earth?
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Do I, in turn, try to assist those who are suffering?
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Do I ever look down on others because they may not look or act like me?
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be fulfilled. When I see or hear stories of people suffering injustice, what is my response?
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. When I am wronged, am I willing to forgive?
Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God. Do I respect the gift of my body, created in God’s image?
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Do I work for peace in my country and throughout the world?
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Am I willing to take a stand that is unpopular, but is based on gospel values?
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Is my life on this earth focused on the life to come?
The Seven Deadly Sins
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity.
Envy is the desire for others' traits, status, abilities, or situation.
Gluttony is an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.
Lust is an inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body.
Anger is manifested in the individual who spurns love and opts instead for fury. It is also known as Wrath.
Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness.
Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.
Love the poor and your life will be filled with sunlight and you will not fear the hour of death. St. Vincent DePaul, the first social worker
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. Mother Teresa! We must always remember that we belong to each other.
Unless Americans can remember that we belong to each other, our nation and people will experience endless pain and suffering. Gerald
Here are some words about starfishes. A man was walking by the sea and for several miles he saw starfishes washed ashore and they were dying in the heat of the sun. There were thousands of starfishes. He saw a man walking and picking up the starfishes one at a time and putting them back into the sea.
The man asked him, “Why are picking up the starfishes and putting one of them at a time in the sea? Can’t you see that for miles there are thousands of starfishes that have been washed ashore? Why try to put them back? It doesn’t really matter.”
The man who put the starfishes back into the sea said, “It does matter to the ones that I return to the sea.”
Do you feel at times that what we may be doing doesn’t really matter? Yet, I say to you the very little that we try to do really does matter. Do not be discouraged! The jackals may win every battle but they will not win the war. Heaven is the prize in the end and to be in heaven means that you have won the war.
Was anyone else as lost as I was with Curtis Dubay's argument from October 25? Here's a Heritage Foundation, "tax cuts are the solution to everything" conservative who says near the end of the interview: "Well, there are, there, tax, I mean, there are tax cuts that, um, encourage economic growth and there are tax cuts that do not. Obama's tax cuts did not change the incentives to work, save, and invest; the activities that encourage economic growth." So he is definitely admitting that not all tax cuts work, and it sounds like he's saying that tax cuts on the lower to middle classes do not work (because, per Dubay,those classes do not save, invest, or make work with the extra money). So, by method of deduction, Dubay is saying that only tax cuts on the upper classes work. But when Thom asks him the question directly, Curtis DENIES that he wants only tax cuts for the rich. Figure that one out.
There's also the earlier discussion about the French and their retirement age. Dubay seems to think that people over 60 having the option to retire with government benefits is a BAD thing for the young people entering the more opened-up job market. You see, here in the US, young people don't have to WORRY about the elderly retiring at age 60, because they have the knowledge that the job or promotion that they (maybe) get in the tighter job market will NOT be because some old guy got to retire early, leaving his position open to to someone younger. So all you American twenty-somethings, don't worry, you may be unemployed, but at least you don't suffer the guilt of having a job where you replaced some retiree!
Dubay's analysis of the current economy versus that of the 50's, 60's and 70's: the strong economic growth of the past decade (huh?) is a RESULT of the top rate tax cuts, but the sustained economic growth of the 50's, 60's and 70's? It had nothing to do with the high (74 - 91%) tax rates on the rich; it was OTHER FACTORS (which Dubay does not name) driving the healthy economy. And that economy wou have been even stronger had tax rates been lower. Got it!
Dubay also thinks that Americans should "aspire" to be like John Paulson; we should ALL go out with our $25 million dollars and make $25 billion by betting that mass quantities of split-up and rebundled mortgages will fail. What a wonderful thing to aspire to; making huge sums of money by betting on the failure of the US housing market! But you see, Paulson is creating wealth (for himself, as Dubay admits) as well as jobs (like his own, I presume).
As long as politicians keep kissing a$$ with corporations, America loses. I'm going to sound like a Socialist here, but it is in the best interest of the country, the securing and growth of the general welfare, that Congress protect our jobs and promote the pursuit of happiness. Meaning, Congress needs to pass laws that tell corporations they have limits. Limits on pay, limits on out-sourcing jobs, etc. Busniess should be, first and foremost, to lift the nation, not make the most profit for pocket.
No one builds a house and starts with the roof. It's the foundation that supports the whole house. And that base is "the people". If the base is well paid, well educated and trained, then the everything above the base will only be better and stronger. Simple logic: Pay people less, they will spend less and won't buy products and demand decreases. Pay people more and they spend more and that will create demand. As long as CEO's (who's pay increased over 400% during Bush years+) and corporate profits (increased over 140% during Bush years+) and continue to pay workers less, in the end, they will all go out of business or think they must move over seas to operate their business just maintain their profits. But again, if we don't have money/wages in the states, it really doesn't where you out source to, we won't have the money to buy the products.
If Obama can get "them" to buy our mfg goods, great. It will help. But going over there to help corporations further out-sourcing is a stab in the back to the American people who need those jobs. I really like President Obama, the campaigner Obama, but unless he stands firm on who voted him in and why, he's just wasting our time.
No, the jobs sound like they are for India. In fact tonight on the news Harley Davidson said they are going to build a factory in India. Also heard that Kohler Co. has been trying to build a pottery in India because the climate is dryer than Kohler WI. Oh, it will be the end to the factory in Kohler if that happens. They just laid off 350 and they are working on a contract vote. No, I do not believe that India will bring jobs to the US.
It's the same corporate sellout "process" which gave us a Mandate, without a Public Option. Remember that (exposed) "heated rhetoric" over NAFTA with Hillary Clinton? It's the same "ugly mess." Remember him ridiculing the "left" -- after betraying all promises? It's the same level of "regret" -- without accountability. Remember all the "compromise," while seeking bipartisanship (as long as it was Blue Dog and/or further to the Right)? Refusing to implement a foreclosure moratorium in the face of national Enronesque fraud? Praising Jamie Dimon and Fred Smith? The 180 on FISA and Retroactive Immunity? "Looking forward, not backward"? The 180 on a second set of torture photos? What has been the same (and "insane") will remain. And now that there is a new House, another phase has only just begun.
Why is Obama letting these people run all over him? He will not win the reelection, I don't think he knows what he's doing!! uuugggh! Walmart execs!!!
No, I don't think this trip of Obama will make any jobs here in the US. Unless Obama comes out swinging and does something different than he has been doing. Make no mistake Obama has done a lot in just two years but he lost most of his base because he forgot us and the Unions. Reagan changed after his first two years and his second term so Maybe Obama will figure that out and change.
An unintended consequence of Pres. Obama's trip to India is that it clearly illustrates the point you make Thom that except for products that kill people... WE DON'T MAKE ANYTHING IN THE US ANYMORE TO EXPORT! This is an easy bumper sticker sized concept to pitch Americans that touches the very core of our society's biggest economic problem.
I would love to hear Obama lead with 100% commitment and effort to use the levers of government to incentivize and enable the rebirth of manufacturing in America. This would require an appropriate level of protectionist trade policy that levels the playing field considering areas such as environmental impact and human rights. That said, Obama doesn't have the stones to fight the multinationals and the bought and paid for congress. Obama and the dems would need to lead by dismantling the corporate welfare maze benefiting the multinationals so as to redirect subsidies and tax incentives to small business. But... again we have the small sized stones problem. Additionally, Pres. Obama should encourage the proliferation of union membership but he has no appreciation for the contribution of unions who present a counterweight to corporate management's pure profit ethos and protects worker rights.
Bottom line: ain't gonna happen under the leadership of Barrack "Ronnie Reagan" Obama. He's a weak leader, a corporatist, a closet conservative, and a phony.
But given the choices our 2-party system brings us, he's the best we got....
UNLESS.... we click our heels together 3 times and believe that we can beat the odds and say... Russ Feingold, Russ Feingold, Russ Feingold for president.
Jas of Minneapolis
The moral argument has been missing sense the 20's or for that matter sense the beginning of time! It all depends on whether you are virtuous or not! You see Thom believes that virtue is something you vote for... then government does the rest.
Robert
Longville MN
I almost forgot to mention...a moral aspect is mandatory to the national discussion. We cannot simply talk about right versus left or right versus wrong. There are moral equations at every step as we attempt to form a more perfect union in America. To a large degree, the moral argument has been absent since the 80s. JAS, Minneapolis
David Cote is on the Deficit Reduction Commission. When Cote's corp. decided to send its jobs to India, did profits increase? Did Shareholders do better? Higher dividends? When Maytag sent its jobs to Mexico, did washers and dryers become cheaper than they were when they were built in Iowa? Something is awry and the answers are not forthcoming. The offshoring of jobs isn't about seriously intelligent workers. It's about cost cutting. Microsoft does this. Meanwhile, corporate profits are skyrocketing, corporate cash troves are at unprecedented levels, and U.S. unemployment is at 1930s levels. Cote isn't hiring Americans. When will it become fashionable to be a company that does right and does well? It's possible, you know. This theme is off the radar screen, dating back to the 80s. If we can't un-do offshoring of jobs, then we MUST tax the offshoring of jobs to a fare-thee-well. We can't just say "gee that's too bad that we don't have any middle class in America." We have to BE for something. If not for workers, then for whom? I'm really looking for the national conversations on this.
Stroeve, Minneapolis
No doubt one day soon the United States will have only one industry -- guns for hire. We'll be the mercenary nation writ large. With private armies and robots we'll make a killing both figuratively and literally.
Jobs in the United States? Only for militay hardware as long as we can keep the tension between India and Pakistan at high levels. Like having one of our agents scout out the Mumbai attacks. (See 11/8 issue of New York Times) As for Walmart creating 3 million new jobs in India, they'll replace the 6 to 10 million jobs that will be lost by small family owned retailers as Walmart plows them into the ground. Just like they did over here. Gandhi would turn over in his grave.
Most don't know the close door button in elevators purposely don't do anything, as they are there just to give the people in the elevation the feeling of being in control. Like the button in the elevator, the Democratic party is there to serve the same purpose.
I am appalled by the trade policies of this country. That I have a job at all is a minor miracle. My children are having problems -- 38 to 42. This country is disintegrating and the people on the right seem to think that's just fine. Between the militarism, the corporatism and the insane tax policies I don't see what chance there is. Happily I'm getting your new book. I wish you well.
Thom challenges us here with a complex knot. What does it come down to ? Goods manufactured in China, originating out of the US, for consumption in India. Two franchises or businesses being the limit set by the culture of India. Say what ? Wall Mart and Target ? Weird, weird, weird. You have to hand it to Thom for giving one something to think about. Theory ? Facts? Road work involves inquiring minds.