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Alexander Hamilton


Alexander Hamilton, in 1791, proposed to the United States our first true industrial policy. We adopted it over the next few years, Abraham Lincoln reaffirmed it fourscore years later, and it was again affirmed by every President of the United States until Reagan began his now-28-year “Reagan Revolution” which has disassembled America’s industrial base and impoverished our nation. For over 200 years, Hamilton’s policy made America the most powerful industrial nation in the world; now – after just 28 years of Reagonomics and Clinton/Rubinomics – we are the largest importer of other people’s industry, and the most indebted nation in the world.

The entirety of Hamilton’s paper is easily found on the web. The first third of it deals with Jefferson’s objections to it (which Jefferson withdrew later in his life), as Jefferson favored America being an agricultural rather than an industrial power in 1791. Once you cut past that, though, Hamilton gets right to the rationale for, and the details of, his 11-point plan to turn America into an industrial power and build a strong manufacturing-based middle class. Ironically, his policies are exactly – EXACTLY – what Japan, South Korea, and China are doing today. And what we have ceased to do.

Hamilton had it right. We must reject Reagon/Bush/Clinton/Bush-onomics and return to what the Founders knew worked. Here are selected excerpts from Hamilton’s 1791 Report on Manufactures to Congress:

First, Hamilton points out that real wealth doesn’t exist until somebody makes something. A “service economy” is an oxymoron – if I wash your car in exchange for your mowing my lawn, money is moving around, it’s a service economy, but no real and lasting wealth is created. Only through manufacturing, when $5 worth of iron ore is converted into a $2000 car door, or $1 worth of raw wool is converted into a $1000 Calvin Klein suit, is real wealth created. He also notes that people being paid for creating wealth (manufacturing) creates wages, which are the principal engine of demand, which drives an economy. And both come from a foreign trade policy.

On the Program - Dec 17th 2008

Quote: My country is the world, and to do good is my religion. — Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1792

Hour One - Marc Morano www.epw.senate.gov Topic: Should victims of global warming be able to sue "Big Oil?

Hour Two - Dinish D'Souza www.dineshdsouza.com Topic: Can we have morality without God? (debated by Dinesh and Pete Singer recently)

Hour Three - "Everything You Know is Wrong" Scott Brunton www.monthlydoos.com Topic: "Monthly Doos" and the house that poop built

On the Program - Dec 16th 2008

Quote: "Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Hour One - Peter Brimelowe www.vdare.com Topic: The so called "War on Christmas" and the immigration connection

Hour Two - Meg James www.latimes.com Topic: Why is the tv industry dumbing down Americans with more "less scripted" shows in lieu of quality dramas?

Hour Three - Peter Barnes Co-author of "Climate Solutions: A Citizen's Guide" www.capanddividend.org Topic: Fixing the economy and healing the planet...how President-elect Obama can do both

Guest: Cynthia G. Brown www.americanprogress.org Topic: Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President (edited by Mark Green and Michele Jolin) Ms. Brown's chapter is called "Teaching All Our Children Well" and can be found on page 235 in the Domestic Policy section.

Transcript: Vincent Bugliosi, 28 May 2008

Thom Hartmann interviews Vincent Bugliosi on his book,

December 09 2008 show notes


  • Guest: Mark Zusman, editor of the Willamette Week. Is it time to break up "Big Newspaper" to save the industry?

  • Bob Ney of Talk Radio News, ex Ohio congressman. His insights on being on the receiving end of an investigation.

On the Program - Dec 15th 2008

Quote: "Of all the frictional resistances, the one that most retards human movement is ignorance." - Nikola Tesla

Hour One - Lou Engle, Evangelist & founder of The Call www.thecall.com Topic: Is the gay marriage debate really about religion or civil rights?

Hour Two - Carrie Lukas www.iwf.org Topic: Do Obama's "green jobs" discriminate against women?

Hour Three - David Horowitz www.horowitzfreedomcenter.org Topic: "What are the limits of hate speech and at what point do you criminalize it?"

Guest: Joseph Cirincione www.ploughshares.org Topic: Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President (Mark Green's book)

On the Program - Dec 11th 2008

Quote: Activism is my rent for living on this planet - Alice Walker

Hour One - Susan Powter www.susanpowteronline.com Topic: Her new book "The Politics of Stupid: The Cure for Obesity"

Hour Two - Judge James "Jim" Gray www.leap.cc Topic: Why our drug laws have failed and what we can do about it (also the name of his latest book)

Hour Three - Gene Stone www.genestone.com Topic: The 12 Step Bush Recovery Program (A Lifesaving Guide to Shaking Off the Horrors of the Last Eight Years...)

Topic: GEEKY SCIENCE ROCKS!!

Guest: Christy Harvey www.americanprogress.org Topic: News Under the Radar

December 05 2008 show notes


Topics, guests, upcoming events, quotes, links to articles, audio clips, books & bumper music.


On the Program - Dec 10th 2008

Hour One - Dick Kay Host of "Dick Kay – Back on the Beat," www.chicagoprogressivetalk.com Topic: Blagojevich…a betrayal of public trust if proven true

Hour Two - How is the public served by exposing political corruption?

Hour Three "Everything You Know is Wrong" Alex S. Key www.TheThirdBasicInstinct.com Topic: What Makes Us Tick

December 04 2008 show notes


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