• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont.
• "Anything Goes" Friday - your calls.
• Guest: Larisa Alexandrova, Raw Story. Political prisoner: Don Siegelman, Democratic governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003.

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

Friday 07 December '07 National show

• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont. The Energy Bill passed the House with 53 votes, but for the 57th time in a year (a record?) the Republicans filibustered in Senate; we could not get cloture, and Bush is threatening to veto it. The media is doing an abysmal job of reporting how the system works and what is going on.

  51 votes is not enough to pass legislation. It is not majority rule. You need 60 votes in order to end debate in the Senate- that's called cloture. It is virtually impossible to get those 60 votes on many important pieces of legislation. To override a veto takes a two thirds majority.

  Bush priorities's, tax cuts, credit card spending, privatization. Global Warming bill - the strongest so far, he fought for funding for sustainable energy. Why does Harry Reed not let them filibuster? He is trying to get good stuff through.

  How to get people to turn out and vote. Educate people. Give people hope again, make it clear it is the Republicans who are filibustering and vetoing. We need national holiday for voting. Republicans don't want working people to vote.

  Credit card companies ripping people off based on fees. 4 billion pieces of mail a year are sent out offering 0% interest rates. Usury. CAFE standards. When will he run for president? It would take $2 billion, and he has his hands full as senator. He's the first true independent in the Senate.

  This presidency will go down as one of the worst, if not the worst. They are trying to pass appropriation Bills, a farm bill, an energy bill, a global warming bill, to expand the number of community centers available, lower the cost of prescription drugs, get better mileage per gallon for our cars, move the country away from fossil fuel to sustainable energy, any many more issues, and Bush is willing to veto them.

  They are bulldozing projects today in new Orleans; sound buildings with people's stuff in. Nobody doing anything. Terrorism Act, definitions, privatization of the Commission. Comparison with Scandinavian heath care, education, vacations - more progressive countries. How bad, ineffective the Democrats in Congress are making us look. Flex fuel cars. Bush can declare anyone terrorists, freeze their assets; Blackwater is under investigation, why not freeze their assets? Treason. Only Kucinich has said he would file charges.

• Bumper Music: 5 O’clock World, The Vogues.
• Bumper Music: Send It, ELO.
• Upcoming Event: Dec 14, Minneapolis MN. University of Minnesota Bookstore 7p - at Coffman Memorial Union. Show live from AM950.
• Upcoming Event: Jan 07 - 08, Manchester, NH. Show "Live" from the radio row at the NH Primary.
• Upcoming Event: Jan 11 - 12, Portland, OR. Talk at the Re-Booting Democracy Conference. Montgomery Park - 2701 NW Vaughn St. 08:00 - 17:00.
• Bumper Music: Livin' Thing, ELO.
• Article: Those Who Avoided Risk Call Plan A Raw Deal.
• Subprime mortgages is a legal issue. banks and investors. Today's story about people who were prudent feeling cheated because those who weren't are getting bailed out. Bush's voluntary idea is useless. If the mortgage payments are adjusted downwards, the investors in the products will have been cheated of their expected interest rate, and could sue. So we need legislation. Clinton should not have rolled back the Glass Steagall Act, about banks being brokers.
• Article: KENNEDY ON CIA INTERROGATION TAPES.
• "Anything Goes" Friday.
• Bumper Music: Anything Goes, Harpers Bizarre.
• Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News with breaking news from today's Press Briefing by Dana Perino. The president has "no recollection" of the CIA tapes: "I spoke to the President this morning about this. He has no recollection of being made aware of the tapes or their destruction before yesterday. He was briefed by General Hayden yesterday morning... I would say that the President supports General Hayden. General Hayden made a statement yesterday to his employees in which he said that the decision was made by the agency, it was made in consultation with the agency's lawyers. And he said -- and I quote -- that "the tapes posed a serious security risk and were they ever to leak, they would permit identification of your CIA colleagues who had served in the program, exposing them and their families to retaliation from al Qaeda and its sympathizers." He has complete confidence in General Hayden and he has asked White House Counsel's Office, as I said, who is already in communication with the CIA General Counsel as the CIA Director continues to gather facts. As you know, General Hayden wasn't there at this time, either.".T hey aren't commenting further because of an internal investigation. Keith Olbermann last night. Timeline of change in Bush's rhetoric from "Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon" to "They have expressed their desire to be able to enrich uranium, which we believe is a step toward having a nuclear weapons program..." early in August as a result of the NIE report. Frenzy at the White House, like what happened with Bill Clinton, they smell blood in the water.
• Fuel economy depends on the weight of the vehicle. Concerns with safety. impact = mass x momentum. Speed limits. Why don't more die when they crash in Europe?
• Bumper Music: Radio Operator, Rosanne Cash.
• Universal health care. Why pay for people who smoke, etc.?
• Plug in hybrids. Thom got a new Prius this year, they are test driving plug ins in Japan, he will trade in when they become available. Transportation infrastructure, oil and gas. Where would the electricity come from? Nebraska is the only state with publicly owned utilities.
• Article: In FISA Speech, Whitehouse Sharply Criticizes Bush Administration's Assertion of Executive Power.
• Michigan Democrats moved their primary to January, against the rules of the Democratic committee, so no campaigning. They have lost all their delegates. It happened to another state too. Thom is visiting home the weekend after this.
• Big oil will get into alternatives, prices will fall. BP is already the largest supplier of solar panels.
• Article: The permanent Republican majority: Part one: How a coterie of Republican heavyweights sent a governor to jail.
• Guest: Larisa Alexandrova, Raw Story. Political prisoner: Don Siegelman, Democratic governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. The Department of Justice won't let the press have access to him.
• Article: CIA analysts willing to ‘go to jail’ to ensure NIE’s release.
• Article: The Senate and the Iran NIE. Retired Col. W. Patrick Lang.
• How much power do Bush and his buddies still have? These are incredibly unstable times for us; there's a power struggle, so they may to go to war to pull power, which may lead to a call for impeachment. Watch the nuance in the media, for example,. e.g. cable yesterday had people like Pat Buchanan - Reich, and Frank Gattney - uberreich. CNN cancelled plans for a special on war in Iran - they were planning on making money on it - because of the NIE report.
• Bumper Music: Orange Crush, R.E.M.
• Article: Romney Spokesman Won't Say If Atheists Have Place In America. Romney said, "It is as if they're intent on establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism. They're wrong".
• Thom: "This is a secular country. This is not a theocracy. It is a government of laws, not a government of gods, not a government of priests. It is not a government of Protestants or Catholics or Mormons or Jews or Hindus or Buddhists or Deists or Unitarians. It is a government of laws. And to have a man who is running for President of the United States suggest that agnostics and atheists who are part of 'us' too, have no role to play in government is frankly horrifying...

  Our Constitution is not a religious document; it doesn't mention God even once, in fact it specifically says there shall be no religious test for public office.

  "
• Article: The Theft of Your Vote Is Just a Chip Away, July 30, 2003.
• Bumper Music: What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong. Thanks.
• Book: One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church, Richard Abanes.