Thom was off sick and Peter B. Collins guest hosted from San Francisco.

• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont.
• Guest: Lawrence Yun. Managing Director and Senior Economist at the National Association of Realtors.
• Guest: Jeff Sharlet, forthcoming book "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power".

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

Friday 21 March '08 National show

• Thom was off sick and Peter B. Collins guest hosted from San Francisco.
• Jon Stewart: "And so, at 11:00 on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race, as though they were adults."
• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont. He was in Burlington. He's a democratic socialist. Has anyone asked him about religion, religious connections? No. Obama made a good point in his speech, at every election there are those who use every trick to deflect attention away from issues. McCain would mean four years more of Bush policies. Obama speech. John Stewart's comment. It challenged media. Preachergate. Voter Bowl, American Idol. How can we regulate finance to protect bankers from their own greed, and people from them? Glass Steagall Act, firewall between banks and investment banks. How to provide money for every state to have paper ballots? Don't get paranoid, the closest races went to Democrat. Candidates should avoid personal attacks. McCain. Solar energy bill.

  Fifth anniversary of Iraq. Cheney in Baghdad - phenomenal progress. Bush's upbeat speech at a Pentagon photo-op. Will people on social security get the stimulus payment? FISA version reconciliation, amnesty for telecoms. The profit on a barrel of oil has gone up. Stimulus taxable? No, but it adds to the national debt. Sirius/XM merger, Bernie doesn't know. Investigation of money lost in Iraq, accounting for oil, Blackwater. Instant Runoff Voting. Are the Democrats going to turn around again and blame Greens?. Columbia trade deal, assassinations, Bush. Bernie voted against it. Overall trade policy. Medicare part D.

• Guest: Lawrence Yun. Managing Director and Senior Economist at the National Association of Realtors. Named one of the top 10 forecasters. Zero/slow growth rather than recession. The housing market needs to recover first, it certainly won't in the first half of the year. Coastal regions. Jumbo loans. Warren Buffet, "We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful." "Be brave when others are afraid, and afraid when others are brave." People are moving to warmer states, so the long term is optimistic, short term opportunity. Statistics and commentary on their web site.
• Spitzer was targeted because of subprime probe? Suspicious but no smoking gun.
• People in the north can't move south if their houses don't sell.
• Obama in is in Oregon, Bill Richardson is endorsing him, saying "I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world". Richardson's strong ties to Bill Clinton. Edwards has delegates.
• How often do people disagree with their pastor or whatever? Pulpit is usually one-way.
• Lenders are more irresponsible than realtors.
• Article: McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam. Televangelist Rod Parsley.
• Today there's a picture of pastor Wright and Bill Clinton shaking hands in 1998, talk of McCain, Bob Jones, Hagee. McCain and Parsley.
• Guest: Jeff Sharlet, author of the forthcoming book "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power". National prayer breakfast. They work with senators etc. Clinton was involved in 2003. Hillary mentions it in her biography. She was a "friend of the family" - so outer circle. Members include Stan Brownback, Ed Meece, John Ashcroft, James Inhofe, Rick Santorum. He voted for Hillary. She said her religion affects her politics. He switched to Obama after his speech.
• Bumper Music: The Only Living Boy In New York, Simon & Garfunkel.
• Obama could not walk out of Pastor Wright's sermon if he was not there.
• The attack on Hillary saying she does not know what it is like to be a black man. A caller said many stopped listening to Air America because it is biased against Hillary.
• Polls. Obama decline, Hillary pushed ahead by 6 points, but that was before his Philadelphia speech. McCain ahead of both Democrats.
• Should Hillary drop out? Should they rerun Florida and Michigan? What if they changed the rules in the middle of the super bowl or American Idol?
• If you run a negative campaign you deserve negative press, and positive for positive. Peter thinks anything Hillary does will hurt Obama or herself.
• Article: Will Rush Limbaugh Be Indicted for Voter Fraud?
• Rush's suggestion for crossover voting. It's a 5th degree felony because to change in Ohio, you have to swear allegiance the party under penalty of election falsification.
• Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News. Condoleezza Rice called Obama and apologized for his passport files being accessed without authorization. McCain's were also examined. Are they just saying that? Richardson endorsement of Obama. He's very competent, and looking for something. His governorship ends in 2010. Obama vice president? They discussed several possibilities.