• Show live from Air America, New York.


• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont.


• Guest: Lamar Waldron, author, with Thom, of "Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination",


• Atheist display for Christmas.

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

Friday 05 December '08 show

• Show live from Air America, New York.
  
• "Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont. GM. Bailout. Economy. New economic reports today. 533,000 more jobs lost in November, the 11th drop in row. The unemployment rate of 6.7% does not include people who have given up looking for work, the underemployed. We are now at the cusp of the most serious economic conditions that this country has faced since the great depression. Economic rant. Details of what Larry Beinhart said on the show recently about top rate tax cuts historically leading to boom, bubble, crash, bank failures and recession or depression in the US; increases lead to steadier growth. Roll back the Reagan tax cuts. We have to start a real conversation about the issue of greed, which lead us to this horrendous financial bailout. $7-8 trillion placed at risk because of the greed of people playing with instruments they do not understand. Deregulation. Move towards a more egalitarian society is right both morally and economically; more sustainable, as Larry Beinhart proved.
  
  They will focus on the financial bailout. Bernie is active in saying we're not going to simply provide another $350 billion to Wall Street. Deep concerns about how the first $350 billion was spent, which he strongly opposed. We have to move as aggressively and quickly as possible for a major economical stimulus package to begin the process of rebuilding America and putting people to work. Investment. Infrastructure. Energy independence. Greenhouse gas emissions. Rethink damaging Reaganomics.
  
  GM, Chrysler. it is the people who have lost jobs we should be concerned about. We're between a rock and a hard place. We can't let the auto industry fail, but can't just pour money into the hands of incompetent leadership. Get rid of the leadership. The new administration should be better than others. What is the point of them saying they will restructure by cutting jobs? Spending is needed, but Reagan turned people off, we need to explain what it is for. Misspending gets into the papers, we hear little about good programmes. We need active citizen participation. Language. Say invest instead of spend. 18% of kids live in poverty, highest rates, instead of investing in child care, they drop out and end up in jail. The US has more in jail than China does, at a cost of about $50,000 a head. Preventative healthcare. People die, or go to emergency health care. Why pay them so much, why not just buy GM? You also inherit liabilities.
  
  It's not just the growth of GNP, it's creating meaningful jobs, protecting the environment, making sure that everybody has health care, education, affordable housing and other basic necessities. You don't want the benefits of growth all going to the top 1%. If a corporation is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. Compensating executives with stock instead of pay, means they start acting like stockholders, looking for short term profit. Workers, management, stockholders.
  
  Progressives need to capture Obama's movement, Obama is a Rorschach test, some will be disappointed. The grass roots should accelerate their contact with representatives, go to town hall meetings, be clear about what you want, figure out what the progressive agenda is.
  
• Bumper Music: Radio, Radio, Elvis Costello.
  
• Book: Ultimate Sacrifice.
  
• Book: "Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination", Lamar Waldron, Thom Hartmann.
  
  "Robert Kennedy, National Security, the Mafia, and the Assassination of Martin Luther King
  
  The rifle fire in Dallas that killed John F. Kennedy didn