Article: Thriving Norway Provides an Economics Lesson.
Article: That Didn't Take Long: Insurance Industry Breaks Promise To President Obama.
"Brunch with Bernie" with Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont. Norway's economy. The health insurance industry distancing itself from its agreement to cut costs. Happiness poll, Scandinavia did very well. There is enormous economic anxiety. The US is losing intellectual capital because kids cannot afford to go to university. The US needs a health care system, and it would save a lot of money. Max Baucus is not allowing single payer to be discussed. Bernie introduced a bill for single payer health care. Bernie's bill to cap interest rates only got 33 votes, 5 possible votes were absent, Republican Grassley supported it. He got 1,000 stories of peoples' experiences with the credit card companies, you can get the "Enough is Enough" book at his site. $5b was spent lobbying.
Having to pay for FICA score. The importance of the multiplier effect on fiscal planning. Unemployment insurance extensions. When is Obama going to help workers? He inherited a major problem. There has been some progress in recent months. Hopefully the recession is bottoming out. We need to work on trade, manufacturing, the Employee Free Choice Act, health care. LIHEAP. Raising the minimum salary requirement for heating in winter? Cost of prescription drugs being hiked. Bernie took people abroad to buy drugs cheaper. Medicare part D. One caller had got a job after 3.5 years because of the stimulus. Dick Cheney, according to his own definition he should be arrested? He no longer has his finger on the button. Our own soldiers are less safe when we lower the bar, Congress will reverse some Bush stuff. Credit card interest rates, cap, personal responsibility. Why did Bernie's peers not support his bill for a cap?
The 'war on drugs' is out of the lexicon. Bill for legalization of industrial hemp, they are making car bodies out of it, sponsored by Barnie Franks and Ron Paul. ND legalized hemp. Help for students. They have increased Pell grants. They want to move away from banks having a cut. There's a long way to go. Huge deficit. We'll need to get out of Iraq which is costing $10b a month, military budget, simpler more progressive tax system. Will hedge funds be prosecuted?
Bumper Music: One World (not Three), Police.
Bumper Music: Radio Song, R.E.M.
Article: Vive la différence!.
"The French way of doing things looks pretty good—at least in these troubled economic times"
Book: "Raising the Global Floor: Dismantling the Myth That We Can’t Afford Good Working Conditions for Everyone", Jody Heymann and Alison Earle.
Guest: John de Graaf, right2vacation.org. Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) will introduce the Paid Vacation Act of 2009 at 11 a.m., Thursday, May 21, 2009 - the first bill for paid vacations in US history. France cut the work week. It's not clear how many new jobs cutting working hours would create. Health. Family time. They are starting with 1 week, for businesses with over 100 employees. It is 30 days in Brazil. Capitalism with a human face. Yesterday's article about Norway. Economist this week writes about France on the front cover. "Raising the Global Floor" from Stanford.
Compared with other countries
- The U.S. is the only industrialized nation without a minimum annual leave statute.
- 137 countries have paid vacation leave, including all developed countries.
- In 1980 we ranked 11th in the world in longevity—now we’re 42nd.
- We’re twice as likely as Europeans to suffer from anxiety and depression. Many experts believe these deficits are caused by lack of time.
- Every European worker gets at least four weeks of paid vacation by law. Yet the Euro is rising while the dollar is falling.
Americans are taking fewer (and shorter) vacations
- PEW Research Center says "more free time" is the number one priority for middle-class Americans—68% listed this as a high priority for them.
- Last year only 14% of American workers took two weeks or more for vacation.
- According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American works one month (160 hours) more today than in 1976.
- Last year only 57% of American workers took a vacation of a week or longer.
- 25% of Americans receive no paid vacation leave. Only 69% of lower-wage workers get any paid vacation leave.
- 37% of American women earning less than $40,000 a year receive no paid annual leave.
Just for the Health of It!
- Men who don't take regular vacations are 32% more likely to die of heart attacks, and 21% more likely to die early of all causes. Women have 50% more risk of heart attack.
- Stress and burnout are five times more costly to treat than average workplace maladies.
- Women who don't take vacations are twice as likely to be depressed as those who do.
Vacations are good for businesses too!
- Vacations have been shown to eliminate burnout, but it takes at least two weeks off.
- The travel industry adds $740 billion dollars a year to the US economy
- Stress and burnout at work cost the US economy over $300 billion a year.
- Companies that have adopted the vacation benefits endorsed here have dramatically increased productivity and profits.
- Paid vacations, after health care, are the benefits most appreciated by workers
- A New Zealand study found that workers sleep better after taking vacations and are 30-40% more alert on the job when they return.
Have We Forsaken The Great Outdoors?
- The forest service is actually closing campgrounds because no one is using them.
- The average visitor to Yosemite used to spend 48 hours there. Now it's 8.
- Our children spend only half as much unstructured time outdoors as they did a generation ago.
A Department of Labor appointed Committee on Vacations with Pay called for a national minimum paid leave law as far back as 70 years ago.
Bumper Music: Crazy, Gnarls Barkley.
Article: Blagojevich's Lush Locks Inspire 'Bleep'n Golden' Hair Care Products Line.
Article: Industry Groups Say Obama Overstated Plan to Control Health Costs.
"Advanced Medical Technology Association Senior Executive Vice President David Nexon said that "there was no specific understanding" of exactly when the growth rate could be lowered. Nexon added, "It's a target over a 10-year period". "
Health insurance companies backing away from reducing costs. Single payer won't get anywhere, money, Baucus arresting people speaking out for it. Public buy-in. Obama said single payer not feasible, though he used to advocate it.
Progressives could split from the rest of the Democrats, Republicans splitting too? Infiltrate your party. Support the Green Party locally for instant runoff voting.
Bumper Music: The Mail Must Go Through, Larry Groce & The Disneyland Children's Sing Along Chorus (clip).
Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, Pinochet.
It is generally better to write to Thom on the blog rather than email.
Why are they not taking Cheney to task, but Pelosi?
Cynthia McKinney was dragged off the floor for reading Thom's article.
Article: Transcript: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Feb 16 2006: Background.
Article: Transcript: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Feb 16 2006.
Election reform. Online voting can be very insecure. Thom does online banking. Diebold cash machines are fine, voting machines a joke.
Geeky science segment...
Article: Remember facts by cramming with fat.
Article: Avoiding Sugar Key to Ending Senior Moments.
Article: Head Lines: I Know That Nose.
Article: Could the net become self-aware?
Article: Humanity's carbon budget running out fast.
"TO AVOID "dangerous" climate change, we must not burn more than one-quarter of our remaining reserves of fossil fuels. That's the conclusion of the most comprehensive effort yet to work out how much carbon can be pumped into the atmosphere without pushing warming past 2 °C."
Article: Empire of Carbon, Paul Krugman. China.
Article: James Dobson's Political Surrender, Dan Gilgoff.
Prices up. Unemployment. Drop your credit card, join a credit union.
Thom gets blowback when he criticizes Obama. We need to push Obama, but acknowledge the good things that are being done. This is nothing like the criminal Bush administration.
Coal, China. China has water shortages. Solar panels use no water, so they are turning to solar. Japan and Germany are in competition to use the most solar. Germany has the most per capita.
37 Republicans, Ben Nelson and Arlen Specter are holding up the confirmation of Dawn Johnson to the Office of Legal Counsel.
Book: "Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries", Naomi Wolf.
The ten steps to fascism:
- Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
- Create a gulag
- Develop a thug caste
- Set up an internal surveillance system
- Harass citizens' groups
- Engage in arbitrary detention and release
- Target key individuals
- Control the press
- Dissent equals treason
- Suspend the rule of law.
Book: "The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot", Naomi Wolf.
Milton Meyer's story about the wheat over the farmer's field.
Book: "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism", Naomi Klein.
Yesterday it was revealed that the Sunnis in Iraq who stopped shooting at us in 2007 when we paid them to, offered that deal in 2004 and Bush said no. For 3 years people died. Like Nixon negotiating with Vietnam, telling them to wait until he was in power.
Bumper Music: Get The Party Started, Pink (video).
Guest: Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Update on his case. For the story so far, please see the transcripts from April 29, May 08, June 17 and the show notes for 08 July '08, 25 July '08, 30 July '08, 29 August '08, 30 September '08, 19 November '08, 01 December '08, 09 December '08, 27 January '08, 01 April '09, 22 April '09 and 6 May '09. The 11th circuit denied him an eight judge review. Thom donated $100. Right to a fair trial, unreasonable searches and seizures, cruel and unusual treatment shredded. This administration needs to restore them. 4 months in, Bush's Department of Justice political appointees are still in place, and US attorneys, and his prosecutor. Call Holder, the White House. The people Monica Goodling vetted are still there. Replace the political appointees. Bruce Fein said Reagan got all his predecessor's out in 45 days. Jeff Sessions deal? Obama needs to replace people to bring about the change he campaigned on. Siegelman will now be sent for resentencing before the same judge, prosecutor, and this time they are asking for 20 years. He wants a level playing field. Rove is going before a hearing today. Tell Obama to get rid of them all, restore justice.
We v. me society, it is 'me' so no national health care. We are easier to conquer and divide because we are of different races? Thom disagrees, they go in cycles in the US. Bill Simon 60s think thanks.
Bumper Music: What a Wonderful World, Louis Armstrong. Thanks.
Member of day was Richard Adlof who won a copy of a DVD of Dalai Lama Renaissance in which Thom appears, for
OMG!!! You soooooooo don’t get it . . . Factual evidenence on vacation and health and quality of life and pay rates MEANS NOTHING to multinational business . . . If you aren’t willing to DIE for the opportunity to die for the company which lowers itsself to hire and employ you . . . You are committed enough for the boon the company is offering you.
All hail the company! The company is good! Boo and fie to to workers and our country!
STOP MAKING SENSE!
Upcoming Event: May 21 1080 KUDO, Anchorage, Alaska presents an evening with Thom Hartmann, Hosted by Eddie P at the Anchorage Aviation Heritage Museum. Doors open at 6:30, dinner at 7. Catered by: Blues Central. Tickets $25 in advance $30 at the door.
Upcoming Event: May 21 - 22 Show live from 1080 KUDO, Anchorage, Alaska. May 22 Thom will speak at the IBEW annual Progress Meeting (Western States) at the Hotel Captain Cook on Friday from 10 - 11 am (ADT).
Keep saying what we want, not just what we don't want. The credit card privacy statement has new improvements. Look at thomas.gov Don't give up. Obama spoke of the ship of state being slow to turn.
Victoria Jones of Talk Radio News. Briefings, Gibbs declined to get involved in the Nancy Pelosi debacle. More stories about weaterboarding, purpose. Pelosi called for a truth commission. She has the power to create one so why doesn't she? Gibbs was asked about military tribunals. Security. He said they have a role, said we are different from the Bush administration.
