- Carl Wolfson and Christine Alexander, Thom’s co-hosts at KPOJ guest hosted the show as Thom and Louise were in Alaska. Sean, Jacob and Lane were producing.
- It is Memorial Day. In between guests, people called in to pay tribute to their veterans; those who died and those who survived. Remember the people left behind, the sacrifices that families make, Michelle Obama made that her focus.
- Article: Congress Asks: Why Are Bailed-Out Auto Firms Closing Plants? John Nichols.
- Article: Public health plan should be an option.
"It is time for the private insurance industry to stop coming between me and my patients. With private plans, I see patients struggling to get the care they need because an insurance company representative with limited or no medical background says "no" to something I advise. Their decisions are based on profit margin and not on medical evidence. The time I spend calling insurance companies for permission could be much better spent with my patients." - Guest: Ralph Nader.Chrysler in bankruptcy, GM heading there, auto task force secret, but should it face congressional review? He was testifying before John Conyers. GM bankruptcy could occur June 1, it would be bad for dealers, workers, suppliers, closing plants. The task force has a very narrow financial approach, they want GM to make money. GM's China strategy. They should do like the Chrysler bailout of 1979. More representatives are telling the white house to hang on a moment. Bankruptcy lets GM screw the small bondholders, etc, who thought it was a reliable investment. It would get rid of the common bondholders and give them pennies on the dollar. John Nichols article, tax money was supposed to save jobs, not export them to China. Protest June 1 outside the court. Contact Conyers or your representative, Peter DeFazio is on board.
Single payer health care, over 75 signed on to HR676, DeFazio did, but they are not active. Pelosi and Reid told them there will be a different approach, use more tax money to coddle the health companies and cover more people, it does not deal with exploding costs. Single payer health care is full Medicare for everybody. Truman proposed it, the American Medical Association was against it. Every western country and Taiwan have it, it is half as expensive, and all are covered. It would prevent many deaths of people not covered, the equivalent of six 9/11s per year. Dr. David Evans Oregonian article. Most doctors, nurses, people prefer it and it is being pushed off the table. There were disruptions by doctors and nurses in the Senate finance committee, telling Max Baucus that he has 9 witnesses, but none of them represent the majority, and the protesters were arrested. Go to singlepayeraction.org to see the video and to join in.
- Shutting Detroit Down, John Rich.
- Bumper Music: Cars, Gary Numan (video).
- Despite the fact that most Americans prefer single payer, the government is denying it to us, what is democratic about our system? The same with war. Pork, special interests. People need good information. Campaign finance reform. Free speech reform, media. Inequality of wealth. Obama said it is hard to turn the ship, he is letting Congress take the lead.
- Hillary tried health care reform in 1993. Public consciousness has changed. It might be tough for health insurers, but could save GM with its health care costs.
- Blue dog democrats are against single payer, including Wyden. Wyden's "Healthy Americans Act" is employer based, lot of cosponsors. Jeff Merkley and 22 juniors have written to Baucus saying we must have a public insurance option. Merkley originally signed on to Wyden's bill.
- Address the criticism against single payer. They say it will prevent peoples' choice,, but most only get whatever their employer has, and the insurer says which doctor. It would save towns the costs of their employee's health care. Wages may go up, property taxes go down. Federal withholding tax could increase by a great deal before it matches the current rate plus health insurance.
- Carl:
You know, because we've been fed a steady diet for 30 years or more that the government is the enemy, that they are going to take over, take away your choice, if we had a public option then you would finally actually have a choice not to deal with these insurance companies with a big overhead for the lobbyists and the corporate jets and all that that do come between you and your doctor. Then there would be a choice. And believe me, the opponents of a public option know it and that's why they're fighting against it.
- Christine:
And this idea that somehow you would be denied some sort of new treatment or some treatment that is not covered by the public plan, well, people aren't allowed those things now by their insurance companies, and it would still be the same situation where if you are rich enough, you can buy it.
- Carl:
That's right. Or as Thom said, let the existing insurance companies go into the market for [cross talk] face lifts or an upgrade of your hospital room, whatever, let them compete in that level. Let me just say three things; three lies that we have been fed over the past 30 years:
- that tax cuts for the rich help the poor - they don't
- that labor unions keep workers from prospering - nonsense
- and that regulations protecting consumers attack freedom
Those are the thee things we've been fed by the right wing and conservative policies from the Reagan era on down. They are nonsense.
- Guest: Shawn Levy in the studio, author of "Paul Newman: A Life", Oregonian film critic. Newman was 5'10", skinny, but had lots of energy, was active in many fields, had 6 kids. Shawn was unable to interview him because of his ill health, but got lots of material from the media after he died, as every town where he had raced, for example, the local paper interviewed people who had known him. He was a philanthropist. His son Scott died of a drug overdose. He founded the Scott Newman foundation at UCLA. Newman's Own has given over $280m away. He donated his portion of the business to the business. 'Hole in the wall' camps for dying or very sick, 160,000 kids worldwide. He was a progressive activist. He chose films according to content. His father and uncles were well educated Jewish immigrants, including two journalists. He had a long running feud with the New York Post, Rupert Murdoch. They reviewed Shawn's book. Star Trek movie.
- Bumper Music: Let's All Go to the Lobby (video).
- Upcoming Event: June 1-3, Washington D.C. – America’s Future Now – Thom is on Radio Row. Omni Shoreham Hotel. In 2006 and 2008, we began to TAKE BACK AMERICA - Our new mission: mobilizing a progressive majority.
- Christine told the story of Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman killed in combat, in the same raid that Jessica Lynch was captured.
- Article: Obama To Ask Congress To 'Change' DADT...At 'Some Time'.
"The president has made his strategic intent very clear, that it's his intent at some point in time to ask Congress to change this law," Mullen said. "I think it's important to also know that this is the law, this isn't a policy. And for the rules to change, a law has to be changed" - Adm. Michael Mullen. - Lieutenant Dan Choi, Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, thrown out of the army for being gay. The president could suspend such cases by executive order. Admiral Mullen said Obama will act at some point.
- Bumper Music: Hero, Nickelback.
- Republicans like John Kyle threatening to filibuster the Supreme Court appointment. The party of no.
- Bumper Music: I'm against it, Groucho Marx.
- Clip:
Powell: But Guantanamo has caused us a great deal of trouble throughout the world. And Mr. Cheney the other day said, well, we’re doing it to satisfy European intellectuals or something like that.POWELL: No. We’re doing it to reassure Europeans, Muslims, Arabs, all the people around the world that we are a nation of law. It isn’t so much Guantanamo. It’s the people at Guantanamo. How do we deal with them? We can’t keep them locked up forever. This business about making the country less safe by bringing these people to our prison system, we have got two million people in jail in America. The highest incarceration rate in the world. And they all had lawyers. They had all had access to the writ of habeas corpus and they’re all in jail.
And I don’t know, Bob, if you’ve ever seen some of these prison reality shows on television where they show you what a super lock-up is. I’m not terribly about worried one of these guys going to a super lock-up and being ...
Schieffer: So you think they can be brought here and kept safely without posing any damage?
Powell: Yes. Yes.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell Responds to Republican Critics on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’. - Clip:
Sen. Durbin: Let me say--if you, if you step back and take a look at history for a moment, you will find the message we just heard from Mr. Gingrich, from Vice President Cheney and Mr. Rush Limbaugh to be the same, it's a message of fear: "Be afraid, be very afraid." And to say that this president is not doing everything in his power to keep America safe is just as irresponsible as anything I've ever heard said on your program. This president is dedicated to the safety of America. He has said clearly that he's not going to allow a single dangerous person to be released in the United States or be in a position to harm us. He's doing everything night and day to keep us safe. But let's look at what we have here. The president said in his speech--he didn't question the motives of those like Vice President Cheney, who thought they were keeping America safe. The fact is, in a way it didn't work. Guantanamo became an inspiration for recruiting terrorists around the world. At the end of the day, it was President Bush in his second term who abandoned the Cheney approach, who said, "We're not going to use torture. We're going to close down Guantanamo because it isn't working to keep America safe." Now, I just want to tell you, when people like General Colin Powell step forward and say to us, "Put torture behind us and close Guantanamo," I believe they are on the right track. Here's a person who served our nation in the military and on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he believes we can keep America safe with a much better approach. And this notion somehow that President Obama is not keeping America safe has been rejected by the American people. They trust his leadership.Rep. Gingrich: Let me just say, I think people should be afraid. I think the lesson of 1993, the first time they bombed the World Trade Center, was fear is probably appropriate. I think the lesson of Khobar Towers, where American servicemen were killed in Saudi Arabia, was fear is probably appropriate. I think the lesson of the two embassy bombings in east Africa was fear is probably appropriate. I think the lesson of the Cole being bombed in Yemen was fear is probably appropriate. I'll tell you, if you aren't a little bit afraid after 9/11 and 3,100 Americans killed inside the United States by an effort, if you weren't worried about the second-wave attack that was designed to take out the biggest building in Los Angeles, I think that, that you are out of touch with reality.
'Meet the Press', May 24, 2009. - Republicans have no coherent policy, have loons like Michelle Malkin, Michael Steele, Bobby Jingle, Virginia Foxx, Rush, Hannity, now Cheney is out there. Colin Powell moderate, disagreed with Cheney on Face the Nation. Whenever anyone intelligent like Powell says anything, they jump on him. On 'Meet the Press' Newt Gingrich saying to be afraid, Durbin said, "to say that this president is not doing everything in his power to keep America safe is just as irresponsible as anything I've ever heard said on your program". Liz Cheney.
- Navajo Code Talkers.
- Guest: Kenneth "Ken" Davis, author, "Don't Know Much About" series, "America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation". Memorial Day. The Navajo code talkers were called wind talkers. There was a lousy (historically) movie with Nicholas Cage, look at the real history not Hollywood. History is not boring. Heard on the radio, "Memorial Day mattress sale day", so disrespectful. The tradition began during the Civil War of decorating the graves, when it was called Decoration Day, the first in 1868. It became a holiday later. Grand Army of the Republic. Veterans Day is for the living and the dead, today is about those who died in the line of duty. Obama sent wreaths to the confederate memorial and to the African American. It was a northern holiday, May 30 was chosen because the most flowers were in bloom in the north then. Southern states had their own confederate memorial days, confederate families used to be banned from Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day. The tomb of the unknown soldier has the remains of three soldiers, World War I, World War II and Korea. The one from Vietnam was identified and reinterred elsewhere. Arlington was Robert E Lee's land. At 3 o'clock local time have a remembrance minute of silence.
- Bumper Music: Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen (video).
- Labor segment...
- Article: Economic Report: Mass Layoffs Down in April.
"Mass layoffs were down across the United States in April. The number of Americans losing jobs through mass layoffs was 271,226 – down 28,162 since March. Those numbers were released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. The highest number of mass layoffs came from the manufacturing sector with accounted for 35 percent of such actions in April. " - Article: Economic Report: U.S. Workers Hardest Working People In Capitalism?
"American workers are overachievers. That seems to be what a new report from the Society for Human Resource Management suggests. According to the organization, 72 percent of Americans work through lunch each day so they can get more work done during the day. Another 70 percent of US workers surveyed say they often take their work home with them by doing additional work on projects at home." - Band of Brothers, HBO.
- We should be ashamed of how returning soldiers are treated, inadequate medical care and post service training. "Mission accomplished". They were used.
- Bumper Music: City Of Blinding Lights, U2 (video).
- Carl's mystery button featured Strom Thurman.
- Bumper Music: While You See A Chance, Steve Winwood (video).
- Article: Keith Olbermann pledges $10,000 donation because Mancow was waterboarded.
- Clip:
KURTZ: You seem not to be the most popular guy on Fox News these days. Sean Hannity...MAHER: Really? What changed?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I say this with Bill Maher, for example. Bill Maher has become an angry, bitter guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MAHER: No, he's an angry, bitter guy. That's called projecting. That's called taking what you feel and giving it to somebody else.
I'm a happy, single guy. He's a repressed, typical Republican.
You know, I'm sure just terribly sexually repressed. And it comes out in all their sorts of hatred and vile and bile.
You know, bitter? Why would I be bitter? First of all, our side won. You know, their side is in a wilderness like they've never been before.
CNN Reliable Sources, May 24, 2009 (video).
