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Thom's blog
The Chamber of Commerce Supreme Court
You need to know this about the Supreme Court. If you think the radically pro-Chamber of Commerce decision reached in the Citizens United case was an anomaly, you’d be wrong. According to a new study by the Constitutional Accountability Center, since 2006, when Justice Alito joined the bench, the Roberts court has ruled in favor of the Chamber 68% of the time. This is an overwhelming increase compared to the 43% success rate of the Chamber under the previous Burger Court during the 1980’s. And in cases decided by a narrow 5-4 margin, basically down party lines on today’s court, the Chamber was even more successful – walking away with legal victories nearly three quarters of the time. Strikingly, Justice “not true” Alito has never, not even once, sided against the Chamber in a narrow margin decision – thanks for shopping with us, please come again. Its getting worse too. The most recent data, from October 2009, shows the Chamber enjoyed its highest rate of success winning 13 out of 16 cases heard that term. Showing the glaring divide on the court, the more moderate or liberal bloc of Justices only supported the Chamber on 15% of narrowly divided decisions. Unfortunately their opinion has now been drowned out by Chief Justice John Roberts who, with the assistance of his 4 other Republicans colleagues on the bench, have been successful in putting the highest court in the land firmly under the employ of the US Chamber of Commerce. They’re now on the payroll along with the United States Congress. Let’s see who wins the Employee of the Month award.
-Thom
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Community Square
" On a Dream...."
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To upload an image click on the "add new blog post" link over at the community. |
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Free Speech TV to Provide Live Coverage of the Midterm Elections from Broadcast Centers in New York, Washington, DC and Denver.
Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, Laura Flanders, Marc Steiner and Gloria Neal to Host.
Free Speech TV (FSTV) will broadcast live coverage of the upcoming midterm elections from broadcasting centers in New York, Washington, DC and from their headquarters in Denver. The coverage is scheduled to air on November 2nd, 2010 from 8:00 pm - 2:00 am EST on DISH Network channel 9415, DIRECTV channel 348 and streaming online at FREESPEECH.ORG, featuring Facebook, Twitter, live chat interactive tools, and as well as audience-submitted videos.
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 "If you're looking for something that connects the dots between the BP oil disaster, the harm it's done to the Gulf of Mexico and the people paying the price, this book is it. In a clear and compelling voice, it explains the worst environmental catastrophe of our time, then shows the way forward to protect this national treasure, safeguard our future and break our destructive addiction to oil." |
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Watch Thom's new show on the RT channel called the Big Picture, or stream it live from 9 to 10pm, and it repeats at 11. You can catch the shows you have missed on Youtube.
Tonight: Is the Supreme Court the CoC's employee of the month? |
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The Daily Stack 
Quote: "Ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors to bullets." -- Abraham Lincoln.
Hour One: It's a special Wednesday edition of "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will be here with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...
Hour Two: where did the real "fair and balanced" news media go?, Thom has a rumble with Dan Gainor, Vice President & T. Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Business and Media Institute.
Hour Three: The Best of the Rest of the News with Thom.
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Coming up on The Thom Hartmann Program
Hour Two: First it was violence on tv, then violence in video games...now it's violence in sports....has it gotten out of hand? Nation sports writer Dave Zirin, author of "Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love", will be here...
Hour Three: military recruits are too fat to serve and soda is getting part of the blame...should the military ban it? NY Times food columnist Mark Bittman will be here...
And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program... your media support group for we the people.
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Show Info
Call Thom on the show at 1-866-987-THOM (8466) (0870 974 9686 from the UK, +1 503 796 2324 from outside the US or UK).
Sign up for Thom's podcasts.
Come on over to the free chat room, where Thom hangs out during the show.
Join in the discussions on Thom's free message board.
Blog or upload videos or audios at Thom's community.
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The deterioration of news media
There was a time in America when radio and TV stations and networks actually broadcast the actual news – instead of infotainment – because the law required them to do so. From the 1920s, when radio really started to go big in the US, until Reagan rolled it back in 1987, federal communications law required a certain amount of “public service” programming in order for radio and television stations to retain their licenses. The biggest way they proved they were providing a public service and meeting the requirements of the Fairness Doctrine was by broadcasting the news.
After Reagan blew up the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, two very interesting things happened: the rise of right-wing hate-speech talk radio, starting with Rush Limbaugh that very year, and the money-losing news divisions of the Big Three TV networks were taken under the wings of their entertainment divisions, and wrung dry. Foreign bureaus were closed. Reporters were fired. Stories that promoted the wonders of advertisers or other companies (like movie production houses) owned by the same mega-corporations that owned the networks, began to appear. And investigative journalism that cast a bright light on corporate malfeasance vanished. Today, the news media is an abject failure when it comes to reporting the real news, news that citizens in a democracy need to know.
Learn more about how much has changed and how to change it back in chapter four, "An Informed and Educated Electorate" Order Rebooting the American Dream now! (On Kindle too) |
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Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow urgently. Please help if you can. |
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Radio Talk Show Host Rick Amato Weighs in on Tea Party on Politico's Arena
Is BP slaughtering the West's Wild Horses? With Madeleine Pickens
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Watch the 2nd & 3rd hours and a special half hour on
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