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Thom's blog
Goodbye, Democracy - Hello, American Oligarchs and Oligopoly
According to the Center for Responsive Politics – lobbying money actually went down last year. After a record high of $2.5 billion spent in 2009 to influence Members of Congress – there was a slight drop off in 2010. Does that mean lobbying went down – or was the bar just set too high in the middle of the health reform debate? Or something else that nobody's discussing? The President of the American League of Lobbyists blamed the poor economy for the slight decline in lobbying dollars. But the dirty little secret - the unspoken reality - is that since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the door to unlimited election spending directly on TV by corporations and billionaires – laundering that money through is increasingly obsolete. Instead – transnational corporations, billionaires, and foreign governments just cut out the middleman and buy their own candidates for elected office. Goodbye, Democracy - Hello, American Oligarchs and Oligopoly.
-Thom
(What do you think will happen now? Tell us here.) |
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Contest!
Get "Screwed" by Thom Hartmann!
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 9pm and 11pm... Egypt - democracy by the people? How has Mubarak held power for 30 years? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Need to Know: Egypt - democracy by the people? How has Mubarak held power for 30 years? With Professor Stephen Zunes, professor of politics; Chair-Program in Middle Eastern Studies-University of San Francisco; contributor-Foreign Policy in Focus.
Doesn't Egypt prove the insanity of a well-armed populace? If Egypt had an NRA, blood bath vs. demonstration? With Seton Motley, President of Less Government.
Topic: Reporters being rounded up in Egypt With Clothilde Le Coz, Washington Director-Reporters w/out Borders.
Screwed: Could we still be screwed out of health care? Drop in $ spent on lobbyists...buy your own pet politician? Who are the American oligarchs?
The Best of the Rest of the News...
Voter Intimidation-how the right gets rid of voters they don't like With Ryan J. Reilly, Reporter, TPM.
Crazy Alert: Boehner Boner?.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Daily Take: They're going the right way and we're going the wrong way: Brazil looks at adding 'happiness' to constitution
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Read Thom's Book for Free!
Now you can read all of Thom Hartmann's " Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country" for free online. Truthout is publishing weekly installments over 12 weeks. Read the Conclusion: Tag, You're It! today. |
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The Daily Stack 
Quote: "No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority." -- Thomas Jefferson to New London Methodist, 1809.
Hour One: Doesn't Egypt prove the insanity of a well-armed populace? Thom debates John Lott, PhD, Gun Rights Advocate/Economist/Fox News Contributor/Author-"More Guns, Less Crime".
Hour Two: Why is the lobbying industry in recession...?!
Tweet: "Govt is trying to round up journalists. I worry about what it is they're planning that they don't want us to see" by Nicholas Kristof.
Hour Three: MTV's "Repo Men" - the new face of the free market? Thom has a rumble with Dan Gainor
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Coming up Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program
Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "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 Three: "My Father at 100" Thom talks to Ron Reagan about his new book.
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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Watch & Listen to Thom
Lobbyist's hit list
Fox News' October Surprise
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 Would you like to help give a child with a very troubled background this feeling of peace? Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? |
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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).
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