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Thom's blog
Thursday was the first day of the 113th Congress
In the House, John Boehner was narrowly elected to his second term as Speaker – surviving a revolt by a handful of Tea Party Republicans. But the action is in the Senate, where the battle for filibuster reform is heating up. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid brought the Senate into session yesterday, then immediately recessed it until later this month, keeping alive the option to reform the filibuster in a few weeks with a simple majority vote. That gives time for Senators Jeff Merkley and Tom Udall to whip up support for their plan to bring back the talking filibuster, which will force Senators to actually stand on the floor and talk the entire time they wish to filibuster.
Meanwhile, a group of bipartisan Senators led by John McCain are trying to kill filibuster reform, with a watered down version that will actually make the problem even worse. That’s because Republicans know there filibustering over the last few years has meant big money for their corporate donors. As the Public Campaign Action Fund found, huge money from corporate America, including Big Oil and Wall Street, is fueling the filibusters to make sure their tax rates stay low, their subsidies keep flowing, and that regulations are kept to a minimum. In other words, the filibuster is very profitable for Corporate America, which is why Republicans are desperately trying to keep it.
But if Democrats want any chance at taking back the House of Representatives in two years, then its critical they take up the Merkley-Udall plan, and reform the filibuster to finally get some good, progressive legislation passed out of the upper chamber. Stay tuned.
-Thom
(What do you think? Tell us here.) |
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... Bigger Picture - Filibuster Abuse & Reform (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
Bigger Picture - Filibuster Abuse & Reform- Kurt Walters, Public Campaign Action Fund  - Bob Edgar, Common Cause - Shane Larson, Communication Workers of America (CWA)
The Big Picture Rumble:- Stewart Acuff, Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) / Author "Playing Bigger Than You Are" - Marc Harrold, Libertarian Commentator / Attorney / Author "Observations of White Noise…an ‘Acid Test’ for the First Amendment". - Vince Coglianese, Daily Caller 
Daily Take: Wanna buy a lifetime of disaster insurance for you & your family?
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The Daily Stack 
Hour One: The case against billionaires- Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Manhattan Institute, former Chief Economist of the U.S. Dept of Labor
The Big Picture- Sam Sacks, The Big Picture producer, progressive commentator
The Case Against Billionaires
Hour Two: Do we need armed teachers?- Noel Flasterstein, Attorney & host-The Gun Show
Article: " 2nd Amendment". "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Geeky Science - Hitting streaks in baseball may be contagious
Article: " Declaration of Independence". "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our legislatures."
Hour Three: 2013 - extreme austerity here we come
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Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
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 Two: Wanna buy a lifetime of disaster insurance for you & your family?
Hour Three: Anything Goes on Townhall Friday
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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Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
America's fiscal cliff battle may be over but the war on the debt ceiling is just getting started...we'll have the latest...
Plus, how are our neighbors to the north really doing under the thumb of their conservative government? We'll check in with a progressive Canadian economist for details...
And, we'll have the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Did GOP delay the Sandy relief vote because they're mad at Gov. Christie?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
It's Time to Get Serious about Outlawing Billionaires
Get Geeky on Being Successful!
Your Take/My Take - Pregnant & Fired?
Can For-Profit Corporations have a Religion?
Should teachers pack heat in our children's classrooms?
Rep. Dennis Kucinich...Congress Hearts Austerity
Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 1/3/13: The Case Against Billionaires
Thom talks with former Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich about the austerity obsessed members of Congress. Also discussed: Ohio's push for arming their teachers, whether corporations should be allowed to push their religious beliefs on their employees and Thom takes viewer phone calls in "Your Take, My Take Live." In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom continues his "No Billionaires" campaign.
Thom Hartmann on The News - January 3, 2013
Caller: Fort Hood Shooting Not a Good Comparison
Caller: There Can Be Only One FaceBook, Google
Caller: Slavery Wasn't Just a Southern Problem
Getting America Back on Track
Caller: Rags-to-Riches No Longer Possible in America
Time For a Wealth Tax
The Case Against Billionaires
Caller: I've Experienced Racism Firsthand
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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? Now on Facebook. |
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Show Info
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