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Thom's blog
The Middle Class Needs More Than Talking Points
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been talking a lot about the middle class. But, that talk is cheap as long as their in bed with Wall Street.
Six years ago, our economic system came crashing down thanks to those degenerate gamblers and their bankster buddies. That crash left 23 million Americans without jobs and got one million families kicked out of their homes, but our legislators are actually helping Wall Street set up this same house of cards all over again.
According to a recent article by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, “the middle class can't be saved unless Wall Street is tamed.” As Secretary Reich explains, the banks that brought down our economy have only gotten bigger since the financial crash.
Back in 2000, the five largest banks in our country held 25 percent of all America's banking assets, and today they hold almost half. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve continues to keep interest rates near zero, which means that Wall Street can borrow money cheaper than ever, and use it to gamble on high-risk bets.
Too-big-to-jail banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan worked hard to keep financial regulations like Dodd-Frank from having any real bite, and now they've managed to wipe out what little protection that regulation provided to the American people.
Members of Congress and 2016 presidential hopefuls have been swept up in a wave of talking points about saving the middle class, but they're not doing anything to stop the monster that destroyed it in the first place. And, they're unlikely to do anything that might weaken the stream of corporate cash that flows in to their campaigns.
Until our legislators put Main Street ahead of Wall Street, they won't risk upsetting the banksters, and all their claims about saving the middle class will be nothing but talk. It's up to us to remind them that talk is cheap, and we want to see some action when it comes to regulating Wall Street.
-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Professor Derald Wing Sue PhD, Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)
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Friday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joins Thom 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... Follow Bernie:     campaign site.
Quote: " They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution." - The Danger of American Fascism" by Henry A. Wallace. Speech: " Madison Square Garden Speech", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 31, 1936. " I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master." Speech: " Madison Square Garden Speech", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 31, 1936. " We have not come this far without a struggle and I assure you we cannot go further without a struggle." Speech: " Madison Square Garden Speech", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 31, 1936. " They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred"
Hour Two: Honduras, failed libertarian economics
Speech: " Fireside Chat", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 14, 1938. " The first duty of government is to protect the economic welfare of all the people in all sections and in all groups."
Hour Three: Anything Goes Friday!
Speech: " Fireside Chat", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 14, 1938. " I repeated to the Congress today that neither it nor the Chief Executive can afford to weaken or destroy great reforms which, during the past five years, have been effected on behalf of the American people." |
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Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET
I'll be debating a new 'Citizens’ Mandate' with Gayle Trotter of the Independent Women's Forum
And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
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Watch & Listen to Thom
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Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 1/29/2015: The Real U.S. Deficit
In tonight’s show, Thom talks with America’s Lawyer and host of “Ring of Fire” radio, Mike Papantonio about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s indictment and Perry as a republican presidential candidate. Thom and Pap discuss Speaker Boehner’s rogue invitation to Israeli PM Netanyahu and why it’s illegal.
Wendell Potter, author of Deadly Spin, discusses with Thom the implications of Indiana’s Medicaid reform and the future of the Affordable Care Act. John Rumpler of Environment America joins Thom on set to discuss Scotland’s fracking ban and if the United States should do the same. New York State Republican Party Director of Communications David Laska debates Thom over the real deficit problem in the U.S.
Want to Write Your Own Laws? Buy A Town In Honduras!
West Virginia Legislators Take Queue From China
The Libertarian Experiment Unraveling in Honduras
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Why Did George Washington Want An American Made Suit?
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Stanford Scientists: FCC Should Adopt Open Internet Rules
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