Recent comments

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 28 weeks ago

    10k 27 th I have a hard time believing that. Why do millions want to move there if it's that bad. If you want to raise your middle class get rid of the 30 to 40 million illegals that are driving your wages down, and filling your schools and hospitals without paying any tax. There is more illegals there than the population of Canada.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 28 weeks ago

    10k 27 th I have a hard time believing that. Why do millions want to move there if it's that bad. If you want to raise your middle class get rid of the 30 to 40 million illegals that are driving your wages down, and filling your schools and hospitals without paying any tax. There is more illegals there than the population of Canada.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 28 weeks ago

    The richest country but the 27th overall middle class and counting downwards...that says it all!

    God save the President...the Fascist Regime!....the corpse media made you a MORON.

  • Bryan Fischer Says He’s a Homo-Realist not a Homophobe...   10 years 28 weeks ago

    What's Jesus got to do with it? He never had much to say about marriage, and nothing about gay marriage. Marriage isn't actually a conservative idea anyway. Liberals get married too sometimes, you know.

  • Is Ebola Our Biggest Threat?   10 years 28 weeks ago

    I learned today that, in Indianapolis, there have been 27 police vehicles stolen or broken into so far this year. Perhaps someone has figured out that turnabout is fair play.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 28 weeks ago

    The wealthy capital ownership class wants to OWN us completely. Paul Buchheit and Thom Hartmann dance around the REAL issue of concentrated ownership and offers no solutions to broaden ownership simultaneously with the growth of the economy. Instead more redistributive solutions are offered by the Democrats. The American people need to WAKE UP and all political parties need to embrace a new national policy direction that will empower ordinary Americans to become owners of wealth-creating, income-producing capital assets.

    The Republican Party's "free market" is one that is laissez-faire where things take their own course, without interfering. Of course, given the unjust system we are presently trapped in, this will ONLY further concentrate capital ownership among the already wealthy ownership class and further enslave people as wage slaves and welfare slaves. Instead what needs to happen is our leaders need to reform the system to provide equal opportunity access to insured, interest-free capital credit to simultaneously finance the building of a FUTURE regulated "free market" economy that can support general affluence for EVERY citizen while broadening personal ownership of newly formed capital assets whereby EVERY citizen is an OWNER.

    We need to finance our FUTURE using financial mechanisms (which the wealthy use) that would empower EVERY citizen to acquire ownership in FUTURE wealth-creating, income-producing capital assets. A key financial mechanism would be to provide equal access by EVERY citizen to insured, interest-free capital credit loans repayable with the FUTURE dividend earnings of the investment, without having to pledge past savings or equity or reduce one's standard of living.

    The solution is to adopt and implement the Capital Homestead Act (http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/capital-homestead-act-a-p... andhttp://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/capital-homestead-act-summary/) that will empower EVERY American citizen to become an owner of wealth-creating, income-producing capital assets simultaneously with the technological economic growth of the economy. The Capital Homestead Act is a key plank in the Unite America Party platform (published by The Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-reber/platform-of-the-unite-ame_b_547... as well as Nation Of Change athttp://www.nationofchange.org/platform-unite-america-party-1402409962 and OpEd News at http://www.opednews.com/articles/Platform-of-the-Unite-Amer-by-Gary-Rebe...).

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 28 weeks ago

    The one percent are in charge of changing things and they like things just the way they are. Redistribution of wealth has worked pretty good for them. We're doomed to buy half the world's products because nothing is made here.

  • Twitter fights for #FreeSpeech!   10 years 28 weeks ago

    The problem with the claim that "there has never been an incident of a plane crash occurring because the pilot was stoned" is that there is usually no way to determine that after the fact. Many crashes leave little but bits and pieces of bodies and debris...or they crash at sea...how can one determine the sobriety of a pilot if his little pieces are all scattered about with other little pieces of other bodies and crash debris?

    I think these pilots should all have to take frequent "pee in the cup" tests for other drugs as well. In addition, I think they should have an on-line hand-eye coordination test to help determine the pilot's ability to fly. Some states, maybe all states now, require our vehicles to pass smog tests. The mechanic inserts a probe into the tail pipe and the emissions results are transmitted to the state immediately. When public safety is concerned, I don't think it is too much to ask for those who have the responsibility for the lives of hundreds of people, who pay and rely on sober and skillfully trained pilots, to do their job in the interest of public safety. I know that drunken or drugged up pilots may not be a concern of some other drunks or druggies who abhor the thought of peeing in a cup but they, usually, never have to fly much themselves, I suspect.

    Here's a list of stories from Huffington Post of drunk or drugged up pilots who have been caught:
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/drunk-pilot/

    Here's a video of a drunken pilot as he was arriving at the airport. Disgusting!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGKhUJoC0qc

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPcYQaRyUlg

  • Thursday 9 October '14 show notes   10 years 29 weeks ago

    Redistribution is more complicated than, "let's give stuff to the undeserving!" (Perhaps a case along those lines could be made for banksters and insurance salesmen?) If tax proceeds are invested in development and support of the Commons, both the population in general and those employed directly thereby, benefit. Enhanced healthcare, transportation or manufacturing technology, affordable, first-rate education, a well-payed civil service, etc. etc. etc. can make our lives better as a nation. A maximum income sounds pretty good to me at this point. Increasing inequality is not a desirable system goal but it is what our current economy reliably produces.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    If Reaganomics is so bad why hasn't any body changed it in over 30 years. The answer is it works. Americans buy half of the worlds products. They can because they are taxed the least. When you redistribute wealth like European countries no one has anything left over to spend. They live in 600 sq/ft apartments , maybe have one car per family with tons of time off and no money go anywhere. I like our system. Not very many places in the world give you the opperatunity to achieve what ever you want yet you complain that some poeple make too much. I don't get it.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    My hair stands on end when I hear people repeat the mantra that the rich are wealthy because they've earned it! Many are wealthy because they inherited it (think Paris Hilton) and most are wealthy because they rip off the rest of us. When you have stagnant wages for 30 years, who do you think that is benefiting? When your boss engages in downsizing and you find yourself doing the work of two and even three people with no further remuneration, who do you think that benefits?

    It's a fact that Reagonomics has never worked and people are hurting because of it. It's hard to believe that people are buying into this "free market" rubbish from Milton Friedman and the rest of the clowns at the Chicago School of Economics but they are. Thomas Frank's book "What's the Matter with Kansas" goes a long way into explaining this, but people have to wake up. We can make a difference with campaign finance reform--getting the dark money out of our politics and voting in people who are not millionaires and are not from the revolving doors of Wall Street, the banks and big business. Think Bernie Sanders!

  • Boehner Finally Admits GOP Has No Jobs Plan   10 years 29 weeks ago

    These Repub's are weak minded if they truly believe voters cannot see through their "pandering to the wealthy." Let the real masses of voters sweep this nonsense out of the House & Senate, please. The USA has suffered long enough from Repub charades. Trickle down economics was Saint Ronnie's house of cards.

  • Daily Topics - Thursday October 9th, 2014   10 years 29 weeks ago

    shawnt56! you have shared awesome post, I visited links which you have mentioned in this short post. I think you must write some description about Daily Topics - Thursday October 9th, 2014, So, that everyone can understand the purpose of this post. I found a post on essay canada which slightly different from this post, this post having useful inforamtion.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    Just think of how many jobs that $270 billion would create and how many additional jobs we would create with this kind of domestic spending. It is mind boggling. The only jobs created by the rich are banking jobs in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. We need to get republican heads out of their asses and return to the tax rates in effect before Saint Raygun screwed the American people. The republicans have to be the dumbest bastards on the planet if they don't see this. Perhaps they are just arrogant, greedy pricks.

    Speaking of greedy arrogant pricks bring to mind Adolf Hitler. He wanted to make the entire world his own playground. But what about the American Fascists.

    Check this out:

    Google: "Henry A. Wallace The Danger of American Fascism"

    This is a piece by Henry A. Wallace which was published in the NY Times on April 9, 1944 titled The Dangers of American Fascism. It is frightening how close our country is to becoming a fascist dictatorship with the Koch Brothers or their paid republicans like Ted Cruz as dictators.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    BINGO PhilipHenderson! These mostly white male kleptofascist, war mongering psychopaths are destabilizing the world, as no other country has done since WWII. They are destroying democracy here in America and reducing us all to serfs. We're living under fascism now. And you can add pregnant women to their little hate list. - AIW

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    The leadership of the Republican Party is behaving as though they are a terrorist organization bent on destroying democracy in America. They seem not to like women, college students, African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, LGTB folk, Asian Americans, and seniors. I cannot understand what their end game is unless it is to turn our Government of the People to be a Plutocracy ruled by corporate CEO's.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    I hear ya, here's my rant

    Republicans think that Liberals want to tax the rich to support the poor. Of course this is wrong because regardless of race and political belief everyone wants to support themselves. Liberals realize that being poor in America means you are well off compared to being poor in many other countries but also realize that the minimum someone needs to get a job in America is not trivial, phone, Internet access, education, car or fare etc. Or maybe you don't need all that, maybe you can walk to a job at McDonalds, lucky you, but you contribute nothing to the economy because you only displaced someone else who may need food stamps. Liberals understand that having a job doesn’t always lift you out of poverty but it should. To get someone off the dole, they need to be paid more, get a better job, or create their own. Few people can create their own job so we suggest getting a passport and working at McDonalds in Germany for a few years so you can get a free college education. Then when you come back you can help rebuild the middle class that capitalism needs to thrive. Of course it’s easier to just take money from the rich and give it to the poor but only Republicans think that would work.

    Liberals are not indoctrinated with principles, they are indoctrinated with science and build principles.

  • The Real Redistribution   10 years 29 weeks ago

    I really don't think it's about wealth or greed, I believe it is more about lust for power and control. Georage Carlin said it best when he said they (the Wealthy) own us. They own all of us and merely give us the illusion of control by allowing us to vote in a completely spurious election. You think you have some say in an election ? "You Don't !" I believe we have outgrown the fantasy of election and realize it is now time for more deliberate effort at liberty. Non violent disobedience and resistance and hypervigilance will be required to gaine partial control of a perpetual struggle. Could that ever possibly take place after the last 40 years of dictatorship, deception, and mind control ? It's time we interupt the process. It is not necessary to be destructive. Just simple non cooperation will do fine. Then again...I'm a dreamer.

  • Why Another Fracking Train Explosion   10 years 29 weeks ago

    I think you are hearing "petroleum distillates" not "desolates". I just listened, yes, that is what you are hearing.

  • Why Another Fracking Train Explosion   10 years 29 weeks ago

    About 33 seconds into this Thom mentioned what sounded like "petroleum desolate". I am not familiar with this term. "Petroleum cresolate" is, I believe, the precipatate of petroleum processes and is extremely poisonous with a wide variety of toxic and complex chemical compounds.

    If you know what was actually said, I'd appreciate hearing/reading what you have to say.

    If you know what "petroleum desolate" is, if there is such a thing, I would love to have you educate me.

    We know petroleum is a powerful tool for creating desolation ... but I didn't know there was a specific compound for achieving this result.

  • Is Ebola Our Biggest Threat?   10 years 29 weeks ago

    Marc, if everyone who has ever written bad laws was brought up on criminal charges, the courts would be flooded with such cases. Much as I'd love to see that happen, I am not holding my breath. There are laws giving police license to steal your house, your car, etc. with no evidence of any crime, no charge or trial. Even in the case of drugs being found, it does not justify cops stealing everything you have. This is but one example, but a good one. - AIW

  • Twitter fights for #FreeSpeech!   10 years 29 weeks ago

    On one of his radio shows Thom said there has never (I repeat: never) been an incident of a plane crash occuring because the pilot was stoned. Like "voter fraud", this is a non-issue for those grasping at straws to "substantiate" a bogus argument based on fantasy. - AIW

  • Twitter fights for #FreeSpeech!   10 years 29 weeks ago

    That's why I switched to Twitter from FaceBook, when I heard FB was selling user's info. I also use only the search engine Mozilla, which is also committed to internet freedom and privacy.

    Someone has to protect the REAL humans--our own government cannot seem to do that.

  • The Ayn Rand Self-Obsessed Cult Has Run Amok!   10 years 29 weeks ago

    Lynn Stuart Parramore is obviously a narcisist.

    But, Rand would remind us that narcisism is technically an IRRATIONAL OVER-ASSESSMENT of oneself and one's abilities, so out of touch with reality that it poses a threat to oneself and others.

    Rand considerd herself a superior mind, with impeccable rational values, and unbreakable logicical ethics. "It ain't arrogant if you're actually that good"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand

  • The Ayn Rand Self-Obsessed Cult Has Run Amok!   10 years 29 weeks ago

    Wow! This is the most sophomoric misrepresentation of Ayn Rand in history. Lynn Stuart Parramore obviously never read any of Rand's work, but that does not stop her and Thom Heartmann from calling Ayn names and inaccurately blaming the dead atheist for all the evils of today's libertarian right.

    Rand's philosophical concept of 'SELFISHNESS', which would be better explained as 'Rational Self-Interest', was only one of the foundation stones of her Philosophy of Objectivism. Rand may have been a bit of a narcissist, but her philosophy was pure logic and internally consistent, to a fault. To call her a sociopath demonstrates both ignorance of the woman and her life's work, as well as a mean-spirited bias that amounts to vitriol.

    Unless you first love yourself, you can never love another. Unless you first value yourself, you can not value others, at least not rationally. It is simple logic that there is no such thing as 'altruism' or 'charity', those philanthropists who give to others are actually expressing that they find VALUE in whatever they are donating toward, there is NO Self-SACRIFICE. Even when a person risks their life for another, they are simply expressing their understanding that the other has a value, and then taking action based upon that belief.

    Rand's Philosophy, Objectivism, was a study of rational individualism and she valued self-reliance, but she was NOT a sociopath. I find it disgusting that this video attacks a dead woman, unable to defend herself. As an atheist and feminist, Ayn Rand is an inspiration. In expressing a very rational view, that 'selfishness' is a virtue or the idea of self-sacrifice is immoral,Rand has been demonized, by those who are either ignorant of her ideals, or unwilling to admit their true nature for fear of revealing their own irrational and unworthy value system to the light of reason.

    Rand's heroes required each individual to earn the love of others based upon merit of action, that does't seem to be a bad standard.

    Heartmann and Parramore are discussing the common definition of selfishness, while quoting Ayn Rand out of context and without any kind of reasoned analysis. Thom I'm embarrassed for you, you really need to have on a professional Rand Scholar or at least a Philosopher who can explain the concepts of Objectivism to you.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)

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