A Special Holiday Message From Thom Hartmann

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 03:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFWW2UyF_Aw   Posted on YouTube: December 25, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 27, 2009 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 5339

 
The Thom Hartmann Program can be heard daily M-F 12-3pm ET. Visit www.thomhartmann.com to listen live, join the community or purchase a podcast.

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Hi Thom..

Glad you're here, would appreciate a transcript of your holiday message. The reason I'm asking that there are some deaf DU'ers here. :)

[inna]

5. and some DUers sans sound on their computers, like moi.

:(


KR and :yourock: , anyway, Thom! :)

[thomhartmann]

30. Per your request, here's the text version (and thanks everybody for the kind words)...

The gift our country needs this Holiday season is an economy that serves us instead of us just serving those who own or control most of the economy.

Professor Thomas Kochan at MIT’s Sloan School of Management is reporting that economic productivity of the American worker rose by 8.1 percent in the third quarter, but pay did not. Instead, at this holiday time – and pretty much continuously since Reagan declared war on working people in 1981- wages are stagnating and workers are stressed out with larger workloads while fearing for their jobs.

We need policies that bring our jobs back home and make it possible for us to return to buying American.

American’s often judge George Washington harshly because he kept slaves. At least he looked into the eyes of his slaves. He knew their names. We here in American still have slaves, but we pretend we don’t because we don’t see them. We instead have sociopathic CEOs running our largest companies and political hacks like Tom Delay who lock OUR slaves away in overseas, unsafe, grimy factories, working under conditions that we would never inflict on our children or our neighbors. We haven’t ended slavery in the United States – we’ve merely exported it. And we should end it, while returning our jobs to America.

We also need to invest in our infrastructure, and not just the obvious physical things like our old bridges and trains but more importantly our human infrastructure. Like most fully industrialized countries we must go back to times before Reagan ended free college in California and make it, at the very least, affordable again so our children aren’t graduating with the chains of decades of debt repayment around their necks.

We must “cool our planet’s fever” with the introduction of a carbon tax to help save the planet.

We must continue to push for “Medicare Part E – Everybody” – so we can rebuild the social safety net to encourage entrepreneurialism – and along those lines let’s fix the bankruptcy bill, and strengthen social security.

Finally, we need to think of work differently. Lincoln once said that labor is superior to capital because it precedes it. Nobody gets rich until somebody makes something. We once had an economy that valued laborers – the true producers of wealth – and the middle class. Because of our income tax code in the years before Reagan, the lowliest worker rarely made less than 30 or 40 times the top person. After Reagan’s draconian tax cuts on millionaires and billionaires, we now have CEOs who routinely make hundreds to thousands of times what their workers do. We must roll back the Reagan tax cuts to restore fiscal sanity and fairness.

And don’t forget to help pass the Employee Free Choice Act — it’s coming along soon, and labor needs your help.

You know. almost everything on this gift list was, in their day, enthusiastically endorsed by Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. And Barry Goldwater. And Richard Nixon. Somehow this country went insane in 1981 when Reagan took power and declared that “greed was good” and America was to be reinvented.

Now we’ve seen the results of 30 years of Reaganomics, and it’s been a disaster. It’s time for some real change that we can believe it… change consistent with basic human values and the core teachings of all the world’s religions.

Happy holidays to you and yours…

Thom

[bobbolink]

39. You're right, they are invisible. And so are homeless people, including invisible to

"progressives".

But, that won't be addressed anytime soon.

:cry: How many must die on the streets first?

[Overseas]

2. K&R. Thank you ! //nt

[HowHasItComeToThis]

3. WHILE YOU ARE AT IT

DESTROY THE "TEMPORARY HELP" INDUSTRY.

CORPORTIONS USE THEM TO AVOID TAXES AND BENEFITS

[WhoIsNumberNone]

13. Absolutely

I worked at Discovery Channel for about a year and a half, and about 70% of their workforce were supplied by an outside staffing agency- and there was quite a difference in the way the Discovery's employees were compensated vs the long-term temps.

It's also much easier to get rid of contractors once you are done with them- or when the CEO needs a big bonus for "increasing productivity" (i.e. firing as many people as possible to reduce payroll, thereby increasing short-term profits) Our CEO made $18 Mil in 2007- including a $3 Million performance bonus.

[Cleita]

4. Happy Holdays Thom.

I always enjoy your on the spot messages.

[Snarkoleptic]

6. Thom Hartmann - The Smartest Guy on Radio

Keep up the good work!

[silenttigersong]

7. Thanks Thom..

# 1 Intellectual on radio.:toast:

[bjobotts]

8. Though I hate when you threaten repub wins if dems don't deliver you're still the best on the radio.

[bjobotts]

9. We all have learned so much from you and love you but no one wants to bring back Bushies

[bjobotts]

11. We just need better dems and a change in the senate filibuster rule.

That is the main problem. We have 51 dem senators who would get the good legislation passed but our government has been corrupted by this one rule.

We could never get campaign finance change or anything else as long as that rule is in place...please note that it is not the dem party...but the filibuster rule that is screwing up all legislation.

Repubs use it to obstruct and dems use it to avoid responsibility. We cannot progress til it is changed or done away with...and don't say we will regret it if repubs get back in power...because dems never abused the filibuster rule ever...and repubs have not changed at all from the party that nearly destroyed America when in power. Just keep harping on how badly the governed when they had the chance...never even tried to change Roe v Wade 'cause it gets them elected to harp about how they will...but only in Southern states.

Plus trying to blend in with tea baggers for a common goal is like trying to blend in with the "brownshirts" or Nazis to limit government spending...It's not what they really want or what thewy are really about. They cannot even carry on a conversation that makes sense when asked how or what they want changed. They just want to kill liberals and progressives. Know thy enemy Thom...they don't want compromise...just their own way...then they shut their ears off. Just look who their heroes are...they have been cultivated by propaganda, misinformation and hate. Makes you want to cry. Love ya Thom and never miss a show...not for years...so glad you are in the world...celebrations to all.

[valerief]

28. There are no better dems. We need a few extremely wealthy people to take pity on us.

They need access to our war machine first and foremost. Then they can build green industries with that protection, put a lot of people to work, and buy Congress with their success. If we're gonna be owned by industries, at least let them be green ones.

Of course, we'll never get extremely wealthy people to take pity on us and the war machine will never be relinquished by its current owners.

[bleever]

10. Thom, you keep making progress on making democracy mainstream.

It's an uphill battle, but thanks to people like you, we're reclaiming humanity's best hope.

[bjobotts]

12. Agreed.Well said. Thom shows us the corportocracy that is trying to swallow our democracy

[Greyhound]

14. Big K&R.

"Labor is superior to capital", a hard-won lesson we've forgotten.

I miss hearing this show every day.

[Jack Rabbit]

15. Thank you, Mr. Hartmann

I hope you had a merry Christmas.

[Misskittycat]

16. Hi Thom. I listen to you every day while I work from my home office.

I know you often specifically refer to DU. Glad to see you posting here.

I learn something new from you every day; thanks so much for that gift.

[change_notfinetuning]

17. Happy Everything, Thom, and thanks for making the world a smarter place.

suggested New Years Resolution:

If the South wants to secede in 2010, let's resolve to let them this time.

[unapatriciated]

29. There are a few us that would have liked that during b**h

not so much now.
You could always move here and help us change the south. :hi:

[change_notfinetuning]

37. The problem is not the few like you. The problem is the majority that elects

people like Cleland and the rest of of the southern bloc in Congress that has helped de-rail the U.S. over the last 30 years, and makes it almost impossible to do the right thing and get this country back on track. Because of this southern bloc, which considers moderates to be far-left socialists, every vote in Congress starts out so far in the hole, that to pass a good bill requires not only a super majority, but a super-duper majority of everyone else.

Now, I personally like the south. Who wouldn't like a place that has a Waffle House on each side of the freeway at the same exit? We can't even get one up here. But seriously, I have been to the south many, many times, usually on business, but always went by car and not always on the interstates. I saw interesting places, great scenery, and met many great people who couldn't have been any nicer to me or friendlier. The problem, though, is the outcome of your elections.

So while I appreciate the invitation to move there and help change things, I think it would be better, and a faster fix, if some of you would move up here. It wouldn't take that many blue southerners to relocate to Ohio and Missouri and turn these swing states into blue states. Or, for those who don't mind the cold, how about Wyoming and Montana, so sparsely populated that one good migratory season could change the whole state's complexion? The plains states, also on the small side, population-wise, but typically red, could also be a good option. Look at this as an adventure, a blue Manifest Destiny, if you will.

So please consider relocating to the north, an easier task than changing the south. And, if you do, please bring a few Waffle Houses. I'll even eat the grits.

[unapatriciated]

40. lol, thanks for the invite but I have to confess

I have only lived here for three years and am looking forward to going home to cali and taking my home state back from Arrnald.
You are correct about the difficulty in changing the south. During this last election I had some hope not so much now.

Now about those Waffle Houses not my favorite thing about the south, but I do like cheese grits.
This is one of the restaurants I prefer and will miss when we move back to Cali.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_239mZ55pig

I will also miss our little home and it will be difficult to duplicate at a price we can afford in California.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJcfskosWa0

[change_notfinetuning]

43. Actually, we're looking forward to getting back to California, too. Just a few

more years 'til the kids are done with school. Your snow video reminded me of how it was the best of both worlds. Living in southern California, you could drive to the snow in the morning, and come back and hit the beach in the afternoon. Not like here in Hell Frozen Over, IL.

[Dinger]

18. Excellent As Always. Let's Make It Happen

Yesterday.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

19. Thanks Thom

Happy Holidaze. Keep up the great work.

[bfarq]

20. Eisenhower, Nixon, and Goldwater

That point needs to be reinforced. Soon, the majority of voters will not have been alive when Nixon was still in office. All most of them have seen was the celebration of selfishness and greed that comes from 30 years of fascist policies, practiced in the main by both parties. This is not conservatism. It is fascism.

Maybe there are some older voters who can be brought to see the reality of today's world by remembering these three Republicans.

All you need to know about the change that has happened is to ask yourself this question. If the next President were to be a Republican, which of the prominent Republicans would you prefer over Nixon?

For me, it is a no-brainer. I'd rather have Nixon than any of them. As an aside, Nixon's Watergate crime is minuscule compared to the stuff Cheney and Bush did.

[laughingliberal]

25. Agree. How far right have we gone when people who are no more liberal than Nixon are now considered

the 'looney left?'

[bluestateboomer]

21. Thanks Thom!

[Krashkopf]

22. And, So it Is.

Thanks Thom.

[zeemike]

23. You always do it for me Thom.

And that is because you present your arguments with a calm and insightful observations and information.
You really need a TV show like Oberman or Madow. I hope you are working toward that and that someone will give you the chance. you could be very effective.

[SalviaBlue]

24. Thanks for what you do, Thom. I am a loyal listener.

I really appreciate your approach to our cuurent politics. Keep up the good work!!

[sellitman]

26. Thom Hartmann for President!

Common sense for the common man.

Nobody I respect more than Mr Hartmann

Nobody.

[valerief]

27. Kick! We love you, Thom!!!!

:kick:

[omega minimo]

31. So when Reagan was elected and I wondered "Are people insane?" the answer was YES!

Thanks Thom. If the media diet gets down to one voice only, it's yours.

[GreenTea]

32. Thanks Thom.........

[BlueJac]

33. Thanks so much for being there everyday Thom....

you are the greatest teacher I have ever had and I am 59 years old. Keep up the good work. Happy Holidays!

[eridani]

34. thomhartman? Doesn't this guy have a suspiciously low post count?

:sarcasm:

[ProgressOnTheMove]

35. This is the State of the Union speech we've been waiting for, I feel one day we will.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

36. ...

...

[Doctor_J]

38. All well and good, but how?

Everyone at DU knows what is needed, but it is quite clear that we don't count in DC. 70% of the public want everyone to have health care, but we can't even get a sniff at it. the public is anti-war, pro-infrastructure, pro-green, pro-health care. The government is none of these.

I love your program, Thom, but we need solutions.

[Mari333]

41. WOW knr

wonderful. true. thanks.

[mmonk]

42. Thanks for the gift. You hit the nail on the head.

[gtar100]

44. kick

Thank you, Thom, for all you do.