the Thom Hartmann Program - Nov 25th 2008
Quote: "There's the country of America, which you have to defend, but there's also the idea of America. America is more than just a country, it's an idea. An idea that's supposed to be contagious." - Bono, 2002
Hour One - Roni Deutch Attorney/tax expert www.ronideutch.com Topic: Economic crisis and your 401K, should you cash it out or ride the market waves?
Hour Two – Should we ban fast-food TV ads if it means saving our children? No more “I’m Loving It!”
Hour Three - Mark Anderson www.stratnews.com Topic: Did Japan just drop an economic neutron bomb on the West?
Although its the worst movie ever,
Best Lawyer Ive ever seen!!!! Isn't Roni Doitch from my Springfield?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwIiyvdH4TE
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By MadgardnerNovember 25, 2008 - 3:07pmOoo, banned from chat.
Thom, you have to talk to her about that. She over-reacted. Until then. I guess Ill just have to blog a lot more often then. Have a good'n.
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By MadgardnerNovember 25, 2008 - 3:09pmI even know why it wasnt me in the wrong...
A chat post only allows 4 1/2 lines or 5. So any joke consisting of a whole paragraph looks like Im posting profanity over and over again, and its all just one bit, broken up into many postings... And thats why she's wrong.
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By MadgardnerNovember 25, 2008 - 3:32pmTax Policy
Joe B from Seattle
Hey Thom,
I was pretty disappointed in Roni Doitch's response to your correlation of tax increases to economic growth. It's an idealogue who believes in reduced taxes in any case. Unfortunatley, that's who's been running the country for many year. I believe in marginal analysis. The marginal value of a dollar should drive the analysis. You mentioned the casino mentality. When you have more than enough dollars to spend it's human nature to value each additional dollar less. When you have more than enough food the next chicken nugget isn't worth as much as the first.
On another note, I would like to see a stimulus plan that utilizes systems already in place. How about eliminating the payroll tax? That would put money in the pockets of businesses and consumers immediately. And in equal dollars to the often polarized interests. But I think having a payroll tax when the "trust fund" is being raided to pay the current deficit is idiotic anyway. But the poor pay more that way which is why it's setup the way it is.
Or, how about using the already established and govenment owned trading desks at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to buy all of these worthless securities? I worked for Freddie in the late 90's. They have the processes and procedures locate, analyze and purchase anything that's traded on any market. Hmmmm... No, let's create another beaurocracy staffed by wall street greed mongers to run the TARP.
Thanks for another great show by the way.
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By joebeyer99November 25, 2008 - 4:43pmMark Anderson interview was super! Thanx Thom!
Boy, that Mark Anderson interview was so good. I wanted it to be longer and more detailed and explanatory for the economy novices like myself. I hope you'll bring him back again soon and go over these occurrences in a more narrative fashion.
Very interesting! Thank you.
====
The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.--Eleanor Roosevelt
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By noraNovember 26, 2008 - 1:40amAt least I never went this direction....
cause this was your other option....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4A5xoGDBJg
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By MadgardnerNovember 26, 2008 - 10:13amWhat my teachers told me in the school--in the '50s
Considering how the taxation level was in the "bad old days" (if you are very rich), I wondered by the divivends checks were low relative to the the profits. The teacher told me that they plowed their profits back into the firm to develop and improve the product.
The stock holders and board members weren't sufftering, but their incomes were hardly stupendous. In fact, the word was that these "rich people" were really stingy. They watched what they spent because indeed, they weren't "that rich". As well, if I recall one of the benfits of being somewhere up the ladder included memberships at golf clubs, company cars, and an "expense account", stuff that the corporation could deduct from their income tax bill. The Foundations, too, were another beneficiary of the profits, also, tax deductable.
In those days it wasn't the "rich get rich and the poor . . . ", but everybody worked, everybody earned a living wage, and if they got into debt it was because they were spendthrifts. Today, . . . companies share their wealth with the stock holders and board members and look for government handouts and bid free contracts. There is a story I read in a atutobiography of the late Justice William Douglas who commented about a conversation with a leading capitalist as they saw people working at public services complainign about "socialism". Justice Douglas replied "I recall a few years the govenment helped you--isn't that Socialism for the Rich?"
Interesting that Ike was the prez. He was a Republican, too, and . . . what would be so wrong about going back to those "Happy Days".
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By d2343@012.net.ilNovember 28, 2008 - 4:42am