The Real News: Thom Hartmann on Obama.

Run time: 07:26 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxUO0fZUx1Y   Posted on YouTube: June 06, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: June 06, 2009 By DU Member: Joe the Liberal Views on DU: 9999

 
Thom sit down and talks with The Real News about Obama.

and to take those jobs overseas.

And unfortunately, the rest of us are going to regret that, too.

GM must be allowed to ship all of their jobs overseas so that they can make a bigger profit. CEO bonuses doesn't come from employed Americans. :sarcasm:

do you do all those subject lines and no Messages because there is a problem somehow with your computer, or do you think you'll be read more if you put your entire message in a long series of Subject Titles?


...cause I'll tell ya the truth, for me at least, when I see an entire string of your subject lines I just skip them. It's irritating and comes out disjointed.

Conversely, I read all the Subjects & their Messages with no problem at all.

For what it's worth... but then there's the possibility that may just be my singular peccadillo.

good word for it.

I want to see THOM on TV! He's so brilliant when it comes to explaining this stuff and slashing RW talking points. I LOVE Thom!

Oh... and K&R. People need to hear this.

and he is so civil and polite when he talks to conservatives, which makes him even more persuasive. Yes, he'd be an excellent addition to cable TV. I'd also like to see Laura Flanders more on TV.

Maybe its time to start writing to MSNBC again.

And you're right, it IS an education. I learned a lot from Thom.

On edit: He's a heck of a nice guy too. I talked to him a couple of times through his message board.

and I actually looked forward to the drive to work. The extent of his knowledge is breathtaking.

Good to hear that he's a 'nice guy too'. He really sounds that way on the radio. I think his show was replaced by Ed Schultz and though I like Ed, I always missed Thom.

Seattle area. That's when I used to listen to him. Now I'm usually not up until late morning, and don't generally feel like tracking down the podcasts, so I miss him.

and I rarely drive anymore. They changed the lineup so much (Sacramento) that it wasn't worth podcasting. Spend too much time on DU anyway and get as much political news and opinions as I can absorb.

They're actually pretty easy to get: http://www.620kpoj.com/cc-common/podcast.html

To subscribe to the podcasts via ITunes go here: http://www.smalldog.com/thomhartmann

http://www.chicagoprogressivetalk.com/stream/WCPT/blank.html

If I miss the show 9 to noon on Seattle's am1090, I just listen noon to 3PM PST on WCPT. Podcast would be more convenient but this works for me.

I had been a radio follower since the beginning. For a while they rebroadcast her TV show on the radio the next day. Not the same. Then that went. I emailed her when she shifted and begged her to not sell out. So far I have no complaints but miss her on the radio.

C'mon, give Rachel a break!

Her MSNBC show is a full-time job. Better that she give it her full attention than be distracted by a radio gig.

I wonder how many true liberals are in the Obama administration?

I believe that he will not run for office and not host a TV show because there are principles to be sacrificed. Years ago, I worked with Thom and lived next door to him and his enthusiam and good will are infectious. He is a gem!

edit grammer

time to go national on TV. I don't think Rachel and Ed have sold out. Ed, for example, has become a very persuasive voice for single-payer, and he was arguably the LEAST progressive of all the lefty talkers I remember hearing.

... which is the root of our problems right now with corporate control over our government.

I think that the only way he gets on TV is if he gets on a network/show that does absolutely NO editorial control of this sort of message and others. Might be hard for even a network like MSNBC to do.

Networks like Link TV and Free Speech TV are starting to make headway with shows like Laura Flanders' GRITtv, which is where he could get good editorial control of his content, but perhaps still not quite the audience reach he would need to justify taking away from doing both his local and national radio shows here in Portland.

If substantive media reform is done, and one of the major networks, or a newer one is formed that doesn't have the same sort of corporate editorial control that the current ones do, then perhaps he might make the switch...

He probably has a hard enough time not speaking up against some of Clear Channel's practices, which he's dependent on for many of the affiliates that carry his show, including KPOJ where he does his show from here in Portland. He probably realizes that with network TV the stakes for this sort of thing would be that much higher.

I think though at least its good that he might get more and more "frequent" guest spots that will help him build his name for that until he can have this sort of opportunity to have a national television audience where he can lead the fight against corporatism, which I think he'd like to do if given the opportunity.

before I ever heard of Thom Hartmann, but he's definitely a loud voice for change in that department. I remember hearing about it back in the eighties and thinking, "what the hell?"

I think his gift is his knowledge and his ability to inspire people to act, he knows the truth needs lots of us pushing it to the top, hence his "tag, you're it" and "Democracy is NOT a spectator sport!"

I have always maintained that there is incredible power in our hands when we work together (we elected Pres. Obama and we must make sure health care is done right). It is the getting us together that is tough. We have all taken a much deserved rest since the election and now its time to get at it again.

disgusting bit of humanity -- !!!

Thom needs a much wider audience!

a stimulus of the size he envisions? Remember, there is not yet a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and still plenty of Blue Dog D's that would simply not be willing to incur that kind of debt, even in the "short term." The public would NEVER swallow it. Suggesting a stimulus of such a size would be political suicide. He needs to remember that this is not the Great Depression Era, nor does this era have the same balance of political power. Also remember that the D's lost huge numbers of seats in the post WW2 years due to negative reaction to what were considered too many New Deal programs. Compared to what we would have with R's, Obama is a progressive's best dream. Those on the far left need once and for all to understand that we remain essentially a CENTRIST nation, PURE FACT, PLAIN AND SIMPLE, INDISPUTABLE. I think the economy will be on the way to recovery by the mid terms, and many are already seeing signs of things beginning to turn around. I don't think there will be anymore terrorist attacks anytime soon. And I think this guy and his pals need to damn well start seeing that there is a half full glass instead of a half empty one and get the hell behind Obama and the Dems because they are the ONLY alternative to the right wingers, and YES, there is a HUGE difference between Dems and R's. PS: There is a push for green technology including pressure and incentives to build smaller, greener cars. Ford is already well on the way. The Chevy Volt comes out later this year. Others are on the way. GOOD FOR YOU OBAMA. GO OBAMA. YOU ARE AWESOME. AWESOME !

That doesn't even make sense.

"taking care of Wall St." but a host of reasons, as you well know, over time. I agree mostly with demand side economics, but the hard truth also is that we could not allow the banking system to crash regardless of fault, and the larger public would not swallow the kind of debt, short term or long, that we would incur as a result of the sort of stimulus volume Hartman suggests. Sorry, but this just isn't the 30's. Contexts and dynamics have changed. Don't get me wrong, as essentially a center-leftist (though more "conservative" in some of my social issue values, depending on the issue, i.e. support firearms rights with some limitations and raising kids to respect elders, have a real work ethic absent endless video game head mush, etc. But, i.e., no problem with gay marriage choice as that's up to them; a private matter, etc.) I sympathize with Hartman, but like our brilliant and excellent President I am also a pragmatist who sees the larger political rubber on the road reality and the practicality that must go with it. In November the country voted for change, largely though as a reaction to Bush. Too MUCH "change" too fast, and the wider public will balk. Obama is moving forward, but carefully and smartly. The art of politics has been and always will be compromise. Policy accomplishment occurs within a complex political matrix, and electoral trends run in cycles. Turn too hard toward either end of the political spectrum means political suicide in this country. Again, that glass is half full, not half empty. Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good, or even the better.

end of the Reagan/beginning of Poppy Bush administration?

Remember Savings & Loan Thefts & Embezzlements -- ????

There was no reason for that round of insanity -- purely criminal --

and there was certainly no reason for this round, nor for de-regulation.

It is all only criminal.

President Obama just can't do as he wishes.

Based on what? We have no infrastructure, no real plan to do anything about the situation other than paying rich people more money to float the bubble a little longer.

discretionary spending. Jobs that are STILL being drained away from the American workforce. Research my ass. Explain to me how throwing money at companies that hoard money or reinvest it overseas is going to help the American economy.

Or is it $500 TRILLION . . . ???

Is that the right figure . . . estimate???

And our GNP is what . . . $16 TRILLION?

I've actually forgotten the numbers on all of this they are so insane.

And, we still haven't reigned in the magic carpet all that stuff is flying on!!!

In various parts of NJ today gasoline is moving way up again . . . into $2.50 gal range.

That was a large drain on the assets of poor and middle class first time around --

here we go again?


Meanwhile, prices on everything are skyrocketing... $3.00 for a bunch of celery?

This is yesterday's $1.50 celery --

In other words, while no one is really talking about it, your dollar is worth HALF

of what it was before Bush became president!!!

And, Hartman is suggesting that we have to fear Newt and the Repugs????

Only if we keep taking on Democratic Senators/Reps and Presidents who have sold themselves

to corporations via campaign fund BRIBERY--!!!

They are paid to not respond properly -- paid to be silent -- paid to follow ridiculous

"reforms."


Can we seriously look at DLC/Rahm Emmanuel in the White House . . .
Bernanake, Summers, Geithner and not understand that this is a corporate government . . .
of, by, and for corporations?

Ridiculous, of course, but that doesn't mean they won't try, and that the American people, desperate and afraid, won't buy into it.

I amended the post - perhaps after you read it?

Or, at least, that's what most of us will get from the situation as it stands now. It's only obvious that they're representing industry rather than the American people.

Taxation without Representation. Lovely.

Germany has declared them un-Constitutional!

Many Americans still haven't gotten the first idea of how dangerous these

machines have been -- but certainly the Democrats should be highly aware?

Why wouldn't they be?

Meanwhile, the large computers used by MSM began coming in during the mid-1960's...
the MSM used them to report and eventually CALL winners. There were immediate
questions about the machines with odd breakdowns - jumps in votes of which when reporting resumed were gone, while non-favored candidates were winning.

The electronic voting machines began coming in during the late-1960's . . .
coinicidentally about the time we passed The Voting Rights Act.

Certainly corporate-media was involved in the CALL of Florida for Bush in 2000 --
We have to understand what that really means.
IMO, we can question every election result back to Nixon/Humphrey.

See: Votescam/The Stealing of America
http://www.constitution.org/vote/votescam__.htm

You can still read parts of the book there -- it is probably also available
at your library. Be sure all the pages are intact.

3rd partiers that don't have a snowball's chance in hell of ever, ever winning a national election. Let's give Obama and his people some time you WHINER !

The best Senator in Congress is an Independent and I ain't referring to lieberman.

Bernie Rocks.

for a little longer, but sooner or later it has to burst.

to react just a little negatively to someone on the far left. Yours is a very juvenile, thoughtless remark. I have burned enough shoe leather working for Dem campaigns to sink a boat. Try having a little respect for other opinions and being at least slightly satisified with the gains we HAVE made.

It's a distraction.

There are significant differences between Obama/Dems and those pukes we just ousted. Very extreme and immediate turns are rash and rare in democratic politics, and rightfully so. If your head is so lost in nonreality you can't see that then so be it. I always thought was supposed to be Democratic Underground (where we actually, dare I say, support DEMOCRATS), not "I'll never be satisfied unless I get everything I want this very moment baby spoiled brat child whiner Underground." Grow up.

I admire Hartman, but I don't particularly agree with him on this, except I do support

expansion of government jobs -- and ending large corporations NOW!

Single Payer Health Care would provide 2.3 million new jobs.

We also need National Childcare --

This may not YET be the Great Depression Era, but all statistics have been "fixed" since

the Repugs have been in power -- back to Reagan -- so it's hard to know. Meanwhile,

Hedge Funds and Derivatives are huge and they may be tumbling upon us next.

What is really wrong is that taxpayer money has been used to bail out capitalism --

THAT is where the problem begins and that's where it should end.

Additionally, Bush bankrupted the Treasury with two wars -- one illegal.

We're also giving Israel $15 million every day which they're using for warmongering.

Plus Israel weapons production is closely connected to US's that you can hardly tell the

difference between them.

We're bankrupt because the GOP/capitalism has bankrupted us --

Overturn it all --

$12 TRILLION in bailouts!!!


PS: Since Bush our military budget has been expanded by at least 40% -- and more.
Obviously money that went to cronies -- and we've had 45,000 private contractors
in Iraq!!

We need to downsize the MIC budget -- and the intelligence budgets . .. if we ever knew
what they were! In fact, I've heard that at times the CIA budget was hidden in
Education budget!!!

End these wars -- that's what Democrats were elected to do in '06 . . . we're still waiting!!!

Meanwhile, Global Warming is still being lied about in severity -- and when you can even find
a bit of truth, government sure isn't acting like they've heard it!

1) Right or wrong, the public would NOT swallow a larger stimulus and it would NEVER pass.

2) We would all love to see Medicare for All. Political reality won't let it happen nationally at this time. Get Obama's reforms first, hack away at Single Payer state by state in the meantime, do it over time. Like it or not, that's the way it goes right now. Better Obama's plan than the status quo.

3) They are working on the hedge/fund derivatives issue. Let's see if we can stop the bleeding before it starts. Obama and his team are aware.

4) All foreign aid and military programs need to be combed through. Cut out waste and downsize where we can. I agree with that. Shutting out Israel entirely won't happen though, and shouldn't given our interest in supporting functioning and moderate governments in that region.

5) Can't overturn all the bailouts (not sure how you get as high as 12 trillion). Had to shore up the banks, like it or not. We'd be in depression otherwise. New rules going forward. Give it time.
Not good to simply let Detroit sink entirely. Give GM/Chrysler room to reorganize under Ch. 11 with many conditions.

6) I agree the Pentagon budget can find some savings. CIA maybe, but we need a vibrant human intelligence program and improved technology programs in that area. There ARE threats in the world, no matter how peaceful we try to be.

** Capitalism isn't "bad." I agree it should be a more progressive and properly regulated brand. We are already on our way with Obama. Let's give the man some time. It's big and complex. Let's also try to be positive with our new and very good Democratic President.

7) Iraq is on its way out. Will take the time Obama says. Can't even PHYSICALLY do it overnight. Sorry. Have patience. Be willing to hang in with Afghanistan to a point, but either NATO and other Middle Easterners get involved too or we close that down in three years.

By any standard the world over, you (I don't know you personally, but those you are speaking for right now) are not centrist, you are conservative. The fact that you allowed the extremists to take over your party and force you out does not change that, and just like the conservatives that were the Republiks before you, you are completely inflexible and that rigidity hurts everyone including yourself.

It was your philosophy that caused this mess and now you expect us to, not only vote for and support people that do not represent us, but to believe that more of the same can fix it.

Face the facts, you are conservative, go and take your own party back and then we can get this nation back to some sanity where honest people can disagree and reach a compromise. Your claim that this is a "CENTRIST nation" (in current terms) is completely unfounded and contradicted by both history and every poll conducted without assigning party to values.

The American people's values are, and always have been, what you would call "liberal" and the only way your ilk can claim otherwise (outright lying aside) is when the poll itself is worded to identify and slant the outcome. Perhaps you yourself have fallen victim to the propaganda and truly believe that you are liberal or progressive. You aren't. The Republik Party of 40 years ago was made up of people with your attitudes and beliefs, but as the extremists took over that party, people like you switched to the Democratic Party as the only viable alternative and the parasites, and the corporations they control, seized on that opportunity to control both parties.

You are destroying this nation and if you continue we will, all of us, go through a hell few can imagine while those that are really in control right now will be able to retire at a safe distance and wait for the dust to settle before coming back to pick over the best bits that are left. You play right into their hands and will share in all of the misery you are helping to cause but, in the end, will reap no benefit.

Great post and I wish I could rec it as well.

This situation will not fix itself on
autopilot, continuing to pay-off the
same people at the top.

We have to grab the wheel.

1) I support marriage choice.

2) I support reproductive choice.

3) I support the eventual goal of single payer healthcare.

4) I support a properly regulated economy.

5) I DID NOT support the invasion of Iraq.

6) I support investments in a green economy.

7) I am an officer in my local Democratic Committee.

8) I am a union member.

9) I have burned more shoeleather working for DEMOCRATIC candidates than you could shake a stick at.

However, I am also a pragmatist and understand political reality and American government and history, and I do take a more centrist and even somewhat conservative stance on a LIMITED number of issues. We are NOT, on balance, a nation of ideological purists. Obama and Dems won because we have re-captured a majority of moderate Independents and moderates within the two major parties, for the moment at least, as the R's have turned to the hard neocon right. We make a huge mistake if we turn to the hard left, like it or not. Re-read my answers. Re-read all my posts. Inform yourself. Think deeper.

you are sorely mistaken, same as anyone who thinks we are a far right nation. The R's have won seven of the last 11 presidential elections. They essentially controlled Congress from 1994 to 2006. They have a majority on the Supreme Court. There are still huge geographical swaths of the country that will not look at left-leaning candidates. That this has been fueled by corporate media and R's doing a better job defining themselves and running better campaigns is part of it, but the sentiments have been there for them to grab onto as well. Only with the disaster of R's and Bush in the last few years has the left leaning side begun to re-gain some ground. But much of this is simply timing and a result of beginning again to learn how to run more effective campaigns. And, right now, it is MAINLY to due a swing of moderates, largely I's with no party affiliation, back to the Dems. Demographically, this trend can continue if D's remain results-oriented and don't make the same mistake as the R's and swing too far in the other direction. Moderate I's and moderates in the parties control national election outcomes, not ideological purists. Americans are at a point right now where they want problems solved, but just enough government that is needed to solve them. They will balk at what they might perceive at government over-reach and excessive debt and/or taxation. I sympathize with your strong feelings about corporate influence in the two major parties. I would agree we need continued campaign finance and lobbying reforms that can pass constitutional muster. Voting patterns run in cycles. Trends come and go. Dems have won the last few cycles. Depending on what happens, R's can come back. One thing that will improve their return chances is a hard-left policy swing at the national level. Obama understands this. He is correctly governing center-left, not hard-left by modern standards. Try to be happy with some of the gains that have been made. Grown-ups see the big picture, are patient, understand modern political reality, understand how our complex governing system works, and can see a half full glass when it is right there before their very eyes. Bush/Cheney are gone. There is a new and much better alternative in place now on balance. Please find a way to be more positive.

How many heads are rolling over that one??

And how much cash missing in Iraq -- ???

The figures are so astonishing I can't even remember -- was it $8-9 million or
billion???

Where has this money gone and what kind of mischief has it bought?

full of sense. I wish more people would listen to his ideas.

Just a few things that GM Assembly lines could be producing to help us out of Great Depression 2.

The Corp/Gov Bureaucrats do not realize.. that (we as a country) ARE NEVER going to be able to go back to a debt based economy.

90% of the American people do not see what is coming.. and I'm not talking about Armegeddon or 2012.

I'm talking about super markets running out of food and cars running out of gas.. because our elected officials and our media are so corrupt for so long.. that they have put the welfare of the Corporations above the basic needs of the tax-payers. We as a society, will never be able to recover.

but, yeah, it's going to be a bitch. It may dissolve the union, not through civil war, but just through necessity.

Thom was saying on Friday sending e-mails to elected representatives is pretty much passe. When we write to them and are out of their districts, the messages get kicked out.

More effective is a hand-written letter, then a phone call, then an individual visit to one of their offices, then a group visit to a Congressional office. I believe him. "TAG, you're it!"

Watch the whole interview. This is important stuff being discussed and the course Obama is choosing is wrong, unless your goal is more Republiks being elected and losing the Executive in 2010.

This boulder is heavy, help us push else it crushes all of us!

everbody knows the game is lost, ever body knows the dice are loaded, everbody knows that Thom Hartman is right... everbody knows who pays off congress....and and everbody knows that includes POTUS, congress and the Emanuels too.

by Leonard Cohen

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat
is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby
Everybody knows that you really do
Everybody knows that youve been faithful
Ah give or take a night or two
Everybody knows youve been discreet
But there were so many people you just had to meet
Without your clothes
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

And everybody knows that its now or never
Everybody knows that its me or you
And everybody knows that you live forever
Ah when youve done a line or two
Everybody knows the deal is rotten
Old black joes still pickin cotton
For your ribbons and bows
And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the plague is coming
Everybody knows that its moving fast
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman
Are just a shining artifact of the past
Everybody knows the scene is dead
But theres gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
What everybody knows

And everybody knows that youre in trouble
Everybody knows what youve been through
From the bloody cross on top of calvary
To the beach of malibu
Everybody knows its coming apart
Take one last look at this sacred heart
Before it blows
And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows
Thats how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sf-XqVROHQ

Tom talks about Unions and getting liberals/progressives to take over the Democratic party in a similar way that the conservatives took over the Republican party. Also talks about the Employee Free Choice Act, give it watch I'll post Part 3 once it's uploaded to Youtube.

First, in the 30's there was no credit, everyone paid with cash that was supposed to be in banks or
in Gold if they were prescient enough to own it. There were no credit cards.
Today, the banks are insured, a failing bank doesn't mean the same thing, or bring the same terror
as it did back then. People use plastic, plastic is the currency of choice for most people. It is so
much easier for the government to control short term panic then it was back then.
The level of GDP reached 50% of 1929 levels in 1933, it took 4 years to get there.
2009 GDP the 1st quarter had a 5% drop. The pain levels of 1933 are not there. There is pain
absolutely, but the political will necessary to muster the change Thom is talking about is not
there and it would be political suicide to try to usher it in. If Obama gets healthcare reform that
includes single payer, that will be how the success of his Presidency is measured. It's what we
can realistically hope for, and the one thing that is truly necessary for any kind of meaningful
change that helps the people. Anything less and he will not be supported as he has been.

Medicare For All ala the Kucinich bill. However, won't happen nationally now. Obama and Dems MUST get some reforms which will lower costs and increase access across the board. If they do THAT much, it will be enough. Also, he will be measured on how well we recover economically, if there are anymore terrorist attacks, closing down Iraq over the next year and half, and increasing employment through support of green technology initiatives. The economy is #1 though. If things are at least better by the midterms and 2012, Dems and Obama win again. If not, we lose some ground to the pukes. Economy is ALWAYS #1. Folks vote their pocketbooks first and last.

meant to ask that yesterday but then I got disconnected from the thread --

Well part 3 finally got posted on Youtube, here's the link....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF_qNMN-AyE

This wraps up the interview, Thom talks about Obama not being progressive enough and various other topics, well worth a watch.