Comments by "silat13" (@silat13) on "Thom Hartmann Program"
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IRAN CONTRA
First, let's recall the history from the mid-Twentieth Century. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this country suffered for decades due to our intervention when we deposed Mossadegh in 1953, is still viewed as sneaky and suspicious. Never did Iran attack our country, they only reacted to our support of the Shah by staging the 1979 hostage crisis because of our country's interventionist policies. Blowback is a bitch. Here's why they released the hostages the very same day Reagan was sworn in.
Ronald Reagan was sworn into office on January 20, 1981, just as Iran released 52 Americans held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran for 444 days. The timing was deliberate. The young revolutionary regime did not want the hostages freed until after Jimmy Carter, who had supported the shah and allowed him into the United States, left office. At the same time, Tehran wanted to clear the slate in the face of a new Republican administration that had vowed to take a tougher stand on terrorism and hostage-taking. But Iran also had bigger problems. Four months earlier, on September 20, 1980, Iraq had invaded, and Iran was embroiled in a life-or-death struggle. For the first 18 months of the war, virtually all the fighting took place on Iranian territory.
Let's give credit where credit's due; Iran needed our military help, so they gave up the hostages in exchange for something that would mire the Reagan Administration with the scandalous reputation it so richly deserved: Iran-Contra. The problem with all this today, however, is the American people have a very, very short memory and have largely forgotten the events that occurred three decades ago. The only thing they remember is that Iran is one of the "Great Satan" countries and we should NEVER do anything to facilitate peace and prosperity in that country. Republicans are very much in favor of either not teaching history at all or simply rewriting it to suit their objectives.
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+Tin Foil Hat Lady33 (Lady Fairfax33) 6 cattle were killed. 6!!! Maybe a new tinfoil beanie is needed.
Bundy is a right wing anti American grifter who has been living off the government teat and pretending to be a libertarian sovereign loner.
FACT:
For some time, the Bundy’s have owned cattle that have grazed in the Bunkerville, NV area. Since his cattle grazed on federal land, he paid grazing fees to the federal government. In 1993, the local grazing rules changed when a number of things came together; the Desert tortoise became protected under the species act, and the Fish and Wildlife Service determined that this was one of the areas critical to their long-term survival. Grazing rules were also changed in order to accommodate restoration needed from years of overgrazing and recent fires. These new rules would include Bundy having to reduce his number of cattle. Refusing to comply, he decided to “fire” the BLM, and stop paying grazing fees, while continuing to use federal lands for his cattle to graze. Not only did he not reduce his cattle count, but actually increased them over time.As a result, Cliven Bundy’s cattle have been illegally grazing on federal land for 20 years. Over these 20 years, Cliven Bundy has racked up over $1 million in unpaid grazing fees, and has actually expanded his cattle’s grazing further into federal lands. He has been taken to court (and defeated) both in 1998 and 2013.In Case No. 2:12-cv-0804-LDG-GWF, on July 2013, US District Court – District of Nevada Ruled:IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Bundy is permanently enjoined from trespassing on the New Trespass Lands.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the United States is entitled to protect the New Trespass Lands against this trespass, and all future trespasses by Bundy.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Bundy shall remove his livestock from the New Trespass Lands within 45 days of the date hereof, and that the United States is entitled to seize and remove to impound any of Bundy’s cattle that remain in trespass after 45 days of the date hereof.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the United States is entitled to seize and remove to impound any of Bundy’s cattle for any future trespasses, provided the United States has provided notice to Bundy under the governing regulations of the United States Department of the Interior.As a result, the BLM attempted to round up at least some of the 900 cattle illegally grazing on federal land. And because of his implied threats of “armed resistance” (and the fact that an attempted roundup in 2012 was called off due to veiled threats of violence) and previous intimidation of public employees, they came with protection. Because it’s often portrayed as such, it bears mentioning that no one was trying to remove Cliven Bundy from his land/home. No one was trying to “take his land away.” After 20 years of Bundy not paying for his cattle’s grazing fees, the BLM was there to remove cattle that were grazing on federal lands near his ranch.
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Robbie Gohn stop being fearful of a debt that is not a problem.
DEBT WE ARE NOT BROKE
Americans of all political beliefs have been told repeatedly that America is broke, that something must be cut and/or taxes raised or we will drown in debt. While the debt is real, it pales in comparison to the tens of trillions available to us... if we know where to look.
In short, America is not broke!
The following multi-trillion dollar economic reforms would completely turn the American economy around to the positive, forever. The first three have all been implemented to some degree in our history. All are consistent with American values of competition, fair play, economic and ecological sustainability, meritocracy, profiting from one's own labor, and Lincoln's ideal of an America by, for and of the People.
Debt-free Money: Like coins and stamps (for a limited purpose), debt-free United States Notes can be issued by Congress anytime, for any reason, in any amount under the Constitution's Article 1, Sec. 8. Congress did create these original Greenbacks under the first Legal Tender Law (1862) by President Lincoln ($450 million) to fund the Civil War, and they continued through 14 series until 1996. This money would not have to be borrowed, raised in taxes, or backed by gold. It need not cause over-inflation if put toward those sectors that are in deflation. It is a "Public Option for Money." Perhaps $4 trillion, spread over 10 years, could be directed towards infrastructure, or Social Security. Several recent attempts to do this, including Rep. Kucinich's Bill, HR2990, are part of larger reform packages, but we can re-issue U.S. Notes anytime, producing an immediate gain in the government's accounts.
Public Banks like the highly successful State Bank of North Dakota (est. 1919) would force state accounts to be invested in State needs, and not in Wall Street speculative gambles -- money which was raised through taxes but then has to be borrowed back, at interest rates of 4-6 percent! The agency and pension funds of most states are invested in risky, often under-performing asset classes, sometimes below investment grade, by managers who charge millions in fees. The Bank of North Dakota manages $4 billion in loans conservatively and constructively. Public Banks can respond directly to community needs and even occasional emergencies in a way that would decentralize the money power, returning taxpayer money to we the people. Multiplied in all 50 states, and at the community level too, and America could save trillions in unnecessary gambles, bailouts, and interest costs.
Audit the local, state, and national Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs). There are 10s of trillions of dollars in the 184,000 CAFRs nationwide. These funds, many invested outside the country, could be used to pay a citizen's dividend in perpetuity, ensuring a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) for every American. There is $600 billion in California's pension fund alone, paying out just 4% a year to pensioners, whose "managers" rake in billions for often under-performing the market, while government acts as both regulator and investor in the Mother of All Conflicts of Interest! We need impartial accountants to comb through the CAFRs and to do so every year, for the benefit of the American people.
Repatriate Offshore Accounts -- a new report by the Tax Justice Network shows up to $32 trillion is stored away in offshore accounts, away from tax authorities. These funds are held by the top .001% in private accounts managed by the biggest of the TBTF banks, while their owners live in other places where middle class taxpayers pay for vital services and infrastructure instead. This subsidy for the wealthy is unsustainable and must be ended by repatriating these accounts or taxing them from foreign lands.
These are just five places to look for trillions in savings and relocatable funds. There are others. Pick one or find your own. Find out about it. Learn. Become Active. Join a group to effectuate change. Fight. And remember -
America Is Not Broke!
"America is Not Broke!" by Scott Baker. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-baker/america-is-not-broke_1_b_1904062.html)
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Reagan a steaming pile
Ronald Reagan represents all of the worst elements of the American political experience of the last 50 years. All of them. He was, and always will be, nothing but a steaming hot pile of filthy hyena puke.
Intellectually, Reagan gave chimpy a run for his money. He was vacuous. He was shallow. He was incurious. He was a puppet and a door stop for a group of sick ideologues who really ran the country. He was a bad actor and foolish tool.
Ideologically, he was a hater and an imperialist and far-right loony-tune. He hated the poor. He hated gays. He hated leftists. He hated communists - and he was pretty sure you were one if you disagreed with him. He hated and he hated and he hated. Just ask his own kids. He hated them and himself and his ex-wife. Ronald Reagan was a twisted unrepentant closed-minded waste-bag hate monger. And that's just for starters.
The foreign policy of Ronald Reagan did more to impoverish and kill the poor and helpless humans of the world than any world leader before or since - with the possible exception of our Bush. Reagan just didn't give a hoot. He was going to defeat communism (which was already falling of its own weight) and he didn't care how many children were burned alive or how many people starved to death on the way. Let em die. Reagan was a friggen dirtbag.
On Reagan's watch the military budget of the U.S. grew to the proportions of a heaping pile of 10,000 week-old dead and bloated Blue Whales. And it stunk just as bad. The practice of rewarding incompetent cronies with gigantic useless contracts for unneeded military hardware was elevated to art form under Reagan. Reagan's legendary megalomania, hubris and abject ignorance led him to believe the tales of any crackpot who managed to slither past the goons who comprised his inner circle. Star-wars missiles, atomic shields, space-age death rays. You name it - that loon would fall for it - and blow billions of your tax dollars on it.
And on the domestic front - holy crap the domestic front. Ronald Reagan was a force for the rampaging evil of anti-human destructiveness. He never met a social program he didn't scorn. He never met an American in need he didn't have a bowel movement directly upon. His response to the AIDS epidemic is one of the most sickening cold-blooded expressions of pure murderous political evil in the history of the earth. Genghis Khan could only dream of such depravity and indifference to human suffering. There is so much more, but, hell, if you don't already know about this crap, then go read a book or two.
Then there was Iran-Contra - the infamous orgy of unfettered criminality at the heart of the Reagan legacy. Again, look it up. Rogues, liars, crooks, murderers and ignorant heartless scum surrounded Reagan at all times. Ali Baba would've been shamed. But Ronald Reagan was shameless.
Oh, did I mention The War on Drugs and it's ballooning of the prison/criminal industrial complex and the rise of brainless goon-like authoritarianism? Or the destruction of the modern labor movement including the cowardly firing of the Air Traffic Controllers? Or the beginnings of the current trend of packing the Judiciary with corrupt freakish pseudo-fascist stoolies? Or the repugnant rapes of Lebanon and Grenada? Or the dim-witted goofball junk science that came to known as "Reaganomics?" Or grant rigging at the Department of Housing and Urban Development? Or James Watt and the whole-hearted attempt to destroy the earth and all its inhabitants at the expense of greed mongers and corporate whores? Or the largest white collar theft in the history of planet Earth - the Savings and Loan Bailout? And on and on and on and on.
So let me conclude,
Ronald Reagan will forever be remembered as one of the most idiotic, vile, worthless leaders of any any nation in any era. He presently occupies a special place in Hell beside Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. And I promise you, they all think he's an idiot too. Screw Ronald Reagan. And then screw him again.
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