Where’s the Outrage?

I’ll have the rest of my show up in a couple of hours, but I thought you might like my closing segment. In it, I discuss radio talk show host James T. Harris who stood up at a McCain rally and begged the Senator to take it to Obama. I also discuss the failure of the Republican philosophy. The middle class has been left out in the cold. The election is should be about who can bring the middle class in out of the cold! Who has the ideas to keep jobs here and not overseas? Jobs are the key. They will drive the economy out of recession. Enjoy.

 

 The Errington Thompson Show 10-11-08 closing segment [9:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Economy, Election 2008, Podcasts by ecthompson
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Great show. I talk about the economy with Rick Newman from US News and World Report. Matt Mattan from WWNC’s Take a Stand drops in. We talk about all of this debt…and who’s going to pay for it?

 

 The Errington Thompson Show 10-04-08 [49:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Economy, Election 2008, Podcasts by ecthompson
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Jon Stewart asks if you have seen the episode of the Wallisa 99654. More on Troopergate. Very funny.

Tags: Election 2008, The Daily Show by ecthompson
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This is a nice commercial made by the Blue Star Families - military families. It is simple. It is straightforward and presents the facts. John McCain has not supported military families. He even campaigned against the new GI Bill. He didn’t even vote on the bill. He was at a campaign fundraiser when the vote was being cast in the Senate. Military families for Barack Obama. That has a nice ring to it.

Tags: Election 2008, Military by ecthompson
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The polling service Rasmussen Reports says that 59% of the public would replace all members of Congress and start again with an entirely new Congress.

This got me wondering about how many would, if they had the chance, get rid of all the people in their lives and start with a whole new bunch?

New spouse. Nicer neighbors. Better boss. Less disappointing kids. More loyal friends. Maybe even a more obedient and well-trained dog.

I’m not sure this solution would work either for Congress or in our personal lives. You’d start off hopeful because the new people would be on best behavior at first, but soon enough you’d find that they are just as human and flawed as the people you ditched.

I think even the new dog might not change your life in the way you hoped.

While I think we could do with fewer Republicans in Congress, a hope that may come true, for the most part we will have to move ahead with the people we’ve already got.

Maybe the issue is that we fail to ask enough of the people in Congress and the people in our lives.

Tags: Congress, Election 2008 by Texas Liberal
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I read a story in the New York Times a few days ago that made me ill.

The story was about the failure to recognize and develop the mathematical talents of young people in our country. Girls especially face this problem. The article said that students who do well in math are often immigrants, the children of immigrants or kids who are just seen as nerds.

What the article could just of well of said is—The more you are fully socialized into this sick culture, the more you are pulled away from academic success.

This is the kind of culture that propels the ignorant Sarah Palin to the top of the political ladder.

Hockey moms. Soccer moms. Football moms.

Sure.

Beyond the fact that maybe dads should do more of the driving, where are the debate club moms and the math club moms?

It really borders on a kind of abuse to allow a child to grow in our culture without our taking on a strong role in his or her strengths and interests, both in school and in life in general.

[Read more →]

Tags: Education by Texas Liberal
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Out of the gallons and gallons of swill that right-wing conservatives throw at the rest of the public on an hourly basis, one of the things that they wanted us to swallow was that Governor Sarah Palin was different. Governor Sarah Palin was authentic. Governor Sarah Palin was “real.” Well, over the weekend, we found out, again, she is none of those things. Governor Sarah Palin lies just as much, if not more, than any other politician. (Find the Troopergate report here for you to read it for yourself.)

From ADN:

“Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda … to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired,” Branchflower’s report says.

“Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional. It is an individual responsibility imposed by law, and any effort to benefit a personal interest through official action is a violation of that trust. … The term ‘benefit’ is very broadly defined, and includes anything that is to the person’s advantage or personal self-interest.” (more… )

Tags: Election 2008, Ethics by ecthompson
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I’ve been highly critical of our automotive industry for a long time. Over the last two or three years, all we’ve heard from General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Chrysler is whining about health care premiums. ”We simply cannot be competitive paying these pensions and premiums.” It would have been nice had any of those companies embraced the American people and their workers…if those companies had tried seriously to invest in a truly new line of automobile. It would’ve been interesting if in 2000 or 2001, General Motors poured everything into hybrid technology. I wonder where we would be today. Unfortunately, they didn’t. The big three made minivans and SUVs.

So after taking $24 billion from us, General Motors will be closing one of their oldest plants. It is just terribly sad.

From AP:

GM’s efforts to hoard cash and outlast a prolonged economic slump claimed the jobs of more than 2,700 workers Monday as the automaker announced the demise of factories in Michigan and Wisconsin.

GM said it would shut down a metal stamping factory in the Grand Rapids suburb of Wyoming by the end of next year, and they are also speeding up the closure of their sport utility vehicle plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, with most of that facility shutting down Dec. 23. (more…)

Tags: Economy by ecthompson
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Tuesday morning News Roundup

• ACORN has been blamed for a lot of the country’s woes lately. Well, it just so turns out that Senator John McCain attended an ACORN rally back in 2006.
• The stock market rallied over 900 points yesterday (largest one day jump) behind the news of the European Union and Britain buying up bank shares and securing intra-bank loans. The United States, never wanting to restrain raw capitalism, has been resistant to make such a move. By the way, no matter how much the stock market smiles upon the latest moves, we still have to fix the underlying problem. We need jobs. We also need the housing market to stabilize. None of the moves that I’ve seen so far have addressed either of these two issues.
• Congratulations to Paul Krugman. He has won the economic Nobel Prize. I have read his recent book, Conscience of a Liberal and it is outstanding. Krugman explains in easy-to-understand terms why the 1950s and 1960s were so successful in the United States. He also explains why we’re having the problems we are having today. Mr. Krugman explained patterns of worldwide trade during the late 1970s and 1980s. Again, congratulations to Mr. Krugman.
• Congressman Tim Mahoney (Democrat in Florida) has agreed to pay off his former mistress whom he fired from his staff. In case you’re not familiar with this story, Congressman Mahoney replaced Congressman Mark Foley when he resigned from Congress after it was discovered that he had solicited several of the young pages. I have no problem if you have a mistress. That is between you and your wife and, of course, your mistress. If you’re going to indulge in this type of activity it’s probably best for you not to be in Congress. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called for an immediate investigation.
• Is it finally time for more regulation on Wall Street?
• One of the biggest problem I had with the $700 billion bailout is that there were no clear signs that anyone knew what to do with this money. Well, $250 billion appears to be earmarked to buy a significant portion of nine troubled US banks. European countries agreed to buy up their banks with the condition that CEOs had to step down. I see no such condition in this American proposal. Mirroring the European agreement, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has been given the task of guaranteeing interbank loans. I wonder how our money gets protected in these loan guarantees?
• Late Friday night, we found out that Governor Sarah Palin was guilty of using undue influence to try to fire Mark Wooten. To prove that she is as modest and as humble as the Bush administration, Governor Palin declared that she was exonerated. Nothing could be further from the truth. Maybe we, as Americans, should take some time out and introduce Governor Palin to the truth.
• Finally, the New York “football” Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football. This season is becoming more and more confusing. The New York Giants looked invincible through their first four games. They were playing excellent football on both offense and defense. The Cleveland Browns has looked relatively awful all year. They really haven’t been able to do anything right. They slapped the Giants around like they were the defending Super Bowl champs. As Chris Berman says, “That’s why they play the game.”

Tags: Congressman Mark Foley, Economy, Election 2008, Foreign Affairs by ecthompson
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