I first heard of Thom Hartmann when a friend passed on his book The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight to me in 2001. Since then, Thom Hartmann has grown to be someone I deeply appreciate, trust, am inspired by, and have learned so much from. Like myself, Thom was also born in 1951, grew up in Michigan, and now lives in Oregon. Over the years, I have come to recognize Thom as one of the most prolific authors I know, often writing a book a year and on diverse subjects. I have several of his books, and have grown through my experience of reading them. In addition, he broadcasts locally and nationally, and has perhaps the most informative talk show in our nation. Unlike the all too often norm in talk radio, he is committed to following the truth, wherever it may lead. Thom consistently demonstrates courage and integrity. Thom Hartmann is a great example of how one person can make such a big difference. Daily he encourages us all with his words of "Tag, you're it!" Peace & blessings...
This is from Thom Hartmann's blog:
Nearly two years after the American financial system teetered on the edge of a great Republican depression, Congressional lawmakers have come to an agreement early Friday morning to reconcile competing versions of the the bill in the biggest overhaul of financial regulations since the last Republican Great Depression. Big banks won big in this, as they can continue investing a significant amount of equity in hedge funds. The banks lost when it comes to speculative trades with their capital, although there are some loopholes that may turn into truck routes. The bottom line seems that, much like the so-called health insurance reform, there are a few really good bones in here thrown to consumers but the power, wealth, and monopoly of the big banks that, as Senator Byron Dorgan said of the US Senate, "They own this place," continue to own the Senate as well as you and me. There are no efforts whatsoever in the bill to do the single most important thing necessary to return competition to banking and prevent another economic collapse - that being breaking up the too-big-to-fail banking institutions and require banks to just be banks instead of bank/casino hybrids. Just like the so-called "health insurance reform" will actually give more power and money to the dozen or so monopoly US for-profit health insurance blood sucking leeches...er...corporations and their CEOs, this so-called "banking reform" bill will give more power and money to the half-dozen largest and monopolistic US banks and keep the billion-dollar bonus paydays coming to their CEOs and senior executives and traders.
More: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2010/06/so-called-banking-reform-bill
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Thomas Jefferson argued for a tax on accumulated wealth because he knew that if wealth was passed down from one generation to the next, those lucky inheritors would turn into new aristocrats. You don't hear about the Founders passing on fortunes because most of them didn't believe in doing so.
What the neoconservative Republicans don't say is that the reason they want a smaller government is because they can make an enormous amount of money when they privatize formerly government functions. They want a power vacuum so that corporations and the rich can step in and profit from things that used to be nonprofit. Privatizing Social Security will bring a windfall to Wall Street. Our private health-care system has produced a huge crop of multimillionaires and multibillionaires like Bill Frist and his brother and father. One in twenty Americans is now getting water from a non-U.S. private corporation that is extracting profits from local American communities and taking those profits overseas. Large swaths of America's electrical infrastructure have been privatized and deregulated, leading to rate manipulation, brownouts in California, and huge profits for utility corporations. CEOs are looking forward to buying more Gulfstreams and nicer yachts, while America's middle class is paying more and more for basic and necessary services.
~ Thom Hartmann
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