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Thom's blog
You Too Can Buy a Congressman...
 Ever wonder what the best investment you can make is? I'm not in the business of giving financial advice - but I wanted to share with you this secret that every billionaire and large corporation in this country knows. The best investment you can make isn't gold or some revolutionary technology. The best investment you can make is to buy a politician! Investing in a politician can yield more returns than any stock or other commodity ever could. Take the case of what Montana's fossil fuel companies invested in Representative Ryan Zinke. If the Obama administration closes a massive tax loophole that allows the companies to rip off the state - Montana's coal companies would be looking at a 19 million dollar hit to their bottom line. You see, for years, Montana's coal producers have had to pay royalties to the state of Montana for coal mined on federal land. But Montana's coal producers found a way get around paying the royalties for coal they took from public lands. It's been really easy so far. Take Peabody coal. All they've had to do is create shell subsidiaries to buy Peabody's coal at a lower-than-market rate. The state would only collect royalties on Peabody selling coal to its own subsidiary basically at cost, so there's no profit and no royalty payments. Then the subsidiary would simply turn around and sell the coal again to an actual coal user, like China or a power plant; this time at the much higher and very profitable market rate. A rule proposed by Obama's Department of the Interior would change that so that Peabody and the other coal companies would have to pay their royalties based exclusively on sales made to an independent, third-party buyer. No more tax-free insider trading. A report last month from Headwaters Economics showed that the proposed rule could make up to 19 million dollars for the state of Montana every year. But last week Montana Representative at-large Ryan Zinke introduced a rider to the House budget bill that blocks the Obama administration's new rule on royalties. Which means Ryan Zinke is churning out big returns for his fossil fuel company investors. And what did it cost them, you may ask? |
Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Are Humans Now An Endangered Species? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)
 Be sure to check out our newest video: RESTORATION - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners / Visit GreenWorldRising.org to check out all the videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners
Daily Take: Bernie Sanders Could Be the Next FDR
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Wednesday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: Bernie Sanders Could Be the Next FDR?
Hour Two: Are Humans Now An Endangered Species?- Dahr Jamail, Truthout 
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Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET
I'll be talking with Saqib Bhatti of the ReFund America Project (RAP) about Why Chicago Won't Go Bankrupt-And Detroit Didn't Have To
And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"
And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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