In 1987 the film "Wall Street" summed up the general feeling in Reagan's America with Gordon Gecko's legendary speech that hinged on one phrase.

"Greed is Good."

That became the private mantra for vulture capitalists and hedgefund managers through to today - and it made a catchy case for "trickledown" Reaganomics.

But that film didn't invent the idea - it just spelled it out.

Seven years before that film came out - from the very beginning of the Reagan era - that idea was applied to every aspect of our society.

Public programs were privatized - and common resources handed over to private corporations.

Reaganomics - the idea that greed is good and profits naturally lead to justice and equality for all - has had a number of dramatic effects on American society.

It's led to the rise of charter schools and for-profit colleges and the decline of public education while student debt has exploded.

It's given us a healthcare system that promotes profits over people - a system where pharmaceutical companies spend more on advertising prescription drugs than on research and development of new and more affordable treatments.

It's lead to the rise of for-profit prisons that create profits out of human misery.

But what Reaganomics didn't create is any shared prosperity.

Read more here.

-Thom

  

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Bob Ney, (fmr.) U.S. Congressman (R-OH)/Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Friday's Daily Stack 

Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joins Thom with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...
Follow Bernie:    

Article: "House Speaker John Boehner to resign" by Dana Bash, Manu Raju, Deirdre Walsh and Jeremy Diamond,.

Article: "Sanders, Cummings Introduce Comprehensive Legislation to Lower Soaring Drug Prices" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Facebook: "Tennessee for Bernie Sanders".

Law: "Agent Orange Act of 1991"(sunsets 30 September 2015).

 

Boehner resigns
- Bob Ney, Talk Radio News 

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Article: "Pope Francis' Homily at St. Patrick's Cathedral".

Article: "Conservative lawmaker may seek vote to oust Boehner" by Jesse Byrnes.

Article: "One Of These Four People Will Probably Be The Next Speaker Of The House" by Josh Israel.

 

Site: Lessig for President 2016.

Site: Bernie 2016   

Site: Feel the Bern.

Article: "Atlantic meridional overturning circulation" by U.S. Geological Survey.

Article: "Why some scientists are worried about a surprisingly cold 'blob' in the North Atlantic Ocean" by Chris Mooney.

Article: "Thermohaline circulation" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Shutdown of thermohaline circulation" by Wikipedia.

Article: "House Speaker John Boehner: 'I decided today is the day'" by Dana Bash, Manu Raju, Deirdre Walsh and Jeremy Diamond.

Movie: "The Day After Tomorrow".

Documentary Patriocracy".

Article: "The racist and anti-Semitic plays coming from Bernie haters are just a repeat of 2008" by Catherina.

Article: "Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug" by Wikipedia.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones 

Article: "Conservatives Consider Coalition Gambit to Depose Boehner" by Matt Fuller.

Article: "Sources: Boehner's Departure Planned Before Pope Visit" by Bob Ney.

Article: "Boehner On Resignation: I Decided Today Was The Day" by William McDonald.

Article: "Obama praises Boehner, warns GOP" By Sarah Wheaton.

Article: "Pope Urges UN Action on Climate Change, Sustainable Development" by Luke Vargas.

Article: "Obama, China's Xi Agree to Curb Economic Cyberspying" by Julie Pace.

Article: "Mark Zuckerberg Met With Xi Jinping and Spoke Only in Chinese" by Eugene Kim.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/25" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/24" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: Why Global Warming is Not a Government Conspiracy
- David Ray Griffin, Unprecedented: Can Civilization Survive the CO2 Crisis?

Article: "9/11 and Global Warming: Are They Both False Conspiracy Theories?" by David Ray Griffin.

Article: "Warren Commission Hearings and Exhibits".

Article: "Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, e-mail says - but it funded deniers for 27 more years " by Tim Macfarlan.

Article: "Exxon's Own Research Confirmed Fossil Fuels' Role in Global Warming Decades Ago" by Neela Banerjee, Lisa Song and David Hasemyer.

 

Law: "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act", 1970 (RICO).

Article: "Scientists Ask Obama To Prosecute Global Warming Skeptics" by Michael Bastasch.

Article: "Senator: Use RICO Laws to Prosecute Global Warming Skeptics" by Mark Hemingway.

Article: "And King Obama did reign over a land in turmoil" by Three_If_By_TARDIS.

Article: "Watch Pope Francis Hug the 5-Year-Old Girl Trying to Keep Her Parents in the Country" by Jon Levine.

Article: "Pope Francis addresses Congress: Read the full remarks".

Article: "Kevin McCarthy's Wife Says She Is Losing Her 'Right To Be A Christia" by Brian Tashman.

Article: "China to Announce Cap-and-Trade Program to Limit Emissions" by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Coral Davenport.

Article: "Saint Francis of Assisi" by Wikipedia.

Event: Birmingham, AL 27 September: "Bernieham at Magic City AIDS walk".

Article: "Soil as Carbon Storehouse: New Weapon in Climate Fight?" by Judith D. Schwartz.

Article: "Emissivity" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Lutheranism" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Calvinism" by Wikipedia.

Article: "'Fountains' of methane 1,000m across erupt from Arctic ice - a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide".

Site: Arctic News.

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

 

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...

    

Free excerpt, read book for free at Truthout, buy the book!

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One of my favorite wines is CHATEAU VERONIQUE 2011 - The wine that started the Organic Wine Company. Subtle and sophisticated, this wine will complement any table.

 

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Thom

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