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Success Starts With Failure
Thom plus logo  Donald Trump is wrong.

We don't need to make America great again.

We need to let Americans fail again.

It all starts by solving our student loan crisis.

According to recent reporting by the Wall Street Journal, the most recent graduating class, the class of 2015, was the most indebted in American history.

Students who threw caps in celebration last May held, on average, $35,000 in debt.

While that's only a few thousand dollars more than the average amount of debt held by students who graduated one year earlier in 2014, it's over $20,000 more than the average amount of debt held by students who graduated ten years earlier in 2005.

There's absolutely no reason to expect that the class of 2016 won't be in even more debt.

The worst part of all, though, is that that there is no escape for the estimated 37 million Americans struggling to pay off their college loans.

Thanks to the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2005, it's now illegal for them to get rid of their student loans through bankruptcy, something you can do with pretty much every other kind of debt.

By the way, do you know what the other types of payments are illegal to discharge through bankruptcy? Child support payments, criminal reparations and unpaid taxes.

That's right, the U.S. legal code treats college grads the same way it treats tax dodgers.

Pretty ridiculous, right?

You bet.

There is absolutely no reason why student loan debt should be treated differently from any other kind of consumer debt.

The banksters just wanted a little freebee from the government, and in 2005 Congress gave it to them.

And here's the thing: this isn't just a problem for all the $20,000-in-debt college grads out there who now have the financial equivalent of a ball and chain strapped to them for the rest of the working lives.

This is a problem for all of us.

Read more here.

-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Get Fossil Fuels Out Of Our Elections! (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

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Big Picture Progressive Roundtable:
- Alex Lawson, Social Security Works  Twitter  Twitter
- Karl Frisch, Syndicated Columnist/Political Strategist  Twitter

PLUS, Maybe It IS a Single Issue Election
- Michael Winship, BillMoyers.com/Writers Guild of America East  Twitter  Twitter

Best of the Rest: Get Fossil Fuels Out Of Our Elections!
- Charlie Cray, Greenpeace USA  Twitter  Twitter

Daily Take: Success Starts With Failure...
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The Daily Stack Daily Stack
Hour One: Campaign 2016...What Just Happened?
Article: "Democrats look to copy Sanders' success" by Lauren French and John Bresnahan.
Article: "Bernie Sanders' Phantom Movement" by Chris Hedges.
Article: "Sanders in Michigan talks economy, trade, environment" by Kathleen Gray and Niraj Warikoo.
Article: "Overton window" by Wikipedia.
Article: "Obama Announces His New Immigration Plan" by Tierney Sneed.

Hour Two: Campaign 2016...What Just Happened?
- John Fugelsang, /Tell Me Everything/SiriusXM Insight  Twitter  Twitter
 
Speech: "Madison Square Garden Speech", President Franklin D. Roosevelt, October 31, 1936. "They are unanimous in their hate for me-and I welcome their hatred"
Article: "Howard Dean Scream" by Brad.
Article: "Cheers and Jeers: Monday" by Bill in Portland Maine (George Washington birthday Feb 22).
Book: To the Best of My Ability by James M. McPherson.
Article: "Superdelegate" by Wikipedia.
Article: "2016 Democratic Presidential Nomination" by 270 To Win.
Documentary: Where to Invade Next - Michael Moore.
 
Talk Media News Segment:
- Victoria Jones Twitter
Article: "Week ahead: Encryption fight heats up" by Cory Bennett and Katie Bo Williams.
Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Hour Three: Campaign 2016...What Just Happened?
- David Shuster, Al Jazeera America  Twitter  Twitter
Article: "Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement" (TPP) by EFF.
 
Site: 350.org
Article: "Why Is Mitch McConnell Picking This Fight?" by Alec MacGillis.
Article: "Agent Orange" by Wikipedia.
Article: "ALEC Offshoot Takes Aim at Local Government" (American City County Exchange (ACCE)) by Brendan Fischer.
Article: "Downing Street memo" by Wikipedia.
Article: "Bunnatine (Bunny) H. Greenhouse" by Wikipedia.
Article: "Hot Coffee (film)" by Wikipedia.
Article: "State of the Union Address 2 February 2005" by George W. Bush. "Justice is distorted, and our economy is held back, by irresponsible class actions and frivolous asbestos claims"
Article: "Iraq War" by Wikipedia.
Article: "American Legislative Exchange Council" (ALEC) by SourceWatch.
Article: "Koch brothers' new group will take on poverty, educational quality" (Stand Together) by Fredreka Schouten.
Article: "2nd Amendment". A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Article: "How Trump Bungled the Deal of a Lifetime" by Timothy L. O'Brien.
Article: "How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body" by Gretchen Reynolds.
Article: "Paleopoo: What We Can Learn from Fossilized Feces" by Michael Greger, M.D.
 
Economic and Labor News
 
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Watch & Listen to Thom

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Why Do "We" Put Up w/Dirty Political Tricks?

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Bernie is a Democratic Socialist & Trump is a Nationalist Socialist
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Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...

Full Show 2/19/16: Bernie Takes Lead Over Hillary in New National Poll
Full Show 2/19/16: Bernie Takes Lead Over Hillary in New National Poll

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Bernie Sanders is Winning on the Issues...
Bernie Sanders is Winning on the Issues...

Thom Hartmann on Economic & Labor News: 2/22/16
Thom Hartmann on Economic & Labor News: 2/22/16

New York Fed's Warning to Fund Managers!
New York Fed's Warning to Fund Managers!

Who are the Most Trustworthy Presidential Candidates?
Who are the Most Trustworthy Presidential Candidates?

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Just What is the Thurmond Rule?

2 19 16 carly Marx
Carly Fiorina Autographed a Karl Marx Book!

2 19 16 meditation
How Meditation can Change the Brain and Body

Why Ted Cruz is so Despised!
Why Ted Cruz is so Despised!

Scalia Speaks from the Grave...
Scalia Speaks from the Grave...

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Is Your Employer Checking up on Your Health?

A Discussion of Michael Moore's new film - Where to Invade Next?
A Discussion of Michael Moore's new film - Where to Invade Next?

The Democratic Revolution is Not Just About Bernie
The Democratic Revolution is Not Just About Bernie

Caller: People Expecting Free Education are Out of Their Minds!
Caller: People Expecting Free Education are Out of Their Minds!
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