BLAST THE RIGHT

Today, in a change of pace, a single subject podcast: trickle-down economics and the unsustainable economic inequality and social ills it produces.Sometimes escaping from the mouth of a right-winger is an utterance so jaw-dropping, that it merits an entire show.Brian Griffiths is a Goldman, Sachs international advisor. He was recently discussing Wall Street salaries and bonuses. You've probably

Today, a jam-packed show.First, you'll hear about some new statistics sure to render speechless your friendly local right-wingers, when you're debating health care reform with them.Next, how about a little old-time religion: some information that will enormously enhance your ability to put right-wing Christians on the defensive.Finally, you'll get some facts about the community group ACORN you'd

Today, you'll hear:--how an all-important Supreme Court case could vastly expand the ability of corporations to determine election results--a clip of me on Air America denouncing our super-expensive yet poorly performing health care system--how there are disturbing historical parallels to the present-day right-wing coup in HondurasWhat do all these stories have in common? Hint: it's a five letter

Today, more on the progressive effort to reform our health care system. More right-wing lies debunked. More hard cold facts you can throw at your friendly local right-wingers to stop them in their tracks.Questions answered include:--how does the U.S. health care system stack up against the universal coverage nations?--how are Republicans shooting themselves in the foot by playing a 1961 clip of

Today, a return to health care reform. More right-wing distortions, half-truths, and outright lies. Debunked for your listening and debating pleasure. And along the way, you'll hear some jaw-dropping audio clips.This show is somewhat of a continuation of podcast 152. There, you heard the facts about such false right wing claims as:--the U.S. has the best health care system in the world--universal coverage nations have long waiting lists compared to the U.S.--Obama's plan is socialized medicineNow we'll add to that by debunking several additional right-wing talking points, such as:--the Democrats want to destroy Medicare--the American people oppose a public option--the Democratic plan will require you to select your method of suicide--the American public opposes taxing the wealthy to pay for health care reformYou'll also hear an astounding display of mathematical illiteracy by one your favorite cable talk show hosts.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.#154 Transcript#154 Transcript as a Word document#154 Sources

In recent podcasts you've heard about the hottest issues du jour, such as health care reform and the Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination. This show will address issues not, for the most part, as immediately applicable to the water cooler wars.There's a whole world of strife, struggle, bloodshed and sometimes progressive victory out there. It's all about the Third World's centuries-long attempt to throw off Western economic exploitation. That struggle is my real passion. Here you'll get a whirlwind review -- things that caught my eye, and that I think you might want to be aware of, pay attention to over the coming months.Particular attention will be paid to how Obama is doing in this foreign policy realm.The linchpin to understanding all this is my Four Pillars concept, my analysis of the ways the First World economically exploits the Third World. The Four Pillars are how the right effectuates the supreme right-wing directive: transfer wealth from everyone else to the already rich.I go over these Four Pillars in detail in podcast 137. That's a seminal podcast that I urge you to listen to if you haven't.In short, the Four Pillars are: 1 - sweetheart contracts for natural resources2 - unfair conditions of international trade3 - dubious loans that ensnare Third World countries on a debt treadmill, and 4 - imposition of so-called "structural adjustment programs"Woe to any nation that challenges any of the Four Pillars. The Four Pillars will pop up again and again as we go through the day.Let's start by going over some overall stats...(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.#153 Transcript#153 Transcript as a Word document#153 Sources

Today, the show is all about health care reform. You'll hear how to debunk a whole slew of right-wing talking points against progressive plans to revamp our health care system.Lives are at stake!Among the lies debunked:--the U.S. has the best health care system in the world--universal coverage nations have long waiting lists compared to the U.S.--Obama's plan is socialized medicineCheck out the podcast for all the details.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.#152 Transcript#152 Transcript as a Word document#152 Sources

Today, the focus is on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.You just won't believe the onslaught of disinformation and outright lies coming from the right.But actually, that is just what you'd expect, isn't it?Here you'll find all the ammo you'll need to shoot down their propaganda.Cold, hard facts will demonstrate:--Judge Sotomayor's "wise Latina woman with rich experience" comment was made in the context of judging discrimination cases, and is similar to comments by right-wing Justices Alito and Thomas --Judge Sotomayor's court rulings, including the Ricci case, are mainstream in the areas of race, business and crime, as even the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times admit--her Supreme Court reversal rate is consistent with other judges--her "appeals courts make policy" statement is something first year law school students learn, since appeals courts set precedents that other courts must follow concerning the interpretation and application of statutes--President Obama's statement about "empathy" being an important characteristic for a Supreme Court judge is exactly what the first President Bush and several Republican Senators have said, and--groups Judge Sotomayor has associated with, such as La Raza and Latino Justice, are mainstream, not radical.Check out the podcast for all the supporting evidence.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)Scheduling note: during the summer, Blast The Right will come out every three weeks.#151 Transcript#151 Transcript as a Word document#151 Sources

Today, a change of pace -- not one or two long segments, but several shorter ones. Subjects include: -- debunking right-wing War on Terror talking points-- dissecting conservative economic philosophy-- answering the query, how many Americans support socialism over capitalism-- following up on Dick Cheney's old company electrocuting U.S. soldiers in Iraq-- and, last but not least, exposing yet one more example of right-wing hypocrisy For example, did you know that right-wingers still run around claiming waterboarding saved Los Angeles, when the undisputed fact is, the guy waterboarded was first captured a year after that Los Angeles plot had been broken up? Check out the podcast for all the details...(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#150 Transcript#150 Transcript as a Word document#150 Sources

[from the transcript]Imagine you're the ultimate right-winger, one of Wall Street's Masters of the Universe. You've made make huge profits by engaging in reckless financial behavior. Your irresponsible actions have brought the world's financial system to the brink of collapse. You then grab hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars more, as the government tries to stabilize and repair the system. Finally, to top it all off, you largely succeed in blaming the entire mess on a liberal gay congressman and a federal law designed to help the poor.Liberals, gays, the poor. Three right-wing bugaboos.This is a right-winger's fantasy dream.And it seems like it's coming true for them.In order to counter all the right-wing spin and outright lies about the causes of the global financial crisis and the best remedies for it, you have to see the entire picture. Put everything in context.Let me sketch for you an overall framework, and then afterwards, I'll detail each of its pieces.The framework has two major parts.There's what I call the trigger, and what I call the ultimate cause.The trigger part was the bursting of the housing bubble and countless mortgages, many subprime, going bust.The ultimate cause was the so-called securitization of those mortgages through complex financial instruments called derivatives.The securitization through derivatives was what made the housing collapse system-threatening and global in scope.The right likes to focus only on the housing-mortgage element. And even for that, they mis-assign blame.As you'll see, with both the housing-mortgage trigger, and the securitization-derivatives ultimate cause, the villain is the right-wing deregulation frenzy during the Clinton and Bush administrations.[Please listen to the podcast for the details, and to hear choice clips from Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Morris and Pat Buchanan...](PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#149 Transcript#149 Transcript as a Word document#149 Sources

In the first segment, you'll hear how U.S. soldiers in Iraq are being electrocuted due to faulty electrical work. The work was performed by private contractors hired under the Bush policy of privatization. This perfectly illustrates so much of what's wrong with right-wing ideology and policies.For example:Green Beret Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth was stationed at a base in Iraq that used to be one of Saddam's palaces. This 24-year-old Pittsburgh native stepped into the shower in January, 2008. The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him...The surging current left burn marks across his body, even singeing his hair. Army reports show that he probably suffered a long, painful death. There have been 18 electrocution deaths, hundreds of burns, and untold numbers of fires due to bad wiring in Iraq.So was there a common thread linking these incidents? Were they caused by Al Qaeda saboteur electricians? Sunni insurgent electrical terrorists?No, they were the fault of Dick Cheney's old cronies. The common thread here is that the multinational corporation KBR did the electrical work on the facilities and equipment involved in these and other incidents.KBR is on the verge of being charged with negligent homicide by the Army.This is a perfect example of the detriments of the right-wing policy of privatization.Much more in the podcast about contractor wrongdoing, and the harmful effects of this right-wing obession with turning everything over to corporate control.The second segment is a Quickblast: you'll listen to and then learn how to debunk a major right-wing talking point about corporate taxes.Check out the podcast for all the details.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#148 Transcript#148 Transcript as a Word document#148 Sources

Today you'll hear all about the right-wing's dishonest, but unfortunately effective propaganda campaign against the estate tax.A preview of the reality check I'll give you, all aspects of which are fully documented:-- Only 1/5 of 1% of Americans will ever pay even a penny of estate tax. In other words, 99.8% of Americans will never pay any estate tax.-- Less than 80 small businesses in the entire country will owe any estate tax in 2009, a year which employs the tax level Obama wants to keep.-- 18 of the wealthiest American families have poured multiple millions of dollars into a lobbying effort to repeal the estate tax.-- Cutting federal tax revenues by reducing or eliminating the estate tax is part of the larger right-wing strategy of "starving the beast," defunding the government so it has no money left for a social safety net.-- Shredding the social safety net will increase human misery, suffering, pain and death. Check out the podcast for all the details.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#147 Transcript#147 Transcript as a Word document#147 Sources

Today, some nefarious right-wing doings. What else is new?First up, a GAO study found that the Department of Labor, when it was run by right-wingers appointed by George W. Bush, often turned a blind eye when employers cheated low-income workers out of their wages. The Department of Labor is supposed to protect workers.Next, there have been more revelations of torture, including from an impeccable third party source: the Red Cross. Plus stirrings abroad toward criminal prosecution of Bush administration officials for setting up their regime of torture.Check out the podcast for all the details.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#146 Transcript#146 Transcript as a Word document#146 Sources

Today we'll conclude our discussion about FDR's Second Bill of Rights, which deals with economic rights. The focus is on how FDR's concept has taken root worldwide, in the almost unanimously endorsed Universal Declaration of Human Rights.As you'll see, this is much to the dismay and horror of right-wingers.You'll also hear a QuickBlast debunking the right-wing's cry that there's a "crisis" facing the Social Security system.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#145 Transcript#145 Transcript as a Word document#145 Sources

President Obama recently presented some fairly detailed proposals to make changes in the tax code. This is sure to be a major subject of controversy in the months ahead.Here's a road map for you of today's show:First I'll give you some historical background about where we stand, economic justice-wise.Next, the details of Obama's plan. Knowing exactly what's in there is crucial, because it's already being distorted big-time by the right.Following that, my evaluation of Obama's proposal.Then onto debunking what you've come to expect, a campaign of lies from the right. Audio clips of Hannity, McCain and other mendacious folk.Finally, saving perhaps the best for last, you'll hear about a proposed financial transactions tax. It would raise hundreds of billions of dollars almost effortlessly, with actually beneficial effect. You can use this to put the right on the defensive on the tax issue.If all this sounds interesting, please listen to the podcast for the details.(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)#144 Transcript#144 Transcript as a Word document#144 Sources