Good Politics Radio

On his weekly radio address to the nation, President Barack Obama pledged to uphold the sacred trust the nation has with its troops and veterans as the combat mission in Iraq comes to an end.  The administration is building a 21st century VA, making it easier for veterans with PTSD to receive the benefits they need, funding and implementing a Post-9/11 GI Bill, and devoting new resources to job training and placement to help those veterans looking for work in a tough economy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tEHBVzZY4E

“On Tuesday, after more than seven years, the United States of America will end its combat mission in Iraq and take an important step forward in responsibly ending the Iraq war.

As a candidate for this office, I pledged I would end this war.  As President, that is what I am doing.  We have brought home more than 90,000 troops since I took office.  We have closed or turned over to Iraq hundreds of bases.  In many parts of the country, Iraqis have already taken the lead for security.

In the months ahead, our troops will continue to support and train Iraqi forces, partner with Iraqis in counterterrorism missions, and protect our civilian and military efforts.  But the bottom line is this: the war is ending.  Like any sovereign, independent nation, Iraq is free to chart its own course.  And by the end of next year, all of our troops will be home. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Senate Candidate Marco Rubio of Florida. Rubio talked about 3 things that can be done by Congress now to help get the economy going in the right direction.

“Hi, I’m Marco Rubio.

It’s an honor to talk to you today about the direction of our country.

About the decisions being made in Washington that will determine what kind of nation we leave to our children.

America is the greatest country in the history of the world. But that didn’t happen by accident and it won’t continue automatically.

Today the American Dream is threatened by out-of-control politicians in Washington who think that more government deficit spending is what it takes to grow our economy. That has never worked anywhere it’s been tried and it won’t work now. (more…)

On his weekly radio address to the nation, President Barack Obama urged Republican leaders in Congress to end their obstruction of a bipartisan bill that will reduce the influence wielded by corporations and foreign entities.  The President vowed to continue the fight for reform and transparency, and said elected officials who benefit from corporate or foreign-funded ads should either defend the ads or join the bipartisan effort to stop them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cKIPvfvxKo

“As the political season heats up, Americans are already being inundated with the usual phone calls, mailings, and TV ads from campaigns all across the country.  But this summer, they’re also seeing a flood of attack ads run by shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names.  We don’t know who’s behind these ads and we don’t know who’s paying for them.

The reason this is happening is because of a decision by the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case – a decision that now allows big corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections.  They can buy millions of dollars worth of TV ads – and worst of all, they don’t even have to reveal who is actually paying for them.  You don’t know if it’s a foreign-controlled corporation.  You don’t know if it’s BP.  You don’t know if it’s a big insurance company or a Wall Street Bank.  A group can hide behind a phony name like “Citizens for a Better Future,” even if a more accurate name would be “Corporations for Weaker Oversight.”

We tried to fix this last month.  There was a proposal supported by Democrats and Republicans that would’ve required corporate political advertisers to reveal who’s funding their activities.  When special interests take to the airwaves, whoever is running and funding the ad would have to appear in the advertisement and take responsibility for it – like a company’s CEO or an organization’s biggest contributor.  And foreign-controlled corporations and entities would be restricted from spending money to influence American elections – just as they were in the past. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Representative Charles Djou of Hawaii. Djou called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow the House of Representatives to consider Republicans’ proposals to immediately cut wasteful Washington spending and provide the fiscal discipline economists say is needed to get people working again.

“Aloha. I’m Congressman Charles Djou.

“90 days ago, I earned the privilege of serving the people of Hawaii’s First Congressional District. Of course, it didn’t take me nearly that long to figure out that Washington does a lot more talking than listening – and a lot more spending than saving.

“For every problem facing our nation, the answer from Washington has been to spend and spend, and – if that doesn’t work – spend some more. The current Administration in Washington told us that borrowing and spending billions would create jobs ‘immediately’ and keep unemployment from exceeding eight percent. They were wrong. Instead, we’ve lost millions of jobs and unemployment remains near 10 percent. (more…)

This week on American Radio Journal: Lowman Henry begins the first in a four-part series on public education entitled School: It’s Your Choice with Emmett McGroarty of the Preserve Innocence Initiative; Andy Roth of the Club for Growth has the Real Story on primary elections in Washington, Arizona and Florida; And, Col. Frank Ryan, USMC (Ret). has an American Radio Journal commentary on a new word: WANASOMA (We Are Not A Source Of Money Anymore.)

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American Radio Journal is produced and distributed by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. The Lincoln Institute is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1993, the mission of the Lincoln Institute is: “To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research and related educational programs.”

The Lincoln Institute accepts no government money and is completely funded by philanthropic grant making foundations, corporations, and individuals.

To listen to the broadcast click here.

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

As our savings plummet and our debts soar, many of us are starting to wonder not only when we’ll get back on track, but whether the track we’ve been on all these years is the right one to follow. Author, economist and former labor secretary Robert Reich asserts that rather than resuscitate an unjust and unsustainable economy, we should reinvent it to meet a wider range of needs and possibilities.

This program was funded by listeners like you.

Click here to listen to this podcast.

Florida Governor candidate Khavari addresses the ineptness of the economic plans of current governor, Charlie Crist, along with those of Khavari’s opponents, Alex Sink, Bill McCollum and Rick Scott.

to this informative interview.

Click on the discussion button and post your questions to Dr. Khavari.

Dr. Farid Khavari, well respected economist, author of nine books, including the classic Environomics is running for governor of Florida as an Independent. Khavari believes politicians cannot solve the current economic problems and that his opponents, Sink, McCollum and Scott have no concrete plan to alleviate Florida’s weak economy.

In this interview, Khavari lays out the two cornerstones of The Khavari Economic Plan: to create a state owned bank, The Bank of the State of Florida (BSF), and to implement the concept of a Zero-Cost Economy. The three goals of his plan are to:

1)      Create income for all Floridians

2)      To reduce the cost of living for all Floridians

3)      To help all Floridians accumulate and protect true wealth for retirement.

Listeners in other states will find Khavari’s economic plan interesting as it has captured national attention, influencing a number of other gubernatorial candidates for this up-coming election. Exact details of all the various aspects of Khavari’s economic plan can also be found on his website www.Khavariforgovernor.com.

Our thanks to Yaktivate.com for empowering this podcast on Good Politics Radio.

Mark Levine’s Inside Scoop on Washington

Mark Levine hosts the Raucous Caucus with Terry Kester and Garland Nixon from Washington DC.

They talk about American history, especially about the Founding Fathers and colonial history.

They begin by talking about their favorite pet peeves regarding colonial history.

The show takes place live at WPFW with live audience members who contribute some questions and opinions.

Click here to listen to this podcast.

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The Inside Scoop is nationally syndicated on the Head-On Radio Network and iTunes. The show can be heard on radio weekdays, 5-6 pm Eastern, and can be seen on television Monday 7-8 pm Eastern.

Since June 2003, Mark Levine has given listeners The Inside Scoop from political players inside the Beltway – news that the Media almost never reports and those in power in the Government do not want you to know about. Mark welcomes all during his talk radio hour, and he particularly values calls from folks who disagree with him.

Visit Radio Inside Scoop.com to access more information and additional podcast shows.

Left, Right and Center is a weekly half-hour radio broadcast and podcast produced by KCRW in Santa Monica.

The panel talked about the Wall Street Journal Poll that indicated Americans are in a sour mood over the issues of politics current administration policies, the US economy, the Afghanistan war, and disappointment in the Democratic and Republican parties.  Their conversation is lively and entertaining.

The participants on the show are Robert Scheer who represents the left, Tony Blankley who represents the right, Matt Miller, the moderator, who represents the center, and Arianna Huffington, who represents the progressive blogosphere.

At the end of this entertaining show the participants each have a 30 second rant to summarize the issue that each sees as most significant.

Click here to be taken to the Left, Right and Center home page where you can download or listen to the podcast.

Read the Wall Street Journal Poll here.

Read the Wall Street Journal article about the economy and fiscal growth.

On his weekly radio address to the nation, President Barack Obama promised to protect Social Security from Republican leaders in Congress who have made privatization a key part of their agenda. He made clear that, especially in light of the financial crisis, gambling Social Security on Wall Street does not make sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=390CWyYkH3M

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Senate candidate Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Toomey talked about three steps that will help change the direction of the US economy.

“Hi, I’m Pat Toomey from the great state of Pennsylvania, and I’m pleased to have this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you today.

Like a lot of Americans all around the country, I really believe America is at a crossroads. I’ll always be optimistic about America. We’re too strong a people and too good a country to be held back for long. But I am deeply concerned about the direction we’re heading in right now. That direction is being driven by extreme policies that are coming from one-party domination of government in Washington. And this extreme ideologically driven agenda is preventing the strong economic recovery and job creation that we should be having.

It’s time we put some real checks and balances back in place this November.

Let’s take a minute to review what’s happened in just the last 18 months. First, there were the ill-advised taxpayer funded bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the….

…car companies. Now, to be fair, the bailouts were begun under the previous administration; but the crew that’s in charge now ramped them up when it was perfectly clear that they were not accomplishing what they were supposed to. (more…)

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

Organic agriculture has grown up.  A once-marginal movement of plucky and slightly eccentric home gardeners has bloomed into mega-farms that ship around the world selling at premium prices.  In this program we’ll examine both ends of the organic industry food chain — a mid-size organic farming family and the world’s largest organic food retailer.  We’ll see what growing mainstream has done for – and to — organic farmers, and what remains to be done to give farmers and consumers the sustainable food system we urgently need.

This program is funded by listeners like you.

Click here to listen to this podcast.

This week on American Radio Journal: Lowman Henry talks with Timothy P. Carney of the Washington Examiner about establishment efforts to co-opt TEA Party candidates who win seats in Congress; Andy Roth of the Club for Growth has the Real Story behind liberal economists accepting the theory behind the Laffer Curve; And, Dr. Paul Kengor of the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College has an American Radio Journal commentary on the impact of the loss of the World War II generation on the debate over the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan.

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American Radio Journal is produced and distributed by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. The Lincoln Institute is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1993, the mission of the Lincoln Institute is: “To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research and related educational programs.”

The Lincoln Institute accepts no government money and is completely funded by philanthropic grant making foundations, corporations, and individuals.

To listen to the broadcast click here.

On his weekly radio address to the nation, President Barack Obama discussed a new Medicare Trustees report showing Medicare to be on much stronger footing as a result of the reforms in the Affordable Care Act. In addition, seniors are also already getting help with prescription drug costs when they fall into the infamous “donut hole.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4TUDX0gek0

“Forty-five years ago, we made a solemn compact as a nation that senior citizens would not go without the health care they need.  This is the promise we made when Medicare was born.  And it’s the responsibility of each generation to keep that promise.

That’s why a report issued this week by the Trustees who oversee Medicare was such good news.  According to this report, the steps we took this year to reform the health care system have put Medicare on a sounder financial footing.  Reform has actually added at least a dozen years to the solvency of Medicare – the single longest extension in history – while helping to preserve Medicare for generations to come.

We’ve made Medicare more solvent by going after waste, fraud, and abuse – not by changing seniors’ guaranteed benefits.  In fact, seniors are starting to see that because of health reform, their benefits are getting better all the time. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Representative Peter Roskam of Illinois. Representative Roskam said that President Obama needs to listen to the American people, who are asking ‘where are the jobs?,’ and abandon his failing ‘stimulus’ policies in favor of common-sense solutions that will promote private sector job creation.

““Hello, I’m Peter Roskam, and I work for the people of Illinois’ Sixth Congressional District.

“Yesterday, Americans woke up to learn that our economy lost another 131,000 jobs in the month of July. Here in the president’s home state of Illinois, where the unemployment rate is well over 10 percent, families are wondering why Washington is spending money we don’t have and piling up a mountain of debt only to have the economy sputter and job losses continue. Businesses are afraid to invest in the economy when Washington continues to hand down mandates and tax increases that make it harder to succeed and to grow.

“Unfortunately, instead of taking decisive action to provide small and medium sized businesses with the tax and regulatory relief they need to flourish and hire new workers, Speaker Pelosi and Democrat Leaders in Congress are coming back to Washington next week to double down on their ‘stimulus’ agenda that has led to fewer jobs and more debt. This latest round of ‘stimulus’ spending comes in the form of a political season payoff to union bosses, and even worse, it’ll be financed with a job-killing tax hike on America’s job-creators. (more…)

“When I see that list (of goals), at all times I am thinking of ways that the methods, tools and sheer power of the scientific enterprise can resolve those problems”, Tyson, July 2010.

Listen to Dr. Tyson as he speaks on HIV/Aids and Cultural Attitudes; the Possibility of Asteroids colliding with earth in the Indian Ocean – where does the responsibility for action lay; children as natural creators, investigators, scientists; the importance of science literacy……

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is the first occupant of the Frederick P. Rose Directorship of the Hayden Planetarium.

Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia. (more…)

Mark Levine’s Inside Scoop on Washington

Mark Levine is a guest on the Leslie Marshall Show.

They talk about the Arizona SB 1070 bill, sections of which were prevented from going into law by a judge who temporarily delayed its implementation.

They talk about the sections of the law that were struck down and the sections that were left in.  They also talk about how the law was different from the Federal law.  They also talk about what they think motivated the Governor of Arizona to approve the legislation.

They also take a few calls from audience members.

Click here to listen to this podcast.

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The Inside Scoop is nationally syndicated on the Head-On Radio Network and iTunes. The show can be heard on radio weekdays, 5-6 pm Eastern, and can be seen on television Monday 7-8 pm Eastern.

Since June 2003, Mark Levine has given listeners The Inside Scoop from political players inside the Beltway – news that the Media almost never reports and those in power in the Government do not want you to know about. Mark welcomes all during his talk radio hour, and he particularly values calls from folks who disagree with him.

Visit Radio Inside Scoop.com to access more information and additional podcast shows.

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

For more than 40 years, Colombia has been caught in the cross fire of “La Violencia”: thousands dead, millions more driven from their homes. Impunity remains the law of the land. Now a series of tribunals and truth commissions are seeking to discover what really happened; to give victims a chance to express their anger and sorrow and perpetrators a chance to confess and serve time or be amnestied.

Guests:
Some of these interviews are in Spanish, with live interpretation by Associate Producer Naihma Deady.
Margarita Morales, Vice-President, Association of Victims for Life
Almudena Bernabeu, International Attorney, The Center for Justice and Accountability
Uldy Teresa Jimenez, President, Peace and Justice Tribunal, Superior Court in Bogota
Javier Ciurlizza, Colombia Program Director, International Center for Transitional Justice

We also interviewed Nilson Pinilla Pinilla, who is a member of the Truth Commission and President of the Constitutional Courts, but did not include him in the program. He spoke in detail about the 1985 attack on the Palace of Justice in Colombia.

(Click on a guest’s name to listen to their full unedited interview.)

Credits:
Host: Mark Sommer
Senior Producer: Gregg McVicar
Associate Producers: Naihma Deady, Matt Fidler
Translator: Naihma Deady
Credits Narrator: Gabriela Castelan
Production Engineer: Michael Schwartz
Field Engineer: Steven Short

Funding: the Compton Foundation.

Duration: 55:00 minutes

Click here to listen to this podcast.

On his weekly radio address to the nation, President Barack Obama praised the successes of the auto industry restructuring as good news for our economy, and calls on Republican leaders in the Senate to “stop holding America’s small businesses hostage to politics” by blocking a vote to help them create jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cv9O3ENW2c

“This week, I signed into law a Wall Street reform bill that will protect consumers and our entire economy from the recklessness and irresponsibility that led to the worst recession of our lifetime.  It’s reform that will help put a stop to the abusive practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies.  It will end taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street firms.  And it will finally bring the shadowy deals that caused the financial crisis into the light of day.

Wall Street reform is a key pillar of an overall economic plan we’ve put in place to dig ourselves out of this recession and build an economy for the long run – an economy that makes America more competitive and our middle-class more secure.  It’s a plan based on the Main Street values of hard work and responsibility – and one that demands new accountability from Wall Street to Washington.

Instead of giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, we want to give tax breaks to small business owners who are creating jobs right here in America.  Already, we’ve given small businesses eight new tax cuts, and have expanded lending to more than 60,000 small business owners.

We’re also investing in a homegrown, clean energy industry – because I don’t want to see new solar panels and wind turbines and electric cars manufactured in some other country.  I want to see them made in America, by American workers.  So far, we’ve provided new tax credits, loan guarantees, and investments that will lead to more than 800,000 clean energy jobs by 2012.  And throughout America, communities are being rebuilt by people working in hundreds of thousands of new private sector jobs repairing our roads, bridges, and railways. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska. Senator Johanns talked about some of the unwanted consequences of President Obama’s agenda.  He talked specifically about how the policies may stunt job growth.

“Hello, I’m Senator Mike Johanns from the great state of Nebraska.

I begin with a very sincere question for our President.

Isn’t it time, Mr. President, to tone down the rhetoric and to govern?

I’m a relatively new member of the U.S. Senate. But, I’ve had an opportunity to serve in the Cabinet; to govern a state; and to serve as the Mayor of a wonderful community.

And I learned early on that to advance an agenda, a leader needs to pull people together.

You talk about creating jobs and that sounds good, but your policies just do the opposite – with a fiercely anti-business tone.

Let’s take an honest look at the impact of your agenda. (more…)