Thom Hartmann: America's infrastructure now ranks 16th in the world...

Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling. The Sherman Minton Bridge that spans the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky was shut down last Friday due to safety concerns after cracks were discovered in the bridge's load-bearing parts. The Sherman Minton Bridge is just one of several bridges in danger of collapsing -- As the American Society of Civil Engineers points out, 34% of all the bridges in Kentucky are considered "structurally deficient." Of course - Kentucky is the home state of Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - who opposed increased infrastructure spending in the 2009 stimulus bill - opposed it again when Republicans blocked a jobs bill in 2010 - and threw cold water last week on President Obama's "American Jobs Act" that includes billions in transportation infrastructure products. According to a study by the Urban Land Institute - our nation's infrastructure needs $2 trillion worth of repairs.

And America's infrastructure now ranks 16th in the world according to the World Economic Forum. Yet another consequence of 30 years of Ronald Reagan's "starve the beast" economics.

-Thom

(Do you think the infrastructure will get fixed? Tell us here.)

If you Believe that there should be No Mosque at Ground Zero, then you must also believe.....

If you Believe that there should be No Mosque at Ground Zero, then you must also believe:
No Christian Church in Oklahoma & No Republican Meetings in Tucson, unless you are a hypocrite.
Evil does Not Represent nor Know One`s Race, Color, Religion or Place of Birth - Evil ONLY Knows One`s Weakness for the Sake of Evil Itself!

Randi Rhodes: 10yr anniversary of 9/11

It's Friday, ya bastids!

Randi will be back LIVE on Mon (9/12); David Sirota from our Denver affiliate, AM760, is filling in today. David's guests include:

Matt Seitz, media critic, film editor and director will join David to talk about the cultural legacy of 9/11 and how our American culture, from politics to pop music, still reflects the attacks of that day.

Trauma specialist Donna Gaffney, co-founder of 4 Action Initiative & Clifford Chanin from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City will will discuss how we're educating our children about the causes and effects of 9/11.

Anthony DePalma, author of "City of Dust: Illness, Arrogance and 9/11" and a former New York Times correspondent who covered the 9/11 health issues on the new docs discovered with the help of Pro Publica that detail how the Bush administration downplayed the Ground Zero health risks during the cleanup.

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (ret.), former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell will discuss how the country has been affected from the events of 9/11 and how the decisions of those like former Vice President Cheney radically changed the direction of our country.

And Salon's Glenn Greenwald will talk about the ACLU, President Obama, how our our civil liberties have changed since 9/11, and and how they're still changing today.

Call David at 866-87-RANDI (866-877-2634)

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Thom Hartmann: What will happen if Republicans say yes?

President Obama challenges Congress. Last night - the President pitched his much anticipated jobs plan to a joint-session of Congress - calling on Members to immediately pass what he's calling "The American Jobs Act" - a $447 billion proposal - filled mostly with $250 billion worth of tax cuts - with the rest of the money going toward infrastructure spending - aid to states - and an extension of unemployment benefits. The President hammered home the point that these are all proposals that have garnered bipartisan support in the past - and there's no reason why Republicans shouldn't support them this time around.

As for how this bill will be paid for - the President outsourced that decision to the Gang of 12 - calling on them to find an addition $447 billion worth of cuts or revenue raisers in addition to the $1.5 trillion they're already tasked with finding. But the President did say he hopes they looked toward raising revenue from the wealthiest in America - people like Warren Buffett who pay a lower tax rate than his secretary - to cover part of the cost of the jobs bill. He also called for cuts - or in his words "modest adjustments" - to Medicare and Medicaid too. As for the tone - the President was nearly pitch-perfect - and finally showing some of the fight many progressives have been waiting to see.

Now the big question - will Republicans say "Yes"? If they do, they take away the President's ability to play Harry Truman and run against a do-nothing Congress, and the economy will still be in bad shape. If they say "No," they hand Obama a big club to use against them. The worst scenario? They say "yes" to parts of it, he caves in and compromises for a weaker bill, so the economy still sucks next year, but he can no longer run against Congress. This is starting to get interesting.

-Thom

(What do you think will happen? Tell us here.)

Thom Hartmann: Why Republicans may throw their support behind the President's job plan...

With the President set to present his job creation plan to a joint session of Congress tonight - he's already getting some bad news from economists. Early reports indicate the job's plan will cost between $300 and $400 billion - with less than half going to actually rebuilding our infrastructure - and the rest devoted to tax cuts and an extension of unemployment benefits. But economists are warning the President that his plan will likely do very little to turn the economy around.

The labor economist at the Brooking Institute - Gary Burtless - said, "If we're talking about whether the package is big enough to...start making a dent, it's probably going to fall short of that goal." And Nigel Gault - the chief economist as HIS Global Insight said about the President's plan, "The kick to growth is going to be pretty small. It will add substantially less than 1% GDP growth in 2012." Now that they know it will do very little to improve the economy - expect Republicans to suddenly throw their support behind the President's job plan.

That way they can keep up the illusion they care about jobs - while actually doing nothing to improve the economy before the 2012 election. And it will make it impossible for him to pull a Harry Truman and run against a "do-nothing Congress."

-Thom

(Do you think they will? Tell us here.)

Randi Rhodes: Even Superman Cries

Randi’s on vacation this week, but our good friend Nicole Sandler is filling in; her guests include:

Cliff Schecter, author of "The Real McCain" and political columnist for Al Jazeera English, joins Nicole for a personal look at the tenth anniversary of 9/11, as well as Schecter's latest piece for Al Jazeera, 9/11 and its great transformations

John Ondrasik, the man behind the award-winng group Five for Fighting will also speak with Nicole about his song 'Superman', which became the theme song for most of the NYFD and NYPD in the wake of the Sept. 11th tragedy.

Leo Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers union, will talk with Nicole about the jobs plans being discussed now, including President Obama's upcoming speech on Thursday, Mitt Romney's jobs proposal, and what working Americans really want out of an effective jobs plan.

Finally, journalist, radio broadcaster, and political commentator Brad Friedman of The Brad Blog will join Nicole to talk about part two of his series in Mother Jones on the Koch Brothers and what happened at their super secret summer seminar in Vail, Colorado.

Call Nicole at 866-87-RANDI (866-877-2634)

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Jon Stewart, just back from his own vacation, had to do his duty Tuesday night, and challenge the right-wing hypocrisy and fake hysteria surrounding Monday's comments by Teamsters President and labor leader James Hoffa, Jr.

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Thom Hartmann: It's time to dump the post-partisan-mantra - and start acting like FDR!

Will $300 billion fix the economy? President Obama hopes so. According to early reports from the White House - the President's job creation plan set to be unveiled Thursday night will come with a price tag of $300 billion - a number that is likely too high for Republicans to support - given they likely can't support a $20 dollar job creation package - and also a number far too low for many progressives hoping the President would go bold and throw a trillion dollar package out there. More troubling - only about $50 billion of that $300 billion will ACTUALLY go toward rebuilding our nation's crumbling infrastructure. The rest will go to tax cuts that have been proven to not have nearly as much bang for the buck as stimulus.

The President does plan to extend unemployment benefits also - a critical measure to ease the suffering of millions of unemployed Americans and stimulate the economy - but also a measure that Republicans will target for removal first in negotiations. President Obama's stimulus package in 2009 kept our economy from a Great Depression - but it wasn't nearly big enough to re-boot strong job growth. His own economic advisors told him this - but he decided to compromise with Republicans in the Senate by reducing its size and throwing in some tax cuts. As a result - Republicans can make the argument that it failed. Now - it looks like President Obama is making the same mistake twice - with a stimulus package that is too small to work.

It's time to dump the post-partisan-President mantra - and start acting like FDR and Harry Truman. Go bold with a jobs plan tomorrow - and beat the Republicans over the head with it until November.

-Thom

(What do you think president Obama should do? Tell us here.)

Randi Rhodes: It`s All About You & Jobs!

Randi’s on vacation this week, but our good friend Nicole Sandler is filling in; her guests include:

Richard Eskow, Eskow, former corporate executive, public policy consultant and, Senior Fellow at the Campaign for America's Future looked at the real meaning of the Labor Day holiday in his latest piece, "Labor Day: A Day to Rest, Remember, And Act - For 'Entitlements' And Jobs. He'll talk with Nicole about the article, and about President Obama's jobs crusade.

Mike Lofgren, a 30-year GOP staffer who recently retired will join Nicole to talk about the massive rift in the GOP that most on the right want to hide, as well as his conscience-clearing piece at Truthout.org, "Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult."

Finally, journalist, radio broadcaster, and political commentator Brad Friedman of The Brad Blog will join Nicole to talk about his explosive two-part series at Mother Jones about the Koch Brothers and what happened at their super secret summer seminar in Vail, Colorado.

Call Nicole at 866-87-RANDI (866-877-2634)

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Here's what Teamsters President and labor leader James Hoffa, Jr. REALLY said on Monday about the Tea Party..

Thom Hartmann: Meet the New Republican Plan to Create Jobs - George W. Bush, Recycled

Falling behind in the polls - Mitt Romney is expected to lay out his plan for job creation today at an event in Nevada. And like all the other plans put forward by his colleagues on the right - Romney's job creation plan sounds more like a Christmas list for millionaires, billionaires and transnational corporations, and less like an effective way to get Americans back to work.

The plan is complete with massive tax breaks for US-based corporations - which already pay the second lowest taxes as a percent of GDP in the entire developed world - and are today sitting on more than two trillion dollars in cash and not hiring anyone. Romney will also call for the elimination of the Capital Gains tax so that trust-fund babies like Paris Hilton and Wall Street speculators can get a free ride in American while just sitting on their butts by the pool collecting dividend checks. And of course - Romney will take aim at bringing down those pesky federal regulations that make sure the air we breathe, food we eat, and water we drink are safe. That's also what House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said are the priorities of House Republicans, as Members of Congress head back to Washington, DC and Republicans begin their assault on the EPA.

So, meet the new Republican plan to create jobs - George W. Bush, recycled.

-Thom

(What do you think of their plans? Tell us here.)

Randi Rhodes: Jobs Report & Schooling Santorum

It's Friday, ya bastids!

The August employment figure is in... and it’s zero. That’s right—there is nothing to report for August. No really, the August report is nothing. We didn’t add any jobs at all. We did nothing last month. Or to be more accurate, Republicans managed to exactly undo everything we did. All we can do is play the “glass half full” game. Yes, the zero means that we didn’t add any jobs last month. But it also means we didn’t lose any jobs. The sad thing is that these crappy numbers are partly due to the fact that the Republicans spent a good chunk of the month holding the nation hostage to the debt ceiling increase. The sadder thing is that that was their plan. By the way, these employment numbers are compiled by the Department of Labor. If Republicans were totally in charge, you can be sure you wouldn’t be seeing numbers like this. You wouldn’t be seeing any numbers, because Republicans would get rid of the Department of Labor.

Here is an interesting clip of Rick Santorum getting schooled by a college student about his opposition to gay marriage and gay parenting. Thankfully, the clip stops before he starts talking about man-on-dog parenting. I would rather have children raised by gay parents than to be raised by Rick Santorum. Heck, I’d rather see children raised by a travelling road company of “La Cage” than be raised by Rick Santorum.

This summer, Rick Santorum said during an interview that Obama claimed to have created 280 million jobs, when he only really created 240 million jobs, which means a loss of 30 million jobs. Do not put those numbers into a computer, or I’m pretty sure you’ll fry the motherboard. Rick Santorum’s incomprehensible rant contained more errors than the combined SAT tests of the Kardashian sisters. There are only about 150 million people in the American workforce. If Obama had actually created 280 million jobs, almost everyone would have two jobs. And Republicans would still be asking where the jobs are.

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Donald Trump is now looking to score points off of America’s near-universal hatred for Darth Cheney...

Thom Hartmann: Republican governors are hard at work laying off people like teachers

Zero! That's the number of net new jobs created in America last month. The latest jobs numbers released today show that 17,000 jobs were created in the private sector - making August the 18th straight month of private sector job growth under President Obama's watch - however that number was offset by 17,000 government jobs that were lost - mostly thanks to Republican governors who are hard at work laying off people like teachers. These are the same governors responsible for most of the half-million government job losses since President Obama took office. Also sagging the job numbers are 45,000 Verizon workers who were on strike as the multi-billion dollar corporation wants its workers to pay more for health insurance. The unemployment rate remains at 9.1% - a pretty little number for Republicans who will likely continue their opposition to any sort of jobs plan put forward by the President to put American back to work. As long as unemployment remains above 9% - the Republicans' chances of winning in 2012 are good - and they know it.

-Thom

(Who do you blame for the unemployment trend? Tell us here.)

Thom Hartmann: Will you be Watching President Obama or the Packers Thursday?

Speaker of the House John Boehner made history yesterday. After President Obama requested a joint session of Congress to announce his new jobs plan next week - on September 7th - Boehner REJECTED the request - and instead suggested Americans should choose between watching the President or the opening day of the football season. According to the Senate historian - never in the history of this nation had Congress ever rejected a presidential request for a joint session of Congress. Never. And, by the way, never in this history of our nation has a president ever had to produce his birth certificate, either.

Never in history has a president been called a liar by a sitting Supreme Court Justice during a State of the Union address, or been heckled as a liar by a southern Congressman. In the end - President Obama gave in to Speaker Boehner's demands (once again) and agreed to September 8th. So ultimately - yesterday turned out like every other day. It started with the president wanting to talk about jobs - the Republicans sabotaging that effort - and then President Obama caving in. So, we'll all get to watch the debut of "Governor Good Hair" Rick Perry in the Republican debate, instead of hearing the President share his jobs ideas with Congress. And the following night, the President goes up against the Packers and the Saints.

While I'm rooting for the President, I'm guessing most Americans will be watching the Packers. At least that's the Republican plan.

-Thom

(What are you going to do? Tell us here.)

Randi Rhodes: No Respect

Well, President Obama went face to face with John Boehner, and President Obama blinked. My guess? It must have been Boehner’s breath. President Obama has relented to demands by John Boehner that he pick another night for his speech on jobs before a joint session of Congress. You know, for a bunch of people who are always asking President Obama “where are the jobs,” the Republicans don’t seem to want to give him a chance to tell them. The President agreed to move his speech back one day to Thursday. Hey, a lot of Americans have been out of work for months. What’s one more day to wait for a jobs speech, right?

President Obama was smart to reschedule the speech. By doing so, he looks more mature than the Republican leadership. But then the girls on the show “16 and Pregnant” look more mature than the Republican leadership. By delivering his speech the day after the Republican debate, Obama gets the last word. Because you know if the Republicans get the last word, the last word will always be “no.”

This is the only time in American history that the President of the United States has been publicly denied his request to address a joint session of Congress. But then we’ve never had this exact situation before, and by “this exact situation,” I mean a black President. Republicans would never have reacted like this if it weren’t for the fact that the President of the United States is black. And yes, I’m saying that just to annoy the ‘baggers, because there’s certainly no need to remind them of it.

John Boehner has also snubbed President Obama at every White House state dinner he has hosted. You know something is going on there, if John Boehner is turning down a chance for free drinks. There seems to be no level of disrespect that Republicans won’t sink to when it comes to this President. I wouldn’t be surprised if they fumigate the Oval Office if he has to leave it.

This could be bad news for the President. More people watch the show “The Jersey Shore” than watch the Republican debates. And this schedule change puts the President on the same night as the Jersey Shore! On the upside, Obama will definitely look very presidential when viewers contrast him with Snooki and The Situation doing Jell-O shots. If the Republicans are compared with the kids on the Jersey Shore, they wouldn’t fare so well. Frankly, if there was an emergency, I would rather see J-Woww in charge of disaster relief than Ron Paul.

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