The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Cliff Schecter discussed the new evidence confirm his and Sam's predictions that Ryan was an awful choice as a running mate for Romney, pretty much everyone agrees he should have picked Bob Portman instead also more polls showing the shocking result that people like Medicare. The success of Obama's populist campaign in Ohio and Todd Akin knows he is gaining ground on Claire MCcaskill because of her "unladylike" behavior and Cliff thinks if the Republicans lose bad they may become even more crazy and intransigent.

Isabel Gillies joined Sam for a "TMI" edition of movie recommendations which began with a long discussion of Menopause and concluded with Isabel telling us to watch the great Japanese documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Mitt Romney is the type of hero! that would help a friend dock a boat for a minute, Dick Morris makes some election predictions so crazy that even Sean Hannity can't believe it, Bibi Netanyahu uses some very silly visuals to explain how close Iran is to a nuclear bomb, Bibi has been saying that Iran is months away from having a nuclear weapon 1992 and Mitt Romney is now less popular than George W Bush. We get Dubya's reaction.

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Direct download: 09-28-12-Cliff-Schecter-Isabel-Gillies.PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:23pm EDT

Thomas Frank explained why the mainstream Democratic Party rejects populism, the succes of the rights toxic social populism and how our economic debates are no longer empirical. Sam and Thomas reminisced about Rick Santelli's rant at the Chicago Stock Exchange that helped launched the Tea Party and agreed that electoral reform was essential for the recovery of American politics.

On the Better Half: Mitt Romney tries to get a crowd of supporters to chant his name and fails, The Blaze takes Sam to task for not recognizing that Mitt Romney was joking about Airplane windows that open, Massive anti austerity protests in Spain and Greece, a new video of Mitt Romney explaining how Bain's business model is based on "harvesting" firms and Sam takes yet another Libertarian caller to the Majority Report "Learning Annex."

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

 

Direct download: 09-27-12-Thomas-Frank.PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:39pm EDT

J.A. Myerson, offered a recap of Occupy's first year, from first being ignored and ridiculed, to gaining press attention and eventually inspiring Occupy actions across the globe. How the success of Occupy led to a violent crackdown and Sam wondered what was happening at Occupy encampments that possibly could possibly have motivated such an extreme response from authorities? And J.A. and Sam considered possibilities for Occupy moving forward.

Richard "ChemChampion" Champion a longtime friend of the Majority Report took democracy into his own hands and has become a leader in the Washington State Democratic Party. He explained to Sam how he did and how you can too.

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

Direct download: 09-26-12-Richard_Champion-JA_Myerson-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:41pm EDT

Professor Juan Cole gave a regional overview of recent events in the Middle East, cleared up some of the confusion on the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, described a poor security situation in Libya and noted that the transitional government is making slow progress there. Cole noted that the Protests in Cairo were small and considered a failure by Egyptian standards, but that President Morsi's response to the demonstrations was problematic and may alter US-Egyptian relations.

And on the Better Half: Mitt Romney is a preparing his presidential transition...Sam and crew laugh at this, Scott Brown campaign staffers give meaning to the word "Masshole", polling data shows the only white working class voters Obama has no traction with are in the south also Lady Gaga "a slut" for smoking weed according to a prominent Staten Island Republican.

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

Direct download: 09-25-12-Juan-Cole.PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:11pm EDT

Yale Professor Jacob Hacker explained his new project "Prosperity Economics", why obsessing over the deficit right now is putting the cart before the horse, how low interest rates mean now is an excellent time to invest in infrastructure, eduction and human capital.

Why debt hysteria holds us back and how it is based on a fundamental misconception of the economic and political crises facing America. Sam loved the Prosperity agenda but wondered if ideological extremism would continue to make good policy impossible, while Hacker saw reason to hope for change in some public opinion polling.

On the Better half: former New York congressional Dan O'Connor candidate debated Sam on the legality of the federal government giving money to the states, Dan seemed convinced that the spending was unconstitutional but couldn't explain how it was, we also learned from a caller in Georgia how American could be tax and debt free! Sam wheeled it back in by sharing some troubling news on the Grand Bargain and Mitt Romney is confused as to why airplane windows do not open.

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

 

Direct download: 09-24-12-Jacob-Hacker.PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:58pm EDT

Cliff Schecter joined Sam to discuss, Romney's awful week, how Mitt lurches from gaffe to gaffe, why he is dangerous on foreign policy and the man from Bain's bizarre conviction that he is somehow at a disadvantage for not being Mexican.

Matthew Film Guy talked with Sam about whether or not liberals can enjoy Vigilante movies and recommended the Ryan Gosling film Drive.

Sam did an epic take down of a Fox and Friends non story involving Barack Obama, Bibi Netanyahu and a pirate, Anne Romney says its really time for Republican critics of her husband to "stop it!" and Paul Ryan must really be regretting his decision to take up Mitt Romney on his VP offer right now.

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

Direct download: 09-21-12-Cliff_Schecter-Matthew-Weiss-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:12pm EDT

Time Magazine's Michael Grunwald explained why all Americans are "on the dole" from tax credits to public tennis courts, why so many of us are in denial about how much we benefit from government spending across the economic spectrum,how the affluent gain from incentives in the tax code and why even though he hasn't worked in six years Mitt Romney pays a lower tax rate than middle class Americans.

Also Tim Pawlenty got a lobbying gig he simply couldn't wait to take. So good in fact that he quit his position as co-char of the Romney campaign weeks away from the election day so he could start lobbying for Wall Street as quickly as possible.

On the Better Half: Sam highlights sections of the Romney tapes that have received less attention but further reveal how delusional he is, also in a surprise development the author of PA's voter ID law thinks voting shouldn't be easy and many are to lazy to deserve the right to vote and Sam does an epic George W Bush impression that sheds light on success and luck.

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

Direct download: 09-20-12-Michael_Grunwald-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:11pm EDT

David Dayen explained why the leaked Mitt Romney videos are dividing Republicans between those that still argue that trickle down economics benefit all Americans and more aggressive conservatives who are embracing the fact that Republican tax policies simply favor their base, Sam noted that one of the most encouraging things to come out of the tapes is that the Republican donor class is as ill informed as your average tea party supporter and Romney also threw the Middle East and United States security into jeopardy by disavowing the Peace Process.

And David told us why the gobbling up of foreclosed homes across the United States by hedge funds and investment firms could lead to another housing bubble. Scary stuff.

On The Better Half: Sam explained that the Chicago teachers went on strike not over pay but teaching conditions, discussed a Swiss tax evasion scheme that may involve one US presidential candidate and reflected on his weekend hosting Up With Chris.

Direct download: 09-19-12-David_Dayen-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:56pm EDT

On today's show Kristina Rizga of Mother Jones Magazine, talked with Sam about her reporting on Mission High School San Francisco, what makes a school successful, how the high stakes testing regime advocated by corporate reformers is hurting vulnerable students and why its better to look for best practices instead of one size fits all rules for education.

Members make the Majority Report possible.  Please join us by becoming a MEMBER.  You can also show your support by clicking thru to the DONATE button for a one-time donation — anytime.  And don't forget Sam is live every week day at noon. Thanks!

Direct download: 09-18-12-Kristina_Rizga-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:08pm EDT

On today's show Majority Report producers Matt & Michael reported from Occupy Wall Street's one year anniversary and found an energetic group of protesters committed to getting Occupy back in the center of American politics.

They also spoke with several Occupy protesters including Allison Kilkenny from Citizen Radio, freelance journalist and our Occupy Wall Street guy Jeff Smith, and retired Philly Police Captain Ray Lewis and others.

Also in a pre-recorded interview Sam spoke with economist and author Jeff Faux about his new book the Servant Economy on why America's middle class is hollowing out and how and why we are turning into a servant driven economy.

Direct download: 09-17-12-Occupy_Anniversary-Jeff_Faux-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:49pm EDT