The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Political maestro Cliff Schecter explains why we are watching history being made for gay rights, why the right is freaking out, the role of culture in social change, why anti gay bigotry is the Alamo of the right, why the Republican establishment opposed the Arizona gay discrimination bill, why Democrats need to find a progressive and populist economic message, why President Obama finally dropped Social Security cuts in his new budget, how Republicans use Democrats pro austerity views against them, President Obama's terrible new judicial deal and more revelations from Chris Christie's bridgegate.

Film Guy Matthew Weiss explains to Matt and Michael why he thinks award season is vapid and stupid, why the Academy Awards have always been about propaganda, why Wolf of Wall Street was a mixed film and Philomena was a good one and he suggested that we check out the online streaming site Fandor.com and keep an eye out for the filmsHellaware and It Felt Like Love.

Bill O'Reilly thinks we can solve poverty through President Obama lecturing black children and more on the Bitcoin panic after the fall of MT Gox and your IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-28-14-Cliff_Schecter-Matthew_Weiss-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:35pm EDT

Journalist David Dayen explains how the Post Office could offer financial services, how the poor are exploited by predatory lenders and service providers, why the Post Office is a perfect place to provide basic financial services, how banking could save the artificial postal crisis imposed by Congress, how the Post Office could offer financial services now, why hardcore Republicans dominate the Post Office board of governors, why federal benefits would be delivered better through the Post Office, how the poor would save money and help overcome some of the hardships of our immigrant communities, how Postal banking could make a recession much less likely and how this can actually happen.

Andrew Cuomo's new political maneuvering reveals all of the pathologies of the Democratic Party elite.

On The Fun Half: Christian fanatic Bryan Fischer worries about "Big Gay", how reform happens, where the minimum wage should really be, neo-liberal foreign policy and lower wages at home, and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-27-14-David_Dayen-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:26pm EDT

Jodie Griffin, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge outlines the dangers of the proposed Comcast-Time Warner merger, why the customers lose in the current cable market, how Comcast undermines the online video market, what the DOJ will consider when it looks at the merger proposal? The broader standards that the FCC will provide, how a possible merger would impact the future of cable and broadband markets, why the FCC has undermined its own ability to enforce net neutrality, what would really save  an open Internet, the absurd arguments against net neutrality and determining the importance of the Netflix Comcast deal.

On The Fun Half: Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson sues to keep fracking from happening in his hometown, will universal Pre K mean Common Core testing for pre-schoolers? How for profit testing companies targeting Pre K, how eroding net neutrality creates more inequality, Arizona lawmaker who voted for the pro LGBT discrimination bill tells Anderson Cooper that "there is no discrimination" in Arizona, a petition on the We The People website asks President Obama to say "fuck Uganda" because of that countries horrible new anti Gay law and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-26-14-Jodie_Griffin-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:43pm EDT

Journalist Kiera Feldman explains the history of the evangelical Patrick Henry College,the role of Patrick Henry in building a movement for Christian power in the federal government, how Patrick Henry avoids federal oversight, the culture of sexual assault at Patrick Henry and coverups by the Patrick Henry Administration, how the Dean of Student Life at Patrick Henry systemically blame the victims of sexual assault and rape, the evangelical self help book that blames women for sexual violence, the warped logic of Christian purity and the future of Patrick Henry College.

On The Fun Half: Republican lobbyist pushes for banning Gay athletes in the NFL, Rush Limbaugh uncovers the new liberal conspiracy in the NFL, the Bitcoin crash and the Libertarian demands for government protection and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-25-14-Kiera_Feldman-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:27pm EDT

Journalist and Pando Daily contributor, David Sirota explains how PBS News is corrupted by corporate money, the former Enron trader, John Arnold, who wants to destroy public pensions, why handouts to the wealthy through corporate subsidies are leading to attacks on public pensions,  John Arnold funded PBS's Pension Peril series in violation of numerous PBS ethics rules, how PBS triad to hide Arnold's funding, why conservatives use PBS to launder their political agenda, how the underfunding of public journalism sets the stage for corruption,  PBS's absurd violation of its own ethics rules and how PBS finally backed down.

On The Fun Half: More ways Michael Bloomberg hurt the homeless, breaking down the new CBO's new report on increasing the minimum wage and joblessness, Random Rush, Virginia State Senator calls pregnant women "hosts" and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

 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. Thanks!

Direct download: 02-24-14-David_Sirota-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:31pm EDT

John McDonough the Director of the Center for Public Health Leadership at Harvard explains Vermont's moves towards Single Payer healthcare, Dr. Cheryl Phillips Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Advocacy at Leading Age explains "Hot Spotting", and Robert Kraig of Citizen Action Wisconsin explains the Scott Walker threat and more! And for MEMBERS only! An interview from the Air America days with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog!

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Direct download: 02-20-14-John_McDonough-Cheryl_Phillips-Robert_Kraig-Triumph-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:58pm EDT

Historian Lauren Coodley, discusses her new biography of progressive icon Upton Sinclair, Upton Sinclair: California Socialist, Celebrity IntellectualJonathan Voss a Senior Analyst at Lake Research explains the national popularity of progressive policy and Max Ritchman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare on the fight to protect our social safety net.

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. Thanks!

Direct download: 02-19-14-Lauren_Coodley-Jonathan_Voss-Max_Ritchman-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:57am EDT

Ethan Rome the Executive Director, Health Care for America Now explains the connection between healthcare and the TPP, Shannon Brownlee Acting Dir. The New America Foundation Health Policy Program and author of Overtreated: Why too much medicine is making us sick  explains how over treatment is bad for our health and Simon Lazurus on  the Supreme Court and the Affordable Care Act.

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. Thanks!

Direct download: 02-18-14-Simon_Lazarus-Ethan_Rome-Shannon_Brownlee-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:17pm EDT

Climate scientist  Michael E. Mann  explains why we must stop Keystone XL, Maine Senate candidate Shenna Bellows, outlines her progressive candidacy and for Members Only! An interview from the new MR archives with Cornell University Professor Suzanne Mettler on why Americans benefit from but don't see the hand of the social safety net.

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Direct download: 02-17-14-Michael_Mann-Shenna_Bellows-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:27pm EDT

Journalist Charlie Pierce explains why Fox does not want every kid to get a Valentine card, why the politics of cruelty have become official Republican Party policy, plutocrat Tom Perkins advocates a poll tax and says the rich should get more votes, why are the plutocrats getting even more insane? How Sarah Palin reinvented the right-wing grift, why there is no Republican Party anymore, the creepy emails sent to the Republican Caucus, the hilarious and slow death of the astroturf austerity group the Can Kicks Back, Kansas moves to discriminate against Gay people, the Chris Christie corruption scandal rolls on and the battle for an autoworkers union in Tennessee.

Christopher Rosen, senior entertainment at Huffington Post and old Majority Report friend is getting married, why is Rosen verified on twitter? Rosen tells Sam all the movies nominated for Best Picture and what his favorites were, why he thinks Twelve Years a Slave will win for Best Picture and what to expect from Darren Aronofsky's next film.

Why Tennessee has such regressive politics, how is the anti union push being covered on the ground in Tennessee? A perspective from Germany on the union drive at the Tennessee Volkswagen plant, why the ACA will help people leave bad jobs and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-14-14-Charlie_Pierce-Christopher_Rosen-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:52pm EDT

Jacobin contributing editor Melissa Gira Grant author of  Playing The Whore: The Work of Sex Workthe history of legal regulations of selling sex, the role of race and immigration in criminalizing sex work, does being a sex worker mean you are a victim? The range of experiences of sex work, the problem with treating sex workers as outcasts, why we need to listen to sex workers, the importance of decriminalizing sex work and how the Internet is changing sex work.

On the Fun Half:  Myla Seder attacks Mayor de Blasio for not calling a snow day, Sam rebuts Myla's attack, Libertarian hack Peter Schiff whines about his Daily Show appearance, the astroturf austerity group the Can Kicks Back is in debt, the danger of the Comcast Time Warner merger and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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. Thanks!


Direct download: 02-13-14-Melissa_Gira_Grant-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:23pm EDT

The New Republic's Noam Scheiber explains the structural inequities in the legal system, how Enron fraudster Jeffrey Skilling ended up with such a light sentence, how the legal system is stacked against the poor, the history of legal aid, the limits of legal aid, the role of the  Great Society and public law, what is legal Medicare? How the rich can buy better treatment under the law, why we need to socialize law, how it should be done, why we need to limit what the wealthy can on lawyers and how socialized law will help reform the entire criminal justice system.

On The Fun Half: the American hunger crisis and the implications of the Food Stamp cuts, how Reagan and Clinton cuts set the stage for the modern hunger crisis, what happens to the unemployed after unemployment runs out, Rush Limbaugh's bizarre inner struggle over Michael Sam, Ron Paul talks about "honest rape", Random Rush and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-12-14-Noam_Scheiber-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:29pm EDT

Dave Zirin explains why sports and politics have a hit a tipping point, why the Sochi Olympics is essential for understanding sports in today's world, why the Sochi Olympics are particularly bad, the foundational problem with the Sochi games, the Circassian genocide, what will happen to the LGBT community after the games? The corruption of the IOC, why companies love to "sin wash" during the Olympics, the relationship between sports and propaganda,why we need to understand athletes as workers, what has been shocking about the response to Michael Sam and are college athletes about to get unions?

On the Fun Half: Volkswagen wants its Tennessee workers to have a union but state Republicans fight to keep the south's poor labor standards, homophobic reactions to Michael Sam from NFL players, WSJ Editor says women who drink and get raped share share responsibility, and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-11-14-Dave_Zirin-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:58pm EDT

Firedoglake's Kevin Gosztola explains the case of the NATO3, how 2 undercover Chicago cops entrapped 3 young protesters, the state of Illinois and the FBI targeting protesters attending the NATO protests and charged them with terrorism, and how the state couldn't convince a jury to the activists were terrorists.

Radio show host and activist Bob Kincaid explains the ongoing public health threat to the southeast United States from the Freedom Industries chemical spill, how West Virginia politicians are owned by coal interests, the deadly toll of coal mining and what we can do to save Appalachia.

On The Fun Half: Silicon Valley tycoons conspire to keep down wages, Fox News whines about evil CEO  in the new Lego Movie,  AOL CEO blames cutting health benefits on "distressed babies", how NSA metadata is used in America's drone program and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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Direct download: 02-10-14-Kevin_Gosztola-Bob_Kincaid-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:42pm EDT

Political strategist Cliff Schecter explains the importance of AIPAC backing down on the new Iran sanctions bill, why AIPAC backed down, Republicans kill unemployment insurance again, why unemployment insurance helps people find work, immigration dead again? The Bill Nye Ken Ham debate and even Pat Robertson thinks creationism is crazy.

Film Guy Matthew Weiss is shocked Sam is watching the Walking Dead, Matthew's new project, Matthew and Sam debate documentaries and Matthew suggested the movieEscape From Tomorrow.  

We hear from a real job creator on how Obamacare helped her business, Sam has another session of the "Sam Seder Libertarian Learning Annex",  A Text From Jon Benjamin, Duke Energy releases coal ash into North Carolina's Dan River, Scott Brown rents his email list to anti vaccine conspiracy theorists and your IMs and calls.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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. Thanks!


Direct download: 02-07-14-Cliff_Schecter-Matthew_Weiss-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:17pm EDT

Author and University of California Berkeley Boalt School of law professor Ian Haney Lopez author of the new book Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class explains the cynical calculation that drove George Wallace's racist politics, what "state rights" really means, how the Republicans adopted the southern strategy, political uses of race by the Republican Party, why "strategic racism" explains Republican race baiting, the evolving nature of racism and the smart way to confront racism in modern America.

On The Fun Half: Laura Ingraham unleashes an unhinged attack on Justice Sonia Sotomayor for not using the word "illegal" and gets legal and geographic lessons from Sam, dog whistle politics and immigration, debunking more anti minimum wage increase myths, does CVS not selling cigarettes have implications for other industries? Fox's Gretchen Careslon wants to know if CVS is allowed to not sell cigarettes? and Your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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. Thanks!


Direct download: 02-06-14-Ian_Haney_Lopez-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:49pm EDT

Hey folks, today is a Members only show, but we still wanted to give you Freebies a teaser from today's show. Enjoy our epic mockery of Sean Hannity and remember! 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. Thanks!

Direct download: 02-05-14-Sam_Seder_Teaser-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:51pm EDT

Gabriel Sherman author of the unauthorized biography of Fox News chief Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Countryexplains what motivated Roger Ailes to build Fox News, how Ailes created Fox in his image, why Roger Ailes and Glenn Beck have the same extreme politics, the paranoia of Roger Ailes, why Fox is a cult of personality, why do other journalists defend Fox? And why we are in the decline era for Fox News.

On the Fun Half: the Republicans new debt default threats, Sam has an epic debate with a southern Libertarian, why Libertarians oppose the Civil Rights Act and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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. Thanks!


Direct download: 02-04-14-Gabriel_Sherman-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:03pm EDT

David Wildstein charges that Christie new about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge, new investigations against the Christie Administration's political use of the Port Authority, Christie releases a memo attacking David Wildstein, new questions about Chris Christie's use of Sandy relief funds, the time Chris Christie almost sued his High School baseball team and why the Governor is heading to CPAC.

Cred Action, Senior Campaign Manager Elijah Zarlin explains the oil industry friendly firm that wrote the State Department's Keystone Pipeline report, were the State Department's ethics guidelines violated? Why Elijah is optimistic about John Kerry's role in Keystone and the huge amounts of grassroots support for fighting Keystone.

On the Fun Half: more signs of a disappearing middle class, Random Rush, conservatives freak out about Coca-Cola's Super Bowl ad and your calls and IMs.

And keep the conversation going on our morning thread

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. Thanks!


Direct download: 02-03-14-Elijah_Zarlin-PUB.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:49pm EDT

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