who can you trust no one who you would noble mission would see me having state controlled capitals in school that feels we know. need you are a key question more. welcome

back to the big picture i'm starvin coming up in this half hour republicans are out in again telling sick americans to suck it up i was g.o.p. is working to eliminate workers' rights paid sick leave this time around and forget a lot of coal cover your ears for years of your children sad as. at least the two santa clause there are more on that in that stage. so what is the shady corporate lobbyist group the american legislative exchange council or alec to know. about making sure that you have to go to work even when you're. flat out sick as more and more cities across the nation pass legislation requiring local businesses to give their employees paid sick. we've alex corporate

c.e.o.'s are writing legislation for republican lawmakers to introduce it will override or end such paid sick leave for more on how they're doing this joined by reporter and blogger for the progress that welcome back thanks having me great to have you here with us first of all let's just recap alec it's always worth doing we talk about it a lot on the show but still it is people do you know discovering it the american legislative exchange council what is the word to come from shares of the american legislative exchange council is basically sort of a why organization connecting american legislators mostly conservative legislators with sort of corporate benefactors and other people who want to push legislation nationwide so basically you have this group they have about a third of state legislators so they have literally hundreds of legislators it within their network and what they do is they get some of their corporate sponsors a corporate board members to write legislation the template that template bill they might chop it to a guy in the state of florida and then someone in state of wisconsin want to do the

same but also want to introduce the same bill is that of new york obits that a look slightly different some of the words will be different it is basically the same template written by a lot of the same corporate funders of the group so you know i think most people think that they vote for a state representative and a state senator or a state assemblyman woman or what are you whatever it's called or state and if that person goes in and rights legislation and votes on it and the governor signs it. you're so you're telling me that there's a bunch of corporations get together and they write the legislation and then they handed off to legislature whores who introduced a. pretty much as if it was their own that's how it works yeah exactly i mean that's a big part of the reason you see these attacks on public employees is because you see the exact same legislation going up their wages benefits salaries and rights and pensions throughout the entire country whether it's in a higher wisconsin florida or other states of pennsylvania how did this you know

this is this is bizarre how did alec come above me al it came about basically because the right wing figured out they need to do something that so far their opponents haven't which is coordinated throughout the country there's really no sort of progressive pushback to this than basically that being they've been around for decades now a lot of the major say major right wing fighters that would have put together things like they are trying to communicate or is able funding isn't the koch brothers find alec heavily and they've been very very successful like i said they now have about a third of state legislators within their network. you know union of all the state legislators in the entire country all the state representatives an assembly people about a third of them are part of alec what proportion of those are republicans versus democrats almost all of them are republicans they have a few a democrat i think i actually there's supposed to be some people within alec who joined more sort of out of curiosity i mean this is a very powerful group and they want to know what's going on so that all that would necessarily be committed are committed people to the agenda but certainly it's a very very strong so alec now is writing legislation that says that. that will be

passed at the state level and says that if the local town if any town if any misspelled he passes laws saying companies operating in this town after offer paid sick leave because we don't want sick people come into the workplace because then it gets spread around and that's actually counterproductive i mean first of all this sounds like a public health issue but you know nonetheless alec is passing this or pushing this why why would they do this what why would lie would business why would corporations want their workers coming to work sick if they're going to infect other workers or customers it seems stupid. oh it's really interesting that the center for media and democracy actually obtained some documents from alex annual meeting in new orleans as this past year and actually part of the task force that was pushing the this legislation that would basically allow states overrule city ordinances on sick leave the task force was the same one that was chaired by a bunch of fast food companies so you're having you know like you can't see this

and you keep saying that they're sort of they're they're part time workers they're kids people who typically don't get paid sick leave they don't want to go because those people who are you know the working minimum wage jobs their benefits are really really low and these are these are the same sort of companies that don't want to see sick leave and that's the reason why even in states with relatively strong democratic mayors like denver and philadelphia been resisting. what they're saying is that not that they want to force these kids to come to work sick or increasingly adults and even elderly people not that they want to force become who are sick but that they just want to make sure that if they're sick and they don't show up they don't get any money. i mean that i mean that's the major barriers that particularly people in these jobs they they work by the hour and they need as many hours as they can get their sake and it's completely not their fault they still need to get the compensation or the behind on their bill will be able to feed their families will be able to get ahead and really that's what they're fighting here and that's what unfortunately a lot of the legislators nationwide who are resisting these ordinances and laws are

saying that it's just too burdensome for business which is really honestly really ridiculous and the united states is sort of a stand alone in in the world as far as the origination of the hafiz benefits were the only nation of the thirty four o.e.c.d. developed nations that doesn't have a national sickly policy we have no national policy in some businesses walk area particularly sort of business is that you know white collar business is but still even you know particularly among the sort of part time employees that it's actually becoming more aware and rare as time goes along for people who would have access the sort of benefits remarkable so it's it's it's not so much a public health issue. it's it's a ringing an extra few pennies out of people issue and that's how fast food places operate right up one pickle out and suddenly over a million burgers you made an extra that's remarkable so july and thanks for the recruit research you're doing it for and empowering the soul. i think for profit

pretty it's all about. it's a sad reality that the united states is the only fully developed nation the world that doesn't require businesses to provide paid sick leave for their employees and alec is trying to make sure that it stays that way so the next time you get the flu suck it up i guess. it's the good the bad and the very very well rapper joy really ugly good advisers ever played in the temporal role in sparking the occupy wall street movement in new york city adbusters is now calling for more activism at the upcoming g. twenty summit in thoughts encouraging millions to rise up and demand a financial transaction tax as they're calling it a robin hood tax on all stocks and currency treats as the adbusters website reads

let's send him a clear message we why it has slowed down some of that one point three trillion dollars in easy money that sloshing around the global casino we have every day each day enough cash to fund every social and environmental initiatives the rule. the g. twenty summit designed to over twenty nine votes open up people get the message that act. the bet herman cain after weeks of getting pummeled on his nine nine nine plan since it represents the biggest x.i. on poor people in the history of the nation cain has a new line of defense he's not going to tell anyone what it is but you know the thing to figure out what is going to be the greatest hope for. those. reenters that paid back on track. but i didn't tell them. oh wait i get attacked of it while we are playing with it. so

herman cain has a secret plan to protect the poor i guess that makes sense after all you can't be explicit about helping the poor if you're running for the rich publican domination then again cain like you would be electric fences taken just the job and the very very ugly congressman allen west despite not knowing reverend dr martin luther king jr was in the west his most famous for his hateful rhetoric decided to speak on king's behalf in regard to the occupy wall street. but obama says martin luther king would have backed the protesters what do you say to that. i was born and raised in the same neighborhood omar was the king jr grew up the most the king jr would not have these type of protesters first of all more with king jr out of focus he had a message he was a divider little spot i don't know what the inspiration was when he was on the borders actually the river dr martin luther king did out

a message i want to equality and social justice which is the exact same message that has drawn people to the streets around the world to protest income inequality as part of the occupy wall street. came guy fighting for the rights workers to unionize not for the rights of banks to steal our democracy it's clear what's going on here congressman allen west is trying to twist the legacy of one of america's greatest icon just to defend his fat cat corporate donors and that's very clear. if you're watching the show last week you know that i'm not exactly a fan of christopher quantas and all of the devastation he left in his wake and now

there's something else i can blame on columbus climate change and i have the science to prove it stanford university geo chemist richard neville has discovered that christopher columbus and other explorers who followed him to the new world set off a chain of events that cooled europe's climate and led to what scientists and historians refer to as europe's little ice age. when europeans conquered the new world it brought with them diseases like smallpox influenza diptheria that the indigenous population had absolutely no immunity against and these diseases ultimately wiped out as many as ninety percent of the indigenous population has left large swaths of land that had been cleared by the natives to make room for crops or for firewood unintended sparking a massive reforestation event the trees that filled in that territory pulled billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thereby cut the heat

trapping capacity of the atmosphere and as a result the climate cooled measurably neville and his colleagues had estimated how much carbon all those new trees would consume somewhere between two and seventeen billion metric tons and they concluded it was enough to account for the sudden drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide recorded in the antarctic ices the ice cores have been drilled out look at the date back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries air bottles trapped in those ice cores in antarctica also contain evidence that really solidly confirms nevels theory is what will show that the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere got heavier at the same time that that reforestation was taking place across what is now latin america that could be because tree leaves prefer to take in gas made of carbon twelve and isotope of carbon leaving the heavier carbon isotopes in the air these findings prove that humans have been influencing the

climate for centuries way before the industrial revolution course that won't convince climate skeptical republicans it's not either padding their campaign bank accounts with fat checks from big oil. inside's daily take the occupy wall street movement has achieved a critical first step i'll tell you what it is. drives the world with their mullingar and you have got politicians who made decisions completely break through. who can you trust no one will be seen to you with a global mission as he will be fighting state controlled capitalism and score sessions when nobody dares to say we do our tea question more.

three. i'm learning this.

your take my take is the center of the show when we give you the opportunity to have your questions comments criticisms and opinions heard here on the big picture our first comments and i is via twitter diana tweeted you are a saint how do you interview some of these people without losing your cool i'm guessing diane is referring to segments both here on the big picture and on my radio show when i interview debate conservatives who are all very different worldviews the neat well it gets easier the more you do it so you that it created all my life my dad was a republican so again. especially when you learn to spot the conservative talking points from a mile away but i think diana's questions point to a more fundamental issue and that is the importance of engaging in debate my goal with the debates on this show is to model for progressive how to push back

conservative talking points without any up in a fist fight we all have people in our families or friends or coworkers listener right wing talk radio or fox news and believe that nonsense so hopefully the arguments i use during the debates on this show will help you hold your own around the table at thanksgiving dinner or around the water cooler at work. and by the way never going to a debate with a closed mind you might disagree with a person three ways to sunday but that doesn't mean you can't learn something from them i know i often do our next comment is from the viewer rant line. hello my name is ted out of a loop teleflora to listen to you a lot and you're right on the far right of think there's one thing you need to keep clear on that's immigration the mexicans are taking over my brother's job and a lot of other people have contractors that work i'm so glad i'm not for they have a over three thousand products tractors god knows what else so you need to research

jap figure out where your rights are got a lot of things but there's one you need to study. ok i can understand why cat is worked up about this issue but i have actually included chapters in two of my books about it with the harsh reality of today's economy it's easy to want to blame someone anyone for our skyrocketing unemployment rate and the lack of sustainable jobs for thousands of hard working americans who are blaming immigrants whether they're from mexico or anywhere else in the world is not the answer we have an illegal employer problem in this country not an illegal immigration problem encouraging a rapid increase in the workforce by encouraging companies to hire non-citizens is one of the three most potent tools that conservatives since ronald reagan have used to convert the american middle class and of the american working poor the other two

tools by the way we're destroying the governmental protections that keep labor unions viable because unions generally kept non-citizens out of the workplace and promoting free trade deals that export manufacturing jobs the fact is that we've had an open border with mexico for centuries since we were founded and illegal immigration was never a serious problem. before reagan's presidency it was estimated that about a million people a year came into the u.s. mexico and pretty much a million people a year left the u.s. for mexico at the end of the agricultural harvest season very few stayed because there weren't jobs for non-citizens did not have access to the non agricultural u.s. job market in large part because the power of u.s. labor unions and because companies were unwilling to risk having non-tax adoptable labor expenses on their books by hiring undocumented workers about real valid social security numbers that reagan put in and all that is nine hundred eighty six amnesty program combined with his aggressive war on organized labor in effect told

both employers and non citizens that there would be few penalties and many rewards to increase in the u.s. labor pool with undocumented immigrants thus driving drunk wages in the process so after reagan stopped and forcing employer penalties a million people a year continue to come across our southern border but they stopped returning to latin america every fall because instead of seasonal work they were able to find permanent jobs and what has been the magnet drawing them illegal employers so yes we need immigration reform and it needs to start with taking a stance against these corporate criminals we need to mandate huge fines for first offenses jail time for c.e.o.'s for second offenses and a corporate death penalty dissolving their charters to operate for repeat offenders get rid of the illegal employers and not only will the jobs of americans like tad's

brother be protected but there will be far less incentive for people to risk their lives to get into the united states illegally that's it for your take my take tonight like your comments and questions heard on the segment the big picture listen up. we want to know your cheek send us your comments but be in the time of facebook page play twitter underscore apartment or in each room of the message board you can blog it i'm hoping that it also leave a message you know when quite a few achieved by recent speak you know sixty three he should resign the kids all welcome his member to the comments made news on the. republican strategist june when is he died back in two thousand and five but his famous two santa claus theory died just this month six years later and it died thanks to occupy wall street our nation's obsession with the so-called debt crisis

is really all thanks to jud whiskey risky had his brilliant idea it was picked up by reagan the republicans could play santa clause just like democrats always did by giving people something in this case x. cuts he knew the democrats historically did well at the polls because like santa claus they give people stuff like social security medicare medicaid unemployment insurance food stamps all i kind of stuff you know and so he said republicans could play santa clause too by giving people big gift of accidents and as an added bonus for republicans more tax cuts they gave people particularly rich people and the bigger our national debt would get eventually getting so bad it would force democrats parachute santa clause to kill off social programs because we just can't afford any. so following june when she strategy since one thousand nine hundred

eighty one republicans ran up huge massive deficits thanks to massive tax cuts all the while not saying one word about fiscal responsibility reagan tripled the national debt george w. bush had or other six trillion dollars to it and republicans in congress as it's just five is ok with everything it was the plan after all they were the tax cuts santas and then as soon as a democrat gets in office suddenly the world is ending in the dark huge debt debt run up mostly by republicans following jewed wineskins plan and drastic measures need to be taken saturday's to be shot yet those very same republicans who rubber stamp bush's six trillion dollar deficit spending agenda now they want to use the debt the bay created as an excuse to florus a democratic president because president obama to shoot santa by cutting social

security medicare or whatever else they take their access to all in the name of a debt crisis that scenario pretty much defines president obama's first three years at least in the media as he tried to stimulate the economy and create jobs and more spending and was blocked by republican filibusters each and every time the single possible exception of the stimulus bill that much much smaller because the republicans republicans knew if they could bring enough pressure on the democrats by freaking out about the debt they themselves had cause with their tax cuts that they could then force the democrats to shoot the santa clause of social security santa clause of medicare and maybe even the santa clauses of unemployment benefits the minimum wage and take us back to an economy truly safe for the very rich or poor one dickens wrote about it in a story about scrooge marley bob cratchit and tiny tim. and for a while it worked the so-called debt crisis defined the narrative in the media

virtually from the day obama was sworn into office and the rich scrooges of the country got hundreds of billions of dollars richer while the tiny tim zz had more and more of their benefits cut and their parents threatened with unemployment the bob cratchit working people of america are reduced to saying is mr scrooge maybe not oh i'm to keep or. i'm just. here for twenty two. and the scrooge is for of course saying oh our has a think progress report pointed out back in july when our nation was facing an actual unemployment crisis and republicans were spinning a manufactured debt crisis the big three cable news networks m s n b c five since c.n.n. took wineskins bait in one week there were more than seven thousand five hundred references to debt on the cable news networks but only five hundred references to

unemployment. the mainstream media was fifteen times more likely to talk about a phony baloney debt crisis than about the very real problem of unemployment no wonder why the debt limit deal in august did nothing for americans who can't find work but then something happened occupy wall street happened carried away and congress to a just a just address the jobs crisis and waiting on the media to inform the country about the jobs crisis people took to the streets hundreds of thousands of people around the world took to the streets because unemployment isn't just a problem in america it's a problem pretty much everywhere as much as the media would like to have ignored occupy wall street as much as jude what is he debt crisis is far more appealing to the republican leaning corporate media outlets eventually had no choice according to pew research center occupy wall street made up ten percent of the media's mainstream media's news coverage last week that's up from seven percent the week

before and up from two percent week before that and with more focus on occupy wall street there's less focus on jude wineskins death zombies in the tea party wing of the republican party as another think progress survey of the big three news networks discovered last week debt and deficits are no longer on the lips of the talking heads now it's jobs it's great job is referenced over twenty seven hundred times and wall street referenced over twenty three hundred times and what about debt it was mentioned fewer than four hundred times jobs and not debt are now a priority number one much to the chagrin of republican strategists and it happened in just three months not because our debt problems solved it's not and not because our unemployment problem got worse it hasn't but because people took to the streets and changed the narrative they silenced juden ski's ghost and that's the first step

to changing the system to bring about a fundamental transformation yeah after to change the narrative. that's what martin luther king did what f.d.r. did what lincoln did jefferson did they change what people are talking about and occupy wall street has done that too god bless them everyone and that's the big picture for tonight for more information on the stories we covered visit our web sites. free speech dot org our team dot com also check out our two you tube channels or links to thom hartmann dark star shows also available as a free video podcast on i tunes and we have a free tom hartman i phone i pad app at the app store and so this feedback on twitter. on facebook at tom underscore our blogs message boards a telephone comment lines of thom hartmann. and don't forget democracy begins when you get out there show up participate if if tag your it.

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