welcome back to the big picture i'm sam sacks in for tom hartman coming up in this half hour obesity is a serious problem in the united states crossing our economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year and worse obesity is affecting kids at a younger and younger age so what is the u.s. department of agriculture doing now to combat this epidemic and why does it have right wingers crying nanny state. also with the republican great recession still in full swing more and more working americans are having to delay their retirement plans just a little bit tom explains i was good retirement is just the latest casualty in the billionaire class is war against working people and later what do you jerry seinfeld very manilow and geraldo rivera all have in common i'll give you a hit they have the same thing in common that organizations like the american federation of teachers and the american medical association all have in common

still don't know well it has a little something to do with guns i'll explain more in tonight's daily. so the days of junk food vending machines in our schools may be numbered last friday to be department of agriculture unveiled new rules that will prohibit the sale of greasy foods and sugary snacks and drinks in our nation's schools these new rules were acquired by a law passed by congress in two thousand and ten the law was known as the health of the healthy hunger free kids act of two thousand and ten and eight it was aimed at reducing childhood obesity rates according to the rule most snacks sold in school will have to contain less than two hundred calories and drink machines and elam. in middle schools will only be allowed to sell water low fat milk and one hundred

percent fruit or vegetable juices and small pied all vending machines it will apply to the alec cart lunch lines then it will also apply to any other foods regularly sold around school they will not apply it in school fundraisers or bake sales critics of this new rule will have one year to air their grievances with the u.s.d.a. before the roll goes into effect sometime next year but one of its main supporters iowa senator tom harkin said quote the u.s.d.a. is proposed nutrition standards are a critical step in closing that loophole and ensuring that our schools are places that nurture not just the minds of american children but their bodies as well. but is that the case or is this the nanny state run amok well joining me now is j.d. to chile managing editor at reason magazine and reason dot com j.d. welcome to the show. thanks and thanks for having me on so i see this we have a really serious obesity problem in america we've got thirty five percent of adults

are obese across our economy about one hundred forty seven billion dollars in health care costs i see this is a pretty reasonable step the government is taking to kind of fix this problem what do you think. the money is good instantiations i think in this case good intentions there are almost literally biting off more than they can share in this case sure is there a problem splintery there certainly is healthy they don't exercise enough lead the world things very often go over top down policies very rarely have the effects of a seat in this case dictating to schools that they have to basically make their kids eat better food and the guidelines by and large are pretty good i mean a if the intention is that these kids are eating more grains books fruits or vegetables and these are good things that we look to see it happen but when the original implements these guidelines and school lunches this is an extension of the earlier rules earlier on the applied already lunches and breakfasts. now they're applying the snacks in schools what they saw was that kids were bolting or throwing away

healthy food or throwing the further away they were throwing the vegetables away they were eating the vending machine now the now they have any machine rules to try to get rid of the end of rot and the kids were running around the original school lunch will as well if the kids defied the school lunch rules that they stopped eating lunch as they're throwing away good food putting the food there trying to make them eat it doesn't seem to be the most effective way to write well who is also going to clearly i mean clearly this is going to be a process if you have a bunch of unhealthy vending machines and kids are relying on those and suddenly take them out and say ok you're salads kids my result there's a study done in two thousand and four looked at sixty three hundred kids and forty states and they measured these kids' weights and heights when they first centered middle school in two thousand and four and then again when they left middle school three years later and what the study found was that states that had nutrition standards say with strong junk food regulations the kids who left metals middle school saw a three to five point decrease in childhood obesity rates whereas the states that

didn't have these sort of regulations it stayed what you'd expect pretty constant. i mean what you said usually is are well this is usually as a reference for that as california but i'd be willing to bet the states that first and much of their own attritional standards were also states that so had its n.c. towards healthier lifestyles to begin there would be california maybe we're making jokes thirty forty years ago about the healthy lifestyle there about the way people eat if a culture is already assumed to eating better you're going to have an easier transition probably don't need so force from the top down if you have a local culture that's not it seems so simple trying to mandate this in d.c. isn't going to change as much as you think you're going to change although it certainly will change the paperwork load for the local schools the a regulation the very details and they require extremely detailed paperwork or part of it or keeping by local schools they have to comply with a lot of rules probably requiring them to hire. compliance officers talking about the local schools hiring of people or else reassigning people to comply with new

rules to make kids eat food that at least in many parts of this country they're not voluntarily going to eat and they will certainly get in the choice of these kids around as they find the next and around and around these four will see what happens there but you keep saying this top down approach i mean is there any other approach we can take to solving this i mean you're a free market guy how how would the free market solve this problem of kids being addicted to sugar in unhealthy foods in vending machines all around school. the first issue to deal with is persuasion and sort of information and also if you recognize that you don't solve an entire problem you have people around and around a country of three hundred million people your parents your families making choices or many of us what we would rather not make we're never going to change all of our minds provide a look at information make options available it's a good thing it's not always going to work my kid's school made pretty good available as a snack in the school they discontinued that because most kids weren't buying i'm

glad that maybe alternative available and said that they could make it go they were losing money on the project they would have to stop doing what about what about families that are trying to raise their kid to eat healthy. is it a little unfair that here they go they send their kids to school and we our schools are full of this junk food i mean shouldn't our government play a role in setting at least minimum standards so that we're not hampering the efforts of parents in individual choices who want their kids eat healthier. well then the school makes the healthy food available the kids were raised to choose that's probably wrong with the cues that they're but little for it isn't a rational agent in the market i mean. they're not rational agents the market however they are equal created the culture that they have a home now where they get a sneak cheetos every now and then i bet they will it's not going to help they are going to eat by and large with their with their eating with their parents raise them with a family get home if their families are eating fresh vegetables and fresh fruits and lean meats and grains you're going to get

a much better chance of that and still in the process of school even if unhealthy options are available however if they're raised at home with unhealthy foods the idea that saying the school is suddenly going to change at school when they've got to go home and eat unhealthy meals at home you're not going to change the culture that he's certain you want to work on the college age it's a long term process it's information it's making options available i think it's a good idea but trying to mandate one just on the idea originated there's another issue with probably the farm subsidies everything given to another day j.d. thankful africa thanks all for coming i have so little that they have me. and in other news in the post bush great recession economy it's harder and harder for americans to have a good retirement according to a new survey by the organization conference board two thirds of workers between the ages of forty five and sixty are now planning to delay their retirement that's a big jump from two thousand and ten when only forty two percent of the workers had plans to put off their retirement and the economy was supposed to get

a little bit better job losses low salaries and declining home values are some of the main reasons why americans can no longer stick to their retirement plans so in the not too distant future we can all enjoy laying bricks and waiting tables until we're eighty for can years old but this story also reflects another troubling real reality in america and that's that the outright theft taking place and workplaces all across this nation retirement pensions wages benefits and even freedom of speech have. been stolen from workers at their jobs also that corporate executives can power their own pockets here's more of what's going on from top. the war between the financial elites and the rest of us is picking up steam and nowhere is this more evident than the downright theft that's going on in workplaces across america right now the latest robbery comes in the form of getting rid of defined benefit pensions as numbers out of the bureau of labor statistics show defined behnam to benefit retirement pensions are on a drastic decline since one nine hundred eighty one when ronald reagan took office

that was the year when over eighty percent of full time workers in the private sector participated in a pension plan by nine hundred ninety seven that number and followed it just over fifty percent and by two thousand and eleven looking at all workers in all private businesses in america fewer than twenty percent of workers have some sort of pension retirement plan this creates massive economic insecurity for seniors especially now that republicans in the house are trying to hand over social security and medicare to wall street and it adds to the growing list of things that corporate america in its quest for higher and higher profits is taking from their workers in recent months we've seen employers promise to cut hours to avoid providing health insurance when he's franchise owner and a lot of brassica for example the latest corporate overlord to promise to cut his workers hours rather than comply with the new obamacare mandate that requires businesses to provide health insurance to their full time employees he follows in the footsteps of

a new york applebee's franchise owner who promised to do the same as well as the owners of papa john's olive garden and red lobster we've also seen the right to free political speech take it away as business owners for murray energy to koch industries to westgate resorts intimidated their employees and warned that a vote for obama may end up costing them their jobs they've already taken our vacation and our time off united states is the only developed nation in the world that doesn't guarantee paid holidays annual leave or pavement turn. leave it taken away our sense of safety the workplace safety laws and regulations are continually getting watered down that they've even taken our money by flattening our wages during a time of increasing productivity and in new hampshire republicans are doing the bidding of corporate america get rid of our lunch breaks this is nothing short of theft and pretty soon we'll be handing over the shirts on our backs just so our bosses can squeeze out whatever profits they can also symptomatic of a larger war being waged on not just working people but entire cities and even our

federal government by the financial elite things coming up after the break richard nixon made an enemies list in the one nine hundred seventy s. and since then it's been pretty much regarded as a bad idea to do those sort of things yet one organization that's been in the media a lot lately in making a run for richard nixon esque poll numbers is doing exactly that making an enemies list i'll tell you what that organization is and who is found their way on to this enemy's list and tonight still you today.

could you take three months for chargers free arrangement free. three stooges free. old free bonus videos for your media project free media r t dot com.

now it's time for tonight's the good the bad in the very very try purity here asleep. the good chris wallace rarely will an acre on fox so called news question the motives of the n.r.a. let alone completely tear the gun lobby organization a new one. but that's exactly what happened on fox news sunday sacre chris wallace repeatedly attacked n.r.a. president wayne la pierre over his organized organizations absurd claims and policy stances here's a clip from the interview. a couple of weeks ago the n.r.a. started running an ad that created a great deal of controversy mr la pierre do you regret putting up that ad the point of that ad was this one taken on the president's kids the president if you'd mentions the president's kids are safe and we're all thankful for it the point of their face the threat that most children do not face and tell that the people in newtown tell that the people who really think that the president's children are the same kind of target as every school child in america i think that's ridiculous and

you know it's i'm you know it was later went on to make the point that armed security guards in the schools would prevent children from being caught killed at places like shopping malls or movie theaters and so on so kudos to chris wallace maybe he's starting to get it the n.r.a. is an organization to be feared it's an organization to be mocked the bad texas governor rick perry speaking to reporters on saturday perry defended the boy scouts of america's current policy discriminate you got. homosexuals perry told reporters that quote i think most people see absolutely no reason to change the position and neither do i but that popular culture impact one hundred years of their standards is inappropriate well first of all homosexuality is not a popular culture it's a sexual orientation that someone is born with and even a lot of animals are born with it too but perry could have made the same exact argument he just made he could've made it against interracial marriage or desegregation or slavery in fact he likely would have if you were born back.

now the very very ugly congressman lou barletta the pennsylvania republican was on a.b.c.'s this week sunday debating gun control with economist paul krugman on the show barletta deflected any talk about new gun regulations instead opting for a new mental health laws and dealing with our violent culture even made a stunning comparison take a look. it's really becoming more than dealing with mental health and our culture is our cultural lending itself that we're raising children that are desensitized to murder and his two killing i look at the end of the differences and the countries that have affected can have a lot of oh you were when you need to stop obesity of course not. the fact is don't kill people guns kill more than ten thousand people in america every year but someone bought out by the gun industry like congressman barletta you want to

understand that and that is very very ugly. so here's a question for you what do you geraldo rivera richard dreyfus and jerry seinfeld all have in common but yet what do those three men have in common with musicians like barry manilow sting and boys to men i mean what could possibly bring all of these musicians actors comedians and news anchors together what is the one thing they all have in common. anyone frank do you know no well the answer is they they all made it on to one organizations anime's list they are all enemies of the n.r.a. that's right if you go on the internet his website you'll find what can only be

best described as an enemy's list and just when you thought the n.r.a. and its foaming at the mouth leader way la pierre couldn't get more frightening. this anybody's list is comprised of individuals it's comprised of organizations they've all quote monetary grassroots or some other type of direct support to an anti-gun organization and ironically the list is made up mostly of those people in our community who are on the front lines of gun violence those people that are responding to it every day treating gun violence every day and tragically have been victims of gun violence far too often this list includes medical organizations like the american medical association and the american nurses association the list also includes educators like the american federation of teachers and the national education association law enforcement groups tasked with patrolling gun violence also made the list like the national association of police organizations so too have religious organizations and even musicians and actors like the people i

mentioned earlier jerry seinfeld barry manilow and geraldo rivera some others have made the list britney spears the former olympian tara lipinski former n.f.l. receiver keyshawn johnson double zero seven himself sean connery they need to vito captain picard patrick stewart and our favorite t.v. president martin sheen from the west wing. yep all together there are over five hundred names in organizations that have made their way on to the n.r.a. as enemies list and it's unclear exactly how you get your name off the list once you end up on it though i'm sure a lot of those people on the list wear it as a badge of honor i know i would but just that fact that a list exists an enemy's list richard nixon shows just how crazy the leadership in the n.r.a. have gotten just how much they've let paranoia and greed consume it i mean shit another reason out of many why we should stop listening to any of their arguments

or any of their ideas they've officially crossed the line into the dangers road and that is the subject of tonight's daily take. if we listen away in la pierre and the n.r.a. and the rest of the gun nuts on the far right about how to make our schools safer from gun violence and actually pass legislation they've supported that a typical school day would look something like this to begin with all those gun free zones signs be taken down there a place with signs that read gun friendly zone the simple change immediately alerts would be suicidal maniacs that this is their place the n.r.a. school shield program fully implemented school children will walk on to campus past rows of armed security guards at first the big men in body armor with powerful something automatic assault rifles might be a little frightening to kindergartners first and second graders but eventually the kids are going to get used to these bushmaster toting sentinels understanding that

this posse of guards is the first line of defense keeping them safe while they learn their a.b.c.'s case arizona sheriff joe arpaio is armed posse because a few members actually have criminal backgrounds to be extra kenyan their insight into how the criminal mind works and how to stop. potential mass shooters inside the school faculty with locks on their belts rush kids along to first period before the morning bell rings first graders don't want to be late to first period is the new law or requires them to take the country in classes or. school again for their teacher also armed with a gun as is our custom made tiny shooters to all the kids they were not allowed to go on how to aim how to shoot for the kill zone they have to do this because just in case a bad guy with a gun takes out the security guard then the armed faculty than the teacher it will

be up to a class around seventy seven year old good guys with guns to take him out as you can see the n.r.a. has masterfully put in place layers and layers of security school. then the second period math class begins mr griswold was up late the night before grading papers in arguing with his wife about their personal finances he's also dealing with impotence issues but its goal he feels much more masculine with a log six shooter in his pocket he gives his students their lesson plan but endless chatter in the back of the classroom distracts him so i pulls his gun out of his pocket. sets it on the desk students get the point. media quiet. but they all feel safe knowing that mr griswold is their guardian angel for the next forty five minutes with the. in between second and third period news spreads that biology teacher mr duncan accidentally shot himself through the palm of his

and he was using the butt of his pistol to try and kill a cockroach when the gun went off. you'll be ok though these kind of things happened. during lunchtime little zack and philip got into a shoving match over a game of four square school administrators rushed to the scene with their guns drawn just in case and zach and philip realized that they were surrounded with weapons pointed at them they backed away from each other slowly the disturbances resolved in the school is once again safe. quiet peaceful unfortunately the school library there was another incident to high school seniors got into a scuffle over a cheerleader one was flirting with being eighteen years old in the us legally allowed to clear carry their own handguns on campus one of the students pulled out his gun to stand his ground and protect himself from a punch in the head by the guy by the other guy it fires wildly around the library the other student returns fire there are both hit by bullets so two or three innocent bystanders luckily no one is killed but the ambulances have to take five

kids to the hospital but hey all those new medical bills to help increase the g.d.p. but just imagine how much worse it would be if those kids weren't armed and another adam lanza walked into that library. chose to after fifth period begins a five year old kindergartener billy takes a bathroom break is not old enough for the gun safety training class in first grade so when he sees a gun on the bathroom sink left behind by one of the school security guards yeah that happened in michigan last week immediately picks it up and starts to play with it which is like as n.r.a. sponsored a ar fifteen shape ten lunch box that he brings to school every morning he waves it around points of this phrase is the director. he didn't know the gun was loaded cocked. in response to the tragedy the n.r.a. and the school worked together on a solution to prevent this from happening again they decide the best thing to do is

to start gun training classes at a younger age he was seven after all so that kindergartners can get involved to. seventh period begins and the school children are eager to go home the gun toting teachers and faculty have rather frayed nerves by this point they're ready for a break to american history class but the students can't watch any films about the civil war vietnam or iraq or afghanistan or even world war two we can't learn from that stuff because the n.r.a. has told us that those violent films could potentially trigger violent attitudes class also all images of violence have been removed from the textbooks. necessary to keep the kids safe. finally the bell rings and everybody rushes out of the school past the armed guards and into the welcoming arms of their armed parents i was safety at school as not a single madman was able to carry out

a mass murder when third grader jamie gets the school bus he rushes into his mom's arms she asks him what happened at school today he tells her about mr duncan's wounded and in the five people shot the librarian what happened poor little billy who shot himself the face of the boy's bathroom but she hugs your song tight knowing that he's the n.r.a. wayne la pierre and the school's cache of guns did their job keeping mass shooters at bay for the day and isn't that what's most important. that's the way it is tonight monday february fourth two thousand and thirteen for more information check out our website at tom hartman dot com free speech or r.t. dot com and hulu dot com slush the big picture. as tom always says go for it remarks it begins with you get out there get active. your a c. tomorrow.

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