In today's podcast, you'll hear how right-wingers are lying about Democratic tax plans.

You'll be treated to clips of Monica Crowley, Sean Hannity, John McCain.

The results of a recent poll about taxing the wealthy may astound you.

And what does Martin Luther King, Jr. have to do with all this?

Just listen to today's show, and find out!

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Two podcasts ago you heard about how:

--in the financial markets, ill intentions by some, and incompetence by others, has led to big problems
--to solve these problems, a strong government regulatory effort is needed.

Right-wing ideology does nothing in the way of prevention, and offers nothing in the way of a cure.

Now today, please shift your focus to medicines: same picture.

Right wing ideology has led to big problems, and offers no solutions.

So far, 81 deaths in the United States have been linked to fatal allergic reactions to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin. Several hundred more patients have had severe adverse reactions to the drug.

Right-wing ideology, which wholesale opposes government regulation of business, stands in the way of a solution.

Indeed, the Bush administration has been systematically taking apart the Food and Drug Administration, not strengthening it.

Also:

--You'll hear about some unbelievable ideology-driven behavior from another head of a Bush agency. The Senate wanted to give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more money and authority. But guess what? The head of the agency objected!

--I blow apart the right-wing myth about the establishment of federal regulatory agencies. Look behind the story of the creation of virtually any government regulatory body, and you'll find the same thing: a crucial, urgent need that only government action could meet. Ever heard of Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle?

--I undertake maybe a mission impossible: trying to get inside the right-winger head about all this.

Remember Jim Jones, who told his followers to drink the poisonous Kool-Aid, and they did? They had a religious belief in Jones, and would blindly obey his every dictate.

I guess that's what it is with these right-wingers.

Their right wing ideology must be followed no matter what, like a fundamentalist religion.

No matter the consequences to self and others.

Go ahead, kill my pet, kill my kid, even kill me - but don't let the evil government be involved, because that would be --

against my religious belief in small, ineffective, do-nothing government!

I think right-wingers can aptly be called, Jim Jones conservatives.

In the podcast, you'll also hear clips of Rush Limbaugh and Ronald Reagan spouting their usual inanity

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

I don't know if you caught the following stories recently:

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Jubilee Act providing debt relief for Third World nations.

Progressive Mexican legislators occupied both their houses of Congress in protest of a proposed oil law.

Starving people rioted all over the world in protest of rapidly rising food prices

Did you see the mainstream media tie all those stories together?

Of course not.

Do you know what all those stories have in common?

I'm going to tell you, tie them all together for you here today.

Hint: It just may have something to do with right-wing ideology and policies.

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until May, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

Link promised in podcast: Jubilee USA website

Here's the road map for your journey today:

--Background you need to know

--What caused the current crisis

--What needs to be done to fix things up

--Exposing the phony right-wing solution

--And, the death of the "free market"

Along the way, you'll learn about the "shadow banking system," and hear clips of Rush Limbaugh, Ronald Reagan, Treasury Secretary Paulson, and...a famous comedy team or two. Huh? Stay tuned!

(PS: Right-wingers, if you want to write in to me, fine, but at least do me the courtesy of listening to the podcast first. Please don't respond just on the basis of the brief preview above. Thanks!!)

Programming note: Until May, there will most likely not be live shows on alternate weeks.

This cartoon by my friend, syndicated cartoonist Matt Bors, is a perfect fit for podcast #120.

His website is highly recommended.

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