12-13-2011 Left Call Radio 01 – Economy, Individual Mandate, Constitution

In this episode of Left Call Radio: Twitter Headlines from Bernie Sanders, The Huffington Post, BBC News. Left Call articles on the individual mandate, the purpose of the constitution and more.

Podcast feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LeftCallRadio

This is post #100 for The Left Call!

Below is the companion text and article links for this episode of Left Call Radio.

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Twitter Headlines:

11/27/2011
Senator Bernie Sanders
@SenatorSanders
The wealthiest 400 people in America now own more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans.

12/9/2011
The Left Call
@TheLeftCall
Taxes were cut for the “job creators” 10 years ago and again 8 years ago and have not been raised since. Where are the jobs?

12/9/2011
The Huffington Post
@huffingtonpost
According to a Gallup poll – Most Americans Say $150,000 Annual Income Makes You Rich

It’s not only one percenters that Americans consider rich.

More than half of those recently polled by Gallup said an income of no more than $150,000 would qualify that person as rich. When asked how much money per year would be necessary for them to consider themselves “rich,” 53 percent mentioned an income of $150,000 or less, and 71 percent said an income of $300,000 would be enough.

7/28/2011 – original article date
12/9/2011 – retweeted
AMERICAblog
71% of national debt happened during GOP presidencies; 28% under Dem presidents

12/7/2011
The Washington Post
Despite law against it, stealth commercials frequently masquerade as TV news

Alison Rhodes is passionate about child safety, and in hundreds of TV news interviews, the self-styled “Safety Mom” has talked up products designed to increase it. During a segment on WTTG’s morning news last year, for example, Rhodes showed off a home electronic monitor made by ADT and a backpack with a built-in alarm known as the iSafe bag.

“It’s amazing,” she gushed to Fox5 host Tony Perkins about the backpack. “It really is amazing.”

What neither Rhodes nor WTTG mentioned to viewers was this: The companies Rhodes mentioned on the air had paid her to plug their products. In effect, Rhodes’s appearance was a kind of stealth commercial dressed up as a traditional product-review interview.

12/5/2011
BBC News
The new philanthropists: Rich with a social conscience

While many rich people are driven to become ever richer, others are discovering the joys of philanthropy and giving their wealth away.

When Anne became a multimillionaire after her company floated in 2001, she was petrified – fearing her fortune would drive away the man she loved and lead her friends to desert her.

“I paced back and forth in my little living room for about four hours, with my stomach knotted with fear, because there was one person in particular I was scared of losing,” she said. “What would happen when I told him?”

Ten years on, very few people know the extent of Anne’s wealth – and Anne is not her real name. She spoke to Radio 4 about the dramatic change in her life, but only on the basis that she could be anonymous.

Anne’s story highlights the flipside of the dream so many have of suddenly becoming fantastically wealthy.

How do you deal with the imbalances it creates in friendships and relationships? How do you feel about yourself having so much when others around you have so little? And what do you do with all the money? What do you feel comfortable about doing with it?

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Left Call Articles:

12/9/2011
You Don’t Know Jack About The Constitution

12/6/2011
An Ideology Built On Misplaced Trust

12/2/2011
The Individual Mandate: Why Precedent Matters

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original music in this episode by David K. Sutton

Podcast

#Bernie Sanders#constitution#individual mandate#job creators#national debt#philanthropy#rich#wealth