Rebooting the American Dream

11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country

Thom Hartmann (Author)

Publication date: 10/11/2010

Rebooting the American Dream
America does not need an “upgrade.” For years the Right has been tampering with one of the best political operating systems ever designed. The result has been economic and environmental disaster. In this hard-hitting new book, nationally syndicated radio and television host and bestselling author Thom Hartmann outlines eleven common-sense proposals, deeply rooted in America’s history, that will once again make America strong and Americans—not corporations and billionaires—prosperous. Some of these ideas will be controversial to both the Left and the Right, but the litmus test for each is not political correctness but whether or not it serves to revitalize this country we all love and make life better for its citizens.

 

  • By Americas #1 progressive radio talk show host

  • Draws on American history to offer proven solutions to America's current problems

  • Controversial, impassioned, insightful, iconoclastic -- typical Thom Hartmann

 

If something is wrong with your computer you reboot -- start over. That is what Thom Hartmann is advocating to restore an America beset by problems like joblessness, declining wages, huge disparities in wealth, corruption, environmental degradation, and corporate domination. The answers can be found by going back to the operating system designed by our Founding Fathers and refined by both Democrats and Republicans -- until a virus called Reaganomics began to damage it, and subsequent attacks under both Bushes and even Clinton weakened it even further.

Almost every initiative Hartmann is advocating here is rooted in America's past -- ideas that worked, and worked well, for decades. Hartmann demolishes the specious arguments so-called conservatives have used to undermine these ideas and details the disastrous results of their "reforms."

For example, until the 1980s America had a tariff-based trade policy, and American industry was healthy and American wages strong - what has been the result since we replaced this policy with "free trade"? America curbed corporate power since the earliest days of the republic -- why are we now refusing to enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and allowing corporations unfettered access to the political process, something Theodore Roosevelt fought against? Medicare is popular and efficient - why not make it available to everybody, particularly since, as Hartmann reveals, it was designed to be easily scaled up? Not only do tax cuts like those championed by Reagan and Bush help only the wealthy, but the record proves higher tax rates actually drive wages up -- so why not roll back those tax breaks for billionaires and lose our knee-jerk aversion to tax increase?

On issue after issue Hartmann argues that the way forward is to look back, to tap into the wisdom residing in two and a half centuries of American history. Some of his conclusions will be controversial, such as his calls to crack down on illegal immigration and to reinstate the draft. But the litmus test for each is not political correctness but whether or not it serves to strengthen this country we all love and make life better for her citizens.

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Book Details
Overview
America does not need an “upgrade.” For years the Right has been tampering with one of the best political operating systems ever designed. The result has been economic and environmental disaster. In this hard-hitting new book, nationally syndicated radio and television host and bestselling author Thom Hartmann outlines eleven common-sense proposals, deeply rooted in America’s history, that will once again make America strong and Americans—not corporations and billionaires—prosperous. Some of these ideas will be controversial to both the Left and the Right, but the litmus test for each is not political correctness but whether or not it serves to revitalize this country we all love and make life better for its citizens.

 

  • By Americas #1 progressive radio talk show host

  • Draws on American history to offer proven solutions to America's current problems

  • Controversial, impassioned, insightful, iconoclastic -- typical Thom Hartmann

 

If something is wrong with your computer you reboot -- start over. That is what Thom Hartmann is advocating to restore an America beset by problems like joblessness, declining wages, huge disparities in wealth, corruption, environmental degradation, and corporate domination. The answers can be found by going back to the operating system designed by our Founding Fathers and refined by both Democrats and Republicans -- until a virus called Reaganomics began to damage it, and subsequent attacks under both Bushes and even Clinton weakened it even further.

Almost every initiative Hartmann is advocating here is rooted in America's past -- ideas that worked, and worked well, for decades. Hartmann demolishes the specious arguments so-called conservatives have used to undermine these ideas and details the disastrous results of their "reforms."

For example, until the 1980s America had a tariff-based trade policy, and American industry was healthy and American wages strong - what has been the result since we replaced this policy with "free trade"? America curbed corporate power since the earliest days of the republic -- why are we now refusing to enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and allowing corporations unfettered access to the political process, something Theodore Roosevelt fought against? Medicare is popular and efficient - why not make it available to everybody, particularly since, as Hartmann reveals, it was designed to be easily scaled up? Not only do tax cuts like those championed by Reagan and Bush help only the wealthy, but the record proves higher tax rates actually drive wages up -- so why not roll back those tax breaks for billionaires and lose our knee-jerk aversion to tax increase?

On issue after issue Hartmann argues that the way forward is to look back, to tap into the wisdom residing in two and a half centuries of American history. Some of his conclusions will be controversial, such as his calls to crack down on illegal immigration and to reinstate the draft. But the litmus test for each is not political correctness but whether or not it serves to strengthen this country we all love and make life better for her citizens.

About the Author
Excerpt

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