Dear Friends,
Here’s a political jaw dropper – and no, it didn’t come out of the mouth of The Donald. TransCanada is suing American taxpayers for $15 billion because President Obama ix-nayed the Keystone Pipeline! For real, TransCanada? You want to us to pay you because your business venture flopped? Bold Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb has been been on the front lines fighting to stop the Keystone Pipeline, and she joins Dr. Charles Goldman and me today on the Forum.
My take on TransCanada’s lawsuit? Blame Bill Clinton. That’s right. Sorry, Clinton lovers, but a big part of Clinton’s legacy as President was passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). TransCanada sites provisions in NAFTA as the foundation for its lawsuit. So, next time you see Bill campaigning for Hillary, be sure to thank him for NAFTA, which opened the door to a string of union-gutting, environmental-law trashing, national-sovreingty negating treaties that have made corporations the defacto rulers of the world.
And if you like NAFTA, you’ll love the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) – the mother of all trade treaties. And don’t forget that Hillary Clinton was singing all kinds of praise for TPP until she just recently changed her position. To their credit, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders have long opposed TPP.
One more thought on TransCanada and the Keystone Pipeline. It seems we’re having more conflicts with our northern neighbor lately than with our neighbor to the south. If Donald Trump is so intent on protecting America from harmful foreign influences, maybe that big wall he wants to build should stretch across our northern border instead.
And let’s get TransCanada to pay for it.
Speaking of Trump, every week I pray to a higher power to grant me the strength to not talk about Donald Trump on the Forum. And nearly every week, my petitions fail to reach the metaphysical ears of that higher power, as they are no doubt trapped in Earth’s atmosphere by an ever-expanding belt of greenhouse gases.
So, Trump talk it is, at least for a segment of today’s program. Here’s Charles input on The Donald:
“Trump just confirms for us that, for the most part, America’s billionaire ruling class is scarily and pathologically narcissistic. As Bernie Sanders points out at almost every opportunity, the system is rigged for the highest earning 1/1000th of Americans. And it is far worse than the issues Sanders usually concentrates on, whether the income tax system is progressive enough or the ceiling on Social Security earnings should be lifted. On today’s program, we look at some of the other ways that the wealthiest Americans enrich themselves via the loopholes written into the IRS tax code.”
Hear the Fallon Forum live 11:00-12:00 noon CST on KDLF 1260 AM (Des Moines) and online. Call (515) 528-8122 to add your voice to the conversation. The program re-broadcasts Wednesday on KHO
Thanks! – Ed Fallon