Enough is Enough...

As I sit with my family and friends watching the U.S.-Canada hockey game, it makes me feel good to see how the Olympics bring us together.  It also gets me thinking.  If tragedy like the Earthquake in Haiti, and Athletic Competition like the Olympics can bring us together as nation, why can't we come together on issues that affect all of us? Many in and out of Congress have said this is the most divided they have seen the Congress and the Country.  We made it through Slavery.  A Civil War.  Pearl Harbor.  Two World Wars.  September 11th.  And you're telling me we can't come together today?  I'm not saying we have to agree on EVERYTHING.  But aren't we grown up enough as a Nation to find a middle ground on monumental issues such as Reforming Health Care, protecting our planet, and Reforming Financial system loopholes that got us into this mess?  Finding bipartisan solutions to these issues could really help your average American family. When Indiana Senator Evan Bayh left Congress because two Senators who co-authored a bill with him voted against it themselves, that should have struck a chord with the American people.  Instead of one group of Americans talking about seceding from the nation and not paying their taxes; and another saying to ignore the other party completely, we should focus our efforts on telling our Congressmen and women that we want them to work with the other side with the main goal of getting legislation passed that will help everyday Americans.  Regardless of how you feel about President Obama, one good example of this is when he gave 95% of Americans a tax break this year.  That is something that helps American families.  We need the Congress to start moving forward on common sense legislation to fix obvious, glaring problems that Americans are facing every day.   They need to start worrying less about the next Election and fundraising events.  If they work to pass good legislation for their constituents and prove they can reach across the aisle, that will do more to help get them re-elected than any fundraiser. Helping more Americans get healthcare while stopping costs from skyrocketing, reforming the financial system so the irresponsible behavior on Wall Street that got us into this mess is no longer rewarded, and working to protect our planet, would all be a good start for Congress to meet half way on.  We've had enough of the logjam and the stalling tactics; it's time to get stuff done.   Mark 'Marky Mark' Grimaldi Executive Producer The Leslie Marshall Show 'The Only True Democracy in Talk Radio – Of, For and By The People' www.lesliemarshallshow.com

My 15 Minutes of Fame....

When I was about 5 or 6 years old, my grandmother brought me to New York City and we walked up and down Fifth Avenue. I remember looking in the shop windows and hoping the mannequin would wink at me as they had at Marlo Thomas on my favorite TV show at the time, "That Girl." They didn't. I think it was Marlo Thomas that got me interested in show business.

Perhaps it was being the only child for nearly 8 years and the only grandchild or niece for 5 that put in me the desire to be the center of attention. Who knows. I guess I've been searching for my 15 seconds of fame for a long time. I sought it out in plays I did in High School and College. I sought it out by dating the President of one of the fraternity's at college, the big man on campus. And then I sought it out by being on radio and eventually television.

On radio, I have worked nearly everywhere it seems: Boston, Miami, Washington DC, Providence, Buffalo, Houston, New York, Milwaukee, West Palm Beach, Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, Sacramento and L.A. About 7 years ago, I started doing television to further that hunt for the 15 seconds: MSNBC, Fox News Channel where I did shows like "Hannity & Colmes, " back in the day and "Kudlow & Co" on CNBC. I was even a regular member of the varsity panel on "The Dennis Miller Show" on CNBC. As I improved my skills on television, I was asked to be on Anderson Cooper on CNN, "Showbiz Tonite" on HLN and then came Prime News & Issues with Jane Velez on that network too. Fox started a business channel and I did "Happy Hour," "America's Nightly Scoreboard," "Bulls & Bears" and on Fox News Channel, "Your World With Neil Cavuto" and then finally, after a long hiatus, "The O'Reilly Factor."

Now I've been on the radio over 22 years and I am syndicated for the second time around. My articles have been published in reputable places like "US News & World Report" and I'm seen on national television nearly everyday, definitely every other. Believe it or not, perhaps because I live in Los Angeles; home to the Hollywood types and dozens upon dozens of stars, I had given up on that 15 seconds.

Now I know some of you reading this might think "Leslie, please, you're on national radio and television- you get more than 15 seconds- you get hours! But it's not the same thing. I'm content, happy, truly and stopped seeking it-the feeling of that 15 seconds of fame. Then the other day, when I had completely forgotten @ Ms Marlo Thomas, I was going into the hair salon and an older gentleman stopped me. He asked me if I knew him and I had to admit, I had never seen him before ( I never forget a face).

He said I looked familiar, asked where he might know me from...for a moment I thought....does he "know" me from t.v.?....quickly my crazy idea turned around when he asked if I worked at the hair salon. I said no, just a client. As I turned to walk into the salon, the old man grabbed my arm and said :"Wait, I know who you are...you're Leslie Marshall! I've seen you on the O'Reilly Factor!" I nearly fainted. Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills amidst the big celebs and someone not only recognized me, but they knew my name.

Now I'd like to lie to you and say "it didn't feel as great as I thought it would to have my 15 seconds..." but it did, it felt awesome and he was awesome. He said he didn't agree with a thing I said, but respected me for saying it. He asked for a hug rather than an autograph and I obliged. So.....I got it...the 15 seconds...it felt great.....and you know, I could've sworn that the mannequin in the window in the shop next door actually winked at me!

Financial Reform at America's Doorstep

FINANCIAL REFORM FINALLY AT AMERICA’S DOORSTEP

Real reform of the Industry that led to the collapse of our Economy is perhaps right around the corner. This week the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression, in hopes of preventing a similar crisis.

In order for this reform to become reality, the bill would still have to go through the Senate and be signed into law by the President. But this is by far the closest Americans have been to getting real financial reform from the conditions that caused the Recession.
Here are some highlights of the bill that passed the House:

1. Americans no longer would be responsible for bailouts, other large financial firms would. This would be done by breaking up large financial firms if their size poses a major risk to the economy, as well as seizing and dismantling such firms if they’re about to go bankrupt. A new $150-billion fund, paid for by the financial industry, would cover the costs of any government takeovers.

2. The bill also would create a powerful new agency to protect consumers in the financial marketplace. It would outlaw many predatory and abusive mortgage practices and for the first time regulate hedge funds and private pools of capital.

3. Company shareholders would get a nonbinding vote on executive compensation. This would do a lot to prevent CEOs from getting giant bonuses when they actually lose the company money. (Which happened on multiple occasions leading up the Financial Meltdown).

4. The bill would make other major changes to federal oversight of the financial system, including imposing new requirements on credit rating agencies and the trading of complex securities known as derivatives.

5. The Bill would create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The new agency would have the power to write rules for a variety of financial activities involving loans or credit, to monitor large banks for compliance and to ban products and business practices it deemed unfair, deceptive or abusive.The agency would take over from the Federal Reserve the ability to write consumer protection rules and from banking regulators the authority to monitor financial firms for compliance with those rules.It's one of several ways the Fed would lose power under the legislation. Lawmakers have sharply criticized the central bank's performance leading up to the crisis. Under the bill, the Fed's emergency lending authority would be decreased and it would face congressional audits of more of its activities. But the Fed would gain a new role in regulating large firms deemed to be a potential risk to the economy.Consumer and public interest groups support creating the agency, citing the failure of the Fed and other regulators to rein in subprime mortgages.

The President of Consumers Union, Jim Guest, hit the nail on the head: "We need an aggressive watchdog in Washington that looks out for the best interests of consumers. This agency would crack down on lenders and banks that abuse their customers and it would provide information consumers need to make informed financial decisions."

Large financial firms have fought aggressively against creating the agency; which doesn’t come as a surprise since it would no longer allow them to receive taxpayer bailouts. Any bailouts would be on their own dime and the dime of their fellow Giant Financial Firms.
Of course politics will play into whether or not the bill gets signed into law. House Democrats said the new regulations would reverse years of lax oversight under President Bush that let risky Wall Street behavior shatter the economy.

Perhaps the most damning blow to the Republican Party is that not a single Republican Congressman or Congresswoman voted in favor of the financial reform bill. There are also the giant financial lobbying firms that are trying to kill the bill before it can be passed through the Senate. The Senate bill differs in some key areas, and action there lags behind the House, making legislation unlikely to reach the president before early next year. President Obama urged Congress to "act as quickly as possible." In the meantime, the House has sent a clear message that can be summed up nicely by Nancy Pelosi, “We are sending a clear message to Wall Street: The party is over. Never again will reckless behavior on the part of a few threaten fiscal stability of our people."

Mark “Marky Mark” Grimaldi
Executive Producer
The Leslie Marshall Show
“The Only True Democracy In Talk Radio – Of, For and By You The People.”
www.lesliemarshallshow.com

What I am thankful for

Since this is Thanksgiving weekend, rather than talk politics, which will be my next blog, I decided to talk about what I'm thankful for.

Now before you log off and think I'm being sappy, give me a chance here. Throughout most of my life, and I'm not that old yet (!), I have heard people say: "To your health," "At least you've got your health...," "Happy, healthy and wise," ...I think you get the point. Well, this year, I'm really happy for my health. Or, I should say, I appreciate having my health. We all know as we age, the back doesnt bend as quickly, and the aches and pains become more apparent....but then there are more serious issues.

I recently lost my Aunt Marilyn to lung cancer- although she was near 80, that was young considering her brother, my grandfather, and even her parents lived well into their 90's. (Watch our conservatives- Leslie Marshall's got a long life span ahead! haha!) Just two weeks later, on my mother's side of the family, my Uncle Leon died of brain cancer. Just months ago her was fine- and then, while having dinner with friends, dropped to the floor. When the doctor said he had brain cancer, and that an operation could give him a 50-50 chance, surely we all thought he would survive after 3 of them!

When they sent him home with hospice care experts tell you it could be months, what they didnt tell us and didnt know is that it would be a few days. So I have stood by the funerals, burials, memorial services of 2 in my family. And I must admit- which is bizarre- but I think we all do it...who is next? When will it be? Then my mind starts to wander into when will I die? Will I see my children grow up? Marry? Have children? How will I die? Will it be slow? painful? Will I die in my sleep like my Dad did?

Being a pessimist, it is hard to have the Pollyanna view of life- that "live each day like it's your last" however true it may ring for me is harder in my "glass half empty" philosophy of life. Most of us suffer many losses in life- parents, grandparents, pets- and as we get older- friends- and for some of us, like myself, our own children. These past weeks I have been ill. I had the flu, then a cough, a sore throat, lost my voice ( which is pretty bad for a talk host!) and then got walking pneumonia. When I thought I had turned the corner, I got sick again- I wont make you sick with the details. Even as I write this- I'm still not 100%- but all of this is small in comparison with the health issues so many people are afflicted with throughout the world- and of course, this is small in the grand scheme of life- my life- your life- anyone's life- I'm sure on my deathbed I wont be thinking: "wow- I wonder how come my flu lasted so long in 2009?!" And before I close, I have a confession to make: One the 2nd part of a 3 part series on The O'Reilly Factor in which Bill interviewed Sarah Palin, Bill had me on after the interview to discuss my opinion of Ms Palin and her reponses to his questions. Of the hundreds of emails, or should I clarify and say "hate mails," a few, usually from a femal would say something like :"you dont like Sarah Palin because you're jealous!"

Well to be honest, there were years in my life, where a woman who was doing better than me professionally, was more attractive, thinner, etc. would make me jealous- to be honest. BUT.....I can honestly and truly say, (and it feels good!) that I am happy in my life now. I must be honest again- I fear saying that- often when I have expressed to the world "I'm Happy" bad things have happened like : losing a job, my father dying or finding out my son had a terminal illness.......but for the first time in a long time- without sounding sappy again or even conceited- I'm happy being me- being Leslie Marshall.

I dont aspire to be Oprah, Sarah Palin or any other female who makes more money, has a bigger career. I am truly blessed to do what I love, to have a radio show that continues to grow in a bad economy; to be asked to be on television on programs that are so highly rated and respected as "The O'Reilly Factor," to have 2 healthy children, a good marriage to a supportive man whom I love, an incredible team who believes in me and my show, a roof over my head and ....well...my health- physically, emotionally and mentally. So to conclude- here's saying Happy Thanksgiving to all of you- be thankful for what you've got- dont mourn what you've loss too long or you'll miss the living you've got to do- because none of us know for how long that will be.

Healthcare Reform: The Public Option and Single Payer

As a caller on Leslie's show exhibited this week, there seems to be a lot of confusion about the Public Option and Single Payer.  Some of this is natural.  Some is intentional.  Lobbying firms for the Giant Health Insurance Companies hope for confusion and misinformation to dominate what should be a conversation on real reform.    The truth is, even if President Obama wanted single payer, it would never be able to happen from the Health Care Bills in the House and Senate now.  Separate bills would have to be introduced into the House and Senate and would have to be voted on.  So some people's boogie man theory on the Public Option somehow transforming into Single Payer is legally impossible.   Anyone who reads, writes or just plain understands bills in the House or Senate can tell you that. The Public Option would compete with Private Health Insurance Plans, not eliminate them.  Imagine if you have three grocery stores in your city, and they all conspire to raise the cost of bread.  Say bread was a dollar a loaf, and the grocery store made a 90 cent profit from that.  Then say all three grocery stores agreed to raise it to three dollars a loaf.  Even though the bread is the same (or getting worse if we're comparing it to health care), you have no choice but to pay more for it.  Then every year the three grocery stores conspire to raise the cost of bread.  $4.00 dollars the next year, $5.00 the year after that, $6.00 the next year (all while the bread is getting worse).   Then all of a sudden, a fourth grocery store comes along who is not conspiring with the others.  They charge $1.00 a loaf, and still make a healthy 90 cent profit.  Eventually word gets out, and Capitalism and competition come into effect.  People start shopping at the fourth grocer to buy the $1.00 bread because they're no longer getting ripped off.  Sure enough, the other grocers (due to competition), have to stop ripping people off.  They now charge between $1.00 and $2.00 dollars per loaf, and still make a profit between 90 cents and $1.90.  So they're forced to make their prices fair, or raise the quality of the product if they're going to keep raising the price. This makes the market fair for the customer again, all while still allowing the businesses to make profits.  But doesn't allow them to conspire to rip people off and take advantage of them.  That, in short, is what the Public Option is. It is not single payer; single payer would be only Government run Health Care.  A Public Option would be just like having another company out there that you could buy insurance from.  So now instead of having say three options like Cigna, Blue Cross and Wellpoint.  You'd have Cigna, Blue Cross, Wellpoint and a Public Option plan. It will help to stop Health Insurance costs from rising every single year, which they have done in this country for decades now.  The prices are going up, even thought the actual care is getting worse.   The quality of health care for millions of Americans insured through commercial or public plans has stopped improving for the first time in more than a decade, according to an industry accreditation group's report issued two weeks ago. Don't take my word for it, check out the physical proof: http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/22/news/economy/healthcare_insurers_reportcard/index.htm?postversion=2009102211 So Americans are paying more for Health Care, even though it is getting worse.  You cannot argue with that, it is a hard fact. Despite us Americans paying by far the most for Health Care anywhere in the world, we have the 37th best care, according to independent non-partisan reports.  Again, here is the hard proof that cannot be argued with: http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html The bottom line is, if we do nothing, the Healthcare companies have no reason to stop charging us more and more every year, for care that is actually getting worse.   Mark "Marky Mark" Grimaldi Executive Producer The Leslie Marshall Show "The Only True Democracy In Talk Radio: Of, For and By The People" www.lesliemarshallshow.com

Leno/Limbaugh

As a guest on Jay Leno's new show, Rush Limbaugh stated that the subprime mortgage crisis can be blamed on: Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Bill Clinton and.....ACORN!?! As my son would say- wow, wow wubsy! Now I thought it was crazy that former President Bill Clinton was blamed for September 11th. I thought it was nuts that Saddam Hussein was blamed for September 11th. And now, I truly feel Mr Limbaugh better put down his handful of oxycontin and fast! To blame a community action organization for the subprime crisis!?!!? Even conservative listeners to my radio talk show agree that is ridiculous! As I said on my program; the financial crisis, subprime housing included is a world wide problem. It began during the Bush administration; and as much as I like to blame GW, even this isn't his fault. Nor is it Clinton's. or Obama's. How about the lenders? Homebuyers? Underwriters? Credit Approval ratings organizations? The reality is that the economy was at risk of a deep recession after the dot com bubble burst in early 2000. September 11th only made things worse. So how did the world respond? Banks tried to stimulate the economy; and not just here in the U.S., but throughout the world. And that pushed investors and lenders to take greater risks. Like lenders approving subprime mortgage loans to borrowers with poor credit or no credit and even some who had no jobs. So it was the consumer's demand that drove the housing bubble to it's all time high in the summer of 2005. And that didn't give a happy ending, that gave us incredibly high foreclosure #'s. So how does ACORN get blamed? How does President Clinton get blamed? For those that say Barney Frank could have regulated these lenders and didn't, let's not forget former President Bush's speech on October 15, 2002 at Georgetown University, when he encouraged those loans being backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. To paraphrase, he said that lower income people could get good quality homes. And GW Bush was President during the time of this financial fallout. He was the captain of the ship. He cannot have no responsibility, or in this case, blame for this problem. Neither can the top dogs at the Treasury under his command. And back to ACORN.....individuals go to ACORN when they're faced with foreclosure, or after they've lost their home; so how would a ACORN and it's members benefit from a subprime mortgage circus? Wouldn't they basically be screwing themselves to profit from something like this? Most of us never heard of ACORN until about a year ago; before then, ACORNS were little nuts that squirrels munched on!!! Lastly, why cant we ever look in the mirror and blame ourselves? Or in this case our/the borrowers and the lenders greed? Nothing too good to be true is. Too much money too fast isn't a sure thing, it's a bad thing; just ask those that borrowed from Bernie Madoff. Not to be religious here, but the bible doesn't say it's money that is the root of all evil, it is the "love" of money that is. The lenders love their money, so do we, that's how we got here and we didn't it without nuts...I mean acorns.
Leslie Marshall
The Leslie Marshall Show
“The Only True Democracy in Talk Radio – Of For And By The People”
www.lesliemarshallshow.com

Since When Did Americans Stop Rooting For the Little Guy?

Since When Did Americans Stop Rooting For the Little Guy?

That’s what the whole “debate” on Health Care Reform makes me wonder about. It made sense to me that Americans went ape sh%t when CEOs and Executives of companies like AIG got greedy and tried to line their pockets even further with bonuses. Yet when the CEOs of the Giant Health Care Corporations try to do the same thing, we let them cry poor and win?
Something else must be going on here.
When you do a little bit of digging, the answer becomes clear rather quickly. For every lawmaker in Congress, there are about six lobbyists pushing their health care priorities, according to a Bloomberg News investigation released ten days ago. That's about 3,300 registered health care lobbyists working Capitol Hill, outnumbering and constantly swarming 100 senators and 435 congressmen.
Bloomberg also examined new lobbyist registrations since July 1 and found that, on average, three lobbying organizations per day, many headquartered on Washington, D.C.'s K Street corridor, are lining up to lobby Congress on health reform.
After reading that you can see why it looks like Americans might not be rooting for the little guy (themselves in this case). This is because Billions, and maybe eventually Trillions, of dollars will have been spent to scare Americans, and subsequently kill Health Care Reform.
Whether it’s lobbying Congress, running scare Ads on TV, or paying to bus protestors to Town Hall Meetings, Goliath has started to thwart any momentum David seemed to have going.
But all hope is not lost. If you recall, less than 10 months ago many people and Large Corporations said that a Black man with a funny sounding name getting elected to the Highest Office in the Land was impossible. Well, score that one David: 1 Goliath: 0.
Getting Health Care reformed doesn’t have to be all that different than the election. People need to take a little time out of their busy lives to, number one, educate themselves on what Reform actually means.
A poll by the Associated Press last week highlighted what a big problem this actually is:
(Here is a link to the article): http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hfODLR0wl7aBmaQ38Za6eyzLJ9hQD9A6AE0G2
THE POLL: 45 percent said it's likely the government will decide when to stop care for the elderly; 50 percent said it's not likely.
THE FACTS: Nothing being debated in Washington would give the government such authority. Critics have twisted a provision in a House bill that would direct Medicare to pay for counseling sessions about end-of-life care, living wills, hospices and the like if a patient wants such consultations with a doctor. They have said, incorrectly, that the elderly would be required to have these sessions.
House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said such counseling "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia."
The bill would prohibit coverage of counseling that presents suicide or assisted suicide as an option.
Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, who has been a proponent of coverage for end-of-life counseling under Medicare, said such sessions are a voluntary benefit, strictly between doctor and patient, and it was "nuts" to think death panels are looming or euthanasia is part of the equation.
But as fellow conservatives stepped up criticism of the provision, he backed away from his defense of it.
___
THE POLL: 55 percent expect the overhaul will give coverage to illegal immigrants; 34 percent don't.
THE FACTS: The proposals being negotiated do not provide coverage for illegal immigrants.
___
THE POLL: 54 percent said the overhaul will lead to a government takeover of health care; 39 percent disagree.
THE FACTS: Obama is not proposing a single-payer system in which the government covers everyone, like in Canada or some European countries. He says that direction is not right for the U.S. The proposals being negotiated do not go there.
At issue is a proposed "exchange" or "marketplace" in which a new government plan would be one option for people who aren't covered at work or whose job coverage is too expensive. The exchange would offer some private plans as well as the public one, all of them required to offer certain basic benefits.
That's a long way from a government takeover. But when Obama tells people they can just continue with the plans they have now if they are happy with them, that can't be taken at face value, either. Tax provisions could end up making it cheaper for some employers to pay a fee to end their health coverage, nudging some patients into a public plan with different doctors and benefits. Over time, critics fear, the public plan could squeeze private insurers out of business because they would not be able to compete with the federal government.
It's unclear now whether Obama is committed to the public option. He described it recently as "just one sliver" of health reform, suggesting it was expendable if lawmakers could agree on another way to expand affordable coverage. Now the White House is emphasizing his strong support for it.
___
THE POLL: 50 percent expect taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for abortions; 37 percent don't.
THE FACTS: The House version of legislation would allow coverage for abortion in the public plan. But the procedure would be paid for with dollars from beneficiary premiums, not from federal funds. Likewise, private plans in the new insurance exchange could opt to cover abortion, but no federal subsidies would be used to pay for the procedure.
Opponents say the prohibition on federal money for the procedure is merely a bookkeeping trick and what matters is that Washington would allow abortion to be covered under government-subsidized insurance.
Obama has stated that the U.S. should continue its tradition of "not financing abortions as part of government-funded health care." Current laws prohibiting public financing of abortion would stay on the books.
Yet abortion guidelines are not yet clear for the government-supervised insurance exchange. There is strong sentiment in Congress on both sides of the issue.

So as you can see, people taking time to educate themselves and their friends and family on what actual Reform would entail is quite a big deal. If that can be done, a similar strategy to the 2008 Presidential Campaign can be enacted. Getting normal Americans to inform themselves and then use that information to educate others around them. An educated and active Public is a nightmare for the large Health Care Corporations and their lobbyists. So in turn, it is also the best chance for Real Health Care Reform.

Mark "Marky Mark" Grimaldi
Executive Producer
The Leslie Marshall Show
"The Only True Democracy In Talk Radio - Of, For and By The People"
www.lesliemarshallshow.com