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We can all thank Ben Nelson for trying to get this killed in the health care bill. Ring of Fire’s Mike Papantonio makes a great case for why we need to get rid of the anti-trust exemptions for the insurance industry and how the lack of regulation over the industry is harming small businesses in the United States. Of course good little wingnut S. E. Cupp plays concern troll for the insurance industry with her B.S. about having more competition across state lines, which would only mean a race to the bottom to the states with the least regulations.

Fox Host: Instead of worrying about the cash registers today, are retailers more worried about Washington? The industry reportedly fighting the Senate health care bill saying it is going to hurt retail jobs. But will it? Conservative columnist S. E. Cupp says you bet it will. Radio talk show host Mike Papantonio disagrees. We’ll start with you Mike. Why do you disagree?

Papantonio: Well every economist in the universe will tell you that the way to increase employment is increase competition. The insurance industry has been treated like a special prima donna since 1945 with this McCarran–Ferguson Pre-emption Act and here’s the problem; when you don’t have free competition, you’re going to…it affects jobs. There’s no secret here. The anti-trust laws would prevent the industry from charging small business anything they want to charge for employee policies.

So what ends up happening Brian is small business has to pay these exorbitant premiums—by the way, the insurance industry has increased those premiums 400% in the last ten years. McCarran–Ferguson would never allow that to happen because there would be transparency. So where’s the first place they cut? They cut jobs, they cut R&D, they cut expansion, they cut new risks. That’s exactly what’s happened because we treat this industry like they’re a prima donna. They’re the only industry besides baseball that is not subject to anti-trust laws and it’s killing employers.

Mike Papantonio gives our own David Neiwert a shout out in his Pap Attack on GoLeftTV.

Since 9/11, the right wing hate talkers have stepped up their vitriolic attacks against anyone who doesn't agree with them or doesn't look like them. Through their demonization of liberals, Muslims, Hispanics, and gays, they've opened the door to a new era of intolerance and hate in this country. And with that hate has come an increasing number of politically-based murders - murders which are becoming so frequent this year, that we haven't gone a solid month without some right wing nutjob pulling out a gun and killing people who didn't agree with their beliefs. Mike Papantonio discusses the mental breakdown in this week's Pap Attack.

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From GoLeftTV:

Thanks to an almost complete lack of regulation, the executives on Wall Street were able to gamble our economy for their own personal gain, ignoring ethics and in some cases the rule of law along the way. And while Congress is still trying to figure out whether or not to take action, the labor movement in America has decided to take matters into their own hands. Mike Papantonio of Air America's Ring of Fire talks with Richard Trumka, the secretary treasurer of the AFL-CIO, who has some big ideas on how to reign in the corruption and greed that has become too commonplace among Wall Street insiders.

From Go Left TV and Ring of Fire Radio:

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Mike Papantonio run down this week's stories that the mainstream media did a poor job of reporting - Everything from the ongoing Karl Rove subpoena saga, to the irreversible effects of climate change.

Ring of Fire's Buried Stories Jan. 30th Pt. 1

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From GoLeftTV:

Mike Papantonio of Air America's Ring of Fire apears on Your World with Neil Cavuto to talk about Nancy Pelosi's plan to raise taxes on the top 2 percent of Americans by repealing the Bush tax cuts.

Mike did a good job of debunking Reagan trickle down economics when Cavuto gave him a chance to talk.

From Go Left TV:

The collapse of mainstream media didn't happen overnight. It was the effort of years and years of work by the GOP, which culminated in the 1980's when Ronald Reagan repealed the Fairness Doctrine and loosened media ownership rules. As Mike Papantonio of Air America's Ring of Fire explains, this paved the way for media consolidation and the decline of the American press.

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