Jim Hightower's Lowdown
457 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 303 ratingsNews and shows about the progressive, democratic populist rebellion from former Texas Ag Commissioner and NYT best-selling author Jim Hightower.
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Episodes
The Dow Jones v. The Doug Jones
September 08, 2020 14:03 - 2.97 MBWow, how about that Dow? The Dow-Jones Average of corporate stock prices, I mean – the one economic indicator that our nation’s establishment watches religiously. They’re like ancient priests watching a burbling, hissing volcano to determine if the gods are pleased or angry. Bizarrely, despite the pandemic recession that’s knocking down millions of Americans, corporate profits are soaring. So, believers in the infallibility of the Dow exclaim that these are boom times, with the economy show...
Where did the Republican Party go?
September 03, 2020 04:01 - 2.97 MBWith our national election looming, someone should put up “lost dog” signs in every neighborhood saying, “Missing: Republican Party Platform.” Voters won’t find one though, for this so-called major political party has decided not to produce a specific statement of what it stands for this year, nor will it offer to voters an itemized set of policies its public officials would try to enact if elected. Indeed, the GOP hierarchy is so disdainful of the electorate that it says the Party will not...
Amazing! Republicans turn progressive
September 01, 2020 04:01 - 2.97 MBWow, what a surprise! Have you seen the National Republican Party’s official platform? Perhaps, like me, you would have expected it to be a mish-mash of Trumpian miasma, laissezfairyland corporate economics, QAnon lunacy, police state authoritarianism, and all the other wackiness that today’s GOP has been embracing. But, no – astonishingly, this 18-page policy statement flat-out rejects the elitism, knownothingism, and nutballism coming out of the White House and out of the mouths of nearly...
Trump dishes up “Chicken á la Avian Leukosis”
August 27, 2020 04:01 - 2.98 MBTop regulatory officials in Trump’s government keep chanting the same one-word mantra: “Deregulate… Deregulate… Deregulate…” Day after day, these agency bosses have been “liberating” greedy business interests to do their damnedest to us consumers, workers, the environment… and even to our chicken dinner. Yes chicken. Instead of Kentucky-fried or tacos con pollo, they’re serving up “Chicken a la Avian Leukosis.” That’s chicken infected with a virus that produces cancerous tumors and lesions ...
Save our Post Office… and our right to vote
August 20, 2020 04:01 - 2.98 MBAs progressive champion John Lewis warned, your right to vote “is not guaranteed. You can lose it.” You see, it’s […]
Getting into “Good Trouble”
August 18, 2020 04:01 - 2.98 MBIn this horrible time of economic collapse, it is truly touching to see so many corporate chieftains reaching out in […]
How intractable is CEO greed?
August 13, 2020 04:01 - 2.97 MBAs horrible as the COVID-19 crisis is, it has brought out the best in the American people – the selflessness […]
How to fight off a bad case of “CHS” Flu
August 06, 2020 04:01 - 3.34 MBUnfortunately, an exotic flu epidemic has broken out in Washington, DC. Dubbed the “Canadian Hot Sauce Flu,” it uniquely afflicts […]
Trump’s one-word re-election campaign
August 04, 2020 04:01 - 3.43 MB“Socialism,” snarled The Donald at a recent pep rally of far-right Republicans. And the obedient crowd of Trumpistas snarled back […]
Sneaking public dollars into private schools
July 23, 2020 04:01During today’s COVID-19 crisis, the PR departments of every brand-name corporation are running slick ads nobly proclaiming: “We’re all in […]
Spinning around on Trump’s Money-go-round
July 21, 2020 04:01The Donald is in a funk. He’s been outsmarted by an inert virus, his poll numbers are tanking, and even […]
Sacrificing people to corporate profit
July 16, 2020 04:01As directed by their big business funders, top Republican officeholders across the country have been defying public health experts in […]
Cashing in on the COVID crisis
July 14, 2020 04:01Why does Donald Trump refuse to wear a coronavirus mask? Because he realizes that, in a mask, we’d all recognize […]
The GOP’s grotesque plan to cope with COVID-19
July 09, 2020 17:27Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease is presently raging anew because corporate-serving public officials rushed to “open the […]
Meet the Slaphappy Governor of Texas
July 07, 2020 18:23Once again, my state of Texas is saddled with a Republican gubernatorial goober. Greg Abbott is this guy’s name, and […]
The meek reality behind Trump’s pose as a Bull Moose Populist
July 02, 2020 04:01It’s been pointed out that Donnie Trump has unusually small hands… but who cares? What’s truly alarming are his unusually […]
Trump versus the wisdom of Robert E. Lee
June 30, 2020 16:19While our present President’s moral character seems stuck somewhere between boorish and brutish, it’s only fair to note that he […]
Unmasking America’s mask profiteers
June 18, 2020 04:01Everyone should wear a protective medical mask – but some ought to be in ski masks, like those favored by […]
What’s behind a mask?
June 16, 2020 04:01The chief cultural emblem of our times is this: Wearing a mask. Or not. These low-tech, high-impact, low-cost coverings are […]
Beware a of a Trump Coup!
June 11, 2020 04:01The mass these protests against systemic racism are driving Donald Trump plumb crazy! Of course, that’s a pretty short drive […]
George Floyd, you, me… us
June 09, 2020 04:01Viewing the video of George Floyd’s gruesome murder, one word from him stuck in my head, one painful human utterance […]
What is the proper name for a kakistocracy?
May 28, 2020 14:01Times of great adversity not only bring out the best and worst in society, but they also flush out some […]
What is “iyyikowa” and why do we need more of it?
May 26, 2020 15:41Charles Dickens, writing about the inequality and social turmoil leading to the French Revolution, noted that “It was the best […]
What’s the Weirdest Species of All?
May 21, 2020 04:01What’s the Weirdest Species of All? I love those nature shows that probe the behavior and intelligence of birds, elephants, […]
What’s the difference between corporate CEO’s and pigs?
May 14, 2020 04:01There’s a general sentiment today that multimillionaire corporate chieftains are pigs. But I think that’s unfair. To pigs. Those oinkers […]
Why is Big Business getting tax funds meant for small business?
May 12, 2020 04:01Monty Bennett was just another faceless right-wing millionaire on the long list of high-dollar donors to Donald Trump – until […]
Should Trump be America’s Postal Potentate?
May 07, 2020 04:01Here’s how I feel about the value of our nation’s postal service: “The humble Post Office is a community fixture, […]
What’s the gimmick in Trump’s plan to “rescue” the public Postal Service?
May 05, 2020 04:01One thing we’ve learned for sure this year is that no national crisis is too awful to keep Trump & […]
Don’t shut the post office, expand their services
April 23, 2020 04:02What’s the matter with the post office? The US Postal Service, I mean – the corporate hierarchy that runs this […]
Far from a loser, post office is a money-making operation
April 21, 2020 04:13One public service that people really like and count on is the post office – which literally delivers for us. […]
Health care for people… or for corporate profits?
April 14, 2020 13:25When grassroots groups rise up against the corporate establishment to try winning some specific progressive changes for the common good, […]
Can the Easter Bunny save us?
April 02, 2020 11:01Glorious news, people! The renowned professor of pandemicology, Dr. Donald Trump, has found the magical antidote to coronavirus that had […]
What should happen to “Pandemic Profiteers”?
March 31, 2020 11:01Wartime profiteering has been as common in our country as war itself. Indeed, during the American Revolution assorted corrupt merchants […]
Pessimism is the stealth enemy of progressivism
March 19, 2020 14:55There’s a short-circuit in the political convictions of some progressive-minded voters these days. While big majorities are making clear that […]
Guess who’s winning the Democratic Party’s policy debate?
March 17, 2020 20:15The Democratic Party’s moneyed and political establishment – backed by a screeching chorus of corporate media voices – are gloating […]
What happened to Trump’s peace deal?
March 12, 2020 17:23When dealing in matters of war and peace, shouldn’t a president sort of know what he or she is doing? […]
Will Democrats Be Democrats, or Fraidy Cats?
March 03, 2020 18:06As an old saying puts it, “Where there’s a will – there are a thousand won’ts.” Sure enough, here come […]
What’s scaring the bejeezus out of billionaires?
February 11, 2020 12:50There’s a new political army on the march in America: Tromp-tromp-tromp they came, it’s the Billionaire Brigade! It’s actually a […]
Where can Trump find a Good Farm Policy?
February 06, 2020 12:04Donald Trump’s idea of a good farm program seems to be “Hee Haw.” On a recent trip to Wisconsin, he […]
Sonny and Donnie: Down on the farm
February 04, 2020 12:10Government by the rich is called plutocracy. Government by police power is autocracy. Government by thieves is kleptocracy. Government by […]
What car do billionaires ride in?
January 16, 2020 12:37I’m guessing that being rich is a comfortable feeling – no money worries, you’re set for life! But is it […]
How do the rich become uber-rich?
January 14, 2020 12:35As Ray Charles wailed in a song of true-life blues: “Them that’s got is them that gets/And I ain’t got […]
America’s healthcare border raiders
January 09, 2020 12:47While Donald Trump fans the embers of xenophobia in our country by demonizing caravans of desperate Latinos headed north from […]
The other Mexican migration
January 07, 2020 12:43You probably haven’t heard about it, but there’s another mass migration coming across the US-Mexico border. However, these are not […]
Is Healthcare more important than healthcare profits?
December 31, 2019 13:26Last year, Donald Trump said something stupid. Okay, nothing astonishing about that – but this stupid thing did astonish an […]
Can “powerless nobodies” fight the corporate powers?
December 17, 2019 18:44Generations of working class shrimpers, oysterers, and other fishing families on the sparkling bays along the Texas coastline of the […]
How Trump’s poverty subsidy enriches the rich
December 05, 2019 18:12Breaking news: Donald Trump has inadvertently said something true! He recently exulted that his special tax incentives to spur investment […]
How greedy billionaires become richer greedy billionaires
December 03, 2019 16:01Years ago, a Texas legislator who was known to be bribable explained his ethical framework as opportunistic: “I seen my […]
Why would we trust plutocrats to save us from plutocracy
November 21, 2019 13:45Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote of being leery of a fast-talking huckster who visited his home: “The louder he talked […]
Want to Help Stop Big Oil’s Thievery?
November 05, 2019 15:09The one thing you never want to hear your dentist say is: “Oops!” It’s also alarming to hear that from […]