The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour – 01.25.17

Deborah Haas MS Ed has decades of experience in the addiction field and works for the Pennsylvania board that sets standards for addiction counselors. Deborah’s personal experience with addiction goes back to age 12 and she provides important insights into the complexities of trying to understand why people become addicted. She describes the harm done in treating people as if they are “broken” or suffering from “biochemical imbalances,” and the inherent contradiction in taking people off one set of drugs only to push them to take another set produced by the Pharmaceutical Empire. She fights the erosion of good therapy by the legal drug dealers. Deborah loved the four-part series of interviews that I did with Danish researcher Peter Gøtzsche, so this a reminder to search for those on www.breggin.com. Meanwhile, you will enjoy getting to know Deborah Haas, who is a shining light in the field of addiction treatment.

Leid Stories—The Trump Card vs the Clintons and The Clinton Foundation: How Will They Fare?—01.24.17

They’ve kept a low profile since the Electoral College declared Donald Trump the winner of the contentious 2016 presidential election, but Bill and Hillary Clinton were among the high-level contingent of former U.S. presidents and their wives witnessing Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Sarah Freeman-Woolpert – The history of anti-authoritarian struggle is a history worth repeating

Throughout his campaign, critics have drawn comparisons between Donald Trump and authoritarian leaders from the past. From his proposed plans to create a Muslim registry, to threats against journalists and other opponents, these critics urge us to learn from history about the dangers of a leader like him rising to power. Now that Trump is president, however, we must learn …

Lauren-Brooke “L.B.” Eisen – Private Prisons Are Poised for a Comeback Under Trump. Here’s How to Reform Them.

Just a few months ago, things were looking very bleak for the private prison industry. In mid-August, the Justice Department’s inspector general issued a report finding that privately operated federal prisons are more dangerous than those managed by the federal Bureau of Prisons and need more oversight. Within a week, the Justice Department announced it would phase out private prisons …

Leid Stories—How Not to Testify: A Lesson from the Sessions Confirmation Hearings—01.12.17

Rep. Cedrick Richmond likened being on the last panel of witnesses to testify at the confirmation hearings for Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney general, to being made to “sit at the back of the bus.” The Louisiana congressman, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, noted the Senate Judiciary Committee’s slight against him, civil-rights icon Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, and Cory Booker, the junior senator from New Jersey.
All three legislators were scheduled to testify in earlier legislator panels, and it was not secret that they were against Sessions’ confirmation. But did they make themselves clear?

Leid Stories—Confirmation Hearings for Trump’s Cabinet Nominees Begin—01.10.17

Confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for Cabinet-level posts begin today. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) faces off with the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9 a.m., and the Senate Homeland Security Committee questions retired Marine general John Kelly at 3 p.m.

GOP gained ground in middle-class communities in 2016

The Republican Party made deep inroads into America’s middle-class communities in 2016. Although many middle-class areas voted for Barack Obama in 2008, they overwhelmingly favored Donald Trump in 2016, a shift that was a key to his victory. Meanwhile, Democrats had more success retaining a loose “coalition” of lower-income and upper-income communities. These findings emerge from a new Pew Research …

A Just Cause – Shining a Spotlight on Capitol Hill & Congressman Danny K. Davis – 12.11.16

The host Cliff Stewart, Lisa Stewart and Lamont Banks will be Shining a Spotlight on Capitol Hill & Congressman Danny K. Davis, who has distinguished himself as an articulate voice for his constituents and as an effective legislator able to move major bills to passage. He has developed a unique and energetic style of communication and interaction with his constituents setting up dozens of advisory task forces to consider significant questions of public policy.

Steve Horn – Jeff Sessions, Trump’s Attorney General Pick, Introduced First Bill to Exempt Fracking from Drinking Water Rules

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, introduced the first so-called “Halliburton Loophole” bill back in 1999 before it was ever known as such. Sessions co-sponsored the bill (S.724) with the climate change-denying Senator James Inhofe (R-OK). The bill called for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to exempt enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act …