The Jack Wade Show

New Yorkers who are Cablevision subscribers lost their local ABC Network TV station, WABC on the day of the Oscar Awards, due to a dispute between The Walt Disney Co. and Cablevision. 

This just in: WABC restored the feed to Cablevision about 15 minutes into the Academy Awards.  Cable customers pay through the nose for their cable service and should never be held hostage by corporate haggling.

To see why I call the dispute a corporate strike, press the button below:

This is the most important show that I've ever done because this one can save many lives.  Please listen and send a link to this page to your friends.  Let's show our politicians that people's lives mean more than corporate dollars! 







Just click the button to help the helpless:

Many Democrats say that the Republicans are the party of no.  From that, one must assume that the Democrats think that they are the party of yes.  I say that we voted for them, thinking that we got the party of yes and wound up with the party of maybe, at best.



Say YES to reality by clicking the button:

Have you  answered an employment ad in a newspaper or on the internet lately?   Due to our bad economy, employers are in the driver's seat and they keep finding new and different ways to let you know that you don't count.  These days, you are lucky to get a rejection letter because most companies don't have the courtesy to even reply. 






Push the button to listen to this well-deserved rejection letter:

If you believe much of the the mainstream media, the Tea Party movement is the new voice of the middle class.  If you really believe that, ask yourself:
Will the Tea Party  lobby to keep your job from moving to China or India?
Will the Tea Party file a grievance with your boss if he tries to fire you without cause?
Will the Tea Party negotiate to get you a raise in salary?




Say hello to your new best friend, UNIONS by clicking the button:

Now that President Obama has firmly stated his position during his meeting with the Republicans, I feel compelled to revisit the issue of healthcare, with an eye towards urging the President to push for single payer healthcare.  In order to fully understand how we wound up with a healthcare system that routinely denies coverage to many and is the most expensive one in the world, we have to look at it's history.

Press the button to hear the sad story of failure:

What was notable about President Obama's 2010 State Of The Union was that It looks like he has finally realized that he doesn't have to seek the approval of the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats to achieve hs agenda.  He has made it clear that he will attain his goals with or without their help.   His speech showed that he has finally made the unemployed and the beleagured middle class a priority.

I still disagree with him about Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke.  They are kind of like having wolves guard the hen house.

As someone who is not unfamiliar with the plight of working people in the USA, I have three suggestions that could help reduce unemployment or at least make life easier for those seeking work and for the poor and the middle class.


Click the button below to hear what I have to say:

The United States Supreme Court's decision that gives corporations the constitional right of free speech will do more to undermine our nation as we know it than any enemy nation we've ever faced.


It's not unconstitutional to press the button below:

Bully Pulpit was a term that President Theodore Roosevelt, 1906 Nobel Peace Prize winner used to illustrate the political power that a President has to champion a cause that's in the public interest and get a piece of legislation passed.  These days, it's common knowledge that the bully pulpit is strongest in the first few months of a President's term.   At that time, a President can shock and awe almost any legislation through Congress and the Senate.  

Let's take a look at which issues had priority in those all important first few months of the Obama Presidency.













Teddy would want you to push the button below:

Over the past twenty or so years, America's concept of what is fair to the middle class and poor has evolved, or should I say devolved.  The average working person has lost almost any hope of being a part of the American dream.  He or she has seen corporations eager to outsource his job to China or India and a federal government that has done little to prevent that from happening and, in fact has given outsourcing tacit and in some cases overt support.  The first step in fixing a problem is recognizing that the problem exists.








Click the button below to see and hear the light:

Remember the old slogan, "what's good for GM is good for America"? Back in the day, that was true.  Corporations and working people through their unions had an unspoken agreement that made the American worker a partner in prosperity.  That was the reason that we had a middle class and the highest standard of living in the world.  Conservatives think that the slogan still applies today.  I say that today's corporate greed has turned that phrase into the great American big lie.





Push the button below to hear the truth:

Well, here we are at the beginning of a brand new decade.  I'm going to start things off right by giving you a snapshot of how the previous ten years have altered the American dream.  You may or may not agree with my entire evaluation, but it will give you some food for thought.

Click the button and see if you agree: 

Everyone makes New Year's resolutions, it's a tradition.  I make two sets of resolutions, personal resolutions and resolutions for The Jack Wade show.  The personal resolutions are the easiest to make and keep.  The show resolutions are another matter because they involve other people namely you, the listener.  I have an obligation to look out for the best interests of working people and will continue to do that to the best of my ability.
Happy New Year and thank you for listening.



Let's party -  press the button below:

They say that the devil is in the details. That couldn't be more true of the pending healthcare legislation.  The disturbing thing is that most of the laws enacted in the past year that protect the average person, have many loopholes that allow corporations to continue their questionable practices. 

Let's look at one specific loophole by omission in the healthcare legislation.  Keep in mind that it's one of many loopholes, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood lobbyists.


Get out your magnifying glass and click the button below:

When we voted for Barack Obama and a Democratic majority in Congress and the Senate, we expected to get a government that works for John and Jane Q. Public.  As Democrats, we expected our electeds to put our needs before the needs of multi-national corporations.  We expected a vast sea change from the previous eight years of pro big business, pro big money government.  Well that didn't work out, did it? 

We now have a two party system: The Republicans and The Bipartisans.  The Republicans are unfied and have a party agenda that is basically conservative and pro big business, the Bipartisans are a conglomeration of progressive and Blue Dog Democrats who are Republican wannabes.  When the Bipartisans, who are the majority in both houses need to pass legislation that improves the lot of John and Jane Q. Public such as a healthcare bill, they have a problem.  The progressive side of the party has to negotiate with the Blue Dog side of the party and work out a compromise that usually winds up protecting big business' interests more than it protects the average person.  Essentally, the Blue Dogs  are the spoilers that are the Republicans ace in the hole. 

Our President was elected to bring about change.  His campaign slogan was "Change We Can Believe In".
One of his primary campaign promises was healthcare legislation that would put us on a par with every other industrialized nation.  In order to accomplish that, he has to take a proactive role from day one.  He had to personally lobby each and every member of Congress and the Senate and make his preferences known in no uncertain terms.

He had to do exactly what LBJ did in the sixties to get Medicare passed.  He had to be the driving force that unified each and every Democratic Congressman and Senator and got them to support the bill.  He didn't do that. His mantra was that he was seeking bipartisan support.  How did that work out?


If you are also upset by all of the above, we have to talk, click the button:

Politicians like to use words that sound warm and fuzzy but are really cold and nasty. One example of those words is the phrase "Right To Work States, which is a deceptive term for the 22, mostly southern and  western states that have laws that make it difficult to unionize a company and condemn many of the residents of those states to a lifetime minimum wage career at a big box store .  The pseudo patriotic term Free Trade which basically means that corporations want little or no government regulation so they can ship your job overseas is another example.   When these words start to hurt you and your family, it's time to take action.


Press the button below to hear what I really think of the situation:

In the past year, all of us have been mentally hammered  by conflicting news stories about issues that are vital to our personal well being.  At this point, most people feel  like they are observers of, rather than participants in our political system.   The reason we feel disenfranchised is that corporate bucks speak louder than our ballots.
I will give you a magic mantra that will make that problem go away.


For "instant awareness", press the button:

A somewhat palatable health care bill passed in Congress.  I congratulate them for doing the right thing. Now it's on to the Senate, where a health care bill with a public option faces a minefield of opposition.  Republican opposition is a given, but the thing that disturbs me the most is the possibility of the bill being trashed by Blue Dog Democrats.  
These turncoats were swept into office on President Obama's coattails.  They were voted in to support an agenda that reverses the damage done by eight years of a government that transformed the USA into a place that we could barely recognize, a corrupt nation that is devoid of any regulatory protection for the average citizen. 
The Republicans would like to keep it that way, with the Blue Dog's help.

Punch the "we're not gonna take it" button, so I can deliver my ultimatum:

We voted for Democratic candidates and expected them to live up to their campaign promises.  Why are some of them hedging about the public option?  I think we all know the answer to that question.



You can fire up the old truth meter by clicking the button:

Have you noticed that whenever congress passes legislation that seems to help the average person, it always has loopholes that give big business a way to evade it's provisions.  The Credit Card Act, with it's nine month delayed effective date is a good example.    Why is there so much controversy about passing a health care bill that would bring us up to par with the rest of the industrialized countries?  Could the reason for all this be corporate and special interest lobbyists?
Today is your lucky day, because I have a way to straighten things out:
Outsource Congress to a call center in India!


To make Congress give us "customer service" , click the button:

The Right Wing always has two sets of rules, one they follow and one they expect the rest of us to follow.  They also have a special dictionary that has two definitions of the word "socialism", one that applies to our agenda and one for their schemes.



Push the button, and Mr. Wade will  start his remedial politics for neocons class :

Three right-to-work state Governors would rather have a European corporation get a U.S. Defense Department contract than an American corporation as long as the foreign corporation builds a non-union factory in their states.

For the slapstick details, click the button:

On October 27, 2009, Sen. Joe Lieberman turned his back on the very voters who put him in office and on his own party.   This is something that he's done many times before.  This time it's different and we owe him a vote of thanks.

Push the button and I will thank him:

Did you ever wonder how conservative talk show hosts and Republican politicians get certain middle class people to endorse policies that are against their own best interest?  They do it by creating doubt and confusion in the minds of their voters or listeners.

Please don't panic, just hit the truth button:

After watching the President's address at the Presidential Forum on Service at Texas A&M, hosted by himself, The Points of Light Institute and President George H. W. Bush, I came down with a severe case of deja vu.  My mind drifted off to the Bill Clinton years and his attempts at making nice, nice with Newt Gingrich that caused most of the free-trade/globalization mess that put us where we are today.  We elected Democrats to bring about change, not closet Republicans!

Remind our elected officials that they're Democrats, click the button:

All of the so called financial "experts" have blamed the housing bust and mortgage crisis for our present economic woes and rampant unemployment.   The root cause goes much deeper than a hyperinflated housing market and a few bad mortgage loans.    It goes all the way back to the Reagan administration and it's down hill from there.    John and Jane Q. Public already know the cause of our problems, so let me explain it to our polticians and our upper crust.

Push the button so I can enlighten our politicians:

Did you know that 44,000 people a year die because they don't have health insurance?  That is unacceptable in a country that many claim is guided by religious moral values.  We can no longer allow profit to be more important than life!


Click the button so we can bring the wrath of God down on the greedy:

The Republicans are at it again, with a tantrum worthy of a three year old.   They have zeroed in on Florida Rep. Alan Grayson who called the Republicans out on their handling of the health care crisis.   Still stinging from the spanking delivered to them after their brat, Congressman Joe Wilson misbehaved during Pres. Obama's address to Congress, they are looking for a Democrat to punish. 


Whack the button to let me give them some corner time:

On Tuesday, September 29, the United States Senate is going to vote on the addition of a public option to the Senate's version of the healthcare bill.   Please call your Senator and let him or her know that anything less than a yes vote to the public option is a betrayal of your trust.

To hear what I have to say about this important issue just hit the button:

Come along with me as I wander through the land of Dr. Freud.  Is it just a dream or is it our future?

Grab a cup of wake-up coffee and click the button:

The most shocking thing about the Republican tantrum at President Obama's Congressional address on health care wasn't their display of  bad manners, it was their refusal to accept the fact that they lost the election.

Push the play button and get out your baby rattle to calm them down:

Let's use this Labor Day holiday to try to recapture an escaping American dream.  If we truly understand the past, we can do something about the future.

Press the play button to march in our Labor Day parade:

Did you elect a conservative talk show host President?  Why do so many of them think that they run our country?   Conservative hosts, the party's over, Wade's here!

If you're going to click the play button, please hold your ears:

If you've never had the dubious pleasure of going to a health care town hall meeting, don't worry, one might come to you.  A world of mis-information awaits you and all you have to do is answer your phone.

Why wait for that phone call?   Just hit the play button and follow me to never, never land:

Manipulative politicians and talk show hosts know which verbal buttons to push to win the hearts and minds of John and Jane Q. Public.  Some use polarizing words like "socialism", "death panel" and the ever popular "liberal".     By using the term socialism, they imply that anyone who supports any government program that they brand socialist is un-American.   Let's look at what is and isn't socialism.

Just push the old play button and the truth shall set you free: