“He [Alan Lomax] started right off trying to find people who could introduce folk songs to city people. He found a young actor named Burl Ives and said, "Burl, you know a lot of great country songs learned from your grandmother, don't you know people would love to hear them?" He put on radio programs. He persuaded CBS to dedicate "The School of the Air" for one year to American folk music. He'd get some old sailor to sing an old sea shanty with a cracked voice. Then he'd get me to sing it with my banjo.” PeopleKnowsTryingYearsSaidCountrySchoolYoungSongActorsFoundVoiceCitiesAirSeaProgramFolksRadioGrandmotherIntroducingSailorCrackedFolk MusicGreat CountryYoung ActorsBanjosYour GrandmotherFolk Songs Author:Pete Seeger
“By sending the contradictory message that the famous are just plain folks on Mount Olympus, America has forged a relentless tension between loftiness and accessibility. Stir in the fact that the inborn talent and intelligence needed to achieve fame are immune to distributive tinkering by government programs and you have a definition of fame certain to produce envious rage: somebody screwed democracy.” FactsGovernmentAmericaCertainDemocracyAchieveTalentProduceNeededFameMessagesProgramFolksDefinitionsEqualityEnvyRageTensionContradictoryRelentlessImmuneEnviousForgedAccessibilityGovernment ProgramsOlympusTinkering Author:Florence King
“Some of the same politicians and pundits that are so quick to reject the possibility of a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear program are the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq and said it would take a few months.” KnowsSaidWarChoicesBloodPossibilityMonthsPoliticianCostSolutionsConsequenceProgramFolksIraqNuclearTreasureRejectsIranDiplomaticPundits Author:Barack Obama
“Did folks know that the tax to fund the program [Social Security] only hits salaries up to $110,000? That means that if you make a million bucks, about 90% of your salary is tax free when it comes to the payroll tax that funds Soc Sec. That ain't right.” IfsKnowsMeanSocialMillionsSecurityTaxesProgramFolksFundSocial SecuritySalaryBucksPayrollPayroll TaxSocs Author:Jared Bernstein
“Government's running the student loan program; what in the world could be wrong with it? If the government's running it, if Obama's taken it over, and he's got a lot of compassion, a big heart, loves people, what could possibly be wrong with it? And then the subject of tuition came up, and how come tuition never gets cut? Why does tuition always go up? Guarantee, folks, when you subsidize something, if you run a university and the government's gonna subsidize parts of your operation, why in the world should you cut anything?” PeopleIfsWorldShouldHeartDoeBigsGovernmentRunningCompassionTakenCuttingSubjectsStudentsProgramUniversityFolksOperationsGuaranteesLoanHeart LoveTuitionStudent LoanBig Heart Author:Rush Limbaugh
“Higher minimum wages, full-employment programs, early-childhood education: Those kinds of programs are, by design, universal, but by definition, because they are helping folks who are in the worst economic situations, are most likely to disproportionately impact and benefit African Americans. They also have the benefit of being sellable to a majority of the body politic.” KindHelpingBodySituationEconomicChildhoodWorstDesignHigherBenefitsProgramUniversalImpactMajorityFolksDefinitionsEmploymentAfrican AmericanMinimumWagesMinimum WageEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood Education Author:Barack Obama
“I think, the argument sometimes that I've had with folks who are much more interested in sort of race-specific programs is less an argument about what is practically achievable and sometimes maybe more an argument of "We want society to see what's happened, and internalize it, and answer it in demonstrable ways." And those impulses I very much understand.” ThinkingWayWantSometimesAnswersRaceHappenedProgramArgumentFolksImpulse Author:Barack Obama
“I don't think the folks in the low-tax states really want to go into a fairness discussion. Residents of Connecticut and New York would love to remind them how much they pay in federal taxes to support programs for Mississippi and South Dakota.” ThinkingWantStatesPaySupportNew YorkTaxesLowsProgramSouthFolksDiscussionFairnessMississippiResidentsDakotaConnecticutSouth DakotaFederal Taxes Author:Gail Collins