Jimmy Carter

Thom Hartmann - It’s Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, so I wanted to share a few things you may not know about my favorite president...

— He was one of those rare Christians in political life who actually lived the values Jesus taught.

— He saw climate change coming and took steps to stop it that - had Reagan not intervened - would have altered the world’s energy and climate future. If Reagan hadn’t stopped the actions he took, people in Asheville, North Carolina might still be alive.

— He was the victim of one of America’s most notorious political crimes, and it was during his presidency that the Supreme Court began the deconstruction of American democracy.

— He brought peace to the Middle East during a critical period, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize.

— He even proposed a national healthcare program that would pay every American’s medical expenses above $2,500 a year.

Like his climate proposals, Carter’s healthcare plan died in the face of bought-off politicians and the Reagan Revolution.

The New York Times summarized Carter’s 1976 healthcare plan with the headline: “Carter To Present Health Plan Paying Costs Above $2,500.”

“We have built a haphazard, unsound, undirected, inefficient nonsystem which has left us unhealthy and unwealthy at the same time,” Carter proclaimed.  

“We have heard speeches, testimony and press conferences in support of national health insurance for 30 years, but not a single bill has passed the Senate or the House. The time has come for us to quit talking and get down to work.”

Carter was also a nuclear scientist who, at the age of 28, stopped what could have been one of North America’s worst nuclear meltdowns.