On The Lionel Show: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 CE

Remember. Today's meme. Rush = GOP

Has it been a year already? Dayo Olopade is a journalist based in Washington, DC. She covers the White House, pop and politics for The Root and is a Bernard L. Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation. It's been one year since POTUS's victory and election. What's the perspective from African-American voices, the post civil-rights generation?

Death and Texas. An Inconvenient Tax is a documentary you must and will see. Vincent Vittorio, writer and producer, joins us.

Albert Einstein once wrote, "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” The product of 95 years worth of additions, subtractions, deductions, and exclusions, it has become such a headache that many are calling for it to be drastically simplified or even removed all together. With a looming fiscal crisis on the horizon, April 15th seems more like a scene from a B-Horror horror movie than a day to contribute to the common good of the nation. Political favoritism, ineffective social programs, and economic manipulations all reveal the need for tax reform. But how can Americans decide the best way to change the income tax when few people even understand the code or the vast extent to which it truly affects the country?

"An Inconvenient Tax" explores the history of the income tax and brings to light the causes of its many complexities. The film follows the tax through wars, economic booms, and some of the most significant presidencies in U.S. history. To help crack the code, the film employs the country’s top economic experts, commentators, and political voices. Noam Chomsky, Steve Forbes, Joseph Thorndike, Mike Huckabee, Charles Rossotti, Dave M. Walker, Neal Boortz, Michael Graetz, Daniel Shaviro, Leonard Burman, and others discuss not only the problems America faces in the tax code, but also give valuable insights on how to move forward. Finally, the film gives a voice to the creators of several tax reform solutions who claim to have found a better way. In a time when many Americans are concerned about the future of the economy, rising deficits, and unfair tax treatment, “An Inconvenient Tax” provides a crucial, honest look at the income tax. For the first time ever, Americans can engage in the tax debate with confidence and perhaps discover a new way to tax.

Beam us up. It's our weekly visit with Slate's Christopher Beam. We'll review election results, health care updates and the implosion of the GOP.

An American treasure. Howard Zinn is a hero of mine. He's an American hero; he's our hero. Howard Zinn is a historian, playwright and social activist. A man of conscience and super-human bravery and intellectual genuineness. He is an American treasure. The Howard Zinn documentary "The People Speak" will premiere on Sunday, December 13, 2009, at 8 pm, on the History Channel. I am so honored to have him grace our show with his presence.