The Hartmann Report

Economist Richard Wolff joins Thom. Why are former banksters and hedge fund guys running the Fed without even a veneer of impartiality? Professor Wolff says it's a fox-guarding-the-henhouse situation. Will throwing in 'unspeakable amounts of money' fix the problem? Plus - The employer as emperor... Trump's fires more vaccine experts... What's broken with Congressional oversight?.. Who owes who reparations- China??. Why don't Democratic presidenta prosecute former Republican presidents for their crimes?- should the next one make an exception?.. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bill Press joins Thom to survey the voting landscape in pandemic-stricken America. And, could a Justin Amash libertarian ticket take votes from Biden and throw the election to Trump? If enough states cancel the Democratic primary could we see another candidate, like Andrew Cuomo? Does Biden need to pick a VP who can quickly hit the campaign trail? Who should be Biden's VP pick? Thom's listeners join in the discussion from a diversity of backgrounds from across the country.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Progressive Wisconsin Representative Mark Pocan joins Thom for a national town hall of listener questions ranging from the next Congressional relief package to the ways representatives can participate digitally in the dangerous times of the pandemic.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Steve Hassan, author of 'The Cult of Trump' considers the psychology of the devotees of Donald Trump. What are they likely to do if Trump does not win reelection? Trump's valet has tested positive for Covid. But what is up with a man who tests everyone around him, but won't help the rest of America have access to testing? Maybe we shouldn't be surprised this is how grifters do things. Why can't much of America recognize Trump's sociopathy and respond accordingly? Are we even in a Manchurian candidate situation, but can't recognize it? Or will America join Trump's call for us all to become warriors, and risk our lives going back to work to get the money machine running again for the billionaires? What can we do? Let's all be infectious and help spread Progressive media!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How do we quantify the cost of slowing the economy to protect our vulnerable people from the disease? Does it have to be a choice between harming the economy and killing people? Or is there a third way already demonstrated in other places? And as to the harm to the economy, will we see substantial inflation, or a deflationary spiral?And how can we manage feelings of rage and powerlessness as this all develops? What are the roots of the so-called libertarianism that really supports a corporate plutocracy? And from road rage to spitting conservatives- as anger flares, what could be the future of the partisan divide in this country?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alex Lawson from Social Security Works joins Thom, to ask if Medicare should be paying for everything.We are in the endgame of the billionaires takeover of the Republican Party and the subsequent destruction of America. As Steve Bannon said, their goal is to “deconstruct the administrative state,“ and taking down Social Security under the guise of helping the states is perhaps their biggest shot at that.For the Book Club Thom reads from "When the Tea Party Came to Town: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives' Most Combative, Dysfunctional, and Infuriating Term in Modern History" by Robert Draper.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Who has been the worst president of the United States? Has Trump's incompetence, xenophobia, and law breaking eclipsed the damage done by G.W. Bush by killing at least 15,000 Americans by invading Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing back torture, and taking away many of our civil liberties? And can compacts between the states fill the gap in leadership and responsibly re-open the country without soaring death rates? Or will Trump's bias against the blue states start to take its own toll?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How can we harness people-power to defend Democracy against the naked greed and lies of Trump and the Republicans? Ezra Levin of Indivisible joins Thom to talk Progressive strategy in the time of Covid. And House Progressive Caucus leader Mark Pocan takes listener calls on questions ranging from the CARES-2 package... forgiving student loans... programs saving food from being dumped for food pantries... families with an immigrant denied the $1200 payments... Nancy Pelosi's love of ice cream and what she has already done for the common person... and Progressive legislative priorities for CARES-2-- when is it likely to be passed?Plus - remembering the human cost of the 1918 pandemic... learning from history... rolling back workplace law... and training kids to be resilient.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the Fed loans hundreds of billions of dollars to major US corporations, has the performance of the stock market largely decoupled from the American economy? Economist Richard Wolff shares his views with Thom. Would it have been better to have given the same money to the people to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars each, or will trickle-down economics work this time? Or can we find leaders who are capable of admitting to our economic failures and correcting them?Meanwhile, could it be for the sake of their financial interests that the billionaires are using their propaganda groups like so-called "Freedom Works" to push people to protest public health lockdowns? And would the Michigan police have allowed a crowd of black people with guns to storm the statehouse? (hint: no)Plus- Pinning the numbers to Trump... When did it become almost impossible to opt-out of the internet?.. How is Trump coercing the slaughterhouse workers back to the kill floor?.. What are the Swedes up to?.. Plus!- astrology, aliens, and a virus creation conspiracy...See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is rushing to reopen the states the latest Republican scam to save fat cat corporations having to pay for unemployment? But if it really isn't safe to return to your job then aren't Republicans forcing workers to choose between risking their lives and poverty? And as Trump tries to send slaughterhouse employees back into their virus-infested workplace, is meat really a necessity in the first place- or would you, the animals, and the world be better off the less we eat of it? But are Republicans willing to essentially kill to get the money flowing again?Plus Thom reads from 'Animal Kind', a book by Ingrid Newkirk.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.