The Hartmann Report

Thom welcomes Amit Narang, Regulatory Policy Advocate with Public Citizen on Trump's accelerating destruction of environmental law and the EPA, including the rollback of fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. Is Trump cynically using the pandemic as cover to gift his corporate buddies everything they ever wanted?And, unlike every other developed country which are supporting their citizens with monthly checks, Trump and the Republicans have said they will not be paying out anything beyond the $1200 check. How far will that $1200 go for the average person?Mark Pocan, Progressive leader in the House of Representatives, joins Thom to answer caller questions on the implications of the stimulus passed in the CARE act, and what more Progressive Democrats are hoping to achieve to help people in need in the coming days- and what the Republican majority Senate will likely refuse to pass.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thom convenes his 'support group for WE THE PEOPLE'- and asks his listeners what they are grieving the loss of in this time of crisis?... And what positive steps can we take to stay strong?Meanwhile, does Trump have blood on his hands for his long irresponsible dithering? A major Freedom of Information act release shows White House Officials knew about this crisis for months during which Trump still pretended publicly that 'this is just the common cold'. As deaths in red states begin to mount, will Republicans pivot to blaming the lack of preparation on the impeachment?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why did George Washington's contracting smallpox in his youth make him more employable? Are American corporate policies creating a workforce of corona virus survivors?And Alex Lawson of Social Security Works joins Thom to raise the alarm of a dirty trick Republicans slipped into the latest stimulus bill they might use to undermine Social Security later on.Plus- what happened to the $3000 ventilators the government paid to develop in 2007? Why can't America match the level of economic support Europe and Canada is giving to its workers? And did Trump give away the game on Fox News when he said about the efforts to require vote by mail "if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,”? Why were briefings to Congress early in the year telling them to expect the coming pandemic given the highest level of national security, making it a crime for Congress to warn the people? What is the connection to the pre-crash stock sell-offs by some of our representatives? And why did Trump ship tons of protective gear and ventilators to China on the 7th of February, when Trump was still telling Americans the disease was 'a Democrat hoax'?And, will Republican states claim they can't certify the November election so that the a Republican will win based on an alternate process in the 12th amendment to the constitution?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a virus- which he not so long ago called 'a democrat hoax'- stills the business of mankind across the planet, has Trump moved his insane and lying ego-boosting rhetoric from his rallies to his press conferences? As sycophantic Republican governors are slow to take safety orders, is Trump favoring red states with federal support? And can we all possibly come to admit the madness of neo-liberalism in the face of its absolute failure in the United States to respond to this crisis? Thom's brilliant callers digest the historic implications of the pandemic- and the threat to American democracy it may represent. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Trump such a sociopath that he's willing to let people die in states he doesn't like? Trump told Hannity he 'has a feeling' we won't need that many ventilators even as infection numbers arc sharply upward and thousands of Americans are already dead. The first American teen to die from Covid suffered a related heart attack after being turned away from treatment because he didn't have health insurance. How is this possible in the richest country in the world? And what kind of man is leading this obscene parade?And Peter Maybarduk- the director of Global Citizen's 'Global Access to Medicine' group- joins Thom live. What is the status of the medical supply chains around the world as countries close their borders- and how will that affect the deployment of treatments for the pandemic? Did Gilead sciences try to game the system to price gouge the world for a possible treatment they have? Should we be reviving American pharmaceutical manufacturing like what we used to have in Puerto Rico? And how could the Defence Production Act be applied to cranking out a possible treatment?Plus Thom's callers digest the issues ranging from the pandemic to Joe Biden to the gold standard to Latvian fake news to the reality or unreality of the stock market.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As we pass 1000 Americans dead from the pandemic, why is Donald Trump choosing now to prioritize plans to cut many of our basic environmental protections on behalf of his corporate buddies? Did Jared Kushner put a monkey wrench in negotiations to retool a GM plant to make ventilators?- is this what happens when a family of grifters takes over the White House? And with Mississippi's governor reversing all the local shelter-in-place orders and re-opening that state, are Republicans making the same sort of 'mistake' that GW Bush did when he ignored clear warnings about Osama Bin Laden? As Britain's National Health Service begins to be inundated with a tsunami of Covid cases, and with the nation under lockdown enforced by threat of arrest, correspondent Victoria Jones gives Thom an idea of what life- and politics- are like in the UK right now. And Thom reads from "Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction" by David Enrich.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Economist Richard Wolff says the carona virus bailout that just passed is 'too little, too late', and does not address the fundamental weakness of 'an economy on life support' of an unprecedented level of debt. And what is it about the structure of our country that we are seemingly helpless to prepare for and combat this virus?Progressive leader and Congresswoman Primala Jayapal joins Thom with a brilliant summary of the events behind a House that just overcame a last minute Republican challenge and passed the CARES Act. What did Progressives get in the bill, and what do they feel it is still missing?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How will the economic stimulus plan protect the most vulnerable self-employed workers and those in the gig economy who can't file unemployment because they never officially had a job? Will this stimulus plan be enough to save the economy? Progressive leader Mark Pocan answers challenging questions as to what is really going on in the halls of Congress.And, Thom debates the conservative thinktank Heritage Foundation's Jason W. Snead on their organization's stance against federal funding of vote-by-mail. Even with the threat of Covid-19 disrupting the November presidential election, why would anyone be opposed to helping more people vote?Why won't Donald Trump use the powers of the Defense Production Act to stop price gouging and to jumpstart emergency production of respirators? Thom's caller asks if right wingers' desire to 'thin the herd' is partly behind the government dragging its feet to respond to or even study the crisis?Plus we hear about the new procedures postal workers are following, and some details on the German stimulus plan.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Didn't Dan Patrick get the memo that millions of Americans getting sick all at once are likely to overwhelm our hospitals? Are returning Spring breakers from Florida spreading the pandemic across the nation? And should we worry that some Amazon warehouse workers are testing positive for Covid? And why did the New York Times editorial board recommend that the entire country shelter-in-place?Katrina vandan Heuvel of The Nation magazine sounds the alarm as to what we must do during this crisis... And Thom's callers raise interesting questions, like- why did Trump pull American pandemic researchers out of China last year?.. Who is Trump's real cadre of support and does the need to support their interests explain Trump's bizarre behavior? Meanwhile, why are the evangelists in denial about this virus and why is Falwell's university staying open?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why in the world did Trump delay for so long getting ready for the pandemic that he knew was coming? Is it anything like GW Bush sending troops into battle with unarmored Humvees? As medical shortages loom due to our lack of preparation, does Donald Trump care about the lives of the nurses and doctors on the front line who are saving lives from this new disease? And what fascist totalitarian measures are being snuck through under the cover of the corona virus crisis around the world- and right here in America?And Progressive leader Ro Khanna shares his view from the floor of Congress as Republicans push for the pandemic stimulus program to once again benefit the rich.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.