The Hartmann Report

Is the G.O.P. close to creating essentially a 'Commission for Virtue' a la Saudi Arabia? Thom taps into the reality of abortion with some passionate and emotional calls from his listeners. ~~~ House Progressive Caucus co-leader Mark Pocan on what the House is accomplishing that isn't getting the attention it deserves. ~~~ Bob Ney has been on the beat of the 'CEO Climate Dialog' event- are we seeing carbon-fuel firms lobbying for climate change?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thom reads from the Mueller report, page 32, which covers the activities of the Russian troll farm that helped manipulate the 2016 presidential election. ~~~ Donald Trump, Elliot Abrams, and John Bolton thought that they could overthrow the democratically elected Maduro government of Venezuela. They were wrong. Now they are going after Venezuela with sanctions designed to hurt common people there. Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic & Policy Research shares his keen insights on the situation. Can the people of Venezuela withstand sanctions until Donald Trump can be forced out of office?Thom reads from 'Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny' by Edward J. Watts.. ~~~ The fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE is well known. Less known, is whether the US will fall this century. Edward J Watts' recent book ‘Mortal Republic’ tells the story of Rome's democratic Republican era, and how Rome fell into tyranny. Mr. Watts thinks there are clear warnings for how we might save the American Republic.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thom hears from listeners from right across the nation, big city and small town, on their current thoughts and feelings about which candidate they think would be great. Thom keeps it positive, no circular firing squad. ----- Thom continues with the Democratic candidate straw poll. ------ Thom hears more from many different listeners on their current pick for Democratic nominee. ------ Thom rounds out the hour hearing from listeners about Jay Inslee, Biden, and Marianne Williamson. ------- The last listener gets in with thoughts on Bernie's accomplishments, and then Thom totals the first pick and second pick votes for the day.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jefferson Smith, guest host, analyzes the political and cultural moment in which Alabama Republicans appear to be moving to challenge the legality of abortion in the Supreme Court. ~~~ Are women's fundamental rights on the line in the ongoing national fight over abortion? Women call in from across the nation, and men too. ~~~ Jefferson continues the discussion- does the fact that the Alabama law does not include rape or incest exceptions lay bare the fact that the Republican party is deeply anti-woman? Or how does this play in Roy Moore country? ~~~ Angela in Silver Springs Florida thinks the fight over this issues could divide our country into two camps. Guest host Jefferson Smith considers the Republican strategy of 'divide and conquer.' ~~~ Michael in Colorado puts the Alabama law in the context of the long-view of history. ~~~ As Trump is pulling out non-emergency personnel from Iraq, Ellen Rattner of Talk Media News has the most significant headlines. ~~~ Guest host Jefferson Smith finishes out the national discussion on Alabama's abortion law.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Donald Trump could win the 2020 Election through his trade policies and to make it worse, Donald Trump is going about trade in a way that will hurt the economy and Americans in the long run. Can Progressives bring protectionist trade policies back to the left before Donald Trump starts another term as president?  ~~~ Thom reads from 'Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism' by Kristen Ghodsee.  ~~~ Does property have a dictatorship on our lives? What about the country and even the world? Author Ben G. Price exposes the dangerous control that wealth has on our world and offers solutions we can use to take to take back that control.  ~~~ Thom reads from 'How Wealth Rules the World - Saving our Communities from the Dictatorship of Property' by Ben G. Price.  ~~~ Thom discusses Ben G. Price's ideas with insightful callers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chickenhawk Bolton is working hard for war with Iran- will war be part of Trump's re-election campaign? ~~~~ Iran watcher and fomer Republican Bob Ney is putting the pieces together on John Bolton's warmongering- and now after strong American threats towards Iran, right on schedule the Saudis are claiming that Iranians sabatoged their ships at sea. Bob makes a strong prediction. ~~~~ Thom looks at the news- from Republicans voting against protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions through Trump's re-election campaign spreading lies via Facebook ads through Trump's buddy Jerry Fallwell Jr's pool boy. ~~~~ Thom reads from the Mueller report, page 27.  ~~~~ Progressive Congressman Mark Pocan answers callers' demands to move to impeach Trump immediately. ~~~~  And finally, Gordon in CT has an idea on how to clean up Congress.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guy Mcpherson, author most recently of 'Only Love Remains', joins Thom in studio to consider if it may be too late to human-caused climate change. Do you think he is right? Is there time to fix the damaging climate change effects or has the Arctic melted too much for us to stop it?  ~~~ Thom's insightful listeners add their ideas to the climate change debate. ~~~ Thom reads from 'Cities: The First 6000 Years' by Monica L. Smith. ~~~ Nuclear power plants are not prepared for the effects of climate change. Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter discussed the dangers of flooding, earthquakes and climate change on America's nuclear power infrastructure. ~~~ Thom reads from 'Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster' by Adam Higginbotham. ~~~ Thom checks in with Luke Vargas, Chief Foreign Correspondent for Talk Media News.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Is Donald Trump a threat to our Republic? Thom powerfully lays out the specifics on how Trump's deliberate defiance of the constitution fits in with his history of a grifter who thinks the law doesn't apply to him. ~~~ Can Donald Trump and Paul Ryan escape justice by delaying the Mueller investigation, Bill Barr's contempt of court charge, and other legal issues until after the 2020 Election? Scary thought- but worse is what kind of permanent damage Donald Trump and the Republicans can do if justice is not served. Paul S. Ryan joins us to discuss how we can hold Trump accountable while we still have a democracy to do so. ~~~ What powers do the Capitol police hold? What presidents have defied the Supreme Court and Congress? Without politicians who put country above party, how can the system of checks and balances survive? Does the constitution have an Achilles' heal? Ed in California has an idea for a fix. ~~~ Thom continues his thoughts on the risk to the fate and future of America as a functioning Republic under the mismanagement of Trump. Is he running America's finances as an extension of his schemes? Trump continues to take actions typical of authoritarian rulers, from cutting power to the Venezuelan Embassy to pulling press passes of reporters who criticize the president. And with the 24/7 Fox News-Murdoch-hate radio propaganda backing him up, many Americans don't even know what is happening. ~~~ Bob Ney with Talk Media News drops in with the inside story of the Trump Jr. subpoena fight. ~~~ Pulitizer prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston- veteran Trump-watcher of many years- has the dirt on the possible cocaine trafficking behind Trump's newly revealed tax returns.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thom reviews the latest evidence of Trump's money laundering services- and the bombshell new reporting by the New York Times on Trump's catastrophic losses. Can distractions like squabbling with China over trade win him the next election? ------- Then-Thom Vs Julio - What Does America Do With the Grifter President Who is Actually Broke? A debate with conservative Julio Rivera of Reactionary Times. ---------- Thom reads from pages 12 and 14 of the Mueller Report. ---------- Talk Media News' Ellen Rattner has the headlines, from Iran selling heavy water, through Uber and Lyft workers on strike, to the deets on holding A.G. Barr in contempt of Congress. ---------- Callers including international tax attorney Richard share their insights on why Trump is working so hard to hide his finances from public and legal scrutiny.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

PLEASE NOTE: ---------------------This edition was meant to be published Monday, 6th of May, but was published later in the week by mistake ------------------ Thom probes the evidence that Trump is already trying to start a war to insure his re-election. ------ Remember how GW Bush's team talked us into attacking Iraq, even though Iraq had no WMD's, and nothing to do with 9-11? Now, as Trump sends a Navy battlegroup to the area, and given the recent ultimatum against Iran, what is this all leading to? ------ Trump is normalizing 'the Imperial Presidency' - what are the dangers of the growing American authoritarianism in our government? ------ Thom debunks the Biden 'put em back in chains' myth- just one part of the ever-growing body of right-wing mythmaking- how can we fight it? ------ John Bolton just might get his dream of war with Iran. ------ Tom Perez- chairman of the DNC- talks strategy for countering Bill Barr's lies and other aspects of Trump's authoritarian power grab. ------ Bob Ney- Iran expert and speaker of Farsi- reviews war-monger John Bolton's past actions- including that time he threatened to kill somebody's children if they didn't help start the Iraq war. What is Bolton saying now that the media is ignoring? What is the intention of the chickenhawk ultimatum our government has just threatened Iran with?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.