Hartmann Report

Although the increasingly unrestrained marketplace that Teddy Roosevelt and Louis Brandeis warn of makes it hard for many companies to emphasize community values, some still do. Others are recognizing the need to respond to human demands for a cleaner, safer, less toxic world. Additionally, many people are fortunate enough to work in an industry they love, and the love of railroads or automobiles or flying or medicine has motivated the start-up and the ongoing operation of many of what are now the world’s best companies. In my experience in business, it’s the people who care about their industry or area of expertise who are the most likely to be successful.

The Best of the Rest of the News. — DeSantis, after rejecting "socialism" to help out Hurricane Sandy victims in 2013, is suddenly a socialist. — Is Putin trying to start WWIII or is this all just an elaborate strategy to "declare victory and go home"? — Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell's favorite Russian oligarch/criminal Oleg Deripaska — who helped him get re-elected in 2020 — was just indicted by the Department of Justice. — I'm the first to admit this may be a loony conspiracy theory, but I'm wondering if Jerome Powell and the Oil Companies are both working to kneecap the economy just in time for the November 8th election? — Our federal judiciary is now at "peak corruption" and we can thank Trump and McConnell for most of it. — In an estraordinary show of bad faith and corruption, the three Republican members of the Federal Election Commission have spent the past 5 years blocking any serious investigations of Republican and Trump criminality. — Yes, Trump was just as childish and emotionally dysfunctional as we all thought. — Geeky Science: Can cardamom save your life? — Crazy Alert! Fox "News" channel tells us that, just like with guns, the time after a disaster should not entertain discussions of actual science and solutions.

Returning manufacturing to our nation is the most important step we can take to balance China’s growing influence and power, both economic, military and political. Asia and American industrial policy are in the news: this week Vice President Harris visited Japan with this very topic at the top of her agenda. Last weekend there was a one-day-panic story about Chinese President Xi being arrested by his own government. While it was anti-China propaganda promoted by partisans in India and Hong Kong, in two weeks (October 16th) President Xi will stand for re-election by the Chinese Communist Party. Between that, his aggressive rhetoric around Taiwan, and Congress’ concern that China may be spying on Americans through TikTok and some of the devices manufactured there and shipped here, China is also big news right now in the US and around the world.

If we want to get crime under control and restore social cohesion to our society, we must also tackle inequality - and that means taxing the morbidly rich. Monday I wrote to you about how Democrats must engage with the topic of crime; that same day the Washington Post documented how the GOP intends to use crime as their major wedge issue in this November’s election. But the conversation does us a disservice if it’s limited to crime and punishment: we must consider what is driving crime and the social breakdown of which it’s a symptom.

It’s time to re-normalize taxes on the morbidly rich (and leave them where they are on working class people) so we can again have a growing economy and a prosperous middle class. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says he’s going to cut taxes for Floridians. The Florida legislature isn’t meeting again until March of next year, which is when governors typically roll out new proposals, but, hey, he’s heading into a make-it-or-break-it election against former Florida Governor Charlie Crist in six weeks. In West Virginia, Republican Governor Jim Justice proposed a 10% cut in income taxes, and in Missouri Republican Governor Mike Parsons is pushing an end altogether to progressive taxation, replacing the sliding scale with a flat tax that will hit middle-income people hardest.

How the science of the Big Lie & propaganda works to the GOP’s advantage. Donald Trump is still insisting he won the 2020 election, despite having lost by about 7 million votes and being wiped out in the Electoral College. Science, it turns out, is on his side. Not the science of elections: the science of propaganda. New findings from psychologists at universities in California and Georgia and published in the journal Cognitive Research show that the more often a statement — regardless of its truthfulness — is repeated, the more emphatically it’s believed.

When citizens begin doing the police department’s work & neighborhoods are hiring private security because police don’t respond - It's a crisis for the GOP to exploit. The headline/subhead for the top story in today’s Washington Post is: “GOP strategy elevates clashes over crime, race in midterm battlegrounds “Republicans are increasingly centering their pitch to voters in the midterms on crime, prompting growing accusations of racism from some Democrats, but also worries that the attacks could resonate” It will work. Here’s why.

For some people, particularly the young and the old, the local mall or big-box retailer or superstore is an important part of their social lives. They get exercise by walking up and down the aisles, greet friends they see only there, and have a special and often inexpensive meal. They notice what's on sale and what's new in stock, making both intentional purchases and the occasional impulse buy. Are Superstores and Malls "the New Downtown"?

Saturday Report 9/24/22 - Guess Who Is Showering Money Down on the "Big Lie" Candidates for the Midterms? Thom plus logo The Best of the Rest of the News. — The MAGAT (Make America Great Again Trump) House Republicans yesterday released their new "plan" to screw working class Americans if they regain power this November. — Is the Russia/Ukraine Crisis About to Come to a Head? What's Going to Happen? — The Internet solves Trump's new racial slur against NY AG Letitia James. — America's richest man jumps into the newest way to screw working class Americans: jack up housing prices while profiting off inflated rents. — Billionaires are pouring money into campaigns for "semi-fascist" election-denier Republicans this fall. — In Good News: A new poll shows that Ron DeSantis is now trailing Charlie Crist for Florida Governor this fall. — Geeky Science: Blueberries can reverse cognitive decline in elderly people? — Crazy Alert! On Hannity, Donald Trump alleges that when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lardo, they were actually looking for "Hillary's missing emails."

So much money is sloshing around in our political system that honest politicians are buried and actual criminals are stepping up. Republicans in the Senate yesterday killed legislation passed through the House that would require “dark money” to be publicly disclosed: not a single Republican voted for it, although every Democrat in attendance did. Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Coalition, we learned Wednesday, is going to spend $42 million on the midterm elections, focusing on flipping evangelical Hispanics toward the GOP.