Hartmann Report

From Bezos to Musk, America's richest are using media control to shape politics and grow profits... Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.—Yale historian Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny I cancelled my Washington Post subscription Friday evening. Jeff Bezos, Mister "Democracy Dies In Darkness" (the Post's slogan on their masthead), by blocking his editorial staff from endorsing Harris chose darkness over his nation's future, and I can't support that. The big mistake John D. Rockefeller made back in the day — that Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk appear committed to not repeating — was not buying a media outlet like a newspaper. Had John D. had that sort of a vehicle to mold public opinion, American history may be very different.

The framers of the Constitution were pretty skittery about the issue. The roughly half of the Constitutional Convention that represented slaveholding states didn’t want anything that might one day force their states to allow enslaved people to vote, and many of the Northern representatives were wary of too much democracy breaking out and leading to what John Adams referred to as “the rabble” voting. And there was an absolute consensus that women should never be allowed to vote. Thus, voting is only really addressed in the amendments to the Constitution, and in each case very, very carefully.

The Best of the Rest of the News. — Thank you! — The Massive Scale of Trump's Deportation Plans. — One of the reasons our media so rarely reports on the obscene things that Trump says at his rallies is that they are terrified of his followers. — Rightwing billionaire Elon Musk and his colleagues apparently believe they now have the Supreme Court votes necessary to overturn the 1935 Wagner Act that legalized labor unions. — Republican attorneys general go to court to demand more pregnant 15-year-olds. — And now, to the delight of Republican lawmakers and police the US government has bought a tool that can track you by your cellphone to abortion clinics anywhere in the country. — Crazy Alert! Can anything get weirder than this? Tucker Carlson's creepy "daddy speech" is stunning — Even Crazier Alert! Famous MAGA pastor says American women are "pigs with gold nose rings," wants to overturn the 19th Amendment right of women to vote, and says women who accuse men of rape but can't absolutely prove it should be put to death. Say what?! — Hunter in a Farmer's World Alert: ADHD: Why Can't the Mental Health "Business" Define Normal? — Wisdom School Alert: Science Backs Up the Therapeutic Power of Gratitude

Republicans are gaming the system for a second Trump term—here's how they plan to pull it off... Increasingly, MAGA Republicans associated with Trump are convinced he is going to lose the election. But they have a backup plan to put him in the White House no matter what. And that plan even has a second backup plan of its own. The three states most likely to swing the election in the Electoral College this year are Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. And, just by coincidence of course, Republicans in those state passed laws in 2020 guaranteeing election day chaos around their vote counting this November 5th. Trump and the GOP know there's no way he's going to win the national popular vote; the last Republican initially elected to the White House with a majority of America's voters was George HW Bush in 1988. Republicans just aren't that popular with the American people.

As long as dark money, lies, and hate dominate politics, the next Trump is inevitable… Suddenly, it seems, the American mainstream media has figured out, or thinks they've been given permission to discuss, the fact that Donald Trump is a fascist. That he literally wants to imprison and even execute his enemies including other politicians like Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris and former employees who have betrayed him, including General Mark Millie. Multiple commentators (including me) have wondered out loud if the defeat of Trump this fall will chasten Republicans and cause the Party to revert to its old "merely corporate and billionaire friendly" form, or if Trump has done permanent damage to the GOP and our system of government and the GOP's embrace of fascism and its lies will continue long after he's gone. Sadly, there's more than enough evidence for the latter, although crediting (or blaming) Trump for it all is far too facile an argument. It's a virtual certainty that four years from now we'll have multiple Republican candidates trying to "pull a Trump" again. There are at least four reasons, although we're not without resources to fight back or even prevent such an event. First, there's always been an authoritarian strain in American politics, dating all the way back to President John Adams arresting journalists and shutting down newspapers because they dared criticize him. Fortunately, President Jefferson pulled us back from that brink, as historian Dan Sisson and I documented in The American Revolution of 1800.

With every investment home they snatch, the dream of owning a house slips further away from you… America's morbidly rich billionaires are at it again, this time screwing the average family's ability to have decent, affordable housing in their never-ending quest for more, more, more. Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and Denmark have had enough and done something about it: we should, too. There are a few things that are essential to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" that should never be purely left to the marketplace; these are the most important sectors where government intervention, regulation, and even subsidy are not just appropriate but essential. Housing is at the top of that list. A few days ago I noted how, since the Reagan Revolution, the cost of housing has exploded in America, relative to working class income.

Is this the beginning of the end for property taxes? One state could change the game… North Dakota may shake this country up in two weeks by ending one of the oldest taxes in America. Here's the backstory and what it may mean to all of us. When I was 14 years old I bought a single-house-lot of raw land outside of White Cloud, Michigan for, as I recall, $25. The area had been a small town in the 19th century but had vanished, turned into a scrub field surrounded by forest, by the early 20th century; locals told me they weren't sure if the town had burned to the ground or was washed away in a flood (the land overlooked a creek). I was able to buy that lot for such a low price because the county had put it up for auction after the previous owner failed to pay their property taxes. I was the only bidder, so I got it at the initial bid price. For two decades I paid the property tax on it (typically around $20/year), until a local resident offered me $500 for it, and I sold it. The point of this story is that, unless you're a church or other nonprofit, it's not possible to actually own land in the United States. Every state, county, and municipality in the country lays first claim to all of the land within its jurisdiction, and we merely rent the land under our homes; that rent is called property tax.

...and instead make the transition from a white-controlled economic and political system to a truly multiracial, multi-religious pluralistic democracy with a stable middle class? “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” —Voltaire There’s little doubt that if Donald Trump thought starting a civil war to seize and hold power in America would work, he’d do it. As would the majority of his cult members. But could they pull it off? Could America be on the edge of a possible second Civil War? And, if so, why and how did it get this far?

While preventing people from voting has a long and sordid history in the United States (and, frankly, around the world), the modern-day Republican Party’s reliance on voter suppression as a primary tool to win elections kicked off in a big way in 1993. That was the year when 27 Democrats and one Republican cosponsored HR2, the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), sometimes called the Motor Voter Act. In the House, it got 238 Democratic votes and 20 from Republicans; in the Senate, every Republican but two voted against it, while every present Democrat voted for it (Jay Rockefeller missed the vote).

The Best of the Rest of the News. — What's in Jack Smith's evidence released yesterday? — Russia is looking to ban "propaganda" promoting child-free lifestyles: Is Putin teaching JD Vance how to do it, or do they just think alike? — Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy the military inside major cities run by Democrats: Would he do it? — It's getting really bad out there: Are Government workers being hunted? — Dirty tricks? Trump Super-PAC sent out a bogus Medicare cancellation notice to scare voters about Kamala Harris. — Crazy Alert! Fully 42% of Americans would rather live in a haunted house than next door to outspoken Republicans. — Hunter in a Farmer's World Alert:Does ADHD Fuel Creativity? The Surprising Link You Need to Know... — Wisdom School Alert: Unlock the Secret to Mental Longevity: How Finding Your Life's Purpose Can Ward Off Dementia