Hartmann Report

If our republic is to be successful and Americans are to have decent lives, we must stop the commodification of America’s commons and turn power over life’s essentials to We The People. Americans used to understand the difference between private and public, between what government should regulate or even administer, and what is appropriately left in the private marketplace. Ever since the Reagan Revolution, however — as I lay out in The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America — even our very lives have become fodder for the buzzsaw of unrestrained raw capitalism controlled by the morbidly rich. Last week, the nation learned that it’s become a routine practice in the assisted living industry to drain elderly people of their entire life’s savings and then, when Medicaid kicks in at a slightly lower payment level to cover their costs, evict them onto the street.

No Labels and the Corporate Problem Solvers are now playing with political fire, flirting with fielding a “moderate” (i.e. bought-off) candidate for president next year. Dark money is preparing to disrupt the 2024 election, and it could get really, really ugly. All because a large handful of corrupt politicians and washed-out political hacks are enthusiastic about doing the bidding of their largest donors. — In the presidential election of 1968, George Wallace carried almost 14 percent of the national vote.

And even if there is no war, our children are now paying the price for the GOP’s embrace of this hate and bigotry — and the guns that go with it — every single day. According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 21% of Americans have been threatened with a gun, 19% tell researchers a family member was killed by a gun, and 17% say they’ve seen someone shot in front of them. Fully 54 percent of Americans or members of their family have had one of these experiences. Eighty-four percent of Americans consider how to avoid getting shot when they go out in public. But why?

Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin is now Chairman of the Judiciary Committee & for reasons apparently only known to him, he’s kowtowing to Republican senators blocking Democratic nominees... Why is Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin — Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, through which all judicial nominees must pass before getting a full Senate vote — letting Republican senators blow off qualified federal judges proposed by President Biden? Most recently, Mississippi GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith blocked via “blue slip” Democratic judicial nominee Scott Colom, just like last year when Wisconsin’s Republican Senator Ron Johnson blue-slip-vetoed Judge William Pocan, the brother of Congressman Mark Pocan, apparently because he’s gay.

Besides talking about Impeaching Clarence Thomas - the Biden administration and Democrats in the Senate might be better served investigating Ginny’s corruption and attempted sedition.... Besides talking about Impeaching Clarence Thomas - the Biden administration and Democrats in the Senate might be better served investigating Ginny's corruption and attempted sedition.... What do pornography, Ginny Thomas, and Thomas Jefferson have in common? The answer may be a clue to what Democrats and the Biden administration could do about Clarence Thomas. First, the backstories, one from 1803 and the other from 1968.

The Unholy Alliance of Racism, Genocide, and Guns. "If I had my life to live over, I would die fighting rather than be a slave again. I want no man’s yoke on my shoulders no more." —Robert Falls, age 97, Knoxville, Tennessee

The Best of the Rest of the News. — A Trump appointed federal judge and lifetime anti-abortion activist has outlawed mifepristone, the drug used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. — Are the Tennessee expulsions a glimpse of the future? — Clarence Thomas broke the law for over 20 years: will Congress impeach him? — Republicans announce frivolous prosecutions as revenge for holding Trump accountable. — Idaho women are now facing prosecution if they go out-of-state or help a woman go out-of-state to get an abortion. — Elmo declares war on “mainstream media” while re-platforming Nazis and Russian trolls. — After giving an assisted living home her entire life savings, reducing her to poverty so she qualified for Medicaid to cover her costs, the place evicted her. — If you’re driving a Tesla, you may not want to walk up to your car (even in your own closed-door garage) when you’re naked. — Good news: Walmart is adding EV chargers to thousands of US stores. — Geeky Science! We knew sugar kills, but this is mind-boggling.

At its core, revenge is rooted in physical violence, intimidation, and murder. It’s war brought into politics and governance. Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives are furious and out for revenge. Two Black Democratic members and a Democratic woman had confronted them — and embarrassed them — over their unwillingness to do anything about the slaughter of Tennessee’s children in that state’s schools. To punish them and teach women and other young men Black men — who might think of being too troublesome in the legislature — a lesson, the GOP ran a pathetic Kangaroo Court for the world to see. And got their revenge.

If the free world fails in our efforts to support Ukraine’s self-defense & enforce this agreement signed by the United States, future prospects for peace in the world will be significantly diminished. While countries around the world are trying to create and build nuclear weapons stockpiles (particularly China, Iran, and North Korea) only one country in the history of the world has ever given up their nuclear hoard and unilaterally denuclearized their military: Ukraine. And former President Bill Clinton — who brokered the deal during the fourth year of his presidency — feels terrible about it.

Patriotism & religion are luxuries. When you can’t pay the rent or feed your family, when you’re pestered by bill collectors, it’s hard to think of anything other than money… America is experiencing a crisis. How did we get here? Ralph Waldo Emerson noted that “we become what we think about all day long.” It’s as true of nations as it is of individuals. As recently as 25 years ago, most of us valued patriotism and religion first and foremost, 70 and 62 percent respectively. Today only 38 percent of Americans cite patriotism as a core value and religion has collapsed to 39 percent.