Hartmann Report

Elizabeth Warren's new legislation would give back to workers the power Republicans have taken away - It could restore the middle class, and expand it to include people in virtually all labor sectors. Elizabeth Warren has a plan, and it’s great, if only Republicans weren’t committed to fighting it tooth and nail. But first some backstory… Most Americans, having never studied Civics in school since Reagan stopped federal support for it, don’t realize that a middle class is not a normal thing. It has to be intentionally created, by law, by having government “interfere” in the so-called “free market” on behalf of labor.

This year will be an unprecedented referendum on democracy. Fully sixty percent of Americans will have an “election denier” Trump-humping Republican on the ballot this November. Our country has been poisoned, and if we don’t remove the poison and start using the antidote America may soon be completely unrecognizable as a “free” nation. It’s taken 50 years, but we’re now at the point of maximum crisis. First came the poison of big money corrupting politics.

It’s time to enforce the Constitution, and a judge in New Mexico just kicked off the process. Democrats need to jump on this with the vigor of Trump crashing a Miss Teen USA dressing room. Before I even get into the guts of this argument, just ask yourself: if Democratic Members of Congress had engaged in a seditious conspiracy to overthrow our government to put or keep a Democratic president in power against both the popular vote and the Electoral College, and Republicans controlled Congress right now, what would those Republicans be doing?

Like in 1933, a Democratic President is calling out fatcats and fascists in the GOP while uniting Americans in a great project to rebuild our nation... It’s easy to get lost in despair and outrage over the state of affairs in America. Women and queer people are being forced back into the kitchen and closet, climate change is killing scores of Americans every week, our schools and public areas are under constant assault by armed Republican gangs and GOP-sanctioned mass shooters. Over the past decade more than a million American lives have been lost to “deaths of despair” as a result of our 40-year experiment with Reagan’s neoliberalism. And it’s not just domestic bad news coming out of the GOP’s open opposition to democracy. After Trump betrayed Ukraine, Russia attacked them; China is openly threatening a similar sort of war against Taiwan. There’s lots to be concerned about. Nonetheless, I’m hopeful right now.

The people have got to know if their president is a crook," U.S. President Richard Nixon told a national television audience on November 11, 1973, when asked at a press conference if donations from the dairy industry had caused him to reverse his position on dairy price supports. He added, "Well, I am not a crook." A bit over two years earlier, however, Nixon had a meeting at the White House with representatives of the dairy industry, who had apparently just given him a $2 million campaign pledge. With the tape running on March 23, 1971, Nixon said, "Uh, I know…that, uh, you are a group that are politically very conscious…And you're willing to do something about it. And, I must say a lot of businessmen and others…don't do anything about it. And you do, and I appreciate that. And I don't have to spell it out."

The Best of the Rest of the News. — The MAGAts are squealing, even though most didn’t hear Biden’s speech because none of America’s major TV networks chose to carry it. — What did Trump steal, and who did he give it to? — Is the new coarseness and brutality in American politics the result of Trump or social media? Or both? — You could soon lose your right to government benefits, if rightwingers on the Supreme Court go the way observers fear. — The case of Ginny Thomas’ efforts to overthrow our democracy got even more alarming this week. — The destruction of the Amazon is reaching crisis proportions as Brazilian President Jail Bolsonaro has largely refused to enforce laws against illegal logging.. — Geeky Science: Ultra-processed foods, which make up 57% of the American diet right now, are positively tied to bowel cancer.

Trump's Fuhrerbunker moment, his abused-wife-is-leaving moment, his Jim Jones-in-the-jungle moment, when he turns on America, trying to destroy whatever he can in & of this nation, is coming... In President Biden‘s speech yesterday, he spoke tough truths that had to be said out-loud. This country is under attack from within. And the attack is led by a madman. Donald Trump may be about to throw America into a crisis that could make January 6th look like a romp in the park. It has to do with something called “narcissistic collapse.”

If the Democrats fail in restoring Americans’ faith in the ability of government to solve problems and serve the people, get ready. The next Jackson, Mississippi will be your town. Philosophy matters. And philosophy turned into law matters a lot. Particularly in this brave new world of severe climate change. Jackson, Mississippi has a crisis of clean water, which shouldn’t surprise any of us. Like Michigan was when Flint’s water supply was crippled, it’s a Republican-controlled state and Republicans will always prioritize tax cuts for the morbidly rich over building or maintaining infrastructure. Even in the face of climate-change-driven flooding. Nine of the ten poorest states in the nation are Red states; that’s also no surprise.

The ten least populous states have a combined 7.9 million residents but throw equal weight in the senate to the ten representing 164 million Americans. How can we fix this? Three republican presidents did it, in every case to hold onto a Republican Senate. Lincoln did it. Grant did it. Harrison did it. It’s getting close to time for Biden to do it. Saturday, Mitch McConnell was on TV telling wealthy donors to a fundraiser in Kentucky, “We’ve got a 50-50 Senate right now. We’ve got a 50-50 nation.”

Tracking and lying to pregnant people should not be an Industry. When the Dobbs decision came down from six Republicans on the Supreme Court, many folks were wondering how long it would take before vigilantes and GOP-controlled states might start tracking women seeking abortion services. After all, pregnant women in Republican-controlled states didn’t just lose the right to an abortion with that decision. They can now legally be the victims of any man — be he a nosy neighbor, bounty hunter, or police authority —who wants to harass or control them. And there is no shortage of such men. We’re there. It’s now. Between corporate data brokers and religiously affiliated Crisis Pregnancy Centers, women are under surveillance in ways never before seen. And soon we will be seeing that surveillance turned into actual prosecutorial action.