Adele Stan, Alternet, joins Thom Hartmann. The Right is field-testing a plan to beat President Obama - and the main character is Ralph Reed. For our viewers who don't know him - who is he - and what's he up to now?

All across America - Republicans are trying their hardest to prevent Democratic voters from having a say in the November election. How are the horrible stories of slavery in America's past helping fuel the Republican war on voting today?

Mike Elk, In These Times, Vince Coglianese, Daily Caller & Sam Sacks, progressive commentator join Thom Hartmann. Let's now tackle another issue that's been in the news a lot lately: the right to vote - and if there is even such a thing. Today - in a court room down the street here in Washington, DC - state officials from Texas are defending a recently passed voter ID law that could deny hundreds of thousands of people their right to vote come November. The Department of Justice filed suit against Texas, with evidence showing that as many as 600000 registered voters lack the necessary photo ID to vote. It's the same story in Pennsylvania - where as many as 750000 registered voters could be kicked off the roles for lack of photo ID after that state as well passed a new Voter ID law. Take a look at this map created by Mother Jones - the states in red are states that have introduced legislation to restrict voters' access to the polls in just the last year. As of April of this year - 24 states have attempted to do this. And nine states - including Texas, Iowa, Wisconsin, and several others - have passed new laws requiring voter IDs just to vote. These laws will affect 3.8 million voters. And as this chart shows - the vast majority of those affected by these laws are Blacks, Latinos, young people, and senior citizens - people who tend to vote for Democrats. Now - a lot of these laws were written by the American Legislative Exchange Council - a right-wing corporate thinktank ...

Mike Elk, In These Times, Vince Coglianese, Daily Caller & Sam Sacks, progressive commentator join Thom Hartmann. In Scranton, Pennsylvania - despite winning a legal battle, police and firefighters unions have lost a battle with the city over their wages. Last week - the Mayor of Scranton, Chris Doherty, announced that the pay of 398 unionized public workers will be slashed down to minimum wage - just $7.25 an hour. The mayor argued his city simply cannot afford to pay the unionized workers anymore money. Unions are also suffering in other cash-strapped cities. In Detroit - Financial Managers are laying off hundreds of unionized teachers - shutting down public schools - and replacing them with private charter schools that pay non-union teachers less and and have a much higher turnover rate of teachers. We've also seen the decline of organized labor on a state level across America. From Wisconsin - where collective bargaining rights were stripped from public sector unions - to Indiana, which just this year became a right-to-work state. There are now 23 states in America that have adopted right-to-work laws, which make it a lot harder for unions to operate. In the post-World War 2 Era - working Americans were able to achieve a comfortable middle class lifestyle with a decent paycheck thanks to unions. But since 1980 - union rates - especially in the private sector - have rapidly declined - and right alongside with it - so has the middle class's share of national income ...