Eric Burns, Bullfight Strategies joins Thom Hartmann. Republicans had their chance last night - and President Obama had his chance tonight. Unfortunately - the Republicans squandered their chance to talk jobs during their debate last night - and instead focused on more massive tax breaks for billionaires - calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme - bashing Mitt Romney's successful healthcare program in Massachusetts - denying global warming - and bragging about how many people Rick Perry's executed in Texas.

According to a new report from Pew - one in three people who grew up in the middle class in the 1970's have now dropped out of the middle class today and are part of the working poor. They just couldn't cut it anymore in the new America - where billionaires and their bought-off politicians have raised the bar for entry into the middle class higher and higher - until eventually very few people can actually climb over it. And more and more people have just accepted that as the new normal - rather than pushing back against this downsizing of the American Dream - and asking why are we kicking more people OUT of the middle class instead of bringing more people INTO it?

So what makes a healthy democracy? Some might say it's high voter turnout. As in - the more people who vote - then the more the will of the country is reflected in its government. However - over the last 50 years - the average voter turnout in US national elections is about 48% - ranking it 38th in the world - behind nations like Poland, India, and Estonia. That's why several organizations have sprung up around America with the sole purpose of registering more and more people to vote - to spur greater participation in our democracy. But Conservatives - have always been weary of high voter turnout. Conservative - Matthew Vadum joins Thom Hartmann.

A Swedish man returned home late last night and came across a most unusual sight - an elk stuck in an apple tree. That's right - a full-grown elk - completely off the ground - tangled up in a tree. So much for all those Swedes who sarcastically made jokes about "when elks can fly." Fire fighters arrived to bend the tree down so the elk can wiggle out of the branches - that's when it became clear exactly how the elk got in the tree to begin with - he was drunk. Drunken elk are common in Sweden during autumn; when apples fall to the ground and begin to ferment - elks enjoy the tasty, alcoholic treats. After he was free, the elk laid on the ground for a few hours to recover from his bender - and then clumsily scampered off back into the woods. In a related story - Speaker of the House John Boehner denies that he has recently been stuck in any trees anywhere, and has no plans to visit Sweden.