Mr. President, it’s not easy to join a union in America. At a labor-themed speech in Wisconsin on Monday, President Obama told a crowd of union-members that if he were looking for a job, he’d join a union.

The president told the crowd that, “If I were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for my job, I'd join a union. If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest day's pay for an honest day's work, I'd join a union...I'd want a union looking out for me and if I cared about these things I'd also want more Democrats looking out for me.”

But Mr. President, would you really be able to join a union today, given all the barriers employers put up to it like forcing you to sit through hours and hours of threatening anti-union meetings and presentations?

That’s exactly what’s happening in America today.

It’s now harder than ever before to join a union, thanks to the decades-long War on Labor that conservatives have been waging ever since Ronald Reagan came to Washington. And they’ve been waging that war with help from “right to work laws”, which should properly and accurately be called “right to work for less” laws, and from the multi-billion dollar-a-year union-busting industry.

Read more here.

-Thom

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... ISIS...America's homegrown terrorists? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Be sure to check out our new video: CARBON - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio

Need to Know: ISIS...America's homegrown terrorists?
- Professor Edmund Ghareeb, American University / The Historical Dictionary of Iraq

Screwed: Low Pay is NOT Okay
- Jemere Calhoun, striking fast food worker

Kochs...protecting the CARBON monster?
- Lee Fang, Republic Report / The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right

Your Take / My Take Live: Call Thom LIVE at (202) 904-2134 TONIGHT 7-8pm ET (check local listings)

Geeky Science: Can we reverse Earth's current extinction crisis?

Free excerpt, read book for free at Truthout, buy the book!

Worth reading: "A Zero Emissions Manifesto for the Climate Justice Movement" by Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. and Tom Weis.

The Daily Stack

Hour One: Who is behind the ISIS rise to power?
- America's Lawyer Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio

Article: "Growing Pressure on Obama to Do Something Stupid" by Andy Borowitz.

Article: "'Thank God for the Saudis': ISIS, Iraq, and the Lessons of Blowback" by Steve Clemons.

Book: "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Video: Conversations with Great Minds P1 - The Economics of Revolution, with David DeGraw.

Video: Conversations with Great Minds P2 - The Economics of Revolution, with David DeGraw.

Article: "State Representative to Legislature: hospitals can be dangerous" by Max Roth.

Article: "The Democrats’ Brilliant Idea for How to Stop Unnecessary Abortion Clinic Regulations" by Amanda Marcotte.

Article: "'We're a Movement Now': Fast Food Workers Strike in 150 Cities" by Seth Freed Wessler.

Article: "Mysterious Fake Cellphone Towers Are Intercepting Calls All Over The US" by HipChick.

Article: "Rogue ‘Cell Towers’ Can Intercept Your Data; At Least One Found In Chicago" by John Dodge.

The good: Emma Sulkowicz: "This College Student Will Carry Around Her Dorm Mattress Until Her Alleged Rapist Is Punished" by Tara Culp-Ressler.

The bad: "Phil Robertson Tells Hannity How He’d Combat ISIS: ‘Convert Them or Kill Them’" by Josh Feldman.

The very, very ugly: Marian High School: "Michigan Catholic school fires lesbian teacher after citing her ‘non-traditional’ pregnancy" by David Edwards.

Article: "D.C. Circuit grants en banc rehearing in Halbig v. Burwell" by Jonathan H. Adler.

Article: "Stingray tracking devices" by ACLU.

Article: "Stingray phone tracker" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Local cops in 15 US states confirmed to use cell tracking devices" by Cyrus Farivar.

Article: "Man-in-the-middle attack" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Phishing" by Wikipedia.

Article: "10 Most Inhumane Laws Courtesy of Southern Republicans" by Alex Henderson.

Site: Salem International

Article: "Cory Gardner’s new ad: “I believe the pill ought to be available over the counter”" by Lynn Bartels.

Hour Two: Did the government just endorse religion?
- Evangelist Ben Kinchlow, Black Yellowdogs

Article: "Navy reverses Bible ban" by Todd Starnes.

Article: "Establishment Clause" by Wikipedia. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Article: "Free Exercise Clause" by Wikipedia. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Bible: "Joshua 8: Ai Destroyed".

Letter: "Letter to Thomas Cooper" by Thomas Jefferson, February 10, 1814.

Article: "The Founders Confront Judge Moore" by Thom Hartmann.

Event: John McCain's Office in Phoenix, 4 September: "handing over of petitions asking him to back a constitutional amendment to curb the flood of money in politics" by PDA Arizona.

Site: Progressive Democrats of America

Article: "Florida's alternative to Obamacare has 30 customers" by Frank Gluck.

Speech: "Social and Industrial Justice" by Theodore Roosevelt, Before the Convention of the National Progressive Party in Chicago, August, 1912. "We stand for a living wage"

Article: "McCain: Americans won't pick lettuce for $50 an hour?" by eclecticbrotha, Aug 22, 2008.

Article: "Fringe On The U.S. Flag What Does It Mean? Admiralty Courts in Colorado?" by Pharmboy.

Site: OpenSecrets.org.

Site: "Source Watch".

Site: "Snopes".

Site: "PolitiFact".

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Article: "Federal Court Restores Cuts to Early Voting in Ohio in Time for Midterm Election" by ACLU.

Article: "Appeals Court Temporarily Vacates Obamacare Subsidy Ruling" by Nicholas Salazar.

Article: "President Barack Obama arrives in Wales ahead of Nato summit" by BBC.

Article: "Justice Dept. to probe Ferguson police force" by Sari Horwitz, Carol D. Leonnig and Kimberly Kindy.

Article: "Boehner: Expect brief but busy September " by Scott Wong.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/4/14" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 9/3/14" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: The dangers of 'peak meat'
- Michael Renner, World Watch Institute

Article: "Peak Meat Production Strains Land and Water Resources" by Gaelle Gourmelon.

Article: "Diet Change from Meat to Veggies Could Save Water in Dry Regions" by Catherine Griffin.

Site: NutritionFacts.org.

Site: Vital Signs.

Article: "Escaping Death in Northern Iraq" by Tim Arango.

Article: "UK paying experts to build Islamic State war crimes case" by BBC.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 1, section 8.

Article: "The Norwegian prison where inmates are treated like people" by Erwin James.

Book: Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa by Mark Mathabane.

Article: "Eric Holder Opens Broad Probe Into Ferguson Police" by Erin McClam and Aaron Mermelstein.

Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

It's Friday and it's Brunch with Bernie...America's Senator...Senator Bernie Sanders will be here talking about all the important issues of the week and he'll be taking your calls too...

Plus, it's Anything Goes Friday...your chance to pick the topics we talk about...what's on your mind?

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

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"Crash of 2016" website

Watch Thom on: - MSNBC's The Cycle
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- Democracy Now!

Are low-wage workers inspiring a new national labor movement?

Vote here!

Thom's newest book!

The Koch Brothers' on Fascism

Alan Grayson has an Iraq Strategy...

Full Show 9/3/14: Rep. Grayson’s Plan to Defeat ISIS

Thom discusses the growing threat of ISIS with Rep. Alan Grayson and a Koch Strategist’s claim that the minimum wage will lead to fascism with Attorney and Radio Host Mike Papantonio. Tonight’s “Lone Liberal Rumble” discusses why 23 red states continue to deny their citizens their tax dollars, a New Jersey town passing a paid sick leave bill and another Republican investigation into another Obama agency.

Caller: The Hard to Employ Should work for Less...

Did the Government Just Endorse Religion?

ISIS Started in America!

Dental Health Check up...

Time to Break up Big Business in America?

Caller: Pre-K Gave my Kids Tremendous Social Skills...

Listen Live

Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook.