It's time to take another step forward in fine-tuning our republic and abolish the Electoral College.

America's Founders and Framers thought they could use the Electoral College to prevent somebody like Donald Trump from ever becoming president. Unfortunately, they were wrong, and now we're paying the price.

Given how the Electoral College hasn't protected us from getting a president beholden to a (or multiple) foreign power(s) as president, it's time to do away with it.

Most people have a pretty limited understanding of the Electoral College, but they know that it works against the democratic notion of the public electing its chief executive. There are organizations and a smattering of political figures who say as much. A recent poll indicates this, too.

What is not as well understood is the history of why it was chosen as the way to select a president.

Read more here.

-Thom

A new study shows that the richest 400 Americans now own more wealth than the bottom 60 percent of us, over 150 million Americans. This is wealth on the order of the European kings of the 18th century, even worse than it was in the 1920s, which led to the Great Crash.

This massive transfer of wealth from working people to the very rich as the result of Reaganism/Neoliberal policies has not only left half of Americans unable to deal with a $400 expense and destroyed upward mobility for our kids, but is producing a whole spectrum of social ills from teen pregnancies to divorce to suicide to drug addiction. We need to undo Reaganism's tax cuts and then impose a wealth tax to claw back some of these ill-gotten gains.

https://wid.world/country/usa/

-Thom

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Monday's Daily Stack

Hour One: In Venezuela, White Supremacy is a Key to Trump's Coup
- Greg Palast, Investigative Journalist/Author/Filmmaker, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

Article: "In Venezuela, White Supremacy is a Key to Trump's Coup" by Greg Palast.

Article: "John Bolton Admits US-backed Coup in Venezuela Is About Oil, Not Democracy" by teleSUR.

Article: "U.S. yanks bank assets from Venezuela, lays ground for battle over Citgo" by Tim Johnson.

Article: "1967 Oil Embargo" by Wikipedia.

Video: Venezuela's currency crisis explained.

Article: "Humanitarian aid for Venezuelans stored at bridge crossing border as military blocks passage" by Davi Merchan.

Article: "Kamala Harris acknowledges smoking weed in the past" by Avery Anapol.

Article: "Democrat Amy Klobuchar announces presidential bid" by BBC.

Tweet: "Well, it happened again. Amy Klobuchar announced that she is running for President, talking proudly of fighting global warming while standing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Bad timing. By the end of her speech she looked like a Snowman(woman)!" by Donald J. Trump.

Tweet: "Science is on my side, @realDonaldTrump. Looking forward to debating you about climate change (and many other issues). And I wonder how your hair would fare in a blizzard?" by Amy Klobuchar.

Article: "Donald Trump says he 'should have' commemorated Veterans Day at Arlington" by John Fritze.

Article: "Trump and O'Rourke Face Off in El Paso Over Wall" by Michael Tackett.

Article: "Colorado Sen. Bennet hints about joining crowded Democratic race for president" by Robert Costa.

Article: "Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Officially Launches Presidential Campaign With Call To "End Regime Change Wars"" by Tim Hains.

Video: Reagan-Carter Oct. 28, 1980 Debate - "There You Go Again".

Article: "Equal Rights Amendment" by Wikipedia.

Site: "2020 Primary Schedule".

Article: "In response to Trump's 'Pocahontas' jibes, Elizabeth Warren releases results of DNA test" by William Cummings.

Article: "400 Richest Americans Own More Than 150 Million Of The Nation's Poorest: Study" by Mary Papenfuss.

Site: World Inequality Database.

Book: The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity, and Improve Everyone's Well-Being by Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett.

Article: "The Founders Created the Electoral College to Prevent a Foreign-Influenced Candidate From Winning—It Didn't Stop Trump, so Let's Scrap It" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has kick-started the Democratic tax debate with her 70% marginal rate idea" by John Harwood.

Article: "New Mexico governor withdraws state's National Guard troops from southern border" by Veronica Stracqualursi.

Article: "‘A manufactured crisis': California governor plans troop withdrawal from southern border" by Lindsey Bever.

Article: "Every congressperson along southern border opposes border wall funding" by Kate Smith.

Article: "Why the Trump admin wants more detention space for migrants and Democrats want a cap" by Julia Ainsley and Heidi Przybyla.

Article: "Warren pushes back on Native American jab, says Trump he may not be 'free person' by 2020" by Allan Smith.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Book: Loving What You Do: The Elements of a Great Working Life by Ellen Ratner.

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

Article: "Jitters mount as second US shutdown looms after talks stall over border wall" by Ed Pilkington.

Article: "New York State gives conditional approval to T-Mobile, Sprint merger" by Telecompaper.

Article: "US House committees to hold joint hearing on T-Mobile & Sprint merger, both CEOs agree to testify" by Chance Miller.

Article: "'Antitrust was defined by Robert Bork. I cannot overstate his influence.'" by Dylan Matthews.

Article: "Trump lashes out at Dems for 'brand new demand' in border security talks" by Brett Samuels.

Hour Three: Republicans launch new group to lobby Congress on Trump's NAFTA replacement
- Lori Wallach, Public Citizen's Trade Watch

Article: "Scoop: Republicans launch new group to lobby Congress on USMCA" by Jonathan Swan.

Article: "North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)" by Public Citizen.

Article: "Democratic focus groups may have identified a hidden vulnerability for Trump" by Greg Sargent.

Law: "Reciprocal Tariff Act" (1934).

Article: "Fast track (trade) (TPA)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Amy Klobuchar: You Bet Your Ass I'm A Tough Boss" by Eric Lutz.

Article: "The Latest: Klobuchar dismisses reports she's a tough boss" by AP.

Article: "Raging over a looming loss on his wall, Trump rolls out more lies" by Greg Sargent.

Article: "Inside Hillary Clinton's Secret Takeover of the DNC" by Donna Brazile.

Article: "Tulsi Gabbard resigns from DNC post to endorse Bernie Sanders" by Valerie Richardson.

Law: "Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986" (1986).

Article: "Purge of undocumented workers by the president's company spreads to at least 5 Trump golf courses" by Joshua Partlow and David A. Fahrenthold.

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

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

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The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

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