Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are officially in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, and they intend to go after them this year. While hobnobbing with other billionaires in Davos, Switzerland, billionaire oligarch Donald Trump told them that sometime "before the end of the year" he and his administration would be cutting "entitlement programs." The billionaires, of course, thought that was just a fine thing. It's unlikely Trump will take these steps before the election on November 3rd, but even if he loses the election he could do significant damage to these programs after the election and before he leaves office on January 20.

Every single American, regardless of their age, has a multi-million dollar insurance policy against lifetime disability with Social Security, as well as it anchoring the retirement of tens of millions. Medicare and Medicaid keep Americans alive and healthy. But the billionaires don't care. They just want their taxes cut even further. This is probably the most under reported story in the media today. Pass it along...

-Thom

Thursday's Daily Stack

Article: "Trump sets record for most tweets in a single day since he took office" by William Cummings.

Article: "Trump says reforming Social Security and Medicare is 'the easiest of all things' as he appears open to cutting entitlement spending" by Joseph Zeballos-Roig.

Article: "Trump Brags About Concealing Impeachment Evidence: 'We Have All the Material, They Don't'" by Peter Wade.

Article: "5 times Adam Schiff just totally made it up today" by White House.

Article: "Mueller Report (Redacted) Searchable Version (PDF)".

Article: "An Impeachment Smoking Gun: The Damning Letter Trump Can't Cover Up" by David Corn.

Article: "Republicans play the 'Obama did it too' card on military assistance—and of course they're lying" by Mark Sumner.

Article: "Wuhan coronavirus may have been transmitted to people from snakes" by Jessica Hamzelou.

Article: "Spanish flu" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Avian influenza" (bird flu) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Severe acute respiratory syndrome" (SARS) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Zoonosis" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Rules Regarding the Frequency and Notice of Continuing Disability Reviews; Extension of Comment Period" (Comments Close: 01/31/2020).

Book: Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession by Chuck Thompson.

Article: "Impoundment of appropriated funds" by Wikipedia.

Hour Two: Mid-day with Mark
- Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District)

Bill: "H.R.5543 - No War Against Iran Act" by Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17].

Bill: "H.R.2456 - To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002." by Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13].

Article: "Pocan Endorses Sanders, Giving Him a Boost in Wisconsin" by AP.

Article: "Congressman Visits Marijuana Dispensary On Behalf Of Bernie Sanders's Presidential Campaign" by Kyle Jaeger.

Article: "It was a blowout: Bernie Sanders won a whopping 99 percent of counties in the Wisconsin primary" by Ben Norton.

Article: "Scientists move 'Doomsday Clock' to latest time in history" by Don Jacobson.

Video: GOP Rep. to Obama: 'You Lie!' (Joe Walsh).

Article: "President Trump made 16,241 false or misleading claims in his first three years" by Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Meg Kelly.

Article: "United States Space Force" by Wikipedia.

Article: "France Is Launching a 'Space Force' with Weaponized Satellites" by Hanneke Weitering.

Article: "Twitter Asks Space Force Why They Need Camo Uniforms" by James Crowley.

Article: "Letter: Time for the GOP to change leadership" by Keyno Hicks.

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

Article: "A Texas Company Devalues Sand Mines in Wisconsin" by AP.

Video: Special: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words ("Beyond Vietnam" and "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speeches).

Speech: "Farewell Address", by Dwight David Eisenhower, January 17, 1961 (transcript). "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex."

Article: "'Atrocious': 188 Democrats join GOP to hand Trump $738 billion military budget that includes 'Space Force'" by Jake Johnson.

Site: Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Article: "Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee" (DCCC) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Democratic National Committee" (DNC) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Medicare Advantage" (Medicare Part C) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Medicare (United States)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Courts Won't End Gerrymandering. Eric Holder Has a Plan to Fix It Without Them" by Ari Berman.

Article: "The GOP's Stealth War Against Voters" (Interstate Crosscheck) by Greg Palast, August 24, 2016.

Article: "Judicial Watch wins suit, California forced to remove up to 1.5 million inactive voters and 'clean up' its rolls" by Vivek Saxena.

Article: "Judicial Watch Finds 2.5 Million 'Extra' Registrants on Voting Rolls - Warns Five States to Clean Up Voting Rolls or Face a Federal Lawsuit" by Stephen Frank.

Article: "Medicare Advantage" by KFF.

Hour Three: Where is the Economy Going... is the Administration Cooking the Books?
- Economist Dr. Richard Wolff, Democracy At Work / Understanding Marxism / Understanding Socialism

Article: "Palladium Is On A Runaway Train!" by Chuck Butler.

Article: "US GDP by Year Compared to Recessions and Events" by Kimberly Amadeo.

Article: "The IMF Is Throwing Cold Water On Trump's Economy Boom" by Desmond Lachman.

Article: "Historical GDP of China" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Low-wage work is more pervasive than you think, and there aren't enough "good jobs" to go around" (44% of Fully Employed Make $18,000 a Year or Less) by Martha Ross and Nicole Bateman.

Article: "Après nous le déluge" (Après moi le déluge) by Wikipedia.

Article: "What's Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap)" by Medicare.gov.

Article: "Medigap" by Wikipedia.

Site: Social Security Works.

Site: Daily Kos

Article: "Medicare Supplement Plan F Discontinued?" (and plan C) by Deana Lemmon.

Video: Trump's Address At WEF 2020 | Davos, Switzerland | 1-21-2020.

Book: Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office by Susan Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes.

Article: "Preamble to the Constitution of the United States".
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Article: "Women's March 2020: See the Turnout & Crowd Size Photos Across the Country" by Stephanie Dube Dwilson.

Site: Indivisible.

Site: MoveOn.org

Site: Public Citizen

Site: Our Revolution

Article: "John Roberts Has More Power Than Mitch McConnell Would Like You to Think. But Will He Use It?" by Martin London.

Article: "When John Roberts Said There Isn't Enough Racism In America To Justify The Voting Rights Act" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "READ: Amendment to allow the Chief Justice to rule on motions to subpoena witnesses and documents" by CNN.

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

It's Anything Goes Friday!

And the impeachment 'trial' will continue. What do you think of it so far?

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

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

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Putting Peer Pressure to Work

How Trump Broke The Law

What If a Democratic President Was as Ruthless as Trump?

Impeachment Recap: Everything You Need To Know

Mon, Feb 17, 7:30pm PT: Berkeley Arts & Letter Series.

Wed, Feb 19, 7:30pm PT: Seattle Town Hall.

Sun, Feb 23, noon or 1pm: Blue State Ball.

Fri, Feb 28, 7:30pm PT: Powell's, 1005 W Burnside St., Portland.

Sun, Mar 1, noon: Frugal Muse Books -Chicago- tickets will go on sale Feb 3rd.