Right wing billionaires behind groups like ALEC and Freedomworks helped organize and fund tea party protests a decade ago, resulting in a healthcare program with no public option. Now they are funding hard-core right wing groups who are demanding governors stop protecting their citizens from the coronavirus. These billionaire funded groups are on the same page as billionaire owned Fox News. But, why?

If governors "rip off the bandage" it will cause hundreds of thousands or even millions of deaths, although those deaths will be most heavily concentrated among communities of color, poor whites and Hispanics, and elderly people. These are the groups that rely heavily on government funded programs like Medicare, food stamps, and housing subsidies - all things that are paid for, in part, by taxes on billionaires.

These billionaires also, in large part, got their riches through economic activity. So it appears this effort may produce a twofer for these right wing billionaires: the "expensive" people die off so it's easier to cut billionaire's taxes, and even if massive numbers of workers get sick and die there will always be more poor people willing to come into the workforce to make more money for the billionaires. Heads they win, tails you lose.

-Thom

Tuesday's Daily Stack

Article: "Essential Workers Are Being Sacrificed on the Altar of Corporate and Billionaire Owners as "Disposable People" Become Infected and Die" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "The price of US crude oil just went negative for the first time ever. Here's what that really means, and why you can't fill up your car for free." by Benji Jones.

Article: "Make America Protest Again" by Judd Legum.

Article: "White House aides, outside groups launch effort to reopen economy, but Mnuchin says decision poses risks" by Jeff Stein and Robert Costa.

Article: "Taiwan sets example for world on how to fight coronavirus" by Stacy Chen.

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

Article: "Who's Behind the "Reopen" Domain Surge?" by Brian Krebs.

Article: "Demonstrators rally in Olympia against Washington's coronavirus stay-at-home order" by Joseph O'Sullivan and David Gutman.

Article: "Anti-lockdown protester who said it was a 'political ploy' is killed by coronavirus" by Jimmy McCloskey.

Article: "Lawyer allegedly threatened journalist over footage at lockdown rally" by Joshua Rhett Miller.

Article: "Protesters rally against restrictions as some states set timelines to end stay-at-home orders" by Teo Armus, Rick Noack, Katie Mettler, Hannah Knowles, Derek Hawkins, John Wagner, Lateshia Beachum and Allyson Chiu.

Article: "Man threatened Salt Lake City mayor over COVID-19 restrictions, police say" by Pat Reavy.

What Can Be Done About Fox News?
- Angelo Carusone, Media Matters For America (MMFA)

Article: "Fox News' aggressive promotion of protests against social distancing mirrors its tea party support" by Matt Gertz.

Article: "Coronavirus in US: Governors feel heat to reopen from protesters, president" by Paul Weber, Frank Jordans.

Article: "Tucker Carlson: We need a plan to move America 'from isolation and joblessness back to something better'" by Victor Garcia.

Article: "Cancer eating the heart of Australian democracy" by Kevin Rudd.

Article: "Medical staff praised for silent counter-protest in Colorado as anti-lockdown demonstrations erupt across US" by Imogen Braddick.

Article: "Judge Pirro fires off seething rant to over-reaching US lawmakers: 'Keep your damn hands off us!'" by Vivek Saxena.

Article: "New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case" by Wikipedia.

Site: CBC News: Breaking, Local & World News.

Article: ""Help is on the way": Trudeau's emergency benefit now giving $2000 a month for 4 months" by Daily Hive.

Hour Two: War for Eternity: Inside Bannon's Far-Right Circle of Global Powerbrokers
- Professor Benjamin R. Teitelbaum, Ethnographer of contemporary radical nationalism in Europe / Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and International Affairs-University of Colorado, Boulder / Performer of Scandinavian folk music / His latest book is War for Eternity

Article: "Steve Bannon" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Covid-19 Is the Crisis Radical 'Traditionalists' Have Been Waiting For" by Benjamin Teitelbaum.

Article: "Neo-Darwinism" by Wikipedia.

Article: "New Calvinism" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Julius Evola" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Traditionalist School" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Coronavirus brings out the dictator in EU leaders as law allows Viktor Orbán to rule by decree" by i News.

Article: "Jobbik" by Wikipedia.

Article: "North American Free Trade Agreement" (NAFTA) by Wikipedia

Article: "Florida's unemployment website was designed to fail" by Claire Goforth.

Article: "Just a fraction of Florida unemployment claims paid: report" by Marina Pitofsky.

Article: "Federal Documents: More Than 300,000 Likely To Die If Restrictions Are Lifted" by Liz Essley Whyte.

Article: "Georgia Plans to Purge 300,000 Names From Its Voter Rolls" by Nicholas Casey.

Article: "Brian Kemp" (Georgia Secretary of State) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Surprised To Learn Asymptomatic People Can Spread Coronavirus Though CDC Warned A Month Ago" by uPolitics.com.

Article: "How billionaires' short-term greed could upend America and destroy their own wealth" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Red states may be facing a perfect storm of illness and death from COVID-19" by Seattle Times.

Article: "71 Publicly Traded Companies Got Paycheck Protection Funding Before Money Ran Out" by Nathan Vardi.

Article: "Ex-FDA chief flabbergasted by Georgia: It's like they found all the riskiest businesses and decided to open those first" by Eric W. Dolan.

Article: "As workers face virus risks, employers seek liability limits" by Emily Kopp.

An Impossible Deadline for Social Security Recipients - Alex Lawson, Executive Director - Social Security Works

Article: "ACT NOW: Larson Urges Social Security & SSI Beneficiaries with Dependents Who Do Not File Tax Returns to Go to IRS.Gov Before Wednesday Deadline" by John B. Larson.

Article: "Trump Admin Throws Up Yet Another Barrier for Social Security Beneficiaries to Get Their Full CARES Act Payments" by Nancy Altman.

Article: "Steven Mnuchin, Foreclosure King Of America" by Nomi Prins.

Site: Coronavirus Tax Relief and Economic Impact Payments.

Article: "Coronavirus pandemic illuminating need to expand Social Security: Soon-to-be-released Report Shows We Can Afford To Do So" by Nancy Altman.

Article: "Coronavirus infections could be much more widespread than believed, California study suggests" by Melanie Mason, Deborah Netburn.

Article: "'It's very sad': Fauci warns blacks disproportionately affected by coronavirus" by Cassidy Morrison.

Article: "Trump Organization Looks To Deutsche Bank And Florida County For Financial Relief" by Shivdeep Dhaliwal.

Article: "COVID-19 and Volunteer Firefighters: Reducing the Risk of Exposure" by Bruce Bjorge.

Article: "Fact check: On Sunday, Trump takes no break from repeating false virus claims" by CNN.

Hour Three: Trump Could "see dead bodies" From Coronavirus "and Step Over Them."
- Psychoanalyst Dr. Justin Frank MD, Psychoanalyst & Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science - George Washington University / Author - Trump on the Couch (Previous books include Bush on the Couch & Obama on the Couch)

Article: "Dr. Justin Frank: Trump "could see dead bodies" from coronavirus "and step over them"" by Chauncey Devega.

Article: "Mommy dearest: a psychiatrist puts Donald Trump on the couch" by David Smith.

Movie: "Being There".

Quote: "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate. It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up from less competent people." - Andrew Mellon.

Article: "Herd immunity" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Rick Scott 'oversaw the largest Medicare fraud' in U.S. history, Florida Democratic Party says" by Amy Sherman.

Article: "Senators threaten to delay coronavirus relief bill with last-minute objections" by Zachary Basu.

Article: "Florida releases unemployment data: 1.5 million claims filed but just 40,193 paid" by Lawrence Mower.

Article: "U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on COVID-19's disproportionate impact on black America" by Madison Gray.

Article: "Trump White House sidelining Surgeon General following his comments on the threat that COVID-19 poses for communities of color: report" by Alex Henderson.

Article: "Brett Giroir, Trump's testing czar, was forced out of a job developing vaccine projects. Now he's on the hot seat." by Michael Kranish.

Article: "Wisconsin Supreme Court blocks order by governor suspending in-person voting, putting Tuesday's election back on track" by Kendall Karson.

Article: "7 new cases of COVID-19 in Wisconsin linked to election activities: Health officials" by ABC News.

Article: "Coronavirus: President Trump said US authorities 'shut it down.' Here's what that means" by Janine Puhak.

Article: "Americans at World Health Organization transmitted real-time information about coronavirus to Trump administration" by Karen DeYoung, Lena H. Sun and Emily Rauhala.

Article: "'We Alerted The World' To Coronavirus On Jan. 5, WHO Says In Response To U.S." by Bill Chappell.

Article: "Donald Trump and the Limits of the Reality TV Presidency" by Jon Meacham.

Article: "Inside Trump's Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation" by Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush and Peter Baker.

Article: "This reclusive Marin County town is testing everybody for coronavirus" by Julia Prodis Sulek.

Article: "'We Needed to Go': Rich Americans Activate Pandemic Escape Plans" by Olivia Carville.

Article: "Slavery v. Peonage" by PBS.

Article: "Ohio prison is largest known source of coronavirus infections in U.S." by Fadel Allassan.

Article: "Beaumont Health Laying Off 2,400 Employees Due To Coronavirus" by Joey Oliver.

Article: "Michigan's first coronavirus field hospital opens in Detroit" by WJRT.

Article: "Beaumont sidelines hospital in Wayne as coronavirus surge slows" by Kristen Jordan Shamus, Robin Erb.

Tweet: "LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!" by Donald J. Trump.

Tweet: "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" by Donald J. Trump.

Tweet: "LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" by Donald J. Trump.

Article: "The Music Man" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Agenda 21" by Wikipedia.

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

It's Earth Day 2020. How are you marking it?

Saving the Post Office... with Mark Dimondstein, President - American Postal Workers Union (APWU)

Plus, Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District) will be calling in to talk about the issues of the day and take your calls.

And, Could a Fukushima-style Meltdown Happen in...Michigan?! with Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Specialist - Beyond Nuclear

Also, Science Revolution: Coronavirus vs. Climate Extinction - Dr. Andrew Glikson, Climatologist - Research School of Earth Science-Australian National University

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...

Will Trump Get Away With It Again?

Are Republicans Trying To Kill The Poor?

Why Are Billionaires Funding Go Back To Work Protest?