The secret billionaires don't want you to know is that your pay won't change whether taxes go up or down

It's time to bring back the top 74% tax bracket that Ronald Reagan blew up, so average working people's wages can rise again and we can get our billionaire problem under control. It'll also enable America to return to the widespread growth and prosperity America saw before Reagan took a meat-axe to our economy.

When Reagan came in the office, the tax rate paid by those in the very top tax bracket was around 70%, which is why back then the average CEO in America only paid themselves 30 times what their average employee made.

Read more here.

-Thom

Friday's Daily Stack

Book: The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "America is an oligarchy, not a democracy or republic, university study finds" by Cheryl K. Chumley.

Article: "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens" by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page.

Article: "American Civil War (1861 - 1865) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Great Depression" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Viktor Orbán" (Hungary) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Andrzej Duda" (Poland) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Rodrigo Duterte" (Philippines) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Hugo Chávez" (Venezuela) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Jair Bolsonaro" (Brazil) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" (Turkey) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Abdel Fattah el-Sisi" (Egypt) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Senate passes $1.9 trillion COVID relief resolution after all-night "vote-a-rama"" by Grace Segers.

Article: "Coronavirus - check what benefits you can get" by Citizens Advice (UK).

Article: "Alexander Lukashenko" (Belarus) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Hungary builds new high-tech border fence - with few migrants in sight" by Marton Dunai.

Article: "Trump appointee put Tuberville in Jan. 5 meeting at White House before editing post" by Eddie Burkhalter.

Article: "Biden announces end to US support for Saudi-led offensive in Yemen" by Julian Borger, Patrick Wintour.

Article: "Biden Taps Career Diplomat as Envoy to Yemen" by Jack Detsch, Robbie Gramer.

Article: "After Capitol riot, desperate families turn to groups that 'deprogram' extremists" by Paulina Villegas and Hannah Knowles.

Video: Pete Seeger Which Side Are You On.

Article: "It's Time for a 74% Top Tax Bracket to Save America From Our Billionaire Problem" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Roll Back the Reagan Tax Cuts" by Thom Hartmann.

Book: " The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" by David Ricardo.

Article: "Reality Winner" by Wikipedia.

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

Article: "WATCH: This 15-second clip of Naples, Florida customers shopping without masks is spreading outrage" by Nicole Lyn Pesce.

Quote: "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right." - P. T. Barnum.

Article: "Nikki Haley Hammered For Asking To Give Donald Trump A Break And 'Move On'" by Lee Moran.

Article: "Brandon Bernard Dies by Lethal Injection: 'I Wish I Could Take It All Back'" by Anne Branigin.

Article: "Right-to-work law" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Taft-Hartley Labor Act", 1947.

Article: "Donald Trump waiting for the right moment to seek revenge: The former president knows he's 'overexposed'" by Travis Gettys.

Article: "Tuskegee syphilis experiment" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich by Thom Hartmann.

Hour Two: Progressive Town Hall
- Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA, 17th District)

Article: "Congress passes key step to allow Democrats to pass Covid-19 relief without threat of GOP filibuster" by Ted Barrett, Paul LeBlanc and Clare Foran.

Tweet: "Tonight I got the entire Senate -Democrats and Republicans - to agree not to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour during a global pandemic, which would kill jobs and destroy small businesses." by Joni Ernst.

Bill: "H.R.860 - Social Security 2100 Act" by Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1].

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

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

Article: "Medicaid" by Wikipedia.

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

Article: "Portman to Retire in Ohio, Expanding 2022 Battle for Senate" by Carl Hulse and Jonathan Martin.

Article: "Stacey Abrams" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ossoff and Warnock win Georgia runoffs, handing Democrats control of the US Senate" by Grace Panetta, Sinéad Baker.

Article: "Tim Ryan, a Top Democrat in Ohio, Is Said to Plan Senate Bid" by Jonathan Martin.

Article: "Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Biden pauses new offshore oil leases, shielding California coast from more drilling rigs" by Guy Kovner.

Article: "Biden pauses onshore and offshore drilling leases, orders subsidy reviews" by Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Ari Natter.

Article: "Violence Against Women Act" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Rape and sexual assault victims in the U.S. 2000-2019, by gender" by Statista.

Article: "Operation Warp Speed" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine - and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved" by Harriet Alexander.

Bill: "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021" by Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3].

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010)

Article: "Warren Delivers Speech on Comprehensive Plan to End Corruption in Washington".

Article: "Windfall Elimination Provision" by SSA.

Bill: "H.R.82 - Social Security Fairness Act of 2021" by Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13].

Article: "Pelosi To Fine House Members Up To $10,000 For Evading Metal Detectors" by Andrew Solender.

Article: "Chris Hayes Pleads With Tim Kaine: 'Just Give Everybody A Check!'" by Susie Madrak.

Article: "Dems Threaten To Exclude Families Crushed By Pandemic" by Andrew Perez.

Article: "'Deliberation Day' would star politics" by Stephen Butler.

Article: "Brendan Boyle" by Wikipedia.

Bill: "H.R.6800 - Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act or the HEROES Act" by Nita Lowey [D-NY-17].

Article: "Don't forget, Social Security benefits may be taxable" by IRS.

Article: "White House is 'extremely open' to student-loan debt cancellation, Schumer says" by Jillian Berman.

Article: "This is Trump's most damning tweet about the Capitol riots: Ex-Ted Cruz spokeswoman" by Brad Reed.

Article: "'It could have been much, much worse': Video, witness accounts reveal darker intent of some Capitol rioters" by Courtney Subramanian, Dinah Voyles Pulver and Josh Salman.

Article: "Here are the 11 House Republicans who voted to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments" by Paul LeBlanc.

Article: "Fairness Doctrine" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Sen. Warner to unveil bill reining in Section 230, seeking to help users fight back against real-world harm" by Tony Romm.

Article: "New Deal" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Covid-19: Social murder, they wrote-elected, unaccountable, and unrepentant" by Kamran Abbasi.

Article: "The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases" by Scottie Andrew.

Article: "Paul Singer Warned Employees on Feb. 1 to Prepare for Quarantine" by Katia Porzecanski.

Article: "US alerted Israel, NATO to disease outbreak in China in November - TV report" by TOI.

Article: "Going to bed hungry" by Washington Post.

Article: "DC Statehood Bill Introduced By Senate Democrats" by WJZ.

Article: "John C. Calhoun" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Filibuster Was Grounded in Slavery and Now Threatens All Life on Earth" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "America's anti-democratic Senate, by the numbers" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "The killing of Archbishop Oscar Romero was one of the most notorious crimes of the cold war. Was the CIA to blame?" by Tom Gibb.

Article: "Thomas Piketty" by Wikipedia.

Book: "The Prophet's Way" by Thom Hartmann

Book: "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: Revised and Updated: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late" by Thom Hartmann

Book: The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet by Michael E. Mann.

Article: "1973 oil crisis" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Iran Hostage Crisis" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Mahatma Gandhi" by Wikipedia.

Coming up Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

I'll be debating Senator Ted Harvey, Chairman - Committee to Defeat the President / former Republican member of the Colorado State Senate, representing District 30 from 2007 to 2015

Plus, Progressive Town Hall: Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI, 9th District) / Member of the House Committee on Education & Labor and also the House Foreign Affairs Committee

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...

Biden Ends World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis?

Are Impossible Burgers, Impossible? (w/ Bill Freese)

Did We Watch Republican Party Turn Fascist?

Rich vs. Poor - Who Will Win? (w/ Richard Wolff)

Feb 9, 4pm PT: Books & Books virtual event, in conversation with David Korten.

Get Tickets here for the Livestream event