If saving trillions of dollars and millions of lives isn't enough to end political bribery in America, what will it take?

Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Lindsey Graham had a debate on Fox Nation. Sanders asked:

"In the United States, Lindsey, we spend twice as much per capita on health care compared to the people of any other country, while major countries like Canada, the U.K., Germany manage to supply health care to all their people. Why is that?"

The simple answer is the same reason we have an ongoing climate crisis and a student loan crisis that Republicans refuse to let Congress address: the legal bribery of politicians like Lindsey Graham.

How much money would it take to bribe you to help kill 212,000 Americans in a single year?

What size incentive would cause you to assist in the theft of $543.6 billion?

It's a serious question. These are real numbers. The bribery is real, the deaths are real, the thefts from the American people — most extracted from individual families — are real.

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

Wednesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: National Progressive Townhall Meeting
- Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District) / Member & Former Co-Chair-Congressional Progressive Caucus / (Committees: Appropriations / Also, Education & Labor)

Article: "Video shows GOP congressman leading tour of Capitol complex the day before Jan. 6 attack" by Kathryn Watson.

Article: "Schiff: Jan. 6 Panel Will Show Evidence Of GOPers' Requests For Pardons From Trump" by Summer Concepcion.

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

Article: "American Israel Public Affairs Committee" (AIPAC) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Crypto billionaire pours millions into Oregon congressional race" by Laura Doan.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Case: "First National Bank Of Boston V. Bellotti", 1978.

Case: "McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission", 2014.

Video: 1,500 Pharma Lobbyists vs 535 members of Congress.

Article: "Members of Congress Demand an End to Medicare Direct Contracting" by PNHP.

Article: "House Members by score / All issues" by ProgressivePunch.

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

Article: "Consumer Price Index for the elderly" (CPI-E) by BLS.

Article: "Reps. Lee, Pocan Announce Defense Spending Reduction Caucus" by Barbara Lee.

Article: "Reps. Pocan and Lee Introduce Bill to Cut Defense Spending by $100 Billion and Prioritize People Over the Pentagon" by Mark Pocan.

Article: "Marine Corps general says amphibious vehicle accident that killed nine was 'preventable'" by Ellie Kaufman.

Article: "New US Navy aircraft carrier toilet flaw costs $400,000 a flush" by Bloomberg.

Article: "What the Senate's bipartisan gun deal would change" by Erin Doherty.

Bill: "S.225 - Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act of 2021" by Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] .

Article: "S.3267 - Consolidation Prevention and Competition Promotion Act of 2021" by Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN].

Video: last week tonight: June 12, 2022: Tech Monopolies.

Article: "Watch: House Democrats accuse oil companies of ‘rip off’ on gas prices in hearing" by AP.

Article: "Pride Month 2022: LGBTQ Parades, Festivals and Events in June" by Katie Teague.

Article: "Ron DeSantis" by Wikipedia.

Article: "How Much Money is Worth Killing 212,000 Americans in a Single Year?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "U.S. Health Insurance Industry Analysis Report" by NAIC.

Article: "When Was Bribery of Politicians Legalized In America?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Graham confirms Republicans would go after Social Security, Medicare if they get a Senate majority" by Joan McCarter.

Article: "President Clinton's proposal for health care reform: key provisions and issues" by T F Plaut, B S Arons.

Tweet: "We estimated that a single-payer universal healthcare system would have saved 212,000 lives in 2020 alone. We also calculated that US$105.6 billion of medical expenses associated with COVID-19 hospitalization could have been averted by a Medicare for All system." by Eric Topol.

Article: "Pharma More Profitable than Other Large Industries, Study Shows" by Alex Keown.

Article: "Hospital profits, uncompensated care climb" by Tara Bannow.

Article: "Carter Proposes U.S. Health Plan" by Robert Reinhold.

Article: "Sector Profile: Health" by Open Secrets.

Article: "The Hidden History of American Healthcare" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic" by Alison P. Galvani et al.

Bill: "H.R.6395 - William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021" by Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9].

Article: "Bernie Sanders lays waste Lindsay Graham in a debate" by AntivaxHunters.

Article: "Rick Scott's '11 Point Plan to Rescue America' is so insane it's basically a gift to the Democrats " by Jeffrey C. Billman.

Article: "A Trump-loving 2020 denier has won Nevada GOP's nomination to run state elections " by Matthew Chapman.

Article: "Election Denier Becomes GOP Nominee For Nevada’s Top Election Official" (Jim Marchant) by Matt Shuham.

Article: "2020 election denier Marchant wins GOP primary for secretary of state in Nevada" by Colby Itkowitz, Amy Gardner, Annie Linskey.

Article: "Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, endorsed by Trump, wins Republican primary" by Andrew Schneider.

Article: "Convicted ‘Cowboys for Trump’ founder threatening to throw out 7,123 primary votes in New Mexico: report" by Bob Brigham.

Article: "Man who went on GOP lawmaker's Capitol tour caught on camera threatening lawmakers on Jan. 6: report" by Brad Reed.

Article: "Proud Boys guide reveals plans to infiltrate Capital using a 'covert sleeper' and block traffic to keep cops out" by Sarah K. Burris.

Article: "'There's no escape, Pelosi!' Jan. 6 committee releases threat-filled video of man who got Capitol tour from GOP lawmaker" by Matthew Chapman.

Article: "Oath Keepers intended to 'turn on the gas' while lawmakers were in tunnels photographed Jan. 5 by Capitol tourists " by Travis Gettys.

Article: "Blue Dog Coalition" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Problem Solvers Caucus" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Progressive Jamie McLeod-Skinner Triumphs Over Big Pharma Ally Kurt Schrader" by Sharon Zhang.

Video: Lawrence: Uvalde coverup ‘scheduled to last at least six months’.

Article: "How Congress Retirement Pay Compares to the Overall Average" by Sean Ross.

Article: "Pence — not Trump — asked Guard troops to help defend Capitol on Jan. 6, panel says" by Leo Shane III.

Article: "Employment Guidance for the District of Columbia National Guard" by Christopher C Miller, 4 January 2021.

Hour Three: What Should Americans Expect From Our New Recession?
- Economist Dr. Richard Wolff, Co-founder, Democracy At Work / Author of numerous books - his latest is The Sickness is the System (now also available as an e-book)

Article: "Yields rise to decade highs, curve inverts on growth fears" by Karen Brettell.

Article: "Federal Reserve announces biggest interest rate hike since 1994" by Dominic Rushe.

Article: "European Central Bank holds emergency meeting today as bond markets plunge" by Ben Chapman.

Article: "Size of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet since quantitative easing (QE) measures were introduced from March 2020 to May 2022" by Statista.

Article: "Dot-com bubble" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Financial crisis of 2007-08" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Yen slides to 24-year low against the dollar as investors bet the Bank of Japan will stick with ultra-low rates, as the Fed battles US inflation at 40-year" by George Glover.

Article: "The 31 people arrested in Idaho have ties to a White nationalist group and planned to riot at a Pride event, police say. Here's what we know" by Elizabeth Wolfe.

Article: "Pink triangle" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Patriot Front and the Next Stage of the Culture War " by Thomas Lecaque.

Article: "Young people’s mental health suffering as climate change worsens, Oregon report says" by Kale Williams.

Article: "How Houston moved 25,000 people from the streets into homes of their own" by Michael Kimmelman.

Video: Could Finland Solve Homelessness In America? (w/Juha Kaakinen).

Article: "Housing is a human right: How Finland is eradicating homelessness" by Tahiat Mahboob.

Video: "Ted Talk – Juha Kaakinen – Housing First in Finland".

Site: Housing First Guide Europe.

Article: "Waiting for keys, unable to break down doors: Uvalde schools police chief defends delay in confronting gunman" by James Barragán.

Article: "NASA Study Finds Increasing Solar Trend That Can Change Climate" by NASA.

Article: "Little Ice Age" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fred Singer" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Citgo" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez" by Melissa Block, Robert Siegel.

Video: The American Paradox: Part 1 - Heather Cox Richardson.

Site: Letters from an American - Heather Cox Richardson.

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

Today's Jan. 6 committee hearing will focus on Trump's pressure on Mike Pence.

Plus, Republican commission refuses to certify New Mexico primary vote - Greg Palast, Investigative Journalist/Author - latest, How Trump Stole 2020: The Hunt For America's Vanished Voters & previously, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

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...

Would You Kill 212,000 Americans For $19 Billion? They Did...

The US Has Serious Economic Problems Featuring Richard Wolff

Bernie Sanders DESTROYS Lindsey Graham In Debate you Missed