Recent comments
ADHD: Hunter in a Farmer's World
Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
Join Thom for his new twice-weekly email newsletters on ADHD, whether it affects you or a member of your family.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
First I don't like the choices given us in this survey.
Maybe--IF there are Democratic candidates to vote for. In gerrymandered districts incumbents have no challengers often. If the divide between Democratic and Progressive is overcome by voters. If voters go to the polls. IF Republican states stop disenfranchising its voters. If disappointed Republicans vote for Democratic candidates. Maybe...
My wife read last night that one of the Carolinas just passed a bill saying that people who are demonstrating can be plowed down by an automobile. Fascists are bad enough but when we have evangelical it is getting really bad.
R.I.P. U.S.A.
Fascism. More today as a reporter is arrested for yelling questions to Secratary if Health. Not to mention Comey firing.
Re. Putin put us into this mess.
The Russia hacking was a factor; but the much bigger problems are domestic and have been factors long before the hacking. Our system of checks and balances have gotten weaker over time and the media which should be the last line of defense is largely infotainment, not responsible journalism. Consider that the media for YEARS allowed Trump air time to spout the birther nonsense when from the gitgo they should have said that the birthers were nuts and moved on. The media have become part of ---or complicit with--- what I call the ESSS (Echo Spin Scare Smear machine.) Not only have they been instrumental in people becoming less informed, they have been instrumental in people believing lies, rejecting facts, and in general not exercising critical thinking. The result has been that the absurd has become more and more normalized; and that has manifested for instance in going from; people voting for Bush because he's the kind of guy you could have a beer with, to Palin being a VP nominee, to Trump becoming president despite myriad transgressions that would have been deal breakers for anyone else --- Republican or Democrat. Without broken government, broken media, influence of oligarchs, etc.; the hacking would have had little to no effect; the bigger picture would have held sway. Instead we have an administration that has been palling around with dictators, crooked oligarchs, and organized criminals.
Diane consults her sources and predicts the future:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnMa652dZ5E
Radical. I remember those events well. Different times, different dynamics; still, your assessment of Bill Clinton is all too accurate! Although Thom generally avoids the "circular firing squad" and the relitigation of past elections, he is also quick to point out how the Democratic Leadership Council, Third Way, and other "Republican-lite," so-called "centrist" strategies have been utter disasters for the party. (They are not centrist; they are corporate-right!)
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/30/clintonism_screwed_the_democrats_how_bill_hillary_and_the_democratic_leadership_council_gutted_progressivism/
Over the decades, Wall Street money-hogs -- both of the Clintons, Obama, and so many others -- have dragged the party down into the same fascist mud in which wallows the Republican Party, a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporate America. Yuuuge Mistake! If that is not painfully obvious to the leadership after last November, then there is no hope.
Viva la revolucion!
Thank YounDeep Space for your great comment #9 . There is amazingly something that Tom keeps saying that is absolutely untrue. Tom keeps saying that Bill Clinton ran as a progressive. He keeps mentioning the new covenant speech. That was one speech and it was an exception. It was given to try to con left-wing progressives into voying for him. At the time he was scared that Ross Perot would take away his voters. Bill Clinton ran as a right winger a " New Democrat". Go look up ythe Democratic Convention of 1992. It was a festival of right wingers corporate lobbyists and one of the main people there was ron I will Sell My Soul Brown. It was so bad that Comedy Central went to the convention to make fun of it.
@#12
1. The leftie/socialists have to figure out if they love or hate Comey. Watching Schumer step all over his dick was a hoot. Listening to news today is is one contradiction after another.
2. Do leftie/socialists hate of love the Russians? Sarah Palin was mocked when a comedian said she could see Russia from her house... Now leftie/socialists are seeing Russia from everywhere.
3. I have no knowledge of President Trump's motives. In my opinion, Trump should have fired Comey on his first day as President of the United States.
https://news.grabien.com/story-10-major-fbi-scandals-comeys-watch
4. Do you really believe that president Trump or the American public will never hear from Comey again? If so remove your head from your rear. The fact Comey is fired has nothing to do with what he will have to say under oath or in a private book deal. In fact, if Comey alone has knowledge that the Russians blocked every Hillary supporter from voting he could make more money in a movie deal than Obama did yesterday earning $3,260,000 for a 100 minute speech. Not bad for an out of work community organizer is it?
5. Whatever the republicans in congress do, I could care less. I only want my judges on the bench and you want President Pence and VP Paul Ryan and I am fine with that too.
So we agree at last.
Where do you get "we". Maybe you should use "I".
What are Trumps motives for firing Comey? Was it how he screwed up the Hillary email investigation 8 months ago? Was it the advise of the Attorney General who lied to Congress about contacts with Russia and recused himself from Russia investigations? Will the Republicans now agree to a special prosecutor or continue to put Party over Country? Tell us all knowing Diane.
Mr. Ed: We grow tired of your suggestions for solutions to the obamacare mess. Stop with all the credible options you have offered and why not just start bitching and whining about how bad things are.
Miss GW yet?
Morning legend, while all the leftie/socialists are spreading lies and wringing their hands over a healthcare bill that will never become law, judges are being appointed and courts are being unstacked. Ain't that great?
You all can spent the day raving about Comey being finally kicked out of his job. You remember Comey, he was the guy all the leftie/socialists wanted fired after he was accused of solely being responsible for Hillary's devastating loss in 2016. You all remember Hillary, she was the gal that screwed Bernie Sanders and is now starting a super pac so she will have enough money to draw from to cover her needs now that the Clinton slush fund has to look at least partially legitimate.
Great day for America
Long game strategies aside, you Thom have good reason to say that it is still very, very early for the Demorats to celebrate. The citizens of this country are a bunch of couch potato knuckleheads who aren't even watching as our country collapses around them; too busy watching sports on the TV and guzzling down beers to be bothered. Come 2018, if they even bother to register or get up off the couch and go vote, will blindly pull the lever for the same old inumbent Neo Liberals they have voted for in the past not understanding one candidate from another. For some unfathomable reason, Americans either can't or won't make the connection between the people they have put into office (time and again) and the 10G negative nose dive this country is taking on every front from health care/insurance to education to joblessness, to rapacious pricing of consumer goods (I mean, $200.00 for a shirt? Come ON!) I'll say it again, it won't be until this country wakes up and gets involved enough to truly understand what has been and is going on here (the banksters, the government, the Vatican, London City... the whole rotten mess) and collectively decide to do something about it, will things change. It is appalling to me that a situation like the water in Flint, is being allowed to go on without anyone demanding the government to something constructive about it. Did you know that NASA developed a "water cube" that can take moisture out of a desert that only has 20% moisture in it; take the water right out of the air, and convert it to potable water? After this water cube was fully developed, at the expense of We, the People, the feds then turned around and gave it to private industry for their exclusive right to make money with it. A boat load of these cubes should be sent to Flint to allieviate the lead water problem. But no, the whole country sits on their hands and acts like mindless sheep while things get worse and we go down the drain. Really frustrating. How did America get to be so (blanking) stupid?
Deepspace, Any taxes saved will be immediately spent on million dollar bombs that we drop on mud huts.
We have yet to hear one Republican anywhere, from Washington DC to the trolls on this site, express any real concern for the tens of millions of their fellow human beings who will be priced out of coverage and lose access to lifesaving healthcare, if this deadly bill -- whatever dressed-up version -- is ultimately signed into law.
Republican bloodthirsty butchers are certainly animated and articulate when it comes to material gain though, gushing over the potential taxes saved and profits had -- money, money, money! -- but not one word about the widespread human cost in needless suffering and death.
The self-centered constituents of these backstabbing psychopaths richly deserve to feel every inch of that long knife slowly slipping in and twisting, since only their own suffering is what seems to concern them the most. Perhaps the taste of blood and the panic of self-preservation will motivate them to vote intelligently next time. (Don't count on it.)
Tens of thousands will die each year, including many of their own children, as a direct result of Republicans' selfish, cold-hearted actions. johnbest said it plainly: this is "genocide," deliberate and conscious -- a crime against humanity that should be fully prosecuted and severely punished!
...If we had a true representative democracy instead of a brutal, fascist oligarchy.
The Bilderberg/CFR groups are having a field day with the trump amateur hour. With Hillary, they would have met more resistance toward their overall goal, but trump has made it ridiculously easy. Soon we will have even more people dying in the streets, but it'll be ok because all the money the gov't is saving is going to create millions of jobs! Yea right. Until the partisan right can see how their party is devistating our country, our democracy will continue nose dive. The democrats and many independents have seen the reality and unifying. Only complete country unity will stop the Bilderberg/CFR agenda.
Email just sent to U.S. Senator Richard Burr:
I strongly urge you to ensure the appointment of an independent investigation of the potential collusion of the Trump Administration in the Russian hacking of the 2016 Presidential Election. You, sir, are the focal point of determining whether the Legislative Branch will allow United States of America to be regarded both at home and throughout the world as a banana republic. The idea that the Director of the FBI is fired under obvious false pretense the day after Sally Yates testified that the Trump Administration tolerated the lies of the National Security Director for 18 days (and then only after leaked facts in a press report) has put the country in a Constitutional Crisis.
As a retired attorney with 35 years of practice, including the supervision of sensitive investigations, I know, as i am sure you do as well, that the President’s self exoneration of any wrongdoing in the very letter that fires the lead investigator is chilling. Obviously the highest level official in any investigation will not be told he is the target of an investigation unless or until enough facts have been gathered about the actions of officials under his supervision have been developed. While the President may or may not have directed anyone on his team to coordinate the Russian cyber attack, his actions brings suspicion that he seeks to deflect and frustrate the investigation.
Is the President just ham handed? Or is he guilty of wrongdoing? Senate investigation appears to be understaffed. Whether or not the Senate investigation has been “slow walking” until now, the timing of the President’s firing of the FBI Director requires that you ensure the integrity of our very democracy by requiring a credible and well staffed investigation as far away from the President’s control as is humanly possible.
Respectfully,
Douglas Nichols, Retired VP and General Counsel of Portland General Electric Co.
R.I.P. U.S.A.
Putin put us in this mess, which is why we are even talking about this insane health insurance proposal. Putin knows Trump is a complete fool and that putting crazy out of control rich people in power was certain to weaken and destabilize our country.
Trump may have stopped the FBI investigation, but the CIA still has material that hopefully will be leaked by an employee/ patriot. The election was invalid plain and simple. What if Clinton had been installed by Putin? You can bet your ass she would already be in jail and a new election would have already been held.
You have no case.
Having stubbornly refused to address the pertinent questions and legitimate concerns brought up in post #8, as well as many others, you have chosen instead to dismiss and deflect by arrogantly and hypocritically demanding that your phony non-question in post #21 be taken seriously and answered forthright ...because, first and foremost, only Diane's framing should be considered important, and only Diane's "whining and bitching" should not be considered as such.
It is completely ridiculous to seriously expect anyone in a blog comment section to provide "...a list of how to go about solving the problem that will address the issue and satisfy most of the individuals involved..." -- as if in one fell swoop a simple post could possibly solve a political impasse that's been brewing since the Truman presidency, a morass primarily fueled by Republican ideological intransigence and allegiance to their wealthy class of donors, who, in the end, just don't like paying their fair share of taxes. This is the wrong venue for such a comprehensive explication.
But why do you need that explained? You don't; that's not your point. In reality, your "question" is nothing but a pathetic, insincere, and transparent attempt to set up "failure" so that you can shift back to your own narrow, Republican talking points. Apparently, no one else is interested in playing such childish games.
Besides, you have already been provided -- repeatedly -- the simplest and most effective solution, which is universal single-payer that excludes the for-profit insurance industry from the primary healthcare market, while reining in exorbitant profit-taking by providers and hospitals. Since you have -- repeatedly -- made it abundantly clear that you strongly disagree, why would you expect anyone here to follow you down your particular, right-wing, dead-end rabbit hole? It would be a waste of time and an exercise in futility.
If you are sincere (which, as a troll, you obviously are not) then you would make the effort to educate yourself. There is an abundance of viable sources at your fingertips to "satisfy most of the individuals involved," including Bernie's website, as well as many other progressive sources that provide rich detail and further links to whatever aspects of the American healthcare problem you may wish to peruse. Never mind that most other developed nations have already figured out the best solution long ago, with their own versions of a workable, universal, single-payer system. Americans, such as you, are way behind the curve.
Solve your own problems before lashing out at others for your failure to do so.
Oh, and here, I'll save you your usual empty, repetitive, "whining and bitching" response:
"leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists leftie/socialists" --Diane, the troll
What do I think? I think for profit health insurance is completely insane and should have been obsolete decades ago. As usual the Teapublicans have us on defense with their make the extremely rich even richer at our expense crap.
Offense: Any Progressive Democratic Representative allowed to speak on network talk shows and or news, and very few are, he or she should inform the citizens that single-payer is on their agenda...... 2018 is fast approaching.
True populism exists in legislation like single-payer and raise the cap, both items the Teabagger/billionaire Party hate. I have no idea how in hell anyone can attach the word populism to Trump, conservatives, or any right-wing ideology.
Trump ran on lies, his past actions were all the exact opposite of his campaign rhetoric .... he was never a Jacksonian type populist, not even close.
"Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [i.e., securing inherent and inalienable rights, with powers derived from the consent of the governed], it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." --Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of Independence, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315
If the Rejects (R) manage to saddle us with "Ryancare", and the Trump budget, we need to take action. They should be charged with premeditated murder and genocide when the first American dies for lack of health care, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, Food Stamps, School Lunches, Unemployment Compensation, suicide, and any other social program that millions of Americans depend on.
I think that the AARP, Social Security Works, and every other social group needs to file a class action suit with the Supreme Court and have them press charges when the first person dies because of their depsicable actions.
They should also be charged for cutting programs for the veterans. They are threatening to privatize the VA and have already rejected programs to help veterans. Veterans should be pissed too. RESIST!
They do what they do now because they know that Americans memories are short. They are twisting it and lying. They are blaming Democrats for forcing them to do it because Obamacare was crashing. They will repeat until believed.
Side note: Comey fired by Trump today.
No. The first volleys of the "next class war" were fired with the Reagan tax cuts (for the wealthy) nearly forty years ago. With the Citizens United SCOTUS decision the problem has been greatly compounded. Thom, when will you admit that the Democratic Party with its Neoliberal policies has become as great an agent of the wealthy as the Republicans. It's no longer "Republican vs Democrat". It's Republicrat vs something else; hopefully the emergence of a grass roots progressive party (in the tradition of what Bernie was trying to swing the Dems toward). Drop this alegance to the Democratic Party. They are rotten to the core!
Thom, on March 20th you posted a story about a NY Times article exposing how Marco Rubio and other GOP "sabotoaged" the ACA by cutting funding to the "risk corridors" for the health insurance companies that participapted, resulting in a dramtic reduction of what these particippating companies could expect.
Did these cuts take place? If so WHY do the mainstream news interviewing the GOP people that continually mention the withdrawl of participating insurance providers let this go unchallenged. It is maddening to hear them state the ACA is a failure when they caused it, and it is NEVER challenged. I am beginning to wonder if it actually happened.
If this is what happened, we need ALL DEMOCRATS to KNOW this happened and we need to challenge with Twitter and other media (comments to MSNBCs Chuck Todd) for letting these "shiesters" get away with this big lie.
This should be the ONLY thing coming out of the DEM Senators and Congressmen's mouth.