Dr. Carol Swain joins Thom Hartmann. Do the far-right - radical views that Republicans have on rape and abortion really make them the party of life? And what does that mean for President Obama - and the rest of the Democratic Party's policies?

Dennis Marker, former congressional staffer/journalist & author of the new book "Fifteen Steps to Corporate Feudalism" joins Thom Hartmann. Once upon a time - the middle class believed in government - and had faith in their elected officials in Washington - but not anymore. How has the Middle Class' respect and appreciation for government disappeared over the last 30 years?

Thom Hartmann's Crazy Alert

Will Doig, Salon joins Thom Hartmann. Despite Hurricane Isaac causing a change in plans - Republicans officially opened their convention in Tampa Bay. Why is Tampa Bay the perfect example of what will happen to American if Romney and Ryan take over Washington?

Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange & Code Pink joins Thom Hartmann. Harkening back to the days of the Great Depression - when Americans took up living in tent cities across America named "Hoovervilles" - a group of demonstrators have set up their own tent cities in Tampa in protest against the RNC. They're called Romneyvilles.

Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet & Brad Friedman, The Brad Blog join Thom Hartmann. As November gets closer and closer - Republicans are continuing their efforts to prevent thousands of eligible voters from voting. What is the motivation behind voter suppression groups - and why is that only Republicans ever get caught for voter fraud?

So if you're a Republican lawmaker - and you still want to keep blacks and minorities from voting - what's your next move? To get rid of the Voting Rights Act! And that's what they're trying to do. Attorneys General in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Texas - all Republicans - have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court calling for certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act to be struck down.

Thom discusses the start of the RNC Convention with Salon's Will Doig and Codepink's Medea Benjamin. Also discussed: Ron Paul's decision to decline a speaking role at the convention, how Libertarians are playing into the hands of the corporate elite and whether the Republican voter suppression tactic will work. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom looks at how corporations can force you to campaign for and support their company's favorite political candidates.

In tonight's special edition of "Conversations with Great Minds" Thom talks with former TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky and Jeffrey Smith, the leading consumer advocate in the fight against the use of genetically modified foods.

Ron Collins, Communication Workers of America (CWA) joins Thom Hartmann. A job that's becoming increasingly harder and harder to find in America over the last few years is one in the call center industry. Since 2006 - a half-millions American call center jobs have been packed up and shipped overseas to low-wage countries. Companies like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and T-Mobile are the some of the biggest culprits when it comes to killing American call center jobs. But, Democrats in Congress have been pushing legislation to put an end ot this mass exodus of jobs. The Unite States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act cuts off federal loans and benefits to companies that off-shore their call center jobs. This bill also keeps a running list of companies that have off-shored call center jobs in an effort to discourage the practice. Back in June, the House of Representatives took a vote on this legislation - and most Republicans lined up against it - killing the bill - and leaving the few Americans who still have call center jobs screwed. But now, Democrats in the Senate are trying to revive the legislation with the help of Senators Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Bob Casey in Pennsylvania - two states that have been hit really hard by call center job losses. As Senator Sherrod Brown said this week in defense of the United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act: "When companies send call center jobs overseas, they don't just frustrate consumers - they hurt ...

The Good! *Toyota* Toyota has released an ad in Asia - that features the androgynous Ukrainian model Stav Strashko. Take a look... The Bad! *Rep. Steve King (R-IA)* At a recent town hall meeting - King expressed concerns over Iowa State University having too many multicultural groups on campus. King told the crowd that he searched a database and found that there were 59 "multicultural" groups on campus - and that the groups were made up of people "who feel sorry for themselves." and the Very Very Ugly! *David Gee* Gee is the Sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, where Tampa Bay is located. And - in order to prepare for the Republican National Convention next week - Gee has ordered that an entire prison - the Orient Road Jail - be emptied - and the prisoners relocated or bonded out - so that the prison can accomodate those arrested for protesting during the RNC.

Sarah Longwell, Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, joins Thom Hartmann. Not all Republicans are happy with the the Republican Party's new platform - especially when it comes to the Party's attack on same-sex couples.

David Selig, Conservative Commentator / Pro-Business Advocate joins Thom Hartmann. It's no longer worth speculating whether or not America is in the midst of a lost decade. The numbers are in - and America IS definitely in the midst of a lost decade. At least the middle class is. According to a new study by the Pew Research Center - for the first time since World War 2 - the median household income of the middle class dropped in the last decade - from nearly $73000 to well below $70000. That might not sound like a lot - but as this chart shows - it means a significant decline in the middle class's share of national income - as in - how much of the total income in our nation belongs to the broad middle class compared to the very rich few at the top. This lost decade caps off a 30-year steep decline in the middle class share of national income - so that now - upper income Americans hold a greater share of national income than the middle class. And notice the line at the bottom - that's the lower class's share of income - it hasn't budged. So the rich get richer - the poor stay poor - and the middle class gets poorer. Still think those Bush tax cuts were a good idea? During this lost decade - as middle class incomes fell - the incomes of the 400 richest Americans - all billionaires - quadrupled. Oh, and their tax rates were halved during that same time too. Now given all this information - you would think doubling-down on more tax cuts for the rich would be a really, really ...

Thom discusses why there is such a thing as a gay Republican considering the party's stance on gay marriage, the new study detailing the growing wealth inequality in America and a new bill in Congress aimed at keeping call center jobs in the US And in tonight's special edition of "Conversations with Great Minds" Thom talks with NSA Whistleblowers Thomas Drake and Kirk Wiebe.

If you were eating something completely unnatural - something that could make you sick - give you cancer - make your testicles shrink - heck, even kill you - wouldn't you want to know? If you answered yes - then you're on the same side as over 90% of your fellow Americans. Poll after poll over the last few years - has shown that more than 90% of Americans support specific labeling of genetically modified foods that they buy in grocery stores. And European and other developed countries require labeling of GMOs -- genetically modified foods. But even though for years Americans have been demanding the right to know what's in their food - and whether or not it's franken-food - not a single piece of state or federal legislation has ever been passed to make it happen. Which brings us to California. Efforts to force the state legisature to pass laws to require labeling of genetically modified foods have failed - so now citizens of the state have taken matters into their own hands. After collecting more than a million signatures - the citizens of California put proposition 37 on the ballot for November - which will force all genetically modified foods to have special labels. Good news, right? Well...now the fight is just starting. That's because the biggest purveyors of genetically modified foods - giant corporations like Monsanto, DuPont, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle - all of them are spending enormous amounts of money to defeat Prop 37. They don't want you to know what's in your ...