Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect magazine joins Thom Hartmann. Despite what the Mayans said - the world is not ending in December - but it might be ending in January if Congress doesn't get it's act together. Do lawmakers in Washington understand just how much our economy is hurting - and can they do what it takes to keep it afloat? If Congress doesn't act fast - America is going to fall off the fiscal cliff come January 2013.

Thom Hartmann's crazy alert

Lachlan Markay, Heritage Foundation & Judson Phillips, Attorney, Tea Party Nation join Thom Hartmann. Why are Republicans so happy about a jobs plan that doesn't create jobs - and will a third-party candidate throw a wrench at Mitt Romney's Presidential hopes? All that and more in tonight's Lone Liberal Rumble

Lachlan Markay, Heritage Foundation & Judson Phillips, Attorney, Tea Party Nation join Thom Hartmann. Why are Republicans so happy about a jobs plan that doesn't create jobs - and will a third-party candidate throw a wrench at Mitt Romney's Presidential hopes? All that and more in tonight's Lone Liberal Rumble...

On last night's show I talked about dog whistle politics - and how Mitt Romney isn't afraid to talk in code to appeal to the racist whackjobs in his party who really think President Obama was born in Kenya - or that somehow he's a "foreigner." Well, just as I was saying those words - the Romney campaign was taking a deep breath and getting ready to give another really loud toot on the dog whistle. As reported yesterday in the British Newspaper the Daily Telegraph - a Romney campaign adviser told Telegraph reporter John Swaine that Mitt Romney will have better relations with the UK than President Obama...mainly because one of President Obama's parents was black. Here was the exact quote from the Romney campaign advisor as reported: "We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and [Romney] feels that the special relationship is special...The White House didn't fully appreciate the shared history we have." As Swaine writes about the comment: "In remarks that may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity, one suggested that Mr Romney was better placed to understand the depth of ties between the two countries than Mr Obama, whose father was from Africa."

Thom details how the Romney camp is continuing the long Republican tradition of dog-whistling. Also discussed: the DOJ investigation into Pennsylvania's new voter id law, how the GOP jobs plan doesn't create any jobs and how an MSNBC host with an autistic son blamed the Colorado massacre on autism. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom discusses how Wall Street owns Congress and always get what they want.

Wall Street makes a lot of money. Or, more correctly, they TAKE a lot of money, as the leeches and banksters on Wall Street are very much Takers, rather than Makers. They don't make anything - they just move money around and skim - take - their vig off the top. But in the process, they end up with hundreds of billions of dollars in cash - truly big bucks. About a dozen Wall Street banksters made over $2 billion dollars last year - EACH! And the banks themselves have had one of their most profitable years ever, borrowing billions from the Fed at zero percent interest rate, loaning that money to the US Treasury at 2 percent or so, spinning off trillions in derivatives, and stuffing all the profits in their pockets.

The Good! *Yang Yaunqing* Unlike CEO's in America who hoard their wealth - and collect millions in bonuses at the expense of their employees - Yaunqing - the CEO of the computer company Lenovo - actually cares about his workers. The Bad! *Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)* Kyl took the Senate floor yesterday to attack President Obama - complaining that he talks too much about the middle class. and the Very Very Ugly! *Fox News* On this morning's edition of Fox and Friends - talking head Brian Kilmeade interviewed two little girls and sisters - who had started a lemonade stand. And - somehow - Kilmeade managed to turn what should have been a cute fluff piece into an idiotic attempt to attack the President.

Thom Hartmann's crazy alert!

Mike Elk, In These Times & Ari Ne'eman, Autistic Self Advocacy Network join Thom Hartmann. Joe Scarborough was met with a firestorm of anger yesterday - after he blaimed Asperger's and Autism disorders for the Colorado shooting massacre. Why did Scarborough assume the shooter had one of these disorders - and is there any scientific evidence to back up his outrageous and insensitive statements?

David Selig, Federal Tax Practitioner vs. Thom Hartmann. According to a new report - Republican's attempt to obstruct the debt limit debate in 2011 cost American taxpayers 1.3 billion dollars. How come Republicans in Washington are so good at wasting money - and so bad at putting Americans back to work? Given their track record - I'd be amazed that anyone would vote to let Republicans spend another two years running the People's House into the ground. Then again - a billion dollars in contributions from corporations, millionaires, and billionaires can make make even a stuffed pig look like a strong politician

The Department of Justice is investigating another state's attempts to kick thousands of eligible voters of the voting rolls in time for the November election. Why are Republicans waging a war against the democratic ideal that every vote counts - and when will it stop?

Corey Saylor, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) joins Thom Hartmann. What do you do if you're Mitt Romney and you can't attack President Obama over issues that acutally matter? You blow the dog-whistle of course! How much damage is the Republican love affair with dog-whistle politics doing to the American society? They can't just suck up to racists by throwing out the lie that black people are lazy - or suck up to religious bigots by saying that all Muslims are terrorists - or suck up to the paranoid homophobes by saying that gays are pedophiles. So instead they talk in code - the Republican dog whistle. Sure - saying that President Obama's policies are "foreign" might sound benign to the general electorate. But to a much smaller, targeted group of individuals - like the Tea Party, the far Right, and Fox so-called News viewers - basically the crazies who actually think the President was born in Kenya or who are uncomfortable with a black man in the White House - characterizing the President as "foreign" has a very clear meaning. It's the Republican dog whistle. And Mitt Romney isn't at all afraid to get in the mud with these whack-jobs and tell them what they want to hear - albeit in code - because the paranoid, the racists, and the bigots actually show up to vote

In tonight's "Bigger Picture" discussion Thom talks the latest from the Colorado massacre, the Anaheim police shooting and the continued power and influence of the Koch brothers and "charity" organizations. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom ruins breakfast for everyone when he looks at the state of our country's factory farms.

If you ever want to enjoy eating chicken or eggs again - then you probably shouldn't look at how those chickens or eggs are produced. They usually come from conditions like these: Factory farms where they're crammed - two to three chickens to a cage. Cages that aren't even big enough for the chicken to fully turn around. Cages that are constantly rubbing against the chickens - causing feather loss and huge open wounds. Cages where chickens are forced to lay in their own excrement - contract diseases - then are slaughtered and end up on your dining room table. It's all pretty disgusting stuff. But now - Senators on Capitol Hill are debating ways to clean it up - or at least inject a little humanity into the chicken and egg industry. The United Egg Producers and the Humane Society have found rare common agreement on new legislation that would require farmers to use larger cages for the egg-laying hens - cages that allow the hens to at least fully turn around. The new law would apply to all egg producers around the nation - and would be implemented over the next 18 years - a more than reasonable time frame. But - there are some on Capitol Hill who are unhappy with the law. One - is a lobbying organization known as the Egg Farmers of America, a shadowy interest group that no one seems to know much about.