Sarah Ajith James, South Sudan Women's General Association & Mary Kojo Ali Sworo, Ministry of Gender, Child & Social Welfare join Thom. The world's newest country has begun the difficult task of nation building and the role that the women of South Sudan will play in the future of their country is at the forefront of meetings taking place here in Washington.

To understand the soul of the Republican Party - Thom examines Newt Gingrich's vision for America. At a time when the middle class is disappearing, with 1-in-2 Americans living in poverty or in low-income households - at a time when wealth inequality is at levels unseen since the Great Depression - at a time when student loan debt is topping a trillion bucks - this is the vision Republican's radical vision of rule by the rich - will be the death of the middle class in America as we know it. And that, is the death of America as we know it. And because all the Republicans pretty much agree with Newt, this is the choice we're all going to face next November, regardless of who is the Republican nominee. A lot of us - myself included - may be disappointed with Democrats - but there's absolutely no way we can let the 1 percent oligarchs who are banking on one of these Republican lapdogs win the White House.

The Good! Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer. The most senior Justice on Ohio's highest court went before state lawmakers yesterday - and pleaded with them to pass legislation banning the death penalty in the state. The Bad! Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The agency known as ICE - has kicked into high gear deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records. And the very, very ugly...John McCain. While most of the nation is relieved that the Iraq war is now over and US troops are finally coming home - war hawk Senator John McCain is upset.

In this week's addition of Geeky Science - Thom explains why one of our founding fathers was way ahead of this time with his diet

Thom rants about why even though the war in Iraq has ended, there is another full fledge war occurring in America against the middle class.

Andy Kroll, Mother Jones Magazine joins Thom Hartmann. The recall Governor Scott Walker effort in Wisconsin is about to hit an important milestone. Today - the United Wisconsin coalition - one of the main organizers of the recall campaign - announced that more than 507000 signatures have already been collected - meaning organizers need less than 35000 signatures now to officially trigger a recall election. And they still have more than a month to collect the remaining signatures. That's bad news for Scott Walker. Scott Walker is learning a lesson - and so too should other Republican governors who've gone after union workers - like John Kasich in Ohio and Chris Christie in New Jersey. And that lesson is: Don't mess with working people.

John Knefel, independent journalist & co-host of Radio Dispatch joins Thom Hartmann. What's it like being a political prisoner of the United States? Thom gets the inside story of one journalist's harrowing ordeal in police custody alongside Occupy Wall Street patriots.

Jesse LaGreca, Journalist/OWS participant & Sam Sacks, Political Writer / Progressive Strategist join Thom. The media narrative has completely shifted since OWS - from talking about debt to talking about jobs and inequality - so what's next for OWS to keep up the pressure - especially during winter? TIME magazine just named the protester the "person" of the year - and the right was outraged that OWS was compared to the Arab Spring - are they comparable - is this part of a global backlash? Where does the Tea Party fit in this dynamic now? They've largely disappeared, how do you explain that?

The New numbers from the census are grim - 1-in-2 Americans - half the nation - are living in poverty or low-income lifestyles - A survey of 29 mayors around America found that 1-in-4 Americans in need of food assistance did not receive any help. - Since the banksters wrecked our economy three years ago - 4 million homes have been foreclosed on - and each year more than one-and-a-half million children ended up homeless. An article says: "If wages were at their postwar average rate of 63 percent, workers would earn $740bn this year, about $5000 per worker." Can you imagine what an extra 5000 bucks would do to the average family falling out of the middle class? The money is there - but it's been transferred from the working class to the investing class. This is theft.

Let's never again let a war-criminal president drive us into a war just to up his approval numbers. And now let's remember that we are still fighting a full-fledged war in Afghanistan. We are still fighting a slew of covert wars in far off places around the world - from Pakistan - to Somalia - to Yemen. And we still have an empire of 900 military bases all over the planet. We still have a long way to go to escape one of our founding fathers James Madison's greatest fear when he said, "Of all the enemies of true liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other...No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." His warning is jsut as relevant today as it was when he said 200 years ago. But with one war down - maybe we can begin focusing on the crisis here at home. The crisis that still threatens our economy which is massive unemployment - and the death of the middle class...

Thom debates his conservative guests about the extension of the payroll tax cut, China implementing trade tariffs on American cars, and Ron Paul's stance in the Republican Presidential nominee race.

Christmas came early for Conservatives who hate government. This week - a new Gallup Poll came out showing 64% of Americans fear "Big Government." So needless to say - GOP TV - aka Fox so-called News jumped on the story and plastered it across their airwaves all day long. In fact - I was invited on the Fox Business Channel to talk about it. And I actually agreed - I fear big government too...at least the sort of big government George W. Bush and Republicans brought us. But wait...there's more! Republicans missed what this Gallup Poll really pointed out about Big Business & labor.

The Good! TIME magazine. TIME named its 2011 "Person of the Year" to be the protester. The Bad! Christine O'Donnell. The "I'm not a witch" Republican Senate candidate from Delaware is trying to soak up the last fifteen minutes of fame - going on CNN this morning to defend her endorsement of Mitt Romney for President. O'Donnell trumpeted praise on Mitt saying he is, "consistent." And the very, very ugly...Chuck E. Cheese. According to the San Francisco Chronicle - nine Chuck E. Cheese restaurants in the Bay Area have been fined by the US Department of Labor for violating federal child labor laws.

David Cobb, Move to Amend joins Thom Hartmann. Thanks to the Occupy Wall Street movement - corporate personhood - something I wrote a book about a decade ago when no one knew what the heck I was talking about - is now a topic EVERYONE is talking about. This month - the City Council of Los Angeles unanimously passed a resolution calling on Congress to amend the Constitution and strip corporations of their personhood. Other cities and counties have taken similar actions including Boulder, Colorado - Missoula, Montana - Madison, Wisconsin - Dane County, Wisconsin - and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And now Democrats in Congress have introduced several amendments tackling corporate personhood. Most recently - Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont introduced an amendment to the constituion overturning the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling - and saying that corporations are not people - and money is not speech. It's the first Constitutional Amendment introduced by Senator Sanders in two decades in office. So where do we the ACTUAL people stand today in the battle against corporate personhood?