Bob Baugh, Industrial Union Council-AFL-CIO joins Thom Hartmann. The state of our economy is on a volatile, unpredictable path...but you can't say President Obama wasn't forewarned! Democratic Underground.com just posted a letter that was sent to the President nearly one year ago - back in September of 2010 - written by 300 of the most renowned economists in the country warning the President to focus on job creation and not austerity measures. The letter read: "A turn by major governments away from the promotion of growth and jobs and to premature focus on deficit reduction could slow growth and increase unemployment - and could push us back into recession." The letter then goes on to highlight a lesson learned from the Great Depression - reading: "History suggests that a tenuous recovery is no time to practice austerity. In the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal generated growth and reduced the unemployment rate from 25 percent in 1932 to less than 10 percent in 1937. However, the deficit hawks of that era persuaded President Roosevelt to reverse course prematurely and move toward budget balance. The result was a severe recession that caused the economy to contract sharply and sent the unemployment rate soaring. Only the much larger wartime spending of the early 1940s produced a full recovery." So has President Obama fallen into this same austerity trap - and at the risk of our economic recovery? And if so - what needs to be done to put us back on track?

With the economy once again in free-fall - President Obama is desperately trying to pivot the debate in Washington to jobs - where it should have been since the day he was sworn into office. As our economy tanks - more and more American CEOs are doing just that - shipping their operations overseas to economies that - unlike here in America - are actually booming and pay their workers far less. That's exactly what former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe is doing - he's opening up a car factory in China.

It's YOUR chance to share your questions, comments, rants and observations with Thom.

In an effort to bring greater clarity to future online conversations - three New York interns have created a new font called "Sartalics."

Bike sharing, Donald Trump and Judson Phillips.

Graeme Zielinksi, Communications Director, The Democratic Party of Wisconsin, joins Thom Hartmann. Judgment day for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's agenda is fast approaching. It's the largest recall election this nation has ever seen - Democrats need to win 3 of the 6 races to take control of the state senate and put the brakes on Scott Walker's anti-union agenda for good. But Republicans - and their fat cat campaign donors - aren't going down without a fight. Spending on the recall elections has topped $33 million - breaking a previous record of election spending set in 2008 when $20 million was spent - and that was when every single Assembly person and half of all the state senators were up for election. This time - there are only 9 elections - and most of the money is coming from outside groups like the Koch brother-funded "AmericanS for Prosperity," Karl Rove's group - as well as unknown donors. Thank you Citizens United. Many of the races are neck and neck. So what's going to happen today?

The S&P 500 index fell 666 - that's 6.66 percent. In movies, the hostage is always rescued by the good cops. In real life, sometimes the hostage dies

Leo Hindery, InterMedia Partners LP, joins Thom. Last week - Speaker of the House John Boehner bragged that he got 98% of what he wanted in the debt-limit deal that didn't explicitly raise ANY taxes on millionaires, billionaires, and corporations. Since then - the markets have gone into cardiac arrest and our credit rating has been downgraded - mainly because there were no revenue raisers in Boehner's deal. As the S&P report said, "We have changed our assumption...because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act." Maybe Speaker Boehner should be reconsidering his words. So will that do it? Will closing tax loopholes on the rich - and cutting into Medicare - calm the markets - satisfy credit rating agencies - and turn our economy around?

Richard Wolff, Economist joins Thom. The Dow continued its plunge to end up down 634 points for the day. It was the largest one-day loss since the financial crisis in 2008. And it was the sixth largest point drop in the history of the Dow Jones. And the first time since last November that the market closed below 11000 points. Meanwhile, the guy who engineered the Republican hostage-taking that S&P credits for driving down our credit rating - Eric Cantor - is telling his Republican colleagues that they need to stick together and keep holding the American economy hostage by refusing to even cut the billionaire private jet tax loophole. So...just how bad will things get in a new AA-plus rated America? And who's to blame?

The Dow Jones takes another nosedive sparking financial fears across the world. Are we headed for a double dip recession? Thom talks to economists Richard Wolff and Leo Hindery about what we can expect next. Then the war on democracy is taking place in the badger state. In what's considered the most expensive recall election, Wisconsin Democrats will soon find out if they'll take back control of the state senate. Plus sarcasm hits the internet. Thom shows us how to understand 'sartalics'. Plus Free Trade in America is a complete scam! Thom breaks it down in his Daily Take.

Former US Congressman, author and CEO of 'Common Cause', Dr. Bob Edgar, joins Thom for the first half hour of "Conversations with Great Minds". They discuss how Dr. Edgar's nonprofit and nonpartisan government watchdog organization is working to strengthen our democracy and make the US government more accountable. In the second half of the show Thom discusses the GOPs hostage takeover tactics used to get its' way in the Weekly Rumble

The consequences of this corporate takeover are clear. Thanks to lobbying cash used to defeat regulations - we suffered from the BP oil spill last year. And we were swamped by the Wall Street financial crisis in 2008. And we drown in an endless stream of health insurance abuses year in and year out that have kicked more than 53 million Americans out of the US healthcare system. Corporations - with their Supreme Court-given powers of personhood - are devouring our nation - and making mountains of money in the process. And as our Declaration of Independence instructs - when an institution's behavior, "becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it...as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness." It's time to listen to Jefferson and abolish the institution of corporate personhood. Tell your legislators - move to amend the Constitution now!

The Big Picture Rumble with Brian Darling, Human Events, Joe Madison, The Joe Madison Show &Heather Cirmo, Conservative Strategist join Thom Hartmann.

Bob Edgar joins Thom Hartmann tonight for Conversations with Great Minds. He has an extraordinary resume: author, pastor, former Congressman and CEO of the non-profit organization "Common Cause." We'll discuss his time in office and the issues he's now taking on of war, peace, and the corruption of the Supreme Court.

Bob Edgar joins Thom Hartmann tonight for Conversations with Great Minds. He has an extraordinary resume: author, pastor, former Congressman and CEO of the non-profit organization "Common Cause." We'll discuss his time in office and the issues he's now taking on of war, peace, and the corruption of the Supreme Court.