That's what Justice Department Attorney Mike Underhill argued yesterday, in the first phase of the trial that could force the oil giant to pay tens of billions more in damages for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster.

The sequester deadline is March 1st, and there's only four days until Republican austerity measures start to kick in. President Obama released new reports Sunday, which detail how spending cuts will harm each state, and he continues to call on Congress to find a way to avoid the sequester. The Republicans were hard at work too.

Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE 3-6pm ET M-F!

Anything Goes on Townhall Friday

Hour One: Thom has a conversation about manufacturing, jobs, and the sequester with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Hour Two: SCOTUS reviews Voting Rights Act plus the Sequestration deadline - Joe Madison, The Joe Madison Show

With the sequester deadline only a week away and Congress no closer to reaching a deal to prevent austerity, Republicans are changing tactics. They've spent the last month blaming President Obama for the looming cuts, but Americans didn't buy it, so now they're saying the sequester is really no big deal.

Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE 3-6pm ET M-F!

Hour One: Fox News...5 against 1? John Fugelsang

Hour Two: Profits up, pay down & no raise for you...what's wrong with this picture? Economist Harry Veryser, "It Didn't Have To Be This Way"

Hour Three: Will the Supreme Court dismantle our vote?

Extreme wealth inequality. And according to a new paper from Thomas Hungerford at the Congressional Research Service, capital gains and dividend tax loopholes are responsible for our nation's unequal income divide. Capital gains and investments used to be taxed like regular income, but they were lowered once in 1996, and again by the Bush tax cuts.

Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE 3-6pm ET M-F!

Hour One: You've met the birthers, the truthers and the Fockers...now meet the Simpson-Bowlers

Hour Two: Equal pay...equal paid leave? Kay Hymowitz, Manhattan Institute

Hour Three: Invasion of Iraq...10 years ago...'mission accomplished?' Cliff May, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

At least, 26 Republican-leaning states sure do. Despite over 30 attempts to repeal Obamacare, and Tenth-er arguments for social programs to be run by the states, 26 states haven't set up their insurance exchanges – leaving it up to the federal government.

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Hour One: Media cover up on the plan to burn Dorner alive... Max Blumenthal

Hour Two: The REAL reason the GOP is pushing for sequester - Jamie Weinstein, The Daily Caller

Hour Three: Could a new monetary system save America...and the world? Professor Steve Keen, Economist

Today, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles will put out a new deficit-reduction plan. The pair served on President Obama's fiscal commission in 2010, and presented a plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff – a plan that was so focused on austerity, that 350 economists co-wrote and published a letter rejecting it. And Simpson-Bowles are at it again.

Trying to accomplish the long list of goals he set for his second term. Just since his State of the Union speech, less than a week ago, he's already put forward a plan for universal preschool, called on Congress to vote on gun regulations, and now he's tackling immigration.

Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE 3-6pm ET M-F!

Anything Goes on Townhall Friday

Hour One: Keeping Ins. Co's from bankrupting sick people - Corey Dubin, Committee of Ten Thousand

Hour Two: Meet the 102 year old face of voter suppression...

40 Republican Senators made history yesterday, and refused to allow Chuck Hagel's confirmation to come to a vote. Only four Republicans, Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), voted to break the filibuster, and the final vote was 58 to 40.

Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE 3-6pm ET M-F!

Hour One: "Brunch With Bernie" (special edition) - Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) takes your calls

Hour Two: What would Davy Crockett Say? Karl P. Koenigs / Plus, Geeky Science Rocks - What can romantic jays teach us on Valentine's Day?