Has the American public finally wised up to Wanniski's and Reagan's Two Santas scam, even if they don't know the details or the backstory? The media refers to it as a debate around the debt ceiling, but it's actually far simpler than that. And entirely political.

Back in November, a few weeks after House Republicans won the election and seized control of that body, I wrote to you warning that the House Republicans would try the same scam that Ronald Reagan first rolled out in the 1980s. I wrapped the article up with the "hope that Democratic politicians and our media will, finally, call the GOP out on Wanniski's and Reagan's Two Santa Clauses scam."

So far, no soap. I haven't heard a single mention of Two Santas in the mainstream media, and I'll bet you haven't, either. That's the bad news.

The good news — perhaps — is that the scam has lost its sting after working so well for them for 42 years. President Biden and House Democrats are standing firm, saying they have no intention of negotiating around the debt ceiling with terrorists threatening to destroy our economy.

But even if it's the last gasp of this scam, it appears House Republicans plan to go out with a bang. So let's quickly review how Two Santas works.

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

Friday's Daily Stack

Article: "Are We Seeing the Last Gasp of the GOP's Two Santa Claus Scam?" by Thom Hartmann.

Tweet: "For context, roughly 25% of our total national debt incurred over the last 230 years actually occurred during the 4 years of the Trump administration. That's right. 25% of our entire national debt, all during the Trump years." by David Jolly.

Article: "Don't Blame Supply-Siders" by Jude Wanniski.

Article: "Wanniski-ism, RIP" by David Warsh.

Article: "Republicans Prepare to Attack America with Santa Claus" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Party Government Since 1857" by Office of the Historian.

Article: "Learning from the Bear Market of 1973-1974" by Jason Zweig.

Article: "How Much Did the Bush Tax Cuts Cost in Forgone Revenue?" by Tax Foundation.

Article: "Jude Wanniski: Taxes and a Two-Santa Theory" by Bruce Bartlett.

Article: "Costs of the 20-year war on terror: $8 trillion and 900,000 deaths" by Jill Kimball.

Article: "Top News Stories from 1976" by Infoplease.

Article: "Trump's Fiscal Legacy: A Comprehensive Overview of Spending, Taxes, and Deficits" by Brian Riedl.

Article: "Was Nearly 25% of the US National Debt Incurred During Trump Administration?" by Alex Kasprak.

Article: "Advocates say 'hell no' as Manchin pitches Social Security deal with GOP" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "How Clinton Balanced the Budget" by Joe Conason.

Article: "Public debt of the United States from 1990 to 2022 " by Statista.

Article: "U.S. military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan as of October 2021, by state" by Statista.

Article: "Jude Wanniski, 1936-2005" by George Gilder.

Article: "David Crosby of Crosby, Stills & Nash dies at 81" by Jill Lances.

Tweet: "Anti-Abortion protestors get violent when I say the quiet part out loud" by Walter Masterson.

Article: "What You Need to Know About 'Chained CPI'" by Sho Chandra.

Article: "Standard & Poor's Downgrades US Credit Rating From AAA to AA+" by Michael S. James, Dan Arnall, Steven Portnoy, Susanna Kim, Jake Tapper.

Article: "14th Amendment section 4, July 9, 1868 "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned."

Article: "Advocates say 'hell no' as Manchin pitches Social Security deal with GOP" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform" (Bowles-Simpson/Simpson-Bowles) by Wikipedia.

Article: "United States debt ceiling" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The US government just hit its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling — triggering fears of a nasty fallout for Americans. Here are 3 ways it could hurt you" by Bethan Moorcraft.

Article: "Psst: You want to know who leaked the Supreme Court's Dobbs opinion?" by Robert Reich.

Article: "Michael Cohen (lawyer)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in prison" by Tom Winter, Adam Reiss, Chloe Atkins and Dareh Gregorian.

Article: "Kaiser Family Foundation" by Wikipedia.

Video: Julie Rovner on House Republican's Proposals on Social Security and Medicare.

Movie: "Blazing Saddles" (Cleavon Little aims his gun at his own head).

Book: The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy by Stephanie Kelton.

Book: The Hidden History of American Democracy: Rediscovering Humanity's Ancient Way of Living by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 1 section 8 (Powers of Congress).

Article: "Cerabino: Woke or joke? Trying to feel the pain of straight, white men" by Frank Cerabino.

Article: "Ron DeSantis bans African American studies class from Florida high schools" by Abené Clayton.

Article: "DeSantis seeks information on trans university students".

Article: "Is the United States on the Verge of Civil War II?" by Robert C. Koehler.

Article: "'A Small Piece of American Freedom': Gun Show to Feature Kids' Rifle Inspired by AR-15" by Brett Wilkins.

Article: "Here's When to Take Down Your Christmas Tree" by Rebecca Norris.

Article: "What is Orthodox Christmas, and why is it in the spotlight this year?" by Sophie Tanno.

Article: "Mike Davis (scholar)" by Wikipedia.

Book: Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster by Mike Davis.

Book: Southern California: An Island on the Land by Carey McWilliams.

Site: End The Bribe System (incl. bumper stickers).

Book: Branding Democrats: A Top-to-Bottom Reimagining of Campaign Strategies by Ken Weber and Daryl Weber.

Article: "US Debt By President" by Self.

Article: "Janet Yellen" by Wikipedia.

Article: "David Crosby Boat: Musician's 66-Year-Old Beloved Boat "Mayan"" by Olivia Richard.

Article: "‘You Don't Negotiate With These Kinds of People'" by Thomas B. Edsall.

Article: "Don't Try to Appease Economic Terrorists" by Paul Krugman.

Article: "New study indicates wild blueberries improve brain's processing speed" by UNC Nutrition Research Institute.

Article: "McCarthy Jibe About Hitting Pelosi With Gavel Resurface After Speaker Vote" by Darragh Roche.

Article: "Jan. 6 defendant photographed with his feet on Pelosi's desk says he regrets going to the Capitol" by Daniel Barnes, Alec Rich and Dareh Gregorian.

Article: "An extinction event for the GOP" by Robert B. Hubbell.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Case: "First National Bank Of Boston V. Bellotti", 1978.

Article: "The Lewis Powell Memo: A Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy" by Lewis Powell.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Law: "Tillman Act of 1907".

Article: "'Democracy for All': House Dems Introduce Bill to Overturn Citizens United " by Julia Conley.

Article: "Nixon's Southern strategy" by James Boyd.

Article: "Ali Alexander ups his civil war with Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying he has evidence against her" by Walter Einenkel.

Video: Coldplay - Viva La Vida (Official Video).

Article: "Viva La Vida" by Wikipedia.

Song: "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire.

Article: "Trump says the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago home" by Kevin Breuninger, Dan Mangan.

Article: "'Biased And Corrupt' Trump Judge Defied Law In Assigning Special Master, Legal Expert Says" by Ron Dicker.

Article: "Police Fatally Shoot Atlanta Forest Defender During "Cop City" Protest — Everything to Know About This Movement" by Sophie Hirsh.

Article: "Protester Killed in Firefight at Site of New Atlanta Police Center" by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon and Rick Rojas.

Article: "Atlanta Police Kill Forest Defender at Protest Encampment Near Proposed "Cop City" Training Center" by Democracy Now!.

Article: "Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine announces he's running for reelection in 2024" by Ali Zaslav, Ted Barrett and Clare Foran.

Article: "‘We're all vulnerable': One in 10 people will end up with long COVID, new study says" by Ashleigh McMillan.

Article: "Sen. Tim Kaine, who suffers from long COVID-19 symptoms, pushes for research into treatments" by Scott MacFarlane.

Video: John Fetterman did better in Pennsylvania than Joe Biden in 2020.

Article: "Panama Papers" by Wikipedia.

Documentary: The Panama Papers.

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

I'll be debating the Debt Ceiling with Charles Sauer, Libertarian / Economist & President - The Market Institute / author of Profit Motive: What Drives the Things We Do / podcast Pardon My Parsing

Plus, I'll be talking with David "Dave" Neiwert, Investigative Journalist - Daily Kos / Author, 'Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us (2020) and, Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump about power substation attacks

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week for "we the people"

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