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Full Show 7/2/12: GOP Plan to Kill Obamacare

Thom looks at the GOP plan to repeal Obamacare and whether he thinks it will work. Also discussed: the latest Climate Change induced weather hitting the US, Japan's absurd and dangerous decision to start reactivating nuclear reactors and in tonight's "Daily Take" Thom discusses why the US should follow Ireland and scrap our voting machines.

Can Republicans now easily repeal Obamacare?

Over the past month, Chief Justice John Roberts may have changed his mind on Obamacare. CBS news is reporting that Roberts initially sided with the Conservatives on the court to strike down the entirety of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, before changing his mind and switching sides a few weeks ago to uphold the law. According to CBS, Roberts kept a close eye on media coverage of the court leading up to the decision - and one source close to the court suggested that Roberts may have changed his vote to keep the court's reputation intact. But ultimately, Roberts did Conservatives a huge favor whether they realize it or not. By upholding Obamacare, Roberts kept in place the for-profit health insurance system, which could have been overturned in a few years, had the healthcare crisis in America continued without action. And - most importantly - by designating the individual mandate as a tax, Roberts gave Republicans a chance to repeal Obamacare through reconciliation - meaning Republicans would only need a simple majority in the Senate to get rid of the law - no filibuster allowed.

Full Show 6/29/12: Conversations with Great Minds: Jared Genser

Thom talks with activist and author Jared Genser in tonight's "Conversations with Great Minds." Tonight's "Big Picture Rumble" panel discusses the Supreme Court's decision on Obamacare, the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder and Congress' passing of the student loan bill. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom previews what the Right will do with the court's passing of Obamacare.

The Big Picture Rumble: Obamacare - constitutional or a sign of the apocalypse?

Brian Darling, Heritage Foundation & Sam Sacks, progressive commentator & SE Robinson, Freelance Journalist join Thom Hartmann. Yesterday - the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare - a law that will help the lives of millions of Americans. But - despite it's wide impact - Republicans are still full steam ahead when it comes to repealing the law. Why? That and more in tonight's Big Picture Rumble...

Conversations w/Great Minds - Jared Genser - The Responsibility to Protect? P2

Jared Genser, Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, LLC. He is also founder of Freedom Now, an independent non-profit organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide / Co-Editor (w/Irwin Cotler) "The Responsibility to Protect: The Promise of Stopping Mass Atrocities in Our Times" and author of the forthcoming, "The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Commentary and Guide to Practice." As the world's largest superpower - does the US always have a moral obligation to take military action to stop human rights atrocities?

Is Obamacare the Right's new Roe v. Wade?

If you think the Supreme Court's ruling that Obamacare is constitutional is the end of the debate, think again. This is one of those cases where history has a HUGE lesson to teach us. Back before 1973, abortion was illegal nationwide. I'm old enough to remember a girl in my highschool in Lansing, Michigan who, in 1967, died of sepsis from an illegal abortion. One day she was there, and a week later she was dead. Her dad worked at Oldsmobile and had health insurance, but it didn't cover abortions because they were illegal. The rich girls had their parents get them a D&C operation in the hospital, and everybody knew that when a 17-year-old girl was "getting a D&C," it was code for an early-term abortion. But this girl's parents didn't have the money to pay for a hospital procedure that wasn't covered by insurance, so she tried the coat hanger method, and died. Many people old enough to remember 1973 can tell you similar stories. Back in 1973, many, many Americans knew similar stories - for example, Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell had a clerk whose girlfriend died from a botched self-administered abortion, and Powell helped him cover it up. Which is why when the Supreme Court struck down the nation's anti-abortion laws in 1973 in Roe v. Wade, well over half of Americans agreed with the decision. So when Roe v. Wade was decided, Democrats figured that was the end of the issue. The Supreme Court had spoken. Let's move ahead, they said, and deal with bigger issues, like the ...

Conversations w/Great Minds - Jared Genser - The Responsibility to Protect? P1

Jared Genser, Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, LLC. He is also founder of Freedom Now, an independent non-profit organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide / Co-Editor (w/Irwin Cotler) "The Responsibility to Protect: The Promise of Stopping Mass Atrocities in Our Times" and author of the forthcoming, "The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Commentary and Guide to Practice." As the world's largest superpower - does the US always have a moral obligation to take military action to stop human rights atrocities?

9 Unelected Kings & Queens is our Biggest Challenge

Here's my take on Thursday's Supreme Court ruling...it never should have happened. Everything about Thursday, from Fox and CNN screwing up the ruling early on to the hours of punditry that followed to the competing speeches from Mitt Romney and President Obama, none of it should have happened. None of it should have happened because our democracy settled this issue more than two years ago when after a year of debate our elected Members of Congress passed Obamacare with a majority in both the House and the Senate, and that law was signed by our elected President of the United States.That's how our democracy works. We elect people to write and pass laws, and then we keep electing them or we elect someone else to do the same job. But what happened Thursday was not an exercise in democracy - it was an exercise in monarchy. Despite our democracy settling this issue, here we all were two years later waiting to hear from the modern day Oracles at Delphi. Our news media, our elected politicians, and the tens of millions of Americans who finally had some reprieve thanks to Obamacare, were forced to wait at the steps of the Supreme Court building where nine unelected justices would, like kings and queens, give their ultimate say about the trivial concerns of the People. What happened today reveals a deep flaw in our system of government - a flaw that was created more than 200 years ago.

The Good, The Bad and the Very Very Acataleptically Ugly!

The Good! *Chicago City Council* Yesterday - the city council voted 43 to 2 to "decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana." The Bad! *Gilles Simon* It looks like the war on women has spread to the world of sports. Earlier this week during the famed Wimbledon tennis tournament in England - male tennis star Gilles Simon said that he believes women tennis players should be paid less than men - because watching male tennis players play is "more attractive." And the Very Very Ugly! *Federal Judge Robert Hinkle* Florida Gov. Rick Scott can continue with his voter purge of thousands of eligible Floridian voters - or at least that's what Judge Hinkle said yesterday. Hinkle rejected the Justice Department's request for a temporary order to suspend the voter purge.

Does Roberts calling the mandate a tax give the right a political weapon?

Mike Papantonio, Attorney/Ring of Fire Radio joins Thom Hartmann. One consequence of today's Supreme Court ruling is that the individual mandate - the linchpin of Obamacare - was redefined by Chief Justice John Roberts as a tax. As in - if someone doesn't buy health insurance - Congress has the power to tax that person. So despite suffering a huge defeat - Conservatives have latched on to this definition of the individual mandate as a tax - in order to criticize President Obama. Speaker of the House John Boehner has scheduled another vote to repeal Obamacare. It's a clown-vote, bro. So what are the political implications moving forward?

China's middle class grows while America's disappears

Eamonn Fingleton, Economics writer; Author of "In the Jaws of the Dragon" joins Thom Hartmann. In America - the income for the bottom 90 percent of Americans has decreased over the last decade. In China - income for an average family has increased tenfold since 1980. Is the middle class in China really booming - and if so - what should Americans learn from China's economic growth?

The conspiracy theory - 2 black guys in the WH trying to take away white people's guns

Just hours after the Obamacare decision - House Republicans voted to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt of Congress. Was there any merit to the vote - or was it just another political stunt from the Right - and an embarrassment for the nation?

Does Obamacare Lead to Single Payer Eventually?

No doubt that this is a victory for President Obama - but is it a slam-dunk victory for Progressives who want to eventually have a single-payer healthcare system? Ultimately what happened today was the Supreme Court reinforced our current healthcare system, which relies on private, for-profit health insurance companies. Today - the United States spends far more than any other developed nation on healthcare - yet doesn't get any better healthcare results from all that spending. And that's because - unlike the rest of the developed world - we rely on for-profit corporations to administer healthcare in America. And since CEOs need huge bonuses to buy new summer mansions - the price of health insurance has to get jacked up. So what does Obamacare do to resolve this problem? What will our healthcare system look like now - after the Supreme Court has upheld the law? Here to answer that is...Wendell Potter - health care industry whistleblower.

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