President Obama called on progressives yesterday to get out and get active ahead of the midterm elections. The President, speaking at the University of Wisconsin, told the cheering crowd "we cannot sit this one out. We cannot let this country fall back because the rest of us didn't stand up and fight." The President continued, "progress is going to come, but you've got to stick with me. You cannot lose heart." Given that he has so often compromised with Republicans and multinational corporations, and been afraid to take on great wealth and corporate power directly, and has totally failed to message his successes, it's doubtful that the President will be able to mobilize his main base of old-line boomer liberals, youth, and people of color, all who feel he's only done a half-assed job. On the other hand, as Obama almost comes close to implying, if his base doesn't show up and Republicans take control, America may well - and quickly - begin to look like Argentina in 2001, otherwise known as a total economic and social disaster.

-Thom

Community Square

"Paladino, the Welfare King"

Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow urgently. Please help if you can.

The Daily Stack

Quote: "Here is my final point. About drugs, about alcohol, about pornography and smoking and everything else. What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I bed, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" -- Bill Hicks.

Hour One: Corporate money pours in, in attempt to buy seat for DeFazio opponent... With Congressman Peter DeFazio.

Site: "Who is Art Robinson?"

Article: "Rep. Peter DeFazio Turns The Tables, Confronts Shadowy Conservative Group Running Attack Ads Against Him (VIDEO)" by Amanda Terkel.

Article: "White House set to change its tone" by Edward Luce.

(One Nation) Fixing the Senate filibuster abuse With Darcy Burner, Executive Director, Progressive Congress dot org.

Article: "Fix the Senate. End the filibuster.

Twilight Zone alert: "Frantic Tweets About 7.0 Earthquake -- Tomorrow" by Joe Eskenazi.

Article: "Hey, citizens, guess who's really taking the initiative" by Danny Westneat.

More corporate $ malfeasance... Zaid Jilani, Reporter/Blogger at the Center for American Progress, joins Thom.

Article: "EXCLUSIVE: Corporate Execs, GOP Firm Launch Stealth Ballot Campaign Against Georgia Workers’ Rights" by Zaid Jilani.

Article: "The An-Tea Party" by Eli.

Article: "Amendment One: "It's a Damned Lie"" by Jeff Hullinger.

Hour Two: TP'ers want to take the country back...but from who??? Thom has a rumble with Dan Gainor, Vice President and T. Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Business and Media Institute.

Article: "The Richest People In America" by Luisa Kroll.

Article: "Project Vote Releases New Poll on Voters' Views on Government".

Article: "Left Calls in the Cavalry, but Forgets They are the Bad Guys" by Dan Gainor.

Article: "Obama's Wars: Bob Woodward tells the inside story of President Obama’s Afghan strategy review" by Bob Woodward.

Book: "Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country" by Thom Hartmann, coming out in October.

Article: "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation chapter 5, On Wages" by David Ricardo.

Site: "Free Speech TV".

Hour Three: "Restoring the American Dream: The Defining Voice in the Movement for Liberty" Thom talks to Robert Ringer, author of three #1 bestsellers and a columnist for WorldNetDaily.

Book: "The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience" by Kirstin Downey.

Article: "Coburn Holding Up Millions Of Dollars In Aid For Haiti Earthquake Survivors Over Obscure Objection " by Zaid Jilani.

One Nation Thom talks to Hilary Shelton, NAACP Director of Washington Bureau/SVP of Policy and Advocacy.

Site: "Tea Party Tracker".

Coming up Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program

Hour One: "Brunch With Bernie". Senator Bernie Sanders, (I-VT) spends the hour with Thom discussing the issues and answering listener questions. And yes, it is Thursday today!

Hour Two: What can America learn from Russia on foreign relations? Thom speaks with Irish Journalist Eamonn Fingleton, author of "In the Jaws of the Dragon", calling from Moscow.

Making education work for our kids Thom speaks with Beth Glenn, Director of Education with the NAACP.

Hour Three: One Nation: what has happened to working people,, and Thom talks with SEIU President Mary Kay Henry (Service Employees International Union).

(One Nation) Making the right choice on election day for future generations Thom talks with Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Liz Shuler (Service Employees International Union).

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

The Thom Hartmann Program... your media support group for we the people.

Read an excerpt here, and buy the book!

Watch the 2nd & 3rd hours and a special half hour on

Free Speech TV!

By threatening to relocate, companies can be aggressive in getting local governments to offer tax breaks that are never offered for local, small businesses.. For example, by the time the decision was announced on May 10, 2001, that Boeing had chosen to move to Chicago from Seattle, the New York Times reported that the winning destination had “promised tax breaks and incentives that could total $60 million” to seal the deal. “No new jobs are created in the process” of most of these sorts of tax breaks, according to former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich, quoted in the New York Times. “They’re merely moved around. Meanwhile, the public spends a fortune subsidizing these companies. But there’s no way that mayors or governors can withstand the heat once a major company announces it is thinking about leaving.”

So how do we stop multinationals from squeezing major subsidies out of local and state governments to move their operations there, or sometimes simply to continue to stay in their town or state (and threaten to move elsewhere if they are not offered subsidies)?

Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent from Vermont, suggested a simple solution on my radio show in 2008: “Just pass a law denying federal highway matching funds to any state that participates” in these efforts by corporations to play one state off against another.

Read about other ways in chapter three, "Stop Them from Eating My Town!" Order Rebooting the American Dream now! (On Kindle too)

Oct 2 - Washington, DC:
One Nation March. Join Thom as he covers the event for Free Speech TV from 11am - until 5p with Laura Flanders at the Lincoln Memorial...come say hello and get ready to march!

Libertarian Wayne Root says - President Obama's real agenda is super secret scary...socialism?!

Sheriff Joe Arpaio agrees with Thom - let's throw some rich white guys in jail!

Paperback out now!

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