Republicans are already plotting their next opportunity to take our nation hostage. At his weekly press conference, John Boehner said the GOP will refuse to raise the debt ceiling in May, if the president doesn't agree to more spending cuts. President Obama already agreed to cuts in the fiscal cliff deal totaling $1.5 trillion over the next decade. And the sequester will cut an additional $1.2 trillion over that same period. But, that's not enough for Republicans.

The last time the GOP played political games with the debt limit, economic growth slowed in our nation, and citizens and businesses alike faced increased borrowing costs, but that doesn't concern the Speaker of the House. According to Boehner, Republicans plan to wage economic terrorism again, unless the President agrees to cut spending dollar-for-dollar with the debt ceiling increase.

So, unless Obama is willing to further devastate our economy with Republican austerity, John Boehner and House Republicans won't let him pay the bills that they racked up. The debt ceiling does not authorize more spending. It only allows the President to pay for spending that the House has already approved.

This is simply economic terrorism... and it's no way to run a government. Call John Boehner's office and tell him to stop playing political games with our economy.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Free excerpt, read book for free at Truthout, buy the book!

Thursday's Daily Stack

Article: "Democrats try and fail to force passage of conservative GOP budget plan" by Ed O'Keefe.

Site: New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV).

Site: Hunter School.

Site: Salem International.

Article: "In Bi-Partisan vote, New Hampshire State House calls for a U.S. constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United" by Peter Schurman.

Site: Move to Amend

Article: "How A Path To Citizenship For Undocumented Immigrants Would Boost The American Economy" by Travis Waldron.

Article: "Viral Video Shows the Extent of U.S. Wealth Inequality" by Charlie White.

Article: "Grand bargain could be grand sellout" by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Article: "The Kids Will Be Rich, Unless Peter Peterson’s Kids Take Their Money" by Dean Baker.

Article: "Why America's middle class is losing ground" by Tami Luhby.

Article: "The Richest 1 Percent Have Captured 121 Percent Of Income Gains During The Recovery" by Pat Garofalo.

Article: "The One Percent Gobbled Up the Recovery, Too. In fact, it put the 99 percent back in recession" by Timothy Noah.

Article: "U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Plunges To 40 Year Low Of 12.1 Percent" by Pat Garofalo .

Article: "While Corporate Profits Are At 60-Year High, Main Street Businesses Continue To Struggle" by Travis Waldron.

Article: "U.S. Corporations Haven’t Been Paying The Full Corporate Tax Rate For 45 Years" by Pat Garofalo.

Article: "26 Major Corporations Paid No Corporate Income Tax For The Last Four Years, Despite Making Billions In Profits" by Pat Garofalo.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

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

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

Article: "Chapter One: Bring My Job Home!" of "Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Make Members of Congress Wear NASCAR Patches" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "White House petition: Put NASCAR patches on politicos" by Sam Wood.

Article: "Icelandic bank Kaupthing's top executives indicted over market rigging" by Simon Bowers.

Immigration & economic challenges in the Latino community
- Tavis Smiley, Host-The Tavis Smiley Show and Smiley & West (w/Dr. Cornel West) / Author of 16 books, latest "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto"

Hour Two: What would happen if we didn't have regulations?
- Andrew Smith, COO, Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corporation / author of "Sand in the Gears: How Public Policy Has Crippled American Manufacturing".

Book: "Sand in the Gears: How Public Policy Has Crippled American Manufacturing" by Andrew Smith.

Book: "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein.

Article: "The Great American Bubble Machine" by Matt Taibbi.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "Obama’s Call For Peace Is Well-Received By Israeli Students" by Geoff Holtzman.

Article: "Obama Heckled During Speech To Israeli Students (VIDEO)" by Nick Abrams.

Article: "High praise served to Barack Obama at Israeli state dinner " by Alistair Dawber.

Article: "Barack Obama visits holocaust memorial in Israel".

Article: "Rep. Karen Bass Introduces Student Loan Fairness Act of 2013" by Adriana Maestas.

Article: "Lawmakers fear cyber attacks will negatively impact the U.S. economy" by Steph Dingbaum.

Article: "Reid Again Hints At Changing Rules Amid GOP Filibuster" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "Enough of the threats, Reid and Durbin. Just do filibuster reform." by Joan McCarter.

The good: "Gay penguin pair become parents" by Christian Wenande.

The bad: "Utah school kids asked to celebrate fossil fuels and mining on Earth Day" by Ryan Koronowski.

The very, very ugly: "Lincoln Journal, West Virginia Paper, Prints Anonymous Rant Claiming Gays, Minorities Be Put To Death" by Meredith Bennett-Smith.

Article: "GOP Congressman: ‘The Best Thing About The Earth Is If You Poke Holes In It Oil And Gas Come Out’" by Zack Beauchamp.

Article: Tax Cuts: The B.S. and the Facts By Larry Beinhart, November 11, 2008.

Quote: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." -- John Kenneth Galbraith.

Article: "Native American Lawmaker To Anti-Immigrant Kansas Official: ‘When You Mention Illegal Immigrant, I Think Of All Of You’" by Scott Keyes.

Movie: "Django Unchained".

Article: "Wall Street Deregulation Garners Bipartisan Support Despite Devastating JPMorgan Report " by Zach Carter.

Article: "Labor Board Alleges Repeated Retaliation at Walmart's Top US Warehouse" by Josh Eidelson.

Article: "Hotel-Casino Workers Block Las Vegas Strip Traffic; Nearly 100 Arrested" by Carl Horowitz.

Article: "Barclays announces £38.5m bonuses on budget day" by Rupert Neate.

Article: "Chinese bowl found at garage sale fetches over $2.2 million at auction" by Reuters.

Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will be here with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...

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"...

We'll have all the latest news and information from the weekend...

Plus, Congress voted to keep Saturday mail delivery service but does this mean the USPS is saved? Far from it...I'll mix it up with Carrie Lukas of the Independent Women's Forum...

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"...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...