It's increasingly looking like the economy is on the edge of crashing and that Trump's tax returns are going to show that he was only able to keep himself out of bankruptcy with loans from Deutsche Bank, engineered by the son of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and cosigned by Russian oligarchs. If this trifecta hits, and Republicans realize that Trump threatened Anthony Kennedy off the Supreme Court, that Trump is wholly owned by foreign billionaires, and the economy starts to go south in a big way, the question Republicans are going to face is: "Do we lose 49 states on election day and lose control of the Senate, or do we figure out a way to replace Trump on the 2020 ticket?"

We're getting close to an existential crisis and decision point for the Republican Party. Will they continue to be the party of corrupt American and foreign oligarchs with a base fueled by racist right wing hate, or will they "move left" and become a functioning American political party again as they were under the last honest Republican president, Dwight Eisenhower? If the former, they may go the way of the Whigs, or America may cease to be a functioning republic and become a full out oligarchy.

If the Republicans decide to ditch their billionaire owners, and stop trying to rig elections, they may lose a few elections in the short term, but save the nation in the long term.

-Thom

Wednesday's Daily Stack

Tweet: "Trump is announcing a partnership with Bed Bug and Beyond." by Jesse Lifson.

Article: "Tax expert David Cay Johnston warns Russian oligarchs may not be the only foreigners co-signing Trump's loans" by Bob Brigham.

Article: "Trump's business career is more connected to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy than we ever knew" by Grace Panetta.

Article: "Who Is Justice Anthony Kennedy's Son? Justin Kennedy & Trump Reportedly Know Each Other Well" by Monica Hunter-Hart.

Article: "Russian oligarch bombshell would 'make impeachment proceedings absolutely inevitable': NBC analyst" by Bob Brigham.

Article: "Did Anthony Kennedy Resign from the Supreme Court to Protect His Son?" by David Mikkelson.

Article: "Exclusive: Falwell steered Liberty University land deal benefiting his personal trainer" by Aram Roston, Joshua Schneyer.

Article: "Markets provide an unambiguous signal that investors expect recession" by Dion Rabouin.

Article: "Federal Appeals Court Upholds Block On Indiana Voter Purge Crosscheck Law" by ACLU.

Quote: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being at the essence of getting the nominations for president or elected president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and Congress members. So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over'." - President Jimmy Carter on unlimited money in politics on the Thom Hartmann Program, 28 July 2015.

Article: "'Take the land': President Trump wants a border wall. He wants it black. And he wants it by Election Day." by Nick Miroff and Josh Dawsey.

Article: "MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell: President Trump's Deutsche Bank loans co-signed by Russian oligarchs" by Shira Tarlo.

Book: I Paid Hitler by Fritz Thyssen.

Article: "Poll: Dems more likely to support candidate who backs Medicare for All over fixing Obamacare" by Caitlin Oprysko.

Article: "Six women seeking Colorado Senate seat ask DSCC to reconsider endorsement of Hickenlooper" by John Wagner.

Article: "Millennials aren't ready for recession" by Axios.

Article: "Joe Biden's greatest betrayal: The one Senate vote that makes it hard to support a Biden run" by Bob Cesca.

Article: "Kurt Schrader" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Democrats seize on cherry-picked claim that 'Medicare-for-all' would save $2 trillion" by Glenn Kessler.

Site: New York Times

Site: Washington Post

Site: Raw Story

Site: Alternet

Site: Common Dreams

Article: "Sen. Bernie Sanders tweaks his "Medicare-for-All' plan to court union voters" by Thomas Barrabi.

Article: "Cyrus the Great in the Bible" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Cyrus the Great" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus" by Katherine Stewart.

Bible: "Matthew 25".

Bible: "Matthew 7".

Hour Two: Running Against the Koch Agenda
- Mark Gamba, Mayor of Milwaukie, OR (D) (formerly a professional photo journalist for 30 years) Running for Congress against Rep. Kurt Schraeder (D-OR, 5th Congressional District)

Twitter: "#womensequalityday".

Article: "Milwaukie mayor wants to take his climate agenda to Congress" by Emily Green.

Article: "Mark Gamba, Mayor of Milwaukie" by Haotian Wang.

Article: "Plastic Bag and Polystyrene Foam Ban" by City of Milwaukie.

Article: "Gamba's Gamble" by Blair Stenvick.

Article: "Antarctica's annual ice loss six times greater than 40 years ago, Nasa research shows" by Alex Matthews-King.

Article: "'Maybe it's a sign from God.' Midwest floods devastate Nebraska farmers." by Laura Reiley.

Video: "Concord Project GOTV - the importance of precinct committee members".

Video: "Concord Project GOTV - how you become a precinct committee member".

Article: "Why are Koch-funded activists trying to derail a US city's public transit?" by Evan Wyloge.

Article: "Phoenix votes no on Prop 105, clearing way for light rail expansion" by KTAR.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976

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

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

Article: "Electoral College" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by Wikipedia.

Article: "In Youngstown, an American city loses its only daily newspaper - and it won't be the last" by Joshua Benton.

Article: "So Youngstown will have a daily named The Vindicator after all. But it's a brand surviving, not a newspaper." by Joshua Benton.

Article: "Rupert Murdoch" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Oregonian" by Wikipedia.

Article: "5 Democratic US Senators file an amicus brief with SCOTUS. You should ALL read it. It's a #BFD" by Angela Marx.

Book: The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America by Thom Hartmann.

Quote: "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Book: Loving What You Do: The Elements of a Great Working Life by Ellen Ratner.

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Article: "September 2019 Israeli legislative election" by Wikipedia.

Article: "US won't release peace plan before Israel's elections, says envoy" by Reuters.

Article: "Trump plans to fast-track border wall construction ahead of 2020 election" by Rashaan Ayesh.

Article: "Trump tax returns: Deutsche Bank says it has financial records sought by Congress" by Brendan Pierson.

Article: "Trump Sues New York and Congress to Shield His State Tax Returns" by Nicholas Fandos and Jesse McKinley.

Hour Three: Issues of the Day
- Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA, 17th District)

Article: "Trump backs Bolsonaro on Amazon fires. Because of course he does." by Greg Sargent.

Article: "A quick guide to the US-China trade war" by BBC.

Article: "Trump and His Businesses Sue House Democrats to Hide Accounting Records" by Nicholas Fandos and Annie Karni.

Law: "Taft-Hartley Labor Act", 1947.

Law: "Sherman Antitrust Act", 1890.

Book: Antitrust Paradox by Robert H. Bork.

Article: "Brazil's ex-president Lula imprisoned to keep him out of the election" by Prof David Treece et al.

Article: "LA Registrar Ducks Qs About County's New Unverifiable Touchscreen Vote Systems: 'BradCast' 8/26/19" by TheBradBlog.

Video: Tropical Storm Dorian: Everything To Know About the Storm Zeroing in on Puerto Rico.

Book: Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz.

Tweet: "Ironically, Trump's singular advantage is his willingness to lie about anything and everything without shame. Almost nothing he says is true. He invents reality every day to Replace the grim reality he has fostered." by Tony Schwartz.

Article: "Trump pledged to save US factories - but a key measure of manufacturing just contracted for the first time since 2009" by Gina Heeb.

Article: "Psychedelic renaissance: could MDMA help with PTSD, depression and anxiety?" by Jesse Noakes.

Article: "LSD and magic mushrooms could heal damaged brain cells in people suffering from depression, study shows" by Alex Matthews-King.

Article: "Controversy Erupts Over Climate Change At Democratic National Committee Meeting" by AP.

Article: "The Democratic National Committee has voted down a ban on corporate PAC donations" by Ella Nilsen.

Article: "Trump only 'joking' about pardons if laws broken in pursuit of border wall: WH official" by Jordyn Phelps.

Article: "Ineligibility Clause" (Emoluments Clause).

Article: "Electoral College" by Wikipedia.

Article: "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Proportional representation" by Wikipedia.

Quote: "I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, that there will never be a peaceful transition of power." - Michael Cohen.

Article: "The Trump Administration Is Now Deporting Kids With Cancer" by Bess Levin.

Article: "Rep. Ro Khanna Reflects on Visit to Border Detention Facilities" by Nicholas Chan.

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

Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District) will be calling in to talk about the issues of the day and take your calls.

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"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

The Shocking Reason Monopoly Capitalism Hurts Democracy

The Hidden History of the Supreme Court & The Betrayal of America!

Is the Media Trying to Make Bernie Sanders Look Crazy?

The Preexisting Hypocrisy of Republicans on "Socialized" Medicare