Dems must stop the religious hustlers, racists and billionaires from picking Uncle Sam's pockets

There's a recurring pattern to American politics that began in the 1980s, right after the Supreme Court legalized billionaires owning individual politicians in 1976 with their Buckley decision.

Prior to that, Democrats and Republicans worked together to craft legislation that involved some compromise on both sides but moved, generally, in the direction of enhancing the general health and welfare of the American people.

This was how we got Medicare, Medicaid, long-term unemployment insurance, food stamps, housing support, job training programs, support for unionization, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Pell grants for college and dozens of other good policies out of Congress in the 1960s and 1970s.

Read more here.

-Thom

Wednesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: National Progressive Townhall Meeting
- Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District)

Article: "House to vote on $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill this week" by Grace Segers.

Bill: "H.R.5 - Equality Act" by Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1].

Bill: "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021" by Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3].

Bill: "H.J.Res. 93: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right to vote." by Mark Pocan.

Article: "Defense secretary orders military 'stand down' to address 'extremism'" by Emily Jacobs.

Article: "Reps. Lee, Pocan Announce Defense Spending Reduction Caucus" by Barbara Lee.

Quote: "Less government in business and more business in government" - Warren Harding.

Article: "Ron Johnson Promotes Conspiracy Theory During Senate Hearing Blaming 'Fake Trump Protesters': They 'Probably Planned This'" by Leia Idliby.

Article: "Robert M. La Follette" (Fighting Bob) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Joseph McCarthy" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Josh Hawley" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ted Cruz" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Voting Rights Act of 1965" (preclearance).

Article: "Louis DeJoy" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service" by Wikipedia.

Law: "39 U.S. Code § 202 - Board of Governors" (Postal Service).

Article: "The tumultuous history of the U.S. Postal Service—and its constant fight for survival" by Boyce Upholt.

Article: "APWU: Tell Joe Biden to Save Our Post Office by filling USPS Board of Governors vacancies !".

Article: "USPS removed 711 sorting machines this year, new court documents show" by Kristen Holmes and Paul P. Murphy.

Article: "Army now acknowledges the brother of Michael Flynn was a part of Army response to Capitol riot" by Oren Liebermann and Barbara Starr.

Article: "Anti-Vaxxers Block People From Getting Covid-19 Vaccine At Dodger Stadium In Los Angeles" by Zachary Petrizzo.

Article: "Israeli studies find Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine reduces transmission" by Maayan Lubell.

Article: "Multiemployer Pension Plan Bailout Update: The Good News, Bad News, And The Pricetag" by Elizabeth Bauer.

Article: "State Department Lawyers Concluded Insufficient Evidence to Prove Genocide in China" by Colum Lynch.

Video: Joint Oversight Hearing on Security Failures During Attack on U.S. Capitol, February 23, 2021.

Article: "Congress seeks to block goods from China over forced labor" by AP.

Article: "Peaceful Protesters Gassed So Trump Can Do a Sacrilegious Bible Photo Op" by Ed Kilgore.

Article: "Pelosi says 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol riots is 'next step' after Trump impeachment trial" by Ledyard King.

Article: "Georgia state GOP lawmakers introduce voting restriction legislation" by Paul LeBlanc and Veronica Stracqualursi.

Article: "State Republican lawmakers eye mail-in voting restrictions in Georgia and other key states" by CNN.

Article: "Fact Check: Do 83% of Trump's tax cut benefits go to the 1%?" by Holmes Lybrand.

Article: "Trump-GOP Tax Law Encourages Companies to Move Jobs Offshore–and New Tax Cuts Won't Change That " by Matthew Gardner and Steve Wamhoff.

Article: "Joe Biden opens three-month special enrollment period for Obamacare while Affordable Care Act case's fate remains in the hands of the Supreme Court" by Katelyn Caralle.

Article: "Biden's Health Play In A COVID-19 Economy: Lower Medicare's Eligibility Age To 60" by Julie Rovner.

Article: "Judas goat" by Wikipedia.

Bill: "H.R.3 - Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act" by Rep. Pallone, Frank, Jr. [D-NJ-6].

Article: "Pharmaceutical lobby" by Wikipedia.

Hour Two: The Mess in Texas & Who's To Blame
- Greg Palast, The Guardian / Investigative Journalist/Author/Filmmaker, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy / His new book, How Trump Stole 2020: The Hunt For America's Vanished Voters

Article: "Texas Gets Lay'd: How the Bush Family turned off the lights" by Greg Palast.

Article: "Kenneth Lay" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Enron scandal" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Why California Is Giving Away Electricity" by Paul Ausick.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976

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

Article: "Texas electric bills were $28B higher under deregulation" by WSJ.

Article: "Bills mount in Texas power market after freeze sends prices soaring" by Gregory Meyer.

Article: "Texas Was Warned a Decade Ago Its Grid Was Unready for Cold" by Ari Natter and Jennifer A. Dlouhy.

Article: "Texas governor deflects blame with 'deeply misleading' claims about wind turbines" by CNN.

Article: "Rick Perry says Texans would choose to be without power for longer 'to keep government out of their business'" by Graig Graziosi.

Article: "Two Supreme Court cases could destroy what remains of the Voting Rights Act" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "Shelby County v. Holder" by Wikipedia.

California Scores a Win for Net Neutrality!!
- Evan Greer, Deputy Director - Fight for the Future

Article: "California can enforce net neutrality law, judge rules in loss for ISPs" by Jon Brodkin.

Article: "This Is Ajit Pai, Nemesis of Net Neutrality" by Andrew Rice.

Law: "SB-822 Communications: broadband Internet access service" (California).

Article: "House Democrats urge Biden to make his pick for acting FCC chair permanent" by Chris Mills Rodrigo.

Article: "Federal Communications Commission" by Wikipedia.

Site: Battle for the Net.

Article: "Biden announces policy changes to target COVID-19 aid to smallest businesses" by Morgan Chalfant.

Article: "How to Know if You Really Classify as a Small Business" by Sean Peek.

Video: Postmaster General DeJoy Testifies Before the House Oversight Committee, February 24, 2021.

Article: "USPS removed 711 sorting machines this year, new court documents show" by Kristen Holmes and Paul P. Murphy.

Site: I AM - Tom Shadyac.

Article: "Manchin defends CEO daughter after company raised EpiPen price" by David Wright.

Article: "Neera Tanden" by Wikipedia.

Article: "North American Free Trade Agreement" (NAFTA) by Wikipedia

Article: "General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade" (GATT) by Wikipedia

Site: World Trade Organization (WTO)

Article: "Biden signs executive order on securing critical supply chains" by Grace Segers, Kathryn Watson.

Hour Three: Don't Eat That Crap... Literally! Exposing the Latest Filthy Conditions in Factory Farming
- Zach Corrigan, Senior Staff Attorney - Food & Water Justice (A Program of Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action)

Article: "Pilot Swine Slaughter Plants with 'Self-Inspection' Rules Have Almost Twice as Many Violations for Carcass Fecal and Digestive Matter" by Food & Water Watch.

Article: "Tom Vilsack confirmed for a second stint as agriculture secretary with strong Republican support" by Laura Reiley.

Article: "Joe Biden Halts Trump Plan To Speed Up Processing Lines In Poultry Plants" by Dave Jamieson.

Article: "14 states face rolling blackouts amid massive winter storms after a major power operator declared an energy emergency" by Kelly McLaughlin.

The 'Fight For $15' in the Covid Relief Bill
- Senator Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator (I-VT) / 2 time U.S. Presidential Candidate / Chair of the Senate Budget Committee

Article: "READ: Full House Democratic Covid relief and $15 minimum wage increase bill".

Tweet: "Walmart & McDonald's pay wages so low that tens of thousands of their workers are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid & public housing. I invited the CEOs of these companies to a hearing to explain why they can't afford to pay a $15 minimum wage. Taxpayers deserve an answer." by Bernie Sanders.

Article: "What you need to know about the budget reconciliation process " by Louis Jacobson.

Article: "Congress is writing up Biden's stimulus plan. Here's what's in it." by Emily Stewart.

Article: "Poll: Support for COVID relief bill, but split narrows on Trump living at Mar-a-Lago" by Hannah Morse.

Article: "Congress has never let the federal minimum wage erode for this long" by David Cooper.

Article: "Alabama Warehouse Workers Prepare To Face Down Amazon In Union Vote" by Josh Dzieza.

Law: "The National Labor Relations Act (The Wagner Act)", 1935.

Quote: "The D.C National Guard was formed in 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson to defend the newly created District of Columbia. As such, the Commanding General of the D.C. National Guard is subordinate solely to the President of the United States." - District of Columbia National Guard.

Article: "After the Speech: What Trump Did as the Capitol Was Attacked" by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin.

Law: "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act" (HIPAA).

Article: "Federal Moratorium On Evictions For Nonpayment Of Rent" by NLIHC.

Article: "How the Eviction Moratorium Affects Landlords and Their Mortgages" by SMG Mortgage.

Article: "Update: Biden Administration Extends Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium, Again" by Rivan V. Stinson.

Article: "14 countries that are paying their workers during quarantine — and how they compare to America's $1,200 stimulus checks" by Juliana Kaplan.

Bill: "H.R.6800 - Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act or the HEROES Act" by Nita Lowey [D-NY-17].

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

I'll be talking with Economist Dr. Richard Wolff, Co-founder, Democracy At Work / Author of numerous books - his latest is The Sickness is the System

Plus, Conversations with Great Minds: Four Hundred Souls... with Dr. Keisha Blain, Historian & Associate Professor of History-University of Pittsburgh / President-African American Intellectual History Society / Co-Editor (w/Ibram X. Kendi) of the new book, Four Hundred Souls / Author, Set the World On Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom and, the forthcoming, Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Vision of America

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...

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