It happens every year in baseball: A player goes on a huge hitting streak - and seems to knock every ball they touch out of the park. But have you ever noticed how that player's teammates respond to all of the success? How can individual success propel an entire team?

Your Take My Take LIVE segment - your chance to call in and ask a question or make a comment live on the air .

Maureen Ferguson, The Catholic Association, joins Thom Hartmann. So is a CEO's religious freedom more important than the religious freedom of his/her employees? When one person forces their beliefs on another - that certainly isn't religious freedom....

Neil McCabe, Human Events Online, vs. Thom Hartmann. Forget about creating sensible gun control legislation. The only way to stop gun violence in America is to arm more people....right? Should we really let our nation's school teachers pack heat in our childrens' classrooms? More guns is not the answer to more gun violence - it's only the answer to more profits for the NRA, gun manufacturers, and gun dealers around the nation -- who don't give a damn about the carnage their products are causing all across America.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH, outgoing) kucinichaction.com joins Thom Hartmann. As the Eurozone nations continue to suffer at the hands of austerity economic policies - how do we convince Congress that austerity isn't the answer to all of America's problems? Plus - In Kucinich's farewell speech yesterday he called for a new kind of politics...he'll explain.

Thom talks with former Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich about the austerity obsessed members of Congress. Also discussed: Ohio's push for arming their teachers, whether corporations should be allowed to push their religious beliefs on their employees and Thom takes viewer phone calls in "Your Take, My Take Live." In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom continues his "No Billionaires" campaign.

For a few hours on Thursday, when the new Senate comes into session, Majority Leader Harry Reid will have a chance to help the Democrats re-take the House of Representatives in 2014, and hold the Senate. He can do that by simply reforming - genuinely reforming - the filibuster. In doing so, he will not only put an end to years of rampant Republican obstructionism in the upper chamber, but also significantly slow down the billionaire-funded Tea Party.

The importance of this movie wasn't just about the horrors of slavery, or the story of a knight off to rescue his damsel in distress, or even brilliant acting and filmmaking. It was a giant "F you" to the South. And not just the South of 1858. It was an "F you" to the South of today - and all the Republican politicians from other parts of the nation, increasingly including the Midwestern states - who have adopted the divisive and race-baiting politics of the South.

Don Carr, Environmental Working Group joins Thom Hartmann. As of this past Thursday - 61.8 percent of the contiguous United States was under moderate to severe levels of drought. Drought conditions are so bad that experts are warning that conditions similar to the great Dust Bowl of the 1930's could be returning to the Midwest. So - will the new year bring relief to the heart of America's agriculture industry - or is 2013 set to be another year of record-setting drought conditions?

On Monday night, an oil rig being used by Royal Dutch Shell ran aground, threatening to dump 150000 gallons of crude into the Gulf of Alaska. So far - Shell has spent 6 years and more than 4 billion dollars trying to extract oil from the Arctic region, despite warnings from environmentalists that drilling in the area is "high-risk", and that it could have a "catastrophic impact on one of the most pristine, unique and beautiful landscapes on Earth." Now that Shell is scrambling to control their crippled oil rig, the world can see that the environmentalists were right. Joining me now for the latest out of Alaska and what this means for the ecosystem there is...Shannyn Moore, Journalist and Radio Host of The Shannyn Moore Show nightly on KOAN 95.5FM & 1020AM Anchorage - and she's also the TV Host of "Moore Up North."

*Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA)* Smith was on Fox and Friends this morning - and schooled the trio of talking heads on the specifics of the fiscal cliff deal - and President Obama's role in the debate. It's always refreshing to see some semblance of accurate information coming out of GOP TV...Good on ya Congressman Smith

Francesca Chambers, Red Alert Politics & Michael Moroney, Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity join Thom Hartmann.

Francesca Chambers, Red Alert Politics & Michael Moroney, Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity join Thom Hartmann.

Thom details how the "fiscal cliff" deal is bad for everyone except millionaires and billionaires. Tonight's "Lone Liberal Rumble" panel discusses the "fiscal cliff" deal, what's happening with the aid for Sandy victims and whether lawmakers will act to try and prevent another Newtown tragedy. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom calls on Harry Reid to end the filibuster.

Tonight's final 2012 "Big Picture Rumble" panel discusses the ups and downs of the year for progressives, focusing on four areas: taxes, the economy, the labor movement and our country's social safety net programs. The panel also discusses what issues and policies will likely make up 2013.