Republicans hate it when people vote. Despite what the people over at Fox So-Called News say, this really is a center-left nation, and when lots of people vote, it hurts Republican candidates. As Paul Weyrich, the co-founder of ALEC said in 1980 when he was helping run the Reagan campaign, Republican chances in elections go up as the number of people turning out to vote goes down:

 

"I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." Flash-forward to today and it's clear that Republicans have listened closely to what Paul Weyrich was talking about way back in 1980.

 

At the behest of ALEC - the group Paul Weyrich founded - GOP-controlled states all across the nation have, over the past few years, put into place harsh new laws requiring people to have government-issued IDs in order to vote. Republicans say these voter ID laws protect against "voter fraud," but really they're only there for one reason and one reason alone: to keep people - mostly minorities and other Democratic-leaning groups - away from the polls.

 

Make no mistake about it: getting an ID is not easy and it's not practical. I know this from personal experience. Earlier this morning I went down to the Washington, D.C. DMV to get my new driver's license renewed. Other than a vision test, the requirements to get a driver's license are the same as the requirements to get a voter ID, so the crap I went through this morning to get a new driver's license is just like what people in North Carolina and Texas have to go through if they want to vote.

 

Read more here.

 

-Thom

 

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Citizens demand term limits on SCOTUS... (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Get your copy of Thom's new book, The Crash of 2016, today and click here for tour dates & events!

 

Watch the video 'Last Hours' narrated by Thom Hartmann about the "time bomb" that is ticking underground, underwater and under ice... frozen methane that is now escaping and could trigger runaway climate change. www.lasthours.org

 

Have a question or comment for Thom? Grab your phone, hit record and send your video to YourTakeMyTake@gmail.com and we may air it on "The Big Picture."

 

 

Lone Liberal Rumble:
- Horace Cooper, Attorney / National Center for Public Policy Research  
- Kevin Martin, Project 21  

 

 

How public pensions are being ripped off
- David Sirota, PandoDaily / Back to Our Future  

 

PLUS, Kids vs. global warming
- Alec Loorz, iMatter Movement    

 

       

Community Square  

 "Chris Jordan's TEDx Talk Has A Message For All of Us"  

  

Tuesday's Daily Stack 

Hour One: Did SCOTUS just blow up separation of Church and State?
- Bishop Council Nedd II  

Article: "Supreme Court upholds legislative prayer in Town of Greece v. Galloway" by Jonathan H. Adler.

Article: "Town Meetings Can Have Prayer, Justices Decide" by Adam Liptak.

Article: "The Supreme Court Just Blew A Gaping Hole In The Wall Of Separation Between Church And State" by Ian Millhiser.

 

Article: "Top hedge fund managers made $21.5bn last year, up 50% from 2012" by Miles Johnson.

Book: "The Autobiography of Ben Franklin" by Ben Franklin.

Letter: "Letter to Thomas Cooper" by Thomas Jefferson, February 10, 1814.

 

The Big Picture
- Nate Sweet, The Big Picture producer

Article: "Assess the U.S. Climate" by U.S. Global Change Research Program.

Article: "Study: RomneyCare Seems To Have Saved Lives, And Obamacare Could Too" by Dylan Scott.

 

Article: "Loan funds face first major test as flows reverse" by Tracy Alloway and Vivianne Rodrigues.

Book: "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Event: Seattle, May 6: "Happening now: GiveBIG's 2014 one-day donate-a-thont".

Letter: "Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Monticello" by Thomas Jefferson, September 23, 1800. " for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Book: The American Revolution of 1800: How Jefferson Rescued Democracy from Tyranny and Faction - and What This Means Today by Dan Sisson with Thom Hartmann.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Article: "Virginia Declaration of Rights", June 12, 1776.

Article: "Declaration of Independence".

Article: "Forseti" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Amun" by Wikipedia.

Article: "House candidate: I'd 'rather see' terror attack than TSA screening" by Emily Schultheis.

Book: "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis.

Article: "Paul Ryan declares: 'Don't feed fish'" by Rachel Maddow.

Proverb: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".

Hour Two: U.S. Scientists: We are not fearmongering
- Dr. Michael Mann 

Book: The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines by Michael E. Mann.

Movie: "Groundhog Day".

Article: "Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability" by IPCC.

Article: "Climate Change Study Finds U.S. Is Already Widely Affected" by Justin Gillis.

Article: "'We Are Not Fearmongering': US Scientists Ready Climate Warning" by Jon Queally.

 

Article: "Knowledge Doubling Every 12 Months, Soon to be Every 12 Hours" by David Russell Schilling.

Article: "But Why Did Julian Simon Win The Paul Ehrlich Bet?" by Tim Worstall.

Article: "CBS News Asked Nexis To Delete Transcript Of Discredited Benghazi Report" by Ben Armbruster.

Article: "Transcript: Bin Laden determined to strike in US", August 6, 2001.

Article: "Chris Stevens' Death In Libya Shouldn't Be Politicized, Father Says" by Mollie Reilly.

TV: "The Daily Show, May 5 2014".

The good: "Mozilla tells the FCC to grow a spine, reclassify ISPs as common carriers" by Brad Reed.

The bad: "Fox News chief scientist Dana Perino to TV meteorologists: Focus on Benghazi, not climate change" by Jed Lewison.

The very, very ugly: Stacey Campfield: "TN Republican who compared Obamacare to Nazi death camps says we missed his point" by David Ferguson.

Article: "Australia, US, UK advise avoiding Microsoft Internet Explorer until bug fixed" by Jim Finkle.

Article: "Measured Energy Savings of a Comprehensive Retrofit in an Existing Florida Residence" by Danny S. Parker et al.

Article: "Prairie dogs - Habitat and burrowing" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Windcatcher" by Wikipedia.

Site: Bandelier National Monument.

Article: "Gas co. proposes new pipeline through Franklin County ".

Article: "U.S. energy secretary: Energy issues in New England, where costs among highest in nation, vexing" by Stephen Singer.

Article: "About U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines - Transporting Natural Gas" by EIA.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Bob Ney 

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "http://www.talkradionews.com/news-notes/2014/05/07/trns-news-notes-5614-2.html#.U2pSglea9aA" by Victoria Jones.

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

Article: "McConnell chides Obama for talking about climate change" by Ramsey Cox.

Article: "Holder Signals Criminal Charges Coming Against Some Banks " by Tom Schoenberg.

Article: "Lawmakers fight to cut red tape for terminally ill patients seeking experimental drugs".

Hour Three: More Progressives needed in the House
- Marianne Williamson, candidate for Congress (I-CA, 33rd District) takes your calls 

Article: "The Real House Candidates of Beverly Hills" by Mark Leibovich.

Law: "Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002" (McCain-Feingold).

Article: "26th Amendment". Vote for 18 year olds.

Song: "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire.

Quote: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve" - attributed to Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.

Article: "Constitution of the United States", article 3 section 2. "... the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make..."

Case: "Dred Scott v. Sandford", 1857.

Article: "Speech on the Dred Scott Decision" by Abraham Lincoln, June 26, 1857.

Article: "The Emancipation Proclamation" by President Abraham Lincoln, January 1, 1863.

Book: The Supremacists: The Tyranny of Judges and How to Stop It by Phyllis Schlafly.

Quote: "We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." - Justice Louis D. Brandeis.

Article: "Rube Goldberg Survives" by Paul Krugman.

Article: "Republicans Try To Silence House Democrats By Kicking Them Out of a Taxpayer Funded Room" by Jason Easley.

Law: "DISCLOSE Act" (Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act).

 

Article: "Democrats Assail G.O.P. After Filibuster of Proposal to Raise Minimum Wage" by Jeremy W. Peters.

Article: "Foreclosure Fraud Whistleblower Says Government Is 'Leaving Money On The Table'" by Alan Pyke.

Article: "In UK, The "People's Assembly" Vows to Destroy "Austerity Government"" by Jon Queally.

Article: "Hawaii Passes A $10.10 Minimum Wage Without Waiting For Congress" by Bryce Covert.

Article: "It's Time to Change Who Is in the Room When Decisions Are Made About the Economy" by Anna Lekas Miller.

Wednesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET 

 

Hour Two: Occupy found guilty
- Frank Coughlin, Justice for Cecily Support Group 

 

Hour Three: Kids vs. global warming
- Alec Loorz, iMatter Youth  

 

PLUS, The Impossible Will Take a Little While
- Paul Loeb, The Impossible Will Take a Little While 

 

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"...

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET 

We'll talk to journalist Paul DiRienzo about the lastest accident at the embattled Hanford nuclear plant...

 

Plus, Thom talks issues of the day with America's Lawyer Mike Papantonio

 

And, we'll have the best of the rest of the news together 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...

May 10 - Northampton, MA 7pm:
Crash of 2016 booksigning, The Parlor Room. Free, but sign up at whmp.com

Should there be term limits for Supreme Court justices?

Vote here!

Buy Thom's newest book now!
Also on Kindle

"Crash of 2016" website

Watch Thom on: - MSNBC's The Cycle
- CNN's Crossfire
- Democracy Now!

Full Show 5/6/14: Report: Climate Change is Happening Now

Thom discusses the new climate change report with Climate Scientist's Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel and Dr. Michael Dorsey and the upcoming TPP protest with George Kohl of the Communications Workers of America. Tonight's "Politics Panel" discusses a new report showing how Romneycare and Obamacare are working well, Seattle's push for a $15 minimum wage and the Supreme Court's ruling on religion in the workplace. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom discusses how the rapid decline of America's middle class is pushing us toward third world country status.

U.S. Scientists: We are not Fearmongering

Did SCOTUS Just Blow up Separation of Church/State?

Thomas Jefferson and the Tyranny of Religion

Is the Crash of 2016 Coming Sooner?

Progressives Needed in the House

The Thom Hartmann Program - May 6, 2014

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

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Thom and Louise Hartmann founded the New England Salem Children's Village (NESCV) in New Hampshire in 1979. With states delaying payment for the children they entrust to the village, they need help with cash flow. Can you help? Now on Facebook.

Thank you for being part of our ever growing community for News, Debate and Opinion on the Thom Hartmann Program.

 

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Sincerely,