Sue's Daily Stack, The Thom Hartmann Program 08/15/26

Hour One: Republicans Rigged America’s Debt: Now You’re Paying Billionaires Forever
Article: “Republicans Rigged America’s Debt: Now We’re Paying the Billionaires Forever“ by Thom Hartmann.
Article: “America Is About to Cross $40 Trillion in Debt: The First Trillion Took 192 Years, the Last One Took About 5 Months“ by Don Lair.
Article: “U.S. budget deficit hit July record of $432 billion in fiscal 2026“ by Cris Tolomia.
Article: “Federal Debt: Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product (GFDEGDQ188S)“ by FRED.
Article: “Santa Claus for Billionaires, Debt for You: Thanks Trump“ by Thom Hartmann.
Article: “How Different Would America be if 4 Presidents Hadn’t Committed Treason?“ by Thom Hartmann.
Article: “Trump Weighs Another Giveaway to the Wealthy With Capital Gains Indexing Ahead of Midterms“ by Jon Whiten.
Article: “Post-World War II debt reduction“ by OBR.
Article: “The Next Democratic President Must Refuse to Be Hamstrung by Trump’s Deficit“ by Paul Waldman.
Article: “IRS barred from auditing Trump’s old tax returns“ by Rebecca Beitsch and Ashleigh Fields.
Article: “Todd Blanche Kept Trump’s Tax Audit Shield. It Could Erase a $100 Million IRS Bill“ by Chantelle Lee.
Article: “Trump Weighs Call for Capital Gains Tax Cuts as Midterm Boost“ by Josh Wingrove.
Article: “Costs of the 20-year war on terror: $8 trillion and 900,000 deaths“ by Jill Kimball.
Article: “Treasury Confirms $1.8 Trillion Deficit for First 10 Months of FY 2026“ by Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Article: “US sells 30-year bonds at highest borrowing costs since 2001“ by FT.
Article: “How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries?“ by Shameek Rakshit, Lynne Cotter, and Matt McGough.
Article: “Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery - February 1981“ by Ronald Reagan.
Article: “ Excerpt from: Understanding the Federal Budget: Chapter 1: History of the National Debt“ by George H. Blackford.

Article: “Hunter versus farmer hypothesis“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “‘That’s a promise’: Judge warns DOJ of penalties on Epstein files“ by Aysha Bagchi.
Article: “Todd Blanche declines to pledge independence from White House“ by Michael Sainato.
Article: “List of mass shootings in the United States in 2026“ by Wikipedia.
Event: 25 Sep. 7:00 PM: Powell’s City of Books, Portland: Thom Hartmann sook signing.

Trump’s Iran Disaster Gets worse: Iran Offers $30K for U.S. Troops and for Women
Article: “Iran offers $30,000 bounty for killing US soldiers and doubles it for female fighters“ by Prashasti Satyanand Shetty.
Video: On GPS: A debate on regime change in Iran.
Article: “Trump says US to reduce military drills with South Korea after it stayed out of Iran war“ by Brandon Drenon, Jake Kwon.
Article: “Trump threatens to bomb US ally Oman if it ‘gets in the way’ over Iran deal“ by Olivia Ireland.
Article: “Exclusive: Iranian girls killed by ‘double-tap’ strikes on Minab school“ by MEE.
Article: “Fact Check: Did Iran say the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until Trump’s term ends?“ by Shanmugapriya Murugesan.

Did Billionaires BREAK Capitalism — And Drive Americans to Socialism?
Article: “NEW POLL: Democrats Have a More Positive View of Socialism Than Capitalism By a Whopping 26-Point Margin“ by Joe DePaolo.
Article: “As Families Struggle, Trump Says US Economy ‘Doing Unbelievably From Standpoint of Wall Street’“ by Jake Johnson.

Article: “Epic Systems“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Epic’s alleged anticompetitive practices under scrutiny from federal, state investigators“ by Casey Ross and Brittany Trang.
Article: “Oracle Health“ (ex Cerner Corporation) by Wikipedia.
Article: “Ken Martin“ by Wikipedia.
Video: ‘All gas no brakes’: DNC Chair sees momentum for Democrats ahead of midterms .
Article: “David Petraeus“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Brad Cooper (admiral)“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “US Commander brushes off complaints about USS Abraham Lincoln as ‘old news’ after reports of alarming conditions“ by Eliot Force.
Article: “Trump says he will declare Strait of Hormuz a US ‘territory’ amid Iran war“ by Al Jazeera.
Article: “Iraq Remaps Kuwait as Province 19“ by LA Times.
Article: “Demographics of Iran“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Tuberville running for Governor of Alabama in 2026“ by Grayson Everett.
Article: “Tuberville: Social Security Is A Scam“ by Tommy Tuberville.
Facebook: “Save our RSA retirement“.
Article: “Tuberville draws $93K from Social Security ‘scam’“ by Scott Johnson.
Article: “Alabama governor’s election: Poll shows surprisingly close race between Doug Jones and Tuberville“ by Ruth Serven Smith.
Article: “Doug Jones says Tuberville will turn Alabama into data center ‘dumping ground’ for billionaires“ by Ruth Serven Smith.
Article: “The Darter Fish and the Data Center“ by Lee Hedgepeth, Lanier Isom.
Article: “Governor’s race: Tommy Tuberville hit with another suit challenging his Alabama residency“ by Ruth Serven Smith.

Hour Three: Trump’s Crypto Empire Gets Bank Approval — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Article: “Trump Family’s World Liberty Financial Gets Preliminary Approval to Launch a Bank“ by Vicky Ge Huang.
Article: “‘Brazen Act of Self-Dealing’: Trump Regulator Approves Trump Family Crypto Firm’s Bank Application“ by Jake Johnson.
Article: “The Trumps’ Crypto Project Just Got One Step Closer to Becoming a Bank“ by Sophie Hurwitz.
Article: “Why Donald Trump’s Companies Went Bankrupt“ by Tom Murse.
Article: “US to allow powerful AI chip sales to China, Trump says“ by Ari Hawkins, Katherine Long and Cheyenne Haslett.

No on Medicare for All? ‘This Man Is So Out of Touch’: Hakeem Jeffries Slammed for Opposition to Medicare for All
Article: “‘This Man Is So Out of Touch’: Hakeem Jeffries Slammed for Opposition to Medicare for All“ by Jon Queally.

Article: “Iran Strikes Push US Navy Logistics to Diego Garcia as USS Abraham Lincoln Strains“ by Defence Security Asia.
Article: “Has any member of the Trump family ever served in the military?“ by William Spivey.
Article: “The Tail That Couldn’t Keep Up: How the US Navy Ran Its Own Sailors Short on Food and Soap“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Project 2026 Declares Open War on Women’s Rights“ by Kathy Spillar.
Article: “Key facts about public school teachers in the U.S.“ by Katherine Schaeffer.

Surprise - He lied - Todd Blanche refuses to rule out payments to Jan. 6 rioters: ‘I don’t know’
Article: “Todd Blanche refuses to rule out payments to Jan. 6 rioters: ‘I don’t know’“ by Bennito L. Kelty.
Article: “‘No, I’m Not Going to Pledge That’: Blanche Refuses to Vow Independence From Trump“ by Jake Johnson.
Article: “January 6 United States Capitol attack“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “‘They should be reimbursed’: Jan. 6 defendants still eyeing payouts, despite scrapped $1.8B fund“ by Laura Romero and Peter Charalambous.
Article: “Trump’s DOJ Makes Shocking Settlement With Michael Flynn“ by Marin Scotten.
Article: “Operation Eagle Eye (United States)“ (voter suppression, William Rehnquist) by Wikipedia.

Article: “Death of Brian Sicknick“ by Wikipedia.
Video: Kim Jong Un ‘said VERY NICE THINGS ABOUT ME’ — Trump.
Article: “Jack Bergman“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Mike Rogers (Michigan politician)“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Democratic Socialists of America“ by Wikipedia.
Quote: “Crowned heads, wealth and privilege may well tremble should ever again the Black and Red unite!“ - Otto von Bismarck - after the split between Anarchists and Marxists in 1872.
Article: “Meet the Press – August 8, 2026“ by Wikipedia.
Quote: “I have supported a Medicare for All idea in which everyone would get to choose Medicare if they wanted. But I think both of us believe that the current system is rigged to benefit the big healthcare insurance companies and that everyone in this country should have access to the Medicare plan, every business, every individual. And if they did, I think people would find that’s better and cheaper healthcare. And the only reason that they don’t have that access is because our politics are bought off by those insurance and drug companies.“ - Chris Murphy.
Article: “Medicare Advantage in 2026: Enrollment Update and Key Trends“ by Meredith Freed, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Anthony Damico, Nancy Ochieng, and Tricia Neuman.
Book: Super Imperialism (Third Edition): The Economic Strategy of American Empire by Michael Hudson.