Sue's Daily Stack, The Thom Hartmann Program 12/19/25

Your daily homework - links to everything discussed on today's show

Friday’s Daily Stack

Hour One: Is the New Message of Trump’s White House “Power First, People Last”?
Article: “House speaker says affordable health care ‘just was not to be’“ by Emily Singer.
Article: “Trump’s hand-picked Kennedy Center board votes to rename it as the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’“ by Alexandra Marquez.
Article: “Watch: President Trump’s name added to facade of Kennedy Center“ by BBC.
Article: “Judge Says He Will Not Immediately Halt Trump’s Ballroom Project“ by Zach Montague.
Quote: “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.“ - attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

How do we save journalism and Democracy?
Article: “How to Save Democracy—and Journalism—After Algorithms Broke the Truth“ by Colby Hall.
Law: “Telecommunications Act of 1996“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “CompuServe“ by Wikipedia.

Article: “Trump ‘in a bad place’ as Senate prepares to block his big plan: ex-GOP lawmaker“ by Tom Boggioni.
Article: “10 Franklin D Roosevelt Accomplishments and Achievements“ by The Historian.
Article: “Dan Bongino“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Jack Smith tells lawmakers his team developed ‘proof beyond a reasonable doubt’ against Trump“ by Eric Tucker and Lisa Mascaro.

Is Our Gun Culture Grooming People to Kill?
Article: “Brown University shooting live updates: Suspect in Brown and MIT shootings found dead as motive remains unclear“ by NBC News.
Article: “Who Is Claudio Neves Valente? Brown University Shooting Suspect Found Dead in Storage Unit“ by Charlie Nash.
Book: “The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment“ by Thom Hartmann.

Article: “Bernie Sanders affirms support for Maine Senate candidate Platner“ by Mike Heuer.
Book: “House of Trump, House of Putin“ by Craig Unger.
. Substack Craig Unger.
Book: The Darwinian Trap: The Hidden Evolutionary Forces That Explain Our World (and Threaten Our Future) by Kristian Rönn.
Article: “Dr. Dale Bredesen“ by Apollo Health.
Article: “Democrats will not release the ‘autopsy’ of their 2024 presidential loss“ by David Wright.
Article: “Assassination of John F. Kennedy“ (November 22, 1963) by Wikipedia.
Article: “$1 Trump coin draft is ‘real,’ US Treasurer says“ by Kit Maher.
Poem: “Ozymandias“ by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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Hour Two: Does Trump’s Chief of Staff have Russia ties?
- Heidi Siegmund Cuda, Author & Emmy-award winning investigative reporter / co-host of the “Radicalized Truth Survives” podcast / subscribe to her substack at bettedangerous.com @heidicuda.bsky.social
Article: “ICYMI: Zarina Zabrisky Reports on Trump’s Chief of Staff’s Russian Ties“ by Heidi Siegmund Cuda.
Article: “Susie Wiles spins out over bombshell interview: ‘Disingenuously framed hit piece’“ by Travis Gettys.
Article: “‘Everything Is on Tape’: Reporter Fires Back at Trump World for Claiming His Explosive Susie Wiles Piece Was a Hit Job“ by Charlie Nash.
Article: “How Paul Manafort Helped Elect Russia’s Man in Ukraine“ by Simon Shuster.
Article: “Orange Revolution“ (Ukraine protests 2004-2005) by Wikipedia.
Article: “Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Lee Atwater: The Architects Behind Today’s Republican Political Strategies“ by Hase Fiero.
Article: “Exclusive: Lee Atwater’s Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy“ by Rick Perlstein.
Article: “Estonian court sentences pro-Russian politician to 14 years in prison for treason“ by Helen Wright, Valner Väino.

Site: Free Speech TV.

Was the Trump talent agency and Miss Teen USA show funneling young girls to Jeffrey Epstein? And will Pam Bondi face “prosecution” if the files are not released today?
Article: “‘Don’s Best Friend’: How Epstein and Trump Bonded Over the Pursuit of Women“ by Nicholas Confessore and Julie Tate.
Article: “Deputy AG Todd Blanche Admits Trump Admin Will Miss Deadline to Release Epstein Files“ by Sarah Rumpf.
Article: “Pam Bondi faces ‘prosecution’ if ‘all’ Epstein files are not released on Friday: Dem“ by David Edwards.

Article: “Trump Immediately Violates Epstein Files Law + More Friday News Updates - 12/19/25“ by Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network.
Site: “Velshi“.
Book: American Canto by Olivia Nuzzi.
Substack: “Telos News“ by Ryan Lizza.
Book: If It’s Not Close, They Can’t Cheat: Crushing the Democrats in Every Election and Why Your Life Depends on It by Hugh Hewitt.
Article: “TRUMP LOST. Vote Suppression Won.“ by Greg Palast.
Site: “vote.org“.
Article: “Operation Eagle Eye (United States)“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Elon Musk’s new X policy unwittingly exposes MAGA influencers as foreign trolls“ by Graig Graziosi.
Article: “Taxes and a Two-Santa Theory“ by Jude Wanniski (March 6, 1976).
Article: “New Deal“ (1933 - 1939, FDR) by Wikipedia. Article: “The Tipping Point: Most Americans No Longer Are Middle Class“ by Marilyn Geewax.

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Hour Three: How strange is it that the GOP has the urge to jump off the health-care cliff?
Article: “‘It’s just strange’: GOP senator baffled by party’s urge to jump off health-care cliff“ by Matt Laslo, Martin Pengelly.

Article: “Did Congress approve military bonuses of 1776 in the big beautiful bill?“ by factually.
Case: “Buckley v. Valeo“, 1976.
Case: “First National Bank Of Boston V. Bellotti“, 1978.
Case: “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission“ (2010).
Article: “Powell Memo“.
Law: “Tillman Act of 1907“.
Site: Charles Koch Foundation.
Article: “Cato Institute“ by Wikipedia.
Site: Heritage Foundation.
Site: Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).
Article: “Libertarian Party“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “National debt of the United States“ by Wikipedia.
Article: “Where Would We Be If Joe Lieberman Hadn’t Killed the Public Option?“ by Monica Potts.
Article: “Quantitative Tightening (QT)“ by Investopedia.
Video: Kennedy’s Greatest Speech: A Tiny Ripple of Hope. “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice. He sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest wall of oppression and resistance.”
Article: “‘Greatest Corruption in Presidential History’: Trump Family Reaps $5 Billion More in Crypto Profits“ by Stephen Prager.
Law: “Constitution of the United States“ Article 2 section 1. “The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.“ (domestic emoluments clause).
Law: “Constitution of the United States“ Article 1 section 9. “No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.“ (foreign emoluments clause).
Article: “The White House unveiled new plaques, and yes, unfortunately, they are very, very real“ by Buzzfeed.
Article: “New plaques on Trump’s ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’ insult, mock former U.S. presidents“ by AP. Karoline Leavitt:”The plaques are eloquently written descriptions of each President and the legacy they left behind”.
Article: “CBS News investigation of Jeffrey Epstein jail video reveals new discrepancies“ by Daniel Ruetenik.
Article: “Total U.S. Billionaire Wealth: Up 88% over Four Years“ by Chuck Collins, Omar Ocampo.
Article: “Who is Michael Wolff, the journalist who emailed with Jeffrey Epstein about Donald Trump“ by Meredith Deliso and James Hill.
Article: “How One Trader Made $160 Million Shorting Crypto Before Trump’s China Tariff Bombshell“ by Trader Edge.
Article: “Tulip Mania“ by Doug Ashburn.
Article: “South Sea Bubble“ by Britannica.
Video: Rockelbel’s Canon (Pachelbel’s Canon in D with an Unexpected Twist) The Piano Guys.
Article: “Ben Carson“ by Wikipedia.