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WHO’S REALLY PULLING THE TRIGGER: THE SHOOTER, OR THE PREDATOR
LOBBY?  
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Thom Hartmann
December 17, 2025
Hartmann Report
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_ When politicians hand the gun industry a liability shield,
they’re not “protecting freedom,”they’re protecting a business
model built on body counts… _

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America’s 465th mass shooting
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this one at Brown University in Rhode Island, should remind us all
that it’s insane that the GOP passed and Bush signed into law the
so-called _Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act_ (PLCAA) in 2006
that largely gives immunity from liability lawsuits to the gun
industry (and only the gun industry).

IT’S TIME TO END THE PREDATOR-STATE COALITION IN AMERICA, OF WHICH
THIS IS JUST ONE GLARING EXAMPLE.

Ever since five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court
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ruled that “money is free speech” protected by the First Amendment
and “corporations are persons” protected by the _entire_ Bill of
Rights, pretty much every industry in America has poured cash into
politicians’ and judges’ pockets to be able to freely rip us off.
Or, in the case of the gun industry, kill our children.

EVEN THOUGH A CLEAR MAJORITY [[link removed]] OF
AMERICANS WANT STRONGER GUN LAWS, OUR POLITICIANS HAVE COLLUDED WITH
THE GUN INDUSTRY TO GIVE US THE EXACT OPPOSITE AS I DETAIL IN _THE
HIDDEN HISTORY OF GUNS AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT_
[[link removed]].

BUT IT’S NOT JUST THE GUN INDUSTRY.

When greedy banksters crashed our economy in 2008, George W. Bush made
sure not a single one went to prison, in stark contrast to the S&L
scandal/crash in the 1980s: between 1988 and 1992 the Department of
Justice sent 1,706 banksters to prison and obtained 2,603 guilty
verdicts for fraud in financial institutions.

In 2008, however, after Bush and his cronies cashed their
“contribution” checks, hundreds of banksters walked away with
million- and even billion-dollar bonuses
[[link removed]].
Steve Mnuchin, who allegedly threw over 30,000 people out of their
homes
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with robo-signed documents, was even appointed Treasury Secretary by
Donald Trump and later given a billion dollars by the Saudis to
invest.

ARE YOU REGULARLY HEARING ABOUT THESE HORRORS ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
PROBABLY NOT, BECAUSE PRIOR TO 1996, SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES (THEN IT
WAS MOSTLY COMPUSERVE AND AOL) HAD TO HIRE PEOPLE LIKE ME AND NIGEL
PEACOCK
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MONITOR THEIR FORUMS, MAKE SURE PEOPLE FOLLOWED THE RULES AND TOLD THE
TRUTH. NOBODY WAS THE VICTIM OF ONLINE PREDATORS, AND THE COMPANY
DIDN’T RUN SECRET ALGORITHMS TO PUSH RIGHTWING MEMES AT YOU AND
SHADOW-BAN PROGRESSIVE CONTENT.

That year, however, after generous contributions to both parties,
Congress passed a bill that gave Zuck and his buddies almost complete
immunity from liability, which is why social media is now so
dangerously toxic that Australia just banned it for kids.

SIMILARLY, EVERY OTHER DEMOCRACY IN THE WORLD DOES YOUR TAXES FOR YOU
AND THEN LETS YOU KNOW THEIR MATH SO YOU CAN CHECK IT. IN SEVERAL
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES IT’S SO SIMPLE IT’S BASICALLY A POSTCARD; YOU
ONLY RESPOND IF YOU THINK THEY’RE IN ERROR. THE US IS THE _ONLY_
DEVELOPED COUNTRY ON EARTH WHERE THERE’S A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR
INDUSTRY PREPARING PEOPLE’S TAX RETURNS FOR THEM.

For example, in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland returns are
pre-filled and can be approved via text message or an online portal in
minutes. In Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and France tax forms are
similarly filled out in advance by the government; you just sign and
mail them back. And in Estonia, widely seen as a digital government
pioneer, filing taxes takes minutes and is done with a simple online
form that a fifth grader could complete.

HERE IN THE US, DEMOCRATS THOUGHT THIS WAS A FINE IDEA — IT WOULD
SAVE TIME AND MONEY FOR BOTH TAXPAYERS AND THE IRS — AND SO BIDEN
ROLLED OUT A PROGRAM WHERE PEOPLE WITH FEW DEDUCTIONS COULD SIMPLY
FILE THEIR TAXES ONLINE FOR FREE.

Republicans, however, being on the take from the billion-dollar tax
preparation industry, objected; they didn’t want the financial gravy
train to stop because that would mean less of the money charged us for
tax prep would end up in their campaign coffers, not to mention the
fancy vacations, meals, and other lobbying benefits they can get.

SO, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED — AFTER TAX PREP COMPANY
INTUIT “DONATED
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$1 MILLION TO TRUMP’S “INAUGURAL” SLUSH FUND — THAT THEY’RE
KILLING OFF
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THE FREE FILING OPTION; GOING FORWARD, PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY MUST
EITHER LEARN ENOUGH TAX LAW TO DEAL WITH THE IRS THEMSELVES OR PAY A
TAX PREPARATION COMPANY.

And then there’s the health insurance industry, a giant
blood-sucking
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tick attached to our collective backs that made $74 _billion_ in
_profits_
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(in addition to the billions paid to its most senior executives) last
year by denying us payments for doctors’ visits, tests, procedures,
surgeries, and even organ transplants.

MOST AMERICANS HAVE NO IDEA THAT THE UNITED STATES IS QUITE LITERALLY
THE _ONLY_ COUNTRY IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD THAT DOESN’T DEFINE
HEALTHCARE AS AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT FOR ALL OF ITS CITIZENS AND THUS
PROVIDE IT AT LOW OR NO COST.

That’s it. We’re the only one left. We’re the only country in
the entire developed world where somebody getting sick can leave a
family bankrupt, destitute, and homeless.

A HALF-MILLION AMERICAN FAMILIES ARE WIPED OUT EVERY YEAR SO
COMPLETELY THAT THEY LOSE EVERYTHING AND MUST DECLARE BANKRUPTCY JUST
BECAUSE SOMEBODY GOT SICK. THE NUMBER OF HEALTH-EXPENSE-RELATED
BANKRUPTCIES IN ALL THE OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD
_COMBINED _IS _ZERO_.

Yet the United States spends more on “healthcare” than any other
country in the world: about 17% of GDP
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Switzerland, Germany, France, Sweden and Japan all average around 11%,
and Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Norway, Netherlands, United
Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia all come in between 9.3% and 10.5%
[[link removed]].

Health insurance premiums right now make up about 22% of all taxable
payroll (and don’t even cover all working people), whereas Medicare
For All would run an estimated 10%
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and would cover every man, woman, and child in America. And don’t
get me started on the Medicare Advantage scam
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the Bush administration created that’s routinely ripping off seniors
and destroying actual Medicare.

AND IF DISEASE DOESN’T GET US, HUNGER MIGHT. ONE-IN-FIVE AMERICAN
CHILDREN LIVE IN “FOOD INSECURE” HOUSEHOLDS
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AND FREQUENTLY GO TO BED HUNGRY AT A TIME TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS ARE
CUTTING SNAP AND WIC BENEFITS AND GRANTS TO FOOD BANKS.

The amount of money that America’s richest four billionaires (Musk,
Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg) _added_ to their money bins _since 2020
_because of the Reagan/Bush/Trump tax cuts is over
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$300 billion: the cost to _entirely_ end child poverty in America is
an estimated $25 billion
[[link removed]].

And, because of the body and brain damage hunger and malnutrition are
doing to one-in-five American children, child hunger in the US is
costing [[link removed]]
our society an estimated $167.5 billion a year in lost opportunity and
productivity.

SO, WHY DO WE AVOID SPENDING $25 BILLION TO SOLVE A $167.5 BILLION
PROBLEM? BECAUSE OF THE PREDATOR-STATE COALITION
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WHICH WAS LEGALIZED AND ENABLED BY FIVE CORRUPT ON-THE-TAKE
REPUBLICANS ON THE US SUPREME COURT.

The predators don’t want you to know this stuff, of course, which is
why they’ve bought up or started over 1500 radio stations, hundreds
of TV stations, multiple TV networks, multiple major and local
newspapers, and thousands of websites to bathe us in a continuous
slurry of rightwing bullshit and pro-industry talking points.

AND THEN THERE ARE THE MONOPOLIES THAT REAGAN LEGALIZED IN 1983 AND
THE BUSH AND TRUMP ADMINISTRATIONS HAVE ENCOURAGED. BEFORE THAT, WE
HAD COMPETITION WITHIN INDUSTRIES, AND MOST MALLS AND DOWNTOWNS WERE
FILLED WITH LOCALLY-OWNED BUSINESSES AND STORES.

Grocery stores, airlines, banks, social media, retail stores, gas
stations, car manufacturers, insurance companies, internet providers
(ISPs), computer companies, phone companies, hospital chains: the list
goes on and on.

ALL — BECAUSE OF THEIR MONOPOLY OR OLIGOPOLY STATUS — COST THE
AVERAGE AMERICAN FAMILY AN AVERAGE OF OVER $5000 A YEAR
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THAT IS NOT PAID BY THE CITIZENS OF ANY OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN THE
WORLD BECAUSE THE REST OF THE WORLD WON’T TOLERATE THIS KIND OF
PREDATORY, MONOPOLISTIC BEHAVIOR.

Trump has even managed to turn immigration into a predatory scheme,
transferring hundreds of billions of dollars from social programs to a
masked, secret police force and Republican-aligned private prison
contractors, as he gleefully inflicts brutality on dark-skinned
immigrants and American citizens alike.

It’s time to roll back the predatory state, and it’d make a hell
of a campaign slogan for Democrats running next November and in 2028.
End Corporate Personhood and the legal bribery of politicians and
judges.

_Thom Hartmann is a NY Times bestselling author of 34 books in 17
languages & nation's #1 progressive radio host. Psychotherapist,
international relief worker. Politics, history, spirituality,
psychology, science, anthropology, pre-history, culture, and the
natural world._

 

* mass shootings
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* gun lobby
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* Money is Speech
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* Brown University
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