Que pasa, Tomas?

What in the world is going on with Thom Hartmann? I started to listen to his (free) KPOJ podcast. It opened with a recorded announcement--by Thom--that circumstances prohibit continuation of the "free" podcast, and to subscribe at his website. So I moseyed on over to thomhartmann.com. There I was invited to fork over eight bucks a month (or nearly 60 of them up front for a year). No biggie, huh?

Actually, it is. I'm retired, on a fixed income and a very tight budget. Just like the people currently having the living daylights scared out of them over healthcare reform. I expect a corrupt system to do everything they can to continue raking me over the coals, Heaven forfend I get sick. When the CEO of United Healthcare denied payment of his share of my well-woman exam, I just shrugged my shoulders. After all, a guy's gotta make a buck.

But somehow, I expected more of Thom Hartmann.

I've been a faithful listener to Thom for years now. I've read a couple of his books, and was very impressed with his amazing breadth of knowledge. Never did I dream that, at this most critical time in our history, Thom would go for the brass ring. Did it ever occur to him that some--if not many--of his listeners would find this a hardship?

If it's really an inability to keep the kpoj podcast online, surely he could have found sponsors for his website podcast...he's a popular guy. However, subscriptions are cash flow, and there's no need to pitch sponsors. Sounds delish; hope he doesn't get heartburn.