deficit

"Saying when the economy is at its weakest we're going to put into law that we can't spend more to pick ourselves up...that's a depression-maker," says Heather McGhee of Demos. But despite warnings from economists from all over, the government in Washington, Democrats and Republicans both, remain obsessed with the deficit.Heather joins Laura in studio to grade Obama, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and of course the Ryan plan on the budget, the deficit, and the need for more stimulus.Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine guitarist and protest singer as The Nightwatchman, was in Madison to support the workers' protest, and now his new music is inspired by those union workers. ; His new EP, Union Town, is coming out soon and its proceeds will go to support The America Votes Labor Unity Fund, but you can download this track for free now at SaveWorkers.org.
Bernie Madoff, the infamous Wall Street Ponzi schemer who became one of the villains of the economic crisis, played on his clients' fear, not their greed. So says Diana Henriques, author of the new book Wizard of Lies. Having twice interviewed Madoff in prison, Diana notes that his personal charisma combined with Wall Street's lax regulations to create a perfect storm that wiped out his clients' wealth.Diana joins Laura in studio for a conversation about Madoff, Wall Street, and the ways ordinary people get ripped off by complex financial schemes.Finally, playwright Tony Kushner has spent his career fighting

Here in the US all we seem to hear about is deficits and debt. Yet even the countries that hold a lot of our debt are concerned for our lack of investment at home. China's pension fund head recently said that the U.S. government needs to reduce not just its fiscal deficit, but its trade gap, in order to maintain the dollar's stability. US average levels need to be closer to those of developing nations and emerging markets, the manager of China's Sovereign Wealth fund advised. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"We need to go back to the day where we actually do ask everyone to pay their fair share--and that includes the wealthiest among us," says Heather Boushey, Senior Economist for the Center for American Progress. She joins us today to unpack President Obama's April 13 address on fiscal policy and deficit reduction. As an embattled middle class continues to struggle with having basic needs such as employment and health care met, Heather says that the budget's effects will be more than just numbers on a page. So just how much potential is there to heal or to harm? And will top earners finally be asked to pony up? Heather joins us to weigh in on President Obama's plan, and what in it may help--or may not help--an already stricken middle class. "We're able to maintain the illusion that we're fighting a war on drugs and that we're protecting young people we're doing it on the backs of poor people. Poor people of color, rural poor people, poor people who don't have access to jobs. We have one group of people who we've said that their employment is going to be the keepers of these other people that we've locked up for drug use because they don't have jobs and you don't have jobs ever. We've built a whole system out of policing, locking up and controlling poor people," says Deborah Small, who's dedicated her life to fighting for a responsible drug policy that helps, not hurts. Laura sat down with Deborah recently for some frank talk on our drug war failings, what a real drug policy would look like, and why more and more leaders are calling for an end to prohibition. And just this week, the NAACP is out with a new study, called Misplaced Priorities, on the consequences of the War on Drugs. Finally, Paul Mason of the BBC spoke to us about "graduates with no future," who have been at the center of protest movements around the world. If we keep cutting the future out from under young people here, Laura asks, what choices will they have left? Distributed by Tubemogul.

"Everyone from the FDIC to the Pentagon have said that people are doing this as a way of life ... they are trapped in a series of loans," says Kai Wright of individuals and families who've become entangled in the system of payday lending. High-interest loans are being made to the people who need the extra cash most--and who are most unable to repay. As the Republican congress introduces a bill aimed at doing away with financial reform and continues its efforts to stymie the efforts of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, payday lending will continue to be attractive to low-income borrowers, and even more dangerous in the long-term. Is our economy, still reeling from the effects of the sub-prime mortgage explosion, prepared for any more suffering consumers or unscrupulous lending? This weekend, GRITtv headed to Boston with lots of our favorite media makers, activists, and thinkers for the National Conference for Media Reform. Laura was the emcee for the opening plenary, and then stuck around all weekend, talking about money, media and politics with movers and shakers. Check out some of what we saw at the conference! The details of the compromise that finally kept the government open and made deep cuts to the federal budget for fiscal year 2011 are finally beginning to emerge--and they're not pretty. Millions and even billions from education, labor, the EPA--all for what economist Richard Wolff says is a negligible impact on the actual deficit. Is there an upside to this mess? Richard joins Laura in studio, along with strategist Karen Finney from Washington, D.C., to break down the budget plan and the politics behind it. They also offer some solutions for ways to really fix the deficit. Finally, one thing we know for sure about the budget compromise is that there was no reduction at all in military spending. Laura has some thoughts. Distributed by Tubemogul.