goldman sachs

"People are sick and tired of the way things have been for the past 30 years," says Philip Rizk, a blogger and filmmaker based in Cairo. In 2009, Philip was detained by state security after taking part in a protest in support of Gaza, and so has intimate awareness of the control and terror inflicted by the state on its people--who are only escalating, with a general strike called for today and a "Million March" for Tuesday.Despite reports on some media outlets of increasing chaos, Philip says he feels very safe in Cairo, and joins us via phone to tell us the latest from where he is."Who do you think you are, telling Egyptians what they should be doing?" Phyllis Bennis would like to ask Hillary Clinton. The Obama administration has made some good steps in its policy toward the ongoing uprising in Egypt, she notes, mentioning a willingness to rethink military aid and calling the Egyptian people's demands legitimate. But Phyllis calls for the US to go further in its support and actually stop funding the military and police in Egypt--currently the second largest recipient of US foreign aid, after Israel.Phyllis joins us from Washington, D.C. via Skype to discuss the relationship between the US and Egypt, and what's going on now.The Koch brothers have operated largely beneath the radar of most Americans for years, convening twice-yearly meetings for the past 8 years of some of the richest and most powerful conservatives in the country. Their meetings have even been attended by Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas; part of the five-vote majority on the Supreme Court that handed down the Citizens United ruling, and their Americans for Prosperity buses appear at Tea Party events around the country.But this week, they had a little surprise--their gathering wasn't a secret any more, as around a thousand protesters showed up outside their Rancho Mirage, CA getaway. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian was there, and he joins us to give us the story.Finally, as we discuss democracy in Egypt and the US, one blogger reminds us that inequality might be bad in Egypt--but it's worse at home. Laura has some thoughts.

Wall Street is set to award $143 billion--with a B--in bonuses this year, while foreclosures continue unabated (and often undocumented) around the country. Protests are continuing around the country too, though, and Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter notes that when her family couldn't get a regulator to examine her family's foreclosure, "What we went to was a grassroots organization." Desiree joins us, along with Amanda Devecka-Rinear of National People's Action, to fill us in on yesterday's protest on Wall Street, actions around the country, and the process of building a movement to fight Wall Street corruption and help people remain in their homes.

Members of Congress talking about shutting the government down until they can extend tax cuts for the wealthy are "in denial, blinded by their greed," says Constance Kaplan, "They're not concerned with us." Connie is a law librarian who's worked for JP Morgan Chase, among other companies, and is a '99er' -- she's been unemployed for over 99 weeks and has thus lost all government unemployment benefits.Connie joins us in studio to discuss the government's inattention to job creation, and Edrie Irvine joins us via Skype--a legal secretary, she is also unemployed and is nearing the expiration on her own benefits. They fill us in on what it's like on the job hunt after over a year, and what unemployed workers are doing to get organized."I guess I missed the part of the book of Genesis where Moses says 'Let my people make $250,000 a year or more,'" jokes Chris Lehmann, author of the new book Rich People Things (from OR Books, also publisher of At The Tea Party). And Harper's columnist Thomas Frank notes, "It's expensive to be a populist these days!"Thomas and Chris join us in studio for a chat about Rich People Things--why it is that the same political rhetoric that used to be used in service of the people, the poor and working classes, is now being used to defend the rights of millionaires not to pay taxes. When the social contract's been shredded, right-wingers talk of "forces of darkness" with straight faces, and Republicans are vowing not to vote on anything until they get to cut taxes for the rich, what can we do?And just in case that wasn't enough to convince you that our government has the wrong interests at heart, just-released Fed documents show money floated not just to too-big-to-fail banks, but too-big-to-fail--phone companies? Foreign banks? Motorcycle companies? Laura has some thoughts on the big float.

Nomi Prins, former Wall Street trader and author of "It Takes a Pillage," says that the current financial reform legislation is like throwing your extra junk in the attic and pretending that your house is clean. She says that it allows banks to keep all sorts of securities off their balance sheets--that it does nothing to prevent, in short, the kind of shady dealings that helped land us in this financial mess to begin with. Together with Roosevelt Institute Fellow and blogger Mike Konczal, Nomi joins Laura in studio to discuss the financial reform legislation, its chances of passage, and what it would do--and wouldn't.