heritage foundation
Big Picture 10/3/11: Birth of the American Autumn
Thom examines the growing "Occupy Wall Street" protests across the nation and the momentum it's gaining with various influential labor unions. Later in the show, he highlights how the right wing think tank, The Heritage Foundation has flip flopped on the issue of "ObamaCare".
Email this pageLaura Flanders on "The Ed Show" Feb. 22
"A revival is happening here," Laura noted on MSNBC's Ed Show Tuesday night from Columbus, Ohio, to discuss the protests she's seen this week in Madison, Columbus, and around the country. "There is a thin blue union line between poverty and the middle class for Americans," Laura says.
GRITtv: Looking Past Disaster: Possibilities for Haiti
The Heritage Foundation didn't wait very long after the earthquake in Haiti to issue its recommendations for Shock Doctrine-style "reforms," and the IMF has already offered a conditional loan to help rebuild. Haiti has seen enough of this type of policy already, and is in need of a different type of thinking: one not imposed from without, but developed from within the country and its communities. To discuss what would really help the people of Haiti, we ask architect Rodney Leon, working on the Belle Reve sustainable housing development in Haiti and a member of The Haitian Roundtable group, Michele Wucker, executive director of the World Policy Institute and Bill Fletcher Jr., executive editor of Black Commentator. If you've already given money but want to know what else you can do, we suggest joining the growing calls for forgiving Haiti's foreign debts. Some nations have already said they will do so, but more pressure can only help. The ONE campaign, the Hunger Site, and Jubilee USA have action you can take, and you can also contact your congressperson.
GRITtv: The F Word: Things to Remember While Helping Haiti
Things to remember while helping Haiti. That's the benign-sounding headline on a Heritage Foundation paper regarding the disaster in Haiti. Released just hours after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit, the pro-corporate analysts at Heritage suggested that the US response should think beyond the immediate ... to "address long-held concerns over the fragile political environment that exists in the region." But as Naomi Klein discovered, in an early draft, the pro-corporate ideologues at Heritage were more outspoken. The early version, yanked, read: "In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti's long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region." Reshape it how? Well, those who remember how Heritage responded to Hurricane Katrina will probably get it about right; In a WebMemo titled "President's Bold Action on Davis-Bacon Will Aid the Relief Effort," in 2005 Heritage applauded Bush for suspending provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act applying "to federally funded construction projects in the Gulf Coast areas hit by Hurricane Katrina" … What are the chances, do you think, that the US Treasury will be as generous with Haiti as it was with Wall Street? -- Laura Flanders
