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Newswire: Voting to Reclaim Workers' Rights 11/1/11

Earlier this year, Ohio residents rose up to push back against a union-busting bill imposed by Gov. John Kasich. Throughout the spring and summer, residents collected signatures and were successful in putting the bill up for a vote. Now, Ohioans are getting ready for a democratic showdown that could determine labor rights for union workers. David Lewis, a reporter with the American Independent, talks to Newswire about SB5 and its implications for workers.

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GRITtv: The F Word: Shareholders Fight Back, Dems Compromise

The ink on the compromise that kept the government open—barely--isn't even dry and they're already talking about the next round of cuts in Washington. The New York Times led off this week with an article about Obama's plan to reduce the deficit by making unspecified “changes” to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Sure, it also mentions increasing taxes and cutting military spending, but when we're embracing the conservative frame that entitlement programs are too big, that's not much to cheer about. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Peg Lautenschlager: Legal Recourse in Madison

Former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager says that Republicans may have violated state law with their passage of the so-called budget repair bill. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Jim Hightower and Peg Lautenschlager

"This has been spontaneous combustion, what's happening here in Wisconsin," Jim Hightower says. "Ordinary folks have been knocked down: workers, farmers, consumers, environmentalists." Hightower and former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager spoke with Laura Flanders this weekend during protests that saw more than 120,000 people descend on Madison to demonstrate against Governor Scott Walker's bill that took collective bargaining rights away from public unions. Lautenschlager says that the process Governor Scott Walker and other Republicans circumvented Wisconsin state law and will face pending legal challenges, both to the process and the bill itself. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Harvey Wasserman, Jim Hightower, and Peg Lautenschlager

"This is beyond serious," Harvery Wassermn of NukeFree.org says of the situation surrounding Japan's damaged nuclear facilities. "If all four of those reactors go, the death toll will be in the millions." Japan has been left reeling by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that has killed thousands. To make matters worse, numerous nuclear energy facilities in damaged in Japan are in danger of releasing deadly radiation. Experts are already claiming the situation is worse that the nuclear emergency of Three Mile Island and may get worse. "This has been spontaneous combustion, what's happening here in Wisconsin," Jim Hightower says. "Ordinary folks have been knocked down: workers, farmers, consumers, environmentalists." Hightower and former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager spoke with Laura Flanders this weekend during protests that saw more than 120,000 people descend on Madison to demonstrate against Governor Scott Walker's bill that took collective bargaining rights away from public unions. Lautenschlager says that the process Governor Scott Walker and other Republicans circumvented Wisconsin state law and will face pending legal challenges, both to the process and the bill itself. Finally, President Barack Obama is firing up his behind-the-scenes campaign personnel and looking to draw from his base for support, but what about his support for the base? Laura has a few choice words of warning. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Sen. Sherrod Brown: Energized Workers Fighting Back

"It's an ideological mission they have in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, they're going after an ideological agenda," says Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio on the latest moves by Republicans to bust unions, defund Planned Parenthood, and restrict women's right to abortion. He points out that neither Ohio governor John Kasich nor Wisconsin governor Scott Walker campaigned on any of these issues--and that the people of his state and around the country are ready to fight back. Senator Brown joins Laura from Washington, D.C. to discuss the attacks on workers in his state and around the country, how they connect to attacks on health care and abortion rights, and why he's optimistic about the fight ahead. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Paris Hatcher: Keeping an Eye on Anti-Abortion Antics

"We're seeing the political southernization of the whole country. There's a surge of conservatism, targeting a wide variety of communities," says Paris Hatcher, interim director of Georgia-based SPARK Reproductive Justice Now. As we see the anti-abortion tactics started in the south hitting the northeast--a billboard sprang up in New York City recently targeting black women, and though it was quickly taken down, states around the country are fighting antichoice legislation and attempts to defund reproductive healthcare. Paris joins Laura in studio to discuss her reproductive justice work in Atlanta and how the rest of the country can learn from the work women of color are doing on state and local levels. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Karen Nussbaum: Wisconsin a Teach-In for America

"We find that working people are desperate to be part of something bigger, they know their standard of living is declining, they are now finding inspiration from the demonstrations in Wisconsin, " says Karen Nussbaum of Working America, an AFL-CIO community affiliate that supports and organizes non-union working people. Karen joins Laura via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss the impact the labor protests in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and now Idaho are having on the people she works with, who are not union members but who understand the importance of unions to all workers in the US. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: March 2, 2011

"I have received nothing but overwhelming support from my constituents, saying 'We love you but don't come home,'" says Lena Taylor, one of the fourteen Wisconsin state senators who left the state in order to delay a vote on Governor Scott Walker's "budget repair" bill, that would eliminate collective bargaining for state employees. Walker unveiled his budget yesterday, after driving protesters out of the taxpayer-owned capitol building, and Sen. Taylor is not thrilled with his ideas--and not intimidated by his threats. She joins us via phone from her undisclosed location to give us her thoughts on Walker's priorities. "We find that working people are desperate to be part of something bigger, they know their standard of living is declining, they are now finding inspiration from the demonstrations in Wisconsin, " says Karen Nussbaum of Working America, an AFL-CIO community affiliate that supports and organizes non-union working people. Karen joins Laura via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss the impact the labor protests in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and now Idaho are having on the people she works with, who are not union members but who understand the importance of unions to all workers in the US. Last Saturday, with the backdrop of 100,000 protestors, Laura caught up once again with Wisconsin State Assembly member Cory Mason in the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. They spoke about the dirty trick played on House Assembly members last Friday and Cory predicts the massive cuts to education and health care contained in Walker's state budget. Finally, the banks are back to profitability, but they've got yet another trick up their sleeve for getting a little more of your money. Laura discusses. Distributed by Tubemogul.

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GRITtv: Michael Moore: People Still Have the Power

"This is a movement that is not going to stop," says filmmaker Michael Moore of the uprising in Madison, Wisconsin (and across the country--all 50 states held solidarity rallies this weekend). "I knew sooner or later people would say they've had enough." Michael joins Laura in studio for part one of a two-part conversation about the war on working people in America. He notes that it started in 1981 with Reagan's attack on the air traffic controllers, and it's mostly targeted the poor, as with Clinton's welfare reform. But the attacks on middle class families have finally reached a point where people aren't going to take it anymore. Watch out for part two tomorrow! Distributed by Tubemogul.

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