recovery
Newswire: Americans in Poverty 9/22/11
Statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week have drawn attention to the growing number of Americans who are living in poverty -- a staggering 46 million people. But poverty experts and activists are working to change the tide and help Americans become prosperous once again. The Half in Ten campaign is a project with the Center for American Progress Action fund. It's working to cut the poverty rate in half over the next decade. Melissa Boteach tells us more.
Email this pageGRITtv: Shane McGowan & Friends: I Put a Spell On You
While our attention has been focused on the oil continuing to coat the Gulf Coast, we haven't forgotten about Haiti, struggling to rebuild after the horrific earthquake earlier this year. The music community hasn't forgotten either, and so we're bringing you this video, a benefit performance of "I Put a Spell On You" pulled together by Shane McGowan of the Pogues and featuring, among others, Nick Cave, Chrissie Hynde, and Johnny Depp.
GRITtv: Cine Institute: Chana
Since the earthquake in Haiti in January, we've been bringing you updates from the Ciné Institute, a remarkable organization that has helped Haitians tell their own story of recovery and rebuilding. In this segment, we see the story of one young volunteer who spends her days helping her neighbors, providing care and lifting spirits.
GRITtv: The F Word: Extracting Recovery, Too?
Yesterday it was security, today's it's recovery: another nifty, ubiquitous word that means a whole lot of different things to different people. When President Obama in his state of the union talks about economic recovery, just whose is he talking about? What has (for the moment at least) recovered, are stock market returns and Wall Street bonuses. What hasn't recovered are personal incomes or discretionary spending on things other than debts. What hasn't recovered are small shops and small business and people who produce stuff. Productivity's up, but sales are falling, shops are closing and the country continues to lose jobs. As economists say, there are two economies: the producing one, and the extracting one. And I'm not just talking about mines. As Michael Hudson describes it: "The wealthiest 10 percent lend out their savings to become debts owed by the bottom 90 percent. A rising share of gains are made in extractive ways, by charging rent and interest, by financial speculation, and by shifting taxes off itself onto the productive economy." Have you noticed that subtle shift in action? Obama appealed to producers to get elected: all those small donors you hear so much about. Now who's he appealing to? Two Americas, one recovery: it seems he's made his choice. The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
GRITtv: Is it Fair to Compare Haiti to New Orleans?
The comparisons between the earthquake in Haiti and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans have come fast and furious, but often from people who've watched both disasters through the clean-cut white lens of Anderson Cooper broadcasts. Meanwhile, people in Haiti -- and those in the Gulf Coast still struggling four years later -- need more than blame and comparisons. They need real solutions. To offer some, we ask Monika Kalra Varma, director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Princeton professor, Nation contributor, and author of "Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought," and James Perry, executive director of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center and candidate for mayor of New Orleans.
GRITtv: Sanders Unfiltered: Environment + Economy = Harmony
In this latest clip from Senator Bernie Sanders' ongoing collaboration with Brave New Films, we take a look at the way good environmental policy can actually be good economic policy as well. Despite the claims of those who say that acting to fix climate change will kill jobs, we can actually create a sustainable economy by investing in green jobs, and making those jobs pay a living wage.
GRITtv: Robert Reich Has A Plan To Save the Economy
Robert Reich, former labor secretary under President Clinton, has a plan to save the economy and put Americans back to work. Will anyone listen? Reich's plan includes payroll tax exemptions, a job creation tax credit for small businesses, and a works projects administration to put people to work now. He notes, too, that we need good jobs, not just any jobs, and the federal government can set a standard for wages for the private sector to follow, rebuilding a strong American middle class.
GRITtv: How's Your Stimulus?
How's your stimulus? The Obama administration has been getting a lot of flack lately for a so-called jobless recovery. Only about 10 percent of the stimulus money has actually been distributed and some are getting impatient. But those who are keeping an eye on the stimulus money at the state level say that it?s having a real impact and that there's more to come. Damon Hewitt, Assistant Council NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Chris Keeley Associate Director of Common Cause, NY, David Dix, National Green Director League of Young Voters, and Juhu Thukral, Director of Law and Advocacy at the Opportunity Agenda on how the stimulus money?s being spent.
GRITtv: Daily Newsmaker: Damon Hewitt & Chris Keeley: How's Your Stimulus?
Damon Hewitt and Chris Keeley discuss the simulus plan's pros and cons.
