washington
Newswire: Dan Heyman of Public News Service 9/15/11
The U.S. economy is still struggling to pull itself out of the 2009 recession, and to help stabilize the country, experts are calling for the government to fuel money back into the economy. However, it's the exact opposite of what politicians in Washington are trying to do. Dan Heyman, a radio reporter with Public News Service, talked to several economists who said austerity cuts could actually lead to a double-dip recession.
Email this pageGRITtv: Heather McGhee: Deficit Obsession is Depression-Maker
"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.
GRITtv: The F Word: Citizens United Allows Workplace Propaganda
We've talked a lot about the devastating effects of corporate cash on elections following the Citizens United decision, but a new story in The Nation shows that the Supreme Court's also made it a lot easier for companies to pressure their employees directly about voting. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Remembering the Struggle in Bahrain
On April 15, thousands of miles away from Bahrain, protests took place in Washington D.C. going from the Saudi Embassy to the White House, and finally ending in Central Park as thousands of Muslims and sympathetic Americans from around the world attended to show their support of the "forgotten oppressed."
GRITtv: Richard Wolff & Karen Finney: Playing Politics with the Budget
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.
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.
GRITtv: Bill Fletcher Jr.: Bombing Libya, Killing Jobs
"Republicans are moving an agenda to defund programs and agencies that they've never supported," says Bill Fletcher, Jr. "They're not discussing where we get the money to attack Libya if we're broke." Bill, past president of the TransAfrica Forum, says that it's hypocritical of the U.S. to get involved in Libya's conflict while ignoring tyrants in other parts of the world. Bill joins Laura via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss the conflict in Libya, the ongoing workers' struggles at home, and his hopes for tactics both at home and abroad.
GRITtv: Phyllis Bennis: Intervention in Libya
"The only restriction says there shall be no foreign occupation force, but as we know from Iraq and Afghanistan, you can have an awful lot of troops on the ground fighting and not call it an occupation," says Phyllis Bennis, explaining the United Nations resolution that led a coalition of troops to start bombing Libya this weekend. Phyllis joins us via Skype from Washington, D.C. to fill us in on the story behind the decision to intervene in Libya, who the players are, why this matters, and whether we're in this one too for the long haul.
GRITtv: Sen. Bernie Sanders: Aggressive Class Warfare
"Many important issues facing working people don't get the attention they deserve, and other issues get a whole lot of issues because they're sensational or if they divert attention," says Senator Bernie Sanders of the media's failures these days. He notes that we're now seeing a newly aggressive push from corporate interests and the politicians they sponsor, making attacks that have little to do with deficits. Senator Sanders joins Laura via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss the assault on programs that aid working families, the way the media helps conservatives wtih framing, and his state of Vermont's steps toward single-payer healthcare. Distributed by Tubemogul.
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.
