white house
GRITtv: Kai Wright: Outside Action Moved DADT, DREAM Act
This weekend saw critical votes on Don't Ask Don't Tell and the DREAM Act--one victory and one defeat for progressives. Kai Wright of ColorLines notes that it was grassroots organizing and militant activism that brought both these bills to the point of passage. "In the end it's the outside that moves people. Literally outside the White House, chained to the fence, or DREAM act students hunger striking," he notes. Kai joins Laura in studio to talk about what can be learned from the movement around the DREAM Act and Don't Ask Don't Tell, moving beyond "inside/outside" strategy, and why the military is traditionally a first step toward wider equality and rights for all Americans.
Email this pageDemocracy Now!: Tues. Oct. 12 2010
As the mortgage fraud scandal grows, the White House opposes a national moratorium on foreclosures; why are bailed-out banks breaking into struggling borrowers’ homes?; proclaiming himself a "progressive hunter," a gunman cites listening to Glenn Beck and others as his inspiration for armed plot against ACLU and Tides. Democracy Now! is a daily independent newshour.
GRITtv: Jeff Biggers: Uprising Against Coal Mining
This past week saw protests against mountaintop removal and strip mining around the U.S.--GRITtv coal correspondent Jeff Biggers attended one in Illinois, while around 100 people were arrested in front of the White House, including climate scientist James Hansen. There's no enthusiasm gap, Biggers notes, when it comes to the anti-coal protesters, many of whom have been fighting the destruction of their communities for decades. Biggers checks in with us via Skype from southern Illinois, where he's been covering the protests, and discusses the next move for anti-coal activists and the Obama administration.
"Democracy Now!": Thurs. Aug. 12 2010
As Gibbs attacks progressive critics, the ACLU says that Obama's White House is enshrining Bush-era policies; "I Fear for My Country," says Muslim leader Daisy Khan on the opposition to the Ground Zero mosque and others nationwide; "Gaming the System" is a study that details how big banks are avoiding lending obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.
"Democracy Now!": Tues. July 27 2010
WikiLeaks Founder says the Afghan war logs show "evidence of war crimes," but the White House downplays the leak claiming "no broad new revelations"; the Guardian editor on the coverage of the Afghan war logs says the European audience is "troubled more...by the toll this war is taking on innocent people"; "WikiLeaks is not one person...we are all the threat," says a Hacker Magazine editor who also says that WikiLeaks is bigger Than Julian Assange. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.
GRITtv: The F Word: Great Hoarding Causing Great Hurt
Congress is hemming and hawing over financial reform, no doubt weighing up the cost of too little reform vs. too many lost campaign contributions. Meanwhile, while the best jobless workers can hope for is an extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed, it's not just the jobless who are slipping under the bus -- it's all workers. As Robert Reich pointed out this week, real wages are falling - even as hours and “productivity” are rising. And the White House keeps on hoping that the private sector will do the right thing about all of this.
The F Word: Helen Thomas Was Wrong, But Who's Right?
After video hit YouTube of eighty-nine year old reporter Helen Thomas, telling an interviewer that Israelis should “get out of Palestine” and go back to Poland and Germany and other places, the White House issued an immediate condemnation. "Reprehensible" was their word. In the ritual flagellation that's followed, one can't help thinking that the grande dame of the White House press corps would have gotten less grief if she'd purposely cheated the financial system and took taxpayer money to recover. GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates.
GRITtv: F Word: Healthcare Reform Without Single Payer Is No Reform At All
Here's a simple question for the White House: "Why are you still refusing to even consider single payer?!" And here's a simple message for the public: "Any health care 'reform' bill that does not provide a Single Payer option is NO real reform at all." You'll find both in a new fax petition you can add your name to if you're so inclined. The organizers need 100,000 signatures to submit their petition to the White House. You can get more information at our website. There were some who "hoped" that when the White House came out with their own health care proposal there would be a real robust public option. Instead, what emerged -- as far as we can see -- is little more than the SAME Senate bill that everyone hated so much... As best as we can determine, all the gruesome stuff is still in there, in particular the forced mandate to buy corporate health insurance from some new "exchange," with no meaningful option. The White House site has this response to that question of whether you will be forced to buy a "government" plan: "You will be able to shop among private insurance plans that will be sold in the insurance exchange -- a marketplace where you can choose what is right for you." And if that isn't nauseous enough, there's a slick new corporate marketing slogan, "Putting Americans in Control of their Health Care." Well, as anyone knows who's been watching, we the people are most definitely not in control of health care costs, and super-duper not in control of those premiums that keep soaring up. The bad news is the Obama plan doesn't look as if it will solve that. The good news is, a whole lot of people are mobilized now. Let's hope they don't shut up until they get some control back. 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: Who Elected Joe Lieberman President?
When word broke last night that Joe Lieberman had taken the health care bill hostage and that it appeared the White House and Senate Majority Leader Reid were ready to cave, progressives howled. How the heck did Joe Lieberman, party of one, wind up in charge? Jacob Hacker, the "father of the public option," Prof. Stanley Resor, Maggie Mahar of HealthBeatBlog and Harpers Luke Mitchell try to explain what's left in the bill and what's likely to happen next.
