barack obama

President Obama has signed legislation to increase the U.S. debt ceiling in time to avoid a national default. The $2.1 trillion deficit-reduction plan cleared its final hurdle in the Senate yesterday, passing with a 74-to-26 vote. Six Democrats and 19 Republicans opposed the measure. Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland was among those to vote no, summing up her disappointment on Twitter by writing: "Nada from million/billionaires; corp tax loopholes aplenty; only sacrifice from the poor/middle class? Shared sacrifice, balance? Really?" We speak with Rep. Edwards about why she voted against the plan. President Barack Obama welcomed the deficit deal as "an important first step" and urged both parties to work together on a larger plan to cut the deficit. For more, we speak with economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Syrian forces are pushing towards the center of the restive city of Hama as they continue an offensive in which an estimated 140 people have been killed. Residents say they saw explosions Wednesday morning and lines of tanks heading into the city. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, called on Tuesday for a rapid end to violence in Syria but said direct U.S. involvement was unlikely. We speak with Nadim Houry, the Beirut-based senior researcher on Syria and Lebanon for Human Rights Watch. In Israel, tens of thousands have joined nationwide protests against high costs of living and growing income inequality. Protesters have set up more than 40 tent encampments scattered across Israel, with as many as 120,000 people turning out to demand lower taxes and increased access to education and housing.  We go to Tel Aviv to speak with Dimi Reider, an Israeli journalist and co-editor of 972 Magazine.  Democracy Now! correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous was on sight in Cairo today as former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, appeared in court for the first time to face allegations of corruption and the killing of protesters during the uprising that overthrew his rule. Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour.

According to retired Colonel Andrew Bacevich, Barack Obama "is a problem solver, he's surrounded himself with problem solvers at a time when maybe we need some creative thinking." This week saw the announcement that General David Petraeus would be taking Leon Panetta's spot as head of the CIA, while Panetta would be moving to replace Robert Gates as Defense Secretary. Bacevich joins Laura in studio to discuss the changes in the administration and the ongoing situation in Libya and Syria, and notes that at a time when the Arab world is undergoing deep changes, it should be a time for modesty in the US and a reconsideration of military power and the use of violence to achieve goals. "Rock is, among other things, a potent means of expressing the active emotions--anger, aggression, lust, the joy of physical exertion--that feed all freedom movements, and it is no accident that women musicians have been denied access to this powerful musical language." So wrote Ellen Willis in June of 1974, when the acclaimed feminist thinker and cultural critic was working as the Rock, Etc. columnist at the New Yorker. A new book of Willis's rock criticism is out now, titled Out Of The Vinyl Deeps and edited by her daughter, Nona Willis Aronowitz, and this weekend a conference at New York University will celebrate her work as a pop culture thinker and writer. Nona joins Laura in studio with Drexel University professor Devon Powers to discuss Willis's influence and ideas. Baratunde Thurston is usually one of our favorite comedians, but even he couldn't bring himself to laugh at the ugly spectacle of a privileged white man like Donald Trump congratulating himself in front of news cameras for getting Barack Obama to produce a "long-form" birth certificate. Baratunde recorded his feelings about that statement, and what it says to millions of African-Americans. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"People actually want to believe in heroes, so they'll believe in Glenn Beck, they'll believe in Barack Obama, they choose individuals to believe in but won't believe in politics itself," says Walter Mosley, author and activist. Obama may have been pressured into releasing his "long form" birth certificate this week, but that won't heal the hurt in our politics, Mosley says, until Americans stop trusting heroes and experts and start trusting each other. Mosley joins us for part one of a two-part conversation on his vision for a truly people-powered America.

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.