16 Sept 2013 - In this exclusive, unedited interview, economist Robert Reich discusses getting big money out of politics, interning for Robert Kennedy, and media mud wrestling. Scroll down for Part 1.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calls for a new era of citizen activism | Part 1
16 Sept 2013 - In this exclusive, unedited interview, Robert Reich looks to the past for future economic solutions.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Labor redefines itself in Los Angeles
Michael Winship, Moyers & Company
11 Sept 2013
“It’s time to turn America right side up!” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka exhorted those in attendance at the labor alliance’s quadrennial convention in Los Angeles on Monday. Time, he said in his keynote address, to change the ratio of power, to put the 99 percent in charge rather than let the richest one percent dominate government, politics and society.
“Since 2009, the pay of America’s corporate CEOs has gone up nearly 40 percent,” Trumka noted. “Imagine for a second what kind of country we would live in if ordinary people’s incomes had increased like CEO’s. Almost no one would live in poverty.”
READ IT ALL:
11 Sept 2013
“It’s time to turn America right side up!” AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka exhorted those in attendance at the labor alliance’s quadrennial convention in Los Angeles on Monday. Time, he said in his keynote address, to change the ratio of power, to put the 99 percent in charge rather than let the richest one percent dominate government, politics and society.
“Since 2009, the pay of America’s corporate CEOs has gone up nearly 40 percent,” Trumka noted. “Imagine for a second what kind of country we would live in if ordinary people’s incomes had increased like CEO’s. Almost no one would live in poverty.”
READ IT ALL:
Monday, September 09, 2013
LEAKED mockumentary: The Internet Must Go
In John Wooley's hilarious 30-minute mockumentary The Internet Must Go,
he plays a marketing shill hired by the big cable operators and phone
companies to convince Americans to accept corrupt, non-neutral Internet
connections where your ability to reach sites and services online is
based on whether your ISP has a deal with the company offering it
Wooley's playing a Colbert-esque useful idiot, and he never breaks character as he interviews Susan Crawford, Al Franken, John Hodgman, Tim Wu, Larry Lessig, and many others, giving them the chance to play out the arguments for a neutral, fair Internet. The climax is a visit to North Carolina, where the big telcos have successfully gotten legislation passed banning municipalities from offering high-speed Internet, even in towns where the cable and phone companies have no plans to offer high-speed connections.
Learn more and take action: www.theinternetmustgo.com
Wooley's playing a Colbert-esque useful idiot, and he never breaks character as he interviews Susan Crawford, Al Franken, John Hodgman, Tim Wu, Larry Lessig, and many others, giving them the chance to play out the arguments for a neutral, fair Internet. The climax is a visit to North Carolina, where the big telcos have successfully gotten legislation passed banning municipalities from offering high-speed Internet, even in towns where the cable and phone companies have no plans to offer high-speed connections.
Learn more and take action: www.theinternetmustgo.com
Saturday, September 07, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Happy Birthday, Molly Ivins (you were right)
"Watch the House pass a bad bill. Watch the Senate make it worse. Watch the banking industry dig its own grave. Watch supposedly smart people set up a financial disaster. Can we see President Clinton veto this mess? Veto, Clinton, veto.
"Not since Congress passed the Garn-St. Germain bill in 1981 – the one that deregulated the S&Ls and unleashed a half-a-trillion-dollar disaster, which the taxpayers of this country wound up paying for – has there been a move to match this for pure folly.
"In May, the House passed (by one vote) a bill to eliminate barriers between banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies. This sets up financial holding companies that can offer all three types of services simultaneously. The most obvious risk is that a blunder in the insurance or brokerage end of the business could bring down a bank, putting insured deposits at risk. The taxpayers, of course, then wind up with the tab, as we did with the savings-and-loan mess."
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Mark Leibovich on America's Gilded Capital | Bill Moyers
This
Town by Mark Leibovich is the story of how Washington became an
occupied city, its hold on reality distorted by greed and ambition.
Leibovich pulls no punches, naming names and revealing the city’s
bipartisan lust for power, cash and notoriety.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Johnny Winter And - It's My Own Fault
'Live Johnny Winter And' is a 1971 album recorded live at various locations during the fall of 1970.
Monday, August 12, 2013
David Sirota on Jeff Bezos and the Citizen Kane-ification of newspapers
6 August 2013 | Current.com
David Sirota interviews Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnston about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchasing the Washington Post.
David Sirota interviews Pulitzer Prize winning reporter David Cay Johnston about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchasing the Washington Post.
Media silent as State of Texas defends constitutionality of racial discrimination
11 August 2013 | NewsCorpse.com
Excerpt:
The argument by the state of Texas is that they are deliberately discriminating against Democratic voters, not minorities or other protected classes of citizens, and they regard that as permissible. The first problem with their argument is that it is questionable to assert that it is constitutional to “make partisan districting decisions.” Any overt attempt to suppress the voting rights of any citizen is challengeable and potentially in violation of civil liberties.
More to the point, the claim that they are only aiming their discriminatory activities at Democrats is disingenuous and unsupportable. The redistricting maps proposed by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature cut obviously across racial boundaries. The clear intent is to segregate blacks and Latinos into the fewest number of districts possible, denying them equal representation. These maps were struck down by federal courts as blatantly discriminatory, but now the state can re-introduce them with the blessing of an atrociously reasoned Supreme Court decision.
There is simply no way to pretend that the statement made in the filing defending the constitutionality of discrimination against Democrats is anything other than a defense of discrimination against minority communities in Texas. Given the demographic breakdown of the district mapping, it is absurd and grossly dishonest to assert that the “effects on minority voters” are “incidental.” What the state of Texas is doing is racism, pure and simple.
So where is the media coverage of this outrageous admission made in an official court document? None of the television news networks has reported on it. None of the major national newspapers has published a story about it. A few Internet news outlets have done some commendable reporting on it, but their reach is minimal at this point.
READ IT ALL:
Excerpt:
The argument by the state of Texas is that they are deliberately discriminating against Democratic voters, not minorities or other protected classes of citizens, and they regard that as permissible. The first problem with their argument is that it is questionable to assert that it is constitutional to “make partisan districting decisions.” Any overt attempt to suppress the voting rights of any citizen is challengeable and potentially in violation of civil liberties.
More to the point, the claim that they are only aiming their discriminatory activities at Democrats is disingenuous and unsupportable. The redistricting maps proposed by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature cut obviously across racial boundaries. The clear intent is to segregate blacks and Latinos into the fewest number of districts possible, denying them equal representation. These maps were struck down by federal courts as blatantly discriminatory, but now the state can re-introduce them with the blessing of an atrociously reasoned Supreme Court decision.
There is simply no way to pretend that the statement made in the filing defending the constitutionality of discrimination against Democrats is anything other than a defense of discrimination against minority communities in Texas. Given the demographic breakdown of the district mapping, it is absurd and grossly dishonest to assert that the “effects on minority voters” are “incidental.” What the state of Texas is doing is racism, pure and simple.
So where is the media coverage of this outrageous admission made in an official court document? None of the television news networks has reported on it. None of the major national newspapers has published a story about it. A few Internet news outlets have done some commendable reporting on it, but their reach is minimal at this point.
READ IT ALL:
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Richard Wolff on fighting for economic justice and fair wages | Bill Moyers
February 22, 2013
Economist Richard Wolff
joins Bill to shine light on the disaster left behind in capitalism’s
wake, and to discuss the fight for economic justice, including a fair
minimum wage. Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis Remarks | National Press Club
Aug 5, 2013 - Every Texan should listen to her speech. Ms. Davis’ life story, empathy,
and actions make her that amalgam of knowledge, empathy, and experience
needed to lead Texas at this time in our history.
READ MORE HERE:
READ MORE HERE:
Monday, August 05, 2013
John Oliver's takedown of Fox News' absurd arguments against raising the minimum wage
John Oliver lays bare the ignorance, mean-spiritedness, and unabashed greed of those who argue against raising the minimum wage.
Saturday, August 03, 2013
President John F. Kennedy in 1962 on the need for Medicare
This video is a short clip from a speech given in 1962 by President Kennedy, at a huge public rally in support of his proposal, later known as Medicare, to provide health care insurance for the elderly, as part of the Social Security system. Here, the President explains the need for the Medicare program, and also defends it against false attacks by opponents. Medicare was not enacted into law until 1965, during the term of President Lyndon Johnson, approximately two years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. The arguments made by President Kennedy are also pretty good reasons why our country should have a program of universal health care, by expanding Medicare to cover all citizens of all ages.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Collaboration is key to keeping investigative journalism alive
By Denise Malan | MediaShift
July 24, 2013
Collaboration is more than just a buzzword. It could be one of the pillars that keeps investigative journalism standing
Look at some of the most recent examples of investigative projects that are making a difference: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with 86 investigative journalists from 46 countries to shine light on the seedy underworld of offshore tax havens.
A congresswoman has asked for a Department of Justice investigation into 50 charities in the wake of the America’s Worst Charities project by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Tampa Bay Times.
The Big Sky, Big Money partnership between PBS, American Public Media’s “Marketplace” and ProPublica won an IRE award for its look at post-Citizens United campaign finance in Montana and led to rulings that a group violated campaign finance laws.
READ IT ALL HERE:
July 24, 2013
Collaboration is more than just a buzzword. It could be one of the pillars that keeps investigative journalism standing
Look at some of the most recent examples of investigative projects that are making a difference: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with 86 investigative journalists from 46 countries to shine light on the seedy underworld of offshore tax havens.
A congresswoman has asked for a Department of Justice investigation into 50 charities in the wake of the America’s Worst Charities project by the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Tampa Bay Times.
The Big Sky, Big Money partnership between PBS, American Public Media’s “Marketplace” and ProPublica won an IRE award for its look at post-Citizens United campaign finance in Montana and led to rulings that a group violated campaign finance laws.
READ IT ALL HERE:
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