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2013 Program Archive
January 28 - Who Put the Fix in to Save Wall Street From Prosecution?; No End in Sight in Syria; Republicans Plan to Rig the Vote in Swing States
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We begin and get an update from William K. Black who just returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Since he was the chief prosecutor who jailed hundreds of bankers responsible for the Savings and Loan disaster of the 1980’s, we also discuss the fallout from a recent FRONTLINE documentary examining why no Wall Street bankers have gone to jail for creating the great recession that has impoverished millions of Americans. And we'll look into the appointment of the new head at the Securities Exchange Commission. |
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Then, as Israel deploys its Iron Dome anti-missile system on the Syrian border, we examine Iran’s determination to prop up the Assad dictatorship and the role of their proxy Hizbollah inside Syria. Aram Nerguizian, an expert on Syria at the Center for Strategic and International Studies joins us to explain the strategic landscape in this increasingly complex proxy war that is destroying Syria, turning its citizens into refugees, and has no end in sight. |
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Then finally we examine a Republican scheme to rig the Electoral College so that the loser can win the next presidency. Robert Richie, the co-founder and Executive Director of FairVote joins us to discuss the recent failed Republican effort in Virginia to rig the vote in their favor and plans to enact so-called electoral college “reform” in the other key swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio. |
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January 27- Republican Judicial Activists Block Obama's Way Around Republican Roadblocks; What Happened to Filibuster Reform?; Drones as Imperialism Lite
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We begin with the decision by the DC Court of Appeals that broke with 150 years of precedent striking down President Obama’s use of recess appointments. Aziz Huq, professor of Law at the University of Chicago joins us to discuss this radical decision in the context of the growing rightward tilt of our judiciary from successful efforts by Republicans to filibuster Democratic nominees to the federal bench. On top of using legislative trickery to hobble federal agencies Republicans don’t like, this latest display of conservative judicial activism now prevents a Democratic president from getting around these Republican roadblocks. |
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Then we look into filibuster reform that appears to have fizzled in the Senate where a watered down version has been agreed to. We assess what kind of reform can be expected and what more could have been achieved, with a veteran of the Senate Ira Shapiro who was Counsel to the Majority Leader of the Senate. We discuss the enormous backlog of bills and appointments created by the unprecedented use of the filibuster by Republicans and how much these reforms will unblock the Senate. |
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Then finally we examine the U.S.’s increased reliance of drones and recent efforts by the UN to launch an enquiry into the proliferation of drones, now used by 51 countries, and the lack of a legal framework of international law to deal with this new weapon. Richard Rubenstein, the University Professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs at George Mason University joins us. He is the author of “Reasons To Kill: Why Americans Choose War”. |
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January 24 - Sisters in Arms; DOJ's Failure to go After the "Untouchables" on Wall Street; North Korea's Big Bang Theory of Extortion
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We begin with today’s announcement by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs allowing women in the military to soon serve in combat. A former sergeant and Arabic-speaking intelligence specialist who served with the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq, Kayla Williams joins us. The author of “Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army”, she tells us how she feels about what President Obama calls an historic step.
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Then, with today’s news of the impending resignation of Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer and the nomination of Mary Jo White to head up the Securities and Exchange Commission, we speak with Martin Smith, the producer of the just-broadcast PBS FRONTLINE special “The Untouchables” which is about the failure of the Justice Department to prosecute those responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown that caused the recession and the impoverishment of millions of Americans. |
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Then finally we examine the latest explicit threat from North Korea against the U.S. with the announcement that they will soon conduct a bigger nuclear test in defiance of the U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed in response to a recent North Korean missile test. Sung Yoon Lee, a Professor of International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tuft’s University joins us to discuss the meaning and motives behind Pyongyang’s heated rhetoric.
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January 23 - Hillary Clinton's Testimony Slams Republican Critics; Israel's Election Surprise; The Decline of Union Representation in the Workforce
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We begin with an appraisal of out-going Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s testimony before Senate and House Committees where she faced hostile questions from Republicans who have long tried to blow up the tragic incident in Benghazi into a major foreign policy issue. A former Deputy Director of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence who was an intelligence analyst on Libya, Wayne White, joins us for a reality check. |
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Then we go to Israel for an update on the surprising election results where a little-know new party Yesh Atid (There is a Future) came in second. A former Speaker of the Knesset Avraham Burg joins us to discuss what kind of government coalition Prime Minister Netanyahu will be able to form with this new staunchly secular party who are unlikely to join a coalition with the right-wing ultra Orthodox parties who make up the current Likud government. |
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Then finally we look into the new report released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that union membership in America has dropped to a record low with a one-year drop in 2012 of union representation in the private sector from 6.9 to 6.6%. John Schmitt, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington D.C. who is the co-author with Lawrence Mishel and Jared Bernstein of three editions of the “State of Working America”, joins us. |
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January 22 - A "Sea Change" in the Government's Ability to Collect Data on Its Citizens; Brazen Republican Gerrymandering in Virginia; The Cardinal's Sins
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We begin with a Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist with the Wall Street Journal, Julia Angwin, who has uncovered a new government surveillance regime at the National Counterterrorism Center that was resisted by privacy rights officials in the Department of Homeland Security before being put in place last March by John Brennan, President Obama’s nominee to head up the CIA. We discuss this new program described as a “sea change” in the government’s ability to collect data on its citizens. Julia has an article in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal “U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens”. |
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Then we examine the brazen actions of the Virginia legislature where Senate Republicans passed a radical redistricting plan while a key Democrat was attending the presidential inauguration. Keesha Gaskins, a Voting Rights Advocate and Senior Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program joins us to discuss the latest gerrymandering in a key swing state and whether the Republicans, who are on the losing end of changing demographics, plan to stay competitive by rigging the vote. |
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Then finally we are joined by Joelle Casteix a spokesperson for SNAP, the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests. She addresses the just-released records the archdiocese of Los Angeles have fought for years to keep secret that reveal Cardinal Roger Mahony hid sex abuse cases from authorities. We discuss the now-retired Cardinal’s contrition in the face of more and continuing evidence of a systemic cover-up of abuse by pedophile priests in the Catholic Church. |
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