Full Program

Part 1

Today on this Labor Day we examine a number of stories and issues in the news with a focus on labor issues and how the lives of working Americans can be improved as more and more Americans are left out of the American dream while more and more of the country’s wealth gets concentrated in the hands of a few families. We begin with veteran labor journalist Sam Pizzigati, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies whose latest book is “The Rich Don’t Always Win: The Forgotten Triumph over Plutocracy that Created the American Middle Class”. He joins us to discuss his article at inequality.org “As Wealth for the Middle Class Shrinks, It May Be Time for a Radical Intervention” and the urgent need to reverse the growing gap in income and wealth inequality, as well as how when unions are strong, everyone who works does better, union workers and non-union workers alike.

Part 2

Then we speak with Dr. Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in labor, information technology, the organization of work global economic integration and trade. We discuss the demise of organized labor that now represents only 7% of the private workforce but at the same time as the influence of unions shrinks, a major force like the “fight for $15” gains ground across America indicating that most Americans feel their fellow citizens should be able to work for a living wage.

Part 3

Then finally we look into the new populist forces emerging on the right and left in America and explore how the movement that coalesced around Bernie Sanders could be built into a national political force that could reverse the growing income disparity and build upon local initiatives like regional banks and co-ops that are sprouting up across the country. Gar Alperovitz, an historian, political economist, activist, writer and government official and author of “What Then Must We Do”, joins us to discuss the revival of social democracy in the United States that will emerge as the younger generation who were motivated by Bernie Sanders come of age in a country where the pain is so great that change has to come. And for the sake of our children and the country, it must be the kind of change Sanders represents and not Trump.

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll that has a record number of Americans having an unfavorable impression of Hillary Clinton with 41% holding a positive view of her while 56% now dislike her. An expert on polls, David Redlawsk, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Delaware whose latest book is “The Positive Case for Negative Campaigning”, joins us to discuss the reasons why, in spite of her impressive political resume, Hillary Clinton is so unpopular. While Donald Trump is still the only candidate less popular than her, we look into the vast right wing machinery that has over the decades thrown everything and anything at the Clintons to taint them with scandal, as well as the sexism inherent in much of the criticism about her voice, her wardrobe and her appearance that male politicians as not subjected to.

Part 2

Then, with Donald Trump’s rise in the polls as he narrowly closes the gap on Clinton, we assess whether a few more stunts like Trump’s visit to Mexico with perhaps another surprise trip this time to the Middle East, along with a vote by Italy in October to exit the E.U. which could tank the Euro and cause economic chaos that would play into Trump’s nativist narrative, could be enough for him to win narrowly in November. Keith Poole, Distinguished Chair in the Department of Political Science in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego, joins us to discuss the gloomy prospects for voters this year that might result in a low turnout and an uphill battle for the Democrats to take back the senate.

Part 3

Then finally, we examine the rival demonstrations with hundreds of thousands on Venezuelans taking to the streets in Caracas today, the vast majority rallying against the government of President Maduro who they blame for the country’s economic crisis and accuse of deliberately delaying a referendum until after January 10 so that if Maduro is recalled, his loyal vice president will instead serve out his term until 2019. Javier Corrales, a professor of Political Science at Amherst College and author of “Dragon in the Tropics: Hugo Chavez and the Political Economy of Revolution in Venezuela”, joins us to discuss a country where crime is rampant and citizens have no security because there is no law and order except when the law is used by the government to repress the opposition.