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September 18 - America's Lost Decade; The End of the Euro?; The Gloves Are Off With The U.S. And Pakistan
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We begin with “America’s Lost Decade” the title of an article by our first guest Jonathan Alter. He is an analyst for NBC news and a columnist for Bloomberg View and we discuss the lost decade that was just observed with the anniversary of 9/11 and try to assess whether in the next election, the electorate will recognize the damage done to this country by the Bush decade. |
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Then we look into the possibility of an unraveling of the Eurozone following the unsuccessful and inconclusive meeting of the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the European Finance Ministers. William Black an expert on bank fraud, just back from Europe, joins us to examine the irony that although it is really the German banks that are being bailed out, German voters do not want to bail out Greece, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected floating Eurobonds. |
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Then finally we get an update on Afghanistan and Pakistan following the latest brazen Taliban attack in Kabul where the city was held hostage for over a day by a group from the Haqqani network that, according the US Ambassador in Pakistan, is protected by Pakistan’s military intelligence service the ISI. Christine Fair, who was a political officer for the UN in Kabul and is a Senior Fellow with the Counter Terrorism Center at West Point joins us. |
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September 15 - Divisions in Iran's Ruling Elite; Developing Economies Propping up Europe and the U.S.?; Who Will Win the Pro-Israel Vote?
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We begin with an analysis of the political divisions within the Iranian ruling elite made apparent by the rebuke to President Ahmadinejad, who on the eve of his trip to the U.N., announced the release of two Americans held captive only to be overruled by the Supreme Leader. Nader Hashimi, the author of “The People Reloaded; The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future” joins us. |
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Then we get an update on the Eurocrisis from Matias Vernengo, professor of Economics at the University of Utah who has just returned from Geneva where he was working for the U.N. Development Program. We examine the paradox of developing countries like China and Brazil propping up the sick economies of Europe and the United States as well as try to find out whether the Europeans will get their act together before the Eurozone crashes. |
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Then finally, following the recent defeat of a pro-Israel Orthodox Jew running for a safe Democratic Congressional seat who was defeated by an even more pro-Israel Republican TV producer of the "Jerry Springer Show", we look into whether the perception that Republicans are more staunch allies of Israel than Democrats will play out in the 2012 election and effect what is expected to be a close Presidential race. M.J. Rosenberg who worked for 15 years on Capitol Hill for a number of Congressmen and Senators and used to work for AIPAC, joins us. |
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September 14 - GOP Change the Electoral College to Win in 2012; What Democratic Campaign Narrative?; Agreement in the Eurozone?
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We begin with an audacious GOP plan underway to win the 2012 presidential election by changing the election rules in key states like Pennsylvania. Instead of Pennsylvania’s current winner-take-all Electoral College victory, each congressional district will get its own electoral vote, meaning that if Obama wins the state but as expected loses in the heavily gerrymandered GOP districts, he would end up with only 8 Electoral College votes to the Republican’s 12. Akhil Reed Amar, professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University joins us to explain this brazen power grab. |
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Then we get an assessment of the upset GOP victory in the heavily Democratic New York district where they won the once safe seat held by the crotch-flashing Congressman Anthony Weiner. Democratic strategist Karl Agne joins us to discuss whether this is a harbinger for the 2012 elections where, in spite of the Republican’s apparent determination to make sure the economy gets worse so their election chances get better, their cynicism might be rewarded at the polls by a frustrated and angry electorate. | |
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Finally, we look into the Eurozone crisis with economist Stephany Griffith Jones to get a sense of whether the 17 member states can find the political will to get ahead of the curve and issues Eurobonds to calm the markets as French banks get downgraded because of Greek debt as Greece teeters on default, while Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy get pounded by the bond markets. |
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September 13 - Europe Fiddles While the Euro Burns; The Palestinian Humpty Dumpty; More Poor in America
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We begin with the Euro crisis where a default on Greek debt seems all but inevitable. We speak with Domenico Lombard, who is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He is an expert in international monetary relations and global currencies. We discuss whether the current crisis will involve an orderly or a disorderly Greek default and examine the lack of solidarity and the apparent north/south divide within the Eurozone. |
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Then we are joined by a veteran Middle East negotiator who has served six Secretaries of State, Aaron David Miller. We analyze the state of Palestine before the U.N. votes on its statehood and discuss Aaron David Miller’s article in Foreign Policy “Humpty Dumpty Palestine”. |
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Then we look into the just-released report from the Census Bureau that finds poverty in the U.S. has climbed to an all-time record with 46.2 Americans, many of them children, living in poverty. Alice O’Connor, a historian at the University of California Santa Barbara and author of “Poverty Knowledge: Social Science, Social Policy and the Poor in Twentieth Century U.S. History” joins us. |
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September 12 - Saudi Warning to U.S. on Palestinian Statehood and a Real Look Into 9/11; Are Jobs Obsolete?
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We begin with Mark Danner, who is in Ramallah in the Palestinian territory, discussing the upcoming declaration of Palestinian statehood at the U.N. that the Saudis are warning the U.S. not to veto. We also talk about Mark Danner’s latest essay in the New York Review of Books “After September 11; Our State of Exception”. |
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Then, following the President’s recent address to Congress to urge the creation of more jobs, we talk with Douglas Rushkoff about whether jobs are obsolete in the digital age where technology is increasing efficiency that results in more people being laid off while increasing corporate profits. Douglas Rushkoff teaches Media Studies at NYU and is the author of “Program or be Programmed; Ten Commands for a Digital Age” and “Life Inc; How Corporations Conquered the World and How We Can Take it Back”. |
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