Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, talks with “Viewpoint” host Eliot Spitzer about what she would like to see happen if President Obama wins a second term.
“I think we need a peace and justice community to stand up and say, ‘We are not more secure with the escalation of drone wars or with the violation of civil liberties,'” vanden Heuvel says. She goes on to cite austerity measures that could be passed during an Obama second term in an effort to balance the budget as a major concern.
Jeff Faux (Economic Policy Institute): The similarity of positions and Obama’s refusal to explain the real causes of the crisis gave the debate to Romney
Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin (authors of The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire): As long as effective demand remains low and banks demand austerity to protect their assets, the crisis will deepen.
Part Two: The Crisis and Who Has the Power
Major structural change or effective short term reforms requires addressing democratic decision making starting with making banks a public utility.
Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for President joins Thom Hartmann. Part of the reason why there is so much bickering and gridlock in Washington is because the US government is a two-party system. How would our democracy be different with a third major party – and could the Green Party be that party?
Democracy Now! broadcasts from just outside a Freeport, Illinois, factory owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Workers at Sensata Technologies have set up an encampment called “Bainport” across the street from the facility to protest the company’s plan to close the plant and move it to China, taking 170 jobs with it. The workers have been trying to get Romney to save their jobs. We’re joined by two Sensata workers, Mark Schreck and Tom Gaulrapp; and Freeport Mayor George Gaulrapp, who has supported the encampment and fended off calls for it to be shut down.
“Welcome to Bainport, a taste of the Romney economy” — that’s the message on one of the banners that greets you at the tent city where we broadcast from in Freeport, Illinois. “Bainport” is an encampment set up by workers who face losing their livelihoods when their workplace closes its doors in November and moves to China, taking 170 jobs with it. The workers’ plant, Sensata Technologies, is owned by Bain Capital, the firm co-founded by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Democracy Now! first spoke to the Sensata workers when we met them at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, where they unsuccessfully tried to meet with Romney. Now, they have returned to Freeport and set up a protest camp in a bid to save their jobs. We speak to “Bainport” workers Dot Turner and Cheryl Randecker.
Filmmaker Dennis Trainer Jr. on his new film and the challenges facing the Occupy Movement.
http://www.Occudoc.org
written, produced & directed by Dennis Trainor, Jr
contact dennistrainorjr (at) gmail (dot) com
http://www.twitter.com/dennistrainorjr
http://www.facebook.com/dennistrainorjr
Associate producer/ co-editor/ graphics/ color & titles: AJ Russo
https://vimeo.com/ajrsuper8
Gerald Epstein (Political Economy Research Institute, and Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst): The basic policies must change or recession and high unemployment will continue
Ed Yohnka, Director of Communications and Public Policy for ACLU-IL (American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois) speaks on voter suppression and the Republican electoral strategy to stop poor and the elderly from voting.
