Beneath The Surface with Suzi Weissman

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On tonight’s program we begin with Tom Geoghagen, author of Which Side are you On? Trying to Be For Labor When it’s Flat on its Back. He is a labor lawyer and warrior for justice who is running for Rahm Emmanuel's congressional seat in Illinois's Fifth District. We’ll talk to him about the race, the state of labor and more.

We then turn to Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog and another a consummate crusader against corporateering who recently asked a simple question in a Jan 24 LA Times op-ed piece: Why should we have to be 65 to have access to public healthcare? We’ll talk to him about opening “Medicare for All,” and whether the proposed cuts in the California Budget crisis can be avoided.

Finally, the economic crisis deepens by the day, and as bad as it is here, Britain appears to be on the edge of bankruptcy. We’ll ask Hillel Ticktin in the UK whether Britain is the new Iceland – and we’ll also ask him about the nature of the financial crisis on his side of the Atlantic, how it differs from the American crisis, where the safety net has shredded, and more.

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It is Martin Luther King Day, the last day of the Bush administration and the day before the historic inauguration of our first African American President. Is this MLK’s dream achieved or simply the down payment, as Tavis Smiley has said? We’ll ask Bill Fletcher Jr. and Horace
Small, both long time organizers of community and labor what they think.

But first, we’ll talk to Michael Hudson about the economy Obama inherits, the ‘depression this time’ or, as he puts it, the oligarchy is prepared and is putting the class war back in business.

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Happy New Year to you all. Today we look at the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the politics of Hamas with Dr. Hisham Ahmed, a secular Palestinian scholar, formerly of Birzeit University in the West Bank, now teaching politics at Saint Mary’s College.

We’ll continue on the Middle East crisis and our discussion of ‘sounds like socialism’ with Chris Hedges: he’s a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist on Truthdig who spent two decades as a foreign correspondent for NY Times including seven years in the Middle East. Among his many books are the best-selling American Fascists and War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He recently wrote a column called “Why I’m a Socialist.” We’ll ask him about that and his views on the war in Gaza.

Plus, Josh Pechthalt, Vice President of the UTLA joins us from Sacramento where the UTLA is discussing their response to the State Budget shortfall and the cuts announced by Ramon Cortines: up to 2300 teachers could be eliminated, the school year cut back by five days and class sizes increased. He will fill us in on the situation and the ways they will fight the cuts.

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Today's edition of Beneath the Surface features some of Suzi's best interviews on the crippling economic crisis that swept the country - and the world - in 2008, and is poised to bring more pain in 2009.

We start with a comprehensive and in-depth look at the origins of the current crisis. Acclaimed economic historian and UCLA professor Robert Brenner takes a look beneath the surface at the long-term trajectory of the economic downturn and says that in this period of financialization, "what's good for Goldman Sachs is good for America."

Then, we revisit the bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Economist Michael Hudson sheds light on the nature of the capitalist nationalization of the banking industry, a process funded by US taxpayers.

Finally, Professor James K. Galbraith talks with Suzi about what an Obama New Deal could look like, and he suggests some radical policy proposals that he believes are possible strategies to find a way out of the crisis, and toward recovery.

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Today is our last show of 2008, and we'll be presenting a few of Suzi's best interviews of the past year.

We start with a sobering assessment of the tremendous ecological challenge facing all of us in 2009 and beyond. Suzi talks with renowned writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben, who warns that continued business as usual won't bring "morning in America, but dusk on Planet Earth." They'll also discuss his new grassroots climate organization, 350.org.

Suzi then speaks with author Thomas Frank about his book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, and they'll discuss the state of the conservative movement in the face of financial disaster.

Finally, we pay tribute to the great writer, radio personality, oral historian, and gadfly Studs Terkel, who died this year at the age of 96. We'll rebroadcast Suzi's interview with this inspiring and historic figure.

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Happy Holidays – and in these last hectic days of the year we’re going to slow down and return to our "Sounds Like Socialism" series.

First we'll have an update from Greece on the revolt, now two weeks and going strong, from Savas Michael Matsas - and we’ll ask him to consider the politics of the protest – it is anti-capitalist, but is it socialist?

We then talk to Jerry Tucker and Jack Rasmus about the future of the auto industry, now that President Bush ignored the Southern Republican Hooverite class warriors in the Senate and gave the auto industry $14.5 billion, this time to be micromanaged with conditions. There's no transparency for the taxpayer's bail-out of the financial sector, but very strict control for the auto industry. The UAW has already conceded on healthcare and Jack Rasmus thinks the automakers now want to scrap the pension system.

Finally, we'll talk to Richard Lichtman about socialism – what it is and what it isn't. With the press wondering whether the government bailouts spell the end of the free market, we’ll examine the limits of social democratic solutions, ask whether bail-outs mean nationalization, and if it sounds like socialism, is it?

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We now know what was evident on Friday as Southern Republican Senators squashed the auto bailout, choosing to destroy the auto industry, sending millions more into unemployment and misery. They are waging 21st Century class warfare, and this is just prelude to the mounting attack on organized labor in the wake of victories at Chicago’s Republic Window and Door and North Carolina’s Smithfield slaughterhouse, plus the prospect of the passage of EFCA and an invigorated labor movement. Nelson Lichtenstein joins us to talk about the ‘state of the union’ the significance of the victories, the auto industry woes and more.

Arturo Cifuentes comes from the belly of the financial beast, an analyst of CDOs, research, and managing director of such institutions as Moody’s, Wachovia Securities and Pressprich & Co. He is testifying to Congress about the unwinding speculative debt driving this deflationary crisis and he’ll explain it all to us. He says “the present crisis has been nothing but the mother of all risk management failures.”

And Savas Michael Matsas joins us from Greece fresh from Day Ten of the anti-state and anti-capitalist protest rocking the country.

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The economic crisis has prompted a lot of discussion about capitalism and socialism, bailouts, nationalization, and government takeovers. We hope to shed some light on these theoretical issues over the next period. Today we begin with the crisis in auto. Are the debates in Congress on the future of the auto industry really about rescuing auto or attacking labor for their hard-won gains of half a century? Auto workers are in DC today demanding a voice in the restructuring to include green production of rail and auto, healthcare for all and more - while workers in Chicago at Republic Windows and Doors are on day four of occupying their factory – shut down without notice. The workers are occupying to force the company and its main creditor to meet their obligations to the workers Archway and Mother’s cookies are also shuttered because of the credit crunch, and the surge in unemployment means a surge in the uninsured as well. We talk to Dianne Feeley, UAW member and retired auto worker about the bailout and response and to Jack Rasmus about the continuing crisis, the surge in unemployment and a feasible recovery program.

Plus: Martin Sanchez, Venezuelan Consul talks to us about Pres. Chavez’ attempt to throw out term limits in the recent elections and perspectives for Grassroots organization, what they call Popular Power and Participatory Democracy. And we’ll ask all our guests to differentiate between social democratic reforms and socialism, now part of our mainstream discourse.

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As we watch the continuing financial fallout fingers are pointing to find the culprits. Paulson flounders, money disappears and G20 meets to – wait for it --agree to meet again when Obama is President. Leading economists in the media, financial sector and government admit they’re all Keynesians now, even as they repeat their ‘free markets and deregulation’ mantra as a guiding theme. As easy as it is to blame Paulson, Bush and the Fed, policy and individuals can’t explain the crisis and they were the enablers not the cause. To get to the underlying fundamental cause of the crisis (and that is where Minsky comes in) – and discuss what to do next, including with the auto industry we talk to Robert Pollin and Jack Rasmus.

Plus: Education cuts and discrimination. While Gov. Schwarzenegger considers cuts to education funding, we talk to Jose Lara about discrimination in the school system, today against undocumented students, and then to Vice-President of UTLA Josh Pechthalt about what happened during the McCarthy witch hunt, when thousands of teachers lost their jobs, leaving a legacy of fear and intimidation while denying women and men the right to pursue their careers.

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On tonight’s program we look at the hope and promise of an Obama administration – examining his options and proposals for foreign policy, Human Rights, Civil Liberties and Economic Policy.

We begin with Stephen Cohen. He criticized the candidates during the campaign for failing to address the importance of Russia and the terrible state of US-Russian Relations – and now that the mainstream media admits it got the story wrong on Georgia, we’ll ask Stephen what policy direction he’d like to see Obama take.

We then talk to Michael Ratner from the Center for Constitutional Rights about Obama’s plans to close the torture-prison camp at Guantanamo. We’ll ask him what else we can expect from Obama on the issues of torture, habeas corpus, the surveillance state -- all from the Bush-Cheney attack arsenal on civil liberties and human rights.

And finally on tonight’s Beneath The Surface we turn to the economy. James K. Galbraith – a self-described unreconstructed Cambridge Keynesian – joins us to talk about what an Obama New Deal could look like, and he insists that the policy proposals are more important than the personalities who will implement them. Stay tuned for some radical policy proposals – our guests believe they are all realizable and possible.

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