Robert Pollin, co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute and a professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, says that advancing social justice and rebuilding the economy are not at odds. What role will green jobs play in the stimulus bill? And does it go far enough?

President Obama took his licks from the DC press corps this week. Showing bruising at his first prime time press conference, Obama traded blows with the press, but eventually shored up support for a paired down economic recovery bill.

Obama and the Press. Robert Pollin on a green economic recovery plan. And Caterpillar's complicity in the destruction of Gaza.

President Barack Obama, campaigning for his economic plan in East Peoria, Illinois, visited machinery giant Caterpillar, Inc. where he said laid-off workers would be re-hired if Congress approved a sweeping stimulus bill. On March 16, 2003, US activist Rachel Corrie was crushed under bulldozer supplied by Caterpillar, as she tried to block its path towards a Palestinian home in Gaza...Rachel's father Craig Corrie joined us earlier today with this message to the president:

In the aftermath of Hurricane's Katrina and Ike federal money was set aside for the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast. What you may not know is that the Bush administration, at the same time, suspended regulations guaranteeing that federal employees receive a minimum wage. According to Kim Bobo, the author of Wage Theft in America, billions of dollars are stolen from workers every year, not only in times of crisis.

Michael Lux, founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies and the author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, on how grassroots organizations can influence politics in Washington. There has long been a tension between pro-business and populist Democrats, with the former holding sway during the Clinton years.

Many American workers, particularly those in the private sector, are not paid a minimum wage. Roughly 2 million to be exact. And some 3 million are mis-classified as independent contractors instead of employees and millions more are illegally denied overtime pay.

As the nation struggles to save and create jobs, what can workers and policy makers do to make sure workers aren't robbed? Kim Bobo, the author of Wage Theft in America, Terri Gerstein of the NY State Department of Labor and others discuss the enforcement of workers' rights and the battle over the Hilda Solis nomination.

On the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration, GRITtv broadcast live from Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. The progressive movement for the last eight years has had to fight from the very edge of mainstream politics. Now that Barack Obama, a man who, John Nichols reminds us, has read Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, and dined with Edward Said is in the White House the balance of power has shifted.

We need economic, political and cultural Reconstruction. Ideology's not a footnote. It's at the center.