Derivatives and credit default swaps might not sound as scary as death panels, but they're responsible, at least in part, for our economic meltdown. The Dow might be back up, but most of the country is still suffering from the aftereffects of the bankers' greed. The
Showdown in Chicago protests this week attempted to attract attention to the conference, where bankers
attended panels with titles like "Strategies for Acquiring Troubled Banks," "NonInterest Income," and "Unwinding Government Intervention," along with a keynote speech by Newt Gingrich.
Joining us to discuss whether the American Dream should apply just to rich bankers or to the rest of us are
Matt Taibbi, journalist with
Rolling Stone and author of
The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion
, George Goehl, executive director of
National People's Action, Christina Clausen, International Representative,
United Food & Commercial Workers Union and
Change to Win, and Rob Robertson of the
Right To The City Alliance and
Picture the Homeless.
The Obama administration might be dragging its heels on financial reform, but when it comes to military policies, it's straight-up continuing certain Bush-era policies. Journalist Brad Jacobson, with
The Raw Story, tells us about a particularly scary development--Obama has retained the services of a key Bush administration figure who worked on a program using retired military analysts to produce positive wartime news coverage.
Kyria Abrahams was raised a Jehovah's Witness, convinced that she was saved while people all around her were headed for Hell. In her new book,
I'm Perfect, You're Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing
, she details her childhood, her marriage at 18, and her divorce and departure from the church, her family, and all her friends. She tells Laura all about it.
Finally, our friends at
Brave New Films, bring us a video outlining some of the contributions of the much-maligned community organization ACORN, and questions the motivations of those who are trying to take away its funding.
