Senator Sanders joins us via Skype from Washington, D.C., where earlier today House Democrats voted not to take up the compromise agreed to by the president. He discusses the compromise as it stands, tax breaks, unemployment insurance, and the need for Democrats to get off the defensive and push back.

"The Democratic base would be less angry at our leadership if they would really stand up for something," notes Loretta Ross of SisterSong, "Democrats need to stop flinching every time someone says the word 'abortion'."  Democrats are on the defensive, and meanwhile anti-choice activists are ramping up their efforts to deny women the right to an abortion, not just in the South, where the "Freedom Rides for Life" that we detailed here at GRITtv in our "Conspiracy Tactics" series began, but across the country.

Loretta joins us in studio along with Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women to discuss the state of the reproductive justice movement: what are the latest tactics from the anti-choicers, what can be done to fight back, and why we need to not be afraid of the word abortion.

Environmental advocates in Cancun were appalled this morning when Thomas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network was denied entry to the UN Climate Change Conference following his participation in a demonstration of environmental groups on Thursday.  Tamar Sharabi from Free Speech TV was there to capture it on video--take a look.

Finally, there's a sneaky provision in that tax cut compromise that might wind up defunding the states--and guess who's going to take the punishment?  Government workers' union pension funds, most likely. Laura has a few words.

Yves Smith and Reuters blogger James Pethokoukis report that the billionaires-for-benefits compromise effectively ends the Build America Bonds program. That's the program which makes it easier for states to borrow money to cover their budget shortfalls—estimated at $140 billion just next year.

Who are the victims when the states can't borrow? Bill Fletcher reminded us this week of the attacks on public employees' pay. Public employee retirement benefits will probably be the first to go — estimated at $750 billion to more than $3 trillion.

Pethokoukis further notes that legislation amending bankruptcy law is in the works, possibly permitting states to declare bankruptcy. And if they declare bankruptcy, just like GM, workers' benefits are the first thing on the chopping block.

Former Wall Street trader turned blogger Bruce Krasting called the failure to renew the bonds a  “black swan”--an unexpectedly huge event that has a disproportionate effect. And he wondered how legislators "could have blundered on this?”

But it's not a blunder. This is intentional. Union-busting, wage-and-benefit slashing, all snuck in under the radar.... And its impact will be felt first not in DC - where the money media watch - but in the states. We've seen this strategy from the right before -- move the action to the states, in the media dark. Think welfare reform.. And typically it works. Will Build America Bonds be next?

Palast has been investigating BP for years, and right now is working on The Amazon to Arctic Investigation (and could use your help). He's also got a bit of his own experience with Kenneth Feinberg, and he joins us in studio to lay out the history of cases like this, where the people hurt by corporate negligence end up getting doubly screwed when it comes time to get their benefits.

Barlow is a longtime activist for water rights, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, and a longtime fighter against globalization. She joins Laura in studio to explain how the water crisis happened, why it's getting worse, and why we must act now to ensure access to water before the resource wars get any worse.

Speaking of water, the story of the fight over hydraulic fracturing--hydrofracking or "fracking"--for natural gas in New York contains some familiar villains, it turns out. It was Dick Cheney's Halliburton that discovered the technique, and Cheney's pressure that got it approved by the EPA.

Last week, Mike Papantonio told us that there was no fund from BP to pay for the oil disaster, and raised some questions about Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the damages to Gulf residents.  Today investigative journalist Greg Palast answers some of those questions--and raises a few of his own.

Palast has been investigating BP for years, and right now is working on The Amazon to Arctic Investigation (and could use your help). He's also got a bit of his own experience with Kenneth Feinberg, and he joins us in studio to lay out the history of cases like this, where the people hurt by corporate negligence end up getting doubly screwed when it comes time to get their benefits.

Finally, this week was the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Laura has some personal memories of how it could've helped her own life to have a law like this around.

Papantonio is representing Gulf residents in their lawsuit against the oil giant, and he joins us via Skype from the Gulf Coast to fill us in on the latest developments--and the appointment of Kenneth Feinberg to administer the relief money to Gulf residents. Will they get their fair share from the destruction of their homes and livelihoods?

As the progressive netroots gather, of course, the big story this week was a falsified video broken by a right-wing blog, and Seder explained why an equivalent story would never happen on the left. The problem isn't the medium, blogs and bloggers, Seder notes, it's a lack of accountability for right-wing "journalists."

"There is no $20 billion in any fund anywhere in the world," says Mike Papantonio of the supposed BP fund to compensate victims of the oil disaster in the Gulf. He notes that while BP says everything is OK, it is also meeting with bankruptcy lawyers--and in bankruptcy court, they won't owe anyone anything at all.

Papantonio is representing Gulf residents in their lawsuit against the oil giant, and he joins us via Skype from the Gulf Coast to fill us in on the latest developments--and the appointment of Kenneth Feinberg to administer the relief money to Gulf residents. Will they get their fair share from the destruction of their homes and livelihoods?

Finally, Shirley Sherrod may have an apology and a new job offer, but we're still waiting and hoping for that national conversation on race to happen. Laura has some thoughts.