Though Meet the Bloggers has only been around a few months, the show has already tackled some of the most important issues of the day with the level of insight, creativity, and wit that only bloggers can deliver. And let's not forget the special guests leading these discussions.
Where else will you see John Cusack chat so candidly about war profiteering? Michael Moore on universal healthcare? Nancy Pelosi on the economic bailout? Bernie Sanders on corporate media reform? And Rachel Maddow on Obama's policy toward Afghanistan? The list goes on and on.
Meet the Bloggers is, and has always been, your show. You tell us what issues you want us to discuss, as well as which guests and bloggers we should feature. And you can weigh in on each topic by participating in the live blog discussion during the show.
Check out the show today at 1pm ET/10am PT, when Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) will discuss how President-elect Obama can save the middle class by passing the Employee Free Choice Act during his first 100 days in office. Burger will join show host Cenk Uygur and blogger Todd Beeton (MyDD), along with Satyam Khanna (Think Progress), who will talk about Lieberman Must Go.
It's a new day for American workers. With Barack Obama as President and Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, we have the chance to pursue a more progressive agenda. So what's first on the list for the unions who helped put President-elect Obama and all those Democrats in office? How about The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which passed the House last year but was filibustered to failure by a Republican Senate.
EFCA could effectively restore the middle class in our country. It would close the ridiculous gap between Fortune 500 CEOs making an average of $6,153 an hour and the majority of workers earning an hourly federal minimum wage of $6.55. The question is whether President Obama will make good on his support for EFCA by passing this much-needed legislation during first 100 days. And what are the challenges EFCA faces from anti-union businesses like Wal-Mart?
This Friday on a Meet the Bloggers, join Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and chair of the international labor federation Change to Win, as we discuss EFCA's passage during Obama's first 100 Days. Burger will talk with show host Cenk Uygur and blogger Todd Beeton (MyDD) about how EFCA can revitalize our nation's middle class.
The people have spoken! A record-setting 130 million people turned out to vote in yesterday's election, in which Barack Obama made history on a Democratic tidal wave of victory.
Polling suggests voters came out in record numbers because of growing concerns over the economy, jobs, healthcare, energy, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly, the Obama administration and the new Democratic majority in Washington have a chance to make profound changes in our lives stretching from Wall Street to Main Street. But where should they begin?
On this Friday's Meet the Bloggers, we'll examine this question and more with Jonathan Alter, Newsweek senior editor and contributing correspondent for NBC. This is the seventh election Alter has covered for Newsweek, and he'll bring his unique perspective to the discussion. Alter is also the author of the national bestseller, The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope. He'll talk about how Roosevelt restored Americans' faith in democracy and put the country back to work during the Great Depression, as well as the challenges and opportunities Obama faces during his first days in office.
Joining Alter and host Cenk Uygur will be blogger Marcy Wheeler (FireDogLake). Plus, we'll have a special video post from Brad Friedman (The Brad Blog) about what went right, what went wrong, and what voters did to fight back at the polls.
Check out some of the related articles below and participate in the live blog conversation with FOX Attacks blogger Jonathan Kim, Friday at 1pm ET/10am PT on Meet the Bloggers. Tell us why YOU voted the way you did and what you're expecting come January 21st!
Since it's Halloween, we couldn't think of anything scarier to discuss on Meet the Bloggers than "The Frightening Economy." The blood-sucking greed of CEO vampires! The terror of checking your 401k status! The spooky specter of socialism! The rotting remains of Republican economic philosophy! The horrors of a Bush-McCain economy!
Trick or treat? The American people have been tricked — big time. First, by bewitching promises of no money down loans, zero percent interest, and housing prices that would supernaturally rise indefinitely; and now by CEOs and Wall Street warlocks who cried “Crisis!” and demanded a bailout, then retreated to their haunted mansions — or luxury spas!
This Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT, we’ll talk to economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, about just how terrifying this economy really is. Joining Baker will be bloggers Hale Stewart (The Bonddad Blog) and Isaiah Poole (Campaign for America's Future), who will weigh in on what’s ahead for the economy and what the next administration can and should do to get us back on the right track.
So check out the articles below and join us for a live blog discussion on Meet the Bloggers Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT to chat with our featured bloggers. That is, if you're not too scared!
Joining Sen will be bloggers Adia Harvey Wingfield (Racism Review), Joshua Busch (Double Take 08), and Liliana Segura (AlterNet). All three have written extensively about this topic, as you can see from the material below. Check out their articles, and join them in the live blog discussion Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT at Meet the Bloggers.
When it comes to election protection and voter suppression, there's perhaps no one more knowledgeable than Color of Change's James Rucker. That's why Rucker will be our special guest on Meet the Bloggers this Friday at 1pm Et/10am PT, as we discuss these critical issues.
Joining Rucker will be Jon Pincus (Liminal States) and Brad Friedman (The Brad Blog). Both have written extensively about this topic, and they will chat with show host Cenk Uygur about early reports of voter suppression, as well as campaigns to combat this problem from groups like Campus Progress and Progressive Christians Uniting, among others.
Celebrated Actor and filmmaker John Cusack will be our special guest this Friday to discuss an issue neither presidential candidate is talking about: war profiteering. War, Inc., Cusack's latest film which he starred in and co-wrote with Jeremy Pikser and Mark Leyner, satirized the outsourcing of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cusack will discuss his thoughts on the war and his influences for the film, including the works of Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill.
Joining Cusack will be bloggers Marcy Wheeler (Empty Wheel) and Liliana Segura (AlterNet), and this week, we have a special announcement. Since Meet the Bloggers will be pre-taped, these bloggers will take part in the live blog discussion.
So check out some of the material below, and join us for a live conversation with bloggers Wheeler and Segura Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT on Meet the Bloggers.
Why We Write – Jeremy Pikser, Mark Leyner & John Cusack, Brave New Films
"If there's limitation to the transparency of anybody's medical records, it always raises the suspicion, 'What are they hiding?'…" Those were the words of Dr. Richard Sagebiel, co-director of the UCSF Melanoma Clinic and yesterday's special guest on Meet the Bloggers. Dr. Sagebiel was one of over 2,750 doctors who signed the open letter urging John McCain to provide full disclosure of his medical records. And really, "What are they hiding?" is the question we need to be asking ourselves again and again as this story unfolds.
What is McCain hiding? He released a portion of his medical records back in May under extremely restricted circumstances, allowing a handful of hand-picked reporters to view nearly 1,200 pages for just three hours, without the use of the Internet, cell phones, or copying equipment. As The Nation's Ari Melber pointed out during yesterday's show, most of these journalists were not medical experts. But even if they were, this was an insufficient amount of time to examine so many pages of McCain's health history. That's why CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta–one of the journalists who got to see this portion of medical records–told Sam Stein at The Huffington Post that McCain's lack of candor amounted to "cloak and dagger" secrecy.
And why is the corporate press censoring any discussion about McCain's medical records? Yesterday's Meet the Bloggers came in part because both CNN and MSNBC refused to air Brave New PAC's ad about McCain's record secrecy. Both complained about the graphic images in the ad–images that both networks aired earlier this year. Even more amazingly, MSNBC actually banned the ad after shock jocks Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh self-righteously ranted about it.
Over 2,750 doctors have signed Brave New PAC's open letter urging McCain to provide full, public disclosure of his medical records. And yet the corporate press has gone to great lengths to prevent the public from discussing this issue. Tune in to Meet the Bloggers this Friday at 1pm ET/10am PT, when special guest Dr. Richard Sagebiel will lead the calls for full disclosure and transparency from McCain on his health history. Dr. Richard Sagebiel is a pathologist in dermatology and co-director of the UCSF Melanoma Clinic.
Joining Dr. Sagebiel will be bloggers Cheryl Contee (Jack & Jill Politics), Charles Karel Bouley (The Advocate), and Ari Melber (The Nation), who will talk about how Brave New PAC's ad on McCain's medical records has been censored by the corporate press and attacked by right-wing shock jocks like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh.
To get caught up on this hot topic, check out some of the articles below. Then, tune in on Friday at 1pm ET/10am PT to join the conversation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's appearance on a special Meet the Bloggers yesterday proved two things: not only can politicians work together to fix one of the worst economic crises in our nation's history, but they can do this while continuing to speak to the American people, keeping us informed about what's happening in the halls of Congress.
Unlike Senator John McCain, who suspended his campaign and public appearances yesterday because he claimed Washington couldn't fix this financial crisis without his "economic expertise," Speaker Pelosi spoke candidly with show host Cenk Uygur about whether the Bush-Paulson bailout plan would work. Though Speaker Pelosi stressed the need for a bipartisan solution to solve the current crisis, she said the "party is over" for Republicans like McCain who have pushed for the deregulation that led to this mess in the first place. Speaker Pelosi called the expansive power for Treasury Secretary Paulson laid out by the bailout plan "almost laughable"; she questioned the price tag and time frame of the bailout; and she claimed President Bush ought to give the American people an apology for his bankrupt economic policies during his nationally televised speech last night.
McCain, meanwhile, was busy incurring the mocking wrath of David Letterman for canceling his appearance on "The Late Show" yesterday, only to appear in an interview with CBS's Katie Couric instead. (Perhaps McCain could have continued conducting interviews from Washington via the Internet like Pelosi, if only he knew how to use it!) McCain's "suspension" of his campaign was a cheap political ploy, clearly aimed at preventing him from slipping further in the polls because of a crisis he and his aides like Rick Davis and Phil Gramm helped create. Why else would he suddenly be so inclined to show up in Congress when he has been the most absent member of the Senate?
