Episode 151

151. Monday, July 30, 2012

The famed award-winning investigative reporting team of Donald Barlett and James Steele have just published a new book, "The Betrayal of the American Dream," a followup to their landmark bestseller, "America: What Went Wrong?" As Republicans and Democrats continue disputing who should bear the brunt of the tax burden, Barlett and Steele argue that America’s middle class has been decimated over the years due to policies governing not only taxes but also bank regulations, trade deficits and pension funds. Their book chronicles how the American middle class has been systematically impoverished and its prospects thwarted in favor of a new ruling elite. Barlett and Steele have worked together for more than 40 years, sharing two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Magazine Awards. The duo join us for the hour to discuss the assault on the middle class, the great tax heist, deregulation, the outsourcing of U.S. jobs by companies like Boeing and Apple, and the end of retirement. "People are going to have to work forever, and yet what are those jobs going to be? What are they going to pay? And it also puts pressure then on people coming into the workforce. How are they going to get a job if people are having to work between 65 and 75 years old?," Steele says. The duo also discuss their past reporting on the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, headed by the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, and note he headed "an Olympic committee where that entire operation raided the federal Treasury like no other Olympics in history."

Democracy Now! — Season 2012, Episode 120: Friday, June 15, 2012

6.9
2001
31 Seasons

Watch Democracy Now! Season 2012, Episode 120: Friday, June 15, 2012 online on FlixGems. 2012/06/15 Headlines: Egyptian Court Dissolves Parliament Days Before Election; Syria: New Reports of Sexual Abuse, Carnage as Gov’t Shells Rebel Areas; British Court Rejects Final Extradition Appeal by WikiLeaks' Julian Assange; Death Toll for U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan Hits 2,000; Bahrain Medics Convicted for Treating Protesters Speak Out; U.N., Aid Groups Call for End of Gaza Blockade; Report: Private Companies Play Major Role in U.S. Spying in Africa; Judge Dismisses Suit by Guatemalans Intentionally Exposed to STDs by U.S. Researchers; Chávez: Venezuela Building Drones with Iran's Aid; Protester Attempts Citizen’s Arrest of Britain’s Tony Blair; Texas Billionaire Handed 110-Year Sentence for Ponzi Scheme; Defying Assembly, Virginia Judges Appoint Openly Gay Prosecutor to Bench; Undocumented Activists Occupy Obama Campaign Offices for DREAM Act; Trayvon Martin's Father Issues Appeal for Review of "Stand Your Ground" Laws;$

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