Alternative Visions

Alternative Visions - The One-Party System in America - 12/26/12

Jack provides his running commentary on the fiscal cliff negotiations and then introduces guest, Art Lipow, to discuss the formation and experience of the British Labor party and its lessons and relevance to forming a true second party in the US.  The U.S. One party system with two wings—Democrat and Republican—is contrasted to a real alternative second party. Dr. Rasmus and Art Lipow, previously a long time participant in the British labor party, discuss the possibilities and differences in forming a labor party in the U.S.

Alternative Visions - Bringing Banksters to Heel - 12/19/12

‘Bringing Banksters to Heel—How to Fundamentally Restructure the US and Global Banks’

“Dr. Jack Rasmus today interviews special guest, Ellen Brown, globally recognized expert on debt and banking abuses.  After nearly $20 trillion in bank bailouts by governments in US, Europe, and Japan since 2008, the banksters continue their old practices still today, more than four years later.  As the banking crisis deepens today in Europe, threatening to engulf the global financial system again, banksters everywhere continue to oppose and water-down financial reform, engage in their speculative excesses once again, launder money to drug cartels and terrorists, and return to their old practices that gave us the banking crash of 2008. Dr. Rasmus and Ellen Brown discuss alternatives, like Utility Banking, to the corrupt, broken banking system today.

Jack’s guest, Ellen Brown is an attorney and president of the Public Banking Institute.  In Web of Debt, her latest of eleven books, she shows how a private cartel has usurped the power to create money from the people themselves, and how we the people can get it back. Her websites are http://WebofDebt.com, http://EllenBrown.com, and http://PublicBankingInstitute.org.  “

Alternative Visions - The Transpacific Partnership—Free Trade on Steroids - 12/12/12

Today Dr. Rasmus will discuss the emerging ‘Transpacific Partnership’ Free Trade agreement that has been quietly been taking shape behind the scenes, largely unreported  by the press, that will result in a major negative impact on jobs and wages of American workers.  Lost in all the talk about fiscal cliff negotiations, negotiations between governments of the pacific rim, with the direct participation of scores of multinational corporations, are taking place as we talk.  Jack will welcome his guest today, Art Stamoulis, on the subject.

Arthur Stamoulis is executive director of Citizens Trade Campaign, a national coalition of labor, environmental, family farm and consumer organizations that works together on questions of international trade policy. Their current focus is stopping the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. Citizens Trade Campaign organized demonstrations outside TPP negotiating rounds in Virginia, California, Texas, and Illinois, and were the first to publish leaked text of several propo9sed TPP chapters.

Alternative Visions - Income Inequality in America - 12/05/12

Dr. Rasmus provides updates to the Fiscal Cliff negotiations in Washington over the past week, since his in depth analysis in last week’s show. He then discusses the important connections between the ‘Cliff’, the distorted US tax system, and the three decades of growing Income Inequality in the U.S.

Alternative Visions - Fiscal Cliff—Hold Onto Your Wallet Mr. Middle Class - 11/28/12

Dr. Jack Rasmus goes solo today and talks about the real fiscal cliff. What’s behind the negotiations in Washington today, Nov. 28, as Obama meets again with corporate CEOs. Why a Deal will happen this time and why the House Teapublicans will fall in line with an Obama-Corporate Deal. Why the deal will benefit corporate America at your cost in tax hikes and program cuts. What are the real causes of deficits and debt? And Jack’s 13 proposals how to tax the rich for the crisis they caused so we don’t have to pay a cent.

Alternative Visions - What's Next for American Labor? - 11/21/12

With wages of US workers falling for more than a decade now, chronic long term problems of job creation in the US, attacks on public workers and unions intensifying, and union membership continuing to decline—‘What’s Next for American Labor” is the topic of today’s November 22, 2012  ‘Alternative Visions’ radio show.  Dr. Jack Rasmus welcomes special guests—long time union officers and activists, Jerry Gordon (UFCW) and Dennis Serrette (CWA), to discuss what should be the future direction of American labor and unions after having spent $400 million to elect politicians in each of the last two national election cycles, 2008 and 2012, and thus far having little to show for it. Jerry Gordon is a long time activist in the antiwar, labor, and civil rights movements, and has been an International Representative for the United Food and Commercial Workers, UFCW, for 25 years. He is currently the national secretary of the recently formed Emergency Labor Network, ELN, a grass roots organization of union and community leaders and activists dedicated to moving American labor and unions in a more progressive direction. Dennis Serrete is a 49 year veteran of the US union movement, a former National Director, now retired, of the Communications Workers of America, CWA, a past president and vice president of CWA locals 2108 and 1101 in New York, a founder of the Coalition of Black Trade Unions, CBTU, in 1972 and also a member of the Emergency Labor Network, ELN, today.”

Alternative Visions - Activists - 11/14/12

Dr. Jack Rasmus today introduces long time AFL-CIO union activists, Alan Benjamin and Donna Dewitt, to discuss the potential for independent labor political action in 2013 and beyond. Now that the November elections are over, voters will be surprised, Dr. Rasmus predicts, how harshly the new economic program called the ‘fiscal cliff’ will result in deep cuts in programs like Medicare, Social Security, Education and middle class tax hikes—while big corporations will be even more tax cuts and subsidies. Is this the time to begin independent political action, led by union and community activists? Is it the time to consider building a third party? Jack will discuss those questions with Benjamin and Dewitt. Donna Dewitt is the just recently retired, former president of the South Carolina state AFL-CIO federation of labor. Donna has been involved in South Carolina union and labor politics for 45 years. An activist in her union, the CWA local 3719, for thirty years, she then served as a member of the board of the South Carolina AFL-CIO, subsequently thereafter elected as the first woman to head the state’s AFL-CIO in 1996. Alan Benjamin is a member of the Executive Board of the San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO, a member and delegate from OPEIU Local 3. He’s a member of the National Steering Committee of US Labor Against the War, the International Coordinating Committee of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples, and a past organizer for Labor Party Advocates and the Labor Party in the US, as well as editor of ‘The Organizer’ labor newspaper. Both Ms. Dewitt and Mr. Benjamin are members of the recently organized, ‘Emergency Labor Network’ of grass roots local union leaders in the U.S.

Alternative Visions - Medicare-Medicaid - 10/24/12

This Wednesday Dr. Jack Rasmus will welcome guests from National Nurses United. The show topic will be the coming attacks on Medicare-Medicaid that will follow the November national elections. The discussion will raise questions, Is there really a Medicare crisis?  How can Medicare be defended and expanded right now? How has Romney’s Massachusetts ‘Romneycare’ program really performed? What are the problems with ‘Obamacare’. How have Insurance companies and hospitals been exploiting the transition in 2012-13 to Obamacare? What’s ‘Medicare for All’?

Joining Dr. Rasmus will be Sandy Eaton and Donna Smith. Sandy is a retired RN with the Quincy Medical Center in Massachusetts, a member of the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, affiliated with the union,  National Nurses United, NNU, AFLCIO. Sandy is also a former chair of the Legislative Council of the NNU, a member of the national Steering Committee for the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare, and editor of the ‘Seachange Bulletin” addressing healthcare and labor issues. Donna Smith is a community organizer and legislative advocate for the National Nurses United and author of many essays on the healthcare crisis in America. Donna has appeared on the Bill Moyers show, in Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary film, SICKO, and on many national broadcasts and radio shows.

Alternative Visions - Michael Albert - 10/17/12

Dr. Jack Rasmus will comment on the second presidential debate held on Tuesday and then introduce his guest for this week, Michael Albert. Michael is the co-founder of ‘Z’ communications, a progressive print and media publisher, and a key organizer for the ‘International Organization of Participatory Society, IOPS. His most recent work co-authored is the three volume book, ‘Fanfare for the Future’ published this summer.  Michael and Jack will discuss alternative visions about how work can be organized on a more democratic basis and how that could prevent unnecessary hardship and economic crises such as are occurring worldwide today.

Alternative Visions - What Next For Occupy? - 10/10/12

Jack’s guests for today’s show, ‘What Next for Occupy’, include Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, who will discuss recent developments and new directions for the Occupy Movement. Kevin and Margaret were both organizers for the 2011 ‘Occupy Washington DC’ movement. Kevin is an attorney active in 3^rd party politics in the DC area and co-director with Margaret of the ‘Our Economy’ research organization. Margaret is an MD and health care advocate and a past Congressional Fellow for Physicians for a National Health Program.