Thom Hartmann: Will working families hold politicians accountable?

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 07:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQgfZ9mg7mw   Posted on YouTube: August 10, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 43   Posted on DU: August 10, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 658

 
Bob Baugh, Industrial Union Council-AFL-CIO joins Thom Hartmann. The state of our economy is on a volatile, unpredictable path...but you can't say President Obama wasn't forewarned! Democratic Underground.com just posted a letter that was sent to the President nearly one year ago - back in September of 2010 - written by 300 of the most renowned economists in the country warning the President to focus on job creation and not austerity measures. The letter read: "A turn by major governments away from the promotion of growth and jobs and to premature focus on deficit reduction could slow growth and increase unemployment - and could push us back into recession." The letter then goes on to highlight a lesson learned from the Great Depression - reading: "History suggests that a tenuous recovery is no time to practice austerity. In the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal generated growth and reduced the unemployment rate from 25 percent in 1932 to less than 10 percent in 1937.

However, the deficit hawks of that era persuaded President Roosevelt to reverse course prematurely and move toward budget balance. The result was a severe recession that caused the economy to contract sharply and sent the unemployment rate soaring. Only the much larger wartime spending of the early 1940s produced a full recovery." So has President Obama fallen into this same austerity trap - and at the risk of our economic recovery? And if so - what needs to be done to put us back on track?

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[baldguy]

1. Next time some RW asshat says unions are "special interests"

Ask him, If strong unions raise the standard of living & improve working conditions for EVERYBODY - union & nonunion alike - (which they do) doesn't that really make them general interests?