EQUAL TIME is where Vermonters talk about issues ignored by the corporate media—mothers opposing toxic pollution, workers fighting for decent jobs, nurses working for health care reform, students speaking out about their education, farmers struggling against corporate agribusiness, and more.
Mark Dudzic, co-author of Labor Party Time? Not Yet discusses the substantial organizing initiative in the mid-1990s by a group of progressive unions and labor activists to build a labor party - making an important contribution to understanding our history and guiding our future efforts at independent political action. "We would be hard-pressed to identify a period of U.S. history where the need for a labor-based political party was greater than it is now.
Prof. William Black explains the fiscal cliff narrative is an effort to begin unraveling the social safety net — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps... The focus on a tiny increase in revenues from the wealthy is a distraction (watch my left hand, while all the magic is taking place in the right hand) while the giveaways are massive in return. He argues that this can only come from a a Democratic president, because it's toxic for any national-level Republican candidate.
Nikhil Arora, co-founder of Back to the Roots, a business doing urban mushroom farming and selling home mushroom kits, plus diversifying into aquaponics systems that clean aquarium water and turn it into plant food.
Jane Slaughter of Labor Notes explains why a "Grand Bargain" Would Be a Social Security Swindle.
If Congress and the President reach a "grand bargain" in the lame-duck session, seniors, the poor, and the disabled will pay for it. Panic-mongers are sounding the alarm so they can get away with cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and more. We need to massively ratchet up our organized resistance or face a historic defeat.
Matthew Andrews, labor activist with Central Vermont Occupy, explains the tremendous significance of the courageous organizing and strike actions by Walmart workers which sparked solidarity actions at 100s of Walmart stores on Black Friday. Matthew also exposed Walmart's responsibility for the conditions which led to the fire at the Bangledesh garment factory that killed over a hundred people.