February 18 – Venezuela at the Brink; Overpaid CEO’s, MyRA and Larry Summers; The Student Loan Swindle

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the deteriorating situation in the dangerously polarized country of Venezuela where President Maduro is cracking down on student demonstrations while blaming the U.S. for conspiring against his government. Virginia Lopez, a Caracas-based journalist who covers Latin America and Venezuela for the UK Guardian joins us to discuss the arrest of an opposition leader who led demonstrations and the government’s apparent inability to deal with or take responsibility for an economy with 56% inflation, shortages of food and basics like toilet paper, and security for a citizenry facing the worst crime and murder rate in the world.

Part 2

Then we look into overpaid CEO’s, the president’s modest proposal in the recent State of the Union for a MyRA, my IRA, and remarks by former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers calling for changes in the tax code that “allows a far larger share of the income of the rich to escape taxation than the poor of middle class”. Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research joins us to discuss his article at the UK Guardian “True Free Market Proponents Should Support Private-Public Competition” and his article at The Huffington Post “Corporate Cronyism: The Secret to Overpaid CEO’s”.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Bill Zimmerman, an author, long-time activist and political media consultant who has a new E-book “The Student Loan Swindle: Why it Happened – Who’s to Blame – How the Victims Can Be Saved” and an article at The Huffington Post “How to Save the Victims of the Student Loan Crisis”.  We discuss his call to action for victims of the $1.1 trillion student debt crisis and his plan to rescue an indentured generation that is fair to both bankers and borrowers alike.