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Leaders of four national organizations active in the fight to protect Social Security briefed reporters on a large campaign involving hundreds of thousands of citizen activists urging President Obama not to propose cuts to Social Security in his 2011 State of the Union address.

Featured speakers in this news briefing were Roger Hickey of the Campaign for America's Future, Daniel Mintz of MoveOn, former Rep. Barbara Kennelly of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Eric Kingson of the Strengthen Social Security campaign.

The four lay out their argument against Social Security cuts as well as some alternatives for strengthening Social Security for future generations.

Dave Johnson discusses his writing exploring the right-wing attack on public employees on this segment of The Rick Smith Show.

Dave Johnson discusses free trade, North Korea, jobs and the need to revive American manufacturing on the Rick Smith Show.

This four-minute podcast is an excerpt of a news briefing by members of the Citizens' Commission on Jobs, Deficits and America's Economic Future. Their report presents a progressive alternative to the austerity proposals offered by the leaders of the White House deficit commission and by other panels influenced by the budget-cutting campaign of financier Peter G. Peterson and other conservatives.

Participating in the briefing are Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future; Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change; Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and president of PolicyLink; Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America; and Robert Kuttner, senior fellow at Demos and founding editor at The American Prospect.

Leaders of the Citizens' Commission on Jobs, Deficits and America's Economic Future briefed members of the news media on their November 30 report on a progressive alternative to the austerity proposals offered by the leaders of the White House deficit commission and by other panels influenced by the budget-cutting campaign of financier Peter G. Peterson and other conservatives.

Participating in the briefing are Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future; Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change; Angela Glover Blackwell, founder and president of PolicyLink; Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America; and Robert Kuttner, senior fellow at Demos and founding editor at The American Prospect.

The report is available at ourfuture.org/citizenscommission.

On The Rick Smith Show November 19, Terrance Heath discusses How the GOP in the House told unemployed Americans to "Drop dead," by blocking unemployment benefits extensions as 2 million Americans stand to lose their benefits by December 4th. Citing a Washington Post story about one of those two million Americans, Heath says, "We are on the verge of creating a permanent desperate class in this country, if we continue to abandon people who need help."

This interview is one of the "OurFuture Friday" segments heard weekly on The Rick Smith Show.

Dave Johnson once again joins Rick Smith on the Rick Smith Show, this time to discuss the White House Deficit Commission’s recommendation to cut Social Security benefits to pay for tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy and for huge increases in military spending.

In this discussion, Johnson points out the irony of Social Security being placed on the chopping block to reduce the deficit, even though it is not Social Security itself that contributes to the national debt, it's the need to pay back what was previously borrowed from the Social Security trust fund. Johnson also attacks the myth that big business actually creates jobs; in reality, he argues, more jobs means less profit for companies and therefore we should not be so quick to lavish businesses with large tax cuts as a jobs-producing strategy. Putting people back to work, Johnson also emphasized, is good for the economy because people can pay their taxes and afford to shop and spend money.

Also on this program:

• Johnson explains why allowing the wealthy to have more sway in government is bad for democracy and has resulted in a "one dollar, one vote" political system.
• The results of the latest G-20 summit meeting is discussed, along with the problem of trade agreements that fail to protect labor rights while allowing corporations to ship jobs overseas to evade democratic labor gains.
• The two discuss the possibility of working with people who align themselves with the Tea Party on trade issues, since the Tea Party movement understands that NAFTA worked against the best interests of average Americans.

On The Rick Smith Show November 5, we discuss the significance of the Democracy Corps/Campaign for America's Future poll that shows that conservatives did not receive a vote of confidence for their agenda from the voters on Election Day. Citing the poll results, Smith says, "Now we start the resistance. Now we stand up, we organize, we fight back. The right is telling us that they've got this great mandate... The reality is not what they think is."

This interview is one of the "OurFuture Friday" segments heard weekly on The Rick Smith Show.