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This week on Uprising:

* How Ordinary Libyans Are Coping Under Gaddhafi’s Violence
* Black Agenda Report on U.S. Interest in Libyan Oil
* Government Shutdown Imminent; Republicans Unconcerned
* Inside the Movement in Wisconsin

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How Ordinary Libyans Are Coping

According to the Libyan Human Rights League, at least six thousand people have died in Libya since the start of the uprising against dictator Muammar Gaddhafi more than two weeks ago. International diplomats estimate the number to be between 1000 and 2000, but the actual death toll is unknown. Gaddhafi has rejected the death toll—claiming that 150 Libyans have died at the hands of “terrorists”—and refuses to talk to the Western press. His forces continue to occupy the capital city of Tripoli. Over three thousand mercenaries have been deployed to the city, and thousands more reside outside of Tripoli’s borders. Gaddhafi has also launched airstrikes against Eastern Libyan cities liberated by dissidents. Earlier this week, Gaddhafi’s forces were reported to have captured three crew members of a Dutch naval helicopter who were attempting to rescue Europeans trapped in Libya. Meanwhile, in spite of Gaddhafi’s warnings that thousands of Libyans would die if the West chose to intervene, two US warships have been deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to provide humanitarian relief at the request of the UN Security council, after Britain established a so-called no-fly zone around Libya’s borders. While the White House has given the anti-government dissidents its approval, it is unclear if the Obama administration has chosen to provide financial or military support directly to the rebels. Libyans fighting to end Gaddhafi’s rule have not been supportive of the possibility of Western military intervention, and call for a purely popular revolution to topple Gaddhafi. As the violence continues to escalate, a regional humanitarian crisis is in the making, as at least 75,000 Libyan refugees have fled into the neighboring country of Tunisia. However, as of this recording, there are reports that refugees are now being prevented from leaving.

GUEST: Maimuna Ibrahim, second year university student living in Misurata, Libya.

Black Agenda Report on U.S. Interest in Libyan Oil

Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is on U.S. Interest in Libyan Oil.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Government Shutdown Imminent; Republicans Unconcerned

A government shutdown was averted for two-weeks this past week after the the Senate passed a spending bill that expires on March 18th. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill said, “The House and the Senate ought to be able to gather together to sit down like adults” and craft a long term solution. The threat of a government shutdown has loomed large since the beginning of the year when the GOP retook the house with a freshman class heavy on Tea Party-backed members. Many of them stumped for office with promises of deep cuts to programs supported by Democrats, with a special focus on de-funding Health Care reform. A compromise between the two parties resulted in the current stop-gap budget, reportedly angering those on the rightward fringes of the political spectrum. Four billion dollars will be cut from programs that the Obama administration had already tagged for reductions or elimination. There is a budget proposal from the GOP-controlled House on the table, but Senate Democrats are refusing to pass it. That historic budget passed through the House last month. The proposal requires $61 billion in cuts, including the total elimination of Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Planned Parenthood health clinics. Economic analysis has shown that the controversial budget isolated cuts to domestic discretionary spending, which comprises less than one-fifth of the total Federal budget. Both parties have now been invited to the White House where Vice President Joe Biden will attempt to mediate a compromise that will fund the government through the fiscal year, ending in September. In 1995 Republicans led by then Speaker of House Newt Gingrich forced a government shutdown twice for short periods from mid-November 1995 through early ’96. The Republicans suffered for their actions when public opinion deemed the extreme measure unnecessary. A Quinnipiac poll just found that Americans were almost evenly divided over the prospect of another government shutdown. Forty-six percent of registered voters polled said a shut-down would be a good thing, and 44% said it would be bad.

GUEST: Chuck Collins, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He is co-author of “The Moral Measure of the Economy” and with Bill Gates Sr. of “Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes.”

Inside the Movement in Wisconsin

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has threatened to fire 1,500 state employees if 14 Democratic State Senators don’t return to the capital for a vote on his controversial budget. His union -busting initiative has turned Wisconsin’s capitol, Madison, into a battle ground over the past several weeks. Walker’s budget is expected to include additional cuts that will be vehemently opposed. He is expected to tighten the belt of Wisconsin’s public schools system through $900 million dollars in cuts to education aid. The State superintendent said the budget slash would be “unprecedented and historic”. Funds to local governments are also expected to be cut, totaling over $1 billion overall, which would actually not close the projected budget shortfall of $3.6 billion. Over the past week Walker has remained defiant and deaf to protesters. He has made the rounds on TV news shows, including Sunday morning’s Meet the Press, repeating his assertion that “the state is broke”, and refusing to negotiate with labor unions. Yesterday the Wisconsin State Employees Union, the state’s largest public employee union, went to court and filed a complaint against the Governor, alleging that he is engaging in unfair labor practices by refusing to negotiate. President Obama at the White House yesterday broke his silence on the Wisconsin battle during his address to the National Governor’s Association. Speaking in general terms about the contributions of public employees he said, “I don’t think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified or their rights are infringed.” Nationwide support for the Badger state is strong with public opinion polls showing majorities favor unions’ rights. And, rallies were organized at the statehouses of all 50 states, and in many cities. In downtown LA about 2000 workers, students, friends and allies rallied outside of City hall. In Madison on Saturday an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 people rallied in frigid temperatures. Meanwhile, the Madison capitol building was locked on Monday morning to protesters.

GUEST: Amie Williams, Los Angeles based activist and film maker

Visit Amie Williams’ You Tube Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/whywisconsin

See videos from the Capitol State House here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/afl-cio-2010-rally

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hired Firms to Discredit Critics Using “Tactics Against Terorrists”

Despite its innocuous-sounding name the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent more money than any other entity in lobbying Congress. And now it seems the Chamber will go to any lengths to secure it’s pro-business agenda. Tens of thousands of leaked emails recently confirmed that a law firm called Hunton and Williams, working for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had hired several private security companies to come up with a plan of action to deal with the Chamber’s critics and detractors. The security companies include HB Gary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies, which together are called Team Themis. For millions of dollars, the companies proposed delivering to the Chamber of Commerce serious and sustained attacks using unethical methods like spying and planting false information on a number of progressive organizations and unions with a history of exposing the Chamber’s shenanigans. The emails were obtained by a computer hacking activist group called Anonymous, who garnered attention for shutting down websites of companies that helped censor and defund WikiLeaks, as well those of several oppressive regimes like Cairo and Tunisia. Anonymous hacked into the email account of Aaron Barr, an executive at HB Gary Federal, after Barr boasted he could take down the hacker organization. The groups that the security firms planned to discredit for the Chamber of Commerce included Change to Win, the SEIU, the website Stop the Chamber.com, and U.S. Chamber Watch. Earlier this week, Democratic members of Congress are formally calling for an investigation of Hunton and Williams, and the team of security firms whose proposal has been exposed. The lawmakers told the Washington Post that it was “deeply troubling” that “that tactics developed for use against terrorists may have been unleashed against American citizens.”

GUEST: Christy Setzer, Communications Director of U.S. Chamber Watch

Find out more at www.fixtheUSchamber.org.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.” — Saul Alinsky