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The monthly jobs report for January is out today, indicating that while Americans lost another 20,000 jobs, the rate of unemployment slowed slightly from 10% in December to 9.7% last month. The fact that Wall Street firms are reporting fairly robust gains, even while new jobs aren’t being created has provided fodder for populist concerns and pushed Democrats to tackle a jobs bill. But such legislation will likely get stuck in the Congressional gridlock that has marked the past year with Republicans refusing to support any domestic legislation proposed by the President. Meanwhile, anger has once more broken out over a new round of bonuses to executives of the once-embattled insurance company AIG. Despite receiving $182 billion in tax-payer funded bailouts, AIG offered more than a $100 million in bonuses to its employees last March. This year, a similar round has been promised to the same set of employees, ostensibly the same people who made decisions to insure toxic bank assets that led to the company’s near demise to begin with. Sadly it seems as though right wing reactionary groups are the most vocal populists these days, cashing in on American outrage.

Looting of America

Today we spend the hour taking a look at the intricacies of this recession, in lay person’s language, with author Les Leopold. His new book is called The Looting of America: How Wall Street’s Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity — and What We Can Do About It. In his book, Leopold says, “While we teeter between an economic recession and another great depression, we need to listen to new voices, not just the so-called financial experts that got us here. We need to start hearing the real truths about what has happened and then figure out what we’re doing about it.”

The Panic is On: The Great American Depression As Seen By the Common Man

Experts constantly refer to the “greatest economic recession since the Great Depression” when talking about today’s situation. But how many of us really know what the Great Depression was all about? Our second thank you gift today is a multifaceted project which communicates the pain of hard times during the Great Depression but also the grace and strong will of everyday Americans. The Panic is On: The Great American Depression As Seen By the Common Man is a DVD/CD pack featuring original newsreel film, documentaries, and popular music of the time. It includes a 32 page booklet of letters and photographs from the era too.

Thank you Gifts:

The Panic is On: The Great American Depression as Seen by the Common Man – DVD/CD – $150
The Looting of America by Les Leopold – Book – $80
Beyond Recession Pack – (The Panic is On + The Looting of America) – $200

Call 818-985-5735 (KPFK) to make your pledge