Our weekly edition is a nationally syndicated one-hour digest of the best of our daily coverage.

Audio Stream | Podcast | Mp3 Download

This week on Uprising:

* Super Committee Failure Equals Failure of Congress and President
* Ralph Nader Wants You to Get Steamed
* Egypt: “Getting Rid of Mubarak Was Just The Warmup. This is the Real Showdown”

* * *

Super Committee Failure Equals Failure of Congress and President

The Congressional Super Committee charged with cutting $1.2 trillion in federal spending has failed to meet its deadline. A statement was issued late last Monday night, the deadline, by the co-Chairs of the committee, saying “after months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.” Republican Representative John Hensarling, one of six GOP members of the committee expressed to Fox News over the weekend, his frustrations. The Super Committee’s failure now means several things will happen automatically in about a year unless lawmakers take action to prevent them. Payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits for millions of Americans will expire. An across the board cut to the Medicare program will take place, which translates into doctors getting paid 40% less for services rendered to Medicare patients. Lawmakers are already planning to introduce legislation to stave off the cuts. Meanwhile stock prices fell on Monday in anticipation of the Super Committee’s failure. And, a new survey by CNN and ORC International released this week shows that two thirds of Americans are in favor of taxing the wealthy. However, 60% of Americans also support deep cuts to spending but not major changes to Social Security or Medicare. Not surprisingly, those who identified as Republicans tended not to support tax increases while those who identified as Democrats tended not to support spending cuts.

GUEST: Max Fraad Wolff, an instructor at the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School University and senior analyst with Greencrest Capital

Ralph Nader Wants You to Get Steamed

Popular sentiment against skyrocketing income inequality, as manifested in the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to rise. On Sunday, Zuccotti Park in New York, where overnight camping is now prohibited, saw a gathering of immigrant Spanish speaking women who declared solidarity with the Occupy movement. Elders from the civil rights movement also addressed occupy protesters at a local church. And, a drum circle protest was carried out in front of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s private mansion. Most notably over the weekend, Occupy protesters and students at UC Davis, protesting fee hikes, were pepper sprayed in the face by police while they were sitting down with linked arms. A video of the incident has gone viral and resulted in the UC Davis police chief being placed on leave. And, Occupy Los Angeles and Occupy Oakland have planned to shut down all ports on the West Coast on December 12th.

We turn next to a man who has been a stalwart defender of the 99% for decades. Ralph Nader, is a long-time consumer advocate, presidential candidate, and author. His 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed led to vast improvements in automobile safety. His latest book is called Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism: Build it Together to Win. The book is a compilation of corporate misdeeds throughout the year 2009, with pointed commentary by Nader. In his introduction Nader writes, “The aggregation of these [corporate] outrages … can spark your conscience and stiffen your resolve to speak out with other Americans or support much greater reforms and law enforcement against corporate crimes.”

GUEST: Ralph Nader, author of Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism: Build it Together to Win

Find out more at www.nader.org.

Read his latest article about the Occupy movement here: http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2011/11/21/opinion/doc4ec9e0cd2549f262686881.txt

Egypt: “Getting Rid of Mubarak Was Just The Warmup. This is the Real Showdown.”

Nearly three dozen Egyptian protesters were killed by security forces from Saturday through Tuesday, and an estimated 1750 were wounded during massive protests against the ruling military council. Security forces used rubber bullets, birdshot, and live ammunition against an ever-increasing crowd of demonstrators that swelled to at least 10,000 in Cairo by Monday. Egypt’s interim governing cabinet offered its resignation yesterday in response to events. It is under consideration by the military council. Criticism of the military council has been building since it aided in ousting dictator Hosni Mubarak on February 12th. The body is due to be in power until a constitution and president are in place, estimated to take place in 2013 or later. The New York Times quotes a Council spokesman calling victims of this police crackdown “thugs,” and going on to say, “There is an invisible hand in [Tahrir] Square causing a rift between the army and the people.” Civilians joining in the protests saw events differently, with one telling the Times, “Getting rid of Mubarak was just the warm-up. This is the real showdown.” The violent fallout comes a week before Parliamentary elections, when the Muslim Brotherhood is expected to gain a significant number of seats. It’s reaction to the weekend’s violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, and other cities has been measured. Al Jazeera reports the Brotherhood issued a statement condemning the violence but also said the protesters did not have the right to “hinder daily life and destroy property.” The party also did not call for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to step-down, a demand protesters are rallying around. The April 6th youth movement accused the military council of “wearing Mubarak’s mask” and called for ongoing action at Tahrir Square. Individuals and parties from all corners of Egyptian society have demanded that elections proceed as scheduled, without delay by the military council.

GUEST: Sherif Gaber, activist with the group No Military Trials for Civilians, based in Cairo

Sherif Gaber recommends www.mosireen.org for news from Egypt.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“In a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end.” — Alexis de Tocqueville