November 7 - The Impact of News of Arafat's Poisoning on Peace Talks; Cutting the Wrong Deficit; Cutting Food Stamps While Subsidizing Billionaires

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with confirmation from Swiss scientists that PLO leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned by radioactive Polonium and assess what impact this will have on the already shaky peace talks underway between the Israelis and Palestinians. Khaled Elgindy, a Fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution who was an advisor to the Palestinian leadership from 2004 to 2009, joins us to discuss remarks by Secretary of State Kerry on Israeli TV where he warned of a bleak period ahead if peace is not achieved stating “I mean does Israel want a third Indifada?”

Part 2

Then we speak with Jared Bernstein the former Chief Economic Advisor to Vice President Biden and a member of President Obama’s economic team. He has an article in Thursday’s New York Times with Dean Baker “Taking Aim at the Wrong Deficit” and we discuss how the exaggerated fears that the sky is falling due to budget deficits, which are in fact going down, are distracting American from a real problem with the trade deficit, which if fixed, would help reduce the budget deficit.

Part 3

Then finally we look into a flagrant and callous hypocrisy and national disgrace as the House debates cutting $40 billion more from the food stamp program that was just cut, while they plan to increase subsidies for billionaire owners of farms and agri-business. We speak with Craig Cox, the Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources at the Environmental Working Group, who have just released a study revealing how billionaires with a collective wealth of $316 billion are receiving millions in tax-payer farm subsidies while poor families with children are having their already inadequate allotment of food stamps cut.