On our weekly roundtable: President Obama caves to pressure and allows Congress to weigh in on Iran nuclear negotiations. Is this a victory lap for the GOP, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Zionist lobby? How will this move by the Administration impact the negotiations? Why didn’t Obama stand his ground? What if anything did he gain by this compromise? What could be the impact on the balance of power between Congress and the White House?
And, the President bucks organized labor and his base by actively supporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement known as TPP. Who benefits from this deal? And within the context of Ben Bernanke who headed the Federal Reserve under Obama joining several other former members of the Obama administration
who accepted jobs in hedge funds or other high end financial sector jobs, does the President’s support for TPP lend credence to those who say he is surrounded by those who are in the pockets of big business and that Obama himself is owned by big business?
Meanwhile US low waged workers continue their offensive with massive nationwide protests demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage. This within the context of growing campaigns in countries like Greece, Spain, Ireland and Belgium against austerity measures. And driving the point home, a businessman in Seattle has taken a pay cut and is now paying all of his workers $75,000 a year.
Also, after decades of economic, political and ideological antagonism the US and Cuba are on a path of normalizing relationships. How does that contrast with other US moves in the Americas south of the border?
Our panelists are Jackie Goldberg, Tom Hayden, Dr. Gerald Horne.
