[IMC-DC] BTL Summary - Dec. 5, 2008: Obama's National Security Team; Green Jobs; Obama's Clinton-Era Economic Advisors

Thu Nov 27 23:02:47 PST 2008

Between The Lines
For The Week Ending Dec. 5, 2008
http://www.btlonline.org/2008/btl120508.html

			  THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

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                    This week we present Between The Lines' summary of
                    under-reported news stories and:

Obama's National Security Team 
 Doesn't Support Change He Campaigned For

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                  Interview with investigative journalist Robert Parry,
 conducted by Scott Harris 

 While
President-elect Barack Obama has made it a top priority to quickly name
his team of economic advisors in the midst of a deepening U.S.
financial crisis, reports about who will be part of his national
security team have been the subject of multiple leaks in the news
media.

According to news reports current U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates has agreed to stay on under President Obama for a year or so
while the president-elect's former rival for the Democratic party
nomination, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, is said to be ready to
accept the new administration's offer to become secretary of state.
Other reports say retired Marine Gen. James Jones will be named
national security advisor.

Both Gates and Clinton have a history of supporting George W.
Bush's war in Iraq, echoed his bellicose threats against Iran and
backed his ineffectual policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While the national security team has not yet been officially announced,
those so far named seem at odds with a declaration made by Obama at a
Democratic candidate's debate in Los Angeles on Jan. 31 where he said,
"I don't want to just end the Iraq war, but I want to end the mindset
that got us into war in the first place." Between the Lines' Scott
Harris spoke with award-winning investigative journalist Robert Parry,
editor of ConsortiumNews.com. He takes a critical look at Barack
Obama's picks for his national security team -- and wonders what
happened to the president-elect's campaign pledge for change.

Robert Parry is author of "Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush." Read Parry's articles online at www.consortiumnews.com

					Green Jobs Program Can Combat
 Climate Change and Economic Decline

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                  Interview with Van Jones, 
Founder of Green For All and author of "The Green Collar Economy,"
 conducted by Melinda Tuhus  

President-elect Barack Obama announced on Nov. 22 that he plans to
create 2.5 million jobs to jumpstart the economy, and many of those
jobs, he says, will be green jobs, such as building wind turbines and
solar panels. That was music to the ears of Van Jones, the founder of
Green For All and author of "The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution
Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems."

Jones asserts the nation's two most serious problems are the
failing economy and our devastated environment. He points out that
although these issues appear to be separate, they are in fact clearly
connected. Jones has proposed a Green New Deal launched by the
government to provide training and jobs that will reduce the nation's
reliance on foreign oil and move us toward a renewable energy future.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Van Jones about
Barack Obama's pledge on green jobs, possible obstacles along the way,
and the role of hope in confronting a truly dire situation in the U.S.
and around the world.

Contact Green for All by calling (510) 663-6500 or visit their website at www.greenforall.org

					Obama Names Clinton-Era Economic Advisors 
 Who Helped Create Current Financial Crisis

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                  Interview with Chuck Collins,
 senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, 
conducted by Scott Harris 

 Reports that home
prices fell a record 16.6 percent compared with the third quarter in
2007 -- combined with news of the $20 billion federal bailout of
financial giant CitiGroup, in addition to the $25 billion the
government already gave to the bank -- signaled more bad news in the
unstable U.S. economy.

President-elect Barack Obama, attempting to calm the waters of
uncertainty in this volatile financial climate, announced his economic
team that will join him in confronting the crisis when he takes office
in January. He named New York Federal Reserve President Timothy
Geithner as his nominee for Treasury Secretary and former Harvard
President Lawrence Summers as director of the National Economic
Council. Economist Christina Romer will be director of Obama's Council
of Economic Advisors, and Melody Barnes was named director of his
Domestic Policy Council. Peter Orszag, current head of the
Congressional Budget Office, was selected to be director of the Office
of Management and Budget.

Geithner, Summers and Orszag all worked in the Clinton
administration under former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, now
director of troubled Citigroup. While a rising star in the 1990s, Rubin
promoted free trade, deregulation and balanced budgets, the recipe many
observers feel contributed to the current economic meltdown. Between
The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Chuck Collins, a senior scholar at
the Institute for Policy Studies, who coordinates the working group on
extreme inequality. Collins assesses Barack Obama's economic team and
lays out a progressive approach to confront the nation's current
economic crisis. 

Contact the Institute for Policy Studies at (202) 234-9382 or visit their websites at ips-dc.org and extremeinequality.org 

				 This week's summary 
of under-reported news 

  RealAudio
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Compiled by Bob Nixon 

After 15 years in obscurity, Peru's notorious Shining Path guerrillas
are on the rebound, fighting against army offensives in southern Peru.
("In Peru, A Rebellion is Reborn" Washington Post, Nov. 12, 2008)  Over the past year, the Bush
administration orchestrated a wave of workplace raids to round up
nearly 10,000 undocumented immigrants, creating a wave of fear in
immigrant communities and damaging union organizing drives.
("Railroading Immigrants," The Nation, Oct. 6, 2008; "Governor of
Arizona in Line for Cabinet," New York Times, Nov. 20, 2008)  St. Paul, Minn. police monitored the anarchist group
"RNC Welcoming Committee" for a year and infiltrated it with paid
informants. On the eve of tne Republican National Convention in St.
Paul, police raided homes of the group. Eight people face charges of
conspiracy to riot, and face up to seven years in prison. ("Framing the
'RNC 8,'" In These Times, November 2008; "Eight RNC Protesters Accused
of 'Furthering Terrorism' Thanks to Statute'," City Pages, Nov. 12,
2008) 

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