[IMC-DC] BTL Summary 4-10-09: Obama and Failed Banks; Corporate Media Failure to Cover Wall Street Collapse; Volunteers Rebuild NOLA Wetlands

Thu Apr 2 22:20:05 PDT 2009

            Between The Lines
For The Week Ending April 10, 2009

			  THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

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

					 Obama Needs to Get Tough with Failed Banks

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                  Interview with Greg Palast,
 BBC-TV reporter and author, 
conducted by Scott Harris 

 After the Obama
administration forced the resignation of General Motors CEO Rick
Wagoner in return for more federal bailout money being funneled to the
troubled carmaker, attention has turned to the question why Wall Street
CEO's receiving billions in taxpayer funds aren't similarly pressured
to resign? Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan noted a
"double-standard" giving big banks better treatment than the auto
industry. Many workers say the government hasn't dictated such harsh
terms to insurance giant AIG or the banks, which in large part caused
the financial crisis.

President Obama said his administration will offer GM
"adequate working capital" during the next 60 days to produce an
acceptable reorganization plan. Meanwhile, the White House gave
Chrysler 30 days to negotiate a merger with Italian automaker Fiat.

Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker criticized the
government's firing of GM's Wagoner saying that, "This is a major power
grab by the White House ... and should send a chill through all
Americans who believe in free enterprise." However, Corker and other
Senate Republicans had a completely different attitude toward the
United Auto Workers when the legislators demanded the union make deep
concessions in return for the first allocation of federal bailout money
to the auto industry last December. Between The Lines' Scott Harris
spoke with BBC-TV investigative reporter Greg Palast, who assesses the
performance of President Obama in dealing with the current economic
crisis.

Greg Palast is author of "Armed Madhouse." Read his articles
and see a trailer of his new video, "Palast Investigates" online at www.gregpalast.com

					 Corporate Media "Embedded" 
 with Wall Street
 as Economic Crisis Hit 

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                  Interview with Danny Schechter,
media critic and filmmaker,
 conducted by Scott Harris  

As widespread anger still lingers about $165 million in bonuses paid to
employees at the failed insurance giant AIG -- bailed out by more than
$170 billion in taxpayer funds -- another, larger set of bonuses is
being investigated. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, chairman of
the domestic policy subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government
Reform panel, has opened an inquiry into about $3.6 billion in bonuses
paid to Merrill Lynch employees, 22 times larger than bonuses paid by
AIG. The bonuses were set in December, after the government allocated
$10 billion in bailout funds to help save the firm from collapse by
brokering its sale to Bank of America.

Americans generally were taken by surprise when the economic
collapse struck last fall. Much of the blame, critics say, can be
placed on Congress, which deregulated the industry then turned a blind
eye to reckless casino games played with subprime mortgages and credit
default swaps. But the corporate media also played a pivotal role with
its decision not to aggressively report on these dodgy financial
practices, which triggered the current economic meltdown. 

The business media's cozy relationship with Wall Street movers and
shakers was briefly exposed when the Daily Show's Jon Stewart skewered
the CNBC business cable channel. Stewart bluntly criticized CNBC's Jim
Cramer, Rick Santelli and others for their uncritical reporting of Wall
Street's dangerous scams and fawning coverage of corporate
billionaires. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with filmmaker and
author Danny Schechter, who examines the corporate media's failure to
investigate Wall Street's irresponsible schemes, which brought on the
economic collapse.

Danny Schechter, co-founder of MediaChannel.org is the author
of, "Plunder: Investigating our Economic Calamity and the Sub Prime
Scandal." Read Danny's News Dissector Blog online at www.mediachannel.org

Related links:

		 "CNBC Financial Advice,"
CNBC's Rick Santelli is angry that those loser homeowners are going to
get bailed out, Jon Stewart covers it on The Daily Show, Comedy
Central, March 4, 2009  "In Debt We Trust" film documentary at www.Indebtwetrust.com 
		 "Credit Crisis: How Did We Miss It?", British Journalism Review, March 2009

					 Volunteers Work to Rebuild
 New Orleans' Wetlands

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                  Interview with Danny Breaux,
 20-year employee with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
conducted by Melinda Tuhus 

The area around New Orleans has lost much of the wetland acreage that
helped protect the city from hurricane storm surges. Since Hurricane
Katrina hit in 2005, many public agencies and private organizations
have increased their efforts to plant grasses and trees at the water's
edge to enable soil to gather around the roots and gradually build more
protective land.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus participated in one such
effort in late March, in conjunction with Common Ground Relief and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She joined a group of 25 volunteers
that were ferried by airboat to a tiny piece of reclaimed land in the
Big Branch Wildlife Preserve on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain,
about an hour from New Orleans. After spotting half a dozen small
alligators in the canal on the trip, they spent the day planting
spartina grass, salt hay and bulrushes, often sinking into the black
mud above their knees.

Tuhus spoke with Danny Breaux, a 20-year employee of the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service who coordinates volunteer efforts at Big
Branch. He talked about the impacts of soil erosion on residents'
safety in hurricane season, as well as the importance of wetlands to
the Louisiana fisheries industry.

Contact the Fish & Wildlife Service at (504) 442-2314 or visit their website at www.fws.gov. Additional information on the group Common Ground Relief can be found on their website www.commongroundrelief.org

	Related links: 

                          Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana in Baton Rouge at www.crcl.org

				 This week's summary 
of under-reported news 

  RealAudio
 MP3

Compiled by Bob Nixon

          		 After a
monthlong offensive on the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo by government and Rwanda troops, Hutu rebels are pushing
back. (" Hutu rebels in Congo strike back against joint offensive,"
Christian Science Monitor, March 23, 2009.)  Facing a wave of factory closings by U.S. based
manufacturers, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has called for an
American bailout. ("Central America looks to U.S. for solution to
economic crisis," Miami Herald, March 25, 2009, " IMF offers news tools
for global downturn," Washington Post, March 26, 2009.)  Increasingly, tent cities are popping up in former
housing hot spots like Fresno, Calif., St Petersburg, Fla. and Phoenix,
Arizona. ("Hidden homeless emerges as U.S. economy worsens," Reuters,
March 26, 2009, "Cities deal with a surge in shantytowns," New York
Times, March 26, 2009.) 

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