Political Organizations

Guest Nathan Hunt, a political science student at Portland State University and member of Students for Educations Debt Reform, the mushrooming problem of student debt and recommends a solution, "Pay It Forward." The increasing problem of student debt results from decreasing state support for higher education, a transfer of costs from the state to the student via increasing tuition and fees and a move from education grants to loans. "Pay It Forward" would create a state fund to pay tuition and fees while requiring repayment by students.

Guest Paul Sansone, a founding member of Oregon Citizens Against the Pipelines, relates how fossil fuel companies have used lies, fraud and manipulation to destroy regional gas markets, turning them into international markets, thereby creating tremendous profit margins for themselves to the determent of Oregonians and the American people. These corporations created a huge natural gas bubble with the result that the renewable energy industry will be killed for the third time. These corporations are illegal criminal enterprises which should be brought to justice.

Ashley Sanders, Exec Committee member of Move to Amend, notes that corporate controlled political system and economy has been centuries in the making, that it is a human creation and tells the story of the historic development of corporate power starting 500 years ago. She describes the role of kings, imperialism, the formation of the East India Company by the King of England, members of the British Parliament and the wealthy folks of England who wanted to make more money in international trade.

Guest Dan Meek reviews the largely failed efforts of Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to reform the US Senate filibuster rules. He also review how the filibuster rules have changed over the past 75 years. Then Dan talks about the failure of congress to make legal changes to overturn Citizens United or at least some of the effects. He notes that Oregon laws are "Citizens United on Steroids" and explains the reasons for that description and further notes that "Oregon is more loophole than law."

Guest Alex Linsker, an organizer with Tax & Conversation, asks "What happens when companies are democratically run?" Tax & Conversation is a cooperatively run tax reform effort which is striving to write an Oregon ballot initiative to reform Oregon's tax structure. Currently there are approximately 400 tax exceptions (loopholes). What would happen if individuals and corporations paid all their taxes without being able to exercise tax exceptions?

If one's best friend or a family member is addicted to drugs, what does one do? You intervene. That is the recourse Scott Silber, national director of National Intervention, suggests we must take to end the addictive behavior of corporate CEOs and other leaders as well as their political allies. Scott has written a book (soon to be released) titled, “True Recovery, Deep Democracy, The 12 Step Guide to Freedom From Addiction to Corporate Power and Money in Politics”

Guest Jaye Cee Whitehead, Asst. Sociology Professor (Pacific University), discusses her views of gay marriage, looking at how the gay movement has come to embrace gay marriage as the signature issue for GLBTQ liberation. The 70s gay liberation movement rejected marriage but changed to embrace it in the 21st century. How and why did this change occur? That is what we discuss.

Rylander, Gillespie, Wood, Landenberger.

Rylander, Gillespie, Wood, Landenberger.

Our guest is political economist Robin Hahnel from the economics department at Portland State University and formerly with American University in Wash DC. What does history show as the solution to the current and continuing economic crisis? Robin explains why the current polices in Europe for austerity are wrong, why they will continue to be wrong in the United States, and how the correct policies would instead be to stimulate the economy in a manner similar to what happened following the Great Depression.