Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "America's Undeclared War", joins us to discuss the House Speaker bid. Conservatives confirmed their intentions to run for the top House job one day after Kevin McCarthy was removed by his own party. Dan Lazare predicts that the Speakership will fall to Trump. He posits that there are 435 seats in the house with 218 required for a majority. Dan says since the Republicans control 222 seats and must unanimously agree on a new Speaker, he believes that Trump is the likeliest of all candidates chosen to get most of the Republican seats. Dan says that if this happens, Biden and Trump will wield two centers of power; the Speakership and the Presidency.
Dr. Yolandra Hancock, Board-certified pediatrician and Obesity Medicine Specialist, joins us to discuss healthcare. Throughout the United States, children are dying in ill-prepared emergency rooms across the country. Dr. Hancock says there must be an acknowledgment that pediatric care is a financially losing prospect. Dr. Hancock says that the way that the system is set up, hospitals get more for adults because of reimbursement rates. Dr. Hancock says that the symptoms of children are often different and that the equipment that is needed to take care of these children is different. She also says that close to 90% of children in this country are treated at facilities with no pediatric equipment and that the solution is the responsibility of the Federal government, which can implement policy change.
Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss President Putin's speech at the Valdai meetings. Mark Sleboda provided background for the original Valdai discussion club, saying it was originally a think tank forum for dialogue between Russia and the West. Mark says now this is not the case and that President Putin uses it as a venue for monologue on important topics. Mark talked about the various discussion items including the state of conflict between the "West and the Rest," and the role that Russia and China play in the new world order. Mark said Putin's discussion about the conflict in Ukraine included how it started, and how Russia's economy has withstood American pressure.
Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents, joins us to discuss Haiti. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the United States sanctions and blockade policy against Cuba and Venezuela as the cause of increased regional migration. During his daily press conference on Monday, October 2, López Obrador directly linked US imperialist foreign policy in Latin America to the 10,000 daily arrivals of migrants at the US-Mexico border. Margaret Kimberley says that the United States' sanction regime against Cuba and Venezuela makes them poor, with the goal of regime change and protest in those countries. She says the US creates conflict, makes people want to leave, and then makes it easier for them to get into the United States than any other group.
Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Al-Qassam fighters inflicted serious damage on the invading occupation unit forcing them to retreat. Laith Marouf agrees that skirmishes like this show that the tide is starting to turn and that Palestinian resistance forces are repelling the invaders. He says that the situation is reaching a crescendo and that Israeli troops are being met with resistance in every West Bank town.
Misty Winston, radio host and political commentator, joins us to discuss Julian Assange and the Healthcare Workers' Strike. Julian Assange is expected to be extradited to the United States as early as this month. Misty Winston analyzes why the power structure is targeting Julian Assange, the charges against him, and how his trial in the United States will be constrained to prevent him from defending himself. Misty says the goal is to tie up the Julian Assange case in legal turmoil for at least 25 years. Up until now, she says, the US has been able to keep the Julian Assange story out of the mainstream media. Misty talks about how easy it would have been for President Biden to drop the charges, but he has chosen to move forward. She also discusses the largest healthcare worker strike in the United States, with 75,000 healthcare workers across nonprofit Kaiser Permanente facilities walking off the job.
Dr. Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, joins us to discuss a new housing report. According to a new report published by real estate data provider ATTOM, the median home prices in 99% of 572 US counties are out of reach for the average income earner, who makes about $71,214 annually. Dr. Linwood Tauheed says this data shows that we are seeing real economics and not what the Biden administration is trying to show us. He says we are finding the current housing value is at 35% of that debt-to-income ratio and that this is a two-year trend. Dr. Tauheed says that rising interest rates have added about $11,000 a month just to the mortgage payments alone on a $400,000 home and that most people cannot afford that additional cost.
George Koo, journalist, social activist, and international business consultant, joins us to discuss China. There is a newly-released report on China written by the US. The report, launched by the US Department of State on Thursday local time, called “How The People’s Republic Of China Seeks To Reshape The Global Information Environment.” The report accuses China of information dominance. George Koo says that it is almost as if the US uses what it is doing in the world and flipped this information, accusing China of "every conceivable thing." George says this report reinforces the idea that we are being inundated with fake news and that it makes it difficult for Americans to decide what is real and what is propaganda.
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