Background Briefing: October 25, 2022
What Does Britain’s Latest PM Mean by “Difficult Decisions to Come”?
We begin and go to the UK where today King Charles anointed the latest British PM Rishi Sunak and speak with Polly Toynbee, a columnist for the Guardian who was formerly BBC social affairs editor, columnist and associate editor of the Independent, co-editor of the Washington Monthly and a reporter and feature writer for the Observer. She is the co-author of Dismembered: How the attack on the state harms us all. We discuss her latest article at the Guardian, “Rishi Sunak’s cuts will be more brutal than austerity. Remember: they are a choice, not a necessity” and what the new PM meant when he said in his first speech that the country is “facing a profound economic crisis” with “difficult decisions to come.”
Running Against the Biden Economy, Republicans Promise to Tank the Global Economy to Force Cuts in Social Security and Medicare
Then we explore the disconnect between the Republicans running against the Biden economy which just cut the deficit by a record amount and the GOP’s apparent intention to crash the global economy to force cuts in Social Security and Medicare should they get elected. Joining us is Lynn Parramore, Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking where she founded and edits the Next New Deal blog. A cultural theorist who studies the intersection of culture and economics, she is the author of Reading the Sphinx: Ancient Egypt in Nineteenth-Century Literary Culture as well as the ebooks Corporations for the 99% and New Economic Visions. She has an article at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, “How Corporations “Get Away With Murder” to Inflate Prices on Rent, Food, and Electricity.”
Escalating Talk of a “Dirty Bomb” Raises Fears Putin is Looking For an Excuse to Use a Nuke in Ukraine
Then finally we assess President Biden’s warning to Putin today not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or conduct a false-flag operation with a dirty bomb which they’d blame on Ukraine, saying, “I spent a lot of time today talking about that…Let me just say Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake if it were to use a tactical nuclear weapon… I’m not guaranteeing that it’s a false flag operation yet. We don’t know. It would be a serious, serious mistake.” Joining us is Edwin Lyman, Director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists and an internationally recognized expert on nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism as well as nuclear power safety and security. He is a member of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and has testified numerous times before Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book, Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster.