Big Proposals for Small Businesses
The President put the focus on small businesses last night with three proposals: giving $30 billion of Tarp bailout money to help community banks make loans, a new tax credit to help small businesses hire, and eliminating all capital gains taxes on small businesses. Binyamin Appelbaum, banking reporter for the Washington Post, explains what the president’s proposals might mean for small businesses.
A Small Businessman Reflects on the President’s Promises
President Obama said last night that people were frustrated, because Main Street suffered while Wall Street prospered. Geoff Zeamer is founder of the small technology company, Abbess Instrument & Systems in Holliston, Mass. He tells us what he thinks of the president’s ideas to help small businesses like his.
New Eyewitness Account Suggests Possible Cover Up At Guantanamo Bay Prison
A former Guantanamo Bay sergeant is speaking out about events he witnessed the night of June 9, 2006, when three prisoners died suddenly. The military has labeled the deaths suicides, but new eyewitness accounts point to 3 possible homicides and a cover-up by the Bush White House that continued under the Obama administration. We speak with Scott Horton, who broke the story for Harper’s Magazine.
Amid Economic Doom, Irish Emigrate Again
Ireland’s Celtic Tiger economic boom led some to believe that the nation’s long history of emigration was over. But now, with Ireland’s economy mired in recession, more people feel they’ve no choice but to leave the country. The BBC’s Paul Moss reports from Dublin.
Super Bowl Ad Kicks up Controversy
The Super Bowl is 11 days away but a game-time commercial is overshadowing football in the spotlight. CBS plans to air a spot that features college football star Tim Tebow [TEE'-bow] and his mother Pam talking about how, during her difficult pregnancy, she declined medical advice to have an abortion. A coalition of women’s groups says the spot contradicts policy against advocacy ads during the Super Bowl. We talk with Here & Now media analyst John Carroll about the controversy.
Coming Soon to the U.S.–Scottish Haggis
Lovers of haggis, the Scottish national dish that’s a type of sausage made of sheep organs, are cheering because the U.S. is soon expected to lift an import ban on it. The dish is a staple of annual celebrations held at this time of year to commemorate 18th century Scottish poet Robert Burns, who wrote an ode to haggis. We speak with Margaret Frost, who runs the Scottish American Society in Ohio.
Remembering Historian Howard Zinn
Author Howard Zinn at Emerson College in 2008 . (AP)
The famed historian, political activist and author of “A People’s History of the United States” died yesterday of a heart attack. We revisit Robin Young’s August 2008 conversation withHoward Zinn.
Music from the show
- Sea and Cake, “Seemingly”
- U2, “Mothers of the Disappeared”
- Trad, “The Skylark’s Ascension,” Battlefield Band
- The Album Leaf, “Gust of …”
