Democracy Now has the video Debate: Hillary Clinton Sounds Populist Tone, But Are Progressives Ready to Back Her in 2016?

Former secretary of state, senator and first lady Hillary Clinton has formally entered the 2016 race for the White House in a second bid to become the first woman U.S. president. We host a roundtable discussion with four guests: Joe Conason, editor-in-chief of The National Memo, co-editor of The Investigative Fund, and author of “The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton”; Michelle Goldberg, senior contributing writer at The Nation; longtime journalist Robert Scheer, editor of TruthDig.com and author of many books; and Kshama Sawant, a Socialist city councilmember in Seattle and member of Socialist Alternative, a nationwide organization of so

The part of the show with the debate starts at 12 minutes and 6 seonds (12:06) into the video

I have only had a chance to watch the first third of the discussion so far, essentially the opening remarks, but I think this is going to be an interesting discussion. I don’t know if Hillary’s candidacy will survive the “debate”.

New Economic Perspectives has the article Capitalism’s Defender Unknowingly Indicts the Banksters by William K. Blank.  If you need a refresher course in what I mean when I talk about bank fraud by the CEOs of major banks, this article might do.  I know you need a refresher course, because you are not paying any attention to my claim of the crookedness of Hillary Clinton.  These are her BFFs in the financial world, and she would rather you pay no attention to their criminal acts.  Since they are funding her campaign for the Presidency, she isn’t about to promise you that she will call for prosecution of their ongoing fraudulent behavior when she gets into office.

I know, she talks like a Democrat so you like to pretend that her craven acceptance of bribery isn’t as bad as the craven acceptance of bribery among the Republicans.  She throws you a few bones about issues like LGBT rights, women’s right, equal pay, environmental concerns, the Supreme Court as a way to keep you pacified.  If you buy that line, then you are also accepting craven bribery.

It is hard to figure out who is the greater threat to this country, the politicians who accept craven bribery or the voters who accept their own share of such bribery.  Perhaps the real moral failure of this country is the acceptance of bribery on all sides.  We can’t expect more from the politicians when the voters who elect them are just as bad.

I received the following email about drafting Alan Grayson for Senate in Florida.  From what I know of him, have read about him, and have heard him say, I think he would be a game changing addition to the Senate on a par with having Elizabeth Warren in the Senate.

The website mentioned in the video is congressmanwithguts.com

Naked Capitalism has the article “Getting Started”: Questions for Hillary Clinton as She Begins Her Campaign in Iowa.  You may or may not be interested in the analysis of Clinton’s first TV ad.  What I found to be particularly valuable was the set of questions for Hillary that Lambert Strether posed at the end of the article.  He introduced that section with the following comment:

So, readers — and especially Iowa readers, if any — let’s get started ourselves, and try to imagine some questions we might ask Clinton on her listening tour, should we be lucky enough to be invited to. Here are a few. But the rule is, you have to be Iowa nice! (That is, nicer than you would be in the rough and tumble of the Naked Capitalism comments section.)

I can’t believe he left out this one that I added.

What kind  of fraudulent banking behavior do you think merits criminal prosecution of the executives who are responsible?

Just the thought process involved in coming up with questions you would like to ask is a great way to focus your mind on what is really important.  Take note of how few of these questions will be asked by the professional pundits in our “news” media.