Democracy Now! July 18 2002

Millions of workers in China are laid off as the country moves toward a market economy; PBS premiers a new film on China, but the arrest of the film crew doesn't make the cut But first, cracking down on corporate crime: band-aids vs. radical transformation? A roundtable discussion of Capitol Hill's corporate-funded proposals, and some radical alternatives All that and more coming up. 9:01-9:06 Headlines: TEL AVIV SUICIDE ATTACKS KILL FIVE, ONE DAY AFTER A BUS AMBUSH KILLS EIGHT SETTLERS Two Palestinian suicide bombers killed one Israeli, two immigrant workers, and themselves on Wednesday in Tel Aviv. The bombing left more than 40 injured. Many of the wounded were foreign laborers from Nigeria, Thailand and the Philippines replacing Palestinian workers barred from entering since the outbreak of fighting. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. This bombing came only a day after a bus ambush that left eight settlers dead. Minutes after the suicide bombing, two Palestinians were reported killed in explosions at the al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah. In Gaza yesterday, Israeli warplanes bombed a metal factory at the Mughazi refugee camp. Guest: Rami Elhanan, father of Smadar Elhanan, who was killed by a suicide bomber on September 4, 1997. She was 14 years old. Contact: Parents' Circle: www.parentscircle.israel.net/daysofclosure.shtml The Bereaved Families' Forum:www.mideastweb.org/bereaved_Families_Forum.htm 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:20 : BAND-AIDS VS. RADICAL TRANSFORMATION? A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION OF CAPITOL HILL'S CORPORATE-FUNDED PROPOSALS, AND SOME RADICAL ALTERNATIVES "House Approves Tough Business Reform Measure" "House Republicans In Scramble To Act Over Company Fraud" "House Ok's Tough Action Against Fraud -- Public Anger Fuels Fast Response On Corporate Crime" These are a few of yesterday's headlines from the mainstream media. Republicans in the House are scrambling to appease an angry public following a wave of corporate scandals. They are concerned that the public will turn against them in the upcoming congressional elections. And yet, the Washington Post reported yesterday House Speaker Dennis Hastert defied the pleas of several rank-and-file Republicans, and rejected the Senate's reform bill. The decision gave accounting industry lobbyists more time to press their congressional allies for leniency. Now House GOP leaders are already maneuvering to delay and dilute the Senate's reform bill. So we have two stories about what's going on: the Republicans are acting "tough on corporate crime", and, the Republicans are as usual trying to subvert the Democrats, who are even tougher on corporate crime. But no one in the mainstream media is asking, are the Republicans and Democrats actually very different on this issue? Are they really trying to reign in corporations? Both parties are funded by corporations. According to the nonpartisan organization Democracy 21, corporations and business executives have poured a staggering $1 billion in soft money into Washington in the last decade. They gave $636 million to Republicans and $449 million to Democrats. Today on Democracy Now! we'll have a different kind of discussion. We'll compare the corporate-funded proposals on Capitol Hill, but then we'll broaden the discussion to take a look at some revolutionary proposals that come not from corporate-funded politicians, but from the people. GUEST: Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO GUEST: Richard Grossman, co-founder of Corporations, Law and Democracy. CONTACT: www.poclad.org GUEST: Bob Monks, founder of Institutional Shareholder Services , Lens Investment Management , and Hermes-Lens Investment Management. He is a well-known, Republican shareholder activist. CONTACT: www.ragm.com GUEST: Robert Hinkley, corporate securities lawyer of 22 years. He is a former partner in the New York law firm at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. He left his partnership with Skadden to promote a legally enforceable Code for Corporate Citizenship . 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 CORPORATE CRIME cont'd 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 MILLIONS OF WORKERS IN CHINA ARE LAID OFF AS CHINA MOVES TOWARD A MARKET ECONOMY; PBS PREMIERS A NEW FILM ON CHINA, BUT THE ARREST OF THE FILM CREW DOESN'T MAKE THE CUT Workers in the United States aren't the only ones who are seeing their pensions disappear. As many as 2,000 former workers from a closed brick and tile factory in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia have clashed with the police, and hundreds are occupying the factory, demanding pension benefits. There have been hundreds of such disputes in China in recent years. As China moves toward a market economy, millions of workers are being laid off and their pension funds are disappearing, leaving workers with nothing in a society in which people are increasingly forced to fend for themselves. Tonight, PBS is premiering a new film about China directed by filmmaker Jon Alpert, who directs Downtown Community Television, where we are based. Alpert here in lower Manhattan's hinatown. Jon recently returned from a trip to China, where almost the entire film crew was arrested. But you won't learn about that in the film. We'lle start with an excerpt of an interview with Jiang Xueqin, a Chinese-Canadian journalist who worked with Jon Alpert on the film. He was in New York last month after he was deported from China, as he was trying to cover labor unrest. Tape: Jiang Xueqin, freelance reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Time, The Nation and other publications, interviewed 6/17/02 Jon Alpert's film will be the second in a new PBS television series called "Wide Angle." Its mission as described on its own website reads: "Americans, post-September 11, recognize a new and urgent need to understand the political, economic, and social forces shaping the world today. To address this need, Thirteen/WNET New York [presents] WIDE ANGLE, a weekly series of one-hour documentaries, hosted by Daljit Dhaliwal and James P. Rubin, that will expand Americans' global consciousness. From the global terrorist threat to the global economy, from courage in the face of human rights abuses to triumph over political corruption, WIDE ANGLE will tell critical stories from nations and people across the globe - stories that Americans cannot afford to ignore." The series premiered last week with a show titled, "Saddam's Ultimate Solution." The show featured unnamed sources in shadow making allegations about Saddam's terrorist links and biological weapons program. It was hosted by James Rubin, Assistant Secretary of State under Clinton and chief spokesman for Secretary of State Madeleine Albright-- a fierce proponent of bombing Iraq. This program is Rubin's "journalistic" debut. The China documentary is followed by an extended interview with former US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky a fierce proponent of US trade with China. When does public media cross the line into state media? Guest: Jon Alpert, filmmaker and journalist, Downtown Community Television. He recently returned from China where he shot "To Have and Have Not" which premieres on the PBS "Wide Angle" series tonight IN STUDIO Clip: "To Have and Have Not" on the PBS "Wide Angle" series Contact: www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits