The Leslie Marshall Show

Safeguarding Elections and Our Right to Vote During COVID-19 Pandemic

Leslie kicks off the show with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment.

She is then joined by Karen Hobert Flynn, the President of Common Cause, a nonpartisan grassroots organization with 1.2 million members and supporters dedicated to building a strong democracy and holding power accountable. Karen is a democracy reform activist and leader for more than three decades, including 25-plus years on staff and in state and national leadership positions with Common Cause.

The two discuss the $400 million in election funding that Common Cause, and their allies, were successful in persuading Congress to include in the 2 Trillion dollar COVID-19 response bill. They also analyze why, despite this funding being a step in the right direction, given the recent health crisis, states and localities immediately need significantly more resources. These resources are needed to make critical investments to ensure that all voters can participate in free, fair, orderly, and safe elections this year, or else millions of voters could be disenfranchised.

The website for Common Cause is CommonCause.org and their Twitter handle is @CommonCause. Karen Hobert Flynn's handle is @KHobertFlynn.

The Economic Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Today's guest hosts are Brent Cohen, Executive Director of Generation Progress, and Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress.

 

They discuss the economic challenges that people—particularly young people—will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what state and federal governments can do to help individuals and families get through it.  They also analyze the early details being released about the stimulus/economic recovery package being finalized by Congress.

 

They are also joined by an expert guest on the topic, Tamara Fucile, Director for Government Affairs and Senior Advisor at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Tamara's Twitter handle is @TamaraFucile and the handle for her organization is @CenterOnBudget. 

 

The website for 'Generation Progress' is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress.  Brent Cohen's Twitter handle is @BrentJCohen and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.

Senators Burr and Loeffler Insider Trading Requires "Resignation and Prosecution"

Leslie is joined by Morris Pearl, Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of hundreds of high-net-worth Americans who are committed to making all Americans better off by building a more prosperous, stable, and inclusive nation. The group focuses on promoting public policy solutions that encourage political equality, guarantee a sustaining wage for working Americans, and ensure that millionaires, billionaires, and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.

Leslie and Morris discuss reports that Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler sold off significant amounts of stock in the immediate aftermath of being briefed on the spread of COVID-19, all while publicly stating that there was no reason for alarm.

 

The Patriotic Millionaires, led by Mr. Pearl, are calling for "resignation and prosecution" in response to the insider trading reports.

 

"Senators Burr and Loeffler have clearly placed their own personal financial interests ahead of the safety and wellbeing of their constituents, and they have no business continuing to act as public servants. They must resign, and their misconduct must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law under the 2012 STOCK Act.

The Department of Justice should prioritize investigating and prosecuting these Senators. Our entire government depends on the American people trusting that their elected officials are working with their best interests at heart. By using their official positions to benefit themselves at the expense of the American people, these Senators have betrayed the trust of their communities and constituents, and cracked the very foundations of our democracy at a time when trust in our government has never been more important.

Congress should pass laws that would make this kind of misbehavior impossible in the future. It is absurd that members of Congress are allowed to trade stocks at all. No one should personally profit from having the privilege of serving their nation as a legislator."

 

Leslie and Morris also discuss what safeguards are needed in any stimulus/bailout packages to protect working people and fight corporate greed.

 

The website for the Patriotic Millionaires is www.PatrioticMillionaires.org, their Instagram handle is @PatrioticMillionaires, and their Twitter handle is @PatrioticMills. Morris Pearl's Twitter handle is @Morris_Pearl.

Trump's Handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad leads a political round-table with Kim Scott and Mark Grimaldi.  The roundtable discusses President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, how Vice President Biden is doing at communicating with the country during the crisis, and what Senator Bernie Sanders next political move may be.

The two round table guests are Kimberly Scott and Mark Grimaldi. Kimberly is the Founder and Publisher of DemList, LLC, a free national daily political column, calendar and resource site for Democrats and allies - a unique, central source that connects people to the who, what and where of Democratic events, issues and activism.  You can find out more about them at DemList.com and follow them on Twitter @TheDemList.

Mark Grimaldi is progressive political activist, with 12 years of experience in the field. He has worked as a campaign volunteer of President Obama's (2008 and 2012), Senator Bernie Sanders' (2016), and Secretary Hillary Clinton's (2016).  Mark is also involved in campaign finance reform efforts around the country, and philanthropic efforts for Cancer research.  His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race for 'The Hill.'  He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

Women of Steel and Women’s Activism Around the Globe

March is women’s history month and March 8th was International Women’s Day. This is also a big year for commemorating women’s activism, with 2020 marking the centennial of women’s right to vote. To discuss some highlights of women's activism around the globe during the past year, Leslie is joined by Anna Fendley of the United Steelworkers Union (USW). Anna also shares some incredible insights on the USW's 'Women of Steel' program during the interview.

Anna has been with the USW for over a decade and has worked doing legislative advocacy and in the union’s Health, Safety and Environment Department. Anna serves as the vice president for North America for the IndustriALL Global Union, which represents industrial workers all over the world. She also represents the AFL-CIO as the chairperson of the International Trade Union Confederation’s Global Youth Committee, where she led the effort to create a global economic platform for young workers.

Here are some of the details that Leslie and Anna covered during today's conversation.

- Women of Steel:

· The USW’s 'Women of Steel' is its program for empowering women leaders and activists. It began as a grassroots effort in Canada in the 1980s as an effort to combat sex discrimination. · Now it’s union-wide. Women of Steel work on a variety of issues that are important to women in the workplace: some of it iscommunity-based and some national.

- Health care worker safety:

· The union has long fought for protections for health care workers. The USW represents approximately 50,000 health care workers, many of whom are women.
· This includes work on the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1309), which passed the House late last year.
· Many of the issues that the USW fights for, not just in 'Women of Steel,' but across the board, are now taking on a new resonance with the outbreak of COVID-19.
· The USW and other unions have pushed to get OSHA to issue anemergency standard to protect front line workers in the wake of the virus.

- Paid Leave

· The issue of paid leave is also as urgent as it’s ever been. Even before the current crisis, the USW supported legislation that would expand leave, including the FAMILY Act.
· Now, there is greater need. Lawmakers are proposing the 'Paid Sick Days for Public Health Emergencies and Personal Family Care Act.'
· This issue does not just affect women, but because many women are caregivers in their families, access to benefits like paid leave help with gender equality.

- Women’s Activism Internationally:

· It’s not just domestically that the USW has been fighting for women’s rights. As a part of a global alliance of unions called IndustriALL, the union has been taking a wider view of women’s participation in the workforce. In November, they met in Geneva and set ambitious goals. These included increasing diversity in workplaces, finding ways to get more women into leadership positions, and combating gender based violence. Anna was part of the USW’s delegation. · The ILO has also set reducing gender based violence as one of its goals. It also announced that this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work, celebrated on April 28 dually as Workers Memorial Day, will focus on calling for the prohibition and prevention of violence and harassment in the workplace. As part of the campaign, the ILO will produce a global report highlighting how a comprehensive OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) framework at both national and workplace levels could address the epidemic of violence and harassment.
· Women in Mexico have also started a grassroots movement against the violence they experience. o On International Women’s Day, 80,000 protestors took to the streets of Mexico City. This “Day Without Women” was intended to draw attention to femicide and government inaction. It’s estimated that ten women are killed in Mexico every day.

The website for the United Steelworkers is USW.org and their Twitter and Instagram handle is @steelworkers. The Twitter handle for USW President Tom Conway is @USWblogger.

COVID-19 Conversation with WHO Advisor Jamie Metzl; Democratic Debate Review

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), and technology futurist, Jamie Metzl. Jaime is also author of the highly acclaimed book "Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the future of Humanity" (releasing in paperback on April 7th, 2020). His Twitter handle is @JamieMetzl.

Jamie explains that while efforts to contain this outbreak must proceed, the contagion has already or will soon reach community spread levels where a containment strategy will no longer be viable. He also outlines that while efforts in China and South Korea have shown that extreme measures can at least temporarily slow the spread of this virus, we are likely to see very rapid increases in contagion levels around the world.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with Nick Guthman and Mark Grimaldi. The roundtable discuss the youth vote in the 2020 Democratic primary and general elections, as well as the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic on the race for the White House.

Nick is Co-Founder of 'Blue Future,' a national organizing program run out of the Youth Progressive Action Catalyst, a youth-led political action committee (PAC), focused on organizing young people around progressive electoral campaigns. His Twitter handle is @NickGuthman. The website for 'Blue Future' is www.OurBlueFuture.us.

Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show. In addition to being the Executive Producer for the Leslie Marshall show for 14 years, for the past 12 years Mark has been a progressive political activist and campaign volunteer of President Obama's (2008 and 2012), Senator Bernie Sanders' (2016), and Secretary Hillary Clinton's (2016). Mark is also involved in campaign finance reform efforts around the country, and philanthropic efforts for Cancer research. His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race for 'The Hill.' He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

The Latest on the COVID-19 Pandemic, Plus Impact of Black Voters on 2020 Elections

Today's guest host is is Moe Vela.  Mr. Vela served in President Obama’s administration as the Director of Administration and Senior Advisor in the Office of Vice President Joe Biden.  The stint was the second White House appointment for Mr. Vela, who served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Advisor on Hispanic Affairs for Vice President Al Gore. Mr. Vela holds the distinction of being the first Hispanic American and gay American to serve twice in a senior executive role in the White House.

Here are the guests that joined Moe today, along with the topics that they discussed:

1. ER Physician Dr. Olusegun Ishmael on the COVID-19 pandemic, and response to it in the U.S. (@Ishmd on Twitter)

2. Dr. John Tantillo, “The Marketing Doctor,” who authored a book called “People Buy Brands Not Companies.” He discusses how political candidates should consider themselves brands, and what Presidents Obama and Trump actually have in common.  (@MarketingDoctor on Twitter)

3. Freelance Journalist Darren Sands, who discusses the impact of the black vote in the Democratic primary election and shares his expertise on politics, race and culture. (@DarrenSands on Twitter)

You can also follow Moe Vela on Twitter, where his handle is @MoeVela.

The Fight for Housing Justice

Today's guest hosts are Edwith Theogene, Organizing Director for Generation Progress, and Charlotte Hancock, Communications Director for Generation Progress.

They discuss a proposed rule change from the Trump administration’s Department of Housing and Early Development (HUD), and why many people are fighting back against it.  To take a closer look at the proposed rule change and its potential consequences, they’re joined by two experts from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, policy analyst Sonya Acosta and senior advisor Ed Gramlich.

The website for the National Low Income Housing Coalition is nlihc.org and their Twitter handle is @nlihc.  Sonya Acosta's Twitter handle is @ssmiacosta and Ed Gramlich's handle is @Regs_Ed.

The website for "Generation Progress" is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress.  Edwith Theogene's Twitter handle is @WhoIsEdwith and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.

Why the Fed Cannot Rescue the Economy from Coronavirus

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Dr. Robert Shapiro is Chairman of Sonecon, an economic advisory firm, and a Senior Fellow of the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.  He is an internationally-known economist who has advised, among others, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Jr., British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and then U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  He was Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs in the Clinton Administration. His Twitter handle is @RobShapiro.

Dr. Shapiro explains what caused today's historic stock market crash, as well as why he believes that the Federal Reserve cannot save the economy from the negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.  He outlined this argument on his Sonecon blog, which you can find the link to here: https://www.sonecon.com/the-federal-reserve-cant-rescue-the-economy-from-the-coronavirus/ (the piece also appeared in the March 4th edition of 'The Washington Post.') 

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with Tim Zenk and Mark Grimaldi.  The roundtable discusses the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, and downturn in the stock market, on the Democratic primary race between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.  They also discuss how the state of Washington, where Tim is located, is dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak in its state.

Tim is a Principle at 'Molecule,' a business and public affairs company, a former Democratic staffer, and a well known renewable energy expert. His Twitter handle is @greencrude.

Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show.  In addition to being the Executive Producer for the Leslie Marshall show for 14 years, for the past 12 years Mark has been a progressive political activist and campaign volunteer of President Obama's (2008 and 2012), Senator Bernie Sanders' (2016), and Secretary Hillary Clinton's (2016).  Mark is also involved in campaign finance reform efforts around the country, and philanthropic efforts for Cancer research.  His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Sunday on the 2020 Presidential race for 'The Hill.'  He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago and KNX Radio in Los Angeles.
You can read Brad's columns at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

Under President Trump, Income Growth Has Slowed Across U.S.

Leslie kicks off the hour with her 'Ripped from the Headlines' news segment. She discusses the latest on the chaos surrounding the U.S. response to Coronavirus, as well as President Trump's new comments that he plans to cut Social Security and Medicare (despite previous promises to the contrary).

Leslie is then joined by David Cooper, a Senior Economic Analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank created in 1986 to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions. David conducts both national and state-level research, with a focus on the minimum wage, wage theft, employment and unemployment, poverty, and wage and income trends.

Leslie and David discuss a new report out from EPI, "Under President Trump, income growth has slowed across the U.S."
As Capital & Main reporter Jessica Goodheart writes, "New analysis of government data shows that, since Donald Trump took office, inflation-adjusted income growth has slowed significantly across the U.S.All but two states saw a decline in growth of real median household income under Trump – including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida, four states widely regarded as the key electoral battlegrounds that will likely determine the 2020 presidential election.Middle-class incomes grew at a rate of 2.7 percent from 2016 through 2018, compared to a 5.8 percent growth rate from 2014 through 2016 when accounting for inflation."

You can read the full report here - https://capitalandmain.com/under-trump-income-growth-slows-across-america-0222

Visit EPI's website at EPI.org and follow them on Twitter, their handle is @EconomicPolicy. David Cooper's handle is @MetaCoop.