Tavis Smiley's Video Blog - Economic Recovery? | PBS

[pjamesbda]

Tavis- there is no celebration on our street, at least about the abundance of money. I watched you hosting the black caucus recently, and I felt more encouraged about the human condition than I have in a long time.

[pistonhondatko]

There shouldn't be a recovery to where we came from. Because we cheated to get where we came from. We need to stop trying to maintain phony economic growth. Just remember whenever the government *helps* us in this way, it's only temporary and you will pay dearly in the long term. And the Main St. vs Wall St. thing was just created to distract us from what's really going on.

[StoryBalloon]

This guy is an Obama tool.

[tanio12]

Tavis Steve Wynn talked about what you said. Focus on Job Creation instead of healthcare. Also it's funny that military enrollment has increased as those who are finding it difficult to find work are forced to go that route and that is not good. We don't need anymore military, we need a workforce that can compete against the rest of the world.

[gombet]

Keep up the fight.

[JixMa]

[2] What the govt. should've done with all that sweet taxpayer $ given to Wall St. was to create jobs converting our current, wasteful, antiquated society into a modern, efficient, green society. Give car companies $ to R&D/build all-electric cars that get say, 300 miles per charge. Give $ to companies to R&D/build high speed rail connecting the cities coast-to-coast. This would decrease dependency on oil, clean the environment, alleviate road congestion, reduce busy skies, save people time & $.

[JixMa]

What do I think about the economic recovery? Well...

a) The Banks should NOT have been bailed out. They should have been taken over by the govt (like FDIC takes over failed banks) then sell them off back to private sector - at a profit!

b) The Wall St Fat Cats should've lost all their money & kicked to the curb with nothing in their pockets instead of effing bonuses that they keep getting for their "stellar" performance & for retention. Yeah, right we have to incentivize them to stay, right?

[BlacksAreBeautiful]

A lot of this collapse is tied to the housing market and the shadow market it created with the derivatives, and credit default swaps, are taking a very long time to unwind. These companies have simply put that stuff to the side and are now in do over mode. I respect you a great deal Mr. Smiley, but you played a small but significant role in this mess, by holding seminars for Wells Fargo duping poor folk into these terrible loans. You have to accept responsibility as well!

[JixMa]

I like Tavis Smiley a lot. Very cool guy. I'm glad he's clean-shaven now. He didn't look like himself when he grew the beard for brief while some time back.

[libertyrepub]

Agree with CaliforniaArchitect, no one should get bailed out, not Wall Street and not the mortgage delinquents or the jobless. It just leads to dependence and demands for more handouts by every group no matter what their true or imagined plight.

[jefgain]

I am an "everyday people", where are the jobs, what about the foreclosures, everyday people are not celebrating.

It's corrupt!!! The Govt is corrupt.

[TheGiantRobot]

Excellent video - aside from giving Obama credit for doing something. He made things worse. He's propping up the crooks who caused our problems and making the common man pay out even more to continue the economic slavery. Wall Street is celebrating because they know Obama is on their side and they are taking their profits, for now.

[rachel7036]

thanks very much.I'll be following you

[WunderMaus]

Thank you for establishing this channel of direct communication with your viewers. I think our economic crisis boils down to a corrupt political system based on bribery. We have Corporate Representation pretending to be a democratic republic. What we actually have is a oligarchy where 1 dollar equals 1 vote - not one citizen equals one vote. Until we citizens acknowledge that cold, hard fact we will continue to be enslaved, manipulated, and dominated by the super rich 1 %ers.

[911truthncDotOrg]

Empty comment Tavis. You praise Obama for all his done. Then you turnaround and say all his has above has been for the people with yachts. Chicken shit MSM blabber.

PBS sold out to the elite years ago. Then you folks act like you are patriots. Yep, patriots to the people selling out our country.

Nova is a GOD DAMN disgrace!!!!

[dominicanville]

Right on!

[CaliforniaArchitect]

The government shouldn't bailout anything. It just makes the situation worse later on. The government should focuse on eliminating roadblocks to progress. On one of my projects, I stopped it because the regulation was too costly. So, nothing gets built and nobody is hired.

[voyeurdug]

Actually (to the contrary), one of my fellow retirees volunteering this morning, mentioned her 401K had ~almost~ entirely recovered. For a person on a fixed income, that (the 401K or IRA or whatever), was a hedge against future inflation, so it's well-being is almost more important than personal wellbeing (health.)

Yes, the recovery is underway and well underway at that. We've been through a generation of downsizing... so a month or two of unemployment is just another day for some.

[kessmypersainass]

MR.smiley you are a brave man...keep up the good fight!!! WE WILL REBUILD!!!