How Does Corruption Affect Average Americans?
Featured Speakers:
Peter Gosselin, National Economics Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, Washington, D.C. Bureau
David Sirota, Writer, Political Strategist, and Author of Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government–and How We Take It Back
Introduction by:
John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
Despite the rhetoric on reform, the corporate and special interests have made their way into every policy and legislative decision in Washington, D.C. The current political debate gives the appearance that both political parties are equally guilty of the corruption. However, this misses the key narrative behind the political noise: The squeezing of ordinary Americans by their elected representatives. Please join the Center for American Progress to discuss corruption and its affect on the average American.
Monday, May 8, 2006
Program: 12:30 P.M to 2:00 PM
Lunch will be served at 12:00 PM
Admission is free.
Center for American Progress
1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Maps and Directions
Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center
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For more information, please call (202) 741-6246
Biographies
Peter G. Gosselin is the National Economics Correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, Washington, D.C. Bureau. Prior to working for the Los Angeles Times, Gosselin wrote for the Boston Globe, The Providence Journal, the North Adams, Massachusetts Transcript, and the Catskill, New York’s Daily Mail. In his award-winning thirty year career, Gosselin has received the Sidney Hillman Award (2005), the Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting (2005), the SDX Award for a series on the nation’s failure to invest in public goods (2004), the National Headliner Award (1989), and the George Polk Award (1986 & 1987). Gosselin is a graduate of Brown University and was awarded his masters from Columbia University.
David Sirota has served as the press secretary for Independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as the spokesman for the U.S. House Appropriations Committee Democrats, and as a fellow at the Center for American Progress. He most recently served as a senior strategist helping Brian Schweitzer become Montana’s first Democratic governor in sixteen years. In a 2003 profile, Newsweek labeled Sirota a “young, fierce” voice who “fills the gap left by a timid Democratic establishment.” Today, Sirota is a senior editor at In These Times, a regular contributor to The Nation and The American Prospect, the blogger for Working Assets, a twice-weekly guest on The Al Franken Show, and the co-chairperson of the Progressive Legislative Action Network. He has been a guest on, among others, National Public Radio, CNN, CNBC and MSNBC. Additionally, his work has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and the Charlotte Observer . Sirota lives in Helena, Montana, with his wife Emily and his dog, Monty.
John Podesta is the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund and visiting Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Podesta served as Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, where he was responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, Congressional relations, and staff activities of the White House. He coordinated the work of cabinet agencies with a particular emphasis on the development of federal budget and tax policy, and served in the President’s Cabinet and as a Principal on the National Security Council. From 1997 to 1998 he served as both an Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff. Earlier, from January 1993 to 1995, he was Assistant to the President, Staff Secretary and a Senior Policy Adviser on government information, privacy, telecommunications security and regulatory policy. Podesta previously held a number of positions on Capitol Hill including: Counselor to Democratic Leader Senator Thomas A. Daschle; Chief Counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee; Chief Minority Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks; Security and Terrorism; and Regulatory Reform; and Counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Podesta is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Knox College.