Time: Live noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4
Tune in: WHYL 960 AM or "Listen Live" online at www.thericksmithshow.com
Join the conversation: Call in with questions and comments, 1-877-960-0960
 
Steve Herzenberg, Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center, will guest host The Rick Smith Show this weekend, with co-host Jake Long. Steve's just back from a national meeting of state-level progressive economic think tanks, and he's beginning to see a glimmer of hope: Progressives might, just might, be getting their act together to fix the economy so that it works for everyone.
 
Lisa Donner of Americans for Financial Reform will talk about some progress in the effort to regulate financial markets, limiting executive pay and reining in excessive risk taking (heads I win, tails you lose - I being the executive gambling with other people's money to secure a giant bonus base on a short-term gain; you being the taxpayer who gets stuck with the bailout bill). We'll talk about which elected officials in Pennsylvania stand in the way of a financial market regulated for Main Street instead of by Wall Street.
 
We'll also talk about the next national minimum wage campaign, which promises to be a more ambitious fight to lift the bottom of the labor market.
 
Lee Farris of United for a Fair Economy will update us on another aspect of the fight to rein in out-of-control Wall Street tycoons. There's a split among conservatives with Grover Norquist on the estate tax - some voices on the right found their inner Teddy Roosevelt (the father of the estate tax) and acknowledged the need for it.
 
Patrick Garofolo of the Center for American Progress will talk about efforts to expand access to community college for all Americans.
 
We'll also talk about the state budget, health care, climate change, and the fight to give workers a real right to form a union. Are we on our way from the Raw Deal to the Better Deal? It took Franklin D. Roosevelt three years in office to get a major part of the New Deal and six years to finish all the key pieces. So let's keep battling for that new and brighter day.

Join the conversation. Call in with your questions and comments at 1-877-960-0960. For more information on The Rick Smith Show, go to www.thericksmithshow.com.