Archive for May 23rd, 2011

May23

An HBO film that’s Too Big to Fail

By: Bartlett Naylor

“The past isn’t dead,” the great Mississippi novelist William Faulkner famously wrote. “It isn’t even past.”  And so tonight, on HBO (the network that shows nudity and has otherwise made cable one reason other than sports to watch the tube), premieres “Too Big to Fail.”

This draws on New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin’s fabulous eponymous book. If the HBO production is half as good as Sorkin’s book, it will tell a hellish tale of a thrilling couple of weeks in September 2008. The repercussions of decisions by the financial titans in New York and Washington, D.C. during that period live with us, very much today. They live in the U.S. government debt ceiling limit now commanding debate on Capitol Hill. They live in the millions of Americans jettisoned summarily from their jobs to the unemployment rolls. They live in the millions of homeowners foreclosed upon. They live in the sad employment prospects of recent college honors graduates.

Sorkin’s book, truly X-rated for prodigious use of the F word (How did he get inside all those meetings he retells? And do those well-educated executives really know so few other expletives?), walks hour-by-hour through the intertwining lives of a distraught Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld; bicycling addict Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson;  New York Fed chief Timothy Geithner—who plays with potential merger possibilities as if he’s trading baseball cards; and a hapless Securities and Exchange Commission chair Chris Cox.

The HBO film can’t possibly contain the detail of Sorkin’s long, detailed, but riveting work. But film reaches a greater audience.

And for  those of us attempting to fight back the inevitable return of a high tide of banking influence in Washington politics (they spend $1.4 million a day on lobbying), we welcome the HBO premier.  After the 9:00 p.m. EST show, we can settle ourselves with some Faulkner, warm milk and cookies to calm ourselves to sleep.

Bart Naylor is a financial policy analyst for Public Citizen.

Help Public Citizen push for the nomination of a true consumer advocate to safeguard our financial safety in the future by signing our Elizabeth Warren petition .

Posted in: Activism, Campaign Finance, Ethics, Financial Reform0 comments

May23

“If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry”

By: Angela Bradbery

As Public Citizen’s esteemed president, Robert Weissman, said recently, “If you don’t laugh at much of what goes on in the nation’s capital, you’ll cry.”

Indeed, laughter will be aplenty on Sunday, June 12, at the Brentwood Theatre in Los Angeles. There, a fundraising benefit will be held to support Public Citizen. Called “Stand Up for Main Street,” the event will feature six comedians who will all provide a unique take on the state of politics today. If you’re in the area, come out for it! If you know people in the Los Angeles area, send them a link to this blog post and encourage them to attend.

We have to thank Steve Skrovan, a Los Angeles writer and executive producer and Public Citizen board member, for organizing this. Here’s why he’s doing it, in his own words:

I decided to organize this event to raise awareness and funding for Public Citizen because comedy is a great way to bring people together and make a point. Plus it’s what I do. Supporting Public Citizen is a very satisfying way to be involved in politics. This leading-edge consumer group is one of the nation’s original public interest champions, and it’s been making a meaningful difference in my life and yours for decades.

Skrovan, by the way, has worked on shows like “Seinfeld,” “Hot in Cleveland” and all nine seasons of “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He first became involved with Public Citizen after directing the critically acclaimed, Sundance Grand Jury-nominated and Oscar short-listed documentary on the life and career of Public Citizen’s founder Ralph Nader entitled “An Unreasonable Man.”

The comedy event will feature: Jeff Garlin (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Dom Irrera (“The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson”), Andy Kindler (The David Letterman Show”), Paula Poundstone (NPR’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!”), Hal Sparks (“Queer as Folk”) and Roy Zimmerman (satirical songwriter).

It will be held from 6:30 – 8 p.m.  The Brentwood Theatre is located at 11301 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Tickets are $50 per person (mezzanine) and $100 per person (orchestra). Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Posted in: Activism0 comments

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