My friend Arnie Arnesen was in town to moderate several panels for the St. Olaf Economic Summit held April 15th this year. I asked if she could join me for a brief half hour interview. This week’s show (May 11th, 6pm, KYMN Radio) is a recording of that conversation. Those of you who don’t know her here is a brief bio:
D. Arnie Arnesen is a radio and television commentator based in Concord, New Hampshire. She is the only person to be recognized by the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters as both radio and television personality of the year. She has lectured at Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Wellesley College, Iowa State University, University of New Hampshire, Vermont Law School, and other colleges and universities. Arnesen is a former New Hampshire state legislator and Democratic nominee for governor and Congress. She has been a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics at Harvard and has trained women who want to run for office. A regular political commentator on Iowa Public Radio, WGBH (public radio serving the Boston market), and WKBK in Keene, New Hampshire, she has provided analysis for New England Cable News, TV Ontario, and Al Jazeera English. Arnesen is currently blogging about the first-in-the-nation primary for WNYC and is a regular contributor to InsiderIowa.com.
“Longtime radio and TV talk host Arnie Arnesen is the recovered conscience of political discourse. Arnie uses an open source conversational style, engaging hearts and minds with energy, extraordinary alertness, quickness of mind and, most of all, a great, good humor. Arnie sets a high standard, leading guests and audiences to discover thoughts and ideas that examine social, political, and moral positions from all sides, conveying the ultimate message of respect: make the decision for yourself.” (Comment by an anonymous listener to her program ‘Political Chowder’)
Here was an accerpt from Arnie’s reaction to the Ryan (R. Rep. from WI) economic plan recently released:
” I hate to break it to you but there is a budget proposal that addresses the jobs deficit, the safety net deficit, the revenue deficit and the budget deficit and is not one offered by Congressman Ryan or President Obama – it is the People’s Budget offered by the Progressive Caucus and in the true definition of Patriotism, everyone shares the pain and the opportunity. The People’s Budget actually eliminates the national deficit by 2021, addresses the need for revenue by raising taxes (eliminating the Bush tax cuts in their entirety, restoring the Estate Tax and creating a new tax bracket for the “very” rich), creates jobs, protects the safety net, refuses to throw Medicare and Medicaid under the bus and call it reform, slashes our bloated defense budget and invests in necessary infrastructure to return America to something called economic competitiveness. My only question is why is Ryan’s budget buster plan masquerading as deficit reduction get so much ink and a plan that gets real about jobs and the deficit is virtually ignored?”