running on empty looks like it's the last thing america needs right now higher gas prices because of higher oil prices so as the turmoil threatens the u.s. economy is the political price too high for the obama administration. the two. and a middle class movement trying to make its way in america so divided along political and past lives so has the fight for union rights opened up wounds that are unlikely to actually heal. and as the united states deals with problems from labor unrest to skyrocketing war prices what america's standing at the revenue

everyone's talking about it including the infamous of bernie made off he says the whole government is a ponzi scheme. what do we want. rolling back support as wal-mart looks to take a bite out of the big apple not everyone is buying into capitalism we're going to take a look at the high cost of cheap food. today it's monday february twenty eighth five pm here in washington d.c. i'm going to saucy you're watching our team if you're driving these days and most americans are a trip to the gas station is probably pretty painful right now always for your pocket that's because protests in the middle east have had more or more repercussions than just getting rid of some leaders uncertainty that's fueling more closely is in the region to take to the streets also raising the price of fuel so at a time when millions of americans are already having trouble. making ends meet what

could this mean for the economic recovery and also for barack obama's political future well the publisher of the trends journal gerald celente is talking us from new york carol thanks for coming on to let's talk about the surge and now well prices some are predicting it could go as high as two hundred dollars a barrel what's your assessment well we don't see it going that high unless of course there's an outbreak in a major oil producers such as saudi arabia maybe something happening with iran closure of the suez canal but what we're looking at really is very reminiscent of the late one nine hundred seventy s. nineteen seventy nine when the iranian crisis broke out because there's another element in this that's important it's inflation and what we're looking at was we look back in the seventy's it was high inflation because the iranian crisis or the oil strike you have the same thing going on now while prices were going up before

that happens and it's because of the devaluation of the dollar now here's where it really gets tricky the only reason this ponzi scheme continues to go on is because the federal reserve has interest rates near zero what's going to happen as inflation skyrockets and interest rates have to go up because the hold down oil prices another rising commodity because these commodities are based in dollars they have to raise interest rates the interest rates go up yet comedy goes down so you're saying inflation the role of the federal reserve possibility of oil prices skyrocketing and that this could be just detrimental to the you lack economic recovery which let's not forget the obama administration seems to be sort of boasting about where they're posting about how could they boast about it look at the unemployment numbers they said that they would be under seven percent by now i just heard the white house. spokesperson carney carney by the way is that of

previous to the word for carnival man a carney he said that he didn't want to talk about how they said it would only be seven percent it want to relive the gay history so the reality is that it was like ten percent way over night actually twenty two percent according to john williams there is no recovery it's a cover up it's only being boosted by these low interest rates which again when inflation skyrockets they're going to have to raise them and that question is the economy when is that going to happen jerald it's difficult to tell but it's underway now it's underway when you look at china india other countries are already raising their interest rates because of the fears of inflation in the u.s. they're cooking the numbers they're saying we don't have inflation oh food and fuel we're not going to count that we're not relevant course we made it up and we say we're not going to count it and you don't when they're looking at the numbers and

saying you know if the league goes up experts say the g.d.p. thralls by experts and that's not the way it works when people fill up their tank and they see it registered seventy bucks on the top yet think they're going to go out and splurge now and not get half and you know gerald r. he's learning less they're actually looking to it as a sure bet for them she spoke to some people who say if prices continue to rise this is going to be the end of the u.s. economy something you had sat as well take a look at this. tunisia. was an egypt. by hurricane. algeria libya protest in countries seeming to few one another unrest spreading like wildfire through the middle east and north africa all raging in or near or you'll rich countries that helped fuel the world's use of more than eighty four million barrels

of crude a day uncertainty over production has sent prices soaring i mean the shock waves from the middle east turmoil are being felt worldwide oil is a most valuable resource on the planet today and for. extremely now the mideast crisis is getting home for outrage americans as oil prices have skyrocketed so too have the prices people pay for gasoline and now the price americans pay at the pump is threatening to derail the u.s. economic recovery a surge in oil. prices will be the end of the u.s. economy not just an end to the recovery there's no more bailouts like a reality peak oil expert michael c. rupert sees happening it will hit one hundred fifty dollars a barrel which he believes is inevitable this year others predicted going to two hundred twenty dollars it's so devastating because oil. kills more than just cars.

it fuels the entire global economy. though there's no doubt that if gas goes to five dollars a gallon for americans some project there would be a high political price to pay for the obama administration's yeah yeah serene prices go up too much and for a very long period and a crude base severe. severe political impact yet there. no denying the u.s. has played a role in the events that have transpired in the middle east every time u.s. president barack obama went to the podium calling for this that there must be reform political social and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the egyptian people and calling for egyptian president hosni mubarak's resignation he was calling for an end to the status quo which means a rise in uncertainty and bridge region so did leaders weigh the toll it could take

on their own economy some argue they don't have the power to kind of meaning back though trying to push their back against an avalanche and i don't think we're going to have a lot of success that may not stop the u.s. from trying to take control some observers believe the u.s. may intervene militarily in libya were all reserves are massive under false pretenses of helping protesting people has nothing to do with interest. it has everything to do with the interest of the u.s. corporate oil corporations military. profit either way analysts say the price of fuel going up will simply fuel public rage and the government is largely helpless the american people are going through a very nasty ride and there's no way out of it now but i can tell you the government understands that it's time lauren mr r.t. new york. sorry carol for you heard folks in her piece say that all of these factors are going to be just better mental to the u.s.

economy to the economic recovery but at this point i mean what can the u.s. government do what's the solution here. and there will there is no solution in nice terms and the woman is right the only reason they're interested with libya is about the oil you hear anybody screaming and yelling about all those people last week that were killed in the ivory coast or the sudan i guess cocoa was that much of a national priority so the only things that could really happen is a real alternative energy beyond wind solar geothermal bio fuel but in the absence of that goal the united states would attack england if it had oil that they needed and the people wanted it just as they did with iraq remember that one so you think that the us will intervene militarily in the them if they don't try anything exactly look we already heard hillary clinton say that they're willing to do anything to anybody in libya that needs a so they're there they're putting it out there already there so if you about no

fly zones and the hypocrisy is just beyond the police i mean for example they did has anybody called the for war criminal trials against mubarak as they are for could possibly and all of the the world as. the western world are calling for his head but the other heads in bahrain and in yemen and in egypt are you know they're ok tunisia leave them alone but they're calling for good softies said why because it's oil i think we'd be in iraq if the major acts weren't there was broccoli and of course a lot of us interest in bahrain tension just one country and by the barrel back to thinking that what this could mean for the obama administration a lot of folks say that everything that's going on right now even in the middle east is going to reflect poorly upon barack obama come two thousand and twelve but

why do you to the republicans have a different they don't seem to have any plan. now by the time the elections come there's going to be a much different story by now and what's what's really going on now is we see it you know these are only brush fires leading to a budget greater outbreak and we're really looking at the first great war of the twenty first century they're not really i mean look what happened as it was going on the riots in libya how about what's going on in india with the hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets how about what's going on in greece this is going worldwide this isn't going to stop come november there's going to be much bigger issues than libya and or oil it's going to look well like as i said the beginning of the first great war of the twenty first century and of course it's not just the protests in the middle east we have protests in iran our very own backyard in the midwest but carol i have to talk to you about this before i let you go bernie made us recent comments in new york magazine reporter brian fishman saying

look i'm not the only one to blame here i think as the f.c.c. it looks terrible in this thing it's unbelievable goldman no one has any criminal convictions the whole new regulatory reform is a joke the whole government is a ponzi scheme so he's saying what about the s.e.c. what about goldman sachs thing this everything is a joke when it comes to financial reform i'm guessing you seem to agree with him and this case of course i mean you also said the game is rigged we've been saying this forever i've also said from the beginning when the panic of zero eight began if the names on wall street were named celebrity caruso. rossini they call it the mafia like the white shoe boys the harvard princeton yale bullets bombs and banks club the poison ivy league paid hands off don't judge them you know it's disgusting what's going on hey who's obama's chief of staff of bill daley where is he from oh former vice chairman of j.p.

morgan chase who was the treasury secretary under bush oh. oh henry paulson where was the from warmest your goldman sachs keep going down the line you know wall street saw jack washington hands off with the big boys only read the people are the ones that have to abide by the laws so it's always easier to blame the mom when in doubt just playing the mob if you're able to it's a last game spend but you know it's a process made out of conscious you and other folks are bringing this issue to light for example charles ferguson the director of inside job winning author last night here said what he had to say about all of this was i'm. i must start pointing out that three years after own horrific financial crisis caused massive fraud not a single financial executive is going to change and that's why. he makes a good point writing those c.e.o.'s and executives still raking in now half of

profits so now much has changed now known it was so apologetic at is that i mean you know i thought he's going to cry and all those little hollywood wimp of cracks clapping you know where is the justice they said we were going to get swift justice that's the obama administration said back in when they went into office in two thousand and nine as i said you know this is the cover of our trends journal the the winter edition screw the people the rules are only put in place for us everybody else that's hands off they're not going to be touched you just saw an salonga zillah from country why they didn't bring him up on charges nobody gets brought up on charges and all they do is they get slapped with a fine and then they say things like you can't do business on the securities exchange for for another two years or something stupid like that if they walked away with five hundred million dollars look at me only a child would believe that these hedge funds and private equity groups they

conference of millions and billions of dollars by because they're so we alledge in the game is rigged what are you waiting for somebody to tell you that santa claus is a real well you know people are finally threaded taking to the streets because it's hitting them personally in wisconsin and several other states and they're saying what you're saying is that i'm going after the hedge funds and the banks you're gone after us but the way the game is right now you're saying it's right we're back holter ever change bailing out the banks when it comes to the people not so much know because here's what's going on here's what it changes what are the riots going on in. tunisia and egypt yemen was were out the middle east and north africa why they demonstrating and for a way show last week and and greece it's the same principle reasons high unemployment a highly educated youth that southern boy rising prices and no way that the game is big it's corruption at the top with the money stops flowing down to the streets to

the man on the street the blood starts slowing in the streets is not going to change it it only changes when the people lock rides quite a dire outlook their publisher of the trends going on carol twenty always so great to get your analysis gerald thank you thank you and from one villain to a corporation that has time and again until a five long march the poster child of the negative consequences of capitalism arjun rampal and my explain how cheap food comes at a high price and how now we're going to ever americans are fighting what they say is the corporate glaive take a look. what are we what residents of america's largest city what do we want right what. are at war with america's largest corporations all the loose stools woman profits to destroy to keep the peace agreement to warm up they have the money they have the power they have but we have the people thousands of new yorkers have

mobilized to keep new york city wal-mart free the corporate behemoths is aggressively aiming to break ground in the big apple biggest what's that product spending millions on ad campaigns promising to bring affordable groceries and quality jobs new york city's low income community we all on jobs what is going to happen with the coming of the little bodega bodegas the market is going to go out of business they're going to create more jobs so you're going to you're going to win two jobs with and you're going to lose the world's largest retailer wields unmatched buying power and prices impossible for small businesses to beat cost studies have shown urban wal-mart stores absorbing self causing up to twenty five percent of surrounding shops shut down for a good chunk of new york city supply shop owner ronnie juco calls won't work a weapon of mass job destruction eventually will all be affected by. small business

owners like you can also can't compete against wal-mart's powerful influence on us politics we have small businesses we don't have the power we don't have you know two hundred three hundred thousand dollars to help somebody lobby for a senator or representative according to published reports in two thousand and ten one more donated more than three million dollars to federal officials or candidates through their political action committee and spent more than six million dollars on lobbyist. the multinational corporation has also spent hundreds of millions of dollars settling or fighting employee lawsuits involving low wages labor law violations inadequate health care and gender discrimination it's like when you drop a stone and upon the report you know it goes all the way to the plant last year wal-mart sales generated four hundred five billion dollars meanwhile new store employees in the u.s. are paid eight seventy five an hour with a work what do you really income of less than fourteen thousand dollars an

explanation for why many wal-mart workers qualify for state welfare programs more much more. communication with pretty good though this tour is notorious anti-union policies have been criticized for stripping employees of fair wages and benefits ernestine bassett has worked for wal-mart for four years and says she's never received a raise if you marriage with her problem their majority or time fairfield the women they have ever to wal-mart is criticize as a corporation aiming to keep workers and shoppers dependent on one mighty power new yorkers say their battle reflects a nationwide need to break free from corporate colonialism and the profits that drive them are enough for tonight r.t. new york and of course wal-mart is not the only corporation to be blamed for abusing labor and trying to skirt around environmental regulations earlier today how to filmmaker and author of this bus right here life inc douglas rushkoff he was

talking me from restaurants or new york with more insight into the issue here's part of our conversation. the easy way to disable the entire system is just for people to start doing things for one another is for people to accept that there are ways to support your public school there are ways to share services with other people on the block and i feel like you know people people in america and around the world really once they adopt this kind of consumerists idea this consumerist relationship to the world they think they need to buy their way out of out of their problems rather than sharing their way out of their problems you know and it's kind of as simple as that is joining in the states we have community supported agriculture projects everywhere it's so much easier to join what's called a c.s.a. and subscribe to a farm a local farm for your food rather than going to there you know the big agra supermarket you can support your public schools you can share things with other people you can create clubs where people trade it's really not that hard what makes

it difficult is when people think that the wal-mart way is the only way and the natural we get into trouble and that's of course you know those things that you point out are individual and twice as bright what we think about this issue of unions nanny state out of wal-mart is probably the theory says anti-union company out there are past that especially in light of all of these are protests that we're seeing across the country but it's tricky. you know unions were created to give people an entity as big as a corporation to fight them you know they're these big corporations and they can you know whether american or early international corporations and they can control labor they can do all sorts of things so labor created these entities to fight for that these big trading these big labor unions and sometimes they work sometimes they just become corrupt and sells because they're so big you know it's seems to me that there's a whole lot of people you can just working for corporations who don't really need

to be you know that the the way we view economic recovery in the united states is we think we're going to get it going to get a bank here to invest in some corporation to build a factory to give us jobs and that might not be the best way to get to a sustainable economic recovery but whatever the vast away i would think it's promoting small businesses if you've got a town and if you're in lansing michigan and g.m. is shut down your plant and you've got hundreds of thousands of people with needs and with skills but without jobs and without money they can serve you in things for one another you know in the great depression people develop what we call complimentary currencies local currencies through which they can trade goods and services without borrowing from big banks and it actually worked and so if you actually need an illegal because it was it was sucking energy from central bank it something else actually i'm developing local currencies here but i want to go back

to another point and you said small businesses but the problem is these corporations are driving out to small businesses but whether it's from walmart or another corporation even apple whole point the whole point for them is to make a profit is not carried out and i'm governmental organization it's our business but it's how they make a profit you know the problem is really for the last five six hundred years really since the invention of the chartered monopoly the way for a big company to make money is not by innovating the way for a big company to make money it's. by extracting value either from resources or from people and chill until we can really flip the economy towards innovation rather than exploitation we're going to keep running up against the same or there's something else that you write about that i think should be brought into the equation the fact that this cheap labor is often outsourced to the some of those debtor nations the ones whose lawns have been restructured by the i imagine other international institutions break into the picture are you saying that they're sort of in bad with big american corporations as well these international institutions i

wouldn't call them big american corporations anymore corporations don't have national borders i mean that's the whole trick these are international corporation this is who goes as much as exxon in wal-mart is much is. next to go you know it's vodafone. they don't understand national gantries anymore is part of the problem that really i would look at the core of the problem is that really back in the eleven to twelve hundred we developed centralized currency which is what the global economy runs on and centralized currency is centralized for a reason it returns capital back to the banks and that's a very hard taskmaster the central bank is going to if you're going to somehow develop an economy that eats people as well as filmmaker and author douglas rushkoff i talked to him earlier today and while many folks blame the vaiko operations in banks for the for causing a financial crisis some are finally taking to the streets over the contents of the

biggest protest since the vietnam war just this past weekend and yesterday police actually caved in and refused to forcibly remove the folks still occupying the capitol building even though they were given a clear that line to get out now of course this isn't just limited to wisconsin in other states are considering similar proposals you've got ohio tennessee idaho among others and the question is are all these rallies actually making any kind of difference or falling on deaf ears are these and as you can the has more for us take a look at this. america's middle class fighting a more already historic. i where when alcohol is now people only option where it has been sound you know man for over two weeks major protests that kicked off in wisconsin and spread to other states have been raging on in the fight for workers' rights you see protest emergency small little towns that nobody organized people just showed up at city hall are you seeing that kind of spontaneous action coming i think is going to start spreading throughout the united

states. to begin with the demonstrators were not asking for much in the old english it was just not to take away their collective bargaining rights to politicians who said our union was thank you stability government workers the people's outrage and stronger it's scary there needs to be oversight there needs to be answered and democratic process this was building up like it was bad up and competition the federal education for the people there was. getting louder in the biggest middle class uprising status america has seen in years and was making more and more candidates and i think a lot of the psni insanity that he's running. during his election campaign obama promised to walk in more step with america's workers but in reality has stayed far away from the people who have been begging him for support probably because. more

supply politics like everybody else are forced to pander. not only for obama but i'm tired of democrats doing about. this sentiment has grown even stronger as americans remember wall street not being similarly fnord when its actions spun the economy out of control but we allow the right wing media and the glenn becks of the world and these kinds of folks in the world to convince us that this problem is about state workers and not about j.p. morgan chase jamie dimon got seventeen million in bonuses. everybody is ok we're here because of wall street reckless gambling angry ok that is why we're all here people are suffering as defensive protesting turn in two weeks the realization of being left to fend for themselves this hit many when the president took office there's this feeling that some day the president is going to come in and just see everybody people feel that way and want to feel like they have to fight for themselves and some are beginning to stress if the massive uprising continues to be

ignored the tide could turn on obama president obama will not win two thousand and twelve without states like wisconsin a middle class that was forced to rise up is not going to get tired even if the media gets tired i think we'll still be here until it's done. an end to the battle of hoopers is nowhere in sight but it opened up names that are only going to heal and then america now so divided along political and class lines is this the truth about fourteen madison wisconsin and that does it for now but for more on the stories we covered visit our web site that's r t dot com slash usa and don't forget you can stream all the shows live on that website at four seven and also eight o'clock and check out our you to page you tube dot com slash r.j. america you can see all the interviews that we conduct throughout the shows as well as longer more in-depth interviews with some of the top policymakers here in washington d.c. and of course all around the world i'm going to soskice be right back here an hour . let me get in

we have an apartheid regime but. i think. either one well. we have got the. safe get ready for the freedom. what drives the world is the fear mongering used by politicians makes decisions considerable breakthrough it's already being made can you trust no one or is your ability with a global missionary sick where.