The Forbes annually minted Forbes 400 list hit magazine shelves this past Monday. Topping the list was everyone’s other favorite computer guy, Bill Gates. He was joined by the familiar faces of Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison, the Koch brothers and of course, members of the Walton family. The Waltons aren’t just making headlines in Forbes in recent days. In Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray vetoed a proposed living wage bill aimed right at the Walton family’s Walmart super-store. Waltons for the win! Monday was a good day for the rich, but numbers that we saw on Tuesday painted a very different picture for other Americans. According to the US Census household incomes among American’s with median incomes are down 9% when adjusted for inflation since 1999 and the poverty rate held at 15% for 2012 just where it was in 2011. Join us for Sunday’s Melissa Harris-Perry as our host and panel discuss the increasing trend for the haves to have more.
If you thought national campaigns were only needed for elections, looks like you’d be wrong. Larry Summers may have withdrawn his name from consideration for Fed Chair but the campaign to nominate Janet Yellen is far from over. Why do we care so much about the next Fed Chair? The Fed Chair is arguably the most important nomination the president will make when it comes to affecting the economic security of all Americans. He, or as the case may soon be, she, can take the lead on policies designed to speed up or slow down the economy. And oh by the way, if nominated and confirmed, Yellen would be the first woman to hold the position. On Sunday’s MHP we will break down the importance of a Yellen nomination and the mechanics of the campaign behind her.
Who cares why the chicken crossed the road, we want to know why the chicken is crossing the ocean. Yup, that’s right; chickens will soon be taking a trip across the Pacific. And why? So that they can come right back over and onto your dinner plate. The USDA recently decided to allow China to process chicken and export it back to the U.S. as long as the chickens were raised and slaughtered in the U.S. So before this chicken becomes this chicken it will take a month long, 14,000 mile trip from our shores, to China, and back again. Sound crazy? On Sunday, Melissa and her panel will give you all the information you wanted (or maybe didn’t want) to know about how chicken winds up in your fridge.
Reenacting parts of history in order to teach children their school lessons seems harmless in theory. But teaching about slavery by having children pretend to be slaves, participate in slave ship simulations and pretend to hide in the woods from their white masters is not only inappropriate, it’s harmful. On Sunday, Melissa will be joined by Sandra and James Baker, who say their 12-year-old encountered such a lesson on a school field trip.
And bonus! Cast of Broadway’s The Trip to Bountiful will be with us to talk about their acclaimed, award winning Broadway show!
Be sure to read what we’ve linked above, and watch Melissa Harris-Perry Sunday at 10 a.m. EST on MSNBC! Also, don’t forget to join us on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #nerdland.
Rachel Zuckerman