Thursday, July 23rd — Richard Wolffe will discuss his new book, ‘Renegade: The Making of a President.’

Richard Wolffe is an award-winning journalist and political analyst for MSNBC television. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine, traveling with the candidate and his inner circle from his announcement through election day, 21 months later.

His book about the Obama campaign, entitled Renegade: The Making of a President, will be published by Crown in June 2009 in the United States. It will be published by Virgin Books in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa; and Law Press in China.
Wolffe appears frequently on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Hardball. On NBC, he has featured as a political commentator on Meet The Press and TODAY. Prior to his exclusive contract with NBC, he appeared on CNN and Fox News, as well as international media including British, Canadian and Australian television. (More)

Wednesday, May 27th - Dr. Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations will talk about his book “Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Policy”

One of the leading writers and thinkers on American foreign policy, Leslie Gelb is president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.  In “Power Rules”, Leslie Gelb has penned a “how-to” manual for Barack Obama and his foreign-policy team. Inspired by Machiavelli’s classic The Prince, he offers illuminating guidelines on how American power actually works and should be wielded in today’s tumultuous world, writing with the perspective of four decades of extraordinary access and influence in government, think tanks, and journalism.(More…)

Tuesday, June 2nd - Professor Nouriel Roubini

Nouriel Roubini is a professor of economics at New York University and chairman of RGE Monitor, an economic consultancy firm.  

In September, 2006, Roubini said an economic crisis was brewing in which the United States ‘was likely to face a once-in-a lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession.”  The NYTimes labeled him “Dr. Doom” and IMF economist Prakash Loungani has called him “a prophet.” Fortune Magazine wrote of him, “In 2005, Roubini was called a Cassandra.  Now he’s a sage.”  (More…)

Tuesday, May 12th  - The Honorable Pierre Vimont, French Ambassador to the US to discuss:
  “The Economic Recession: A French and European Perspective.”

Ambassador Vimont was appointed Ambassador to the United States by President Sarkozy in August 2007 after serving as a member of the French Foreign Servic e since 1977.  Mr. Vimont has held several prominent posts including ambassador and permanent representative of France to the European Union. (More…)

Eliot Spitzer wants to know if the bailout of AIG was an inside deal among
Goldman Sachs, the Treasury, and the Fed. Edward Jay Epstein, who has been
unraveling conspiracy theories since the Warren Commission, examines the
evidence.  Continue reading ‘Edward Jay Epstein - AIG - Death Star Conspiracy?’

The Obama Administration’s $500 billion or more proposal to deal with America’s ailing banks has been described by some in the financial markets as a win-win-win proposal.  Actually, it is a win-win-lose proposal: the banks win, investors win — and taxpayers lose…(to NYTimes link) Continue reading ‘Stiglitz: Obama’s Ersatz Capitalism’

By Bill Bradley - California-based political analyst, NewWestNotes.com

Is Geithner’s plan another bailout to Wall Street? Or is it needed to work with a deeply troubled, farcically entitled though still necessary private financial sector? (More…)

Why AIG Had No Choice But To Pay
       By Edward Jay Epstein
   
If you want to understand why AIG awarded derivative traders in its Financial Products Group $165 million in bonuses, don’t be distracted by the on-going morality play staged by politicians about the misuse of Federal funds, the blame-shifting game played by AIG executives, or even the disingenuous hand-wringing about the  sanctity of contracts.  The real decider here is money, (More…)

Introductions by business leader Bernard Schwartz and former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman. 

The man who “saved” New York from bankruptcy in the 1970s will join us on April 2nd to discuss his new book, Bold Endeavors: How Our Government Built America and Why It Must Rebuild.    Felix Rohatyn, one of the great investment bankers of our era, former senior partner at Lazard Freres and U.S. Ambassador to France, provides a fresh look at America’s solutions to crucial turning points in our history.  Hear Rohatyn’s plan for action. Felix Rohatyn -More…

Ambassador Mansour, Permanent Observer of the Palestine Authority to the United Nations will discuss the current situation in the Middle East on Friday, March 20th.
(More information…)

District Attorney Charles J. Hynes will discuss “Redefining the Role of the Public Prosecutor–New Solutions to Criminal Justice Problems.”  He will be introduced by Patricia Gatling, NYC Human Rights Commissioner.                     

D.A. Joe Hynes has been the district attorney of Brooklyn for twenty years. A veteran trial lawyer, he earned his spurs as the special prosecutor appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo in the famous 1987 Howard Beach murder case.   (More…)

TOP COP and COUNTERTERRORISM STAR of the CITY, Ray Kelly, will discuss his agenda for New York City, as we face some of the most difficult challenges in our city‘s history. (More…)

Our host, Paul Beirne is a principal in Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a unit of AllianceBernstein.

House Majority Leader STENY HOYER(D-MD) will join our breakfast, just in time to discuss the economy, the stimulus Package and how to get the economy back on track.
One of the most powerful figures in Washington, Representative Hoyer became the second-ranking Democrat in the House just behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when he was elected by his colleagues to be House Majority Leader for the 110th Congress.  (Speaker info…)

Gwen Ifill discusses her new book “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” 

Ifill sheds new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential victory and the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.(More about Gwen Ifill…) 

Program introduced by:         Gail Sheehy , best-seller author, contributor to Vanity Fair and TCG member and Susan Fales-Hill, award-winning writer and television producer, The Cosby Show.   

“One of the Heroes for the Planet” [TIME MAGAZINE], Bobby Kennedy, Jr. will speak at The Common Good on “Our Environmental Destiny”

US Representative for New York’s 14th District, Carolyn B. Maloney will be introducing Bobby Kennedy, Jr.

Mr. Kennedy serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio. Earlier in his career, he served as Assistant District Attorney in New York City. He has worked on several political campaigns including the presidential campaigns of Edward M. Kennedy in 1980, Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.

Panel “Election 2008 - Prognoses and Predictions” -

Now that we are deep into this critical election cycle, you won’t want to miss our next panel about the presidential elections.

Bob Shrum is a political consultant and has served as senior advisor to the 2000 Gore and 2004 Kerry presidential campaigns. (More…)

Kellyanne Conway is CEO and President of The Polling Company Inc./Woman Trend. Ms. Conway has provided advice for many Republican clients and co-authored “What Women Really Want” with Dem pollster Celinda Lake.(More…)

David Paul Kuhn is a senior political writer for Politico and is the author of “The Neglected Voter: White Men and the Democratic Dilemma.”  (More…)

Our moderator - Rick Klein is ABC News’ Senior Political Reporter and author of ABC’s The Note, a daily political blog and tipsheet. (More...)

Kevin Phillips will discuss his new book “Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism.”

“Bad Money” is a devastating follow-up to his last best-seller, “American Theocracy.” Kevin Phillips describes the consequences of our catastrophic economic policies, our mounting debt, our collapsing housing market, our diminishing oil, and the end of American domination of world markets.

Kevin Phillips is an American writer and commentator, on politics, economics, and history. Formerly a Republican Party strategist, Phillips has become disaffected with his former party over the last two decades, and is now one of its harshest critics. (MORE …)

We are incredibly privileged to have the brilliant, multi-successful and outspoken Peter Peterson to discuss “The Crisis We Don’t Like to Talk About” about the current economic situation.

Pete Peterson is a highly distinguished investment banker, fiscal conservative, author, and politician whose most prominent political position was as United States Secretary of Commerce. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Senior Chairman and Co-Founder of the private equity firm, the Blackstone Group. He is the founding Chairman of the Peterson Institute (formerly the Institute for International Economics), renamed in his honor. He is the author of several books, including ‘Running On Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future’ and ‘Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old?’.   More about Pete Peterson here…

Our co-hosts: Loreen Arbus * Gayle Perkins Atkins * Bruce Colley * Patricia Duff * Art Eisenberg * Roger Erickson * Gail Furman * Matt Gohd * Coppy Holzman * Bill Hubbard * Robin Hubbard * Seth Kaplowitz * Mason Slaine * Kim Taipale * Felicia Taylor * Peter Worth

By Christopher London - Lawyer, activist, writer and founder of ManhattanSociety.com. Full article here…

Kerry Kennedy’s speech at the U.N. conference on counter-terrorism in New York recently about ensuring respect for human rights in the fight against terrorists. Full article here…

By Jerry Leichtling - award-winning screenwriter, playwright, speechwriter and political consultant, on the controversy over Reverend Rick Warren.(…Full article here…

By S. Randy Lampert -  from Morgan Joseph & Co
Like the institutions its designed to recapitalize, the TARP program needs to be restructured. (Full article here…)