G-20 Meets amidst Crisis in the Eurozone

Making News

Supercommittee Must Consider Revenue Increases, Spending Cuts ()

There's been increased pessimism that the so-called Supercommittee can meet its deadline for getting the national debt under control. But today bipartisanship has broken out. Forty House Republicans and 60 Democrats have made a joint call for both increased revenues and entitlement cuts. Matthew Cooper is Editor of the National Journal Daily.

Guests:

• Matthew Cooper: National Journal Daily, @mattizcoop

Main Topic

Greek Brinksmanship, the European Union and the G-20 Summit ()

In Cannes today, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met for two and a half hours with Germany's Angela Merkel and Nicolai Sarkozy of France. Then Papandreou went home and told his parliament he was calling off his controversial referendum on the massive bailout designed to keep Greece part of the European Union. But that's only added to the uncertainty facing the G-20 Summit meeting in Cannes. Nobody knows what Papandreou might do next. Even if there's still support for the bailout, it's unclear where $1.5 trillion will come from, especially with US influence on the wane. Is the EU a safe bet for China?  What will China demand in exchange? Is the effort to demonstrate European economic stability now in a shambles?

Guests:

• Doug Saunders: Globe and Mail
• Nick Malkoutzis: Kathimerini, @NickMalkoutzis
• Karsten Voigt: Atlantik-Brücke
• Colin Bradford: Brookings Institution and Center for International Governance and Innovation
• Matthew Elliott: Taxpayers Alliance

Links:

• Globe and Mail coverage of G-20
• Kathimerini on Greek PM Papandreou ditching referendum
• Bradford's 'Global Leadership in Transition: Making the G20 More Effective and Responsive'
• Elliott's 'The Great European Rip-Off: How the Corrupt, Wasteful EU is Taking Control of Our Lives'

Reporter's Notebook

Cain Blames Perry, Romney for Sexual Harassment Allegations ()

Herman Cain says old charges of sexual harassment were dredged up by Rick Perry's campaign, which suggests that maybe they came from agents of Mitt Romney. The Cain blame-game has been going on for a week, and that's viewed as unprecedented by some hardy veterans of political circuses in the past. How much will it matter in the Republican presidential campaign? Ryan Lizza is Washington correspondent for the New Yorker magazine.

Guests:

• Ryan Lizza: New Yorker, @RyanLizza

Links:

• TtP 'Notebook' on sexual harassment charges against Cain