COUNTERSPIN Radio: Robert Kuttner on the deficit obsession; David Swanson on 'War is a Lie.'

This week on CounterSpin: Elites including within the corporate media insist, against the evidence, that voters are highly concerned about the deficit. This is one of the reasons the draconian plan put forth by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of the president's deficit commission, got such a friendly reception in the media. We'll talk to economist Robert Kuttner about coverage of the Bowles Simpson plan and about a media that obsesses over future deficits in the midst of economic hard times.

Also on CounterSpin today: War is a lie. That's the title of activist and writer David Swanson's new book, which takes a sweeping look at the lies we're told—and we tell ourselves—about American wars. And of course many of those lies are transmitted by a corporate media eager to support war. David Swanson will join us to tell us more.

Stream this week's show:

LINKS:
–"What Planet Are Deficit Hawks Living on?," by Robert Kuttner (Huffington Post, 11/14/10)
—War Is A Lie