Chicago Shuts Out Bank of America, Obama’s Economic Plan, and Howard ZinnIllinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has ordered all state agencies to stop doing business with Bank of America until they resolve a standoff with employees of Republic Windows and Doors. According to Mark Meinster, an organizer for the United Electrical Workers Union (UE) on GRITtv, the employees are asking for wages owed them under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) as well as pay for vacation accrued and benefits. Meinster also noted that it is still unclear why the factory was closed. Whether Bank of America cut off the company’s line of credit or if the company is seeking to simply downsize and relocate. “We know we’re being lied to by one or both parties,” Meinster said.Meanwhile, the protest is gaining strength and the workers have said they won’t let up until their demands are met. Asked if there were any plans to get the factory running under worker control, Meinster said that we do still live under capitalism but that they would like to find another investor.We also speak with Steven Greenhouse, author of The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker. Greenhouse covers labor for the New York Times. Then, is Barack Obama’s economic plan bold enough? On Saturday in his radio and YouTube address Obama pledged to save or create 2.5 million jobs, invest in infrastructure, and jump-start the green economy. The financial crisis has pushed Obama and his team of advisors to consider a set of policy proposals that would have been off the table six months ago. That’s a good thing, but our panelists argue that it may not be enough.Katrina vanden Heuvel says that the bar can be set even higher. How about public management of the auto industry, limits on executive compensation, a new tax structure, and the extension of unemployment benefits? And an end to the bloated defense budget, what Paul Street calls the empire budget. Will the United States begin to close some of its more than 700 overseas bases?Paul Street, the author of Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor and Publisher of The Nation Magazine, and Dan Gerstein, a political communications consultant and commentator discuss Obama’s economic plan.Finally, an interview with historian Howard Zinn on the sit down strike in Chicago, putting pressure on Obama, and the historical moment. Less