Out of the Senate and Into the Squawk Box

Update: I just did Squawk Box and will post my impressions in a bit. In the meantime, you can check out some clips from the show here. I'd love to hear what you thought of the show. Please post your reactions in the comments section.

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I spent Wednesday afternoon in DC, taking part in a Senate hearing on the future of journalism, organized by John Kerry, chairman of the subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

I was joined by Google's Marissa Mayer; James Moroney of the Dallas Morning News; Steve Coll, former managing editor of the Washington Post; Alberto Ibarguen of the Knight Foundation, and The Wire creator David Simon.

I have to admit, my favorite moment of the hearing came when Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, during her questioning of the panel, said she likes reading HuffPost on her BlackBerry and held it up.

You can check out my opening remarks and an exchange I had with Sen. Kerry here.

Now it's off to New York, where I'll be guest hosting CNBC's Squawk Box Thursday morning 7 am - 9 am EDT. Among those I'll be interviewing: Eliot Spitzer, Elizabeth Warren, GM CFO Ray Young, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, and economist Simon Johnson. I'd love to have your help deciding what to ask them. Please post your suggested questions in the comment section of this post.

Comments

[PhilipTaylor]

Keep up the Fantastic Work!

We need you everywhere! Stay Healthy!

[ManiDeli]

Arianna

Please interview Lester R. Brown and read his article in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine May 2009 titled,

COULD FOOD SHORTAGES BRING DOWN CIVILIZATION?

It will awaken some who only concentrate on politics.

[Bobla]

During the depression, FDR used public anger against the banks to force regulation of the financial system. Two days after the revelation that the big bankers had not paid any income tax, he got the Glass/Seagel act passed. But this time around, we're giving out hundreds of billions of dollars with no strings attached. We're told re-regulation will happen. But once the billions are gone and the crisis is averted, what leverage will Obama have to push reforms past a reluctant, compromised Congress?

[Khirad]

On a much lighter note: thank you for not writing "state" after Washington. Granted, the senator thing didn't merit it, but still -- it makes us Evergreen State natives cringe. Thanks for the nod to Maria Cantwell!

[lowfiron]

I agree with the folks saying you are doing a great job.
Most of the questions that I would have asked were stated by 'Oldtimer'- Miles Mogulescu- 'April'-Wael Nawara and pfrogger's post about "a full investigation and accounting of these companies such as AIG?" Sorry about my lack of imagination, they said it first.
I am worried that this is going to be a half assed fix, like the torture situation.
Thanks A Lot, Ron

[Mark Goulston, M.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

Arianna,

Good luck on the Squawk Box:

To GM CFO Ray Young: For GM to survive what are three things it must never do and three things it must always do going forward?
To Elizabeth Warren: For Wall Street to earn back and keep the trust of the American taxpayer, what are three things it must never do and three things it should always do going forward?
To Simon Johnson or Robert Shiller, if there was one thing that we should be able to trust economists to know it would be what?

[unionave]

I normally do not watch CNBC but knowing Arianna will be there I will be watching .

[billpmail]

Hi Arianna, I'm new to your site and to commenting but we all need to become more active and your site is great. Please consider the following questions--
Spitizer: The importance of his op-ed in the Wash Post in Feb 2008 regarding the Office of Currency Controller practices and the subsequent FBI investigation into his personal life.
Schiller: The magnitude of 'disappeared' homes overhanging the foreclosure market and the political lock banks have on the Senate to the detriment of home owners.
Simon: That the Fed has over stepped its Constitutional authority and as said by Buffett, its practices need 'review'. One point to mention is the Adjusted Monetary Supply (St Louis Fed) has hit the stratasphere. Another point is that the Summers/ Geithner/ Rubin crew are operating the US Treasury/ Fed like a giant hedge fund--something they did at Harvard Endowment which has since blown up.
Thanks and good luck.

[Oldtimer]

I am thrilled that Arianna's voice is being heard more often on television and radio outlets. One look
at the success of Huffington Post tells me she deserves a wider platform to reach a wider audience.
Here are my question suggestions for the excellent guests she has lined up for Sqawk Box..
To Spitzer I would ask these questions:
Robert Mroganthau has mercifully decided not to run for D.A. of Manhattan after 35 years in office.
Who would best serve the public interest by running for D.A.to replace him?
What law ,if there isn't one on the books already, should be passed to help the Manhattan D.A. investigate Wall Street manipulation and corruption? Do we need new anti-trust law for banks and insurance companies that are "too big to fail" and should Secretary Geithner be calling for it?
To Elizabeth Warren I would ask
What tool would best help you find out where the TARP money was spent?
Americans are familiar with consumer products regulators. When can they expect that a financial products regulator be established to weed out bad products like default swaps, over-complicated derivatives, and mortgage securities that free loan makers from fudiciary responsibilty?
Do we need ant-trust law for banks and insurance companies that are "too big to fail" and
should Sec. Geithner be calling for it?
I would also ask these questions of the Yale Economics professor and I would make sure the
guests answer the question.

[Oldtimer]

One pressing question I left out - Tell me why credit card rates cannot be capped at 18%?
Consumers would have more money to spend on purchasing things and thereby boost the
economy and banks still make a huge profit because the Fed charges a pittance interest rate..

[bbbbmer]

I would suggest asking Eliot Spitzer if he believes his political demise was, at least in part, the result of his initiatives against some of the Wall Street insiders that predicated this nation's financial meltdown.

[Cowboylove]

In part - no. It was solely driven by his investigations of Wall Street fraud. It was a set up and until America realizes that getting screwed is worse than finding out your politician is getting some.

Prostitution is an absurd crime. If the laws were strictly enforced, most trophy wives would be in jail.

[April]

The populist rage against the tax payer bailouts should be channeled into some constructive course of action like ...... sensible regulations that are enforceable.

The simplest fix of all would be to make sure that equity firms, are required to have a strong capital base, if they are going to get too fancy, and never insure debt with debt.

[Miles Mogulescu - Huffpost Blogger]

Arianna--For all your guests: Do they believe that an organized political movement of community organizations, unions, and Democratic and grassroots activists building popular support for a more aggressive stance to restructuring the banks and other financial institutions that created the financial meltdown, putting some of the insolvent "too big to fail" institutions into receivership, and breaking them up into discreet units that can be effectively regulated, would be helpful in moving Obama to think beyond the Summers/Geitner banking plan?

[Francine Hardaway - Huffpost Blogger]

Arianna, I've never been prouder of being a Huffpo blogger than today, when I heard you at the Senate hearings! You have no fear, and you are beholden to no one, and actually you are the model of the journalists I used to admire in my youth. I especially liked it when you talked about content behind walled gardens and said "we've seen that movie and it got bad reviews." Keep going!!! Journalism does not die with newspapers.

[muckraker3]

Please inquire as to why the government places ex- Goldman Sach's employees to run almost everything in the treasury and fed while they are bailing out Goldman sachs and other Wall Street firms. Isn't this a conflict of interest? I hear that NY Fed president Friedman was actualy buying Goldman stock prior to the government bailout. This is criminal.

Thanks and keep up the great Work!

[betrayed1]

When Sheila Bair claims the FDIC can guarantee up to a trillion dollars in non recourse loans to hedge funds to buy toxic assets from banks, with absolutley zero risk to the taxpayers, is she lying or delusional?