Maureen Dowd’s column in the New York Times this weekend speculated that Vice President Joe Biden might still be considering a run in 2016. Also, the White House released a report that suggests that occupational licensing for some professions may be doing more harm than good. Then, when news emerged last week that a big game hunter had killed a protected lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe, the outrage and sadness from public quarters were tremendous.
Draft Biden Super PAC highlights the question: Will Joe run?
Maureen Dowd’s column in the New York Times this weekend speculated that Vice President Joe Biden might still be considering a run in 2016.
His Super PAC and a resurgent rise in interest has sent chatter through the Twitterverse over whether he’ll toss in his hat with Clinton, Sanders, O’Malley, Webb, and Chafee.
Can the Draft Biden Super PAC raise the kind of money that’s flowing to the Clinton campaign? Is there more to Biden’s favorable numbers than just a sympathy bump in wake of his son Beau’s death? Is he more or less attractive of a candidate than the other five Democrats? And if nominated, could he take on the Republican candidate and win in the general election?
Guests:
Dr. Howie Mandel, Member of the Draft Biden 2016’s National Finance Team; long-time activist on women’s health care issues and Democratic donor
Matt Rodriguez, Democratic strategist; founder of Rodriguez Strategies; former senior Obama advisor in 2008. He tweets @RodStrategies
Debating whether occupational licensing does more harm than good
There’s little question that those who are doctors, nurses, lawyers, dentists, or work in similar professions should be licensed to practice their trades. But what about florists? Tree-trimmers? Funeral attendants? Teeth-whiteners?
This week, the White House released a report that the Department of the Treasury Office of Economic Policy, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the Department of Labor prepared that suggests that occupational licensing for some professions may be doing more harm than good.
The report says that with nearly a third of the workforce subject to occupational licensing, regulations could be creating unnecessary costs and the requirements for getting a license often don’t match up with the skills the job requires. In addition, it suggests that certain social and economic groups, such as immigrants, convicted criminals, and military spouses, are hit particularly hard by occupational licensing regulations.
The report even says that 10 out of the 12 studies the authors reviewed showed that stricter licensing requirements did not lead to better quality service.
Do you agree with the White House’s report that occupational licensing is more harmful than helpful? Where do you think the line should be drawn between protecting consumers and facilitating job creation?
OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING: A FRAMEWORK FOR POLICYMAKERS
Guests:
Leonard Gilroy, director of government reform for the Reason Foundation
Ed Howard, senior counsel at the Center for Public Interest Law at the University of San Diego School of Law. He was also the chief consultant of the joint Assembly and Senate Committee that oversaw all of the state’s licensing boards
Vulnerability of Cecil the lion provokes more sympathy than other violent acts
When news emerged last week that a big game hunter, Walter Palmer, had killed a protected lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe, the outrage and sadness from public quarters were tremendous -- even funnyman Jimmy Kimmel choked up recounting the story on his talk show.
Something about the cold-blooded killing of a lion provokes a more visceral reaction from many people, but why?
As psychologist Michael Shermer explains in his book "The Moral Arc," one of the many arcs of the moral universe that are bending toward justice is animal rights. Humans, he says, have expanded our moral spheres to include other sentient beings: the closer to us on an evolutionary scale, the more we care, especially for primates and marine mammals. Moreover, Shermer of Skeptic Magazine says we recognize that animals do not kill and torture for sport, whereas humans do, and we've come to shift our moral priorities in that direction.
Finally, regardless of whether an animal or human has suffered, we are primed to care more about individuals than groups, which is why charity ads often feature a single starving child instead of hundreds. Our empathy networks attach to one person or animal and treat them as an honorary relative, friend, or member of our tribe.
Did the killing of Cecil provoke a strong response in you?
Guest:
Michael Shermer, author of “The Moral Arc;” founder of Skeptic magazine; and adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University
Winners and losers debate Obama administration’s new environmental regulations
The nation’s coal-fired power plants will face the toughest emissions restrictions yet, under a new proposal announced by President Obama today.
The rules go further than the proposed regulations the Environmental Protection Agency released in 2012 and 2014. It’s all but certain that opponents will challenge the new regulations in court.
Under the proposal, coal-fired power plants would need to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent by 2030, and would need to incorporate the use of more alternative energy sources like wind and solar power.
The Clean Power Plan Factsheet
Guests:
David Doniger, director and senior attorney of climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council
Robert Bryce, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute's Center for Energy Policy and the Environment
Are police chases worth the payoff? A nationwide analysis puts age-old practice in perspective
An analysis from USA Today on police chases across America finds that the deaths and injuries caused by these hot pursuits disproportionately outweigh the good they do.
The paper found that police chases have killed more than 5,000 passengers and bystanders since 1979, accounting for nearly half of all chase-related casualties. Many of these pursuits began as minor infractions—typically traffic stops or misdemeanors—throwing into question whether this longstanding police practice is really worth the tradeoff.
Police departments across the country have responded by instituting policy on police pursuits to codify the circumstances under which an officer can engage in a pursuit.
What policy regarding police chases do the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol have? What can be done to minimize the negative consequences of these pursuits?
Guests:
Thomas Frank, reporter at USA Today behind the paper’s national analysis on police chases that came out last week
Travis Yates, Commander with the Tulsa (OK) Police Department. Director of SAFETAC training for law enforcement.
Esther Seoanes, executive director of PursuitSAFETY, a nonprofit seeking to reduce chase-related deaths. Her husband, James Williford, was killed by the driver of a stolen vehicle being chased by police in Austin, Texas, in 2012
Former teacher of the year throws the book at tech in classrooms
Reports have been sounding the death knell of paper books for years now and yet even members of Generation Z--those are the ones coming up behind millennials--who probably don’t remember a time when a book for school didn’t also have a digital component, seem to still have some attachment to the printed page. There’s some research to back that up as well, both scientific and anecdotal.
Guests:
Rebecca Mieliwocki, California Teacher of the Year for 2012 and National Teacher of the Year for 2012; she’s a seventh-grade English teacher at Luther Burbank Middle School in Burbank
Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University and author of “Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World”