Our weekly political coverage delves into economic policies outlined by Trump and Clinton; we debate the possibility of a new law that could change anti-discrimination laws for religious institutions; and which TV shows make you feel nostalgic?
Trump adviser vs. Clinton adviser on Trump’s economic strategy
In front of a boisterous crowd at the Detroit Economic Club, presidential hopeful Donald Trump put policy specifics to broad goals as he laid out his vision for an economic plan.
He advocated for three tax brackets, rather than the current seven. They would top out at 33 percent after deductions. The corporate tax rate would drop from 35 percent to 15 percent, and he said he would eliminate the inheritance tax.
“What Mr. Trump did today was he laid out a total economic package, the goal of which is to double our economic growth rate, basically create trillions of dollars in new tax revenues and millions of jobs,” said Peter Navarro, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of California, Irvine and a member of the official economic advisory council for Donald Trump’s campaign.
Calling it a “second ‘Reagan Revolution,’” Navarro said that Trump’s plan would increase the GDP growth rate from its 15-year average of 1.8 percent to around 3.5 or 4 percent, which would lead to new tax revenue sizeable enough to offset revenue loss from tax cuts.
Jared Berenstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and an informal economic adviser to the Hillary Clinton campaign, wasn’t buying these figures. He argued that similar trickle-down policies enacted by presidents George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan drained the Treasury of revenue and disproportionately benefitted the wealthy.
“I very much enjoy dessert, and I wish I could just eat ice cream sundaes all week long and never gain a pound,” Berenstein said. “But it just doesn’t work this way. We’ve tried this supply-side trickle-down business for decades now, and the result is extremely consistent.”
Navarro emphasized that focusing only on taxes ignores the synergy of Trump’s plan, which Navarro said will create a “pro-business, pro-economic climate” in the United States. He pointed to what he called “the four points on the compass” of Trump’s economic strategy to demonstrate how the Republican nominee would begin to create this environment.
- Energy policy: “Trump wants to revive our energy sector and make it a key competitive advantage while putting people back to work.”
- Regulatory policy: “Trump will put a moratorium on new regulations and ask his agencies to review every regulation and streamline them.”
- Taxes: “When you lower the corporate tax rate, you basically have more assembly plants being built in Michigan than Mexico.”
- Trade: “Trade deficits sap the lifeblood out of our economy.”
Navarro explained how he sees two of these points — taxes and trade — working in tandem.
Navarro: We have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. What does that high corporate tax rate do? In places like Michigan, where Donald Trump gave his speech today, it pushes companies like GM and Ford to Mexico for a tax break. We’ve seen in the last two years those two companies basically send to Mexico over $5 billion of new investment that should have stayed in Michigan. What Trump does with his tax plan is to try to create incentives to bring jobs back to America.
While Berenstein agreed that persistent trade deficits are harmful to American workers, he saw a very different solution to reforming the corporate tax rate.
Bernstein: We already have a massive tax avoidance industry, and one of the ways you stop that is you start closing some of the loopholes that so many of those folks take advantage of. I think you have to be mindful of the limits on how far you can go with that, but if you look at America in terms of its international taxation comparative to any advanced economy, we’re way at the low end. Our statutory rate is too high — 35 percent percent. The thing is, very few corporations actually pay that, because of all the loopholes. Start closing the loopholes, make sure the IRS is adequately funded to implement the tax policy, and there is no doubt in my mind that we could raise revenues.
Hillary Clinton will unveil her jobs plan Thursday, also in Detroit.
These interviews have been edited for clarity.
Guests:
John (Jack) Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College
Louis DeSipio, Director, Center for the Study of Democracy, UCI
Peter Navarro, professor of economics and public policy at the University of California, Irvine and a member of the official economic advisory council for Donald Trump’s campaign; he is the author of “Crouching Tiger: What China’s Militarism Means for the World” (Prometheus Books, 2015)
Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and an informal advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign
Marilyn Thompson, editor at the Washington Post; she recently worked on a piece about Clinton’s failed job efforts as Senator of NY
This story has been updated.
Proposed CA law raises questions about line between exercising religious freedom and discrimination
A bill making its way through the California legislature is shining a light on the struggle between religious freedom and LGBT rights on the campuses of religious colleges and universities in California.
SB1146 would get rid of an exemption that has allowed religious institutions to be free from state anti-discrimination laws and to ask for exemption from federal Title IX laws.
Currently, religious colleges and universities are allowed to designate housing assignments based on sex, not gender identity, and to discipline students who violate school conduct policies involving sexuality. The new law would allow students to sue educational institutions who deny them housing based on gender identity or sexuality and require that any religious institution receiving state or federal exemptions to anti-discrimination laws disclose that exemption to current students and those who might attend in the future.
Officials at California’s religious colleges and universities argue that the bill is a direct attack on their ability to exercise religious freedom, and that the elimination of the exemption could also prevent them from accessing CalGrant money that the state gives to low-income students.
Should religious educational institutions be allowed to continue receiving exemptions from state and federal anti-discrimination laws? What would the impact be on the schools’ ability to obtain funding from state and federal government? How far does/should the protection of religious freedom extend when it comes to religious colleges and universities?
Guests:
Jo Michael, Legislative Manager, Equality California - an advocacy group focused on LGBTQ rights; Sponsors of SB 1146
Darren Guerra, Associate Professor of Political Science - with a scholarly focus on American Politics, Constitutional Law, and Public Policy, Biola University
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Some religious schools have these statements of faith for students, which can include abstaining from sex during their time there. Is there any problem with schools continuing those kinds of statements of faith under this legislation?
Jo Michael: The intent of this legislation ... is to address discrimination that students face at these religious institutions. It's not about policies applied equally regardless of whether a student is LGBT or not LGBT. The question is when there is a policy used to discriminate against a student on the basis of their sexual orientation or their gender identity – for example, if there's a policy against gay students and presumably lesbian students engaging in sexual activity or even dating and there is NOT a policy against students of different sexes dating. When there's that kind of disparate impact that is just based on somebody's sexual orientation or gender identity – really just discriminating against students based on who they are – that's what we're concerned about and that's what the bill addresses.
What about transgender rights if you have a school that believes gender is fixed? For example, if a transgender student identifies as a gender other than his or her anatomy, do you think the school doesn't have a right to say "no, your anatomy is male or female, so you need to be in the dorm housing that goes along with that?"
JM: That becomes a significant issue. California's existing non-discrimination law states that people need to be respected according to their gender identity and the way that they are living in the world. There's not room for the kind of discrimination that really targets somebody based on that deeply held aspect of who they are. If you have a student who's transgender, and is simply asking to be accommodated in the way that other students are – to be able to be housed according to their gender identity – that's something that the California non-discrimination law is already very clear about. There really should be no difference in how that student is treated, whether they're going to a private religious school or a public school in California.
Professor Guerra, what would be the effect of this bill, if it passes, on Biola?
Darren Guerra: It would limit the academic freedom of our students to choose where they want to go to school, it would limit our religious freedom to express our faith traditions whether Catholic, Jewish, Protestant or other and to have learning communities that express our faith the way this faith has been handed down for thousands of years. It would expose us to frivolous lawsuits from anyone who might take offense for whatever reason to our faith traditions. It would disproportionately impact, at least on our campus and others, minority students who receive Cal Grants and who are increasingly taking the opportunity to avail themselves of our education at our institution.
What percentage of your students are Cal Grant recipients?
DG: At our school, we have 879 Cal Grant recipients – 37 percent of those are Latino, 25 percent are Asian, 3 percent are African-American and 30 percent are white.
It's a significant percentage of your student population. Does this apply to federal funding at all?
DG: At this point, SB 1146 would only apply to state funding, but as we all know what starts in California rarely stays in California, and if successful here, I can easily see these types of measures at other states and at the federal level.
Does the statement of faith for incoming Biola students address sexuality?
DG: Yes. As you know, faith traditions have codes of conduct regarding sexuality. We believe that the key to human flourishing is engaging in moderation in the area of sexuality. All students, gay or straight, have to sign on to a code of conduct before they come here. One might ask why would students sign on to this code of conduct, and I think students gay and straight believe that a faith-based community has some insights into the true, the good and the beautiful, and they want to experience that. They want to learn in an environment that encourages moderation in these areas and encourages them to see themselves as more than sexual beings, but at whole persons who can flourish in many ways.
These interviews have been edited for clarity. You can listen to the full segment by clicking the blue play button above.
The ins and outs of packaging the Olympics
If you’re normally someone who avoids watching sports, the Olympics may be the exception.
Even with all of Rio’s controversies, the country’s landscape combined with athletes’ stories and struggles for one moment of glory may be the driving force to watch.
But there are downsides to this year’s Olympics coverage. With Rio four hours ahead of Los Angeles time, spoilers for who wins the gold are rampant on social media or news alerts. That’s what happened to many fans of the games last night, when Michael Phelps won the 4x100 freestyle relay.
And with streaming even more popular since the last games, will the Olympics beat out binge-watching your favorite Netflix series?
If you don’t normally watch sports, why do you watch the Olympics? How do you avoid spoilers with Rio’s time difference?
Guest:
Andrew Wallenstein, co-editor-in-chief for “Variety”; he tweets from
The ‘80s design of 'Stranger Things' and other eras we love to watch
For those who remember the oversized eyeglasses and synthesized soundtracks of the ‘80s, watching Netflix’s “Stranger Things” can bring on a wave of nostalgia.
Shows like “Mad Men,” “Freaks and Geeks” and “That '70s Show” have a definite hook and attention to detail with styling. Even for those who don’t remember the '60s, who doesn’t want to imagine what it’s like to get a drink with Don Draper?
But what exactly goes into production design for a period television show or film? And what part does nostalgia play in our interest to watch?
“Stranger Things” production designer, Chris Trujillo joined Larry Mantle today to discuss the process and strategy of re-creating an era on film.
Interview highlights
When you’re trying to evoke an era, how do you keep it from looking too jam-packed with caricatures or stereotypes?
Chris Trujillo: It’s particularly tricky with the ‘80s because everybody has a very specific and sometimes outlandish sense of what the ‘80s look like. It’s all either neons or these big shoulder pads and big glasses. And obviously you need to show those things but it was definitely tricky to find a balance where you’re not distracting an audience by blasting them with the most obvious touchstones of what we think of when we think of the ‘80s. Firstly, we try and understand who these characters are on a really basic level and we kind of go from there.
In “Mad Men” for example, it was as if no older furniture made it into that era and everyone seemed like they had constantly redecorated. People didn’t always have things or wear clothes that just defined that decade. How did you mix eras to make things look authentic?
Trujillo: A lot of that is approached from understanding the characters on a socioeconomic level. You’ve got your stressed out, working class, single mom [character], so her house is not going to have the most up-to-date furniture from 1980 or ‘81. For that kind of set, we like to think about when that furniture would have been bought and what level of wear and tear it would have. And understanding that more than likely, she hasn’t redecorated since 1975.
What kind of research do you do to capture a decade?
Trujillo: I like to start with source material from the decade. We pored over all of the suburban women’s magazines, “Better Homes and Gardens,” “Architectural Digest,” “Life” magazine. The “Sears” catalogue was an invaluable asset to us. It’s always about starting with the media of the time to get a really clear sense of what specifically was going on.
But people didn’t lived the way the catalogues, so how do you find that balance?
Trujillo: Absolutely, and that’s where really it’s really important to understanding where the characters are as individuals, their past and what’s going on with them in the present. That’s where you really start to build a life layer into the sets beyond just the larger pieces of furniture or wallpaper choices. You really start to think about what the ephemera on the tables should be [etc.] and that’s where you start to sell [the characters] as real people.
*This interview has been edited for clarity.
Guest:
Chris Trujillo, production designer for “Stranger Things”