Today on AirTalk we'll consider what planks could become part of the GOP platform at the upcoming convention, weigh the pros and cons of a few proposed gun laws in California, and examine how the creative class is on the rise.
Gearing up for the Republican National Convention: what planks will make it into the GOP platform?
A week ahead of the Republican National Convention, a group of 112 delegates are meeting today to draft the party’s official platform.
For the next two days, the party elite will draft a 50-to-60-page document that will define what the Grand Old Party stands for. The group has the tricky job of drafting a document that is specific enough to stay relevant, yet broad enough to not alienate the party’s many philosophical flavors.
Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell, one of the Platform Committee’s chairs, told the Washington Post, the document must be “clear and concise” and must “embody the heart and soul of what the Republican party believes in.” The document will most likely include support for balancing the budget, but social issues will be a balancing out for a party that includes Log Cabin Republicans and the Family Research Council under its umbrella.
How will the party unify the many different points of view? What will it need to do to energize the party’s base in this presidential election year? What is a platform and is it relevant? What are the issues the delegates need to address to keep the party relevant?
Guests:
Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times
Tim Lefever, Chairman of the Board, Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) in Sacramento
Jonathan Wilcox, Republican Strategist; former speech writer for Governor Pete Wilson
California legislators weigh proposed gun laws
According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence’s website, California holds the top spot in the strength of its gun laws, scoring 81 out a possible 100. But could they be stronger?
There are several bills currently on the docket that would further tighten restrictions on buying, owning and using firearms. Among them: SB 1366, requiring owners to report a lost or stolen gun within 48 hours, AB 2512, which would require gun and ammunition dealers to report sales to any one buyer of more than 1000 rounds of ammo within a five day period, and AB 1527, which extends the “open carry” ban to unloaded long guns.
Executive director of Gun Owners of California, Sam Paredes, says SB 1366 creates a “legal, ethical problem” for law enforcement. For gun owners who do not report their firearms as lost or stolen within the given 48 hours, there would be repercussions.
Legislation and policy co-chair of the California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Amanda Wilcox, says the first time a gun owner fails to report a lost or stolen firearm, they would be handed a minor infraction, a fine much like a traffic ticket.
But Paredes says it could open up innocent people to possible persecution.
“You’re taking someone who has had a crime committed against them and you are going to make them a criminal if they don’t act in a certain fashion,” Paredes said. He went on to explain that the bill, which is intended to stop straw purchases — firearm purchases made with the intent to resell the gun to someone who cannot purchase the weapon legally themselves — would only create a legal mess for law enforcement. Paredes said if someone were charged with not complying with SB 1366, they could not then later be charged with being a straw buyer.
Wilcox questioned the likelihood of the scenario Paredes laid out.
“The goal of this bill is to collect data to identify and prosecute people who are putting illegal guns into dangerous hands, feeding the illegal market on our streets,” she said.
The requirement to report a lost or stolen weapon is “an investigative tool” intended to help law enforcement identify possible straw buyers, Wilcox said.
“Crime guns do not fall from the sky. Every crime gun starts out as a legal gun and at some point it is diverted into the illegal market,” she said. “We need to find a way to curve that flow of illegal guns and find at what point is it going from a legal gun to an illegal gun in dangerous hands.”
But Paredes argued the bill ostensibly did nothing to stop straw buyers.
“People are trying to come up with solutions to criminal problems with solutions that affect only law-abiding citizens,” he said. “They don’t affect the criminal element at all.”
As for AB 2512, Wilcox argued it was a preventative measure aimed to flag law enforcement to possible problems and assess people who may be unstable or have mental health problems.
Paredes however remained steadfast that the measure put forth — like SB 1366 — did nothing but punish those who legally owned firearms. He instead said it was important to prioritize “crime control” rather than pouring efforts into gun control.
“Gun control has never proven to be a solution for anything,” he said.
A fourth bill targeted an after-market safety device known as a “bullet button,” which slows down the use of certain rifles. Without that upgrade, the guns effectively become assault rifles; SB 249 sought to make the device, and effectively the weapons, illegal. That bill was heavily opposed by California gun owners and died in committee last week, largely due to their lobbying efforts.
Several recent mass shootings have put the issue of gun control front and center in the national debate. While both the Obama and the Romney campaigns have stayed out of the conversation so far, there is pressure from the gun control movement to include the issue in presidential debates.
“These shootings are tragic, horrific events but 32 people are murdered by guns every day,” Wilcox said. “When you look at the vast majority of these murders, can gun laws help? I believe so. But we need national solutions.”
Weigh In:
Are California’s gun control laws already tough enough? Can existing laws protect us from tragedies like the recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado, or should they go further? Should citizens have more leeway to arm themselves against such a possibility?
Guests:
Sam Paredes, executive director, Gun Owners of California
Amanda Wilcox, legislation and policy co-chair, California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
The growing power of creativity
Think creativity equals starving artist? Think again. Not only are the more creative among us raking in more cash, they’re reshaping our businesses, cities, and culture. They’re probably also the key to a more stable economic future.
This, according to economist Richard Florida, who has been tracking the way Americans live and work for over a decade. In 2002, Florida observed that companies were relocating to areas with larger pools of creative talent, individuals seemed to prefer cities over suburbs, and workers were altering traditional nine-to-five schedules. Florida argued that these broad social changes were the result of the “rise of creativity as a fundamental economic force.”
In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, Florida wrote about these changes and argued that the move toward a creative economy had created a new social class – one with individuals whose work is defined by their ability to create. Think: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and other visionaries. Since then, the Creative Class has become more and more dominant economically. Given today’s uncertain economic times, Florida’s thesis moves from prediction to prescription.
Florida proposes a new “Creative Compact,” which includes a restructured education system, a new social safety net and an effort to support urban communities in order to achieve a more prosperous future. Florida’s revised book, “The Rise of the Creative Class Revisited,” uses new data, studies and anecdotal evidence from the past ten years to construct a bold plan for economic growth and improved lifestyles.
How has the economic downturn impacted creatives? Why does location matter for the Creative Class? Could a “Creative Compact” lead to a new and improved economic order?
Guest:
Richard Florida, Author of “the Rise of the Creative Class Revisited” (Basic Books); Professor, University of Toronto and New York University; Senior Editor, The Atlantic