Today on AirTalk, our political analysts discuss the House Judiciary hearing. Also on the show, we take a look at the changing work requirements for food stamps; dating apps and sex offenders; and more.
‘I am asking our chairmen to proceed with articles of impeachment’: Pelosi’s Announcement, Yesterday’s Hearing And More
The U.S. House is pressing forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday.
’’Our democracy is what is at stake,” Pelosi said somberly. “The president leaves us no choice but to act.”
Pelosi delivered the historic announcement in solemn tones, drawing on the Constitution and the Founding Fathers, as Democrats push toward a vote, possibly before Christmas.
We recap yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing and look ahead to what’s to come.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Siobhan Hughes, congressional reporter for the Wall Street Journal; she tweets
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Jack Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets
Amanda Renteria, president of Emerge America, a national organization that works to identify and train Democratic women who want to run for political office; she is the former national political director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has been a staffer for Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); she tweets
Pratheepan Gulasekaram, professor of law at Santa Clara Law, where he specializes in constitutional and immigration law
Tuan Samahon, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law in Pennsylvania
John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government and director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, and co-author of Impeachment: An American History (Penguin Random House, 2018); he tweets
Angels To Stay In Anaheim Through 2050
The city of Anaheim and the Angels reached a deal for the team to stay put through at least 2050, according to the Los Angeles Times. The team was up against a deadline at the end of December to either opt out of the lease or stay.
A company affiliated with Angels owner Arte Moreno known as SRB Management, which was formed last month, plans to purchase the stadium and property surrounding it for $325 million. It’ll be up to the Angels whether they upgrade or replace the current stadium, and the city of Anaheim won’t plan to contribute to the costs of either option. The L.A. Times says reports, the team has hired firm HKS Architects to lay out some options for either replacing or renovating the stadium. The purchase also includes surrounding property. The team could develop it into an area with restaurants, shops and hotels, which could draw people to come early or even stay for extended amounts of time.
Guests:
Bill Shaikin, covers baseball and sports business for the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
Alicia Robinson, reporter for the Orange County Register, who’s been following the story; she tweets
USDA Clamps Down on Work Requirement for SNAP Benefits
Hundreds of thousands of Americans who rely on the federal food stamp program will lose their benefits under a new Trump administration rule that will tighten work requirements for recipients.
It is the first of three proposed rules targeting the Supplemental Nutrition Program, known as SNAP, to be finalized. The plan, announced Wednesday, will limit states from exempting work-eligible adults from having to maintain steady employment in order to receive benefits. The Agriculture Department estimates the change would save roughly $5.5 billion over five years and cut benefits for roughly 688,000 SNAP recipients.
Under current rules, work-eligible able-bodied adults without dependents and between the ages of 18 and 49 can currently receive only three months of SNAP benefits in a three-year period if they don’t meet the 20-hour work requirement. But states with high unemployment rates or a demonstrable lack of sufficient jobs can waive those time limits. Under the plan, states can only issue waivers if a city or county has an unemployment rate of 6% or higher. The Urban Institute in a study released last month estimated that taken together, the three measures would affect roughly 2.2 million households, and 3.7 million individual beneficiaries. The final rule will be published in the federal register Thursday, and go into effect in April.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Andrew Cheyne, director of government affairs for the California Association of Food Banks
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity at the Heritage Foundation
Should Online Dating Apps Screen For Registered Sex Offenders?
Known sex offenders are using online dating apps like Tinder, PlentyofFish or OKCupid, according to a new investigative piece from Columbia Journalism Investigations. The report, co-published through ProPublica and Buzzfeed News, finds that while Match screens for sex offenders on its site, other free applications that Match Group owns does not.
Match agreed to start screening for registered sex offenders in 2011 after a high-profile entertainment executive sued the company after the service connected her with a six-time convicted rapist. According to the article, she told police the man raped her on their second date. Match, along with other major online dating services, agreed in 2012 to industry best practices that meant identifying sexual predators and responding to users’ reports of rape.
Match Group has said it’s not able to obtain “sufficient and reliable information to make meaningful background checks possible” for certain apps, but it’s deploying aggressive new tools to eradicate “bad actors.” CJI reporters looked at about 150 sexual assault incidents that involved online dating apps and found most incidents occurred in the past five years and almost all the victims were women. Should online dating services be more aggressive in seeking out registered sex offenders? Some legal experts say it’s a complicated question. And on the flip side, should online dating sites deny registered sex offenders the right to use online dating apps, considering the wide swath of circumstances and varying degrees of offenses?
Today on AirTalk, we discuss the issue. Do you use online dating apps? Do you take any specific measures to enhance your safety, like background checks? Do you think users or the online services should take on more of the responsibility when it comes to the issues around safety? Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722.
Match Group, which owns many online dating services, could not make someone available for our interview request but provided AirTalk with this statement:
“This article is inaccurate, disingenuous and mischaracterizes Match Group safety policies as well as our conversations with ProPublica. We do not tolerate sex offenders on our site and the implication that we know about such offenders on our site and don't fight to keep them off is as outrageous as it is false. We use a network of industry-leading tools, systems and processes and spend millions of dollars annually to prevent, monitor and remove bad actors – including registered sex offenders – from our apps. As technology evolves, we will continue to aggressively deploy new tools to eradicate bad actors, including users of our free products like Tinder, Plenty of Fish and OkCupid where we are not able to obtain sufficient and reliable information to make meaningful background checks possible. A positive and safe user experience is our top priority, and we are committed to realizing that goal every day.”
Guests:
Keith Cousins, fellow at Columbia Journalism Investigations, where he’s been following this story; he tweets
Janice Bellucci, civil rights attorney and executive director for the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Defense Laws
Ambrosio Rodriguez, former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney; he led the sex crimes team in the Riverside D.A.’s office