A new bill calls for attacks against law enforcement to be under the purview of California's hate crime statute; the Los Angeles city attorney's office is expected to file suit against Macy's, Sears, Kohl's and J.C. Penney for false reference pricing in their marketing strategies; an intimate portrayal of Pope Francis by Mark Shriver in his latest book; and more.
Should California make it a hate crime to attack a police officer?
In response to a spike in attacks targeting law enforcement, one California Republican wants to make doing so a hate crime.
Assemblyman Jay Obernolte is proposing a bill that would put attacking a police officer under the purview of California’s hate crime statute, and therefore allow for the addition of one to three years onto an offender’s sentence. Proponents in law enforcement say it’s a statement that the governments are standing behind police officers at a time when anti-law enforcement sentiments are more visible and prevalent.
The bill’s detractors say that the state’s penalties for assault or battery on a police officer are harsh enough and that the law would lessen the significance of the hate crime statutes already in place to protect certain vulnerable groups.
Guests:
Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League
Jody David Armour, Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law
What we can learn from President Reagan’s contrarian Cabinet appointments
As we learn more about President-Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, we look back at former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s early days in the White House.
Today, Reagan is one of our nation's most revered public figures, but when the former Hollywood actor came into the White House in 1981, he brought with him potentially controversial conservative agenda to cut social programs and reduce government oversight. To do so, Reagan appointed officials that disapproved of the agencies they were ultimately going to lead. Notably, Anne Anne Gorsuch Burford, known for her strong opposition to federal energy and environmental policies, was named the head of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Reagan also ran on a platform to eliminate the Department of Education, created just years ago by his predecessor Jimmy Carter. William Bennett, Reagan’s Education Secretary, launched the most sustained verbal attack ever made by a high official on the federal student-aid program, according to the New York Times.
What happened to these agencies under Reagan once these leaders joined the cabinet? Did the officials achieve what they set out to do? Host Larry Mantle re-visits the policies and politics from the Reagan era and dissects what they say about the future under a Trump presidency.
Guests:
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco. He has served on the White House staff of Presidents Ronald Reagan.
Craig Shirley, author of three books on former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, including Last Act: The Final Years and emerging Legacy of Ronald Reagan (2015).
In new book, deal broker George Mitchell turns gaze on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
George J. Mitchell’s specialty is bringing peace to troubled regions, which is exactly why he was sent to the Middle East as a U.S. Special Envoy in 2009.
But he soon discovered that his trusted negotiating tactics didn’t work to ease the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. That’s not surprising, given the many failures to do just that over the course of modern history. In his new book, “A Path to Peace,” Mitchell gives an insider account of what we can learn from history’s failures--and what both sides must do to reach a lasting solution.
The result is what Mitchell calls “a realistic approach” to peace, a counter to some of the unrealistic expectations that he says prevents Israeli and Palestinian leaders from finding common ground. Among other concrete ideas, the book presents a pressing call for President Obama to outline a plan for peace before he leaves office.
Guests:
George J. Mitchell, co-author of “A Path to Peace: A Brief History of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and a Way Forward in the Middle East” (Simon & Schuster, 2016) and former U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
Alon Sachar, co-author of “A Path to Peace: A Brief History of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and a Way Forward in the Middle East” (Simon & Schuster, 2016). He served as an advisor to the US ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2012
LA sues Macy’s, Kohl’s, Sears, JC Penney over fake price cuts
A washer discounted from $1,179.99 to $999.99 sounds like a good deal, but what if it never actually sold at $1,179.99? Holiday shopping season is upon us and bargain hunters everywhere rejoice at good deals — 15, 25, even 50 percent off the original price tag — but what if those markdowns are fake?
This marketing strategy, known as false reference pricing, is the target of four separate lawsuits filed Thursday by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office against retailers Macy’s, Sears, Kohl’s and J.C. Penney.
“False reference pricing not only increases a customer's willingness to make a purchase based on false information and influences how much money the consumer is willing to spend and the value they attribute, falsely, to the product, but it also discourages consumers from shopping around to get an authentically better deal,” City Attorney Mike Feuer told “AirTalk’s” Larry Mantle. “This practice also harms business who are marketing accurately the former and current price of their goods.”
California law already bans retailers from marketing a higher original price unless the item was available at that price within three months of the advertisement.
J.C. Penney and Kohl’s were taken to court over this issue in recent years and had committed to ending the false markdowns, but Feuer said his investigations prove they haven’t followed through. Feuer’s suits seeks penalties, as well as a court order to compel the four retailers to abide by the law.
"AirTalk" listener Arthur in Calabasas said, “It doesn’t really matter what price a retailer says the item was. At the time of purchase, each individual shopper can look at the price... and make a value decision.”
But consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow told “AirTalk” that shoppers feel an “emotional zing” when they think they’ve saved, and retailers have learned to capitalize on that feeling.
“During the recession, it became the only way you could get people to spend money,” Yarrow said. “Bargains are now an expectation, so buying without one means you're being taken for granted.”
According to Yarrow, false markdowns deteriorate trust between consumers and retailers, which is bad for business in the long run.
“Consumers tell me that they wouldn't be so concerned about bargains if they had an assurance of value,” she said.
Her advice to retailers? “Rebuild that trust.”
Feuer had a similar message, asking retailer to hold themselves accountable.
“We're not going to resolve a case before the holiday season concludes...which is why I'm calling on each of these retailers to do the right thing now,” Feuer said. “Talking about gifts this season, isn't that a gift that every consumer should be entitled to?”
Guests:
Mike Feuer, Los Angeles City Attorney
Kit Yarrow, is consumer psychologist and author of Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We Shop and Buy; She tweets
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of lawsuits filed by the L.A. City Attorney's Office. KPCC regrets the error.
This story has been updated.
New California bill may create precedence for ‘superbug’ tracking
A bill was introduced this week to make it mandatory to track antibiotic resistant or “superbug” related deaths and infections in California.
As reported in Reuters, SB 43 was proposed by State Senator Jerry Hill, and would require doctors to report superbug-related deaths on death certificates. Superbug related infections currently lack tracking of any kind in the state, which prevents the federal government from allocating funds for research on this growing medical threat. A recent Reuters investigation found that over an 11 year period, California identified more deaths related to antibiotic resistant infections than any other state--a whopping 20,000. That number is likely only a fraction of actual deaths related to these infections, as it only indicates recorded fatalities connected to superbugs. SB 43 would also make California a leader in superbug tracking, as the federal government does not currently tract these infections and deaths due to antibiotic resistant infections.
But without mandated tracking, hospitals that do their due diligence reporting these infections and infection related deaths could be faced with liability issues, and a damaged reputation.
Larry speaks to Reuters reporter, Yasmeen Abutaleb, today to find out more about SB 43 and what it could mean for the future of “superbug” tracking.
Guest:
Yasmeen Abutaleb, Reuters reporter who’s been following the story on SB 43 and co-author of the article, “The Uncounted: The deadly epidemic America is ignoring;” she tweets
The life of Pope Francis intimately portrayed by Mark Shriver
Before becoming His Holiness, Pope Francis was Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
In Mark Shriver’s latest book, “Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis,” the author journeys to discover the life of a leader who – through renowned humility, grace and unpretentious style – has invigorated the Catholic Church, and the world.
Visiting a number of sites native to the Pope’s beginnings in Argentina, Shriver details his travels and conversations with the people who knew the Jesuit priest during much younger stages of faith. Shriver also shares his personal path back to Catholicism that was found through Pope Francis.
Host Larry Mantle speaks to Shriver about the book’s pilgrimage, his current work and more.
Guest:
Mark Shriver, author of the book “Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis” (Random House, 2016), and president of the charity Save the Children Action Network