California's underground economy is costing the state billions. Paycheck protection or paycheck deception? KPCC film critics Peter Rainer and Claudia Puig join Larry to review the week’s new film releases including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Young Adult, We Need to Talk About Kevin, W.E., In Darkness and more. TGI-FilmWeek! Olympia Dukakis’ silent ‘Vigil.’
California’s underground economy hits below the belt, agencies vow to crackdown
While the above-ground economy in California is still struggling along, the underground economy in this state is growing and, according to the Los Angeles Times, is costing us $7 Billion dollars every year. The problem is most common in the construction industry, restaurants, hair salons, janitorial services and more.
Employers avoid paying taxes, unemployment insurance and worker's compensation insurance. Depending on the industry, such costs can amount to 40 percent of employing an individual. Employees profit by making straight cash, but if they get injured on the job without workers' compensation it costs them and the state much more.
Now a coalition of state agencies is targeting this issue. They are combing through records that show companies filing some documents but failing to submit others. The estimated size of the underground economy varies widely, but stakeholders say it's between $60 billion and $140 billion.
WEIGH IN:
Will the state be able to catch all the scofflaws? Are the fines not big enough? One violator in Sacramento who had 47 employees without workers' compensation said the fine was significantly lower than if he had paid for workers' comp. Why do employers feel so pressed to cheat? How does it hurt their workers?
Guest:
Julie Su, California Labor Commissioner
Scott Hague, Founder & Chair, Small Business California, a statewide advocacy group; Hauge is a small business owner -- an insurance brokerage
Paycheck protection or paycheck deception?
A group of conservative Californians have gathered over 900,000 signatures to qualify a measure for the November 2012 ballot that aims, in their words, to “enact real campaign finance reform.”
Commonly known as the ‘Paycheck Protection Act,’ the measure would prohibit unions and corporations from contributing directly or indirectly to political campaigns and from using payroll deductions for any political purpose. The California Federation of Labor, an umbrella organization which represents more than 2 million union members, sees the measure as a direct hit at labor’s ability to advocate for its members. If enacted, the law would effectively restrict political fundraising by labor unions, whose members nearly all pay their dues via payroll deductions – a portion of which goes to political causes.
Corporations will be largely unaffected by this restriction, since they raise money for political contributions through other means. Supporters of the measure say it will loosen the grip of special interests on government and eliminate “coercive” measures of soliciting contributions from workers. The idea of prohibiting payroll deductions for political use is not new – it was floated on the California ballot twice before, in 1998 and 2005.
WEIGH IN:
Both times it was voted it down. Will the third time be the charm? Are Californians fed up with mega-money lobbying by both labor and big business? Will this measure reform what its proponents call our “dysfunctional” political system? If you’re in a union, do your dues go to causes you don’t support, or do you trust them to work for your best interests in Washington?
Guests:
Michael Capaldi, spokesperson for Stop Special Interest Money Now
Steve Smith, Communications Director, California Labor Federation
FilmWeek: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Young Adult, We Need to Talk About Kevin, W.E., In Darkness and more
KPCC film critics Peter Rainer and Claudia Puig join Larry to review the week’s new film releases including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Young Adult, We Need to Talk About Kevin, W.E., In Darkness and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and Christian Science Monitor
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today
Olympia Dukakis’ silent ‘Vigil’
In Morris Panych's 1995 dark comedy “Vigil,” award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis utters a mere 12 lines during her nearly two-hour onstage performance as an elderly hermit visited by an obnoxious deadbeat.
Dukakis is best known for her Oscar winning role as supporting actress in “Moonstruck.”
In her new role, Dukakis says she plays “a woman who has rejected and moved away from life. She lives in the top floor of her little house with the relics of her history hanging from the walls.” The woman has physically and mentally separated herself.
Then a man walks through the door, terrifying her. He ends up being her nephew, responding to a letter she sent asking him to visit her. The audience learns that he has an agenda. “These two unlikely people, in the course of the evening, accept each other, acknowledge each other and permit the other to affect them.”
Olympia Dukakis joins AirTalk to discuss acting, audiences and the challenge of not speaking for an entire play.
Guest:
Olympia Dukakis, Academy Award winning actress
"Vigil" runs through December 18, 2011 at the Mark Taper Forum. For ticket information, click here.