AirTalk parses through the implications of Roy Moore’s loss last night, making Doug Jones the first Democratic senator elected in Alabama since the early 1990s. We also sit down with Tom Steyer, the billionaire and environmentalist leading the “impeach Trump” movement; what has your experience been sharing custody with a former spouse?; and more.
The impact of Roy Moore’s loss and what’s the latest on the GOP tax plan?
Democrat Doug Jones has won the Alabama Senate special election, a victory that was a stunning upset in a deeply red state that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump.
The president, who had backed Republican Roy Moore despite multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and assault, congratulated Jones on Twitter. The win by Jones, projected by The Associated Press two hours after the polls closed Tuesday night, is sure to send shock waves through Washington. The special election to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who left the Senate in February, was upended in November as multiple women came forward to say Moore had pursued them romantically as teenagers when he was in his 30s. Some alleged he had sexually assaulted them, including one woman who said he had initiated sexual contact with her when she was just 14. Moore has denied the accusations. See the full story here.
In other news, President Trump announced he will make a “closing argument” on the GOP tax plan Wednesday. Republican just announced they have come to an agreement on the tax overhaul. As Bloomberg reports. Trump is expected to sign the legislation next week and polls are still showing the plan is unpopular due to impressions that it favors the wealthy. Guest host Libby Denkmann speaks our guests for the latest.
Guests:
John Hammontree, managing producer of Reckon Alabama, the investigative and in-depth reporting unit at AL.com, the news site that covers the state of Alabama; he tweets
Kevin Whitelaw, deputy managing editor for U.S. government at Bloomberg; he tweets
As views on shared custody shift across America, AirTalk listeners share their own stories
As attitudes regarding post-divorce parenting have shifted toward a more collaborative approach, more than 20 states have considered legislation to encourage shared custody when a married couple with kids gets divorced.
The Washington Post reports states like Florida, Kentucky, and Michigan have all looked at proposals with varying stipulations, with Michigan’s proposal going as far as to make equal parenting time square one for custody decisions. California law favors joint custody when both parents are on board and there is no starting presumption that one parent is better for the other. The court will rule based on the best interests of the child’s health, safety, and welfare, as well as what arrangement allows them to continue having a similar amount of contact with their parents to what the child had when the parents were together.
Society has not always been so open to shared custody. In past generations, it was more common for a child to spend most of the week with one parent and then every-other-weekend or once-a-month with the other. It’s somewhat reflective of how household dynamics have changed over the last several decades. Today, there are more households where both parents work full-time jobs and share parenting duties. But, as the Washington Post article notes, the changes also come after years of lobbying from fathers’ rights activists, who say that men increasingly feel cut out of their kids’ lives and that child support requirements are too onerous.
If you grew up in a shared custody household or have shared custody of a child with a former spouse, what has your experience been? How did you come to the decision with your former partner? How did your kids’ wishes play into your decision?
Guest:
Alphonse Provinziano, divorce and family law attorney, certified family law specialist and principal of Provinziano & Associates, a family law firm based in Beverly Hills; he tweets
What you need to know about net neutrality before Thursday’s vote
If you’re an internet user in just about any capacity, you’ll probably want to pay close attention to the Thursday vote at the Federal Communications Commission to approve a proposal by chairman Ajit Pai that would repeal net neutrality rules the FCC passed in 2015.
Much the same way other utilities are regulated, net neutrality rules require internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast, Charter, and AT&T to treat all web traffic equally. The FCC will share regulating duties with the Federal Trade Commission, with the FCC monitoring transparency among providers and the FTC playing the long arm of the law against ISPs who are unfair or deceptive toward users.
FCC commissioners are expected to approve the proposal, a move that has some digital rights activists, Democrats and consumers up in arms over the possibility that allowing ISPs to charge an additional fee to provide content at faster speeds to users willing to pay could mean the end of an open internet and drastic changes to the way we experience it. They also say it will limit competition among web companies. Chairman Pai and supporters of the repeal say it’s unlikely that ISPs will start to throttle or censor web content because it would damage their ability to adapt their service to what customers want.
So, what does this mean for your web browsing habits? How likely is this decision to drastically change the way we experience the internet? What does the decision mean for web companies? What are tech giants like Facebook and Google saying?
Guest:
Edmund Lee, managing editor of Recode, a technology media news site; he tweets @edmundlee
You’ve seen the ‘impeach’ ads. What is Tom Steyer up to?
You’ve probably seen the “impeach Trump” ads from billionaire and environmentalist Tom Steyer.
He’s put a significant amount of money towards this impeachment campaign, just last month adding another $10 million to the effort.
There’s been some speculation as to whether these efforts are a ramping up to a campaign. (Senate seat? Governor?)
We talk to Steyer about his endgame and his political future in California.
Guest:
Tom Steyer, founder and president of NextGen Climate, an environmental advocacy nonprofit; he tweets
The link between childhood obsessions and brain development
Whether it’s watching Peter Pan every day after school or rattling off the scientific names and traits of countless dinosaurs, it’s common for children to form extreme attachments to subjects, narratives or objects at a young age.
But it turns out these “intense interests,” as scientists call them, can also help kids develop stronger attention spans and information processing skills as they increase their knowledge.
What is your kid currently fascinated by? What were you obsessed with during your childhood? And did it end up leading you toward a passion or career later in life, or did you move on to other interests?
Guest:
Elizabeth Chatel, a marriage and family therapist in Norwalk, Conn.; she tweets