Assembly Approves Health Care Bill; Port Commission Approves Cargo Fee; FCC And Cross Ownership; Afghanistan Review - Crisis In Kabul?; Challenge Of Racial Identity In Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign
Assembly Approves Health Care Bill
Late yesterday the state Assembly approved the first part of a $14.4 billion plan to extend medical insurance to most residents, marking the first real victory in the Governor's campaign to overhaul the state healthcare system. But given a looming deficit, many are questioning the timing, especially in the Senate, where it's less likely to pass. Larry talks with John Myers, Sacramento Bureau Chief of KQED Public Radio's The California Report about healthcare reform and the impact of this vote.
Port Commission Approves Cargo Fee
The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles provide imported goods to the entire nation. But all those ships, trucks and trains belch out diesel fumes that can sicken local residents--estimates are that 25% of all particulate air pollution in the region comes from the ports. In response, the Long Beach Harbor Commission approved a $1.6 billion tax on cargo to raise money to help fund clean-air initiatives such as better pollution controls for trucks. The revenue will come through a $35 charge on every cargo container leaving or entering by truck. Larry talks with Mario Cordero, Vice President of the Long Beach Harbor Commission about the economic and health impacts of this new policy.
FCC And Cross Ownership
In 1975, the Federal Communications Commission approved a ban on media "cross-ownership," when one outlet owns the newspapers and broadcasting stations in a city. The goal was to maintain competition in the media marketplace. But now the FCC is expected to overturn the ban. This has raised the ire of some senators, who fear media monopolies controlling the flow of information. Others see it as a natural adjustment to a changing marketplace, where cable and the Internet have made ownership of the airwaves far less important. Larry talks with Josh Silver, Executive Director of The Free Press, and Steven Titch, media policy analyst for the Reason Foundation about the impacts of the expected change.
Afghanistan Review - Crisis In Kabul?
Despite the early success of toppling the Taliban in 2001, insurgent attacks are up to their highest levels since the beginning of the US involvement. And suicide bombings are up some 30% in some areas. This has led the Pentagon and NATO to start a series of reviews of operations in Afghanistan, which has started to highlight many problems for the forces there, including long-standing shortfalls in equipment. Reportedly, some Europeans officials are wondering if Afghanistan isn't becoming what it was for the British and the Russians: a doomed operation. Larry talks with Carlotta Gall, Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent for The New York Times, Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow on South Asia at the Heritage Foundation, and Larry Goodson, Director of Middle East Studies at the Army War College about the war in Afghanistan and where it's headed.
Challenge Of Racial Identity In Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign
Award winning author and scholar Shelby Steele examines the complex racial issues surrounding Barack Obama in his quest to become President of the United States. Steele argues that Obama is caught between the two classic positions that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargainers and challengers. According to Steele, bargainers strike a deal with white America in which they promise not concentrate on America's ugly history of racism if whites refrain from holding race against them. Challengers do the opposite. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies like affirmative action and diversity. Steele maintains that Senator Obama is caught between these two postures and may fail in his candidacy because of his inability to find his true political voice. He joins Larry Mantle to discuss his views.