The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halts same-sex marriages in Utah. Then, a look inside the Koch brothers' big money network and a look ahead at California real estate. Next, what does an Oregon study with some interesting findings on the use or emergency rooms mean for Obamacare? Later, should sellers have to share information about annoying neighbors--and a preview of tonight's BCS Championship game
Should individual states still be able to decide on same-sex marriages?
The Supreme Court on Monday stepped in to block more same-sex marriages from being performed in Utah while state officials appeal a decision allowing the unions. It's the latest in a series of back and forth decisions that has allowed, then retracted, same-sex marriage rights in the state. Utah's path to legalizing same-sex marriage is starting to look very similar to the drawn out legal battle over California's marriage rights that ultimately went to the Supreme Court.
As more and more states become embroiled in legislative action over same-sex marriage, at what point should the federal government step in? Would a federal decision on same-sex marriage relieve a lot of uncertainty and turmoil over the patchwork of state laws? Or would that strip necessary rights from individual states? Where is the tipping point? Will we be left with a split nation where half of the states allow same-sex marriage and the others don't? How will that work when couples move across state lines?
Guests:
Brad Dacus, lawyer and President of Pacific Justice Institute
David Codell, Gay rights lawyer and co-counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights
Tax returns reveal stealthy and wealthy Koch brothers donor network
Conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch have built an unprecedented massive political network that shields the identities of donors, according to a report conducted by The Washington Post with help from the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Post’s analysis of new tax returns and other documents found that the Koch brothers’ coalition raised more than $407 million for the 2012 campaign—using a network of tax-exempt groups and limited liability companies.
With monikers like SLAH LLC and ORRA LLC, the groups have raised major funds to advance limited-government policies—outpacing other independent groups on the right and at least matching the contributions of labor unions on the left.
Late last year, the IRS launched an effort to rein in the use of tax-exempt groups in political campaigning.
What rights should the Kochs and others have to infuse money into politics without disclosure? Should the Kochs be more accountable for how they’re using their money and power? If two men can hold this much power, what does that say about the U.S. political system?
Guest:
Matea Gold, Reporter focused on money & politics, The Washington Post
2014 real estate predictions for Los Angeles and Orange Counties
Frustration has characterized the experience of many aspirant homebuyers in Southern California. Despite the stabilization of housing prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties in the last few months, low inventory and bidding wars are still the rules of the game.
There are new rules and possible tax expirations in 2014 that could impact the housing market this year. With Spring homebuying season just around the corner, we've invited two experts to talk about their predictions for the housing market this year.
Would we see more houses hitting the market? Would prices go up? If you are in the market for a home, what could you do to improve your chances?
Guests:
David Krohn, Vice President of Property Masters Realty, a real estate firm in Glendale
Chris Thornberg, Principal at Beacon Economics
Do newly insured Medicaid recipients make more use of costly ER services? [UPDATED]
New results released from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment — a study of people who received healthcare coverage via lottery in 2008 — has put into question the Obama administration’s assertion that expanded Medicaid would reduce emergency room visits.
The study, which because of the lottery had a large control group of uninsured who were not selected, found an almost 40 percent relative increase in emergency room use for those newly receiving expanded Medicaid.
But preliminary results from a study of expanded coverage of the poor in California suggests that the spike in ER usage may be short lived.
Many counties, including L.A., participated in a program under Obamacare that allowed them to get several hundred thousand poor and uninsured people health coverage as early as 2010. As of New Year’s, those people moved from that program -- called Healthy Way L.A. locally – onto Medi-Cal.
UCLA’s Center for Health Policy Research has been studying the program. It used a different methodology than the Oregon study, since it did not have a control group. Researcher Dylan Roby says preliminary results show that in the California program’s first year, emergency room use spiked much the way it did in Oregon. But in the second and third years, "we’ve seen a reduction that’s quite substantial."
Roby says one explanation for the initial jump in ER use is pent-up demand: Once insured, these patients rushed to emergency rooms to take care of ailments they had put off treating because they didn’t have insurance.
Roby says ER visits diminished in the second and third years of the program because counties took on an important task: "They were redirecting them from the ER into primary care."
Yevgeniy Feyman, Fellow at the Center for Medical Progress at the Manhattan Institute, points out that not all analysts agree with the pent up demand theory. Still, Roby suggests that because Oregon only followed its Medicaid recipients for about a year on average, it did not follow them long enough to see a drop-off in ER use.
Oregon study co-author Katherine Baicker says it looked at a lot more than just ER use among new Medicaid recipients. For one thing, Baicker found new Medicaid patients had greater financial security – they were less likely to have to skip paying other bills to cover medical costs.
In addition, "we found that there was a dramatic improvement in mental health," says Baicker. "There was a drop in depression of about 30 percent. People were also more likely to get access to preventive care, describe their care as high quality, [and] have a doctor who’s their doctor."
Baicker says policy makers should consider these benefits as well as the costs in making decisions about expanding Medicaid.
Guests:
Katherine Baicker, PhD, Professor of Health Economics at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of “Medicaid Increases Emergency-Department Use: Evidence from Oregon's Health Insurance Experiment.”
Dylan Roby, Director of Health Economics and Evaluation Research at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Yevgeniy Feyman, Fellow at the Center for Medical Progress at the Manhattan Institute
Must a property seller disclose a 'neighbor from hell?'
Searching for a new house is no easy process. After countless hours, you’ve found a home perfect for you and your family. Perfect, that is until you discover your neighbor is unfriendly, rude, and hostile. Unfortunately for one New Jersey Woman this nightmare neighbor has become her reality.
Cyndee Phoenix sued Lennar Homes in Atlantic County Court claiming that she was promised a “wonderful lifestyle” in a planned community while the seller failed to warn her of a hostile neighbor. Since moving in to her new home in Mays Landing, NJ Phoenix alleges that her neighbor’s hostility has included spitting, blocking her driveway and even death threats. Phoenix alleges that Lennar Homes knew that her neighbor had engaged in harassment and hostile behavior in the past.
Must a property seller disclose a “neighbor from hell?” California real estate agents are obliged legally to disclose “material facts” during escrow, but does a nuisance neighbor qualify as a material fact? Who defines what makes a bad neighbor?
Guest:
James A Gallo, a real estate attorney in Pasadena with the Law Offices of James A Gallo, with over 30 years of experience in litigation in the Los Angeles area
BCS title game at the Rose Bowl tonight
No. 1 Florida State ( 13-0) vs.No. 2Auburn (12-1) will play tonight in the BCS Bowl. Though Florida is favored to win, but Auburn won two lucky games this season that some sports analysts say signaled a huge turn around for the team. Next season, BCS bowl moves to a four-team playoff system- ending the controversial system that currently exists.
Guest:
Paul Myerberg, college football writer for USA Today