Governor Brown proposes banning overtime for state-funded home health care workers. What does this mean for in-home care providers? Football players at Northwestern University and other Division I schools have taken first steps towards unionization.Should college athletes unionize? Later, is technology the answer to gun violence?
5 ways we'd redesign the Republican State of the Union rebuttal
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers had a fairly low bar to reach in selling a Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. Yet seated on her office sofa — flanked by a flag, fireplace and family photos — she spoke clearly but not compellingly.
It's a tough job. Last year, Rep. Marco Rubio's performance included an awkward lunge and swig from a tiny bottle of Poland Springs water. It had Republicans and Democrats alike cringing in shame and schadenfreude.
Marco Rubio pauses 2013 rebuttal speech for water break
Rodgers had an opportunity to become a new star for the GOP. It was a chance to highlight what's best about her party to an audience of millions. What would have made her response speech sing? We turned to the experts for a rebuttal redesign.
1. Remember: It's not a speech. It's a response. Thing big and off-the-cuff. "The president is speaking in one of the great production sound stages — the great well of our democracy, in one of the temples of our democracy," said Republican strategist Jonathan Wilcox. "Cathy McMorris Rodgers looks like a hostage in a Hyatt Hotel."
2. Create excitement — and bring in real life people. "Get out of the small tiny room with the small tiny couch" said Wilcox. He suggests three things: "It needs people. It needs energy. And it needs grandeur. There's no way these responses can be done without those elements."
Morty Shallman, vice president and creative director of Shallman Communications in Encino, agreed. He thought Rodgers' speech looked like "some secret broadcast from an undisclosed location." Why not stage a rally, he said. Think State of the Union on a smaller scale, but not as small as this response was.
Our guests point to this 2010 response by Gov. Bob McDonnell as an example:
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) responds to State of the Union
3. Make people laugh. "You can't come on the air like you are going to introduce the next episode of 'Downton Abbey,'" said Wilcox, noting that humor is the one thing they always forget and cut. He suggests a "warm" and "lively" approach. "This is not a somber moment. This should be easygoing. That would make it memorable," Wilcox said.
4. Be fresh and solutions-based. Where's the plan? What are the specifics? This is a chance for Republicans to get their opinion on the record in a respectable and non-argumentative way. "It was a missed opportunity," said Wilcox, suggesting that Obama offered nothing new and that Rodgers should have taken advantage.
5. Consider multiple presenters. This is a "performance business with a production value," said Wilcox. "If you miss one or the other, it will be a complete flop."
Why not bring in a handful of elected officials to tackle different issues, agreed Wilcox and Shallman. An elected official should be ready to go live before the event; this way, the rebuttal is properly lit and staged. But who? McDonnell is a perfect example, said Shallman.
Overall, the speech should have energetic charge, according to our experts. It should leave the audience saying, "Did you see what he/she said last night?"
Guest:
Jonathan Wilcox, Republican strategist; former speechwriter for California Gov. Pete Wilson
Morty Shallman, Vice President and Creative Director of Shallman Communications in Encino
Gov. Brown proposes banning overtime for state-funded home health care workers
Governor Jerry Brown’s recent budget proposal includes a prohibition of overtime hours for home health-care workers, who are paid from state funds. Many of the workers (some of whom are family members of the sick or elderly) log 60-plus hours a week.
The new wrinkle is a federal regulation set to take effect next January that would require those workers to be compensated at higher wages for overtime hours. How much more would that cost the state? How will your job or family be affected?
Guests:
Laphonza Butler, President, SEIU/ULTCW (United Long Term Care Workers)
H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director for External Affairs at the California Department of Finance
The US gets a ‘moderate’ ranking on protecting religious freedoms
The United States may have freedom of religion enshrined into our Constitution but a new report from the Pew Research Center shows that we may not be doing the best job of protecting those freedoms.
According to the Pew Research Center's Religion and Public Life Project, the United States places a "moderate" level of restrictions on religious practice compared to the other countries in the world. The study scores 198 countries based on their tolerance for religious freedom. Countries either get a "high", "moderate" or "low" ranking depending on how friendly they are to religious diversity.
According to the study, hostility towards religion in the US shot up in 2009 and remains at an elevated level. Those restrictions include both at the governmental level and "social attitudes", which encompass negative or violent attitudes towards religion.
Globally, religious hostilities have reached a six-year high with the sharpest increases in North Africa and the Middle East. In Asia, China claimed a spot in the "high" category for the first time.
How exactly is 'religious hostility' calculated? Is the United States doing enough to protect religious freedoms? Do you feel your religion is being encroached or repressed here in California?
Guest:
Brian Grim, senior researcher in religion and world affairs at the Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project
Should college athletes unionize?
Football players at Northwestern University and other Division I schools have taken first steps towards unionization. For the first time, college players are asking to be represented by a labor union.
Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, filed a petition on behalf of the players to be formally recognized as a new union, the College Athletes Players Association, or CAPA.
Kain Colter, spokesperson for the Northwestern players who want to unionize, says a majority of the team is looking for support -- not just money, but a “seat at the table” and the ability to be part of the decision making process in college sports.
Should college players be protected by a union and treated as employees? Does unionizing college athletics diminish the integrity of the college experience? What’s the best way to accommodate young athletes?
Guests:
Ramogi Huma, President of the College Athletes Players Association (CAPA), founder and president of the National College Players Association, and former UCLA linebacker
Zev Eigan, Associate Professor Law at Northwestern Law School and Associate Professor of Management & Strategy (by courtesy) at Kellogg School of Management
College sports recruiting for teen girls gets aggressive
Talented teenage girls are being offered hefty scholarships with exclusive college sports programs - often before they ever step foot into a high school. College recruiters are increasingly going after the very youngest female athletes as competition among universities for the most talented players heats up.
The NCAA forbids recruiters from contacting players before their junior year of high school but well known loopholes allow the players to connect with recruiters. College programs in softball, lacrosse and women's soccer are recruiting girls as young as 13 to agree to verbal contracts to play for a specific school.
Some parents and club groups are concerned that the practice is doing harm to girls by asking them to make big decisions too young. College coaches are face the risk that a player signed at age 14 won't pan out to be the star athlete that they seemed to be.
At the same time, colleges argue that if they don't snap up the promising players early, they'll just agree to go somewhere else.Why are recruiters going after girls before they even start high school? Are the verbal contracts legal? Who is benefiting from recruiting girls while they’re still in eighth grade?
Guest:
Matt Sonnichsen, director of volleyball relations at the National Collegiate Scouting Association and a 20-year volleyball coaching veteran. Formerly of UCLA.
Brentt Eads, National Editor of StudentSports.com, a media company that tracks high school and club sports. Based in Torrance, CA.
Kristine Love, Director of Girls Lacrosse at the Northern California Junior Lacrosse Association
Is technology the answer to gun violence?
Silicon Valley angel investor Ron Conway has put up $4 million for tech heads and inventors to come up with the best technology that could keep firearms from falling into the wrong hands.
The Smart Tech Challenges Foundation launched the first of four $1 million challenges this week and applicants have until March 31 to turn in their designs and ideas. The key to safer guns, organizers believe, rests in the kind of tracking and locking technologies already employed in safeguarding smart phones.
Guest:
Daniel Terdiman, senior writer at CNET who wrote about the challenge
Jim Schaff, Vice President of Marketing, Yardarm Technologies based in Capitola, California, close to Santa Cruz. One of the companies that will enter the challenge.