After a fierce battle with Tea Party candidate Tim Donnelly, GOP candidate Neel Kashkari discusses how he will face incumbent Jerry Brown in the November gubernatorial race. Janet Murguia of The National Council of La Raza joins us to talk about immigration reform and her controversial remarks of President Obama. Then, we discuss the new plans for the convention center, and we preview the new exhibition of "Route 66" at the Autry museum.
Neel Kashkari on facing Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown in November: 'The odds are clearly tough'
After a fierce primary battle against Tea Party candidate Tim Donnelly, GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari will face incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown in the November general election, and he told AirTalk on Thursday that he knows he's in for a tough fight.
"The odds are clearly tough, but here's the thing: I'm running for governor because I want to rebuild the middle class of California," Kashkari told AirTalk. "We're literally ranked 47th out of 50 states for jobs. We're 46th for education, and we're No. 1 in poverty. I don't think that's right. I want to put people back to work and make sure our kids are getting a good education."
Many California Republicans consider Kashkari's primary victory over Donnelly a success for the state’s GOP, arguing that Kashkari’s more mainstream values give him a better chance against a Democratic governor in a blue state.
RELATED: KPCC's complete coverage of the June 2014 Primary Election
But Kashkari still has many hurdles to overcome in the race against Brown: He spent a great deal of his own money during the primary campaign and will be running against an incumbent with money in the bank and a high approval rating.
Kashkari said his financial plans for California will help with his appeal to voters during the November election, but could it really be enough to unseat Jerry Brown? What are his plans for the November race?
Interview Highlights:
What are your recommendations for creating jobs in California?
"Regulations every year are getting bigger and more onerous. I don't want to eliminate all regulations. I just want to streamline them, get rid of the old ones that are no longer serving us well, modernize it so that our businesses and our farms can compete all around the world. We don't have to be cheaper than Texas to beat Texas, but we need to be competitive, and right now Sacramento is working against job creation instead of enhancing job creation."
How would you change CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act?
"Even Gov. Brown knows that CEQA needs to be reformed. So when he wanted to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings, he said let's give them an expedited, streamlined review; otherwise, it's going to take years and millions of dollars in litigation. Well, Gov. Brown, if that expedited review is good for your pet project, why don't we make that the standard for all Californians? So my plan is to take Gov. Brown's own expedited review, which he gave to his pet project, and make it the new standard for everyone in California."
If you were to do that, wouldn't you open up the door for certain environmental problems?
"It's about finding the right balance. Right now the pendulum is swung so far, it's working families that are hurt by this. Sacramento is lousy at a lot of things. Sacramento is really good at one thing: creating poverty. Sacramento today is in the poverty creation business, and every time another factory leaves California, it's the men and women that used to work in that factory whose lives are turned upside down. People don't want welfare; they just want a good job, and I want to give them that chance."
With the odds of your winning so slim, what is your ambition here?
"I always talk about two goals. One is winning the governorship to fix the state. Goal No. 2 is to help rebuild the California Republican Party around a positive, inclusive message. My vision for the Republican Party is the biggest tent you've ever seen in your life, where everyone is invited in. Every ethnic group, every socioeconomic background. And the issues that unite us are the principles of hard work, jobs, personal responsibility. I think that we can grow the Republican Party by bringing everyone together. As the son of immigrants, a kid from a middle class background, I grew up bagging groceries and mowing lawns. I think I can deliver that."
Tell us a bit about your background so we can get to know you better:
"My parents came here about 50 years ago from India. My family wasn't wealthy, but my parents were educated. They really prioritized education for me and for my sister. I studied engineering, and I moved to Los Angeles to become an aerospace engineer at TRW in Redondo Beach, went back to business school, went into business and finance and then worked in Washington, D.C.
"I think I've lived the American dream. There's no other country in the world where the son of immigrants, like me, could play such a big role in the federal government or become the nominee for governor of California. This is a great country, but you've got to get that good education to open those doors. Today, our schools in California are ranked 46th. I want every kid in California to have the same shot that I had that starts with a good education, then getting good job and a chance to work hard."
Debating the path to comprehensive immigration reform
Earlier this year when the president of the self-described “largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the country” called President Obama a “Deporter in Chief” for his administration’s deportation policies, it became a rallying cry for some fed up with the lack of movement on the country’s immigration reform. It garnered national attention and also gained her many critics.
Janet Murguia, president of The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) joins Larry in studio to talk about immigration reform, the Latino Vote in midterm elections and how California’s growing Latino population is shaping the state.
Guest:
Janet Murguia, president and CEO of The National Council of La Raza
ACLU lawsuit claims California students robbed of learning time
Students from impoverished districts in L.A., Compton and others are suing state officials over lost class time and overall harm to their education. The class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Counsel Law Center blames high teacher turnover, inefficient scheduling, school crime and even personal trauma for failing these students.They say it violates the state the constitution.
California education officials issued a statement: "While neither the California Department of Education nor the State Board of Education has had an opportunity to review the specific claims made in today's suit, we believe continuing to implement California's Local Control Funding Formula—rather than shifting authority to Sacramento—is the best way to improve student achievement and meet the needs of our schools, and we will resist any effort to derail this important initiative through costly and unnecessary litigation."
Are the courts the best venue for these problems? What are the possible remedies?
Guests:
Mark Rosenbaum, Chief Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, lead attorney on Cruz et al v. State of California et al
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Education Reporter, KPCC
Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom
Hear the segment by clicking on "Listen Now" in the upper left.
As hopes for a NFL team fizzle, City Council oks convention center Plan B
The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday on a so-called Plan B to renovate and expand the Convention Center in Downtown, as the deadline for Anschutz Entertainment Group, the developer behind the Farmers Field stadium, to bring a NFL team to Los Angeles approaches.
The proposal approved by the City Council’s Economic Development Committee calls for a $300 million renovation of the convention center. Over two dozen architecture firms will vie for the contract to design the upgrade, which could include the addition of a new hotel.
In 2012, the Los Angeles City Council approved the proposal for a 72,000-seat football stadium. The agreement, which expires in October, is contingent on AEG securing a pro-football team for the city.
Guests:
David Zahniser, LA Times reporter covering City Hall and local government
The Spurs vs. The Heat, again: Does the economics of pro-basketball curb competition?
It’s The Heat against The Spurs in this year’s NBA Finals, for the second year in a row.
New York Times columnist Harvey Araton argues that the makeup of the league, and the economics underpinning it (in particular the individual salary cap), makes it the most anti-competitive enterprise in US pro sports today.
Guests:
Harvey Araton, sports reporter and national basketball columnist for the New York Times; author of many books including “When the Garden Was Eden: Clyde, the Captain, Dollar Bill, and the Glory Days of the New York Knicks” (Harper, 2011), and the forthcoming novel “Cold Type” (Cinco Puntos Press, 2014)
Larry Coon, an expert on the NBA salary cap. He owns the blog, NBA Salary Cap FAQ and is a computer scientist and the IT Director at UC Irvine
Autry Museum showcases the history and legacy of Route 66
There is no road in America quite like Route 66. The highway winds its way from Chicago to Los Angeles and captures an iconic piece of American history.
A new exhibit at The Autry museum, “Route 66: The Road and Romance,” explores the rise and fall of Route 66 and its powerful symbolism in American identity.
The exhibit opens on Sunday, June 8 and will run through January 4, 2015. Larry joins The Autry museum curator, Jeffrey Richardson with a preview of the show.
Guest:
Jeffrey Richardson, museum curator, The Autry
Ben Fitzsimmons, Senior Manager, Programs and Public Events at Autry National Center