The politics of budget talks. Job-killing spending, what is that really? KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan, Claudia Puig and Charles Solomon join AirTalk to review the week’s new film releases including Cars 2, Bad Teacher, The Best and the Brightest, A Better Life and more. TGI-FilmWeek! Afghanistan’s national sport - no rules, no ball, one headless goat.
The politics of budget talks
Bipartisan budget talks broke down Thursday when Republicans walked out, setting up a showdown between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner over taxes. Lawmakers lead by Vice President Joe Biden had been meeting for weeks to discuss ways to meet the August 2nd deadline to raise the debt ceiling while at the same time cutting potentially $1-$2 trillion from the federal budget. Biden and a handful of lawmakers were seeking to strike a budget-cutting deal that would allow Congress to sign off on more borrowing. But Republicans lead by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said we should be more focused on spending cuts than tax increases. Were Republicans genuine in suggesting everything was on the negotiating table? What impact will Rep. Cantor’s walk-out have on future negotiations? Is closing a tax loophole the same as a tax hike?
Guest:
Doyle McManus, Washington Columnist covering national and international politics for the Los Angeles Times
Patricia Murphy, writes about Congress and politics for the Daily Beast
Job-killing spending, what is that really?
The latest numbers from the Labor Department on Thursday show another jump in unemployment claims. Last week, 429,000 Americans filed for their first week of benefits – an increase of 9,000 claims from the week before. It's just one more figure that adds up to a dismal 2011 so far. House Republicans place part of the blame on President Obama’s spending policies. At a news conference last month, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said, “Americans continue to look at all the ‘stimulus’ spending that was enacted under the current administration and ask the question, ‘Well then, where are the jobs?’” But economist Alan Blinder says we know exactly where those jobs are. In an op-ed in this week’s Wall Street Journal, Blinder highlights numbers from the Congressional Budget Office that show stimulus spending created between 1.3 and 3.3 million jobs in 2010. He goes on to challenge GOP rhetoric that claims government spending kills jobs, calling that assertion mere myth. So what impact does government spending have on jobs? What policies actually create or crush jobs? And what weight does a private sector job carry for the economy compared to a government job?
Guest:
Alan S. Blinder, Professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University; Vice-Chairman of Promontory Interfinancial Network; former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
Kevin Hassett, Senior Fellow and Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
FilmWeek: Cars 2, Bad Teacher, The Best and the Brightest, A Better Life and more
KPCC film critics Henry Sheehan, Claudia Puig and Charles Solomon join AirTalk to review the week’s new film releases including Cars 2, Bad Teacher, The Best and the Brightest, A Better Life and more. Plus, we have Wade Major to discuss the "Films That Got Away" screenings that LAFCA co-programmed at the LA Film Festival. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and henrysheehan.com Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and U.S.A. Today Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC; animation critic, author and historian for amazon.com Wade Major, film critic for boxoffice.com
Live tweeting this week's reviews:
Afghanistan’s national sport - no rules, no ball, one headless goat
Buzkashi Boys is a forthcoming, American-funded film about Afghanistan’s national sport: spelt Buzkashi. This largely lawless game is kind of a cross between polo and rugby. But instead of using a ball, the Afghan horsemen play with a headless goat. Up to fifty riders compete for cash as they try to steal the carcass from other players, before tossing it into a chalk-drawn circle. The film was directed by Sam French and written Martin Roe, two best friends who both graduated from USC film school. Their Afghan-Canadian producer is Ariel Nasr. The three hope their movie will inspire the regeneration of Afghanistan’s film industry, which has been largely destroyed by decades of war and Taliban repression. It was produced through a partnership of two NGOs – Afghan Film Project (U.S.) and Afghan Film Making Education Organization (Afghanistan), founded in 2010. Buzkashi Boys is set in the old city slums of Kabul and focuses on two young boys – a blacksmith’s son and a street urchin. The two dream of a better life, by becoming legendary Buzkashi riders. French and Roe join us to talk about filming in war-torn Afghanistan and how they’re working towards creating the next generation of filmmakers there.
Guests:
Sam French, Director of Buzkashi Boys and Founding Director of Development Pictures in Kabul, Afghanistan
Martin Roe, Co-Writer of Buzkashi Boys and Co-Founder of Dirty Robber, a production company based in Silverlake, California