Dodgers' bankruptcy. China on the rise. SCOTUS rules on violent video games and campaign finance. ET, come home.
Dodgers' deep financial troubles come to a head
This morning the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection. In a statement the team says they were forced into Chapter 11 when baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, refused to okay a television deal with FOX that may have been worth billions of dollars. The FOX deal was also the only way embattled owner, Frank McCourt, could resolve his ongoing divorce. McCourt insisted that since he became owner the Dodgers have been on an upswing and that Commissioner Selig intentionally put the Dodgers in financial harm’s way. He said this move was the only way to protect the franchise…and his interest in it. Under Major League Baseball rules an owner can be stripped of ownership if they file for bankruptcy. However, McCourt said he had secured enough money to meet payroll and other financial obligations, which means the courts could rule that he can stay in control of the team for the duration of the bankruptcy proceeding. But will the courts rule in his favor? If they do, what’s next for the Dodgers? And what’s next for McCourt now that his divorce settlement’s been declared null and void and the team is operating under Chapter 11?
Guests:
Michele Steele, Sports Business Reporter, Bloomberg News
David Wharton, Staff Reporter, Los Angeles Times
Death by China: Confronting the Dragon – A Global Call to Action
China is on track to be the world’s leading economy but it is not sauntering up to economic hegemony. Rather, according to economists Greg Autry and Peter Navarro, China is attacking America’s economic preeminence on all fronts using protectionism, currency manipulation, cyber attacks, espionage and even nuclear proliferation to dominate. China bashing, you say, but in their new book Death by China Autry and Navarro say it’s not bashing if it’s true. They explore how imported food, drugs and toys have caused illness and death in the U.S and how American corporations align themselves with China’s state-owned industries to further undermine manufacturing jobs in the U.S. But Death by China isn’t only a rant against the Dragon. The economists offer a complete plan to confront China’s economic assault and look closely at how U.S. policy needs to respond to the Chinese economic and eventual military onslaught.
Guest:
Greg Autry, co-author with Peter Navarro of Death by China: Confronting the Dragon – A Global Call to Action
SCOTUS ruling lifts limits on sale of violent video games to minors
Today in a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States decided California does not have the right to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. Citing First Amendment rights, the high court said governments do not have the power to "restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed." Justice Antonin Scalia even referred to gory tales of yore, such as Hansel and Gretel who cooked an evil witch in her oven. The dissenting justices said minors' free speech rights only exist through their parents. And in another check on state powers, the court struck down an Arizona law that gives public cash to candidates whose rivals have large private contributors. The 5-4 ruling is the latest upending of campaign finance by the court's conservative majority. AirTalk will have all the details. What is the wider impact of these decisions? Where else in the country will the effects be felt? What are the options for the losing sides of these decisions?
Guests:
Leland Yee, California State Senator, D-San Francisco; author of AB 1179: Violent video games: sales to minors, which was signed into law in 2005, but never took effect
Sean Bersell, Vice President, Public Affairs, Entertainment Merchants Association
Lisa McElroy, Professor of Law, Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law and writes the Plain English column on SCOTUSblog.com
ET, come home
The search for extraterrestrial life isn’t only for science fiction. There are startling new discoveries being made in astrobiology, a new field blending astronomy, biology and geology, that raise questions about the definition of life and what it would mean to the human race if we found it on another planet. In the new book “Beyond UFOs,” author and astrophysicist Jeffrey Bennett goes beyond the movies, science fiction tales, and TV shows to explain why current science makes it seem likely that life is widespread in the universe. Bennett reveals the most recent developments in extra solar research and explores how to best carry out our search for alien life. Do we have the technology and ability to locate life on another planet and what would we do if we actually found life on another planet?
Guest:
Jeffrey Bennett, author of Beyond UFOs: the Search for Extraterrestrial Life and its Astonishing Implications for Our Future