On today's show we'll take a look at the Supreme Court's newest rulings, Mexico's upcoming presidential election and its effects on the U.S., and boss-less companies.
The winners and losers in US Supreme Court’s SB 1070 ruling
Today's long awaited U.S. Supreme Court decision is being deemed a victory for supporters and critics of Arizona's controversial 2010 anti-illegal immigration law.
Three main pillars of S.B. 1070 were struck down by justices in a split 5-3 decision: Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case. This includes it being a crime for illegal immigrants to apply for or hold a job in Arizona; immigrants being in violation of state law when not carrying valid immigration papers and the right of a police officer to make an arrest if they suspect someone has committed a crime that could lead to deportation.
Yet supporters of S.B.1070 are claiming a partial victory. The key 'show me your papers' provision remains, for now. It allows Arizona officers to stop and check the immigration status of people, if there is "reasonable suspicion" an individual is in the U.S. illegally. Today's decision has wider implications for other states looking to challenge federal law in immigration matters, including Alabama, Georgia, Utah and South Carolina.
What are your thoughts on the justices' decision? How do you think today's ruling will impact immigration law? Should all elements of S.B. 1070 have been struck down or left intact? Should there be more flexibility for states to act independently of federal law on local matters?
Guests:
Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff, Arizona
Lisa McElroy, Professor of Law, Earle Mack School of Law, Drexel University; Supreme Court scholar
John Eastman, professor of law and former dean at Chapman University Law School. Eastman holds the Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law at the Chapman University School of Law and is also the Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy; Eastman co-authored an amicus brief for the Supreme Court on the SB 1070 case
Kathleen Kim, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School; specializing in immigrants' rights issues
Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State; Constitutional law expert and Former Law Professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC); Former Counsel to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (from 2001-2003, he was the Attorney General's Chief Advisor on immigration law)
Chris Newman, Legal Director, National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Angelica Salas, Executive Director, CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles)
Presidential election could spell change for Mexico and the US
On July 1st, Mexico goes to the polls to choose its next president, six years after Felipe Calderon (PAN) won in a surprising victory.
A current poll by the Reforma newspaper shows Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leading with over 40 percent. Pena Nieto is followed by his leftist rival Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (PRD), the former mayor of Mexico City, at 30 percent.
A current surge by Lopez Obrador has some wondering if this election will see an unexpected outcome as happened six years ago. Andrew Selee, VP and director of the Mexico Institute at Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars says that is unlikely.
“You never want to predict with too much certainty but all the polls do show fairly significant margin of victory,” Selee said in a conversation with Air Talk’s Larry Mantle. “I mean all the independent polls, not done specifically for campaigns, show eight to twenty one points, so it does look like a comfortable margin. It would be a huge upset if either of the other candidates was to win.”
The likely victor, Pena Nieto, is from a party (PRI) that held power in Mexico for much of the 20th century. Sam Quinones, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, says Pena Nieto is from one of the great political clans who have governed the state of Mexico since 1940.
“...Their political philosophy, their political style involves the marriage of laissez-faire, a lot of people would say, crony capitalism with kind of authoritarian political side.” Quinones said. “The fact that Enrique Pena Nieto would be the President is to me a sign that reform is going to essentially stall.”
Due to the rise in the drug cartels and political corruption throughout much of the 20th century, Quinones says there is some surprise that a PRI candidate like Pena Nieto would have such an easy path to the top office. Quinones attributes this to a short memory by the electorate and a lack of context from the media.
Under current President Calderon, Mexico’s economy has stalled and the country has been besieged by years of bloody drug wars – nearly 48,000 have died as a result. The drug cartels are certainly on the minds of many of those watching the Presidential race.
“For many Mexicans they approve of what he [Calderon] is trying to do, they give him high marks for doing the right thing, for wanting to do the right thing,” Selee says. “But they don’t think the government has been that effective. You know they haven’t been effective in ensuring public security, violence continues to be very high, even though they approved the policies against organized crime.”
It is unclear, according to Selee, how any of the three candidates would tackle drug cartels. All have been very vague about what policies they would pursue.
However, what is clear is that if Pena Nieto and his party win this election it could be the first time in twelve years that the a President and Congress have been from the same party.
Weigh In:
Can either party turn things around? Will Mexico’s new administration bring big policy changes? What’s at stake for U.S./Mexico relations?
Guests:
Sam Quinones, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times and author of “True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx” (University of New Mexico Press)
Andrew Selee, VP and director of the Mexico Institute at Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
You’re not the boss of me!
Considering the plot of last year’s “Horrible Bosses,” where three men plot to murder their bosses, it’s fair to say that anyone with a job spends a lot of thinking about upper management. Love them or hate them, bosses are a part of life.
Or are they? Enter the boss-less company. Many organizations today are flattening the traditional layers of management to create a whole new workplace landscape where peers rank each other, teams work together on group projects, and everyone has an equal voice. In some of these companies, hiring, firing, and salaries are just some of the decisions made by all of the employees as a group. Bosses exist in name only, if they exist at all. But in many of them, promotions don’t exist either. Most workers take a while to adjust to such environments, while some never do.
Can a company really function with no one in charge? Would your company be more or less productive without upper management? Could boss-less companies be the way of the future?
Guests:
Chris Wanstrath, CEO and co-founder of GitHub, a San Francisco-based software development company
Frank Shipper, professor of management, Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland
Ed Frauenheim, senior editor, Workforce Management Magazine