Sequestration negotiations are down to the wire with no solution in sight. We'll consider how the cuts will affect California's aerospace industry. We'll also discuss the proposed mini-parks that would drive sex offenders out of Wilmington, CA. On FilmWeek, Larry and the critics review "Jack the Giant Slayer" and the rest of this week's releases, and author Anthony Slide speaks with us about the history of extras in film. All that and more, today on AirTalk.
No deal to end sequester
After a brief meeting this morning between President Obama and Congressional leaders, the parties emerged resolved that there will be no deal to avoid $85 billion in budget cuts under the moniker of “sequestration.”
The meeting comes a half day after the Senate killed the last two bills aimed at averting the “fiscal cliff.” In an address to the nation immediately following the meeting, Obama warned that these cuts would cause a half-percent drop in economic growth and the loss of 750,000 jobs. “None of this is necessary. It’s happening because a choice that Republicans in Congress have made. They’ve allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit,” the President said, referring to Republicans resistance to raising taxes on high earners.
"Let's make it clear, the president got his tax hike on Jan. 1. The discussion about revenue, in my view, is over. It's about taking on the spending problem in Washington,” said House Majority Leader John Boehner in a press conference shortly after the meeting.
The inability for the parties to get together to avoid what were supposed to be cuts so deep neither side of the aisle could tolerate them, has many worried about another looming economic debate: expiration of the government funding resolution on March 27. Failure to agree to a continuing budget resolution could cause the shutdown of the U.S. government, but in the current climate of partisanship, is even that enough to drive Democrats and Republicans to compromise?
Guests:
Scott Horsley, NPR White House correspondent
Lisa Mascaro, Congressional Reporter, Los Angeles Times
Sequester’s impact on local defense contractors
With no resolution in sight, states are bracing for across the board funding cuts. While it will take months for cuts to be fully implemented, many programs are already anticipating the fallout of sequestration. Immigration detainees have been released to save money, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and military programs have begun discussions of furloughs.
Defense cuts could have a big impact in California, where an expected $3.2 billion in defense cuts alone will directly effect the aerospace technology industry. Smaller companies will likely feel the effects of sequestration cuts most acutely, though larger businesses such as Northrop Grumman and Boeing are also sure to suffer. The Aerospace Industries Association estimates that as many as one million aerospace-related jobs could be lost as a result of sequestration, including 126,000 in California.
How could cuts to aerospace technology affect research and development or military technology? Should sequestration cuts be more calculated, or are indiscriminate cuts the only fair solution?
Guests:
Greg Bloom , President, Seal Science Inc., an engineering and manufacturing firm for the aerospace industry, based in Irvine, CA
Kevin Klowden, managing economist at the Milken Institute, where he serves as director of the California Center
Mattie Duppler , Director of Budget & Regulatory Policy, Americans for Tax Reform
Harbor Gateway’s pocket park solution to sex offenders
The LA neighborhood of Harbor Gateway is building a small pocket park to try and force the area's 33 registered sex offenders to move away.
Jessica's Law bans registered sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of a school or park where children regularly gather. Supporters of the park think it's a novel way to force sex offenders out of the neighborhood but civil rights lawyers are concerned the move will unfairly force sex offenders out of their homes.
Janice Bellucci, an attorney with California Reform Sex Offender Laws, thinks the new park will unconstitutionally banish people from the area; but City Councilman Joe Buscaino said he is willing to do anything in his power to keep sex offenders out of the neighborhood.
Guests:
Joe Buscaino, Councilman for the 15th District in Los Angeles, which includes San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and Watts
Janice Bellucci, attorney with California Reform Sex Offender Laws
Angel Jennings, Los Angeles Times reporter following the story
Janet Shour, President of Harbor Gateway Park Organization
FilmWeek: Jack the Giant Slayer, 21 and Over, The End of Love, and more
Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell and Peter Rainer to review the week’s new film releases including Jack the Giant Slayer, 21 and Over, The End of Love, and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Jack the Giant Slayer
Stoker
Bless Me, Ultima
21 and Over
The End of Love
Caesar Must Die
Almost in Love
Koch
Genius on Hold
Guests:
Tim Cogshell , film critic for KPCC and Alt Film Guide
Peter Rainer , film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
A history of Hollywood background actors
You may not notice them, but they’re there. Background actors are one of the many aspects of filmmaking that makes a movie seem realistic. Even though everyone in the audience is there to see the famous actor in the foreground, it is the extras, bit players and stand-ins who take a film to the next level by creating a world for the main characters to live in.
The earliest silent films set the precedent for using extras, although they may not have felt so detached from the main cast back then since no one had any speaking parts. In Anthony Slide’s new book, “Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players and Stand-Ins,” he chronicles the history of these overlooked talents and their role in the entertainment industry.
What is the working relationship between these “unknowns” and their more famous counterparts? Is it ever contentious? How does one get into this line of work? Have any extras successfully worked the way up and out of the bottom rung to grab the brass ring?
Guest:
Anthony Slide , author of Hollywood Unknowns: A History of Extras, Bit Players and Stand-ins (University Press of Mississippi); resident film historian for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences