CBO numbers on health care bill. Coming soon, World Water Day. We talk with the author of The Green Blue Book. Later, how can we balance freedom and security in commercial air travel?
CBO estimates health care bill will cut deficit
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reports that the proposed health care bill would cost $940 billion over the next ten years and reduce the federal deficit over the long term, pleasing Democrats looking to garner more support for the legislation. According to the CBO, the health bill will cut the deficit by $138 billion in the first decade and by $1.2 trillion in the second decade, largely from reductions in the growth of Medicare spending as well as new fees and tax increases. What do you think of the numbers? And with a vote as soon as this Sunday, will the budget news help the push for a health care overhaul?
Guests:
Gerald Kominski, Associate Director UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Joe Antos, Senior Health Scholar at America Enterprise Institute
Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-31), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and senior member of the Ways and Means Committee
What's your water footprint?
The average American uses 656,000 gallons of water per year. Nearly everything we touch, eat, wear and drive has a “water cost.” In The Green Blue Book, author Thomas Kostigen argues that conserving this vital resource is the most important thing people can do to help save the planet. In advance of World Water Day, Kostigen joins Larry in studio to explain how simply redirecting our daily actions can shore up the world’s water supply.
Guest:
Thomas Kostigen, author of The Green Blue Book: The Simple Water-Savings Guide (Rodale). He writes the 'Ethics Monitor' column for Dow Jones MarketWatch and is a regular contributor to Discover magazine and National Geographic Adventure.
World Water Day is Monday, March 22.
Combating terror in the skies
A Nigerian man boarded a flight to the U.S. with bombs strapped into his pants on Christmas Day, raising old fears and older questions about how far the government should go to secure the skies. Can we protect personal safety and civil liberties? How much freedom are we willing to sacrifice in order to make commercial air travel safe? Larry Mantle and a panel of experts address the constitutional and security issues at stake in securing commercial air travel in this AirTalk on the road broadcast from the Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Little Tokyo.
Guests:
Stewart Baker was the first Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security and served as the General Counsel of the National Security Agency. He is the author of “The Limits of Trust: Cryptography, Governments and Electronic Commerce.” Baker is widely known as an expert on the intersection of privacy rights and national security. He clerked for both Judge Shirley Hufstedler and US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
Erwin Chemerinsky is the founding dean and distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Irvine. He has taught at Duke Law School and the USC School of Law. His expertise includes constitutional law, federal practice, civil rights and civil liberties. He is the author of six books, including both a treatise and a casebook on constitutional law.
Erroll Southers was President Obama’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He served as the governor’s Deputy Director of Homeland Security and as an FBI Special Agent. He now serves as the Associate Director of the National Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis at USC and as the Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the Los Angeles Airport Police Department.
Web only bonus: Combating terror in the skies Q&A
Larry Mantle and panelists answer listener questions from the Center for the Preservation of Democracy
Guests:
Stewart Baker was the first Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security and served as the General Counsel of the National Security Agency. He is the author of “The Limits of Trust: Cryptography, Governments and Electronic Commerce.” Baker is widely known as an expert on the intersection of privacy rights and national security. He clerked for both Judge Shirley Hufstedler and US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
Erwin Chemerinsky is the founding dean and distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Irvine. He has taught at Duke Law School and the USC School of Law. His expertise includes constitutional law, federal practice, civil rights and civil liberties. He is the author of six books, including both a treatise and a casebook on constitutional law.
Erroll Southers was President Obama’s nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He served as the governor’s Deputy Director of Homeland Security and as an FBI Special Agent. He now serves as the Associate Director of the National Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis at USC and as the Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the Los Angeles Airport Police Department.