U.S. Representative Darrell Issa's plans to ramp up oversight. What to do about Bush's tax cuts. Stress 2010 - Americans on edge. Ol' Blue Eyes in detail, the life of Frank Sinatra.
Congressional oversight or over-smite?
During the Bush Administration, liberal Dems frequently called for hearings into the activities of the President and his staff in the run-up to the Iraq war. And they got many of them. Under Congressman Henry Waxman’s chairmanship, the Oversight Committee held 203 hearings in two years. Now Congressman Darrell Issa, Republican from North San Diego and the financial backer of the 2003 gubernatorial recall election, promises to use his chairmanship to launch “one or two hearings each week.” Is this a legitimate use of the Oversight Committee, or an attempt to gum up policy objectives along ideological lines?
Guests:
Jake Sherman, congressional reporter for POLITICO
Henry Waxman, Democratic Congressman representing CA's 30th district; Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee
The battle over Bush tax cuts heats up - again
President Obama says the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire in January, should be made permanent for middle-class Americans. But he doesn’t want to see them extended for individuals who make more than $200,000 or families that make more than $250,000. Otherwise, he argues, Washington will fall a further $700 billion into debt. Republican leaders say, however, that allowing any part of the Bush tax cuts to expire will do more damage to the sputtering economy. Who’s right? And what are the political repercussions?
Guests:
Alan Viard, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
Andrew Fieldhouse, Federal Budget Policy Analyst at the Economic Policy Institute
Stressed out? Join the crowd
From Obama calling the nation’s 9.6% unemployment rate the “new normal,” to continued economic uncertainty, there are plenty of reasons for Americans to be on edge. But the 2010 Stress in America Survey from the American Psychological Association (APA) reveals it’s even worse than we thought. 1 in 4 Americans report extremely high stress levels – with Angelenos topping the national average. All this anxiety is bad for our health too. The numbers indicate an accompanying rise in serious health diagnoses, including chronic asthma and arthritis. Is stress the new public health crisis? What – if anything -- can we do to better manage our increasingly stressful lives?
Guest:
Dr. Michi Fu PhD, Rosemead-based psychologist, who works with the American Psychological Association’s public education committee for the California Psychological Association
The master interpreter of song, Frank Sinatra
Equal parts charisma and enigma, Frank Sinatra is arguably the best-known entertainer of the twentieth century. But behind the blue eyes, velvet voice and legendary performances is the life of a real man. In his new book, Frank: The Voice, author James Kaplan fills in the details of Sinatra’s story in full detail, including his inauspicious beginnings in Hoboken, singing for quarters in his father’s tavern as a 12-year old kid, his meteoric rise to superstardom, and his marriages, infidelities, struggles and miraculous comebacks. Through exhaustive research, Kaplan's biography offers an almost day-by-day experience of Sinatra's life, making his legend feel at once intimate and as towering as ever.
Guest:
James Kaplan, author of Frank: The Voice