Today, we keep up to date with the Obama press conference and it's impact on next year's cabinet and Congress. We'll discuss Black Friday's steady takeover of Thanksgiving Thursday and L.A. city council's half-sent tax hike for real estate. We'll also revisit the Petraeus affair with rights to privacy in mind, and consider the red state-blue state divide and how to bridge the gap. All that and more, on AirTalk.
Trying to juice the ‘lame duck’ session: Obama faces the nation in first press conference in months
Newly-re-elected President Barack Obama stepped up to the podium today to lay out his agenda for the remainder of his first term, and set the stage for his second. Although Mr. Obama has held several shorter press events over the last several months, much has transpired since March 6th and reporters are eager to pose their questions about topics like the makeup of his new cabinet, how he plans to steer away from the fiscal cliff, the Benghazi attacks that claimed the lives of four Americans and the developing sex scandal that led to last week’s surprise resignation of CIA director David Petraeus.
In other news from the capitol, California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi announced that she’ll be continuing as Democratic party leader.
Guest:
David Mark, editor-in-chief of Politix
How much invasion of privacy does the Petraeus-Broadwell scandal warrant?
The details of former CIA director David Petraeus’ affair are coming out, and a steady drip of new information reveals an increasingly expanding, twisted web of relationships. Since Petraeus handed in his resignation, there has been wild speculation from politicians and the media about his decisions and personal life.
Although Petraeus is recognized by both Democrats and Republicans as an incredibly gifted general and a solid CIA director, federal intelligence agencies have cited his affair as a potential security breach, and have begun an investigation. Some members of the House and Senate are calling for Petraeus to testify before Congress, while others have suggested that it would be best to drop the issue now that he has resigned. The FBI has meticulous records of the situation, with information from all involved parties – there are tens of thousands of emails documenting the specifics of the Petraeus-Broadwell affair.
How much personal information is the government entitled to in the case of a high-profile scandal within their ranks? How much detail should be made available to the general public? Does Petraeus’ former job disallow him a certain right to privacy?
Guest:
Ben Wizner, head of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Speech Privacy and Technology Project
Black Thursday is the new Black Friday
There’s nothing like gathering loved ones around the table for the holidays, sharing a turkey dinner with all the fixings, finishing up with warm pumpkin pie, and then…rushing off to Wal-Mart? That’s what retailers are hoping their loved ones – American consumers – will be looking forward to this holiday season.
Over the years “Black Friday," the day when retailers traditionally open doors and drop prices to jump-start holiday shopping, has been systematically creeping into Thanksgiving Day, with earlier and earlier start times. Last year, Target stores opened at midnight, Wal-Mart at 10 p.m. and Toys R Us at 9 p.m. This year, both Wal-Mart and Toys R Us are will open at 8:00 p.m, and Target at 9.
"They want to open before the pumpkin pie is even digesting in your stomach on Thanksgiving Day. It’s just nuts," says KPCC business reporter Matt DeBord.
K-Mart is dispensing with Turkey Day altogether, scheduling a 6:00 a.m. opening on November 22nd. Retailers, who have been taking an economic hit due to the recession, hope that Black Thursday shoppers will spill some black ink onto their balance sheets. Die-hard bargain-hunters love the sport – and the slashed prices.
“It’s a bit of an arms race is what it is," says DeBord. "These big retailers, what they want do is they want to get to the consumers first. So they keep pushing it back."
The losers in this game of me-first? Store employees, who often have to miss their own Thanksgiving celebrations to prepare for the frenzy. Online petitions asking the stores to “give Thanksgiving back” to employees and their families have garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures.
“There have certainly been some folks in the press who’ve come out and said that Black Friday or Black Thursday now is a negative thing for this reason," Debord said. "There’s a psychological cost here, if you will. It undermines the overall value and enjoyment of the holiday that these workers can have, and it's unfair for the retailers to be putting the buck ahead of that sort of cultural value.”
Wal-Mart workers have targeted Black Friday for a national boycott and strike, gaining support online and through social networking. But it doesn’t look like Black Thursday is going anywhere – not this year anyway.
Guest:
Matt DeBord, KPCC business reporter and writer of The DeBord Report blog
Did the LACC cave to real estate interests by putting the tax hike on the March ballot?
Angelenos voted on state tax measures one week ago, but they may be voting on another tax measure in March if the Los Angeles City Council successfully places a half-cent sales tax hike on the ballot. The proposed measure is aimed at preventing new cuts in city services by boosting revenue by an estimated $215 million a year, but it has drawn immediate opposition. Left-of-center groups have accused city council members of caving to real estate interests by dropping plans for a property sales tax in favor of a hike that disproportionately impacts working class taxpayers. A second and final vote on the sales tax ballot measure is planned for next week.
If voters approve the measure, Los Angeles would have one of the highest tax rates in the state — 9.5 cents on every dollar of taxable sales. The city faces a budget shortfall that is expected to reach $216 million and City Council President Herb Wesson maintains the half-cent hike is the most practical option to avoid layoffs of city employees and to bridge the budget gap.
Is the Los Angeles City Council really caving to influential real estate interests? Do you support the half-cent sales tax hike as a necessary strategy to avoid cuts in city services including the Los Angeles Police Department? Is there a more practical alternative?
Guest:
Alice Walton, KPCC reporter, covering today’s city council meeting
Bridging the Red State-Blue State divide
Post-election America is healing after bruising campaigns that left the country feeling deeply divided. The presidential race and the November 6 outcome are evidence of major shifts in the makeup of the electorate – the results show that the voting population is transforming, and so are the ideals that drive the nation. “It is a big problem and unfortunately it’s not a new problem in the United States where partisan political differences have often mapped onto differences between regional cultures and ethnic subcultures," says Matt Lind, co-founder of the New America Foundation.
Republican upsets across the board and gross miscalculations between polls and actual outcomes seemed like the result of willful ignorance from the conservative right. Pundits and media across party lines are asking if the GOP is deluding themselves about who votes and what they vote for. “A lot of the partisanship comes from kind of superficial elements of culture and lifestyle," Lind cites, "which excite bigotry or snobbery in outsiders but which have nothing to do with principles."
Meanwhile, as the Democratic Senate, Democratic President, and Republican House negotiate partisan leadership over a bipartisan electorate, both parties are adapting to changes in popular opinion. The GOP in particular is reevaluating their platform in the wake of this year’s losses.
Guest:
Michael Lind, co-founder, new America Foundation; Author, "Land of Promise: An Economic History of the United States"