The House Republicans' plan to force a vote to defund NPR. Orange County journalists roundtable. California's budget identity crisis. Daniel Patrick Moynihan: Bipartisan Lessons for the Current Congress.
House Republicans target NPR for defunding
NPR, which was heavily criticized by conservatives for its controversial firing of news analyst Juan Williams last month, is now under attack in the House. Today House Republicans brought a proposal to eliminate taxpayer funding for NPR. While NPR maintains only 1 to 3 percent of its $166 million budget is funded by taxpayers, other sources estimate the number is anywhere from 4 to 25 percent. YouCut, an anti-government spending program started by House Republicans, says ending NPR’s federal funding could save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars – money that they say should not go to what they consider a partisan news organization. With Democrats in control of the House, the vote has little chance of succeeding - but if it does go down Republicans are expected to renew their charge in January. Should NPR continue to receive federal support?
Guests:
Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, DC Bureau
Bill Davis, President and CEO of Southern California Public Radio
Orange County Journalists Roundtable
Larry and our dynamic duo of Orange County journalists riff about the latest news from the OC. Top stories up for discussion include: public shaming drunk driving deterrent in Huntington Beach; temporary restraining order stops the sale of O.C. fairgrounds…for now; crackdown on boaters in Newport Beach who sell public moorings; violent sex offender set to be released in Irvine, Tustin, or Santa Ana; and more.
Guests:
Gustavo Arellano, Managing Editor of the OC Weekly and author of Ask A Mexican
William Lobdell, Orange County-based freelance journalist and columnist for the Daily Pilot in Newport Beach
Fix the budget! No new taxes! No more cuts!
Californians don’t seem to know what they want when it comes to resolving the state’s huge budget deficit. A new LA Times/USC poll found that Californians still believe it will be possible to close the projected $25 billion budget gap over the next 18 months by merely eliminating fraud and waste. While a popular campaign slogan this election season, the dire reality is that California can’t get its budget back on track by merely trimming around the edges. When asked about their preferred fix, Californians were adamant that new taxes are not the answer, but they also said that neither should the state cut essential services like education and health care for children and the needy - programs that when combined make up 72% of general fund spending. We can’t have it both ways, so how do we get out of this mess? What would you cut to close the budget gap? Or would you raise taxes?
Guest:
Darry Sragow, Interim Director of the USC/LA Times Poll
Daniel Patrick Moynihan: bipartisan lessons for the current Congress
Over the years, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of America’s most illustrious politicians, wrote mountains of words. There were books, journal articles, magazine pieces, diary entries and thousands of letters, but never an autobiography. Family friend and former New York Times reporter, Steven Weisman, went through it all and carefully selected a collection of letters. The result is “Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary,” a vivid record of an extraordinary life. Before Moynihan’s four terms as a Democratic Senator from New York, he was a pathfinder in JFK’s New Frontier, a commander in Johnson’s War on Poverty and Great Society, a renowned professor at Harvard and an Ambassador to India. He was also involved in some of Richard Nixon’s greater and lesser moments. Above all, Moynihan was a creator of powerful ideas that transformed the way Americans think. What modern lessons can be learned from Moynihan’s life and letters?
Guest:
Steven Weisman, editor of Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary; editorial director and public policy fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC; former chief international economics correspondent of the New York Times and member of the editorial board