Subcommittee update. Changes in the wind at the Sierra Club. Occupy vs. Tea Party: media scorecard. How to get USPS out of the red? Can outsider physicists explain the nature of everything?
Supercommittee not so super
Wednesday marks the deadline for the supercommittee to slash 1.2 trillion dollars from the deficit over the next decade.
Under the Budget Control Act, which created the committee, any proposal must be publicly made and evaluated for its financial impact by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) no later than today.
It’s looking very much like the committee is stalled which could trigger automatic, across-the-board spending cuts. That could shave off defense funding that the GOP wants to protect. Democrats are worried about social spending, but some programs would be immune to the trigger cuts, such as Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, veterans’ benefits, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, among others.
Republicans came up with an alternative plan announced Friday that would include approximately $540 billion dollars in spending cuts and fees. Democrats dismissed the plan saying it disproportionately does little to tax the wealthy. Republicans argue Democrats are too stringent and Democrats claim Republicans need to support tax hikes.
WEIGH IN:
Can the super committee beat the clock? What will the fall out be if they fail?
Guests:
David Hawkings, journalist & editor at CQ Roll Call where he writes the Daily Briefing
Tom Del Beccaro, Chairman of the California Republican Party
Brad Sherman, Democratic Congressman from the San Fernando Valley's 27th congressional district
Dueling tax proposals for the 2012 ballot
They’re calling themselves the Think Long Committee, and they want to revamp California’s tax system.
A diverse, powerful group of billionaires and politicians including Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad, former governors Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Google chairman Eric Schmidt has announced a $10-billion tax increase proposal for the November 2012 ballot.
Their ideas include lowering the tax rate for families making up to $45,000, raising income tax rates for those making up to $95,000 to two percent, doubling the current exemption for homeowners and renters on their state income tax, and creating a new levy of more than five percent on currently untaxed services such as accounting.
The committee has not yet filed any official initiatives with the state attorney general’s office or created a campaign finance committee, but those moves are expected within the next few weeks. Taxpayer organizations such as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association have said they have issues with the plan’s impact on businesses.
A coalition of labor unions and community groups are prepping their own ballot proposal that would raise taxes on high earners and increase the state sales tax. The California Federation of Teachers says pending budget cuts emphasize a need for a revenue measure on the 2012 ballot.
WEIGH IN:
How do Think Long and the labor coalition’s plans differ? Do you agree with their proposals?
Guests:
Bob Hertzberg, member, Think Long Committee who helped develop the tax and finance proposal; former speaker of the California State Assembly
Josh Pechtalt, President, California Federation of Teachers
Chris Vosburgh, Executive Director, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Occupy vs. Tea Party: media scorecard
As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues into its third month, many are asking whether public demonstrations will influence politicians and change public policies. Like the Tea Party, OWS is a grassroots movement that rails against large institutions—banks and financiers, instead of government and taxation.
A recent Pew/Washington Post study finds that 63% of Republicans polled support the Tea Party compared with only 13% of Democrats. Those on the left tend to support the Occupy movement – half of Democrats and 62% of liberal Democrats – while Republicans disapprove, with 55% in opposition.
In a few cases protesters cross party lines and participate in both groups. And the picture is more mixed for independents--43% support Occupy and 30% support the Tea Party.
WEIGH IN:
Beyond public opinion, do the movements get fair—and equal—treatment in mainstream media? Which outlets dig deep to get to the heart of these decentralized movements?
Guest:
Tom Rosenstiel, Director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism at Pew Research Center
PJ Davenport, Activist with OccupyLA; Freelance Television and Multi-media Producer
Ashley Ingram, Executive Director of the California Young Republican Federation and a Tea Party Activist
How to get USPS out of the red?
The Postmaster General delivered more dire news last week. In the last fiscal year, the U.S. Postal Service suffered losses of $5.1 billion. Despite cutting 130,000 jobs in recent years and closing local post offices, annual income fell $1.4 billion to $65.7.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said declines in letter mail are happening faster than expected. He also cited a drop in advertising circulation due to the recession. "We are at a point where we require urgent action," Donahue warned.
More financial pain was in the offing last Friday. The Postal Service was due to pay $5.4 billion into the U.S. Treasury to fund future retiree health benefits, but lawmakers gave USPS an extension until December. The issue has been an ongoing source of frustration for the agency. Postal officials are asking for those future benefit payments to be eliminated or reduced – even claiming they overpaid in the past to the tune of $6.9 billion.
They also want to cut Saturday delivery. While no taxpayer monies go to the postal service, Congress does govern how the agency runs.
As if all this weren’t enough, labor contracts with two of its unions expired last night. Negotiators said talks will continue for two-and-a half-more weeks.
WEIGH IN:
How will the latest numbers influence bargaining with those unions? Should lawmakers pass a law to end Saturday mail? Would "restructuring" its financing just mean more lay-offs? Is bankruptcy in its future? Is your local post office closing?
Guest:
Ed O’Keefe, Writer, The Washington Post’s The Federal Eye column
Can outsider physicists explain the nature of everything?
“Big bang,” relativity, quantum physics – scientists and scholars have been trying since the beginning of time to explain away the universe. But do you need an advanced science degree to uncover its secrets? Just as there are “outsider artists,” those with no formal training whose work has surprised its way into galleries and collections, there is also a world of passionate, dedicated “outsider scientists.”
Working in backyards, basements and their own imaginations, these unusual thinkers challenge us to rethink the role that amateurs play in our relationship to science.
Margaret Wertheim first became interested in outsider physicists when she came across the works of Jim Carter. His self-published book, “The Other Theory of Physics,” offers a fresh and completely alternative description of the universe, based on a theory he calls “Circlon Synchronicity.” Not just an extension of current theories of physics, but a wholesale reconstruction, Carter’s book captivated Wertheim with fresh theories of matter, energy, gravity and a complete account of the creation of the universe, complete with diagrams drawn in the author’s own hand.
This led Wertheim into a fifteen-year odyssey into the minds of Carter and other outsiders, from 17th-century philosophers to modern-day thinkers. Their creative, sometimes bizarre approach to answering age-old scientific questions offers a fresh perspective on what science is and who it is for. Physics, their work tells us, is for everyone – not just those in the hallowed halls and laboratories of academia. And in these days of instant information accessibility, anyone with a laptop can publish their own theory online.
WEIGH IN:
Which begs the question -- what should be our criteria of credibility in this field? In 2012, Jim Carter will have been working on his theory for fifty years. Does he have the answer to the secrets of the universe? Do you?
Guest:
Margaret Wertheim, author of “Physics on the Fringe: Smoke Rings, Circlons and Alternative Theories of Everything” (Walker Books)
This evening, Wertheim will be in conversation with outsider physicist Jim Carter at the ALOUD series at the Los Angeles Public Library, discussing Carter’s theory of matter, energy and gravity. For more information, click here.