Today on AirTalk, we'll check in on fiscal cliff negotiations, consider whether teens should have easy access to emergency contraceptives, and discuss the cut-off of jobless benefits in California. Later, we'll speak with author David Quammen about the relation between animal diseases and human pandemics.
Democrats and Republicans negotiate on the edge of the fiscal cliff
With each passing day, the pressure increases on Capitol Hill politicians to reach a compromise on the budget. If they neglect to do so before the December 31, 2012 deadline, then 2013 will kick off with a host of undesirable economic factors. Workers would see their payroll taxes increase, businesses would see tax deductions go out the window, and the Bush tax cuts would expire without being replaced.
Furthermore, spending cuts would go into effect that would deeply slash Medicare and the Pentagon’s defense budget. Without a new budget deal, most economists predict that the country would suffer financially, with the stock market taking a massive hit as investors start to panic about the economy. After President Obama’s reelection, he announced that he was given a mandate by voters to increase taxes on the wealthy as a means to deal with the budget.
As Republicans also failed to secure the Senate majority, it appears as if they are now inclined to budge on some of their previous steadfast positions. However, Democrats could be poised to push hard on cutting defense and raising taxes in lieu of making any changes to entitlement programs. Which side will be the first to buckle? How are negotiations progressing thus far? What lies ahead in the upcoming month before the deadline?
Guest:
Aaron Blake, Political Reporter, The Washington Post
Paul West
, Political Writer, Los Angeles TimesPediatricians recommend ‘Plan B’ should be available to teens
Sexually active teens should have access to emergency contraceptives, said the American Academy of Pediatrics in a new policy statement. The doctors recommend that teens should have a prescription for emergency contraceptives, such as the well-known Plan B brand, before they start having sex.
Currently, the pills are available over the counter for people over 17 – the AAP suggests that if younger teens had access to ‘Plan B,’ there would be fewer unplanned pregnancies. The rate of teen pregnancy has fallen significantly during the past 20 years, but the U.S. still has the highest number in the developed world.
Emergency contraceptives can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex, or when a condom breaks, but they are most effective when taken within 24 hours. The AAP suggests that if the ‘morning after’ pills were available to teens, they could be used quickly and effectively, without the logistical hang-ups of a last minute prescription. Opponents of the plan say that providing access to Plan B encourages teen sexual activity, doesn’t reduce pregnancy rates and ignores other negative consequences, such as sexually transmitted diseases.
Should teens have access to emergency contraceptives? How should doctors approach sexual activity and sex education with young patients? Would easier access to birth control and emergency contraceptives help prevent teen pregnancy, or encourage unprotected sex?
Guests:
Anita L. Nelson, M.D., Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UCLA’s Geffen School of Medicine; spokeswoman for the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Donna J. Harrison, M.D., Director of Research and Public Policy, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Cutoff of federal jobless benefit extensions would affect 400,000 Californians
As U.S.businesses felt the pinch of the recession, downsizing or even closing their doors, many American workers found themselves applying for unemployment benefits. But as temporary layoffs stretched from weeks into months, the ranks of the unemployed swelled, straining the limits of state-funded assistance. This prompted the federal government in 2008 to step in to staunch the bleeding with temporary emergency extensions of up to 73 additional weeks.
In California, which provides 26 weeks of state assistance, that meant a maximum total of 99 weeks. Some economists say that the extra benefits have contributed to a down economy by keeping people from taking available jobs. But for many of the over 2 million Americans currently relying on federal unemployment extensions, it’s their only hope for staying afloat as they continue to search for work.
Now, even those extra payments have been exhausted by well over 900,000 Californians. And if congress doesn’t act to extend the federal lifeline, 400,000 more will see an abrupt end to their benefits on December 29th, even if they haven’t exhausted the current federal maximum.
The job outlook has improved slightly, but millions are still looking. With so many breadwinners dependent on the federal program, how will the cutoff affect California’s economy? Has the federal extension helped ease your road back to employment? If you’ve been relying on those checks, how can you avoid your own fiscal cliff?
Guests:
Jordan Levine, economist and director of economic research, Beacon Economics
Liz Pulliam Weston, personal finance columnist for MSN.com and author of "Easy Money," "Your Credit Score" and "Deal with Your Debt"
Should alleged steroid users be admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Baseball writers of America will have some tough choices this January, when two of the game’s most accomplished and polarizing figures become eligible for entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Both Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens should be obvious inductees when you look at the numbers, but the disproven allegations that both lied about using performance enhancing drugs (PED) have still left many questioning whether they belong in Cooperstown.
Bonds, who set the all-time home run record, was cleared of charges last year that he lied to a grand jury about not knowingly taking PED’s. Seven-time Cy Young winner and MVP, Roger Clemens was acquitted this past summer of perjuring himself while testifying in front of Congress about not taking steroids.
But even the acquittals have left many unconvinced. While some insist that any involvement with steroids should be an automatic disqualification from hall of fame consideration, others believe it would be a disservice to the game of baseball and to Cooperstown to not acknowledge the steroid era. They argue that ignoring players involved in steroid use is ignoring a part of baseball’s history, however ugly.
Do you believe Bonds and Clemens should be inducted in to the hall of fame? Why or why not?
Guest:
Bill Shaikin, Sports columnist at the Los Angeles Times
'Spillover' examines animal-born diseases and the next human pandemic
Still afraid of bird flu? Black plague? David Quammen explores the history and mysteries of animal infections and human pandemic in his new book “Spillover.” Quammen’s chronicles of the little known relations between animal diseases and human illness is a fascinating (and terrifying) read.
Quammen takes on frightening subject matter -- from the AIDS pandemic that was the result of a spillover from a chimpanzee to a human, to SARS, Ebola, and Lyme disease.
Smart, interesting, and, according to Publisher’s Weekly, “critically important,” “Spillover” gracefully relates humanity to the rest of the natural world by examining the problems that affect us all.
Guest:
David Quammen, author of “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic” (W.W. Norton 2012)
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen