President Bush Nominates Harriet Miers To The Supreme Court; Orange County Special Election; Special Election Campaign Spending; Internet Governance; Do-Not-Call List Update; August Wilson
President Bush Nominates Harriet Miers To The Supreme Court
President Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court on Monday, turning to a lawyer who has never been a judge to replace Sandra Day O'Connor and help reshape the nation's judiciary. If confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, Miers, 60, would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the nation's highest court and the third to serve there. Miers was the first woman to serve as president of the Texas State Bar and the Dallas Bar Association. Senate Republicans said they would press for confirmation by Thanksgiving, allowing less than eight weeks for lawmakers to review her record, hold hearings and vote. Larry talks with Erwin Chemerinsky, Duke University School of Law, and John Eastman, Professor of Law, Chapman University School of Law, and Director of Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence.
Orange County Special Election
Seventeen candidates from five political parties are vying to fill former Newport Beach Congressman Chris Cox’s seat. Cox left the House of Representatives to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Larry talks about tomorrow’s special election with LA Times reporter Jean Pasco.
Special Election Campaign Spending
Fundraising for California’s Special Election is approaching astronomical levels. Larry talks with Bob Stern, President of the Center for Governmental Studies, Shawn Steele, co-founder and director of the Club for Growth, and Darry Sragow , Attorney and long time democratic strategist about who’s doing the spending and on behalf of what measures.
Internet Governance
Larry Mantle talks about the future of Internet governance and who will have authority and control over the vast and complicated electronic network with Hans Klein, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Do-Not-Call List Update
More than 100 million phone numbers have been enrolled in the National Do Not Call Registry since it went into effect two years ago. Government regulators say the system is working but a recent survey found that 51% of registered consumers say they’re getting calls they think should be blocked. Larry talks with David Robbins, General Attorney and Program Manager for the National Do-Not-Call-Registry at the Federal Trade Commission, Bob Arkow , founder and Director of Californians Against Telephone Solicitation, and Beth Givens, founder and director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse about whether or not the Do Not Call program is working.
August Wilson
Award winning playwright August Wilson passed away yesterday (SUN), less than two months after announcing he had inoperable liver cancer. He was 60. Wilson’s monumental 10-play cycle chronicled major themes of black life in 20th-century America. Larry speaks with Gordon Davidson, Founding Artistic Director of the Center Theatre Group, and John Lahr, Sr. Drama Critic of The New Yorker Magazine, about Wilson’s life and career.