The contractors for the Affordable Care Act website have some explaining to do. How long will it take to fix the glitches in the site? Then, Rep. Darrell Issa is planning to introduce new immigration legislation. What are the chances it passes? And is it time for Newport Beach’s “blackball” flag to come down for good? Later, we'll talk about accusations that the US has been tapping into German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone. And Starbucks is trying to make tea relevant. Can it do what it did with coffee in the states? Then, we'll find out why we all love social media so much.
Washington grills IT for ACA website flaws
The rollout of the online health insurance exchanges that make up the backbone of the Affordable Care Act was anything but smooth. Consumers faced long waits, trouble logging in and wrong information about federal subsidies. Now, the key contractors behind the websites are being hauled in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today to explain what went wrong and how they plan to fix it.
CGI Federal, the Virginia-based company called the “face” of the HealthCare.gov, website is going to face a particularly tough grilling over the glitches and why a Spanish-language version of the site is still not ready.
How quickly can these tech companies get everything fixed and running smoothly? Will the White House delay provisions of the ACA because of the technical problems? Is a “tech surge” a realistic option for fixing these problems? How is California’s insurance exchange faring versus the national site?
Guests:
Shannon Pettypiece, health care reporter for Bloomberg News
Ben Simo, software developer and past president of the Association for Software Testing
Government focus shifts to immigration reform
Shifting gears from the technical problems of the Affordable Care Act website, President Obama called on Congress to work on an immigration overhaul. The immigration plans of the President have been overshadowed by the government shutdown, and the launch of the new healthcare system. Some Republicans are already announcing their legislation plans.
Re. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) plans to release legislation sometime next week that would provide temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants. His legislation would provide undocumented immigrants six years of legal status in the country, according to a Politico interview.
The effort would allow the government a full accounting system of those who are in the country illegally, and would allow undocumented immigration he ability to travel out of the country with this temporary visa. This legislation would be the first bill the House Republicans have released this year that would provide some type or legalization for undocumented immigrants. Many House Republicans prefer a more piecemeal approach to fixing the nations fragmented immigration system.
What do you think about this possible bill? Is temporary legal status going to benefit undocumented immigrants in this country? Will this bill be easy or difficult to pass?
Guests:
Seung Min Kim, Congressional Reporter for POLITICO who reported on the immigration bill California Congressman Darrell Issa is planning to introduce
David Harrison, Immigration Reporter, CQ Roll Call
A real 'Wedge' issue: Is it time for Newport Beach’s 'blackball' flag to come down for good?
For years, Newport Beach surfers and skimboarders have dreaded a small yellow flag with a black spot in the middle. It’s known in the stretch of coast from Big Corona to River Jetties as the “blackball” and when lifeguards raise it every summer, it means no hard floatation devices are allowed in the lineup.
The blackball flies all summer citywide between the hours of noon and 4:00 p.m.
The idea is that less surfboards in the lineup make them safer and more inviting to those visiting for a day at the beach, though surfers and skimboarders bemoan the loss of their lineup during the peak surfing season when Southern Hemisphere south swells give Newport its best waves.
At the Wedge, Newport’s iconic mutant wave located just north of the entrance to the Newport harbor, blackball has become a contentious issue.
Currently, the city bans all flotation devices at the Wedge every day from May 1st to October 31st from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but surfers and skimboarders have launched a campaign to eliminate blackball at the Wedge, calling it discrimination. Newport Beach is looking into the matter, hosting a meeting at City Hall this past Monday to take the temperature of the community.
Should surfers be allowed in the lineup all day throughout the summer? Or does blackball work to protect bodysurfers and others from dangerous objects in the surf?
Guests:
Tim Burnham, bodysurfer and member of the Wedge Preservation Society
Paulo Prietto, skimboarder and supporter of the change.org petition to end blackball at the Wedge
Has the US been tapping German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone?
The National Security Agency might have listened in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone communications, according to the German government. The revelation prompted Merkel to call President Barack Obama for an immediate clarification. Merkel said such an action, if confirmed, would be "a serious breach of trust.”
The White House quickly denied the allegations. "The president assured the chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "The United States greatly values our close cooperation with Germany on a broad range of shared security challenges."
However, Carney did not say whether the U.S. had never monitored Merkel's communications in the past. The German government wouldn't say how it found out about the eavesdropping, but German newspaper Der Spiegel said its research into security files leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden had somehow lead to the discovery.
While spying on allies is nothing new, is it different when it extends to the country’s leader? What if tables were turned and the U.S. learned Germany had tapped the cellphone of President Obama? Is it crossing the line to tap into a foreign official's private cellphone calls? Could this harm U.S.-German relations? Should the German government have dealt with this quietly rather than publicly?
Guests:
Joshua Keating, Staff Writer specializing in Foreign Affairs, Slate
Gordon Adams, Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy, American University; Previously under the Clinton Administration, Adams was in charge of the national security budget at the Office of Management and Budget
With new 'tea bar', Starbucks aims to make steep gains in $90 billion global tea market
Starbucks is opening its first “tea bar” in New York city today, selling traditional and novelty tea beverages like a Spiced Mandarin Oolong tea and carbonated teas along with pastries and other goodies. A cup of tea at Teavana Fine Teas + Tea Bar will set you back anywhere from $3 to $6.
A second location is slated to open in Seattle in November. The ultimate goal is to have at least 1,000 more Teavana tea bars in North America in the next five to 10 years.
Starbucks’ push into the tea market comes a year after it bought Teavana--an Atlanta-based specialty-tea retailer with about 300 stand-alone stores--for $670 million, the company’s biggest acquisition to date.
The hope is to transform Starbucks into more than a coffee company. It bought bottled juice company Evolution Fresh in 2011 for the same reason.
Can Starbucks mainstream tea the way it has mainstreamed coffee? What’s the marketing and branding strategy for tea? Can you see yourself ordering a grande Oolong instead of an iced Frappuccino?
Guests:
Jenny Zegler, beverage analyst at Mintel, a global market research firm. The firm released a report looking at the tea market in July 2013
Sasha Strauss, Founder, Innovation Protocol, a management consulting firm focused on brand marketing
Why are our brains wired to connect?
Psychologist Matthew Lieberman explains in his new book why our need to connect with people is more important than our need for food and shelter. The book explores the brain’s intense need for social interaction with other people.
According to Lieberman, each of our brains has been up to 10,000 hours learning to make sense of people before we are teenagers. The book makes the point that this primal need for socialization and connection is a primary driver in our actions. Research conducted by Lieberman at UCLA reveals that our brains react to social pain and failures much like physical pain.
How important is being social in your life? Do you feel like it drives some of decisions?
Guest:
Matthew Lieberman, professor at UCLA and author of “Social: Why Our Brains are Wired to Connect”