As Obamacare continues to roll out, some people will lose their current insurance. What impact will this have on people signing up? Then, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy will get his annual review today. Do you think he is doing a good job? Next, we'll preview the upcoming game of the Lakers versus the Clippers, and do clutch athletes really exist? Then, how much did President Obama really know about spying on foreign leaders? Next, Christmas decorations are already up in stores. Why is this happening earlier each year? Lastly, we talk with Peter Mullin about the new program at the Art Center College of Design.
Obamacare rollout cancels policies, despite President’s pledge
The White House admitted for the first time Monday that President Obama broke his promise that Americans who like their health insurance plans can keep them under the new Affordable Care Act. For several years, as the President pushed for enactment of the health care law, he routinely pledged that people would be able to keep their doctors and their plans. "If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan," President Obama said in 2009.
But now, hundreds of thousands of people across the country have received cancellation notices from their insurers, citing the new law. White House press secretary Jay Carney said it’s because the health care law requires certain minimum standards of coverage. Critics say it’s yet another example of how the law is bad for consumers. But proponents argue that the new standards will provide more comprehensive care for many people.
Meanwhile, Marilyn Tavenner, who heads the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, apologized Tuesday in a Congressional hearing for problems that have plagued the introduction of the enrollment website, HealthCare.gov. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is expected to face a grilling tomorrow from both parties for the roll out of the technologically challenged web site.
If people who buy insurance on the individual market are forced to change plans, will they be better off in the end? Will subsidies off-set the rise in premiums or will consumers be hit hard by sticker shock?
Guests:
Louise Radnofsky, Health Policy Reporter, Wall Street Journal
Juliet Eilperin, White House Reporter, Washington Post
LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy to get closed-door annual review
LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy is having a closed-door meeting with the seven-member Board of Education today and will get his annual review. Today’s meeting caps days of rumors surrounding Deasy’s future at the country’s second largest school district. It started with a Los Angeles Times article Thursday that reported Deasy’s intention to resign his post in February, citing unnamed sources.
Los Angeles Board of education President Richard Vladovic cancelled a special board meeting on Tuesday on the district’s troubled iPad program to lengthen the meeting that has already been scheduled with Deasy. For his part, Deasy has told various news outlets that he has not tendered a letter of resignation and won’t discuss the matter further until after Tuesday’s meeting.
Guest:
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, education reporter for KPCC
Lakers vs. Clippers: An NBA season preview
Yesterday, Laker center Chris Kaman discussed the prospects that the Clippers (his former team for seven seasons) would become “L.A.’s team” with Times basketball reporter Mike Bresnahan: "I respect what they're doing and what they've done, but still, they're nothing like the Lakers. You look up here at all the championships. They're never going to have that. It's never going to happen. I don't see it.”
Kaman’s opinion is a common refrain among NBA fans in Southern California, but if the future is anything like the near past, those could just be famous last words. Last season, the once-lowly Clippers swept the Lakers in the four games they played in their shared Staples Center home by an average of 13 points.
Combine that fact with the Clippers acquisition of coach Doc Rivers this summer, and the general sense that the Lakers are heading for the kind of season that fans of storied franchises don’t approve of, and you see how Kaman could one day be walking his words back. Or will he?
Tonight will be the first step in that long journey, as the Clippers take on the Lakers on this, the opening day of the NBA’s 2013-14 season. The Staples Center will be decked out in purple and gold tonight, but if pundits and prognosticators are right about this season, the momentum could be with the red, white, and blue.
Guests:
Kevin Arnovitz, host of ESPN’s Clippers Podcast
A. Martinez, host of ESPN’s Lakersline and co-host of KPCC’s Take Two
Are clutch athletes just a figment of our imagination?
The stats say they don’t exist, but do athletes who consistently deliver in clutch situations really belong in the same category as, say, unicorns? A well-worn study by Dick Cramer in 1977 found that statistically there really is no such thing as a clutch player in baseball, and subsequent studies of the stats haven’t been able to prove otherwise.
But in this year’s playoffs, baseball fans have seen quite a few of what we might call clutch performances. From David Ortiz’s grand slam against Detroit in Game 2 of the ALCS to even the score, to his 2-run homer against the Cardinals in Game 2 of the World Series to give his team the lead.
Might we consider David Ortiz to be a clutch player despite what the statistics say? Why do some athletes choke in crucial game moments while others excel? Are some people just wired to perform well in higher pressure situations? What are your favorite ‘clutch’ moments in sports history?
Guests:
Mark Otten, Ph.D, assistant professor of psychology at Cal State Northridge
J.C. Bradbury, Ph.D, professor of sports economics at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta
Was President Obama in the loop on spying on foreign leaders?
The Los Angeles Times reports U.S. intelligence officials are angered by denials from the Obama Administration about spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also denied knowledge of "certain surveillance activities."
To the surprise of many, Feinstein went further saying she is "totally opposed" to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of U.S. allies. She is also calling a major review of the NSA operation.
Is it possible that President Obama and other senior politicians tasked with intelligence oversight were unaware of surveillance operations in Europe? What can we make of career intelligence officers complaining to the media about the denials? If the NSA has conducted surveillance on European allies - both citizenry and leadership - should the spy agency be willing to take the responsibility for any blowback?
Guests:
Ken Dilanian, Intelligence and national security reporter for the Los Angeles Times in Washington D.C who co-wrote the story
Kathleen McClellan, National Security and Human Rights Counsel, Government Accountability Project - founded in 1977 to represent whistleblowers.
Robert Turner, Law Professor and Associate Director of the Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia
Cameron Munter, Professor of International Relations at Pomona College. He served as American Ambassador to Pakistan 2010-2012 and to Serbia 2007-2009
Why is Christmas Creep 2013 starting earlier than ever?
From Pershing Square to Beverly Center to Amazon.com, Christmas decor and holidays shopping tips are up and glowing even before All Hallow's Eve. If you think that's early, Kmart's holiday-shopping ads went into rotation on September 9, more than 100 days before Christmas - an unprecedented move according to Forbes.
Why so early? A few things are at play. Hanukkah lands on Thanksgiving this year - shortening the shopping time for a gift-intensive celebration. Retailers also blame the calendar for giving six fewer shopping days this year, which only happens every six or seven years - giving them less time to make sales projections.
Still, what's the excuse for seeing lights, trees and tinsel in the public space? How does it affect how you think about the holidays? Will you shop earlier than ever if the deals are right?
Guests:
Kit Yarrow, consumer research psychologist and professor at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and author of the forthcoming book “Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We shop and Buy” (March 2014, Jossey-Bass)
Marshal Cohen, Chief Industry Analyst, the NPD Group - a retail analysis firm; Author, “Buy Me! How to Get Customers to Choose Your Products and Ignore the Rest” (2010)