A new report on food safety and waste found that confusing "sell-by" dates are causing Americans to waste food. Does the system need more clarity? Then, we'll talk about the Federal Reserve's plans to pull back on its stimulus plan. And LA Police Chief Charlie Beck talks to Larry about cop cams, hit-and-runs and more in his monthly discussion with AirTalk. Later, polls show that Americans are still very confused about Obamacare. An editor from FactCheck.org is here to debunk some common myths about the law. Then, we'll talk about the battle over drug rehab centers in Malibu.
Fix food 'sell-by' dates to stop consumer waste
Before you throw out that delicious pepper jack cheese, know that a new report on food safety and waste is calling for confusing "sell-by" dates to be tossed out instead. Food policy scientists from Harvard and the Natural Resources Defense Council found a mish-mash of rules governing use-by, best-buy and sell-by dates on perishable foods.
A whopping 91 percent of consumers said they occasionally discard food past its sell-by date and 25 percent said they always discard such food, according to a 2011 survey by the Food Marketers Institute.
That helps explain why 40 percent of food in the United States goes to waste. Clearer language is suggested, such as "safe if used by" or "peak quality guaranteed before." A number of federal bills have been proposed to address the problem, but none of have passed.
What's holding them back? Common foods tossed too soon include yogurt, fruit juices, cheese, and dried snacks. How do you judge whether your fridge and pantry is stocked with safe foods, rather than your garbage can? What labels would offer more clarity for you?
Click here for USDA Food Safety Tips regarding expiration dates
Guests:
Emily Broad Leib, lead author, director of Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic
Dana Gunders, co-author, food & agriculture staff scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council
David Fikes, Vice President of Consumer Affairs for Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
Fed keeps historic economic stimulus program going, despite expectations
Despite swirling rumors that they’ll do otherwise, the Federal Reserve is not going to apply the brakes on the government’s $85-billion a month treasury and mortgage bond buying program known as “quantitative easing.”
The Fed announced its first round of quantitative easing in November 2008 and renewed it in June 2010. This current round of quantitative easing, known as QE3, started in September 2012. Quantitative easing is an unusual tool for central banks to lower interest rates and stimulate lending.
Stock markets in the US and abroad have been expecting the Fed to act differently. How is today’s announcement going to impact the markets?
Guest:
Joseph Brusuelas, Senior Economist at Bloomberg Industries
LAPD Chief Charlie Beck on cop cameras, TRUST Act and more
Every month we have Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck in our studio to discuss issues facing the LAPD.
In his opening speech of his reign, the new president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, Steve Soboroff, has vowed to make technology a priority for the force. He wants small video cameras mounted in all patrol cars and on officers’ uniforms to record interactions with the public that could be controversial, a move that Chief Beck has indicated he’s in support of.
RELATED: The most dangerous intersections in Los Angeles
Other topics we address with the Chief will include the LAPD’s push for tougher penalties for people involved in hit-and-runs, the impact the Trust Act could have on policing in Los Angeles, and the bill on the governor’s desk that would allow undocumented immigrants to get a drivers license.
Is there something you’d like to ask head of LAPD? Leave a comment, or give us a call.
Interview Highlights:
Q: What are your views on allowing undocumented resident to have driver's licenses?
A: "It does change the dynamic, and I am not at all opposed to looking at our policies regarding impounds and seeing if we need to change them. As I said the devil's in the details. It depends on who will become eligible for drivers licenses. There's also another issue. I need to see the judges written opinion on special order 7, because police officers always have latitude on what section to cite, what law to use to make an arrest under, as do the DAs and what they charge and the city attorney and what they charge. I want to make sure that the judges decision doesn't limit that because that's one of the basic tenets of police work."
Q: Will cracking down on hit-and-run drivers, revoking licenses, and extending statutes of limitations help fix an ongoing problem with these cases?
A: "We hope it will. The statute of limitations is an issue in some cases. I think the focus on hit and runs is a good thing. A hit and run is a decision people make after they're involved in an accident. What we're trying to do is change that decision making, so the increase in penalties, increase in our prosecutions, any increase in enforcement, all of those things are good at changing decision points. One of the other things that will help change the decision point is AB 60. When people are licensed, they're much less likely to run from a minor accident than someone who is unlicensed."
Q: What are your thoughts on the state bill prohibiting local jails from holding arrestees for longer so ICE can get them for immigration violations?
A: "LAPD does not ignore all detainers, we ignore some detainers for minor crimes, misdemeanors and the like. The vast majority of people that ICE requests a detainer on, we honor, but those that we think are in custody for minor crimes and should be released if they're eligible to post bail we release. What will happen with the TRUST Act remains to be seen, I have not seen the details of it. The last iteration of it did not allow the issuance of detainers for people that were in custody prior to conviction. I didn't agree with that and the Governor knows I don't agree with that. We've had a long discussion about it and I'm hoping that this version will take that into account."
Q: What do you mean detainers of people in custody prior to conviction?
A: "What I mean is an individual is arrested for, say, a sex crime, a serious crime or a robbery...they're still eligible for bail, and if they meet bail they are released from custody. If ICE issues a detainer prior to their arraignment or prior to their conviction, normally we'll hold them for ICE, if they're eligible. I want to make sure that this version of the TRUST Act doesn't inhibit that. I think that they have allowed us to honor detainers after review by the court, the initial review by the court which is something we do on every arrest well within the 48 hours."
Q: So your concern is that these are greater flight risks if you release these people on bail there's more of a chance that they're going to disappear?
A: "Particularly those that are of interest to ICE. Those are the ones that are the most likely to abscond."
Q: TRUST Act would add categories of child abuse, burglaries, to list of reasons for a detainer. What are your thoughts on these additions?
A: "That of course is the whole purpose of our wanting to modify this bill is to make sure that the right people are subject to detainer and those that commit minor crimes are not. The purpose of ICE and their secure communities program is to get the worst of the worse deported. We want to help them do that, but I don't want to break up families by deporting people at the low end of criminal behavior. Not everybody that gets arrested is a chronic criminal and not everybody that gets arrested is a gang member, and I don't have any interest in holding those people any longer than the law requires me to hold them and I don't have any interest in getting them deported.
Q: So ICE is coming after people for fairly minor infractions, looking to deport them?
A: "Less and less. Since we changed our policy, we have had to refuse very few detainers because ICE modified the individuals that are requested detainer on because they know our policy. I think it's a good thing in that we're working in cooperation with them to try to get at the right people. There are only so many seats on the bus for deportation and you want to get the right people on.
Q: What is the department's policy on enforcement at dispensaries?
A: "Medical marijuana is legal in California if you have a doctor's note and if you are complying with the other pieces of the law. I don't know the specifics of this particular incident, but we are beginning to do enforcement based on the city's new ordinance and people will see that."
Q: What are your thoughts on the proposed program to put cameras on police officers?
A: "When Mr. Soboroff got the appointment he asked me what some of the departments priorities were and I told him in-car video and body cameras are a huge priority, but we've been unable to secure funding because of the city's budget crisis.
"We have funding working its way through the city's budget process for another phase of in-car video, to enable us to get most of the city up and running with in-car video, but our body cameras have been very limited. Mostly restricted to things that officers purchase on their own or that we get through small grants or other donations because there is no money for this program. So commissioner Soboroff...went out and talked to significant donors who are going to find the program. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about it."
Q: You've said you're expecting the 11th straight year of declining crime in Los Angeles. What's the current pace?
A: "We're on pace to have a five-percent crime reduction this year overall. That includes property crime and violent crime. So far this year we're down about 10 percent in violent crime and about 3.5 percent in property crime. Homicides are down by about eight percent, so it's a good year and people should remember that that's in top of last year, which is the best year that the city has had in over five decades, relative to the overall numbers of crime. I'm not talking per capita, I'm not figuring in the expansion of the population, I'm talking about raw numbers of crime."
Poll: Americans still confused about Obamacare, FactCheck.org tackles the top myths
Much of the Affordable Care Act, perhaps more commonly known as Obamacare is set to go into effect in January. The insurance exchange market, where people can find and compare prices on individual insurance plans is opening next month.
But the closer we get to the implementation of Obamacare, the more confusion there seems to be about the new law.
A recent poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal found that almost 70 percent of Americans say they either don’t understand the Affordable Care Act very well, or they understand it “some.” The poll also found that 45 percent of people think Obamacare is a bad idea, compared with just 23 percent who think it’s a good one.
Some of the confusion surrounding the ACA stems from differing interpretations of the law by those who support and oppose it. For instance, opponents of Obamacare argue that it’s a job-killer, it will make it difficult to find full-time work and cause insurance premiums to go up; while supporters of the law say it won’t really have an impact on jobs and will cause premiums to go down.
An editor from FactCheck.org talks to Larry and debunks some of the Obamacare myths.
Guests:
Louise Radnofsky, Health Policy Reporter, Wall Street Journal
Lori Robertson, Managing Editor, FactCheck.org
Battle brewing between Malibu residents and pricey drug rehab centers
Not all drug rehab programs are created equal. In Malibu, such treatments — offered by rehab centers like Cliffside, Summit, and Milestones — cost up to a $100,000 a month and provide perks like massages, lap pools, daily therapy sessions, and perhaps most importantly, privacy.
Celebrities the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Matthew Perry are all known clients, and they swear by these treatments. Malibu residents, however, aren’t so enthused; they say the burgeoning rehab industry is causing all kind of problems in the area, including zone violations and unwanted disturbances.
"This is not an issue that is unique to Malibu. This is just a matter of local governments trying to manage compatible land uses," said Christi Hogin, Malibu city attorney. "Local governments exercise their authority to create zones where single family housekeeping units can live together and hospitals and commercial areas can function well and separately without stepping on each other's toes."
In addition, Malibu city councilman Lou LaMonte told the New York Times that, "The rehabs are overwhelming our neighborhoods. We have safety issues, noise issues, traffic issues. We’re going to take our city back.”
The problem isn’t just happening in Malibu. On Friday, lawmakers from the cities of Malibu, Newport Beach, Pasadena, Riverside and many others will meet in Sacramento to discuss the issue at the annual conference of the League of California Cities in Sacramento.
"If you're really concerned about this, deal with the offending facility, but where I get upset is when I'm doing such good work," said Richard Taite, founder and CEO of the Cliffside Malibu treatment facility. "We're so well-respected in the community, I don't want to be mentioned in the same breath as people who aren't following the law."
Taite argues that the majority of treatment facilities and group homes do not create disruption in neighborhoods and that they serve an important purpose to people who need them. He sees the conflict as being purely because homeowners think the facilities will cause the value of their properties to go down.
"People recognize the need for this, but nobody wants it in their backyard," said Taite. "The reason they don't want it in their backyard is not because people are loud or anybody's causing a problem, but because they perceive it as damaging to their equity."
What do you think? Would you be opposed if a number of these facilities popped up in your community? Do you have any positive or negative experiences living near one of these facilities?
Guests:
Christi Hogin, City Attorney, Malibu - Hogin is in Sacramento for the annual conference of the League of California Cities
Richard Taite, founder and CEO of Cliffside Malibu, an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center and coauthor in Malibu. He is also the coauthor of the book, "Ending Addiction for Good" (Wheatmark, 2012)