Obama proposes cuts to entitlement programs – who are the winners and losers? Michael Moore gets personal with a new memoir. Pretty pays but does ugly deserve protected status? The Hollywood sign -- a "Tourist-Free Zone"? From piano to prog - eclectic musical adventures at LA Chamber Orchestra.
Obama proposes cuts to entitlement programs – who are the winners and losers?
Yesterday President Barack Obama laid out his plan to curb the nation’s deficits and get the country back on a more fiscally responsible track. He proposed tax reforms - repeatedly stating that wealthier American must pay their fair share. But he also proposed large cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Under the president’s plan elderly homebound patients would pay co-pays for their in-home services and Medicare recipients would pay higher premiums and deductibles. Drug companies, states and some hospitals would all see their payments slashed in an effort to trim about $320 billion dollars from the system over the next 10 years. Republicans aren’t really slamming the Medicare/Medicaid part of the plan, instead focusing on the president’s tax increases for the wealthy. Meanwhile, democrats have lauded the tax reforms while decrying the entitlement cuts as a serious threat to society. As the proposed changes to Medicare and Medicaid come into focus, how exactly will the cuts affect the poor and the elderly? Some of the dollars that will be saved by spending cuts will be redirected as increased payments to doctors. Will that incentivize doctors to treat indigent patients? Who are the winners and loser under the presidents’ plan and how will the politics of this play out.
Guests:
Jamie Court, President, Consumer Watchdog; Author of The Progressive’s Guide to Raising to Hell (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2010)
Michael Tanner, Senior Policy Analyst, CATO Institute with a particular emphasis on health care reform, social welfare policy, and Social Security
Michael Moore gets personal with a new memoir
Writer and documentarian Michael Moore has always told stories from his point of view, but in his newest book he puts politics aside (sort of) and gets personal. In “Here Comes Trouble” Moore presents a series of autobiographical moments that shaped his life and informed his world view. He writes about being elected to the school board in Michigan at 18, the youngest person ever to hold elected office, and about leaving home to join the seminary at 14 in an attempt to become the world’s first “superhero priest.” He also describes his least favorite run-ins with conservative members of the media, and shares a heart wrenching story about a close friend’s botched abortion in 1971. We’ll find out why Moore felt like this was the right time for a memoir and what this book means to him. We’ll also get an update on what’s next for Michael Moore. Is there a new muck-raking doc in the works?
Guest:
Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker and author of Here Comes Trouble: Stories From My Life (Grand Central Publishing, 2011)
Pretty pays but does ugly deserve protected status?
The better looking you are the more likely it is that you’ll move up at your job, the more money you’ll make and the more attractive and wealthy your spouse will be. A new book by economist Daniel Hamermesh makes the case that how a person looks greatly impacts every aspect of their lives and being beautiful gives people a leg up on the competition in everything from jobs to getting good terms on a loan application.
According to Hamermesh, pretty people have it so good that those who are not similarly blessed may need a little extra help leveling the playing field. In an op-ed in the New York Times last month Hamermesh put forth the theory that ugly people are essentially being discriminated against on the basis of their looks and therefore deserve protected status under the American With Disabilities Act. He even recommends affirmative action programs for the unattractive. Hamermesh insists that this would be easier to do than it appears. First it’s not as hard as you’d think to determine who is beautiful, even though most of us say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The truth us there are certain standards of beauty that are universal, and the same goes for ugliness. He also says that although people may not like the idea of admitting they’re ugly to get special treatment, they may change their minds when the see how economically beneficial it will be.
WEIGH IN:
Is being ugly such a liability that those that suffer from it need legal protection? How have your looks positively or negatively impacted your life?
Guest:
Daniel. S. Hamermesh, author of Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People Are More Successful, Professor of Economics at the University of Texas, Austin, contributor to Freakonomics blog at Freakonomics.com
The Hollywood sign a tourist-free zone?
While City Councilman Tom LaBonge hopes to keep the famous Hollywood sign welcome to curious outsiders, some reluctant residents fear the tourists who come to view it cause safety issues and want them directed elsewhere. LaBonge and fellow councilman Eric Garcetti are hosting a community meeting today to discuss it all.
The Hollywood sign was originally erected as an advertisement for real estate development in 1923. Its intent to grab attention worked, and the famous landmark draws more tourists than ever. Aided by technological advancements like GPS, eager tourists can now wind through the maze of neighborhood streets to find optimal vistas, causing an influx in neighborhood traffic.
Unsupervised visitors and cars can also block traffic and roadways. Sarajane Schwartz, president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Association, said if the community’s safety is being compromised, the tourists need to go.
“Our infrastructure is almost a hundred years old, and it was never made to be a tourist destination. You find now people literally in the street, taking photographs in the middle of blind curves, kind of signaling you to go around them. You know, into a head on collision,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz suggested the city build an official viewing site outside of the neighborhood. Councilman LaBonge is open to the district’s concerns, but has encountered difficulty finding a location to redirect traffic. His past proposal to add a viewing platform by Beachwood Canyon Market was rejected. LaBonge said there must be compromise.
“The complaint I hear from residents often is they don’t like these people up here. I understand. I wish there was an Eiffel Tower at Gower and Hollywood Boulevard which would be right in front of the sign. Right now we have all these challenges. I’m working with the police department, the fire department. There are two different sets of views from neighborhood associations … so you try to balance these things out and do the right thing for the public,” said LaBonge.
LaBonge has workers cleaning up the area everyday for fire prevention while he continues to devise a solution.
“We’re going to look at everything, but they are public streets,” LaBonge said. “You’ve got to treat everybody fairly. You can’t just say you’re a tourist, go home, but you live in Beachwood, you can come.”
WEIGH IN:
Should tourists be redirected around neighborhood streets, or is tourism beneficial to the community?
Guest:
Sarajane Schwartz, President, Hollywoodland Homeowners Association
Tom LaBonge, City Councilman, Los Angeles City Council
From piano to prog - eclectic musical adventures at LA Chamber Orchestra
Now in its 43rd year, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra begins its 2011-2012 season with customary flair and innovation. Two adventurous West Coast premieres are on the program, to be conducted by Music Director Jeffrey Kahane: Osvaldo Golijov’s richly orchestrated Siderious, based on the writings of Galileo after he observed the moon through a telescope for the first time, and Ritornello, by LACO’s composer-in-residence Derek Bermel. The latter piece, heavily inspired by prog-rock band King Crimson, pairs electric guitar with orchestra, and features virtuoso electric guitar player Wiek Hijmans as guest soloist. In addition, Kahane performs one of Beethoven’s solo piano concertos and conducts Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute, a piece that marked his first season with the orchestra fifteen years ago. Kahane, who has just extended his contract with the orchestra for two more years, is world-renowned for his versatility and mastery of a diverse repertoire that ranges from Bach and Mozart to Gershwin, Golijov and John Adams. He joins Larry to discuss the other exciting programs ahead this season for LACO, as well as his plans for the next two seasons.
ALSO KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum plays host to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on Tuesday, September 20th at 8pm, as they bring a creative, accessible and timely performance to audiences free of charge with a post-concert Q&A and reception with the artists. Admission is free, but RSVP is required. Click here to attend.
Guest:
Jeffrey Kahane, Music Director, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra