Guest host David Lazarus discusses the outlook for a public health care option. Then, should U.S. airlines allow the in-flight use of cell phones? The debate over high fructose corn syrup, and the dominance of the U.S. dollar in world currency. Later, David talks to famed jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.
RIP public option
The Senate Finance committee rejected two proposals for a public health insurance option yesterday. Moderate Democrats are waffling, and committee chair Max Baucus is determined to write a bill that will pass on the Senate floor, even if that means cutting a broad-based government-run health plan from the legislation. Has 'Medicare for All' gasped its last breath? David Lazarus learns more.
Guest:
Linda Feldman, White House Correspondent, Christian Science Monitor
Shana Alex Lavarreda, Director of Health Insurance Studies and research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Should U.S. airlines allow in-flight cell phones?
Passengers on foreign airlines like Ryanair and British Airways already use mobile phones routinely. But in the U.S., the FCC currently prohibits in-flight use of cell phones. And there’s a bill pending in Congress to ban it. The resistance is partly related to unresolved technical issues, such as concerns about interference with navigation equipment. But there are also issues with noise levels and safety. Are we behind the times? Or are we better off staying off the phone?
Guests:
Chris Witkowski, director of Air Safety, Health and Security for the Association of Flight Attendants
Carl Biersack, Executive Director, Inflight Passenger Communications Coalition
Is corn syrup getting a bum rap?
A $1-million ad campaign claims that high-fructose corn syrup is no more responsible than sugar for the obesity epidemic. Indeed, many nutritionists say that there is no difference between corn syrup and sugar, and that they are equally bad in excessive amounts. But critics argue that corn syrup's low production cost and ubiquity in products makes it a bigger contributor to obesity. David Lazarus hears the arguments in the corn syrup debate.
Guests:
J. Justin Wilson, senior research analyst at the Center for Consumer Freedom
Dr. Francine Kaufman, Director of the Comprehensive Childhood Diabetes Center and Head of the Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Children's Hospital LA
Dr. Anthony Heaney, Associate Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
U.S. Dollar dominance doomed?
For some 60 years, the US dollar has been the currency of choice for foreign reserves. But if the US doesn't address its large deficits, warn some experts, the dollar could be supplanted by the Euro. What does this mean for the unique position of the US in influencing the world's economies?
Guest:
Andrew Hilton, director of the center for the study of Financial Innovation in London
John Authers, investment editor at the Financial Times
Wynton Marsalis, the Ambassador of Jazz
Famed jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture. This Friday, Wynton Marsalis brings the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, a 15-piece group he's directed since 1988, to UCLA’s Royce Hall. Guest host David Lazarus riffs with the jazz ambassador himself.
Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra perform at UCLA's Royce Hall on Friday, October 2
Guest:
Wynton Marsalis, jazz trumpeter, Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra