Planned Parenthood's president is making her first Congressional Committee appearance since the release of those undercover videos. Then, how will each GOP candidate’s tax plan affect the average voter? Also, for some constituents of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, news that he is running for Speaker of the House of Representatives gives them hope he will fight for their agenda.
26-year-old behind Planned Parenthood videos debates future funding of the organization
Planned Parenthood's president Cecile Richards appeared before a congressional committee on Tuesday, the first time she's done so since the release of undercover videos.
The videos show Planned Parenthood officials talking about how they remove fetal organs and tissue for research. The officials also describe how clinics are paid for the organs provided.
The Center for Medical Progress's David Daleiden, founder of the Irvine group which made those videos, told KPCC that what they did wasn't entrapment, contrary to what the head of Planned Parenthood told Congress.
"The primary purpose of this investigative journalism study was to really clearly document and illustrate the way that Planned Parenthood, in real life, over the past five years, has partnered with multiple private and for-profit biotech companies in order to harvest and sell aborted baby parts," Daleiden said.
Republicans want to defund Planned Parenthood, claiming the procedures described and the financial compensation for the organs both violate federal laws. That defunding battle was one of the reasons House Speaker John Boehner resigned last Friday.
"When the Republicans are interviewing [Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards], it does seem like every time she starts to speak an uncomfortable truth, they interrupt her and don't allow her to answer the questions, so that's a little frustrating," freelance journalist Amanda Marcotte told KPCC. She's covering the Planned Parenthood story for Slate.
Marcotte said that she believes that the videos show how doctors speak to each other when they think they're talking to colleagues, and that that's not what she thinks should be at issue.
"I think the relevant issue here is whether or not the Center for Medical Progress got any actual evidence of this supposed selling of fetal tissue. They got none," Marcotte said. "If you actually watch the videos, you'll see that there is not only no evidence of selling, that the money that is discussed is repeatedly described as and talked about as reimbursement, and the doctors that they speak to repeatedly say that they are not going to sell fetal tissue, that that's not what they do, that that's against the law and they follow the law."
Planned Parenthood denies that it alters abortions to preserve organs and that it profits from the money researchers pay to the clinics.
"There is a federal law that you cannot alter and make a procedure more dangerous, that you still have to pick the safest procedure to do the abortion, but there is no evidence against that," Marcotte said. "The procedures talked about are equally safe to other procedures being used."
Marcotte said that she believes that, if patients want to donate fetal tissue, they should be allowed to do that.
Guests:
David Daleiden, founder of the Irvine-based Center for Medical Progress, which made the Planned Parenthood videos.
Amanda Marcotte, freelance journalist who’s been covering the Planned Parenthood story for Slate. She's also the author of "It's A Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments."
This story has been updated.
Economists analyze 2016 GOP frontrunners’ tax plans
Save for when they’re on the campaign trail, tax reform isn’t a topic that most politicians want to touch.
But it’s that time of the presidential campaign where candidates know they have to stop talking in generalities and start showing voters exactly what they plan to do if elected.
Several candidates, including current frontrunner Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio have released tax plans that explain how they would reform things like income, estate, and capital gains taxes.
How will each candidate’s tax plan affect the average voter? You can compare tax plans side-by-side from both Republican and Democratic candidates using this tool from the non-profit think tank Tax Foundation.
Guests:
Harry Stein, director of fiscal policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
Oren Cass, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute
Contrasting views from Central Valley about Rep. McCarthy as Speaker
For some constituents of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., news that he is running for Speaker of the House of Representatives gives them hope he will fight for their agenda.
As Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., said in a statement: "[McCarthy] knows the issues [affecting] the Central Valley, ranging from water to immigration, and will fight for Californians regardless of his position in the House."
The House Majority Leader has climbed the rungs with every shift of power among the Congressional GOP. Cal State Bakersfield political science professor Mark Martinez says McCarthy has been successful because his strategy is to sit back and strategize. Martinez believes McCarthy will not go out of his way to give special consideration to Central Valley issues.
If McCarthy wins the role of Speaker of the House, how could he use that position to benefit California? When it comes to Beltway politics, how will McCarthy rise above the challenges faced by Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio?
Guests:
Mike DeBonis, reporter who covers Congress and national politics for The Washington Post.
Cathy Abernathy, Chief of Staff for Shannon Grove, (Republican Assemblywoman for California’s 34th District including large swaths of the Central Valley); Note: When Cathy was Chief of Staff for former Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), she hired Kevin McCarthy as an intern
Mark Martinez, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, California State University, Bakersfield
New brain technology could restore memory loss
This sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Scientists at University of Southern California and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have developed new brain technology that makes it possible to re-encode memories in people suffering from memory loss.
The brain relies on electrical signals to create memories, but when those signals are damaged or deteriorated it makes it harder for people to retain memories. This new technology allows for electrodes implanted in the brain to reconnect those signals and allow for short-term memories to be made into long-term memories.
The implants have performed well in laboratory testing in animals and are currently being evaluated in human patients. How is brain technology advancing? And what will this implant mean for people suffering from brain damage and memory loss?
Guest:
Ted Berger, professor of biomedical engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Toys fight to the death for chance at Hall of Fame spot
Most of us probably had one or two toys or games that were more important to us as children than any of our belongings.
Maybe it was a teddy bear or blanket you got as an infant, or that Rubik’s Cube that you just couldn’t put down.
Well, it’s that time of year when the greatest and most influential toys of all time are honored for their contributions to play at the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York. They’ve announced their finalists for the class of 2015, and there are plenty of recognizable heavyweights on this year’s list. American Girl dolls, Battleship, the coloring book, Jenga, PLAYMOBIL, the puppet, the scooter, Super Soaker, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the spinning top, Twister, and Wiffle Ball are all finalists for 2015, with winners being announced in early November.
The winners will join other mega-popular toys and games already in the Hall of Fame, like G.I. Joe, Barbie, the Easy-Bake Oven, and Monopoly.
What was your favorite toy or game as a child? How did it help shape your personality? If you stopped playing with it at some point, why was that? Did you grow out of it or did another toy or game take its place? If you had to choose five toys from this year’s finalists to make the National Toy Hall of Fame, which would they be? Why?
Be sure to vote in our Ranker below and pick which toys you think you be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Think the curators missed a finalist this year? Add it to the list!
You can see a full list of the toys already inducted here.
Which Should be Inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame?
Guests:
Tim Walsh, toy and game designer and author of “Timeless Toys: Classic Toys and the Playmakers Who Created Them” (Andrews McMeel, 2005)