Patt Morrison for Wednesday, June 30, 2010

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wenesday, June 30, 2010

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:19

OPEN

 

 

1:21 – 1:39

Your golden years to begin at 70? Debating the start of Social Security

It’s not the first time this idea has been kicked around but yesterday it was presented in remarkably stark terms, considering the source was a politician.  House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that in the face of massive federal deficits and a potentially crippling national debt it was time to have a frank conversation with the American public about the sustainability of Social Security.  "We're all living a lot longer than anyone ever expected," Boehner told the newspaper editorial board. "And I think that raising the retirement age — going out 20 years, so you're not affecting anyone close to retirement — and eventually getting the retirement age to 70 is a step that needs to be taken."  Boehner also counseled hard decisions for politicians and the public alike:  "We just need to be honest with people," he said. "I'm not suggesting it's going to be easy, but I think if we did those three things, you'd pretty well solve the problem."  Are you willing to delay your Social Security to help bring down the debt?

 

Guests:

BOTH UNCONFIRMED

Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan’s 4^th District; Ranking Member of the House Ways & Means Committee; member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform

 

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-California’s 31^st District; Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus; member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform

 

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

Your tax dollars hard at work….in the pockets of Afghan warlords

Security in Afghanistan is dirty work, for all of the involved parties from the U.S. and Afghan militaries to the private contractors that provide key logistical support.  One bit of key logistical support that lies in the hands of military contractors is Host Nation Trucking, the transportation contract that provides over 70% of total good and materials distributed to U.S. troops in the field in Afghanistan.  It’s worth $2.16 billion and is a key example of how well intentioned U.S. investment ends up in the hands of extremely undesirable warlords.  The HNT contract fuels warlordism, extortion and corruption and it may be a significant source of funding for insurgents.  We look at the troubled American effort in Afghanistan through the prism of one contract that proves your tax dollars are hard at work…..in the pockets of warlords.

 

Guest:

Rep. John Tierney, D-Massachusetts’ 6^th District; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security & Foreign Affairs; author of the majority report “Warlord, Inc.”

HE CALLS US:

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

The conservatives’ case against Kagan

Some on the left aren’t ecstatic with the idea of Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court, and on the right, John Yoo, the Bush administrator who authored the so-called “torture memos,” has authored his own objections to her, in a New York Times op-ed that ran last month.  Why doesn’t John Yoo heart Elena Kagan?  As thin as her record may be, there’s enough for a conservative not to like—she stood her ground against the U.S. military in protesting the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy by keeping military recruiters off of Harvard Law School’s campus; she’s been critical of Guantanamo Bay and went after Congress for writing a bill that would strip courts of their authority to review detention practices; Kagan’s self-professed “legal hero” is Thurgood Marshall, the original lion of the left on the Supreme Court.  But most significantly to a legal scholar like Yoo, it’s Kagan’s undeserved reputation—because as a nominee who has never served as a judge, how can we ever really know?—as a defender of executive powers  and her true feelings, which Yoo claims to have gleaned through a review of her academic musings.  Yesterday we looked at some liberals’ uneasiness over Kagan and today we take up the conservatives’ beef with Kagan.

 

Guest:

John Yoo, former attorney in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration and currently a Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and author of, “Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush”

CALL HIM @

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

OPEN

 

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM

626.583.5171, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org