Patt Morrison for Wednesday, January 5, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

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 – 1:30

Jerry Brown bear hugs California’s third rail: reforming Proposition 13

They were cryptic comments, made as he was heading into a meeting with local government officials:  [Prop] 13 started the centralization of power…after that, the state started dictating what we did,” said the new governor, Jerry Brown, referring to the measure that would start a nation-wide revolution on property taxes back in 1978, Proposition 13.  After coming out of the meeting Gov. Brown expanded on his original comments, but only slightly:  “It will be controversial and it will be a struggle.  Proposition 13, because it took away the power of counties to tax, for the most part, it sent the decision up to Sacramento.  So we want to redistribute all that.”  Prop. 13 has often received the blame for California’s structural problems, which have culminated in several years of mutli-billion dollar budget deficits, but voters have showed no inclination to change the way their property taxes are calculated.  Yet without more revenue, along with budget cuts, California will have a hard time closing this year’s $28 billion deficit and making long term changes to the governing model.  While Jerry Brown doesn’t seem afraid to tackle California’s third rail of politics, are you afraid to talk about reforming Prop. 13?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

1:30 - 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

The Checklist Manifesto

The world as we know it is rapidly changing, as are our daily routines. Knowledge and technology continues to increase, yet we continue to fail in everything from health care, to the financial industry, to government. Surgeon and author Atul Gawande offers a simple way to improve: a checklist. Through anecdotes and stories, Gawande reveals the benefits, drawbacks, and drastic improvements that could be made in various fields such as medicine, business, and disaster recovery.

 

Guest:

Atul Gawande, Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health; MacArthur Award recipient; and bestselling author of “Better” and “Complications”

CALL HIM:

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21 – 2:39

Have black robe, will gavel. What’s behind our country’s lack of federal judges?

So many federal judges’ vacancies have gone unfilled that both President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts agree that the Senate has got to hurry up those appointments because the cause of justice itself is suffering.  Secret holds and auto-filibusters in the Senate’s tool chest have allowed even uncontroversial candidates to be held up. The Senate has been so slow to approve nominees that they got through just 60 district and circuit court judges—the smallest number for the first two years of a presidency in more than 30 years. How did all these blocks and anonymous holds come into practice, what’s at their root and how will Democrats weigh this dismal track record with possible Senate rules changes to curb what can become obstacles that needlessly impede justice?

 

Guest:

NOT CONFIRMED:

Lee Epstein, Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law, Northwestern Law School; she studies constitutional law and the federal courts

CALL HER:

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

The gavel has passed:  Republicans take the House majority as the 112^th Congress convenes

The 112^th Congress met at noon today [Wednesday] and, as expected, voted in Congressman John Boehner as speaker of the House. He and his fellow Republicans bring an aggressive agenda that prioritizes cutting $100 billion from domestic spending this year and defunding or repeal of all or part of the health care bill. A member of the budget committee, California congressman Tom McClintock tells us what’s on his personal agenda and how he will work with Democrats to do the nation’s business.

 

Guests:

Congressman Tom McClintock, R –4^th District, which covers northeastern California

He is Chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee and a member of the House Budget Committee.

WILL CALL IN

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

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626.583.5171, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

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