Patt Morrison for Monday, February 28, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, February 28, 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

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Measure M’s for money: if you sell marijuana in Los Angeles… the city wants its share

Seeking new revenue streams for L.A.'s depleted coffers, the City Council voted to include Measure M on the ballot for the March 8 election. If the measure is approved by voters, medical marijuana dispensaries will pay a tax of "$50 per $1,000 of gross receipts," which amounts to an additional 5 percent tax on top of the 9.75 percent county sales tax that many collectives already pay. The measure, also known as Proposition M, calls into question the tax-exempt status of some non-profit cannabis cooperatives supposedly functioning on the barter system. For several years following the voter approval of Proposition 215 in 1996, the tax code for medical marijuana dispensaries remained a bit hazy. Several marijuana pharmacies formed neighborhood cooperatives, whereby green-thumb growers would cultivate buds with a high quantity of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the marijuana plant's active ingredient - and trade the fruits of their labor with each other, purportedly without making any money. At the same time cities and counties throughout the state sought a cut of the supposed cash proceeds.  Does Measure M give the city a way to skim some more profits from a semi-legal enterprise? Or does another tax on pharmaceutical sinsemilla in the City of Angels legitimize this cash crop, and bring it one step closer to legalization in California?

 

Guests:

PRO M: 

Paul Koretz, Los Angeles City Councilmember, 5^th District

CALL HIM:

 

AGAINST M: 

Don Duncan, Americans for Safe Access

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21 – 2:39

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown: not quite a conservative, not a liberal but a dedicated bipartisan

In December of 2009, Scott Brown did the unthinkable—he proved a Republican could win Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat in Massachusetts.  Sen. Brown’s victory in the special election came amidst the bitter debate over the health care reform law, and his win was hailed as proof of a popular groundswell of opposition against health care reform.  His victory was also described as the first symbolic win for the then nascent Tea Party movement.  But since taking office Sen. Brown has been a wildcard, regularly working with Democrats on legislation while never hesitating to challenge the agenda of President Barack Obama.  With just over a year in office Sen. Brown already must prepare for a reelection campaign….and before gearing up for the campaign he has written a book called “Against All Odds:  my life of hardship, fast breaks and second chances.”  The book details a hard childhood for the Senator that helped to color his political outlook on life.  From the personal to the political, Sen. Brown tells us where he’s been and where he’s going.

 

Guest:

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts; member of the Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs; author of “Against all odds:  my life of hardship, fast breaks and second chances”

ON TAPE

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Zero-sum future:  American power in the age of anxiety

The Information Age has given way to an Age of Anxiety, as Gideon Rachman sees it. In his new book, Zero-Sum Future, the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, depicts a financially stable China manufacturing most of America’s products, a potentially unstable Middle East possessing most of the world’s oil, and America exercising its military and political muscle to maintain its power position.  Rachman argues that the financial and economic crisis unleashed by the Wall Street crash of September 2008 annihilated the assumptions that globalization was a win-win for all. It is no longer clear or even likely that globalization benefits all.  We explore unrest in Egypt, melting ice caps in the Arctic, pandemic disease in the third world, and the threat of nuclear weapons from the Cold War falling into the hands of new-age terrorists.

 

Guest:

Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times; author of “Zero-Sum Future:  American Power in an Age of Anxiety”

CALL HIM: (44) 208-992-6232.

BACK-UP CELL IS 011-44-773-992-4060

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
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
www.scpr.org