Patt Morrison for Thursday, August 18, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, August 18, 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 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

To vacation, or not to vacation: the perennial presidential problem

According to Donald Trump, “the fact is, [Obama] takes more vacations than any human being I've ever seen…he's already exceeded George Bush and we're not even through the year.” Not quite—according to several news outlets—but still, with 14 million Americans out of work, a historic downgrade of the country’s credit rating and a volatile stock market, should President Obama be packing for a 10-day retreat at the 28-acre Blue Heron Farm compound on Martha’s Vineyard? Critics say the estimated $50,000 per week rental shows the hypocrisy of a president who has pledged not to rest “until every American looking for a job can find one.” And by the day, republicans like Mitt Romney are piling on, making a big show of appealing to the president to, please, not take his vacation. Of course, there’s nothing new to this story; from Madison after the War of 1812, to Carter during the energy crisis, it’s part of a long and hearty tradition of questioning the president’s past times. We take a quick look back in vacation history.

 

Guests:

David Nakamura, Washington Post reporter

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QUIZ QUESTION: Which president took the longest vacation?

• 1799, for example, John Adams spent eight months of the year on vacation at his home in Quincy, Mass., which stands as a record for presidential free time.
• The War of 1812 was over. His administration was nearly at an end. So Madison, tired and eager to get away, slipped out of Washington in June 1816 and didn't return until October. His four-month vacation was the longest of any president. In other years his vacations lasted three months.

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

GOP vs. EPA:  the coming battle over environmental regulation & job creation

“I think we’re seeing almost weekly, or even daily, scientists that are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing the climate to change,” said Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry at a meeting with business leaders in New Hampshire yesterday. The Texas governor, whose home state releases the most carbon dioxide in the country, went on describe global warming as an unproved theory that didn’t warrant huge financial expenditures, and in doing so affirmed his belief in an idea that has become an integral part of the GOP’s crusade against the Environmental Protection Agency. Many Republicans “think that the over-regulation from the EPA is at the heart of our stalled economy,” said Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who helped to craft the controversial appropriations bill that will fund the EPA if passed in the coming weeks. As subcommittee chairman, Simpson has overseen the addition of 38 contentious riders to the bill that have included an end to the moratorium on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, a delay in the agency’s ability to regulate green house gas emissions, and the unlimited discharge of pesticide particles into waterways. Democrats are up in arms about the additional provisions, and the White House has already threatened to veto bill, but many Republicans are preparing for battle against the mammoth environmental organization. With governmental spending at the top of many candidates’ agendas, the EPA’s funding and in particular its business-unfriendly green house gas emission initiatives are likely to come under fire. But do the agency’s regulations actually prevent job growth and undermine businesses? Will the EPA’s budget be slashed and what will that mean for the nation’s water and air quality?

 

Guests:

Dan Turner, editorial writer, Los Angeles Times, he wrote the editorial "GOP vs. Mother Nature" [August 5, 2011]

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UNCONFIRMED

Robert Stavins, director of the Harvard University Environmental Economics program

 

Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Kentucky; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy & Power

 

Steve Miller, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30
The Maid’s Daughter: Living Inside and Outside the American Dream

Meet Olivia. She was born in Los Angeles and taken to Mexico to live with extended family. At the age of three, Olivia was brought back to Los Angeles to live with her mother, who slept in a room just off the kitchen as a live-in maid for a wealthy family. Raised alongside the children of the wealth family, Olivia goes to school with them, eats meals with them, and is taken shopping for clothes with them. One minute she feels like she’s living within the American dream—and the next, like she’s living outside of it. Told largely from Olivia’s voice, Olivia struggles to define her identities of race, class, and gender in a story that is all too familiar—yet often untold—in the United States.

 

Guest:

Mary Romero, author of The Maid’s Daughter

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Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
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