The Latest on Stem-Cell Research in California

Main Topic

Income Redistribution: Basic Fairness or 'Class Warfare?' ()

The stimulus package already passed and signed into law provides tax credits for 95 percent of American workers. Now the President wants to increase taxes on the wealthy, partly by letting the Bush tax cuts expire. One of his goals is to reduce the growing gap between the rich and the poor. We hear a debate and look at other factors that cause economic dislocation, including technology, changes in the work force and increased anxiety.

Guests:

• Roberton 'Bob' Williams: Principal Research Associate, Tax Policy Center
• Amity Shlaes: Syndicated Columnist, Bloomberg
• Daniel Gross: Economic Columnist, Newsweek and Slate, @grossdm
• Dalton Conley: Chairman of the Sociology Department, New York University

Links:

• Tax Stimulus Report Card, Tax Policy Center on
• Shlaes' 'The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression'
• Gross' article on Obama's 'war on the rich'
• Gross' 'Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation'

Main Topic

President Obama and Stem-Cell Research in California ()

President Obama has made good on a campaign promise and lifted Bush Administration restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research. He said it has “he potential to help us understand and possibly cure some of our most devastating diseases and conditions.” He called the “medical miracles” that make-up scientific progress in America the “result from painstaking and costly research, from years of lonely trial and error, much of which never bears fruit, and from a government willing to support that work.” Five years ago, California voters did agree to invest in stem cell research, with $3 billion for the Institute of Regenerative Medicine.

Guests:

• Robert Klein: Chair of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine
• William Hurlbut: Member, President's Council on Bioethics
• Jesse Reynolds: Policy Analyst, Center for Genetics and Society
• Arnold Kriegstein: Director of the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, UC San Francisco

Reporter's Notebook

Happy 50th Birthday, Barbie ()

Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel, introduced Barbie at the New York Toy Fair in 1959.  Since then, Mattel has sold a billion Barbie dolls and influenced generations of American girls. Deborah Ryan chairs the Toy Department at the Otis College of Art and Design near LAX.

Guests:

• Deborah Ryan: Chair of the Toy Design Department, Otis College of Art and Design