What If California Budget Propositions Fail?
Host:
Produced by:
Subscribe to this Podcast:
Listen to/Watch entire show:
Legacy Player:
The latest poll shows the budget measures on next month's ballot are likely to be defeated, even though voters think that could lead to financial chaos. What's the message for Sacramento? On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, President Obama today thanked Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter for switching parties. Will the Senator be a better Democrat than he was a Republican? Has the GOP gone too far Right for the centrists and independents who decide most elections?
Main Topic
The Obama Agenda and the Fate of the GOP ()
President Obama went to St. Louis, Missouri today to mark his hundredth day in office. He reviewed his accomplishments and said it would take hard work to achieve the rest of his goals. Yesterday, he got a boost in that direction when Arlen Specter switched parties. Or did he? The Pennsylvania Senator drove a hard bargain, and skeptics say he’ll be no more reliable as a Democrat than he was as a Republican. But, while Specter might have been a Republican in name only, is he leaving a party that’s now so ideologically pure its nominees can’t win general elections?
White House photo: Pete Sauza
Guests:
- Dick Polman: Political writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer
- Ron Brownstein: National Political Reporter, Los Angeles Times
- Tom Edsall: Political Editor, Huffington Post
- Reihan Salam: Fellow, New America Foundation
- Jon McHenry: Partner, Ayres, McHenry and Associates
Links:
- Salam's (Washington Post) article on Specter's switch as wake-up call for GOP
- Edsall's 'Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power'
- Salam's 'Co-author of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream'
- Former Senate candidate Pat Toomey (R-PA) on Specter's switch
- Brownstein's 'The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America'
- Polman's article on Specter's independent streak
- Senator Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) on Specter
- Gov Rendell's (D-PA) on Specter's change of party affiliation
Main Topic
California Voters Have a Message Sacramento May Not Want to Hear ()
With the least number of possible votes, the Legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger put six measures on a special election that will take place in just three weeks. They would implement the budget deal worked out in one of the longest and most acrimonious sessions in state history. Today, the Field Poll released survey results which indicate that it will be a “send-them-a-message election.”
Proposition 1a: Limits State Spending, Establishes Rainy Day Stabilization Fund
Proposition 1b: Education Funding
Proposition 1c: Lottery Modernization Act
Proposition 1d: Protects Children’s Services Funding
Proposition 1e: Mental Health Services Funding
Proposition 1f: Elected Officials’ Salaries
Guests:
- Mark Di Camillo: Director, the Field Poll
- Jeannine English: President, AARP California
- Joshua Pechthalt: Vice President, California Federation of Teachers
- Jean Ross: Executive Director, California Budget Project
Links:
Underwriters
Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.
Engage & Discuss
Further the conversation with your thoughts and comments. Agree, disagree, present a different perspective -- engage.
For information and guidelines click: Terms of Service | Privacy Policy
Please note, comments are moderated. KCRW reserves the right to edit and or remove posts deemed off-topic, abusive or not in accordance with KCRW's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
KCRW.com thanks our sponsor:
