Tea Parties around the Country and Jobs in LA
Host:
Produced by:
Subscribe to this Podcast:
Listen to/Watch entire show:
Mayor Villaraigosa has hired a world-class business tycoon to make LA more "business friendly" and create jobs by getting in on the Green Revolution. We hear from Austin Beutner. We also talk with Bill Gross of eSolar in Pasadena, who says China is employing California technology to outstrip the US. On our rebroadcast of To the Point, one faction of the "tea party" movement will stage a national convention next month. It'll cost $549 to hear Sarah Palin make the keynote speech. Who are the tea-partiers? Do they have that kind of money? Are they a force for change or just scornful Republicans?
Banner image: Mayor Villaraigosa speaks with First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive for Economic and Business Policy, Austin Beutner
Main Topic
Are 'Tea Parties' Real Politics? ()
In the first year of the Obama Administration, the "tea party" movement made almost as much news as the federal stimulus, Wall Street, healthcare and the President himself. Who organizes tea parties? Who goes to them? Do they believe in "principles" or the slogans they chant for TV news cameras? Could they become a coherent "movement" that could be seized by a charismatic candidate, like Sarah Palin?
Guests:
- Dale Robertson: President, TeaParty.org
- Mark Leibovich: Washington Correspondent, New York Times
- Thomas Frank: Opinion Columnist, Wall Street Journal
- Joe Bageant: journalist
Links:
Making News
Proposition 8 Federal Trial Starts in San Francisco ()
In a federal court in San Francisco, the challenge to California's Proposition 8 got under way today. Both sides made opening statements and began calling witnesses. Brad Sears is executive director of the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA Law School.
Guests:
- Brad Sears: Executive Director, UCLA's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Policy
Links:
Main Topic
LA's New Job Czar; Pasadena Green Energy Leader's China Contract ()
Los Angeles may be America's biggest manufacturing center, but it's also notorious as a hard place to do business. Mayor Villaraigosa has begun what he calls "a total refocusing of economic development and job creation" in the City of LA. The first step is appointment of Austin Beutner to the newly created position of First Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive for Economic and Business Policy. In an unprecedented grant of authority, he'll oversee no less than 13 city departments, including the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles and development at the Los Angeles World Airports.
Meantime, a Pasadena company has just announced "the biggest solar-thermal deal ever," a $5 billion deal to build a massive project using California-based technology. But the project will be constructed in China.
Guests:
- Austin Beutner: Chief Executive for Economic and Business Policy, City of LA, @austinbeutner
- Bill Gross: CEO and Founding Chairman, eSolar
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.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
