Professor of Law, UCLA
Professor of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles, and an expert on bribery in politics
PROFILE
Daniel Lowenstein
Guest
FROM Daniel Lowenstein
To the Point
Illinois Governor Blagojevich and the Politics of Corruption On Monday of this week, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested and charged with offering Barack Obama's senate seat for sale to the highest bidder. The President-elect, himself a product of Chicago politics, made a distinction yesterday between what he called two separate traditions: public service and "what's in it for me." But, in a political system that's based on wheeling and dealing, what constitutes breaking the law? Just how did Blagojevich step over the line? Does the incident reveal anything about Obama? With the US preaching democracy, how does it look to the rest of the world?
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To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.