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Newsweek
Senior political reporter for Newsweek
PROFILE
Daniel Stone
Guest
FROM Daniel Stone
Which Way, L.A.?
Energy Secretary Stephen Chu Faces Congress on Solyndra Energy Secretary Steven Chu — a Nobel Prize-winning physicist — was interrogated by Republican congress members today about Solyndra. The California maker of high-tech solar panels, which had been personally endorsed by President Obama and Vice President Biden, received a half-billion dollar federally guaranteed loan from Chu's department before going bankrupt and firing all of its 1100 employees. Was Solyndra an Obama boondoggle or the kind of risk government has to take to encourage "clean energy?"
To the Point
Was Solyndra a "Clean Energy" Boondoggle? As "Occupy" protesters filled streets in New York, Los Angeles and other cities, Congress was bearing down on the federally guaranteed loan to Solyndra . At a Congressional hearing , House Republicans interrogated Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, about the half-billion federal dollars spent on the solar-panel company before it collapsed. Solyndra, a California maker of high-tech solar panels, was personally endorsed by President Obama and Vice President Biden. It received a half-billion dollar federally guaranteed loan from Chu's department before going bankrupt and firing all of its 1100 employees. Did a billionaire fundraiser have undue influence with the Obama Administration? Is it a bad idea for government to pick winners? Are Republicans hypocritical to attack Solyndra when they've asked federal support for similar projects in their own Congressional districts?
To the Point
Obama's Nuclear Summit Aims to Contain 21st Century Threats Forty-seven world leaders are gathered in Washington for the biggest summit hosted by an American leader since the UN was founded in San Francisco in 1945. President Obama says he wants specific rules to halt the spread of nuclear materials , not what he called, "just some vague, gauzy statement.” Daniel Stone is senior reporter on national politics for Newsweek magazine. Segment image: President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan at the Nuclear Security Summit. Official White House Photo: Lawrence Jackson
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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.
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
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.