US Congress
John Garamendi is a Democratic Congressman for California's 3rd District. He is a former lieutenant governor of California, former chair of the Califoria State Lands Commission, former State Insurance Commissioner and former state legislator. He also served in the Department of the Interior during the Clinton Administration.
Oroville Dam: A cautionary tale It's not just the Oroville Dam. Many of California's other dams, levees and pipelines are in big trouble.
What's the Real Truth about the War in Afghanistan? On Sunday, the New York Times interviewed Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who also published an article in the well-regarded Armed Forces Journal . After long experience with military spin doctors and a year in Afghanistan, Davis, who has been praised by superiors for his "devotion to mission accomplishment," reports that the Pentagon is not telling the truth about it calls "progress in Afghanistan." We hear from him and others.
War in Afghanistan: Are Pentagon Officials Telling the Truth? Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis has risked his career by accusing the Pentagon of misleading the public with reports of progress in Afghanistan. After a year of visits to every combat zone — hoping that "rosy official statements" were true, he saw "the absence of success on virtually every level," and reported that the Pentagon is not telling the truth about what it calls "progress in Afghanistan." We speak with Davis and others, including one of the members of Congress whom Davis briefed with classified information. How widely shared is the colonel's conclusion that American soldiers are dying in a war America can't win?
New Push for an Oil Tax For the first time since the Santa Barbara Oil Spill of 1969, the state legislature took a vote last month on new offshore drilling. The Senate approved, but the Assembly said “no,” in a vote that has since been expunged from the record. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi chairs the State Lands Commission , and he plans to raise the issue again at a meeting next week in Los Angeles.
California Takes Another Look at Offshore Oil Drilling Since the Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969, offshore drilling has been anathema to most Californians, including the environmentally-minded Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. But now the Governor is behind a proposal to allow a Texas company to slant drill from a platform in federal waters to a field inside California’s three-mile limit.
The Candidates for Lieutenant Governor California's Lieutenant Governor takes over when the Governor dies or leaves office and breaks ties in the Senate. Neither of those things has happened for decades, but two political veterans--Democrat John Garamendi and Republican Tom McClintock --are campaigning hard for the job. Garamendi, state Insurance Commissioner who held the job once before in the early 90's, is a former state senator and Clinton appointee to the Interior Department . He's run for Governor twice in Democratic primaries. McClintock, a State Senator and a 20-year veteran of the legislature, has run twice for state controller and he ran against Arnold Schwarzenegger in the recall election that replaced Gray Davis. We ask them why and how they would matter.
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.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
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?
