University of Pennsylvania
Professor of American Social Thought and History at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy; former Chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights
The Political Corruption of Small Money Especially since the infamous Citizens United case, we hear a lot about the political influence of Big Money. Corporations and vastly wealthy individuals pour tens of millions of dollars into statewide and national campaigns. What we don't hear a lot about is the pervasive political influence of Small Money. That's the subject of the new book, Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy . The author is Mary Frances Berry, former Chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights. She is a Professor of American Social Thought and History at the University of Pennsylvania.
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?
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.
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.
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?
