former Deputy Director, Federal Judicial Center
Visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution; former Deputy Director of the Federal Judicial Center, the research and education agency for the Federal Courts
PROFILE
Russell Wheeler
Guest
FROM Russell Wheeler
To the Point
The Oil Industry and the Government The Gulf oil spill is producing hundreds of lawsuits in several states, but federal judges are bowing out because of investments in the oil industry. Judge Martin Feldman, who threw out the President's six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling on Tuesday, recently held stock in Transocean and Halliburton. Meanwhile, two whistle-blowing scientists from the Mineral Management Service have talked to the New York Times about BP's plan to drill for oil off the shores of Alaska. The plan skirts the President's moratorium because its drill will be based on an artificial island three miles off the coast. So it's technically “on-shore.” We look at how the oil industry continues to wield influence even after the worst environmental disaster in US history.
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To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
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
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?