Managing Director, Pew Center on the States
Managing Director of the Pew Center on the States
PROFILE
Susan Urahn
Guest
FROM Susan Urahn
Which Way, L.A.?
Public-Employee Benefits and Republican Politics Both Democratic and Republican governors want to cut the pay or benefits of public employees to help reduce massive state deficits. But a poll released today by the New York Times and CBS News says Americans oppose that idea by a margin of 56 to 37 percent. Republican efforts to reduce bargaining rights are opposed by 60 to 33, with only a slim majority of GOP voters in favor. We talk further about those numbers and learn just how badly off state finances are.
To the Point
Public-Employee Benefits and Republican Politics Between the amount states have promised their workers -- and the money they have to pay -- the gap totals no less than a trillion dollars. Both Democratic and Republican governors want to cut the pay or benefits of public employees to help reduce massive state deficits, but some Republicans are challenging public-sector unions and their right to bargain. While this is music to GOP strategists who've prepared for years to exploit the issue, a poll released today by the New York Times and CBS News says Americans oppose that idea by a margin of 56 to 37 percent. Republican efforts to reduce bargaining rights are opposed by 60 to 33, with only a slim majority of GOP voters in favor. Will there be a political backlash if private-sector voters identify police officers, firefighters and teachers as partners in the besieged middle-class?
Recommended
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
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
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.