Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the California Fair Political Practices Commission’s announcement of its largest campaign-reporting fine of $15 million levied against two out-of-state front groups named as “part of the Koch Brothers Network of dark money political non-profit corporations”. Derek Cressman, the Former Vice President for California Operations of Common Cause joins us to discuss the end of an investigation of a murky multi-billion dollar money trail that ends up on the Koch brother’s doorstep.

Part 2

Then we examine another Koch brothers-related story that is the sub-text for Senator Ted Cruz’s brazen hold on the nomination of the new head of the FCC because Cruz wants to protect the anonymity of the Koch’s and other billionaires who pour dark money into political campaigns. Timothy Karr, the Senior Director of Strategy for Free Press joins us to discuss the latest obstruction by the junior Senator from Texas who is shamelessly shilling for the Kochs to ensure that tons of dark money will pour into Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Part 3

Then we look into the political fallout in Mexico from recent revelations by Edward Snowden that the NSA had captured the emails of the former and current presidents of Mexico. An expert on Mexico, George Grayson, a professor of comparative politics at the College of William and Mary, joins us to discuss the genuine outrage from former Mexican president Felipe Calderon and the more politically calculated outrage from the current president Enrique Pena Nieto.

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with an analysis of whether the benefits of the Affordable Care Act will emerge in time to overcome the growing concerns about the healthcare.gov website that is feeding into the perception shaped by decades of conservative propaganda that the government is the problem and private enterprise is the solution.Jonathan Oberlander, a professor of Social Medicine and Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina joins us to discuss the birth pangs of Obamacare.

Part 2

Then we examine the role of private contractors in the train wreck of website woes that are stymieing the launch of the new healthcare insurance exchanges. Scott Amey the General Counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, who investigates federal spending on goods and services, joins us to look into the contractors responsible – Serco, Equifax and CGI, who have already spent over three times the amount of their original bid, and whether the tech “surge” Obama has promised will overcome the already negative perceptions of healthcare reform.

Part 3

Then finally we look into “The Benghazi Hoax”, the title of a new book by Ari Rabin-Havt, Vice President of Research and Communication at Media Matters for America who has meticulously chronicled the right-wing lies behind the politicization of an American tragedy on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi, Libya. We discuss the wholesale manufacturing of a phony political scandal by a failing Republican candidate for president, an unscrupulous Congressman who is a serial grandstander, and Fox News.