January 8 - Governor Christies's "Bridgegate" Scandal; Gay Marriage in Limbo in Utah; Why Republican Governors Deny Healthcare to their Neediest Citizens

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the burgeoning political scandal in New Jersey following the release of emails from Governor Christie’s deputy chief of staff that indicate the governor had advance knowledge of a traffic nightmare on the George Washington Bridge that appears to have been engineered as political retribution by Christie's staff against a mayor who did not back his reelection. An expert on New Jersey’s rough and tumble politics, Ruth Mandel, the Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University joins us to get some clarity on whether this Republican front-runner for president in 2016 is as the headlines proclaim; the bridge troll.

Part 2

Then we speak with Troy Williams, the Executive Producer of RadioActive, a progressive talk show on KRLC-FM in Salt Lake City who has been named by the Salt Lake Tribune as the “Gay Mayor of Salt Lake City”. We discuss the uncertainty in Utah for 1,300 gay married couples now in legal limbo following the Supreme Court’s stay on same-sex marriages in the state while Utah appeals a lower court ruling allowing the unions.

Part 3

Then finally, while Republicans in Congress have tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to kill healthcare reform, we examine the success of Republican obstruction of Obamacare at the state level, where thanks to the Supreme Court decision, Governors are free to decline federal Medicaid money and not create healthcare exchanges. Theda Skocpol, a professor of government at Harvard University whose latest research for the Scholars Strategy Network illustrates how partisan ideology has suppressed enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, joins us to discuss the impact and human cost on millions of people in 23 states who are being denied healthcare because of  petty political spite.