March 24 - The Rising Cost of Putin's Putsch in Ukraine; Obama's Second Attempt to Crack Down on For-Profit Colleges; The 25th Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with an analysis of the increasing risk of war between Russia and Ukraine and the rising cost to Russia of its annexation of Crimea. Daniel Serwer, a former U.S. Special Envoy for Yugoslavia who participated in the Dayton peace talks, joins us to discuss Putin’s use of NATO intervention in the former Yugoslavia as justification for annexing Crimea and look into the mounting costs for Russia of taking on Crimea and possibly Eastern Ukraine, as well as the cost to the U.S. and Europe of taking on what’s left of Ukraine that has been looted economically and is deeply in debt.

Part 2

Then we look into the Obama Administration’s second attempt to crack down on for-profit colleges who account for 13% of college enrollment but incur half of all federal student loan debts. David Halperin, a senior fellow at Republic Report where he has an article “Shame: Wall Street Journal Compares Rule for Predatory Colleges to Obamacare”, joins us to discuss the “gainful employment” rule that will set rules to stop the misleading promises and expensive advertizing by the for-profit college industry, which is paid for with taxpayer dollars used to attract veterans and minority students, many of whom end up with worthless diplomas while being saddled for life with onerous debt.

Part 3

Then finally, on the 25^th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, we speak withShannyn Moore, a progressive radio broadcaster in Anchorage, Alaska. She joins us to discuss the toxic legacy from millions of gallons of crude oil that fouled the pristine Prince William Sound, damaging more than 1,300 miles of shoreline and destroying the local fishing industry. We examine the likelihood of more oil spills as drilling is underway in the Arctic north of Alaska where it will be all but impossible to clean up a spill in that challenging and remote environment.