March 8 - Backlash to the GOP's Ban on Birth Control; What is Behind Ayn Rand's Revival; Hate Groups on the March

Full Program

Part 1

We begin, on this International Women’s Day, with what is being described as the Republican war on women being waged on Capitol Hill and in State Houses across the country. Joining us is the Senior Vice President of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, Dr Anna Greenberg, the lead author of a survey released today on behalf of Emily’s List and the Planned Parenthood Action fund to explore the impact of the birth control debate on voters in eight battleground Senate states.

Part 2

Then we discuss the influence of Ayn Rand on today’s politics with Gary Weiss, the author of a new book, “Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America’s Soul”. We discuss what is behind the revival of this obscure cult-like ideologue whose posthumous backers, the Koch brothers and others, are distributing her books for free to schools and colleges across the country to gain adherents to an anti-government, pro-business philosophy that espouses altruism is evil, selfishness is a virtue and greed is good.

Part 3

Then finally we examine the new study, released today by the Southern Poverty Law Center that finds a record level of extremist hate groups and militias emerging in 2011. Brian Levin, the Director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino joins us to discuss the report’s findings and how much the growth of right-wing extremism is fueled by pervasive racist calumnies against America’s first black president, changing demographics and globalism.