September 29 - Postponing a Government Shutdown; Putin Challenges the US at the UN; Not Only Do VW Diesels Need Fixing, so Does the Recall System

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the showdown in the House of Representatives with one day left before the government runs out of money after the Senate has passed a clean funding bill without the provision to defund Planned Parenthood, Obamacare and the implementation of the Iran deal. John Lawrence, a visiting professor at the University of California’s Washington Center who worked in the House of Representatives for 38 years and served as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff, joins us to discuss his recent article at The New York Times “John Boehner Fades Away”. And, assuming we avoid a government shutdown tomorrow, what will happen on December 11, when the government runs out of money again.

Part 2

Then we assess Russian President Putin’s recent interview with Charlie Rose on “60 Minutes” and his speech before the U.N. with one of Putin’s bravest critics, Masha Gessen, the author of “The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin”. We discuss how the wily Russian leader easily parried Charlie Rose’s softball questions and whether Putin will be able to organize a coalition of anti-American countries to resist what he perceives as U.S. domination, challenging the U.N. with the charge that “after the end of the Cold War, the single center of domination has emerged in the world…those who have found themselves on top of the pyramid were tempted to think that since they are so strong and singular, they know what to do better than others and it’s unnecessary to pay attention to the U.N.”

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Ian Ayres, a Professor at Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management about his article at The Los Angeles Times “Fix VW’s polluting diesels, and fix the recall system too”. We discuss how most states do not have compulsory smog checks and that voluntary recalls often result in 70% of owners not bothering to get their cars fixed. So given that recalling the rigged VW’s diesel cars would mean that the fix will result in a penalty of performance and mileage, how likely is it that owners of polluting VW diesels will answer the recall?