April 9 – North Korea Ratchets Up Threats of War; Will the Congress Act on Gun Safety?; Progressive Backlash to the Chained CPI

Written by

Full Program	LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM
Part 1	We begin with what could be bluster or a real threat from North Korea who warned today that foreigners should evacuate the South for their own security. Kyung Moon Hwang, a professor of history at the University of Southern California and author of “A History of Korea” joins us to discuss whether bellicose rhetoric could be matched by belligerent acts as the threats of war coming from the North continue to escalate.
Part 2	Then we examine what gun control bill before the Senate is likely to proceed to a vote as both President Obama and Majority Leader Harry Reid made impassioned pleas to Republican to allow for a vote and give up on their filibuster threats. Joshua Horwitz, the Executive Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the author of “Guns, Democracy and the Insurrectionist Idea” joins us to discuss whether s omething positive will happen in this critical week for gun safety.
Part 3	Then finally we speak with Eric Kingson, the founding co-director of Social Security Works and the co-chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition, about the petition of 2.3 million signatures that his organization and Democracy for America handed over to the White House today. We discuss the objections progressives have to the chained CPI adjustment to Social Security payments that the president is apparently offering up in his budget, even though the Republicans seem prepared to dismiss it out of hand.