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8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Skull & Bones: The Secret Society That Unites John Kerry
and President Bush
Omnibus Spending Bill Provisions Pt. I: New Overtime Laws
End Pay For Up To 8 Million Workers
Omnibus Spending Bill Provisions Pt. II: New Media Ownership
Laws Raise TV Ownership Cap
Omnibus Spending Bill Provisions Pt. III: Gun Purchase Records
To Be Destroyed After Just 24 Hrs
Rainforest Action Network Declares Victory: Citigroup To
Adopt New Environmental Policies
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:20 Skull & Bones: The Secret Society That
Unites John Kerry and President Bush
INTRO: A little-known fact unites Democratic frontrunner
John Kerry and President Bush: they are both members of Skull
and Bones, Yale's secret society. We speak with the author
of "Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League,
and the Hidden Paths of Power" that reveals for the first
time details about the secret society and its members.
The New Hampshire primary is just a few days away and Howard
Dean’s status as the frontrunner has almost totally
dissipated. The latest Boston Herald poll now shows that John
Kerry holds a 10 point lead - a major surge for the Massachusetts
Senator. Still reeling from his victory in Iowa, Kerry is
starting to act like the frontrunner, shifting his focus from
comparing himself to the other Democrats to putting his record
up against President George W. Bush, saying he is the only
candidate who can beat Bush and who represents a real difference
from the current occupant of the White House.
But there is a fact about Kerry’s past that brings
him closer to Bush than any of the other candidates. Both
Bush and Kerry are members of a secretive society dating back
to their respective days at Yale University - Skull and Bones.
This fact has not been widely reported but when Kerry’s
campaign spokesperson was asked about it, she said, “John
Kerry has absolutely nothing to say on that subject. Sorry.”
- Alexandra Robbins, is the New York Times bestselling author
of "Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League,
and the Hidden Paths of Power" who was formerly on
the Washington, DC staff of The New Yorker magazine. She
is a 1998 graduate of Yale and was the first reporter to
publish George W Bush's transcript from Yale when he was
a student there.
Link: www.secretsofthetomb.com
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:30 Omnibus Spending Bill Provisions Pt. I:
New Overtime Laws End Pay For Up To 8 Million Workers
INTRO: A giant omnibus spending bill is expected pass in
the Senate after being stalled in part because it contains
a number of controversial items that deal little with the
federal budget. The first of the three provisions we discuss
is one allows the Bush administration to rewrite the nation's
overtime laws.
Democratic Senators have delayed the passage of the $373
billion omnibus spending bill Tuesday in part because it contains
a number of controversial items that deal little with the
federal budget.
The bill – which was approved by the House in December
- imposes policy items ranging from setting new media ownership
limits to the handling of gun purchase records. Although the
vote is a setback for Bush and leaders of the Republican-controlled
Senate, it is clearly just a temporary one.
The Washington Post reports that Democrats probably lack
the votes to stall the bill much longer. Senate Minority Leader
Tom Daschle said the bill would pass in the next few days
regardless of whether that issue and others were dealt with.
Today we take a look at three of the policy items included
in the bill.
The first is a provision that would allow the Bush administration
to rewrite the nation's overtime laws.
Unions say the plan could strip up to 8 million workers of
overtime pay. The Labor Department claims that just 644,000
white-collar workers would be affected.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao says the current rules are outdated
and confusing and employers are being subjected to 2 billion
dollars in "needless litigation" annually because
companies and their workers do not clearly understand their
obligations and rights.
Chao said the proposal would guarantee overtime pay protections
for 1.3 million low-wage workers. The Associated Press recently
reported that the Labor Department itself listed several ways
employers could avoid paying overtime to those low-wage workers.
- Mark Wilson, a Washington D.C. based attorney who specializes
in overtime issues. He works for the Communications Workers
of America and the International Union of Police Associations.
He is a former government prosecutor with the National Labor
Relations Board and he is the chairman of the DC Bar Committee
on Labor and Health Standards.
8:30-8:40 Omnibus Spending Bill Provisions Pt. II:
New Media Ownership Laws Raise TV Ownership Cap
INTRO: A second provision in the omnibus spending bill eases
the limit on the number of television stations a company can
own a move that significantly aids Rupert Murdoch's New Corp.
which owns the Fox network and Viacom which owns the CBS network.
The second provision of the omnibus spending bill we take
a look at is one that eases limits on the number of television
stations a company can own.
The provision increases the national TV ownership cap for
networks from 35 percent to 39 percent. The move significantly
aids Rupert Murdoch's New Corp. which owns the Fox network
and Viacom which owns the CBS network. Both would have been
forced to sell off several stations if the ownership limits
weren’t relaxed.
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8-50 Omnibus Spending Bill Provisions Pt. III:
Gun Purchase Records To Be Destroyed After Just 24 Hrs
INTRO: A third provision in the omnibus spending bill requires
federal officials to destroy background-check approval records
on gun purchases within 24 hours of the purchase. The current
law requires the records be kept for 90 days. We host a debate
between the National Rifle Association and the Brady Center
to Prevent Gun Violence.
Another part of the omnibus spending bill requires federal
officials to destroy background-check approval records on
gun purchases within 24 hours of the purchase. The current
law requires the records be kept for 90 days.
Opponents of the measure say it would make it harder to track
guns used in crimes, investigate shady gun dealers, or even
track down someone plotting a terror attack who might buy
guns in the United States.
Backers say record destruction will not hamper law enforcement,
but will protect gun owners' privacy. At a December 2001 hearing,
Attorney General John Ashcroft declared that FBI checks of
gun records into foreigners being detained on suspicion of
possible connections to the September 11 hijackers would “violate
their privacy."
Law enforcement groups across the country oppose the gun
purchase measure. Los Angles Police Commissioner William Bratton
said, "I just don't understand how Congress members can
even consider it. Obviously they haven't shown up at the scene
of enough officer shootings."
- Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Center to Prevent
Gun Violence united with the Million Mom March.
Link: www.bradycampaign.org
- Andrew Arulanandam, Director of Public Affairs for the
National Rifle Association which is backing the amendment.
Link: www.nra.org
8:50-8:58 Rainforest Action Network Declares Victory:
Citigroup To Adopt New Environmental Policies
INTRO: Rainforest Action Network is announcing it is ending
its grassroots campaign against the world’s largest
bank, Citigroup which agreed to adopt a series of new environmental
policies dealing with indigenous populations.
- Ilyse Hogue, Director of the Rainforest Action Network's
Campaign for a Sane Economy, the campaign focuses on leading
the corporate financial sector out of destructive activities
and into environmentally sustainable and equitable, community-based
alternatives.
Link: www.ran.org
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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