North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory holds a news conference with fellow members of the Republican Governors Association at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.; Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(AP) North Carolina's governor is asking lawmakers to change part of a state law criticized for its anti-discrimination policies, but he sees no need for a wholesale repeal or reversal of its provisions on transgender bathroom access.

Gov. Pat McCrory issued an executive order on Tuesday expanding protections for many state workers based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

He also said he will ask the General Assembly in the coming weeks restore the ability of all workers to sue over employment discrimination on the basis of issues like race, age and gender in state court. That ability that had been removed in the law.

But aside from the change on workplace discrimination lawsuits, McCrory supports preserving the rest of the law that has brought nationwide fallout to North Carolina since he signed it last month. LGBT rights groups and political opponents have blasted him, while criticism from business executives includes several who have scaled back planned expansions in the state.

Bruce Springsteen also canceled a concert in the state because of the law.

Guests:

Matthew McReynolds, senior staff attorney at Pacific Justice Institute in Sacramento, which works to defend religious liberties and parental rights

Laura Durso, Senior Director of the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the policy think tank Center for American Progress

Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (L) and Hillary Clinton take part in a presidential debate sponsored by CNN and Facebook at Wynn Las Vegas.; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

With an increasingly heated battle for the Democratic nomination, superdelegates - party leaders tasked with ensuring primary voters pick a winner - must maintain a diplomatic demeanor and stay above the fray.

On AirTalk, Larry will interview a pair of superdelegates about how they perceive their roles during this campaign year.

Guests:

Joe Buscaino, Superdelegate for Hillary Clinton; LA City Councilmember

Erin Bilbray, Superdelegate for Senator Bernie Sanders; DNC Nevada National Committeewoman; she tweets from @erinbilbray

Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks to supporters as Former U.S. president Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton look on during her caucus night event .; Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

At a town hall meeting Tuesday, Ivanka and Eric Trump told CNN that they missed the voting registration deadline due to the “onerous” rules of New York. Those rules required them to register more than a year ago and will keep them from voting for their famous father in next week’s New York primary.

But will this latest headline reflect badly on Donald Trump, or is it just part of slew of press attention that will work in his favor?

Family members of presidential candidates have long been the go-to in order to woo voters on the campaign trail. Michelle Obama was a hit with the Democratic Party, and Bill Clinton is campaigning for Hillary, stepping into the shoes she wore during his journey to the oval office.

The Trumps aren’t the only children in support of their political parents. Chelsea Clinton is also on her mother’s side. And Ted Cruz has featured his children in his campaign ads.

So do family members of presidential candidates make a difference?

​Guest:

Julian Zelizer, presidential historian and Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of multiple books on U.S. political history, including The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress and the Battle for the Great Society (Penguin Press)

Kobe Bryant #24 of the Los Angeles Lakers tries to drive around Dion Waiters #3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter of a NBA game at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.; Credit: J Pat Carter/Getty Images

The fadeaway jumper isn’t perfect. While it looks great a lot of the time, it’s often not the ideal shot. But it won’t apologize for what it is.

While it’s not always successful, it does always leave you clinging to the edge of your seat, waiting to see what’s going to happen next.

For Kobe Bryant, the fadeaway jumper isn’t just his signature shot, it’s a representation his entire career: beautiful, confident, dramatic, and unapologetic. Tonight, that career comes to an end as Kobe suits up as a Laker one last time. At 37, Kobe is a 20 year NBA veteran who has been playing a game of chicken with his body for the last several years. He announced at the beginning of this season that it would be his last, and with the Lakers poor performance on the court leaving them well out of the playoff picture, the year has been a farewell tour for the man fans know as “Black Mamba.”

Few professional athletes, let alone basketball players, have left a mark on the game they play the way Kobe has impacted basketball. And it’s not just his stats. Sure, who wouldn’t love to have five NBA Championships, 2 NBA Finals MVPs 18 All-Star Game selections, four All-Star Game MVPs, two Olympic gold medals, and the Lakers all-time scoring title? But guards play differently because of Kobe. Defenders defend differently because of Kobe. Basketball is different because of Kobe. So is Los Angeles.

Unlike his signature shot, Kobe will certainly not fade away from the game of basketball or from Los Angeles. The memorable moments he created are too many to forget. He has yet to say where life will take him after the NBA, and while he’ll be remembered by some more for his polarizing and sometimes cryptic persona than his skills, his legacy and connection to this city and to the game of basketball are undeniable.

Where does Kobe rank among the all-time greatest Lakers? Among the all-time greatest L.A. sports stars? Among the greatest NBA players ever?

Guest:

A Martinez, host of KPCC’s Take Two

"Passing on the Right" by Jon A. Shields and Joshua M. Dunn Sr.; Credit: Oxford University Press

The American university is by and large a left-leaning place. So where does it leave conservative professors whose beliefs run counter to the progressive climate of academia?

That’s the question Claremont McKenna professor Jon Shields and University of Colorado professor Joshua Dunn sought to answer in their new book, “Passing on the Right.”

Shields and Dunn spoke to a number of conservative professors for the first-ever book-length study on the topic, and what they found might surprise most people.

Most conservative professors say that the university is a far more tolerant place than its right-wing critics imagine. Some say they feel more comfortable in academia than in the Republican Party. Still, many professors admit to hiding what they believe from others at the university before they get tenure. Some openly conservative professors even say they were badly mistreated because of their politics.

Guest:

Jon Shields, co-author of the book, “Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the Progress University” (Oxford University Press, 2016). He is an associate professor in the Department of Government at Claremont McKenna College  

A screengrab of the Broad Museum app.

The Natural History Museum announced this morning that they’re launching an urban  biodiversity center.

It’s part of a larger movement among museums big and small to become less of a museum of past artifacts and more of a living research institution through which to understand our current world.

Civic engagement is a big part of it as these living museums ask people to help amass this data by being the eyes and ears on the ground. Museums to varying degrees are experimenting with their own apps, tablets, virtual reality and other tech to increase curiosity and draw in the ever-coveted millennial audience. But it can be a fine line between reaching new audiences and alienating an older, more traditional one.

We talk with museum curators and watchers about how museums are changing in the digital age. What are your favorite museums? Why? Are there things you’d like to see your local museums do? What made you decide to become a museum member if you have?

Guests:

Susana Smith Bautista, director of public engagement at the USC Pacific Asia Museum and author of "Museums in the Digital Age: Changing Meanings of Place, Community, and Culture"

Rob Stein, Executive Vice President and Chief Program Officer, American Alliance of Museums

Chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Richard Burr (R), R-North Carolina, speaks with Vice Chair Senator Dianne Feinstein (L), D-California.; Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) unveiled a proposal that would force companies like Apple to help the government gain access to encrypted data on a computer or mobile device with a court order.

The draft proposal comes less than a month after the federal government dropped its lawsuit against Apple over encrypted data housed on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters.

The Senators could introduce the bill as early as this week. Its chances at passage seem questionable, though, after the White House declined to give its support. Critics say the proposal would roll back privacy rights of consumers and leave data vulnerable to attack.

​Guests:

Patrick Howell O’Neill, reporter at the Daily Dot, an online publication that covers tech- and internet-related issues. He’s been reporting on the encryption debate

Jeffrey Addicott, professor of law at St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio, where he is the director of the Center for Terrorism Law

Nate Cardozo, Senior Staff Attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization that defends civil liberties in the digital world

Cop who pepper-sprayed UC Davis students during an Occupy protest in 2011 is seeking worker's compensation. ; Credit: AP Photo/The Enterprise, Wayne Tilcock

To clean up its online reputation, the University of California, Davis paid $175,000 for an attempt to minimize negative search engine results about a November 2011 pepper spray incident between UC Davis police and student protesters.

An investigation by The Sacramento Bee shows the public university hired two online reputation management firms to minimize negative search engine results that flooded the Internet.

The program was funded by the UC Davis’ communications department in efforts to highlight positive search results about the university and its Chancellor Linda Katehi. Speaking in defense of the strategy,  UC Davis spokeswoman Dana Topousis told The Bee, “We have worked to ensure that the reputation of the university, which the chancellor leads, is fairly portrayed.... We wanted to promote and advance the important teaching, research and public service done by our students, faculty and staff, which is the core mission of our university.”

Communications experts say the actions by UC Davis were executed terribly.

Guests:

Ira Kalb, Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing, USC's Marshall School of Business; President, Kalb & Associates, a consulting firm

Doug Elmets, President of Elmets Communications - public affairs consultants in Sacramento

THE OLYMPIC MOTTO OF CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS IS DISPLAYED ON A GIANT TV SCREEN AT TODAY's OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 1984 SUMMER OLYMPICS. ; Credit: Tony Duffy/Getty Images

Four cities remain in the hunt for the right to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Hamburg, Germany, dropped from the race in November, which leaves Paris, Rome, Budapest, and Los Angeles in contention.

Here in L.A., the city and the bid committee are hard at work figuring out logistical issues like where athletes will stay and how they’ll get around, where venues will be and, maybe most importantly, how to pay for it all. Los Angeles State Senator Kevin de Leon is looking to make the bid more palatable financially. He’s introduced a bill that would create a $250 million contingency fund that would cover revenue shortfalls.

Today on AirTalk, we’ll check in on the city’s bid for the 2024 Games, talk about what impact Senator de Leon’s bill could have on it, and dig into exactly how the city plans to cover the cost of the Olympics.

Guests:

Ed Hula, editor in chief of Around the Rings, a publication devoted to covering the Olympics

Zev Yaroslavsky, former Los Angeles County Supervisor; he tweets from @ZevYaroslavsky

Dr. Valeria Barros treats a 6-week old baby born with microcephaly at the Lessa de Andrade polyclinic during a physical therapy session on January 29, 2016 in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. ; Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

With the link between Zika and birth deformities confirmed, health officials at the Centers for Disease Control are now grappling with the question of whether to advise women to delay pregnancy.

The virus has been found in as many as 30 states, including California, Texas, and Arizona. Health officials are bracing for potential outbreaks stateside this summer.

Proponents say the consequences of Zika are severe enough to justify a recommendation, yet opponents argue that women should be informed of the risks of infection but be free to make their own decisions.

Guests:

William Schaffner, MD., Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He’s worked on a range of CDC advisory committees

Ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft has meant mostly bad news for cab drivers in major metropolitan areas.; Credit: NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/AFP/Getty Images

The advent and rise in popularity of ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft has meant mostly bad news for cab drivers in major metropolitan areas, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has visited a city like L.A., San Francisco, or even Boston.

A study KPCC profiled last October showed that Uber and Lyft rides make up 41 percent of ground travel for business travelers, up from 13 percent in 2013. New numbers out from the L.A. Times further corroborate how hard the cab industry in Los Angeles has been hit.

Meanwhile, nice rideshare services are getting more attention. Massachusetts-based startup Chariot made headlines this week that aims to address many of the concerns about safety when using Uber.

Chariot plans to hire only female drivers and only pick up female passengers (or kids under 13). The idea has gotten a lot of praise on paper and is not the first of its kind, but has raised questions about whether the hiring process would be illegally discriminatory.

A service called SheRides in New York had to shut down after male drivers threatened to sue, but plans to reopen this summer as SheHails, giving female riders and drivers the option to pick up a male passenger or ride with a male driver, respectively. Still, the popularity services like Chariot and SheRides have received would suggest that there is a market for niche ridesharing services.

Today on AirTalk, we’ll take a look at how cabs are faring in Los Angeles against ridesharing, plus talk with some sharing economy experts and take your calls about the market for niche ridesharing services like Chariot.

​Guests:

Meghan McCarty, KPCC reporter covering transportation and mobility

Alison Griswold, reporter at Quartz covering the sharing economy; her latest piece is "I was meant to do this: The man behind the Uber-for-women startup talks female empowerment;” she tweets from @alisongriswold

Sheron Lawin (L), a member of the Board of Prison Terms commissioners, listens to Leslie Van Houten (R), after her parole was denied 28 June 2002 at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California. Van Houten, 53, has served over 30 years in prison for her involvement in the Tate-LaBianca killings.; Credit: DAMIAN DOVARGANES/AFP/Getty Images

A state parole board panel recommended parole yesterday for former Charles Manson disciple Leslie Van Houten.

Van Houten was convicted in the August 1969 killings of grocers Leno and Rosemary La Bianca at their Los Feliz home. Larry spoke with veteran courts reporter for the Associated Press, Linda Deutsch, who covered the trial and says Van Houten has been a model inmate.

The panel's decision will be reviewed administratively by the state's Board of Parole Hearings for up to four months then be sent to Governor Jerry Brown for review.

Guest:

Linda Deutsch, veteran courts reporter for the Associated Press who is retiring after a 48 year career in journalism. She has covered the high-profile trials of Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, and many more; Linda tweets from @LindaDeutsch

A report released by the Port of San Francisco last week has projected the impact of a major tremor on the bustling Embarcadero area in San Francisco.; Credit: Richard Eriksson via Flickr

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The 8.7 magnitude quake caused thousands of lives, and property damage in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And the kind of devastation experienced a century ago could easily be felt again today in the event of a major earthquake.

A report released by the Port of San Francisco last week has projected  the impact of a major tremor on the bustling Embarcadero area in San Francisco. The report predicts that the 3-mile sea wall built along the Embarcadero would likely be pushed out into the bay, causing massive infrastructural damage.

The cost to reinforce the sea wall is estimated by the report to range from $2 to $3 billion.

Informational presentation on the Results of the Earthquake Vulnerability Study of the Northern Waterfront...

Guest:

Ron Lin, LA Times reporter who’s behind the story; he tweets from @ronlin

Patrick Otellini, Chief Resilience Officer, City of San Francisco

Juan R. Ramirez gestures as he leads the front of the Mega March protest on City Hall in Dallas, Texas.; Credit: Jensen Walker/Getty Images

The Supreme Court heard one of the biggest cases on its docket this term – one whose outcome would affect millions of undocumented immigrants in the country.

The case, United States vs. Texas, concerns the constitutionality of two executive orders issued by President Obama in 2014. The executive actions would have expanded a program to allow undocumented Americans who came to the country as children get work permits and avoid deportation, and would have extended those rights to the undocumented parents of US citizens and permanent residents by establishing an additional program.

The justices will consider several questions, including whether Texas has the legal right to sue the government, and whether the President has the authority to create those programs.

​Guests:

Alvaro Huerta, a staff attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, which has filed an amicus brief on the case. He was inside the courthouse this morning for the oral argument

Ira Mehlman, Media Director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform

(L-R) Kerry Washington and professor of law at Brandeis University, Anita Hill pose during TimesTalks Presents: Kerry Washington And Anita Hill "Confirmation."; Credit: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

A timely new HBO film dramatizes the controversial 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings for now Justice Clarence Thomas that exposed sexual harassment charges by his former assistant, then Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill.

While "Confirmation" brings to mind today's highly politicized Supreme Court fight over Merrick Garland, the film is more about sexual harassment in the workplace, the specific hearings with Thomas and Hill, and Washington machinations at the time.

What do you remember about the hearings? If you were not plugged in at the time, are you aware of the influence? What are your thoughts on the film?

​Guests:

Fatima Goss Graves, Senior Vice President for Program, National Women's Law Center; Goss Graves currently serves on the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace

Mark Paoletta, Former assistant counsel for then President George H. W. Bush

French Bulldog puppies pose as the 2013 most popular dog breeds in the US are unveiled to the press at the American Kennel Club.; Credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Despite their notorious respiratory complications and physical challenges breeding naturally, Frenchies are more popular than ever before.

Though they still trail behind the nation’s most popular breed, the Labrador Retriever, French Bulldogs are now the sixth most popular breed in America. In addition to the dog’s hefty sale price, invasive surgical procedures are typically required to maintain aesthetics and quality of life.

Surgeries are stressful and can amount to thousands of dollars, so why do we continue breeding them? Are these dogs a symbol of social status or do we have the media to blame for its allure?

Larry Mantle speaks with  the president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles and a French Bulldog breeder to debate the ethics of breeding the trendy canine.

Guests:

Madeline Bernstein, President, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA)

Marika Zoll Ph.D, Co-owner and breeder, French Bulldogs LA, and clinical psychologist with extended education in animal genetics and animal behavioral psychology

The New York State primary is Tuesday for both Republicans and Democrats.; Credit: New York Daily News via Facebook

The New York State primary is Tuesday for both Republicans and Democrats.

Both current frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump call the Empire State home and have been making sure everyone knows it in the weeks leading up to tomorrow’s contest. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz have had strong showings in recent primaries, suggesting things may not be as clear-cut as they seem.

A victory in New York for Hillary Clinton could give her the mathematical assurance she needs to secure the Democratic nomination, while Donald Trump could lengthen his lead over Ted Cruz, who has been gaining delegates.

In our weekly roundup of the week to come in politics, our experts take a look at the candidates’ expectations in New York, what each has to do to win, and what wins for each of the candidates would signify for the race overall.

Guests:

Steve Phillips, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and author of the book “Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority”

Zach Courser, research director of the Dreier Roundtable and visiting assistant professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College

The boardwalk at Venice Beach, Calif.; Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

In an effort to quell the burgeoning homeless population in Los Angeles and specifically Venice, Westside Councilman Mike Bonin is proposing a plan to allow round-the-clock bathroom and storage access for the homeless.

The plan outlines several sites to be converted into facilities for the homeless. Among other things, it would open the bathrooms at Venice Beach all day and night and reopen the Westminster Senior Center on Pacific Ave. to become restrooms and storage for the homeless. There’s also a provision to turn a city-owned parking lot on N. Venice Blvd. into housing for the homeless and public parking.

Councilman Bonin and Venice Stakeholders Association president Mark Ryavec joined Larry to share their thoughts on how this proposal addresses the homeless problem in Venice and around Los Angeles.

Interview Highlights

If you have restrooms unlocked at night in Venice Beach, how are you going to keep people from living in them?

Bonin: The bathroom question is one I’m going to be duking out in the city budget process this year because it’s going to cost more to have them open later for security, for maintenance, for cleanliness and stuff like that. What I should say, though, is that I lived a block and a half from Venice Beach for 18 years. The number of times I looked out my back window and saw someone urinating on my building…and it wasn’t homeless people, it was tourists. This is about giving anybody an opportunity a place to go to the bathroom.

But will it be able to be used for that as opposed to people moving into it to sleep overnight and get out of the elements?

Bonin: The bathrooms in Venice Beach are actually tall and small, so it’s not a space you could actually lie down in.

What do you think about 24/7 bathroom access, Mark?

Ryavec: This has been proposed by homeless advocates in Venice for many years and has been roundly rejected by the residents and the business community. One of the things [Councilman Bonin] has not spoken to in this proposal is that to allow anyone to use the beach restrooms in Venice overnight will require that he roll back the beach curfew from 12-5 a.m., otherwise someone will be subject to citation or arrest if they step across the boardwalk and out to those beach restrooms. We are opposed to relaxing the beach curfew because it’s the only enforcement mechanism that has some proactive effect at cutting down on camping on boardwalk and along the beach and also on the crime that was associated with those bathrooms being open.

What if there are attendants on duty around the clock?

Ryavec: It’s unrealistic to think the city is going to pay someone to be there overnight for each one of those restrooms. I think that’s a ridiculous cost. Our organization continues to believe putting in restrooms is simply more enablement and will make it harder to get people off the street. 

Many of the belongings to be stored in the old senior center will probably be dirty or smell bad. Is there a proposal to clean those belongings? 

Bonin: The city has had a phenomenal program for the past few years downtown run by Chrysalis, which employs people who are formerly homeless, and they’ve had a very successful storage program down there. Yes, it involves some cleaning and it also involves some intake into our coordinated entry system to get folks into services and housing. 

Mark, what about converting the old Westminster Senior Center?

Ryavec: We’re particularly opposed, as are the residents in the area, to turning the Westminster Senior Center into storage. That area has been a crime generator for years because of the homeless people camping there. The cops in the last year or so have cleared it and really gotten the crime there under control. What [Councilman Bonin] is proposing to do is to bring back a couple hundred people who would constantly be coming to check in their stuff or get stuff out of there. We’ve identified another site in an industrial zone that’s very nearby where the city could rent a warehouse space and accomplish the same storage without forcing it right on the residents.

What about the loss of parking that would come from converting city-owned parking lot into housing and how would that housing work?

Bonin: There wouldn’t be any loss of parking. The proposal is to build the housing over parking, so there will be no net loss. There could, perhaps, be a gain in parking. There won’t be encampments, it’s going to be housing. We have some beautiful examples in my district. Del Rey, for example, has three or four different projects and folks don’t even know they’re there or that they’re homeless housing because they blend in. 

Are you concerned that, with Venice creating these supports for homeless residents, it will attract more homeless to Venice?

Bonin: I’ve heard people say that. It fails to acknowledge that what we’re doing in Venice is a city and county-wide strategy. We’re going to be doing this in lots of other places. A couple of my colleagues are talking about storage in their districts. We’re going to be building housing on city-owned properties throughout the city, so that magnet effect isn’t going to happen if this happens everywhere else in the city. I just happen to be the first one out of the gate because the problem is so big in my city and inaction just makes things worse.

What's your sense of the source of Venice's homeless?

Ryavec: I disagree with [Councilman Bonin] about why we have so many homeless in Venice. It’s because of a very attractive combination of sun, beach, drugs, all the fast food outlets, and almost no enforcement of existing laws down there. I’ve had a long relationship with The Teen Project down there and the LAPD homeless task force. The staff at both those organizations will tell you that a significantly large number of the homeless population in Venice Beach, unlike elsewhere in L.A., are from out of state or certainly out of L.A. It’s a Mecca, particularly for young people, coming to live this vagabond lifestyle and engage in a lot of drug activity and partying. Venice  is being expected to carry burden of these folks, which is often very heavy when you’re thinking of home invasion, assaults, public defecation and urination, intimidation. There are a lot of folks who live in Venice that aren’t comfortable going out on the boardwalk.

Note: This interview has been edited for clarity.

Guests:

Mike Bonin, Los Angeles City Councilman representing Council District 11, which includes Venice, West Los Angeles, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades

Mark Ryavec, president of the Venice Stakeholders Association

A worker trims cannabis at the growing facility of the Tikun Olam company.; Credit: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

It’s possible that, by mid-2016, marijuana could be viewed in a very different light by the federal government.

A recent memo the Washington Post obtained from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other government organizations to eight Democratic U.S. Senators says that the DEA wants to decide whether to reclassify marijuana “in the first half of 2016.” A DEA spokesman tells AirTalk they have yet to publicly comment on the interagency response to Senators Elizabeth Warren and others, and that they have not authenticated the letter or its contents.

Marijuana has long been classified under federal law in the same category as drugs like heroin and ecstasy: Schedule I.

The Controlled Substances Act classifies those drugs as having “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” This classification has long been a point of contention for marijuana activists, who argue that for cannabis to be considered as dangerous as heroin or ecstasy is ridiculous, especially given that several states recognize medical uses for the plant and have passed laws legalizing for medical purposes.

While a decision to reschedule marijuana wouldn’t mean the federal government views it any differently in terms of legality, it would open up opportunities for government funding and research of marijuana and maybe even lessen penalties for marijuana-related offenses. Those against the rescheduling say that it would mostly be a symbolic victory for advocates.

Do you think marijuana should be rescheduled? If so, where? Do schedule definitions need to be revisited? What about the Controlled Substances Act?

Guests:

John Hudak, senior fellow in Governance Studies and deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution

Kevin Sabet, founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and director of the University of Florida Drug Policy Institute

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders requested the analysis of corporate taxes because a major component of his campaign is denouncing what he decries as unfair special treatment of so-called corporate America. ; Credit: KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images

Newly crunched data shows two-thirds of American corporations paid no federal income taxes in each year from 2006-2012, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders requested the analysis of corporate taxes because a major component of his campaign is denouncing what he decries as unfair special treatment of so-called corporate America.

The GAO states: "Reasons why even profitable corporations may have paid no federal tax in a given year include the use of tax deductions for losses carried forward from prior years and tax incentives..."

Corporations that make capital investments, such as equipment or real estate, enjoy significant tax reductions. Some economists argue those incentives help stimulate growth in the economy overall, but others say evidence does not support that claim.

The statutory tax rate is 35 percent, but if the majority do not pay that rate, how should it impact policy discussions about taxes? Are current tax exemptions fair and stimulative, or are corporations shirking their duties to contribute to public spending for roads, schools, and the like?

GAO Corporate Income Tax Report

Guests:

Dean Baker, Economist and Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research - a D.C. based think tank

Veronique de Rugy, Economist and Senior Research Fellow, The Mercatus Center at George Mason University - a research center for market-oriented ideas