Partisanship

Partisanship

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Season 1, Episode 19 , Segment 5

Homelessness, Filk Music, Peanut Allergies, Election Conflict

Episode: Homelessness, Filk Music, Peanut Allergies, Election Conflict

  • Mar 5, 2015 10:00 pm
  • 31:42 mins

(1:11:25) Guest: Jim Leach, Former member of Congress (R-IA) and former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities  It’s no secret that Congress isn’t particularly effective at getting things done these days – the latest standoff over funding the Department of Homeland Security involved procedural maneuvers and grandstanding and ultimately an angry split among Republicans in the House, until finally, they passed a funding bill that kicks the can down the road for a few more months. Temporary solutions are seemingly all Congress is able to agree upon as elected Democrats and Republicans become increasingly polarized and divided internally.  Which brings us to Jim Leach, who served 30-years in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Iowa. He was elected as a Republican, but angered the party by voting against the Iraq War. Then, after leaving the House, he came out in support of Democrat Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for President. Leach was branded a turncoat by Republicans. And he was subsequently appointed by Obama to serve as chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He’s since left that post and now speaks around the country on the need for more peace and mutual understanding in the halls of government.  “… when it comes to final voting, you have to do what’s best for the country,” says Leach about representatives in the U.S.  “I was appalled with the foreign policy of the US by people that I had helped elect. I believe that America was in the process,” says Leach, “of making the biggest foreign policy mistake and so I voted against the Iraq war.”

Other Segments

Homeless Counts

Mar 5, 2015
18 m

Guest: Nan Roman, CEO of National Alliance to End Homelessness  Every year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development requires communities to count the number of people staying in homeless shelters on a given night in January. Every other year, communities also have to count the number of people living in places unfit for habitation – like an abandoned building or a park.  “One of the things that data has revealed is the presence of the people who are chronically homeless. There is a group of people who spend a long time homeless, a year continuously or 4 times in 3 years. These are people with disabilities who can’t get out of the homelessness system. We have a solution to their problem which is permanent supportive housing,” says Roman.

Guest: Nan Roman, CEO of National Alliance to End Homelessness  Every year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development requires communities to count the number of people staying in homeless shelters on a given night in January. Every other year, communities also have to count the number of people living in places unfit for habitation – like an abandoned building or a park.  “One of the things that data has revealed is the presence of the people who are chronically homeless. There is a group of people who spend a long time homeless, a year continuously or 4 times in 3 years. These are people with disabilities who can’t get out of the homelessness system. We have a solution to their problem which is permanent supportive housing,” says Roman.