1:06pm: Is Obama A Chess Master Or Pawn? That's the question posed on the cover of the March issue of The Atlantic. Writer James Fallows offers his answer in his article called Obama Explained.1:12pm: Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has called Massachusetts' health care law—which requires that every resident have health insurance or pay a fine—an "abject failure." Santorum claims that health care costs have "blown a hole" in the Massachusetts budget. But in a poll conducted by Here and Now's home station WBUR-Boston, 62 percent of residents surveyed support the measure that Mitt Romney signed into law five years ago. Why the disconnect? And what are the facts on the costs of health care reform? We'll try to find out.1:40pm: You've heard of flash mobs where people appear to randomly gather and break into elaborate song and dance routines. But now, a new phenomenon, called "cash mobs," is spreading across the country. Instead of breaking into song, members of cash mobs break open their wallets to spend their money at locally-owned businesses. The idea is the brainchild of Buffalo blogger and engineer, Chris Smith. He says the idea is sort of a reverse Groupon. But instead of offering people bargain basement deals, the incentive is to infuse the local community with cash. We'll find out how they work and what effect they have on the stores they visit.
Laura is LPM's Director of Podcasts & Special Projects.
Email Laura at lellis@lpm.org.