The Politics Guys

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This week, Will is joined by self-described anacrcho-communist Zach to discuss the latest in American political happenings.

Will and Zach begin by examining the State of the Union Address. While both believe the entire occurrence is little more than a facade, Will believes this was a better moment for Trump than Zach. Both, however, agree that Democrats missed an opportunity by using Stace Abrams to respond.

Next is a discussion of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal. Zach believes the steps within the proposal are necessary to move the country forward and acknowledges there will be sacrifices made to ensure the future of the environment. Will, on the other hand, finds mentioning of eliminating air travel and cows to be counterproductive and nothing more than a dream. While both have issues with Nancy Pelosi, Will does note how uncomfortable he is regarding his apparent alignment with Pelosi regarding the chances of this legislation ever coming to fruition. Both Will and Zach believe many politicians may be paying lipservice in support of the bill while not fully backing its provisions.

Zach and Will then turn to discuss the current happenings in Virginia. Between blackface and sexual harrassment, there are questions abound with the executive team and its future. Both are confused by Northam’s change of story, along with why the Secretary of State has volunteered his past actions. Yet, both are also concerned about the alelgations against the Lieutenant Governor and whether a resignation would be over-reacting to the allegations at this point.

Then they move to the Supreme Court decision to stay Louisiana’s enactment of new law with Chief Justice Roberts casting the deciding vote. While Zach does not feel abotion is a political issue, Will is more concerned about what is decided on this case come October. If women’s health is going to be used as an argument, there are merits to requiring credentials with local facilities. Zach suggests mandating all hospitals offer abortions, which Will believed would lead to a seismic shift in the medical landscape.

The show closes with a brief discussion of the latest updates into House investigations of President Trump. Zach believes this is an issue of paramount importances while Will just wonders why we keep focusing on this area instead of more closely looking at what Trump has done since taking office.

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In this listener comment show, Mike & Jay discuss:

• their recommendations for daily news updates
• pros and cons of privacy legislation
• if experience hurts presidential candidates
• basing representation on demographics, not geography
• Michael Cohen and legal ethics
• a ‘Politics Guys Bingo’ game

If you haven’t take the short (two-question) Politics Guys Listener Survey, please do. It will really help us out!

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to patreon.com/politicsguys

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This week, Jay takes charge of the show, starting things off with a discussion of the ongoing budget negotiations and President Trump’s authority to declare a national emergency and use the military to build a wall.

Next is a look at President Trump’s seeming disagreement with his intelligence agency chiefs about the greatest threats to the United States. Jay points out that Trump shouldn’t have bought into the media’s sensationalist rendition of events and that, as usual, Trump tweeted precipitously. Mike says that we should focus on the substantive point made by Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats: Russian and China are the main threats, and at present they’re working more closely together than they have been at any point since the 1950s.

Then they move to the INF Treaty, which the Trump Administration announced the U.S. would be withdrawing from, citing persistent and blatant Russian non-compliance. While Jay is sorry to see the INF Treaty go (he wrote a killer paper on it back in his college days), he and Mike believe that at some point the U.S. has to call Russia to account for its actions in violation of the treaty.

After that, the Guys discuss the potential withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. They agree that this would essentially give the Taliban a victory and make the world less safe. Mike mentions that he’s largely abandoned his former ‘go big or go home’ approach to U.S. military presence abroad, recognizing that we may have to keep small but significant forces in many places around the world on a permanent basis.

The show closes with analysis of the U.S. move to recognize Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela, freeze Venezuela’s assets in the U.S., and call on that country’s military to back Guaido over incumbent president Nicolas Maduro. Both Mike and Jay agree that this was the right move, though Mike points out that some on the left are right to be at least somewhat hesitant, given the less than honorable history of U.S. intervention in Latin America.

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The National Emergencies Act is not a Blank Check (Take Care Blog)

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This week Trey and Ken tackle a number of listener questions including:
* Can we avert civil war?
* How can I think critically?
* Is failing to federalize elections voter suppression?
* How would The Politics Guys fix the nomination process?

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to patreon.com/politicsguys or  politicsguys.com/support.

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This week Trey is joined by Ken. In a surprise ending Trey and Ken deeply disagree! Before that the pair look at a potential hidden sentence in the inditement of Roger Stone. Then they turn to the Covington Catholic so-called smirk, focusing more on the complexities of social networking combined with constant recording making non-news events seemingly news worthy. Next Trey and Ken turn their attention to Giuliani and ask if there might not be a coherent strategy to his seemingly unending number of statement walk backs. Finally the pair end on a heavy bit of discord as the two disagree over not only the blame of the shutdown, but the normative and ethical requirements of budgets for an exciting show close!

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to patreon.com/politicsguys or  politicsguys.com/support.

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This week, Mike is joined by Republican policy analyst (and podcaster) Kristin Matheny. Mike and Kristin start things off by talking about the continuing government shutdown, including what it’s costing, the back-and-forth between Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell’s role, and how (and when) they think it will all end.

After that, they discuss the Senate hearings to confirm William Barr as Attorney General. Mike thinks liberals should be suspicious of President Trump’s pick, especially considering that Barr would be in charge when Robert Mueller wraps up his investigation. Kristen, who’s on board with far more of Barr’s policy views than Mike is, agrees that it’s reasonable for liberals to have at least some suspicions.

Next, Mike and Kristen consider whether there should be a citizenship question on the 2020 Census, as well as whether or not Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross broke with legal requirements in attempting to include the question. Kristen isn’t as convinced as Mike is on the potential damage from including a citizenship question, but she agrees that there are some major issues in how Ross attempted to insert the question.

The show closes with a discussion of New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who this week announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Mike calls Gillibrand ‘Hillary Clinton 2.0’ and argues that she’d be a bad choice on multiple levels. Kristen agrees, and says that Gillibrand is vulnerable in a number of areas, and isn’t very likely to win the nomination.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to patreon.com/politicsguys or  politicsguys.com/support.

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Mike is joined by Beth Silvers from the Pantsuit Politics podcast to talk about some ideas he has for changing the U.S. Constitution. They discuss:

• Doubling the size of Congress
• Semi-proportional representation in the Senate
• Eliminating the Electoral College
• Mandatory voting
• Campaign finance reform
• Mandatory national service
• 20 year term limits for federal judges (including the Supreme Court)

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com/support.

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Mike and Will open with a continued discussion of the government shutdown. With employees now not receiving pay for the first time, it feels as if it has reached a new level of seriousness. Neither Mike nor Will see an easy path to the shutdown coming to a close, although they do agree with the premise of Rob Portman’s proposed legislation to prevent future shutdowns.

Then they turn to a more detailed discussion of Trump’s first Oval Office address. Discussion focuses on both the idea of the address and its overall substance—including considering the pros and cons of building a wall. While neither are entirely convinced the address deserved national play, Will believes it was one of Trump’s better addresses while Mike still questions Trump’s use of facts—especially when speaking off-the-cuff and in campaign mode. Both agree that there isn’t an inherent media bias in allowing Trump to make this address while not airing Obama’s 2014 immigration address. Will believes part of the decision related to timing and Trump’s lack of previous Oval Office addresses while Mike adds that the uncertainty surrounding what Trump might say is good for viewership.

From an effectiveness perspective, both Mike and Will raise doubt on whether a full border wall will have the desired impact. Mike believes stronger border control through agents or electronic monitoring would do just as much good while Will believes the symbolism of a wall is as important as its function. Will does argue that criminal activity by individuals who come across the border with the sole intent of immediately returning to Mexico could be thwarted by a physical wall.

Finally, they turn to Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria. Beyond just examining the possible impact of withdrawal, they discuss the reasons for a slow withdrawal, why the United States was ever interested in Syria to begin, and the future of our relationship with Turkey. Mike argues that a rushed withdrawal could lead to long-term issues in the already complex region while Will worries about whether Turkey can actually be trusted to execute at this time.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com/support.