In the inaugural episode of Ask The Politics Guys, Mike and Jay answer this question: Why is it that even though Donald Trump is way ahead in the polls, almost all of the so-called experts say he doesn’t have much of a chance? And would it really be all that bad if he won?
Month: December 2015
PG34: Budget Bipartisanship, GOP Debate, The Fed, Big Pharma, Obama Doesn’t Drink His Own Urine, Bombing Fictional Cities
This week, the Politics Guys start off with something new and strange – bipartisanship breaking out in Congress. While neither Jay and Mike think this is the start of a trend, they’re glad that the U.S. has a budget for fiscal year 2016 (which started on October 1, 2015). Next, the Guys discuss the latest GOP debate (which neither of them thinks changed much of anything), the Federal Reserve’s move to raise interest rates, and why even though former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli is a Big Giant Ass, the anger against him is misplaced. Finally, Mike and Jay talk about President Obama’s appearance on Running Wild with Bear Grylls as well as the 30 percent of Republicans who want to bomb the fictional city of Agrabah, from the Disney movie Aladdin.
Politics Guys Giveaway – Win A Year of The New Yorker Magazine
The Politics Guys are giving away a year’s subscription to The New Yorker magazine! That’s 52 weekly issues with a total newsstand price of over $400 dollars. Why the New Yorker, you might ask. Well, they offered Mike a free gift subscription if he renewed his own subscription and he thought, “Why don’t I give it to one of our listeners?”
If you’re interested, here’s what you need to do. First, go to the Politics Guys iTunes page.
Next, write a review of the podcast (you’ll need to view it in the iTunes app to do this, at least I think that’s the only way). It can be a sentence, a paragraph, a novella, good, bad (though obviously we’d prefer good) – just let people know how you feel about the podcast.
Once you’ve done that, send us an email at politicsguys@gmail.com letting us know that you’ve posted your review (if the review isn’t under your real name, be sure to tell us the name you’ve used). While you’re at it, let us know if you have a question for our upcoming ‘Politics Guys Question of the Week’ podcast.
All entries need to be in by Sunday, December 20. We’ll pick one entry at random and notify the lucky winner by Monday, December 21. The New Yorker only lets me gift a subscription for free to U.S. addresses, so if you’re one of our international listeners, while we’d definitely appreciate a review, we aren’t able to enter you in the drawing.
PG33: Climate Accord, Obama vs Trump on Terror, The End of No Child Left Behind & (Possibly) College Affirmative Action
This week’s top story is the international climate agreement reached after two weeks of negotiations outside of Paris. Mike says that while it won’t prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change, it’s a step in the right direction. Jay feels that nothing will come of it, and that that’s probably a good thing. Next is a look at Obama’s response to the terror attack in San Bernardino (not much) compared to Trump’s response (mindless over-reaction – in other words, typical Trump). After that, Mike and Jay find themselves agreeing with almost everyone else that No Child Left Behind is best left behind, before turning to college affirmative action. Both of the Guys feel that diversity is a worthwhile goal, but they differ on how far colleges should go to achieve it.
PG32: Terrorism in California, Women in Combat, Agreement on Infrastructure, Climate Talks, and Trump’s Perfect Health
The top story this week is the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which is the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. Mike and Jay talk at the calls for more gun regulation, the decades-long decrease in gun violence, and why Congress has been keeping the CDC from studying gun-related deaths. Next is a discussion of the Pentagon’s move to allow women in all combat roles. Jay is skeptical of using the military for social engineering purposes, but both Mike and Jay agree that if women in combat roles don’t make the military less effective, women should be allowed to serve in any position for which they’re qualified. After that, the Guys look at the big bipartisan agreement on a $305 billion transportation bill, the Paris climate talks, Donald Trump’s perfect health – despite a horrible lifestyle, and the lesson Jay’s daughter Emma learned about knowing your audience.