Mike and Jay open this week’s show with a look at the trial of Paul Manafort, who’s accused of tax fraud, bank fraud, and bank fraud conspiracy. Both of the Guys agree that things look pretty bad for Manafort. While the charges aren’t directly related to Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, Mike and Jay say that Mueller couldn’t simply ignore evidence of crimes discovered as part of his investigation into Russian interference.
Next is a discussion of 3D printed guns, in the news due to the Trump administration settling with the gun blueprint creator which would have allowed posting of the design specifications on the Internet. Mike and Jay both have big problems with the ruling of a federal judge that prohibited posting of the designs, seeing it as unconstitutional prior restraint.
After that, Mike and Jay consider two big Trump administration regulatory changes: freezing automotive fuel efficiency standards and expanding ‘short term’ health insurance policies that can legally circumvent Obamacare minimum coverage standards. Mike sees both of these moves as bad policy. Jay likes them from a policy standpoint, but argues that the Trump administration may not be entitled to get all of what it wants through the regulatory process.
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