Month: June 2024

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike and Jay open with a discussion of President Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate. Mike was actually hoping for a worse outcome that would all but force Biden from the race, which he doesn’t think will happen, despite multiple calls for Biden to step aside. Jay wonders how Biden’s closest confidants and top advisors allowed things to get to this point. Mike suggests that Biden may still be able to handle the non-public-facing parts of the job, which Jay doubts, particularly in the event of a national security emergency.

After that, they turn to the Supreme Court ending Chevron deference, in a ruling that will have major implications for government agencies, Congress, and the courts. Mike has long been a supporter of Chevron but thinks that the Court made the right call here, which both surprises and pleases Jay, who’s never been a fan of Chevron.

Following that they discuss two other major decisions of the Court – one that allows women in Idaho to obtain abortions to preserve their lives and health and another in which the Court decided that plaintiffs arguing the government censored their social media posts don’t have standing to sue.

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X

Check out Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet, and the Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Trey & Ken open by delving into President Biden’s proposed path to citizenship for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens, analyzing its potential impacts and political ramifications. Trey argues the timing is a political bone to the left in the wake of his tougher border policies.

Next, they tackle the implications of three major Supreme Court cases. In the first, Moore v. United States, upholding foreign asset taxing, Trey and Ken agree with the majority but Trey disagrees with the policy implications of a wealth tax. In the second, Gonzalez v. Trevino, both Trey and Ken agree that reigning in some protection for police officers is important. Still, Ken argues that all the justices would change their votes if it were applied to former president Trump. In the third, United States v. Rahimi, they discuss the upholding of the Second Amendment’s constitutionality for those under domestic violence orders.

Lastly, they explore the Senate’s recent blockage of the Democratic-led bump stock ban by Senate Republicans. Trey argues Republicans are simply using it as a political tool for the upcoming election and hopes afterward a ban will be possible.

Check out Democracy Works, Mike’s other podcast – Sustainable Planet, and the Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike & May open with a discussion of the guilty verdict in the Hunter Biden gun trial. They discuss Biden’s defense, the possibility of a pardon or commutation by President Biden, Donald Trump’s reaction, and how this may all play out politically.

Next, they turn to two big Supreme Court decisions. In the first of these, a unanimous Court found that the group challenging the FDA’s loosening of restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone didn’t have standing to sue. Mike agrees, but May feels that standing has become such a degraded doctrine that the right should be able to take advantage of it as much as she feels the left has in the past.

They close with the Court’s ruling that the Trump-era ATF exceeded its authority by banning bump stocks. Mike and May agree with the ruling, but Mike is more inclined to give regulatory agencies some deference in interpreting statutes than May.

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X

Check out Democracy Works, Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet, and the Sustainable Planet Substack.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Trey and Ken start the show with Biden’s immigration order. President Biden has announced a sweeping executive action on immigration, authorizing U.S. immigration officials to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims. This new policy, seen as one of the most restrictive border policies by a Democratic president, marks a significant shift in the administration’s approach to border security. Ken partially defends Biden’s order, even if it looks similar to past Trump policies. Trey argues that Biden issued it as a proclamation instead of an executive order because he recognizes it is not inherently constitutional.

Next, Attorney General Merrick Garland faced intense scrutiny from Republicans this week. Garland was grilled on Capitol Hill and has seen his standing on both the right and the left fall. Ken argues that Garland has overemphasized neutrality and has not properly pursued former President Trump and allies. Trey argues that the left’s attacks on Garland are nearly identical to those from Republicans and are no more founded than those from the Republicans.

Finally, the pair discuss Dr. Anthony Fauci’s testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, where he addressed critical issues related to the U.S. response to COVID-19. Fauci admitted that the “6 feet apart” social distancing recommendation lacked robust empirical support and it was more of an arbitrary guideline. He also acknowledged that the lab leak theory regarding the origins of COVID-19 should not be dismissed outright, a significant shift from his earlier stance. Both Trey and Ken continue to agree he largely did well in his capacity during the pandemic, however, Trey faults him for wrongfully downplaying, primarily for political reasons, the possibility of a lab leak in China.

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X 

Check out How Do We Fix It and Mike’s other podcast – Sustainable Planet.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castbox | PocketCasts | Overcast

Mike & Jay open with a discussion of Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Mike isn’t crazy about the law but believes that the prosecutor, judge, and jury acted reasonably in applying it. Jay discusses possible grounds for appeal. They agree that the effect of the conviction won’t be great, but that any small political benefit should be to Biden.

Then they move to calls for Justice Samuel Alito’s recusal. Mike starts with some comments concerning Ken’s characterization of Alito as corrupt and racist on last week’s show with Trey. On the issue of recusal, neither Mike nor Jay think Alito should step back, though Mike is somewhat more troubled by self-recusal at the Supreme Court level.

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X

Check out How Do We Fix It and Mike’s other podcast –  Sustainable Planet.

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.

The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.