Month: November 2024

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Mike and May open with a look at where the many legal cases against Donald Trump stand as Inauguration Day approaches. They agree that there won’t be any further action on them until Trump is out of office again, with May believing there’s much more of a chance of future Democratic administrations reopening them than Mike does.

Next is a discussion of the latest tariffs Donald Trump said he’d enact on day one: 25% on both Mexico and Canada as well as an additional 10% on China. Mike believes that Trump made these promises as the opening salvo in a negotiation and won’t end up following through. May argues that Trump has a real attachment to tariffs, and that he’s likely to stick with them even if they cause markets to drop and inflation to rise.

They close with Walmart’s recently announced DEI rollback, which is part of a larger corporate trend. Mike believes that thoughtfully administered awareness training can be valuable, but that it too easily becomes counterproductive hectoring.

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Mike and Jay open with a discussion of President-Elect Trump’s nominations to this point. Mike isn’t surprised by the picks overall, as they’re about what one would expect from Donald Trump given his belief that establishment insider picks in his first term were a major impediment to his administration. Jay believes that new AG nominee Pam Bondi will likely do a better job than Gaetz ever could. They both have issues with DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard, though Jay argues that it’s one thing to oppose her nomination, and something else entirely to claim that she’s acting on behalf of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

From there they turn to the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. They consider the plans of the department, as outlined by Musk and Ramaswamy in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, with their expectation being that not a lot of money will be saved, but that work from the office requirements and moving a number of government jobs out of the Washington DC could lead to a smaller federal workforce.

Here’s Mike’s May 2023 interview with Tulsi Gabbard

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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.

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Jay and Justin open by explaining why the election results weren’t really all that surprising – at least for those who believe that fundamentals matter more than candidates or campaign strategies. That said, Jay and Justin agree that Republicans generally fielded stronger candidates this time around than they did in the 2022 midterms, which probably helped them to maintain control of the House and retake the Senate.

Following that they turn to President-Elect Trump’s cabinet picks, from mainstream choices like Marco Rubio to more unconventional selections like Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz, and RFK Jr.

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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.

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Trey and Ken delve into the aftermath of the 2024 election, focusing on Pennsylvania and the contested Senate race. Trey notes the Wall Street Journal has declared a Republican winner, while Ken holds out hope that the New York Times has not. They also examine the remaining House races and what the losses mean for Democrats. Ken sees it primarily as a messaging issue, but Trey believes there are structural issues with Democrats. They both agree that the American electorate wants closed borders and Democrats will be forced to respond. The pair also discuss the ballot initiatives on abortion.

They close the show by discussing the German parliament, including a breakdown of the coalition government. Ken believes it is a tilt to the right globally and examines its reasons.

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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.

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In this special post-election episode, Mike, Trey, Ken, and May get together to discuss their initial thoughts in the wake of Donald Trump’s biggest win to date. They talk about the issues, the campaigns, fundamentals, shrinking vs growing electoral coalitions, what to expect from a second Trump term, where Democrats should go from here, and lots more.

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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.

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Mike and Jay open this final pre-election episode with a look at the closing arguments of Trump and Harris, with a focus on Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. Mike is feeling fairly pessimistic but thinks that Harris may have an edge in voter enthusiasm and grassroots organization that might just put her over the top. Jay argues that while Trump should be taken seriously but not literally, Harris should be taken neither seriously nor literally.

From there they turn to a discussion of the non-endorsements by USA Today, the LA Times, and the Washington Post. Mike sees in this wealthy media owners hoping to avoid being included on Trump’s enemies list should he regain the presidency. Jay doesn’t exactly buy that, but he agrees with Mike that journalism is under more threat than it has been in recent memory.

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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.