Author: Michael Baranowski

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Mike and Jay start the show by discussing H.R. 1, the ‘For The People Act’ recently passed by House Democrats. Mike thinks it’s a great start toward fixing some of the basic flaws in our representative system. ALthough Jay agrees with Mitch McConnell about the horribleness of the bill, Mike and Jay do find some common ground, both for and against elements of the legislation.

Next, they get into the remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar and the resulting House resolution against anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim speech. Mike feels that Omar’s comment was taken out of context and that she makes some important points about how we often label those who question U.S. policy toward Israel. Jay argues that while Omar may not be an anti-Semite, she has a record of previous remarks and she surely knew that the words she used were unnecessarily inflammatory.

After that, the Guys talk about the latest Trump investigations. Mike believes that the House is casting a broad net because there’s so much corruption in the Trump administration to investigate, whereas Jay – while not denying ethical issues in the administration – feels it’s more of a partisan fishing expedition.

Finally, Mike & Jay discuss the sentencing of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mike believes that Judge T. S. Ellis may have let his personal bias influence both his conduct toward the prosecution during the trial as well as his sentence of Manafort. Jay’s no fan of judicial bias, but he doesn’t see the Ellis’ sentence as being an abuse of discretion.

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Mike and Jay start the show with a discussion of what’s next now that the House has voted to rescind President Trump’s national emergency declaration. They agree that there won’t be the votes to override the inevitable presidential veto, but given the various constitutional uncertainties, a lot has to go right (or wrong, depending on your view) before any wall-building happens.

Next is a look at the summit between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un. Mike and Jay both believe that Trump was right to walk away without a deal, though Mike disagrees with President Trump’s habit of what he sees as foolish agreement with dictators who deny knowledge of human rights abuses.

After that it’s the House Democrats ‘Medicare for All’ plan. Jay thinks it’s an awful idea for all sorts of reasons, and while Mike agrees with the goal of a single-payer system, he thinks that this plan tries to do too much too quickly. On a semi-related note, the Guys discuss the Senate testimony of pharmaceutical executives this week. They both think that the drug pricing system in the United States is a big mess, but Jay’s much more inclined to trust market mechanisms to sort things out than Mike is.

The show closes with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s testimony to Congress. Neither Mike nor Jay was surprised by what Cohen said, and they don’t see anything approaching a ‘smoking gun’ in his testimony. About the only thing that that’s absolutely clear is that Donald Trump has surrounded himself with some awfully sleazy characters.

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This week Trey is joined by Ken and they continue examining questions of constitutional significance. First, Trey reviews the history of incorporation before asking Ken to discuss the implications of the history-making Timbs v Indiana, where the Supreme Court incorporated the excessive fines prohibition of the Eighth Amendment.

Next, Trey turns to the question of citizenship and the pending case of Hoda Muthana. Hoda, a woman who joined ISIS and now wants to return to the U.S.. The case allows Trey and Ken to talk about birthright citizenship, the politics of the right of return, and more generally citizenship and treason.

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On this week’s episode of The Politics Guys Trey Orndorff is joined by Ken Katkin. The two get into the constitutional and legal details surrounding national emergencies. Specifically the two discuss what constitutes a national emergency and the National Emergencies Act of 1976. Further the look at the historic context of presidential power in times of emergency and the way the Supreme Court has upheld, or struck down, presidential power. After an extended discussion Trey turns to the issue of Andrew McCabe and the two discuss both the constitutional question of the 25th amendment — including historical reasoning — and the pragmatical political outcome McCabe hoped to achieve.

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Kristin, who voted for Donald Trump, talks about the three main things she likes about the president. The first is that he’s brought the issue of media bias to the forefront. Mike agrees, but thinks that President Trump has done far more damage by constantly lying and by working to delegitimize any media that criticizes him, rather than engaging with the media based on substance.

The second thing Kristin likes about Trump is that’s he’s moved away from several Obama-era foreign policy decisions she sees as misguided; namely the Iran nuclear deal and diplomatically isolating North Korea. Mike believes that the Iran deal was actually the right move, and that given the state of North Korea’s nuclear development almost any president would have ended up talking to them, though he agrees that Trump deserves at least some credit for opening up talks.

Kristin’s final Trump positive is that he’s appointed ‘originalist’ Supreme Court justices, something very important to conservatives. Mike doesn’t believe originalism is anything more than a cover for conservative rulings and doesn’t see much differences between Trump’s judicial appointments and those of any other modern GOP president – aside from Trump having appointed two Justices with expansive views of executive power, which Mike finds understandable and worrying.

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Mike and Kristin open this week’s show with President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in order to fund border wall construction. Mike argues that there’s no real emergency in the first place, though Kristin doesn’t quite agree. They go on to consider whether or not the president’s declaration will hold up in court (probably) and if he’ll then have the legal authority to build a wall (maybe not). Mike and Kristin agree that Trump did this not necessarily because he cares about a wall, but because he wants to keep his base happy – a strategy Mike thinks might end up working to Democrats’ advantage in 2020.

Next is a look at a major public lands bill that passed the Senate with a huge bipartisan majority and is set to sail through the House and be signed into law by President Trump, who’s signaled his approval. How did it happen? Largely because there was something for everyone in the bill. Mike says we could have more positive-sum outcomes like this if Congress brought back earmarks, which were banned in 2011. Kristin is concerned about both waste, and the potential for corruption from earmarks, but agrees that they’re a very useful legislative lubricant.

Finally, Mike and Kristin discuss Amazon’s decision to not build a second HQ in Long Island City, New York after pressure from area activists. Mike sees this as a good thing, argues that Amazon should have engaged with the community from the beginning, and claims that the entire HQ2 competition exemplifies the disaster of ‘race to the bottom’ corporate giveaways by state and local governments. Kristin feels that Amazon’s decision is a loss to New York, in that the tax subsidies would have more than been made up for in long-term economic growth.

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

Will and Zach begin by examining the current situation in Venezuela. Zach is clear to discuss how the United States has negatively impacted Central and South America historically through coups and interference. He worries that we are doing the same again, in a nation with relatively high standards of living and development. Will, on the other hand, believe the National Assembly democratically created a power vacuum, and the United States is helping to ensire the people’s voices are heard.

Next, Will and Zach discuss the 2020 nominees. While Zach supports Bernie Sanders, he does wish that someone younger was carrying the mantle for progressive causes. He also finds himself aligned with Elizabeth Warren but does not believe her chances of victory are strong. Will says he likes Cory Booker out of the group, but that it’s likely none of the current candidates can survive the long process. Will and Zach both agree Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina are not where these decisions should be starting, however.

The show closes with Will posing listener questions to Zach about his self-proclaimed ideology.

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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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