The Politics Guys

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Mike and Jay open with a discussion of the recently concluded Democratic National Convention. Mike notes that the tone of the DNC was far more upbeat and optimistic than the RNC, and attributes that in some part to the basic nature of Donald Trump. They also get into a discussion of the Democrats’ celebrity advantage and Jay’s theory as to why that’s the case.

Next up is RFK Jr. suspending his campaign and endorsing Donald Trump. Mike argues that in some ways RFK Jr. and Trump make strange political bedfellows, but that RFK Jr. seemed determined to leverage his small but potentially significant support into an administration position in either a Harris or Trump administration. Jay thinks RFK Jr is a long-time nut and that he’d be a horrible choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

They close with a look at the House Oversight Committee’s report on the Biden impeachment inquiry. Jay thinks Biden likely committed serious ethical and possibly legal lapses while vice president, whereas Mike is less certain and argues for the weirdness of even considering impeaching a president for things he allegedly did when he was vice president. That said, Mike feels that it’s good for Congress to look into credible accusations of favor-currying from presidential friends and family. Mike’s hope is that this impeachment-mania will end when Trump and Biden have left the scene. Jay isn’t as hopeful as Mike on that.

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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, Justin, and Mike open with a discussion of the X conversation between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. They consider the ties between Musk and Trump, Musk’s move from left to right, and whether the event was a violation of campaign finance law as well as illegal worker intimidation.

This moves into a conversation of Elon Musk’s recent lawsuit alleging that an advertiser boycott of X violates antitrust law. Jay points out that it’s a strange claim in that there’s no apparent harm to consumers. Justin doesn’t see the lawsuit as having much likelihood of success, while Mike mentions that it’s an example of even more judicial forum shopping.

They close with the recently announced Medicare drug price reduction agreement. Jay has a problem with the nature of the negotiations but agrees that Americans have been paying more so that pharmaceutical companies can make up for lower prices in most other developed countries.

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Check out the Sustainable Planet podcast, as well as the free 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 and Jay open with a discussion of Kamala Harris’ choice of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. While neither Mike nor Jay believes Walz will make much of a difference, Mike argues that he’s more of a “regular person” than Trump running mate JD Vance, and that Harris has a reasonable shot at winning without running with a battleground state running mate.

Then they turn to the state of the presidential race. Jay points out what he sees as the hypocrisy of Democrats’ “coronation” of Harris, a position Mike takes issue with. Mike has moved from near despair to cautious optimism now that Harris has replaced Biden on the ticket, while Jay sees it as still Trump’s race to lose, and believes Trump might even win big. They agree that Harris should hold a press conference, but Mike is willing to cut her more slack given all she’s had to do since Biden bowed out.

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Check out the Sustainable Planet podcast, as well as the free 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, May, and Ken commence the show with an in-depth discussion on former President Donald Trump’s comments at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention (NABJ) in Chicago. The debate becomes contentious as Ken and May dispute Trump’s engagement with racist groups. May contends that Ken’s remarks unfairly characterize conservatives as racist, while Ken clarifies that Trump’s outreach to white supremacists does not implicate all conservatives, only a segment of his coalition.

Next, they analyze the largest U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange since the Cold War, which included Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich, and consider its implications amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ken and May diverge on the potential actions of a Trump/Vance administration in response to this exchange. May argues the action needs to come to an end sooner, not later, because the American public is growing tired of supporting it financially.

The show concludes with a discussion on the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Trey points out the deep power it means Israel has inside of Iran. Ken believes the negative repercussions outweigh the positive, suggesting it endangers any remaining prisoners. May argues that earlier decisive action against more specific Hamas members, like Haniyeh, by Israel, would have been more impactful on the international stage, rather than delaying nearly a year

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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.

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

Mike, Ken, and Trey open with a discussion of President Biden’s decision to leave the race and the potential running mates and policies for presumptive nominee Kamala Harris. Ken argues that Biden would have done just fine against Trump and that Harris will also win in November, whereas Trey and Mike are far less bullish on her chances. They all agree that a potential Harris administration would be somewhat to the left of what we’ve seen from Joe Biden.

They close the episode by looking at the Secret Service failures and congressional testimony that led to the resignation of director Kimberly Cheatle. Mike and Trey think Cheatle should have resigned sooner, with Mike arguing that President Biden should have called for her resignation shortly after the magnitude of the failure became evident.

The Politics Guys on Facebook | X

Check out the An Honorable Profession and Sustainable Planet podcasts, as well as the free 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.