The Politics Guys

Mike and Jay weren’t able to get to everything they wanted to cover on Saturday’s show, so they decided to do this ‘Saturday Spillover’ show. In it, they talk about President Trump’s escalating battle with Senate Republicans, the largest ever NFL football team national anthem protest, whether Donald Trump actually looked at the eclipse without protective glasses and why it matters, as well as answering some listener mail.

We hope you’ll check out the sponsors of this episode:
Seatgeek. Politics Guys listeners get $20 dollars off their first SeatGeek purchase by download the SeatGeek app or going to seatgeek.com and entering promo code POLITICSGUY.

ZipRecruiter. Politics Guys listeners can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE by going to ZipRecruiter.com/politicsguy

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.

This week’s show starts with Mike and Jay talking about two late-breaking stories: President Trump’s pardon of former Maricopa County AZ sheriff Joe Arpaio and the president’s memo formalizing the ban on transgender troops which he previewed in late July on Twitter. Neither Mike nor Jay think that the pardon is a good idea, as it sends a message that law enforcement officials can ignore the rule of law, so long as it’s a law President Trump disagrees with. The Guys differ on the transgender ban, but they both agree that President Trump should have allowed Secretary of Defense Mattis’ review of the effect of transgender troops on military readiness to conclude before any action was taken.

Next is a look at the president’s new Afghanistan policy. Mike actually likes a lot of what he heard from the president (as does Jay) though he’s skeptical on what he views as President Trump’s over-reliance on the military and downplaying of diplomacy and nation-building.

Finally, in the wake of another defeat for Texas’ voter ID law in the federal courts, Mike and Jay talk about vote fraud, the intent of these state ID laws, and what a truly honest voter ID law might look like (hint: not like what Texas came up with).

Mike’s Recommended Reading
– Don’t Look Now, but America’s Tax System May Collapse Soon 

Jay’s Recommended Reading
– American Blackout

We hope you’ll check out the sponsors of today’s show:
SeatGeek. Politics Guys listeners get $20 dollars off their first SeatGeek purchase. Just download the SeatGeek app or go to seatgeek.com and enter promo code POLITICSGUY

Casper. Politics Guys listeners get $50 dollars toward any mattress purchase by going to casper.com/tpg and using promo code tgp

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.

This week’s show starts with the tragic events in Charlottesville, VA where there were multiple clashes between white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters, the most horrific by far being a young white man deliberately ramming his vehicle into the counter-protesters, resulting in one death and 19 injuries. President Trump condemned the violence, but made no specific mention of white nationalists or other hate groups by name, instead pointedly saying that there was violence ‘on many sides’. Later on Saturday, the Justice Department announced that it would be starting a civil rights investigation into the the circumstances of the deadly car ramming.

Next, it’s a look at the situation between the United State and North Korea. As President Trump doubles down on his bellicose rhetoric in response to North Korea’s typical semi-lunatic public pronouncements, Mike and Jay consider whether President Trump has a strategy and what options the US has.

After that, the Guys discuss the opioid crisis, which President Trump has declared to be a national emergency, as well as a new draft climate report that government officials leaked to the media for fear that the Trump administration might downplay or possibly even bury their findings.

Mike’s Recommended Reading:
– The Political Abstract

Jay’s Recommended Reading:
– The Liberal Crackup (WSJ – paywall)

We hope you’ll check out the sponsors of this episode:
Blue Bottle Coffee. Go to bluebottlecoffee.com/TPG for $10 off your first coffee subscription order.

Casper. Politics Guys listeners get $50 dollars toward any mattress purchase by going to casper.com/tpg

Dollar Shave Club, where new members get their 1st month of the Executive Razor with a tube of their Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter for ONLY $5 with FREE shipping by going to dollarshaveclub.com/TPG

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.

In this listener mail episode, Mike and Jay tackle a bunch of questions including whether we’re spending the right amount of money on the right things for national defense, how to deal with a future in which machines are doing so many of the things people currently do, news outlets and columnists we don’t agree with but respect and recommend, why Americans pay so much for health care when American healthcare outcomes seem to lag those of other rich countries, and why we’re subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.

We hope you’ll check out the sponsors of this episode:
Blue Bottle Coffee. Go to bluebottlecoffee.com/TPG for $10 off your first coffee subscription order.

Casper. Politics Guys listeners get $50 dollars toward any mattress purchase by going to casper.com/tpg.

Dollar Shave Club, where new members get their 1st month of the Executive Razor with a tube of their Dr. Carver’s Shave Butter for ONLY $5 with FREE shipping by going to dollarshaveclub.com/TPG

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.

Mike and Jay start this week with an analysis of the shakeup among President Trump’s top advisors. First it was Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci being fired 10 days after he was named to the position and before his first official day on the job. The man behind the firing was new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who many conservatives hope will bring some order and discipline to the White House. Mike and Jay wonder if this is possible, given that so much of the chaos seems to come from the president himself.

Next it’s a look at the major restructuring of immigration policy for which President Trump signaled his approval. Neither Jay nor Mike think the move is advisable, but it’s clearly near and dear to the hearts of nationalists like top Trump advisor Steve Bannon.

After that the Guys take a look at some good jobs news, which President Trump quickly took full credit for, even though the pace of job creation over his first six months in office is actually slightly behind job creation during President Obama’s last six months in office. The larger point though is that presidents tend to get (and take) way too much credit for good economic news, and get way too much blame when the economy isn’t performing well.

Finally, Jay and Mike consider some actions recently taken by the Senate, particularly a move to shore up Obamacare, and wonder whether the Senate might be moving on from President Trump.

This Week’s Recommendations:
Mike – Global Dispatches (podcast)
Jay – Struggling Americans Once Sought Greener Pastures – Now They’re Stuck.

This week’s show is sponsored by:
ZipRecruiter, where Politics Guys listeners can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE by going to ziprecruiter.com/politicsguy

Blue Apron. Check out this week’s menu and get your first THREE meals free with free shipping by going to blueapron.com/tpg

Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. If you’re interested in supporting the show, go to politicsguys.com and click on the Patreon link.

This week Trey and Jay team up to take on a fast moving week in the world of politics! We start with the McCain and company torpedoing the so-called skinny bill in the Senate. It looks like Republicans are having a tough time passing legislation and both Trey and Jay agree that with any other Republican president the legislation would have passed. Then we turn to the profanity laced Anthony Scaramucci interview and Twitter fallout. It seems like the Twitter stream of consciousness is the new normal in the Trump White House – as Matt Drudge put it: “Priebus Out, General In.” Finally we move to talking about how Mitt Romney was right about Russia and the Senate’s sanctions on Russia plus the Russian response.