PG132: Korea Talks, Iran Protests, DOJ on Marijuana, Wolff’s Book and Offshore Drilling

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In our first show of 2018 Mike and Trey look at what they thought would be a quiet week in the news that quickly exploded. First they look at the unexpected offer by Kim Jong Un to talks between North and South Korea. Then the hosts turn their attention to the emergence of protests in Iran and look at the similarities and differences between the 2009 and 2018 protests. After this weeks foreign policy questions are finished Trey and Mike discuss domestic policy beginning with Session’s DOJ memo on marijuana. They briefly discuss the more substantive outcomes of Michael Wolff’s upcoming book on the Trump White House before turning their attention to changes to offshore drilling.

Mike’s Recommended ReadingNational Review: ‘Can America Survive as a Post-Christian Nation?

Trey’s Recommended Reading: The Storm Before the Storm

This episode of The Politics Guys is sponsored by Policy Genius the free way to compare insurance quotes made simple.

Political Bribery, Corruption, Secret Money, and Broken Elections

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Mike talks with Josh Silver, Director and co-founder of Represent.Us, a nonprofit organization that brings together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.

Mike and Josh discuss why so many reformers take a left-wing approach, how big of a problem political corruption is, secret money and political speech, how to improve elections, and lots more.

Episode Links
The ‘Unrig the System’ Summit

The American Anti-Corruption Act

Lawmakers fighting Citizen Election Initiatives

Represent.us on Twitter

This episode of The Politics Guys is sponsored by SeatGeek, the easiest way to buy tickets to live events. Politics Guys listeners get $20 off their first SeatGeek purchase by downloading the SeatGeek app or going to seatgeek.com and entering promo code POLITICSGUY

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Avocado Politics

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Mike and Jay aren’t doing their regular Saturday show today, but instead of giving you nothing this weekend Mike thought he’d try an experiment.

As you might know, Mike started a blog not too long ago. One reader suggested that he do it as a sort of mini-podcast as well. That sounded like a reasonable idea, and so he gave it a try. This is the result – for better or worse. (If you’d like to read the article itself, it’s here.

We hope you enjoy this experimental Politics Guys episode, and that you let us know what you think – good, bad, or indifferent. Is this something you’d like to see on a regular basis (in addition to, not in place of, our regular Saturday and Wednesday shows)? Any suggestions, ideas, critiques? Whatever you think, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact Mike directly at mike@politicsguys.com or message us on the Politics Guys Facebook page

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PG131: Tax Reform Law, UN vs US, Trump’s National Security Strategy, Shutdown Averted

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Mike, Jay, and Trey have been talking about the GOP tax bill since early November, and this week it finally became the GOP tax law, after President Trump signed the measure before departing for his Christmas vacation. Mike and Jay summarize their views on the legislation and make some predictions as to how it’s likely to play out.

After that they discuss the United Nations General Assembly’s vote opposing U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel. Mike thinks that when only a handful of tiny countries are on your side maybe it’s time to reconsider your stance whereas Jay feels that the UN has once again demonstrated its strong anti-Israel bias.

Next is a look at President Trump’s recently announced national security strategy. Mike points out that in many places the document seems to contradict what President Trump has actually said and done, whereas Jay thinks that the administration’s focus on ‘principled realism’ is a good thing. (Mike likes the term too, but wishes there was a bit more focus on the ‘principled’ part, especially concerning human rights.)

Finally, Mike and Jay point out some relatively good news to end the year – the government won’t be shutting down, at least not until late January, thanks to a stopgap funding measure passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. Importantly, the measure includes emergency funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides coverage to around nine million children from lower-income families. Had Congress not come to an agreement on extending this funding, up to two millions kids would have been at least temporally without insurance.

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Patients, Physicians, and Employers on Value in Health Care

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Mike talks with Dr. Bob Pendleton, Chief Medical Officer at University of Utah Health. They discuss the school’s recently released ‘Value in Health Care Survey‘ which asked patients, doctors, and employers across the country about about their perceptions of value in health care and how they prioritize quality, service, and cost of health care services.

Mike and Dr. Pendleton dig in to the survey’s findings, some of which were fairly astonishing – for instance, that patients ranked getting better as less important than the friendliness of the medical office staff. They also discuss what these findings mean for the healthcare system in the United States and how policymakers might use this information to improve the U.S. system.

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PG130: Alabama Elections, Net Neutrality Officially Ends, The GOP Tax Cut (again), Sexual Allegations and Mueller

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This week Trey rejoins Michael after finishing the fall semester at Daytona State College. The first topic of conversation is the Alabama special Senate election. Trey and Michael discuss the implications of a Jones win, a Moore loss, and what the exit polling data tell us about the future. They then turn to Net Neutrality briefly before moving to the biggest week’s news: the GOP tax bill. With the bill out of conference committee Trey and Michael discuss the modified plan. Next comes a discussion of the renewed sexual allegations against President Donald Trump before ending on the potential Mueller credibility issue.
Mike’s Recommended Reading
Trey’s Recommended Reading
We hope you’ll check out today’s sponsor:
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Norman Ornstein – One Nation After Trump

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Mike welcomes back to the show political scientist and American Enterprise Institute Resident Scholar Norman Ornstein. They talk about his latest book: One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported.

Mike and Dr. Ornstein discuss why Donald Trump’s victory does and doesn’t mean, whether ‘presidential demeanor’ really matters, if President Trump’s liberties with the truth are that much of a break with the past, if presidents can pardon themselves, whether those on the left calling for the ‘normalization’ of impeachment have a point, and lots more.

Show Links:
Glenn Kessler’s ‘Fact Checker’ Blog at the Washington Post

Norm Ornstein on Twitter

We hope you’ll check out today’s sponsor:
Dollar Shave Club. There’s no reason not to join! Get the DSC starter set, featuring their Executive Razor, a full cassette of cartridges, shave butter, body wash, and ‘One Wipe Charlies’ butt wipes for only $5 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 or PayPal links.

PG129: Jerusalem, Sexual Harassment Resignations, 2018 Budget, Monuments

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Today’s show, which Mike does solo, is a radical departure from the normal format. That’s not because Mike went renegade and ditched Jay’s conservative counterweight or that Jay quit in disgust at Mike’s liberalism. Mike and Jay actually did record a show, but due to a major issue that affected both the main and backup recording, Jay’s end of the conversation was essentially unlistenable. (New equipment is on its way to Jay and this won’t be an issue going forward.

In Jay’s absence, Mike does his best to cover his views as well as Jay’s thoughts on President Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and (eventually) move the U.S. Embassy there, the continuing sexual harassment scandal that has now led to the resignations of Al Franken, John Conyers, and Trent Franks, the continuing resolution to keep the government operating until December 22, whether or not a budget deal will be reached and what a deal might look like, and President Trump’s move to dramatically curtail the size of two sites President Obama declared national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

Mike’s Recommended Reading
Patreon’s fee change punishes supporters who make small pledges.

Jay’s Recommended Listening
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (oral argument)

We hope you’ll check out today’s sponsor:
Blue Apron, treating Politics Guys listeners to their first dinner – a $30 value – plus free shipping. To get this great deal go to blueapron.com/TPG

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The U.S. Constitution Explained

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Mike talks with historian Ray Raphael about his latest book, The U.S. Constitution: Explained – Clause by Clause – For Every American Today. Ray argues that both sides are wrong about the 2nd Amendment, explains why there’s no such thing as an Constitutional Originalist, discusses whether or not the Constitution is outdated, and lots more.

Ray Raphael on the web

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PG128: Senate Tax Bill, Flynn Makes a Deal, Who’s Running the CFPB?

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This week, Mike and Jay start off with a look at the Senate tax bill, which passed by a vote of 51-49, with ‘no’ votes from every Democrat and one Republican (Tennessee’s Bob Corker). Jay is a lot more optimistic about the economic growth potential of the cuts than Mike is, though they both agree that corporate tax reform is necessary. They also agree that there will be a House-Senate compromise leading to a bill for President Trump to sign. In the end, Mike fears that the resulting law will significantly increase the national debt as well as make a bad economic inequality situation even worse, though for the sake of the country he hopes he’s wrong and Jay is right.

Then it’s a big announcement about the future of The Politics Guys. Mike and Jay talk about why they’re going ad free and how they plan to expand the show.

After that, the Guys discuss the plea deal entered into by former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Jay doesn’t think there’s much there, but cautions that we’ll have to wait and see what potentially damaging information Flynn may have on other Trump administration officials. Mike views this as another in a long line of instances where the cover-up may be worse than the crime. He doesn’t see this as ending Donald Trump’s presidency and expresses concern about the ‘normalization’ of presidential impeachment.

The show closes with a discussion of who the rightful head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is. Mike was really hoping that the law supported the claim of CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English, but after reviewing the evidence he agrees with Jay that President Trump had the right to make CFPB foe Mick Mulvaney the acting head of the bureau.

We hope you’ll check out today’s sponsor:
Brooklinen. Politics Guys listeners get $20 off and free shipping by going to brooklinen.com 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 or PayPal links.