Category: Podcast

PG 121: Trump and the Democrats on Dreamers and Healthcare, Harvey Weinstein’s Worst Kept Secret, The Boy Scouts Make A Change & A Presidential Library Without Books

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Trey and Jay start this week’s show by discussing Trump’s unilateral action to change the Affordable Health Care Act’s cost-sharing provisions. They talk about the actual changes and the policy implications of the action. This leads to a discussion of the demands Trump sent Congress if they want a deal on Dreamers.

After that it’s a look at Harvey Weinstein’s sexual abuse allegations and the implications for politics. They get into a broader discussion on the implications for politicians on the source of donations. Such a question is particular relevant for Democrats right now, but was the same issue facing Republicans with Trump.

Next up is the Boy Scouts seemingly surprising decision to open their doors completely to girls. Jay is enthusiastically supportive. Trey sees the business value but ponders the general trend in society to not have more narrow groups.

Finally Trey and Jay discuss how former President Obama’s library will not actually house any documents. Instead, it will be a completely digital repository. They also discuss archiving documents that were originally digital and the challenges for future presidential libraries. ‘

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Overturned Courts, Market-Based Healthcare, Affirmative Action, Political Correctness, Politicizing Weather

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This week, Mike and Jay respond to lister questions and comments: if the Ninth Circuit is really the most overturned appellate court (it depends on how you measure), whether we think market-based reforms can lower health care costs (sometimes), if there’s ever a case to be made for affirmative action and political correctness (Mike is much more emphatically ‘yes’ on this than Jay is, as you might expect), whether or not Mike and Jay are wrong for not calling Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions racist (we don’t think so), and why ‘politicization’ is such a dirty word when it comes to weather (Mike says it’s not – or at least it shouldn’t be, while Jay disagrees).

In this episode, Jay recommends SCOTUSBlog, which Mike also likes and has used for many years. Empirical SCOTUS is another great site Jay recommends for data on the Supreme Court.

We hope you’ll consider checking out the sponsors of today’s show, who with your help make it possible for us to keep on doing what we do:

Brooklinen. Politics Guys listeners get $20 off AND free shipping by using promo code tpg at Brooklinen.com

Bombfell, where Politics Guys listeners get $25 dollars off their first purchase by going to bombfell.com/tpg

ZipRecruiter. Politics Guys listeners can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE. Just go 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.

PG120: Gun Policy After Las Vegas & Gerrymandering

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Mike and Jay start this week’s show by discussing the state of gun policy in the United States in the wake of the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas. They get into how the United States is different from other rich countries on the issue, whether liberals are being honest in their arguments, the motives of the NRA, what legislative proposals might be effective, if the left really wants to take away people’s guns, and lots more.

After that it’s a look at partisan gerrymandering, an issue that reach the Supreme Court this week. Mike believes that the Court should – and will – overturn the extreme partisan districts in Wisconsin because political scientists have developed a reasonable standard for determining whether or not a legislative district is unconstitutionally partisan. Jay disagrees, and believes that the Court will ultimately let Wisconsin’s redistricting stand.

Mike’s Recommend Reading & Listening
– Budget Reconciliation Explained
– Vox’s The Weeds on Budget Reconciliation

Jay’s Recommended Reading
– Conscience of a Conservative. Senator Jeff Flake

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Blue Apron. Check out this week’s menu and get $30 off your first meal – 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.

Harvard’s Nancy Koehn on Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times

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Mike talks to historian Nancy Koehn, who holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Dr. Koehn’s research focuses on effective leadership and how leaders, past and present, craft lives of purpose, worth, and impact.

She’s the author of multiple books, including Ernest Shackleton: Exploring Leadership, The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times, and Brand New: How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers’ Trust from Wedgwood to Dell. Her latest book is Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times, which has just been released.

Mike and Dr. Koehn discuss the common traits great leaders possess, reasons for declining trust in our political leaders, her advice for those who aspire to be great leaders, her leadership comparison of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and lots more.

– follow Dr. Koehn on Twitter
– Dr. Kohen’s website
– Forged in Crisis (Amazon)

We hope you’ll check out the sponsor of today’s show:
Blue Apron. Check out this week’s menu and get $30 off your first meal – 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.

PG119: Price Resigns, Puerto Rico, Senate Primary, Graham-Cassidy, New Travel Ban, Tax Reform

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Mike and Jay start off this jam-packed episode with a look at the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in the wake of a travel scandal. Mike points out that Price joins an unusually large contingent of former Trump staffers for such a young administration, but both Mike and Jay agree that President Trump did the right thing in forcing Price’s resignation.

Next, it’s a look at the federal government’s response to the devestation caused by hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Once again, the Guys agree that the administration’s efforts have been good, especially considering the unique challenges presented by Puerto Rico’s location, as well as emergency response resources being stretched thin after hurricanes Harvey and Irma. That said, Jay thinks that the Trump team could use some remedial lessons in messaging.

After that, the Guys talk about the Alabama Republican Senate primary race, where former judge, and ardent cultural conservative Roy Moore soundly defeated incumbent Luther Strange, despite President Trump’s support of Strange.

Following that is a discussion of the vote that wasn’t on Graham-Cassidy, the latest (and last, for now) GOP attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, a look at the latest Trump travel ban, and Mike and Jay’s analysis of the Republicans’ tax reform framework.

We hope you’ll check out the sponsors of today’s show:
DaVinci. Book your space now at davincimeeting.com/TPG and the first hour is on them!

ZipRecruiter. Politics Guys listeners can post jobs on ZipRecruiter for FREE. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com/politicsguy.

SeatGeek. Politics Guys listeners get $20 dollars off their first SeatGeek purchase. Download the SeatGeek app or go to seatgeek.com and enter promo code POLITICSGUY today.

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.

Glenn Hubbard on Tax Cuts, Growth, Inequality, & Secular Stagnation

Mike talks to economist Glenn Hubbard. Dr. Hubbard is dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School.

In addition to writing more than 100 scholarly articles in economics and finance, Dr. Hubbard is the author of three popular textbooks, as well as co-author of The Aid Trap: Hard Truths About Ending Poverty, Balance: The Economics of Great Powers From Ancient Rome to Modern America, and Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System.

Dr. Hubbard also has a wealth of real-world economic policy experience. From 1991 – 1993 he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. From 2001 until 2003, he was chairman of the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, where he played a key role in the design of the 2003 Bush tax cuts. He also served as an economic advisor to the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney, and the 2016 campaign of Jeb Bush. In the corporate sector, he serves on the boards of ADP, BlackRock Closed-End Funds, and MetLife.

Dr. Hubbard is co-chair of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a past Chair of the Economic Club of New York, and a past co-chair of the Study Group on Corporate Boards.

Mike and Dr. Hubbard discuss the fall of great powers throughout history, whether economists are too disconnected from the real world, pro-growth tax reform, what economists agree on, the value added tax, and lots more.

Dr. Hubbard Recommends:
– The Economist
– Think tank research. Two of our favorites at The Politics Guys are the right-of-center American Enterprise Institute and the left-of-center Brookings Institution.

Dr. Hubbard’s Website

We hope you’ll consider checking out the sponsor 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.

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.

PG 118: Trump’s UN Speech, The Escalating Nomenclature of North Korea and the United States, Facebook and Drudge go Russian, and the Alabama Primary

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This week Trey explains how hurricane Irma had him evacuate the state of Florida and offer thanks to all the listeners who inquired about his family and home. Then Trey and Jay turn to politics and the week’s biggest story: Trump’s United Nations speech. Trey, despite himself, was a bit impressed, but Trey and Jay disagree over the bigger implications of the speech. Most pointedly, they debate whether the Republican Party has given up on classical liberalism as an economic policy. Next they move to the escalating war of words between Trump and Kim Jong-un. Jay argues that we cannot have another cold war future and Trey offers a bit of caution to the rhetoric. After that they tackle the news that Facebook was being used by Russians for advertising purposes during the election and that Matt Drudge consistently linked to Russian propaganda. Finally Trey and Jay turn to the Alabama primary and Trump’s unique endorsement before explaining why they didn’t talk health care.

Trey’s Recommended Reading:

–Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry that Forged a Nation

Jay’s Recommended Reading:

–Higher Ed’s Latest Taboo Is ‘Bourgeois Norms’

–Scandal Erupts over the Promotion of ‘Bourgeois’ Behavior

–Paying the price for the breakdown of the country’s bourgeois culture

We hope you will check out the sponsor’s of todays show:

DaVinci Meeting Room. Get the first hour free for your office space at DaVinci by visiting DaVinci.com/TPG

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Congressman Jim Jordan on the Debt Limit, Tax Reform, and the 2016 Election

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Jay talks to Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus. Jay and Rep. Jordan discuss the debt ceiling, tax reform, the Obama administration’s attempts to influence the 2016 presidential election, and more.

As a lead-in to the interview, Mike and Jay talk about the history of the Freedom Caucus. After the interview they discuss Rep. Jordan’s policy positions and recommendations.

– Follow Rep. Jordan on Twitter

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Dollar Shave Club. New members get DSC’s 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

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.

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.

PG117: Trump’s DACA Deal, Bernie’s Medicare For All, Equifax Breach

This week, the Guys start off by talking about the potential deal President Trump reached with Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi that involves allowing Dreamers to stay in the country legally in exchange for enhanced border security. Mike is cautiously optimistic about the proposal while Jay believes that Schumer and Pelosi may be far more interested in a 2018 campaign issue than a legislative accomplishment.

Next is a look at Senator Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare For All’ legislation, which he introduced this week. Neither Mike nor Jay think it has a chance of passing, and while Mike would support a true ‘Medicare for All’ bill, he argues that what Sanders calls for is far more generous than Medicare and would be a financial disaster. Jay doesn’t disagree, though he’s definitely not in favor of even a scaled-back ‘Medicare For All’ type program.

Finally, Mike and Jay talk about the political implications of the Equifax security breach. Mike believes it’s high time we updated our regulatory framework and impose the sort of oversight on credit rating agencies that we do on other financial institutions. Jay doesn’t disagree, exactly, though he’s far more skeptical of the value of imposing more regulations on the agencies and favors alternate approaches to incentivizing them to keep our personal data safe.

Mike’s Recommended Reading:
– Richard Posner, Leader of a Legal Revolution

Jay’s Recommended Reading:
– In The Garden of Beasts. Erik Larson

We hope you’ll consider checking out the sponsors of today’s show:
Blue Bottle Coffee. Sign up for a free trial of fresh, delicious Blue Bottle Coffee right now at bluebottlecoffee.com/TPG

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 today.

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.

Political Correctness and Identity Politics

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This week, Mike and Jay respond to a listener who feels Mike was being snide and slanderous to Jay in a recent show, and then move on to an in-depth discussion of political correctness and identity politics.

For their discussion, they focus on these four articles:

A linguist explains how the far-right hijacked political correctness

The Liberal Crackup

Identity Politics Are Tearing America Apart

How Trump Kills the G.O.P

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