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Mike & Kristin start the show by discussing the Senate’s vote to rescind the national emergency declared by President Trump, and Trump’s veto of the Congressional resolution. They agree that there’s little chance the veto will be overridden, but it’s still likely to be a long time before any more walls get built given all the legal hurdles the administration will have to overcome.
After that, they talk about why the U.S. trailed the rest of the world in grounding the Boeing 737 Max 8 in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash. Mike thinks it may have something to do with Boeing’s political clout in the U.S., which Kristin also sees as a factor. Kristin says that we should be at least somewhat concerned that the world took its cue from China as opposed to the U.S. and that we may need to more carefully consider commercial aircraft regulation.
Then it’s a look at President Trump’s 2020 budget. Like almost all presidential budgets, it’s largely dead on arrival but even so it gives us a sense of what the administration’s priorities are – in this case defense and walls. Kristin argues that this makes sense – President Trump is looking toward 2020 and wants to keep his base supportive and engaged. Mike points out the chicanery the administration engaged in to boost the defense budget and laments what he sees as incredible fiscal irresponsibility of ‘tax cut & borrow’ Republicans.
Next, Mike & Kristin talk about Beto O’Rourke’s entry into the crowded Democratic presidential hopeful field. Kristin doesn’t think much of O’Rourke, but Mike likes his more moderate stances, at least compared to a number of other prominent Democratic candidates. But he thinks O’Rourke isn’t experienced enough and favors former governors like Colorado’s John Hickenlooper.
They close the show by talking about the college admissions scandal. Mike makes the point that this, while troubling, is much less of a problem than the larger system of legal privilege that gives kids from wealthy families a leg up in the admissions process. Kristin agrees, and both Mike & Kristin feel that there need to be some fairly fundamental changes to our education system (which may be the topic of a special policy show they hope to do at some point in the future).
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I appreciated this email. Mike spoke about his time taking tests college. I just wanted to put in the reason why you see people cheating like this to get into college. I live in Boston, Brookline has been historically for over the last 100 years, a place where people who did well for themselves would move. 2 generations ago, there were college educated people living there, but there were blue collar workers living there who did well owning their own company or moving up in a company from a low level. Fast forward to today, Brookline is home to the highest concentration of PhD’s and MDs. Other than athletes and entertainers, very few if any working class people will be able to live in these kinds of upper middle class neighborhoods. I would challenge any conservative who is now claiming that the trades are the answer, to show some stats of how millennials without college degrees vs those with college degrees vs those with graduate degrees outcomes are looking these days. Young people without college educations will never be able to buy a home within a major city now or even within reasonable commuting distance at this point. There is a MASSIVE difference in the income. The wealthy know this and this level of inequality is why you see the cheating. America is the best place in the world if you’re rich. It isn’t close to the best if you’re middle class or lower class.
Some great points – thanks for posting!