Sushi-Shutdown-Emergency-Bully-Pulpit-Bob Davis Podcast 794

These days we content creators have to post advisories and disclaimers. This podcast is not a list of reasons to ‘build the wall’. It does not include 5 reasons to impeach Trump. Learn more in Sushi-Shutdown-Emergency-Bully-Pulpit-Bob Davis Podcast 794.

Trump Blew It In 2018

Especially relevant is the fact that less than a month ago the so called conservative base was furious at the president and the republican party for taking a ‘shellacking’ in the midterm elections.

It Is Trump’s Fault

Furthermore I did several podcasts on the midterms explaining polling showed the GOP did not have to lose congress.

Raise The Stakes To Win

Therefore it is most noteworthy that the president opened the new year by raising the stakes. First a government shut down. Then threats to declare an national emergency.

What’s the issue?

A campaign promise by Donald Trump to solve what he has described as a crisis on the border.

Consequently, the solution he hit upon? ‘Build A Wall‘.

First of all. the president failed to get a republican congress to fund a wall. Now he has redoubled his efforts to get a democrat house to fund the wall, which they say they won’t. Enter the shut down. Enter the specter of a ‘National Emergency‘.

Outrage Controversy and Emotional Outpouring

If outrage and controversy over the shut down wasn’t enough, Trump is raising the stakes with threats to declare a national emergency. Under an emergency the military can build what is now described as a steel barrier by the president. Or at least he thinks so. Is he right? Find out in Sushi-Shutdown-Emergency-Bully-Pulpit-Bob Davis Podcast 794.

The Sushi Shutdown

After a late evening sushi happy hour, I came to my studio to tell the truth about this whole episode. It’s not about the shut down or even a national emergency. Trump is doing what Roy Cohn taught him to do many years ago. Make threats. Throw tantrums. Demand. Raise the stakes until the other guy gives you what he wants. Above all force the opposition to talk about what you want to talk about. Control the media battle space. Use the ‘bully pulpit‘.

Throwing Blood In The Water To Shore Up The Base

In conclusion, Trump does this again and again. And everyone takes the bait, hook line and sinker.

Every time.

Sponsored by Reliafund Payment Processors and WhiteTail Builders

Sushi-Shutdown-Emergency-Bully-Pulpit-Bob Davis Podcast 794

When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627

One issue above all others has been the driving force in Republican politics for the last seven years. Repeal ObamaCare. None of the candidates said anything about repeal and replace. When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627 takes a raw view of the latest health care fiasco of the US Congress.

Promise Broken Again

President Trump and Republicans call The American Health Care Act of 2017 a victory.  HR 1628 keeps much of ObamaCare intact. There are still two hurdles. The bill has to pass the senate. The president has to sign it into law. Call it what you will but it is not a repeal of the ACA. This is what republican voters wanted. In When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627.

Republican Entitlement

Many in politics and the media will argue what the American Health Care Act does and doesn’t do. One thing is for sure. If it passes the senate and is signed into law, the American Health Care Act anchors a new entitlement passed by congress in 2010 and makes republicans, not democrats responsible for it. In When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627.

Those Who Endorsed Republicans Own It

Pundits and personalities cry, “If this is what happens why vote republican?”. Rather than endorsing and supporting republicans perhaps these personalities and other politicians should have been asking this question. A question that should have been on the lips of every republican for several cycles.

An economic Question

Commitments to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Drug Benefits and now Health Insurance will eventually swamp the United States Budget. The government cannot grant its citizens anything. Whatever is ‘given’ must be paid for through taxation eventually. The biggest issue in governments whether they are local, state or federal is spending. Talk about it in When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627.

Debt

The United States Federal Debt is more than 100 percent of its yearly GDP. The republican congress just passed another trillion dollar budget. State, federal and local governments employ over fifty percent of us. Public institutions have become major stakeholders in every political decision made.

Why Don’t They Ever Fix Anything

When government is so involved our personal lives, it’s personal. Every decision is politicized. Frustration and anger are the order of the day. Politicians solve problems by creating problems. We have an archaic and sclerotic government bureaucracy. Because the republicans failed to keep their promise to repeal the health insurance entitlement, the ‘health care debate’ will rage for the foreseeable future. In When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627.

New Thinking

With government largesse comes oppression. Surveillance, policing and prisons. War. It’s time people consider a new political movement in this country to permanently remove the power of government over our lives.

Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

When A Repeal Is Not A Repeal-Podcast 627

Podcast 332 – Congressman Tom Emmer

Congressman Tom Emmer. Tom Emmer joins the Bob Davis Podcast to talk about his recent vote for the DHS funding bill, which has generated so much controversy with some constituents in Minnesota’s 6th District. Tom talks about the original budget bill known as ‘CROMNIBUS’, and the bill defunding DHS the House was asked to vote on recently. Also discussed is the need for an overall strategy to address presidential executive orders and memoranda, by President Obama. Problem is, since it is President Obama issuing the orders, he picks the time and ‘place’ of battle, forcing Congress to react, rather than act. Emmer also talks about the controversy on his vote for the Speaker, and disagreements with some leaders and members of the North Metro Tea Party recently. It was recently suggested that Minnesota’s 6th District is one of the most republican in the United States (Editor’s note: I made the suggestion.) In reality, while Minnesota’s 6th district is one of the most republican in Minnesota, with a +6 generic republican vote, there are districts in some states in the range of +20 for the generic republican vote. So no, Minnesota’s 6th district is not ‘like Texas’. Emmer says he understands people are angry and frustrated. Those who are angry and frustrated don’t want to talk about the complexities surrounding votes like the recent DHS vote, they’re just angry. The Congressman suggests conservatives need to lead with logic and not emotion on these issues, and the right needs a strategy for the next 18 or so months, and 2016. He says it will be different when the Senate has a 60+ majority of republicans, a wider republican majority in the House and a republican President. Tom says he has been talking with constituents pretty much non-stop since the vote. This podcast did not represent an opportunity to argue with Congressman Emmer, but an opportunity for him to respond, and to give listeners an idea what it might be like to have a conversation with the Congressman on the phone. Emmer and Davis also talk about the Authorization for Military Action the President is asking for, and whether he thinks arming the Ukraine is a good idea, given the fact that a group of Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate are asking the President to do so. Also discussed is trade policy, and the recent ‘Snowmageddon’ that has hit the Capitol. Sponsored by Baklund R&D