Podcast 276

Dead Cops. Encouraged by craven politicians, protesters demanded dead cops, and now they have two in New York City. After warning the world, “I’m putting wings on pigs today” via Instagram, a criminal assassinated two NYPD officers as they sat in their car, killing himself in the subway minutes later as police closed in. Dead are officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. ‘Protesters’ took to Twitter to celebrate the shooting, ‘protesters’ in Ferguson, Missouri took to the streets shouting ‘pigs in blankets’. The head of the Police Union in New York said there was blood on “many people’s hands, and those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protests , that tried to tear down what New York City Police Officers did every day. We tried to warn, it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts at the steps of City Hall”. As New York Mayor Bill De Blasio arrived at the hospital where the dead officers were taken, police turned their backs on him … an extraordinary gesture. Even Al Sharpton seemed confused as he issued a statement condemning violence and expressing sorrow at the murder of two police, apparently oblivious to the fact that protesters at one of his rallies recently chanted, “What do we want? Dead Cops! When do we want it? Now!”. Well protesters, be careful what you pray for. The upshot of all this? One of the reasons protests have been orchestrated by the left recently is they’re losing. They’re losing the house and senate, they’re losing governorships and state houses all over the country, as Americans move to the right. Now, by advocating killing cops, they’re losing the people. More importantly, most of the progressive policy ‘victories’ in past years are failures. Obamacare remains unpopular. While progressives gained power saying government would help people, the people do not think it is fair, or trust it. Despite three intense years of effort to control firearms, Americans continue to support the 2nd amendment, as carry laws spread to Washington DC and even Chicago; and the courts uphold them. Americans do not support legislation on Climate Change, and continue to believe the economy is not recovering. The media’s credibility is in a shambles after the Rolling Stone’s debacle on campus rape as is the President’s attempt to federalize sexual harassment rules on campus. The murder of these two NYPD officers will only increase support for law enforcement. People who think the country won’t survive two more years of President Obama should take note — and heart — that the progressive left is losing. They protest because its all they know how to do when they lose, and their policies fail. Pour it on. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 264

Jeb Bush? Really? What started as a midweek update, back in the studio after the road trip, turned into a discussion of whether the ‘conservative movement’ has completely lost its way, even whether it exists at all. As Congress seems to struggle with how to handle President Obama’s executive orders on immigration, in an effort to avoid a government shutdown which moderates feel is bad publicity for Republicans, the Speaker’s plan is apparently to pass a continuing resolution for the overall budget while offering a separate budget for Homeland Security (Which is where the funding for the President’s controversial executive order on Immigration is funded). This leaves room for the complete Republican 117th Congress to address these issues after January. This strategy isn’t sitting well with some Republicans who believe they were sent there to stop the President’s power grab. While political junkies should probably stop worrying about Congress and start concentrating on building organizations for 2016, there is a big fight brewing on both sides of the political spectrum. Progressive and Moderate Democrats on one side, and a mixed bag of Republican constituencies on the other. Libertarians, Moderates, Religious Conservatives all vying for control of the GOP … again. This leaves space for yet another Bush to ride in on the White Horse they keep down there on the ranch and be ‘the adult in the room’ and stop all those crazy ‘Paul-Bots’, and ‘Tea Baggers’; i.e.; The Conservative Movement. Or what’s left of it. The challenge in this podcast is, once again, to define what exactly a conservative is? While the Republicans won a huge midyear victory, that victory does not mean the ‘movement’ is healthy … or even alive. A conservative is a former Florida Governor who believes in Common Core and doesn’t want to repeal Obama Care? Republicans might have won a legislative majority in 2014, but that doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing. All it shows — and they certainly deserve credit for it — is that they were able to get their people out to vote, while the other side stayed home. But what is the GOP for? What do the conservatives want to do about economic policy, spending and debt, foreign policy? The so called grassroots are talking about 1776, the constitution and a constitutional convention (Editor’s Note: The dumbest idea ever.) This is a conservative ‘movement’? Next? Someone finally has taken the pundits who keep saying cheaper gas is like a huge tax cut. Except it’s not. In this podcast find out why. Plus, don’t forget there is an ominous demand side to the cheaper gas we’re currently enjoying; Slow downs in Europe, Japan, China and Latin America do not bode well for the global economy, and the US isn’t growing dynamically to pull everyone else’s fat out of the fire this time. Black Friday turned out to be a bust. So don’t expect that just because gas is 2.49 a gallon it means unicorns and rainbows, economically speaking that is. Sponsored by X Government Cars and by Depotstar. 

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Podcast 250

Election Aftermath. How did the mainstream media do in covering election 2014? What are the primary issues for voters. What happens now? It was announced recently that the Weather Channel Morning Show beat Cable News Networks CNN and MSNBC, hands down, during an election year. Fox News regularly ‘crushes’ rival CNN, and the lesser MSNBC. Broadcast networks covered the midyear elections in 2014, in an effort to compete with cable news services. Based on the reviews from viewers and ‘observers’ of the business and coverage on election night, none of them did a very good job. There was more coverage than ever, but the networks now place political operatives and ‘ideologues’ next to journalists, blurring the lines between opinion and fact. Add to this the increasing need for news networks to employ whatever means necessary to ‘predict’ the outcome of political races. Statistics and polls are never accurate; The only question is whether sample sizes and calculations are reliable. Ideologues may try, but they cannot ‘predict’ the future with a percentage, like a weatherman predicting the chance of rain at 12 noon. The media now blames the polls. One political science professor wants an ‘investigation’ of the ‘the polls’. The polls showed tight races, and while there were a few surprises, results were generally within the margin of error, which for some polls was a perfectly respectable plus or minus 4 points. You could certainly predict the Republican Party would have an historic election, but you couldn’t make that prediction based on polling data. Now, we’re told the polls were biased in favor of Republicans. In 2012, it was the other way around. The problem isn’t the polls, it’s the media’s incessant and unreasonable need to predict, cajole, call races and set the tone. People are getting sick of it, especially when social media, and the Internet provide real time election results without commentary. Who needs CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, and talk radio — all of which will take half an hour to tell you what you can determine in 5 minutes looking at a website that runs all the results as the polls close? What happened in 2014? What emerges from exit polls is a blurry black and white; You can sense shades but not color. You can see form, but you can’t make out anything specific. People are concerned about the Economy, the roll out of ACA and leadership questions concerning the handling of ISIS and Syria, and lastly, Ebola. Is it partisan to suggest the Democratic agenda and campaign tactics focused on issues at the bottom of the list for most voters? Minnesotans wonder why the Minnesota GOP and virtually all the statewide candidates lost a once in a lifetime opportunity to turn out the votes and unseat a democrat governor, and Senator Al Franken, while neighboring Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker seemed to be able to turn out his supporters to win. Is the President still relevant? Will the Republicans come up with an agenda that shows what they’re for, rather than what they’re against? All this in Podcast 250, while shoveling snow! (Editors Note: And maybe a train too!) Sponsored by Baklund R&D. 

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