Podcast 262

White Line Fever. Road Trip Return! The trip back to Minneapolis, staying in the warmth of the southern late fall for as long as possible. Richmond, southwest to Roanoke, Virginia and then onto Nashville, Tennessee. Passing through Bristol, Virginia and Knoxville, Tennessee and all points in between. You know all that talk about ‘infrastructure’ in the US? How we need new roads and bridges? With many miles covered on these Road Trip Podcasts, there have been few – if any – pot-holes, rotted bridges, or signs of any crumbling infrastructure. Even cities like Bristol, Virginia and Roanoke feature new construction, smooth roads, brand spanking new housing developments, and new and thriving downtown ‘urban’ experiences like Farmer’s Markets, yoga studios and the like. There are so many smooth roads you can get ‘white line fever’ rolling through hills and gentle turns, as traffic comfortably hits eighty plus mile an hour speeds. Sounds like a science fiction novel, but it is true. From the Twin Cities east, all the way to Virginia, and now coming back across the mid south, it’s hard to find evidence of ‘decaying infrastructure’, not to mention all the shiny new cars! Hear tips on how to travel fast and easy, avoiding speed traps, and getting a boat load of coffee before departure. As we ease back into the work week after a long Thanksgiving Holiday, some thoughts about what we should be hearing from politicians in Washington; how to make our economy thrive, not just ‘do better’. Traveling across the country this quickly, you can’t help but notice the developing economies of small, medium and large sized cities you pass through, especially outside the center cities. The overall effect is optimism. Americans are still innovative, and ready to work. Its about time our lawmakers understood what to do, how to do it, and how to talk about it so they can get what they need to get done, so we can get done what we need to get done. Sponsored by Baklund R&D.

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Podcast 256

Obama’s Executive Orders. As we head into the weekend, we’re in the middle of a political firestorm. The President has issued orders granting a 3 year amnesty to a selected group of illegal immigrants. To begin with, the major broadcast networks refused to give the President air time, which infuriated the White House. Staffers complained the networks had given President George W. Bush airtime to announce the National Guard was being sent to the southern border to assist in security, in 2008. The networks retorted that Bush’s announcement was a bipartisan enforcement of existing immigration law. Kind of a slap in the face to the current administration, and from the major mainstream media broadcast networks no less. However, don’t think the networks are finally coming to their senses. Maybe it’s just that the President doesn’t command the kind of audiences he used to, given a popularity rating hovering around 40 percent. The biggest problem with the President’s executive order? Not long ago, he himself said he didn’t have the authority to make law. Whether or not the President’s orders are legal will have to be determined going forward with lawsuits and legislation. Largely though, it will be a matter of public opinion, due to the fact that courts are loathe to intervene in disputes between branches of the federal government. In the end this will be worked out through the ballot box, and citizens will have to decide whether they think the President overstepped authority. It is certainly true Congress chose not to act on immigration, which is itself acting. It is also true that courts have suggested the president’s authority to act through executive orders has limits. One of the key questions is whether he has usurped the congressional constitutional responsibility to legislate and whether he has refused to enforce the law in this case, which could end up creating a constitutional crisis. This whole controversy drives home the fact that elections – especially Presidential elections – have long term consequences. The reaction to this action churlish action by President Obama should be to organize neighborhoods and precincts, so that attempts to use the office to build support for progressive policy and politicians in the future, won’t work. One of the craziest suggestions this week was that the US should repeal the 22nd amendment, which term limits the US presidency. The argument suggests that if Obama had to run for a third term, he wouldn’t be as likely to issue these kinds of orders. Meanwhile, for the time being the White House has succeeded in taking control of the news cycle. The good news is we can depend on this White House acting true to form, which suggests they’ll encounter a real crisis, which the President will screw up and then we’ll all be talking about that! One person who is thrilled with the executive order … Jonathon Gruber, the ‘brilliant’ MIT ‘economist’ who thinks the voters are stupid, and he is thrilled because for the time being, no one will be talking about his latest video. Sponsored by X Government Cars! 

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Podcast 254 – Andrew Richter and Jason Bradley

Local Political Organizing. People feel they have no influence in their government. While federal and state politics can be daunting for beginners, the city and town council, village, school board, and planning commissions can be fertile ground to fight city hall, and win. Crystal, Minnesota is a typical suburb of a major city. As recently as 2007, the Crystal City Council acted as a rubber stamp for nationally generated ‘master plans’ pushed on towns whether the people wanted them or not. Light Rail, Commuter Rail, Apartment Buildings, Increasing Densities, Walkable Cities, Bike Paths, and all kinds of so called ‘Green’ initiatives, created by unelected technocrats, and pushed by unelected governing boards, like Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s Metropolitan Council. Many of these towns see increasing costs year after year, higher property taxes, more debt, and unelected ‘professionals’ who pick police and fire chiefs, set priorities, expand staff and increase regulations, oblivious to opposition from the seemingly powerless citizens they are supposed to serve. In 2007, two ‘regular guys’ from Crystal, Minnesota; Andrew Richter and Jason Bradley became involved after asking some pretty innocent questions about projects the city council was considering. They organized their neighbors and laid siege to a City Council meeting. The city council listened to the citizens but passed the projects anyway. That night, Community Solutions Minnesota was born. Seven years later, in the 2014 election, Community Solutions completed a house cleaning of Crystal City Government, getting rid of all the city council members who had ignored the people years before. What did Andrew and Bradley do and how did they do it? In this podcast they tell anyone interested in taking back their city government, school board, planning commission and ultimately state and federal governments, how. Despite fierce resistance these two young men, and the community, in Crystal, Minnesota literally ‘threw the bums out’. If you’re involved in politics you know that at almost every meeting you attend these days, politicians talk and talk, but say nothing of substance. Especially in Minnesota. Especially in the Republican ranks. People are furious at local, state and federal governments that ignore them, but most don’t know what to do about it. Minnesota Republicans marvel at Wisconsin’s reforms while Minnesota’s taxes and regulations keep increasing and Republican leaders talk about ‘working with’ Governor Dayton. Minnesota Republicans wonder how they lost out in the historic 2014 election, again. Here’s how to start and build an organization that generates votes, money, and clout; The kind of political organization that terrifies rich inside consultants, wins elections, and forces politicians to do what the people want and puts the insiders … on the street. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and by Depotstar. 

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