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. 

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Podcast 328

Net Neutrality. If you were called on to explain something called ‘Net Neutrality’ could you? Most people can’t, and many in the telecommunications business are challenged when it comes to explaining it in terms ‘regular’ people can understand. In spite of this, the FCC has issued new rules regarding Internet Service Providers based on something called Title II, of the Communications Act of 1934. Hey! Did you fall asleep? These new rules – now pay attention – reportedly begin government regulation of Internet Service Providers in a way similar to how telephone companies have been. With the passage of the new regulations, media coverage of this issue has exploded. Now, the earliest these rules can go into effect is this summer, and there will be court challenges, and public pressure brought to bear in the meantime. The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency within the executive branch, and FCC Chair Tom Wheeler was in favor of a lighter touch here, until President Obama issued a video purported to be directed to the public, but the audience was in fact Tom Wheeler, appointed by the President. So, Wheeler knuckled under and issued harder regulations. Reportedly, supporters of Net Neutrality (oddly enough mostly on the political left) issued as many as four million emails supporting the President’s version. If you are one of those people slapping the table and decrying another power grab by the President, how many emails did you send? The real issue here is the increasing power and proliferation of government agencies controlled by bureaucrats appointed by executives to issue rules with the force of law, controlling our lives. The last months of the Obama Administration will be one wild ride after another, triggered by executive order, executive memoranda, or prosecutorial discretion. This is the reason every little thing in life seems political, and its the reason people who want to cut the Gordian Knot of Government have to get involved and stay involved. Sponsored by Baklund R&D. 

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Podcast 294

Dry Cycle. The update turns into a discussion of the fallibility of media, even your favorite cable news channel. This weekend, Fox News had to correct itself and apologize profusely for reporting there are ‘no go’ zones in Europe, where non muslims fear to tread, and the police won’t enter. Everyone was talking about it all weekend after Fox anchors and guests apparently got it wrong. These are neighborhoods in England and suburbs in France that are about as forbidding as LA’s Compton, or Chicago’s South Side. While Europe has been more lenient allowing Sharia Law, it does not mean muslim ‘enclaves’ have sprouted, even though allowing a separate law for Muslims in a modern, western democracy is not a good idea. That said, the President and the Pope continue to support limits on free speech. President Obama even went so far as to say he doesn’t consider terrorism a existential threat, which it most certainly is, then said Europe has to do a better job ‘integrating’ its Muslims. Maybe he fell for the No Go story too. This provokes a whole conversation about how to wean yourself from cable news and talk radio, develop multiple sources of information, deal in facts, avoid the emotion spewing out of talk radio and fox news, and use your tools to find and develop deeper knowledge on key subjects. The need to fill the airwaves, pushes under financed and poorly managed outlets to spew out incorrect information, relying on ping ponging viewers back and forth between the latest outrage and the latest breaking news. The good news? That kind of media’s glory days are behind it, as it gives way to on demand audio (podcasts), You Tube, NetFlix and future on demand video services. A recent survey reports that most millennials don’t ever watch broadcast television, seldom watch cable news channels, and download virtually all their entertainment and information. In an on demand world, the daily outrage may not work as well, as people seek out information, rather than people screaming at each other. The latest example? NASA says 2014 was the hottest year on record? Do you know by how much? Do you know what the margin of error is in that estimate? The answer might surprise you. Finally, Arizona and other states are passing laws which require high school seniors to pass citizenship exams in order to graduate. Good idea? Sponsored by Baklund R&D. 

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