New Thinking-Grassroots Movements-Minnesota-Bob Davis Podcast 786

These days people often say, “Politicians never do what they say”. Time to focus on a new way of thinking about politics in New Thinking-Grassroots Movements-Minnesota-Bob Davis Podcast 786.

Focus On Minnesota

First of all, let’s focus on Minnesota in New Thinking-Grassroots Movements-Minnesota-Bob Davis Podcast 786.

All States Are The Same. Right?

Seems like we think all states are the same. Every state has McDonald’s right? We eat the same foods. Watch the same shows.

Different Settlers

Especially relevant all the states were settled at different times. Different kinds of people settled them. Consequently the politics of all the states are different.

Minnesota Quirk

Furthermore political scientists say Minnesota is most noteworthy for its political quirks. Minnesota can produce a Walter Mondale and a Jesse Ventura. Therefore for history on Minnesota’s unique progressive history, go here.

Ranching Versus Farming – Oil versus Taconite

In addition one of the common refrains of Minnesota Republicans is, “Why can’t we be more like Texas?“. It’s as simple as when the states were settled and who settled them. The difference between ranching and farming. Or, between oil and mining.

Passive Aggressive Behavior or Minnesota Ice

Truth is when it comes to politics in the land of ten thousand lakes, passive aggressive behavior rules the roost.

Political Movements Going Nowhere

Moreover republican homegrown political movements are reactive and scattershot. So, they aren’t very effective.

Special Interests Are Choking All Minnesotans

Finally, special interests and money have a choke hold on Minnesota’s politics. Public private partnerships. Chambers of Commerce. Insurance Companies. Non-Profits. Seven rich guys in Minnetonka. One-Issue-Charlie religious contributors. Certainly a grassroots movement has to be strong enough to overpower these interests.

Above all nothing will change until the advent of a dynamic and powerful grassroots movement. Even more a movement that can deliver votes and money.

No More Self Serving Republican Reptiles

Great movements don’t start with self serving pols seeking glory and fame. In conclusion and by definition is starts with the people.

Sponsored by Water Butler Water Purification Systems and the Citizens Council For Health Freedom

New Thinking-Grassroots Movements-Minnesota-Bob Davis Podcast 786

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Podcast 490

Just Getting By. This was a big weekend. Doing business stuff for The Bob Davis Podcasts, which includes doing some final work on taxes – yes filing late for the first time in many years – and discovered many people who have donated to Mobile Podcast Command who need to be thanked for their generosity. Finally with a complete list, we work our way through the people who have been instrumental to the road trip podcasts both for the sake of travel – a new topic category with The Bob Davis Podcasts – and for covering the 2016 primary campaigns earlier this winter/spring. Another subscriber asked me to talk about the economy, and it’s been awhile, so this podcasts focuses on the Just Getting By economy. We start off with how to inform yourself about economic news, then move onto a discussion of the problem areas with the US and world economy. A slow down in demand and low inflation has hit emerging economies like China, Brazil, Russia as well as basket cases like Venezuela. Meanwhile central banks keep pumping cash into these economies, encouraging more government and corporate debt. In the US, there have been as many corporate defaults this year as 2009. Not a good sign despite economic growth and improved employment numbers. Yes we’re out of recession, no it doesn’t feel like dynamic growth because it isn’t. We’re Just Getting By. Don’t expect the next president, or congress to solve any problems because no one is discussing how to spur the growth of new technologies that will form the building blocks of a new economy and a new society. Our political leaders are still talking like it’s 1999, or maybe even 1909. Employment may be higher, but the quality of those jobs isn’t as good as it was before the 2008 recession, many of them are part time, and don’t cover benefits. Many people are freelancing, which many writers don’t seem to think is a great idea, although some people in the so called 1099 economy love the freedom, and some make pretty good money if they hustle. While companies are hiring they are being more cautious. Stories about the ‘hell’ of the modern workplace proliferate these days, although working is better than not working. Meanwhile autonomous machines, self driving cars, single seat drone aircraft you fly by wire, dirigibles, supersonic airliners, robots who can operate like human beings, artificial intelligence, new advances in communications, anti aging, advances in medicine, compounds used in manufacturing and construction, changes in money, and many more new ideas are coming down the pike at a frightening or exhilarating speed, depending on what your fear level is. The new economy is coming, whether we want it or not, and if the government gets out of the way, it might just be pretty great. Let’s work through it and figure out what to do, because clearly this crop of 1900’s trogolodites doesn’t know what to do. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul, Brush Studio, and Hydrus.

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Podcast 324

Winter and The Donner Party. Updates on the big stories for your weekend. Yeah, it’s cold people, but can we at least use the real temperature rather than wind chills? Was it really -41 in Bemidji, Minnesota the other day, or did just feel like -41? What does -41 feel like? Now of course comes the cavalcade of idiotic financial media stories about the ‘deep cold’ of 2015, and the ‘economic effects’ of people not being able to get to their jobs. In New England? Vermont? Massachusetts? Minnesota? These people, of course, have no experience with such economy killing cold, right? Another economic fairy tale that has died a horrible death is the idea that cheap gas ‘acts like a tax cut’. In reality it appears that the cheaper price of oil isn’t just due to increasing production, but to slackening demand, which ought to cause some concern. A new economic fairy tale is the idea that increasing minimum wages at Wal-Mart (announced as a Public Relations gimmick) will somehow create ‘wage inflation’ which will be good for the economy. Doesn’t seem to be any decrease of wages at federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS currently boasts over eighty thousand employees, and wants to add ten thousand more, ostensibly to do work related to Obama Care taxation enforcement, except only some 400 new employees will be doing that work. What will the others do? Order out for lunch. Buy new chairs. Go to expensive conferences during the winter in Las Vegas. Whatever. Everyone agrees that green and yellow smoke spewing smokestacks, and rivers that explode into flame are bad; We used to call things like that ‘pollution’. These days apparently there is so little pollution that amateur astronomers are complaining that there’s too much ‘light pollution’, they can’t see the little dipper, even with a telescope. Go ahead, tell me to turn off my front porch light. Demand the IDS turn out the lights at night. Hell, go ahead and turn out the street lights. Just don’t call it ‘Light Pollution’. Because when you do that, we call it ‘Mouth Pollution’ as in, SHUT IT! All the talk is that the new iWatch isn’t enough, Apple is going to build a car. The story has been all over the financial media that last few days. Finally someone has debunked it. Find out why in this podcast. So, it’s cold. We know it’s cold. Just imagine you are a pioneer taking the road less traveled in 1847. You come to a wonderful spot high in the Sierra Nevada’s. You say, “This is good. It’s late fall. It’s nice here. Let’s stay and rest up before we head down into the place that will someday be known as the Golden State”. 4 months later half your party is dead, you’re eating Dad for dinner and you realize … You’re the Donner Party! It’s one of the enduring stories of conquering the west, and it should make all of us happy we have hot coffee, steaks in the freezer and ‘Game of Thrones’ to watch. Sponsored by Baklund R&D.

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