Podcast 614-Trump and Republican Colossal Fail On ACA Repeal

In Podcast 614-Trump and Republican Colossal Fail On ACA Repeal, everything comes to an end. True in life. True in politics. Voters sent Republicans and Donald Trump to Washington in 2016. One of if not the most important issues was repealing Obama Care. On Friday, March 24th 2016 the president and the republican party made a colossal mistake and broke a major campaign promise to voters.

A Waterloo. A Donnybrook

An ill-conceived ‘repeal and replace’ bill never made it to the floor of the House for a vote. First the President blamed this donnybrook on the republican Freedom Caucus. Ultimately Trump blamed democrats. Blame anyone or anything. Never yourself. Now the president says he will court democrats. My reaction in Podcast 614-Trump and Republican Colossal Fail On ACA Repeal.

They’re not listening

The republican rank and file suddenly wonders what happened. Fed a steady stream of fairy tales from the right wing media they thought President Trump had one of the most effective and productive first 100 days in history. What happened? A new president who claimed the government should be run like a business was taught a very important lesson. The United States Federal government is most decidedly not a business. Find out why in Podcast 614-Trump and Republican Colossal Fail On ACA Repeal.

Rich Moderate Businessmen Rule

Members of Congress and the Senate have their own ideas about things. Members of Congress and the Senate do not work for the President. The president does not tell members what to do. Rather than lobby effectively, president bluster spent the days leading up to the vote blowing the horn of a semi tractor and bellowing to the press he was a team player. Except when he isn’t.

Is The GOP dying?

This podcaster made three predictions before the election. First, that New York Developer Donald Trump could win the presidency. Second, that an Obama Care repeal would not pass. Third, Trump would destroy the republican party. Two of those predictions have now come true. The third depends on what republican voters do now.

They’re Not Listening

Why don’t they do what we tell them, they cry. The fact is republican congressmen and senators cannot rely on any kind of support structure from the rank and file or grassroots republican rank and file. They don’t do what ‘you’ tell them to do because ‘you’ don’t do anything. A party founded on principle today has no principle and no rudder. What controls the republican party? Rich businessmen who support moderate religious republicans.

Suddenly Trump’s a Democrat?

Whether you’re talking about the US Congress or the ‘republican’ Minnesota legislature, you vote one way, and you get something completely different. Now you have a ‘republican-populist’ president ready to make common cause with the progressive democratic party because he’s miffed at the Freedom Caucus? Principle. There’s that nasty little word again. Let’s talk about it in Podcast 614-Trump and Republican Colossal Fail On ACA Repeal.

It’s A New Day When YOU Say

Find out what you need to do to actually make these politicians do what you want. It’s not pretty. It’s not fun saying it. The failure to repeal the ACA is a political mistake of titanic proportions. It will go down in history along side ‘Read My Lips’ and the Isolationist republicans before World War II. All things must pass. Maybe its time for a new day to dawn.

Time to look to ourselves rather than personalities. In Podcast 614-Trump and Republican Colossal Fail On ACA Repeal.

Sponsored by X Government Cars.

 

 

Podcast 598-Nomad Yoga Family

Untethered

Life is short. If there’s something you want to do, there’s no better time than the present. Most of us have all sorts of reasons why we don’t follow our passion. We have responsibilities and possessions that demand our attention. There are always ‘reasons’ why we can’t do what we really want to do. Find out the first steps in how to do it in Podcast 598-Nomad Yoga Family.

The Nomad Yoga family is Josh and Jenna and their two children. They’d always had a passion for Yoga and Travel. A family tragedy was the transformation clarifying the idea that life is finite. The couple sold their house, their car and most of their possessions to downsize into a used Earth Roamer with a plan to ‘overland‘. Living life untethered. They’ve been on the road now for over a year, heading down the west coast of Canada and the US, on their way to Central America and South America.

It’s a Trend

Living untethered or on the road permanently is a trend these days. There’s more to living this way than just deciding you want to travel. It’s cutting the cord completely. Think of selling your house, car and possessions and adjusting to life on the road, or on the seas, permanently. It’s one thing for an individual or retirees and another thing entirely for a young couple and their kids.

Josh and Jenna and their small children live in about 120 square feet of space in Earth Roamer #28. They travel, teach yoga and teach yogis how to build their studio businesses. How do you live day to day? What about getting the youngsters to school? Child Care? Personal time for each other and time alone? Do planning and checklists go out the window? Once you’re on the road, how do you change when you realize this isn’t a vacation or a long visit, this is actually life now?

Freedom and Technology

Josh answers many questions about living untethered in the conversation we have in Podcast 598-Nomad Yoga Family. We also talk about running a business on the road and the inevitable technology challenges. The desire to break free is a new trend in the United States. Not all services have caught up with it.

With Mobile Podcast Command I’ve done a fair amount of ‘untethered’ travel. I’ve certainly stayed out for long periods of time, whether covering the presidential primaries or some of the festivals around the country every summer. I have had the experience of heading ‘home’ to the Twin Cities and saying to myself, “I’m going home to pick up my mail and go to the bank. Why?”

Just do it

The overland experience is not for everyone. As Josh says in Podcast 598-Nomad Yoga Family, you really can’t plan for it. It’s something you just have to do. Once you’re out there, you pick up what you need along the way. The experience of discovering who you are and what you need is part of the trip.

Sponsored by Hydrus Performance.

 

 

Podcast 553-AgoraFest’s Nik Ludwig

Podcast 553-AgoraFest’s Nik Ludwig. ‘Agorism’ or being an ‘Agorist’ has been defined a few different ways. Samuel Edward Konkin III says Agorism is simply “thought and action consistent with freedom’. Konkin also says Agorism is an “ideology…but it is also a scientific and definitely materialist way of thinking”, as opposed to say, a religious system of thought. AgoraFest celebrates Market Anarchy. It is not for the faint of heart, but if you have a weekend and you enjoy camping, listening to music, eating, consuming your choice of beverage be it coffee or beer, and endless substantive conversation, then you’ll enjoy AgoraFest. At last year’s AgoraFest – my first – I sat down with founder Nik Ludwig for a free wheeling conversation about the event and Agorist ‘way of thinking’. This year I continue the tradition. For last year’s conversation, check out  Podcast 416. This year we delve a little deeper into the concept of what real liberty is, with little reverence to the things mainstream ‘liberty’ advocates hold dear, like the US Constitution, American Exceptionalism, and a system of government sometimes reverently referred to as a ‘Representative Republic’. Joined by a phalanx of ‘AgoraFesters’, Nik shreds virtually all the preconceived notions of what most people on the right, even and especially the far right, think they are fighting for, and yes, even the Libertarians take their share of criticism. This is why AgoraFest isn’t for the faint of heart. Agorists don’t shred these notions because they’re advocating for their point of view. In fact, they’re more likely to disagree with you just because you agree with them (my kind of people, by the way). The whole point is open minds, the joy of discussions about any topic under the sun as long as it isn’t what they call ‘political violence’; the same old crap you hear on CNN and Fox News about the two party’s mainline candidates this year. You’re likely to sit down to breakfast and before you’ve had your coffee someone will ask you whether you think it is possible for a person to legally sell themselves into slavery, and in the next breath start talking about longevity drugs or fusion reaction. I can tell you one thing; Not one person brought up the Vikings, the Republican Party, whether they’d pulled the dock in yet for winter, or when the deer hunting trip is scheduled for this fall. Everyone was full on engaged in substance; even the question of whether Angelina Jolie was more beautiful than Jennifer Anniston, because value is subjective. So next year I’d love to see you at AgoraFest. Thanks to Nick and Steve and everyone else for making it a great weekend. Sponsored by Hydrus Performance.