Podcast 376

Republicans Sound Like Democrats. And democrats sound like republicans. Updates to start the first week of June, 2015. Self described Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders was in Minneapolis this weekend telling a group of aging hippies that America isn’t a democracy and is becoming an oligarchy. Is this true? Meanwhile, in Delaware, republican candidate Carly Fiorina told a group of republicans big business and big government are crushing Americans. Are these candidates really from different ends of the political spectrum? Do any of them know how to fix the ailing US Economy and by extension, foreign policy and domestic policy problems created by the Obama, and yes Bush administrations? US economic performance in the first quarter of 2015 has been revised down to a .7 percent contraction, all blamed on winter, the weak dollar, the sun didn’t shine this weekend, and it rained, or the dog ate my homework, again. Meanwhile pollyanna’s tout labor department numbers as proof we’re on our way to ‘full employment’; So if we’re on our way to ‘full employment’ mister smartypants, how do we get a nearly one point contraction? For the record, the second quarter isn’t looking too rosy either, with the contraction in profits and manufacturing apparently continuing. Think it’s all those low-grade minimum wage part time jobs we’re ‘creating’? Oddly enough if you don’t read too much between the lines, crazy old Socialist Bernie Sanders, and some Republican candidates seem to be saying the same thing. The question is whether they know the policies currently in place — the kinds of policies Bernie Sanders wants to triple down on — have created inequality and poor economic growth? The republicans talk the talk but do they realize what a political ordeal it is to actually fix the economy and by extension, the country? Meanwhile, the Oligarch’s just keep on comin’. The LA Times published an expose this weekend on everyone’s favorite ‘Tony Stark’ (Elon Musk) who is actually a corporate welfare queen; The ‘electric car maker’, ‘rocket company’ owner and solar power ‘entrepreneur’ has taken nearly 5 billion dollars in subsidies from the Federal and various state governments. Yep, your smug hipster neighbor just bought a ‘Tesla’ because it’s great for the environment and got help from you, through your taxes while you hope the oil burning 96 Saturn you’re driving gets you to your part time job today. Finally, illegal immigrants get special help at Minneapolis and other Minnesota schools, while the children of citizens are pretty much on their own, despite the fact that two federal courts now have told the President his executive amnesty program is out of bounds. Yet it continues. This is a time for people to ask themselves what they expect the government to do, and whether the people running for office really understand what needs to be done, and if the answer is no, finding the path to the political revolution necessary to change it. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 362

No Growth Economy. New numbers say the US Economy grew by only .2 percent. Yet still, the Federal Reserve says the economy should grow now in the second quarter. Never mind all the ‘experts’ predicted 2015 would be a ‘blow out’ year, and that they have been revising their predictions down all through the quarter, they were still way above what the numbers actually show. Excuses? They have a few. The weather. The work slow down at the Port in Los Angeles. The weather. The strong dollar. Did I mention the dollar? The US has now had quarter after quarter of slow, no, or only anemic growth, and yet the Obama administration and its apologists, and the bone headed financial media call it a ‘boom’. Meanwhile small and medium sized businesses all over the country know it for what it is. A no growth economy. Why do business writers believe things will change if the policies don’t change? Does the consumer really account for 70 percent of the economy? What if we’re using the wrong tools to stimulate the wrong things? What’s that old saw about the definition of insanity? Banks aren’t lending because they can make more money borrowing at the discount window, reinvesting in the stock markets. Companies aren’t investing because they’re buying back their own stocks. The US corporate tax rate is the highest in the world (by far), and the tax code is so complex it costs us dearly in productivity lost (while we comply with the tax code) and literally billions of dollars spent complying with its byzantine rules. Regulations of all kinds make it almost impossible for small and medium sized businesses to grow. What are the policy ideas we need to hear from candidates (which we’re not hearing) to fix the economy. It’s not about inequality. It’s not about ‘reformicon’ tax policies (which are actually democrat tax policies warmed over), or making the government work more efficiently. In this podcast, some ideas you may agree or disagree with, but it will definitely start you thinking. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating and X Government Cars. 

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The Bob Davis Podcast

Podcast 329

CPAC 2015. Updates for your weekend. This weekend CPAC kicks off the 2016 Presidential Campaign, at least on the Republican side and at least for the Washington Press Corps which doesn’t seem to have much to do these days, other than haunt appearances by one of the many potential Republican candidates. The latest political story line is about how the media giveth and taketh away from ‘untried’ candidates like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker. Walker most recently bristled to what’s referred to as a ‘gotcha’ question regarding the religion of the President. Walker lambasted the media for its coverage of his answer, raised money on the ensuing ‘viral’ stories about that, and wrote a piece in reply which appeared in USA Today. Really? Do you think the average person in this country pays any attention to this kind of high school nonsense? The Washington Press Corps in particular seems to think of itself as some kind of monolithic institution, with the job of ‘vetting’ future presidents. In reality they are a bunch of ninnies who couldn’t vet a lawn service, let alone a potential president. Moreover, Scott Walker has plenty of experience with bruising fights with media, given what’s been going on in Wisconsin in the last few years. Secretary of State John Kerry – with his fake plastic surgery square jaw – made a fool of himself again. Find out how in this podcast. So, terrorism’s cause is the plight of the poor. Poor people have no other choice but to become Jihadists, right? It was revealed this week that so called ‘Jihadi John’, the guy cutting people’s heads off recently, is in fact the son of a well to do family from London, and has a degree in computer science. The fight in Minnesota about state commissioner pay continues, and is brought into perspective with the revelation that over sixteen thousand federal workers made more than two hundred thousand dollars last year. Meanwhile Vice President Joe Biden says the wealth of the top one percent should be ’emancipated’, apparently not realizing he is talking about himself and most of the people who work for our Federal Government. It’s time to emancipate the taxpayer from the burden of perfumed princes who earn a lot more than people in the private sector. Drones have already revolutionized war, now they’re about to revolutionize farming. Soon drone technology may become one of two or three essential tools of the farmer. Whether flown by remote control, or autonomously, farmers of all people are adopting and adapting drones. Find out how. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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