Podcast 153

Weekend Update! Revised economic numbers for the 1st quarter do not look good at all. -1 percent economic growth as the US economy goes into contraction for the first time since 2011. Don’t worry though, it’s all because of the cold winter and the economy will bounce back in the 2nd quarter. Really? Or, is it possible the economic policies enacted by a democrat president and congress has led to low, slow, or no growth or even – gasp – recession. How could the smartest man in the world let that happen? The Star Tribune reports that the top democrats in the state are calling for VA Secretary Shinseki’s resignation. The paper waits until the last line to mention that the 2nd District’s Republican Congressman John Kline, and the 6th District’s Michele Bachmann ALSO have called for the secretary to resign. Obama is still ‘investigating’. Google will build its own driverless car, which has no steering wheel or brake. What is the difference between a June Bug and a Cicada? And finally, people who used to be starving are getting fat and the WHO thinks this is a bad thing, and there’s a run on egg whites. You won’t believe why. Sponsored by X Government Cars

Podcast 151

President Obama has been personally ‘stung’ by his foreign policy critics and makes a series of speeches and appearances to ‘address’ those critics directly. Is this a wise political move? What are the top issues in the 2014 election cycle? Do they have anything to do with foreign policy. Are the president’s critics warmongers? Does the criticism have to do with the president’s decision making process and consensus approach to reacting to Syria, Libya, Ukraine and terrorists? When is it appropriate to question the White House conduct of Foreign Policy? If the people of the United States are focused inward, can the president’s economic policies be blamed? What about the rest of the world — becoming concerned about over-capacity and deflation? These are the issues that ought to be on the front burner in the foreign policy debate few people have indicated interest in. Sponsored by Baklund R & D.  

 

Podcast 148

Memorial Day Weekend Update. It is memorial day weekend, which usually means a long drive back from the lake. Since The Bob Davis Podcasts normally updates listeners on the key stories of the coming week on Sunday night/Monday morning, this podcast is all ready for the drive home. On the US Economy, the story line has been ‘winter’ since the northern tier of the US went into a deep freeze last December. Now ‘suddenly’ and ‘unexpectedly’ retailers aren’t meeting goals and consumers aren’t very confident. The expected ‘rebound’ from winter’s woes hasn’t materialized. What’s happening. Is inflation taking its toll, or is it deflation? Why is the price of fuel and food going up? The darling of the left, Thomas Piketty is on the hot seat for … some pretty serious mistakes in his modeling. Turns out ‘inequality’ may not be as bad as he thought it might be. The President went to Afghanistan as a prelude to a week of trying to defend and take back the high ground on his foreign policy, while democrats call him detached, flat footed and incompetent. Sponsored by Baklund R&D