Podcast 538

Western Minnesota Road Trip. Freestyle talk about my travel in the last last 6 weeks. My reflections on a weekend jaunt to Western Minnesota’s New Ulm and Walnut Grove, tying in the talk about technology threatening jobs in the future. Recent road trips have intensified my interest in the history of the Western United States. There is a lot of significant western history in Minnesota. We often think of historic topics like Indian Wars and Pioneers has happening further west, but one of the bloodiest clashes between settlers and American Indians happened in New Ulm in 1862, when the mostly German townspeople had to barricade the streets of their town to fight off attacks by the Dakota. Further west is Walnut Grove, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the famous ‘Little House On The Prairie’. While the museum in Walnut Grove could use a little bit better curation, some of the artifacts in the museum are interesting, especially grasshoppers or Locusts the size of a man’s hand, which plagued the settlers of Walnut Grove. When you examine items in a museum, it’s easy to think about how old they are. For the people of the time though, it was new technology. It’s fun to flip the script and wonder what our descendants will think of the artifacts of our time in a museum at some point a hundred years from now. Today, supposedly new tech like robotics and autonomous machines and software threatens millions of jobs. Proposed ‘solutions’ to this ‘threat’, like guaranteed minimum incomes and job retraining programs don’t make much sense. When people came west for opportunity, 140 years ago, they didn’t have job retraining programs. They couldn’t have known they’d be plagued by grasshoppers the size of a man’s hand. Yet they came anyway. We need to start thinking about the opportunity new technology provides us in building a new world, and stop being so negative all the time. Sponsored by Karow Contracting and Hydrus Performance.

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Podcast 383 – Emmer on Trade

Emmer on Trade. Live from the Nation’s Capital, Washington DC, where it’s all about free trade authority. To talk about it with the Bob Davis Podcasts, Congressman Tom Emmer left the Cannon House Office building, walked a couple of blocks, to where the Mobile Podcast Command Unit was parked. He is the first official interview in the Podcast Mobile Command Unit. At issue, votes for three measures constituting fast track trade authority for President Obama on Pacific nations, not including China. Opposition to this package of bills being considered takes two forms; Some Republicans don’t want to grant this president any more authority, especially when considering his pen and love for overstepping pesky things like the constitution. Democrats oppose because they believe this trade deal will hurt American workers, and American jobs. Tom’s take is, this package of bills, particularly the TPA (Trans Pacific Trade Authority) actually limits the president’s unilateral authority, at least when it comes to congress, which is one of the reasons he supports the legislation. Are you a trade protectionist, or a free trader? What are the benefits, drawbacks of each position? Do you think a president should be given ‘fast track’ authority to negotiate these deals, considering the possibility for this president, or future president’s to include initiatives that could actually hurt the country, a concern for everyone regardless of where they ‘lean’ on the political spectrum. If you speak in political circles you’re going to hear “They shipped all our jobs to China” more than once from democrats and republicans. While IT, higher labor costs have been factors in company’s decisions to outsource and have cost American jobs, some say the country is much better off economically with free trade, than trying to protect American jobs. China itself (not a part of this trade deal by the way) has already eliminated millions of jobs with IT. Millions more jobs will be lost even more technology is installed in the coming years. What’s effected American jobs the most? Poor economic growth. Another factor in pushing this agreement is the idea that American soft power (trade and diplomatic relationships) is what we should be developing, because its less costly than troops and ships and weapons systems. But without so called hard power, is soft power possible to sustain? Apparently a congressmen some consider to be conservative thinks so. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. (Editor’s Note: You don’t often see congressmen come to media on a backstreet behind the Cannon Office Building, and I want to personally thank Tom Emmer for doing so.)

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Podcast 381

Norfolk Naval Base. The Big East Road Trip continues from Western Virginia, to the Atlantic Coast. Virginia Beach, and the Naval Base at Norfolk where a relative is flying helicopters. Life on the base is different from civilian life in many ways. Most significantly, everyone has a job and a place in the big machine. As everyone does their job, it all comes together somewhere downstream. It’s also apparent there are clear rank divisions in the armed forces, with various perks and rituals. While some may covet the residence of an Admiral, few covet the weight of the responsibility higher officers have, or of what it takes to reach high rank. Odd, considering the debate we’re currently having in this country about inequality, with the implication that government has to step in and ‘equalize’ things. There’s no such attempt in the Navy that I can see, and no stigma with being enlisted or in the lower ranks of officers. Again, everyone’s job is important in the overall process. That doesn’t mean everyone is happy. It just gives a person visited a sense of purpose everywhere you look on the base. Besides, I got to sit in a helicopter! On the political front, it looks like Congress will make another attempt next week to pass the Pacific Trade Authority the President wants. Democrats usually oppose free trade measures because they think it hurts American jobs. Republicans generally support free trade because they think it helps the overall US Economy. The main problem with this bill is no citizen of the US has been able to see and review the bill to get an idea of what is at stake. Moreover, this bill grants authority to a president that has demonstrated a willingness to push the envelope on the constitution, to get what he wants. Already republican representatives are adding amendments to keep the President from committing the US to Climate Change regimes congress should vote on. While some might decry it as a talking point, the question of what this president is willing to commit the United States to and what his intentions are, should be on the table. Maybe it would be better to wait until the next President is elected to pass this authorization. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. (Editor’s Note: By the way, my next Mobile Podcast Command Unit is definitely going to be a Seahawk.) 

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