Podcast 316

Midweek Updates. Live from the newsroom at the Bob Davis Podcasts. Bruce Jenner allegedly kills someone and everyone is talking about Brian Williams. Go figure. NBC News still doesn’t know what to do with the news anchor who embellished stories about Iraq, and now apparently Katrina, and whether he saved puppies or not when he ‘was a fireman’. If Williams is forced to leave, NBC will have to write him a check for fifty million dollars. Williams just signed a five year contract with the network for ten million dollars a year, so he might NOT be singing ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’. Alas, the news media IS crying for Williams. The New York Times says Williams is a victim of ‘false memory’, which apparently a lot of us have. The Minneapolis Star Tribune suggests this is a time for forgiveness. Why are they apologizing for Williams when real reporters – not to mention American servicemen and women – are actually dying when they cover the news, or being beheaded, or something like that. Even more sad news than the fall of a ‘hero’ television presenter is the sad story of Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown. The Brown family says they’ll remove Bobby from life support today, February 11th, the same day her mother passed. Bobby always said when Whitney died, she lost more than her mom, she lost her best friend. Yet more sad? IRS head John Koskinen says ILLEGAL aliens will be able to receive back earned income tax credit payments for as long as they have been in the US. Millions of illegals could receive millions of dollars in payouts, financed by American Taxpayers. It seems President Obama executive memoranda which amnestied these people neglected to exempt them from such payments, so Koskinen wants to be on the ‘safe side’. Enough to make us want to remove ourselves from life support. A town in Pennsylvania is placing signs at the edge of town that say, “This is NOT a Gun free Zone”, which is driving the gun control zealots into a frenzy. One of them says the signs will mean criminals will shoot first, and that Conoy Township ‘will be like the wild west’. The town says they’ll take that bet. Minnesota Governor Dayton’s struggle with the House over huge pay raises for his commissioners has descended into a battle over whether the Governor will testify. He says he’ll meet with legislators but won’t testify. He also offered to do what he can to increase the pay of legislators! Meanwhile it appears the Republican House has a little  ‘splainin’ to do as well, since GOP operative and House employee Ben Golnick was also given a huge raise and makes over six figures. Sigh. In Michigan legislators are considering a bill which would outlaw subsidies to businesses. It seems Michigan is on the hook for 6 billion dollars in subsidies to auto companies. And you wonder why Detroit is a wasteland. Great idea, by the way. And eggs are good for you! Sponsored by Depotstar

Podcast 307

Mitt Quits. Updates for the first week of February. While neighbors enjoy the Superbowl – enjoy their muffled screams through the wall – The Bob Davis Podcasts goes to work. Mitt Romney has decided not to run for President in 2016, provoking the Washington Post to name Jeb Bush as the front runner. Meanwhile a new poll of voters in Iowa, where the nation’s first presidential primary will be held, have picked Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as the front runner, closely followed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. If you are an observer of politics, and you have a decidedly anti-government bent, it sure seems like the mainstream moderate wing of the Republican Party is selling policy and tactics from the 1990’s, while voters seem to engage with politicians with newer ideas. While the actual political season for the 2016 cycle is a long way off in political terms, the media seems to want to pick a moderate as the front runner, and the people might have different ideas. Stay Tuned. The new Economic numbers are out, and they aren’t as good as expected. Surprise! After 5 percent GDP ‘growth’ in the third quarter just about everyone ‘figured’ and predicted that we would have at least 3.6 percent ‘growth’ in the fourth quarter, what with gas being cheap and acting ‘like a tax cut’. Even President Obama declared victory over stagnation for weeks, culminating in his over the top State Of The Union Speech which would make the initiated think he was presiding over the most dynamic economy in US History. In reality, President Obama’s recovery doesn’t just lag Bush and Clinton and Reagan, the Obama ‘recovery’ is the worst economic performance of all Presidents in US History. The new growth number? 2.6 percent. What does the media blame it on? Those evil frackers who created all those jobs, and now they’re laying people off ’cause oil is so cheap. In fact the media that couldn’t bring itself to write a positive story about energy growth in the US in the last six years now can’t find enough down-on-their-luck in Williston, North Dakota, stories. Fact is, most of the manufacturing jobs the President likes to tout are energy related. Yeah, cheap gas is great. It acts like a tax cut. Just keep that in mind as the European Zone disaster starts to take hold, and China’s economic slow down begins to bite, realities which the US economy won’t escape. And what are US policies? Not clear away the gordian knot of taxes and regulation that chokes business formation, and the supply side, but continued efforts to stimulate consumption and ballyhooing ‘consumer confidence’. In Silicon Valley they are mixing morning shake cocktails of supplements and additives that are supposedly able to increase your IQ. Body hacks are all the rage, so Podcast 307 ends with an effort to play catch up, with the Broadcast Bunker Juicer. Sponsored by Xgovernment Cars and Depotstar

Podcast 295

Nighttime Winter Walk. Warm days in the upper midwest mean warm nights. A good night to get out for a walk and talk. As the week progresses, the news will get heavier as coverage of the State of The Union message gets rolling, along with Davos, and financial concerns starting to take center stage. So, this is a great opportunity to take a walk and talk about some of the less controversial stories. Did you know that January 19th is officially the saddest day of the year? Why? What does a person do to combat this oppressive depression? In the UK, a five year old child was not able to attend a friend’s birthday party. No, the parents did not RSVP but they were surprised to find a professional bill for ‘services rendered’, due to the fact that they did not RSVP and their child did not attend, when he was scheduled to. Now the parents are being sued. In Wisconsin, legislators are ready to reintroduce the 70 mph speed limit, which is a good thing because no one drives 65, anywhere in the state, and least of all in 94, or 90-94, or any of the state highways. What Wisconsin needs though, is a law that requires residents of the badger state to get the hell out of the left lane if they want to go slow. A friend’s dinner suggestion of a ‘satellite internet’ was greeted by The Bob Davis Podcasts with skepticism. Lo and Behold, Mr Elon Musk plans to introduce a ‘space internet’, and eventually carry the signal all the way to Mars. If it works better than the Podcast’s current ISP, and can feature better customer service, it’s a lock. The number one movie in the country right now is ‘American Sniper’, the story of the late Chris Kyle. Michael Moore called him a coward on twitter, and a firestorm has ensued. Research shows quite a lot of controversy about characterizations of snipers in general. Moore got hammered in social media, while Actress Jane Fonda was hammered in Frederick Maryland, by Vietnam Vets who will never forget the picture of Fonda posing for the cameras on a North Vietnamese Anti Aircraft gun, during her trip to the enemy’s country during the Vietnam War. Fonda now says the photo was a huge mistake she has had to live with her whole life, but she still says the trip to Communist North Vietnam was ‘incredible’. Finally, some words about a recent podcast about the Tea Party, and a heads up on some speaking engagements for Bob Davis in the near future. Sponsored by Mycompletebasement.com