Podcast 407

Killing The Golden Goose. We’ve all heard the parable; The greedy farmer and his wife with the goose that lays the golden egg. As ‘back to school’ looms, the beginning of reengaging in the political process begins with a look at what the real issue might be in our economy and by extension, our politics in the United States. The question is, which is the goose and greedy farmer? Think of the economy – the sum total of all we consume and produce —  as a force of nature, like a hurricane rather than as some kind of Rube Goldberg device with dials and switches and levers. Or, as a golden goose. If the government takes more and more to sustain its operations and debt, where does that money come from? It comes from the individual. Can the government spend too much, and so require too much from the proverbial golden goose? You don’t hear this question discussed too much in the political arena these days. What you hear is a lot of nonsense about individual tax plans for the middle class, or taxing the so called ‘rich’. The fact is, the government takes your income — your wealth if you will — and uses it for its own aims. We’re supposed to have a conversation with our politicians regarding what those aims are, but we usually don’t. If government spending now, without calculating perpetual obligations like social security and other entitlements including medicaid, medicare and the so called Affordable Care Act is almost 40 percent of the country’s total economy, maybe this is the reason why our economy isn’t growing fast enough. Is it possible the greedy farmer is in the process of killing the golden goose? And if so, what do the perfumed princes on the campaign trail intend to do about it? The grey area between what is a public good, and greedy government is the crossroads where we are stuck. If we don’t figure out how to talk about it and to solve the problem, our goose is cooked. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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Podcast 404 – Jason Lewis Part 2

Jason Lewis Part 2. (Editor’s Note: Jason and I did this podcast in August, 2015 long before he announced his candidacy for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd District. Lately my entries describing what is in this podcast have generated controversy for Jason Lewis, because people apparently think these notes are a ‘transcript’ of the podcast. They are not. These notes constitute a blog entry, which explain what is in the podcast. If you want to hear what was said, you’ll have to listen to the podcast. In any case, it is fair to clarify that Jason Lewis said he accepted President Obama’s Iran deal with caveats. Before you criticize, and condemn, it’s only fair that you hear the man out. February 11th, 2016 from Sumter, South Carolina, on the campaign trail.) The second half of Jason Lewis and Bob Davis on the Bob Davis Podcast. This podcast starts with an extensive discussion of President Obama’s Iran Deal, which Jason supports. This leads into a wider conversation about the US Defense and Diplomatic structure with the rest of the countries in the world, and further discussion of Jason’s larger point that the US can’t have big government abroad and small (or limited) government at home. Once we dispatch the Iran and foreign policy questions, the talk turns to politics in the United States, and the media’s role in it. Is the influence of talk show hosts like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck on American politics and its conduct of foreign policy. Other points to ponder include Woodrow Wilson and World War I, conspiracy theories about how the British provoked Wilson and his advisors into World War I, and the knock on problems which later contributed to the causes of World War II, in Jason’s opinion. Considering these foreign policy problems, what’s the political diagnoses by Jason, (who also claims to be a pariah in Republican circles here in Minnesota because of his ‘pacifist’ stance on foreign policy issues). Does the country need a personality who can pull people together, or can people generate a political movement on their own? In Jason’s opinion, Republicans continue to try to appeal to the small base that listens to talk radio, expecting bigger results. He also talks about his ‘semi retirement’, ‘going Galt’, and Minnesota’s economic situation, Governor Dayton, former Governor Jessie Ventura and the Minnesota legislature. We close with a short talk about our talk radio days and the future of media, in particular digital media versus broadcast media, and on demand audio like The Bob Davis Podcasts, and The Jason Lewis Show podcasts available here. Don’t forget Jason’s New Audio Book Power Divided is Power Checked available here. This is the kind of content sorely missing from talk radio these days. (Editor’s Note: It’s a great pleasure to work again — even on a podcast — with someone who knows how to deliver great talk content, and is smart, prepared, and witty!). Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 400

Scoutmaster Tribute. Live from North Central Wisconsin, best friends who grew up together pay tribute to a father to one, and a scoutmaster to the other. Both friends are eccentric enough, as was the father and scoutmaster. Their conversation takes place at a rural hideaway built with anything that could be scrounged, or used. The setting sparks a conversation about what they learned in scouts. In ‘Stand By Me’ Stephen King’s narrator says that the friendship’s he forged around twelve or thirteen were the strongest of his life, that he never had friends like that again, and wondered if anybody does. Through thick and thin, on and off through the years two friendships have been the most important to me, largely because of our experiences camping with the Boy Scouts, and for me, especially because of our scoutmaster, who also happened to be my best friend’s dad. Sure he was eccentric, but he taught us all so many great lessons. Later he built a complex of crazy quilt cabins — where this podcast was recorded — which are packed with every kind of thing you can imagine, from every kind of era, and who knows where he got most of them. He never said no to anyone who offered something they didn’t want anymore — and most of that stuff is up in Wisconsin. Given the current situation, all commentary on politics these days sounds like an echo chamber. It’s nice to sit outside on a classic hot summer day in the middle of nowhere in North Central Wisconsin, and talk about things that are, or were real. Friendships that last a lifetime, friends who are as much family as they are friends, experiences we’ll never forget, and people we met over the years who were real characters. After all, aren’t friendship and family the most important things anyway. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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