It’s Halloween week, where little monsters and witches run among us looking for goodies that someone else paid for.
Sounds eerily similar to politics, doesn’t it?
And there was a lot of politics on display the last two weeks. First, there was the Hillary Clinton Benghazi hearings where the only questions that didn’t get asked are the ones that should have been asked and have never yet been answered. Like, what did you do, Secretary Clinton, that night? Whom did you call? Where was the president? What time did you call him? What did he say? These and so many more have never been asked or answered.
The new Iwo Jima – mainstream media raising the Clinton flag
The answers are especially meaningful to the families of those died there in Benghazi on the night of September 11, 2012. This week on I Spy Radio we talk with Michael Ingmire, the uncle of Sean Smith, the Information Technology Manager stationed in Benghazi who was killed by the terrorists. Michael gives us some more depth into Sean, his career and we ask what exactly was someone of his professional caliber doing in Benghazi of all places? We get Michael’s take on the hearings and we’ll ask him what questions they would like to have answered.
Up next, we talk with John Hawkins, the owner of Right Wing News, to help give the wake for CNBC’s “debate.” You know CNBC was horrid when even the other members of the left-leaning, main-stream media types come out and say, “Yeah, you sucked.”
We’ll get John’s insights into the debate itself, why the RNC continues to hang its own members up as targets for progressive media firing squads, and which candidates are zombies — their presidential hopes dead but they just don’t know it yet. And we’ll get his insights into the new Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan and whether this will be good for Republicans—or Democrats? Could there be another domino yet to fall?
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Air Dates: Oct 24 & 25, 2015 | Lawrence Kogan & Tom Collier (CEO of Pebble Partnership)
The EPA long ago lost its watchdog status and has turned rabid environmentalist. Now, clear evidence of the EPA colluding with environmentalists and tribes is beginning to emerge—ironically, in what the EPA had hoped to turn into one of its trophy cases: the Pebble Mine.
Show 5-43 will air the weekend of Oct 24th & 25th. Join us as we expose collusion between the EPA and “environmental” organizations, the tribes, and other players.
What’s important to understand in this fight against a government agency run-amok, is that they violated the rule of law and a basic tenet of American freedoms: due process. The EPA, by applying an obscure rule that it had never used before in its four-decades’ old existence and by trying to circumvent the permit process, it was denying Pebble Partnership its due process. Just as though it had arrested someone in suspected of a crime and put them in jail without any Miranda rights, no legal counsel, and so on.
Links Mentioned
Lawrence Kogan’s firm: the Kogan Law Group – tons of great info and articles on the assault by the Enviro-Left on our free market system
Air Dates: Oct. 17 & 18, 2015 | Larry Pratt (Gun Owners of America) & Doug Wyllie (Ed. Chief, policeone.com)
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In the wake of the Umpqua Community College killings in Roseburg, Ore., there was a great deal of “politicizing” (thanks, “President” Obama) by the gun-control advocates, like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and the one-woman-Democrat-clown-car, Debbie Wasserman Shultz.
But unfortunately, the shouting from the political Left was often matched or exceeded by the shouting from the political Right: “they” are coming to take your guns, this is purely a mental health issue, gun-free zones don’t work (okay, that one’s correct), and so on. Both sides trot out numbers and statistics to support their argument and pretty soon most people don’t know what to think or believe and so they retreat, psychologically, into their previously held position on guns, gun safety, crime, or gun control.
Unfortunately, all this politicizing does is to divide people into entrenched positions (of either anti-gun or pro-Second-Amendment) and does nothing to solve the problem.
Are there solutions to mass shootings? We wanted to know.
Whenever there are problems, the best way to solve it is to go to the people closest to the problems. And there is no group closer to this issue than law enforcement.
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Air Dates: September 12 & 13, 2015 | Jonathan Williams & Karla Jones
Devolution is defined as “the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level, especially by central government to local or regional administration.” When it comes to the transfer of public lands here in the U.S., this means the federal government giving control of federally held public lands to the states in which those lands reside. Why is this important? Jobs.
With more than 98 million Americans continuing to be out of the workforce, the jobs resulting from a public lands transfer to states means more than ever that the federal government honor their promise to relinquish control of the public lands held in trust. At one time, Illinois and Missouri both had more than 50% of their land controlled by the federal government when they entered statehood. Now, the federal government holds only 1% and 4%, respectively. So why do they maintain control of so much public lands states west of the Rockies—on average, more than 50% of these states? Why should Illinois get to have 99% of their land and Oregon gets less than 47% of its land?
US Economy off a cliff. Time for a public lands transfer to states.
We’ve talked in the past with Ken Ivory and it’s seemed a little theoretical at times: what would it be like if the states got their lands back? Now we some direct evidence of what it would look like from our neighbor to the north: Canada.
We’ll start by talking with Jonathan Williams of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) about the continuing record numbers of Americans not working and the state policies that consistently work to put people to work; policies that ALEC advocates. We’ll then talk about a federal policy that needs to happen: a public lands transfer to states. Karla Jones, also with ALEC, walks us through the process. We’ll examine the roadblocks and hurdles to making this happen, astonishing examples of federal mismanagement to private land management, and then look at how this has unfolded in Canada.
Sorry, environmentalists; it wasn’t the end of the world.
Links Mentioned
If you’re not visiting American Legislative Exchange Council on a regular basis, you’re missing out on a huge amount of incredible information — policies that your state ought to be implementing if they want to be successful. Don’t you want your state to be successful? Of course you do! Then visit alec.org.
Read ALEC’s State Lands report, which we discuss with Karla Jones. (You can download a copy for easier reading; see the Download PDF link on the right-side of the page.)
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To download the show, right-click the mic, and then “Save Link As…” or use the handy player below
Air Dates: August 29 & 30, 2015 | Suzan Ellis Jones, John Charles, Rep. Ken Ivory
With more than its share of forest fires, Oregon’s state lands scream mismanagement. Oregon’s rather infamous environmental policies only seem to kill trees, owls, and profits—and the only thing they seem to protect are politicians. But these last few weeks, the smoke from the fires are hard to ignore. It’s time to look at Oregon’s mismanagement of its lands.
We start the show by interviewing Suzan Ellis-Jones. Unlike the “environmentalists,” Suzan actually makes her home in rural Oregon — Baker County to be exact. Baker is one of several Oregon counties that have ravaged by brutal, devastating, heartbreaking forest fires — fires that could have been prevented. By the way. Have you ever noticed that environmental lobbyists just can’t be pulled away from their favorite coffee shops in downtown Portland to go fight fires? Why is that?
Perhaps it’s because they’re too busy spewing nonsense into papers like the Eugene Register-Guard about how the timber industry runs this state. What?
Map: Oregon’s Elliot State Forest
To sort out that nonsense, we need a real expert, so this week we also talk with John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute, about the recently announced intention by the State Lands’ Board to sell off the Elliot Forest. The Elliot State Forest is perhaps the epitome of mismanagement. Well, except it hasn’t caught fire—yet. We’ll also get a handle on that “board” (it’s really just three people) and how they are utterly failing in their fiduciary duty to the state. Yes, that’s right. The state is ordered to make money from those state lands — but when has a pesky law ever mattered to a career politician? That’s for the rest of us.
Speaking of which, we wrap things up with Rep. Ken Ivory (UT) about the complete inadequacy and unwillingness by the agencies to follow laws let alone their own rules. Rep. Ivory is also President of the American Lands Council and he fills us in on the environmental devastation being caused by out-of-control agencies and career bureaucrats, to whom laws do not apply.
And don’t miss the shocking developments in Montana and what the federal government ordered Montana to do. Here’s a hint: they were handing out fiddles.
Sometimes, it doesn’t even seem like we’re in America any more. Is it 2016 yet…?
Ranchers being sued for their “mismanagement.” Not just sued. Jailed. And not just jailed, but feds adding even more jail time. Their crime? Helping fight fires.
5-32 Chinese Invasion – China’s Silent War with the US
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Air Dates: August 8 & 9, 2015 | James Hirsen & Kevin Freeman
Seemingly almost without notice, China is quietly invading the U.S. Perhaps taking a page from the Soviet Union era’s failed communist takeover, China is waging war against the U.S. — not with nuclear ICBMs but through economic and cultural warfare. And the scary thing is, they’re winning.
This Chinese invasion is taking many forms. Some months ago, we brought your attention to the economic warfare China is waging against the U.S. Their silent warfare has intensified. This week, we take a deeper look at the threat no one seems to be paying attention to—at least seemingly no one in the Obama administration. Why are they opening the door to our enemies?
The Chinese Invasion of Hollywood
We’ll start by talking to James Hirsen of Headline Hollywood about the Chinese invasion of Hollywood. Why are Hollywood elites—the uber-liberal of liberals, who famously decry any sort of censorship—getting into bed with Chinese investors? What are the Chinese hoping to get out of this strange marriage?
The Chinese Invasion of US Companies
As of 2008 the Chinese government had hired more than 100,000 full-time hackers to do nothing but try to hack into America’s government and U.S. companies. Given that, and the Obama administration’s penchant for words not actions, it’s perhaps not surprising that a former NSA director recently said that every major US company has been hacked into by the Chinese. This gives the Chinese access to trade secrets, companies’ financial information, and future plans. Talk about insider trading. Are we ripe for a disaster? We’ll talk with Kevin Freeman about China’s silent war with the U.S. Kevin is one of the world’s leading authorities on financial and economic warfare.
Since the mainstream media is focused on Donald Trump, you probably haven’t heard that the Chinese markets have suffered huge losses, more than 30%, in the last few months. The Chinese government has officially accused the U.S. of hacking their system. Did we?
Hillary Clinton’s Emails Hacked?
Given the Chinese hack attacks on our infrastructure, on our government, and that Hillary used a private server for official, classified State Department business, could one of these 100,000-plus Chinese hackers found their way into Hillary emails? Tune in to hear the stunning revelation of how easily Hillary’s private server may have exposed the entire U.S. government to infiltration.
Read Kevin’s white paper, submitted to the Department of Defense – Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses; an analysis of twenty-first century risks in light of the recent market collapse
Our Federal government is the biggest intrusion into our everyday lives (and I’m not just talking about the recent Supreme Court decisions). We are fortunate that the Framers of our Constitution left us a solution to our badly overgrown federal government.
Deborah Lee, OR State Director, COS Project
Article V of the U.S. Constitution states that 2/3 of the state legislatures can call for an Amendment Convention. It’s a high bar, and intentionally so, but not too high if the need is great. The need is great and it’s clear that Washington D.C. will not fix itself.
We are hearing the beginning of a national debate on amendments which would rein in the size and scope of the federal government. Mark Levin has proposed 11 amendments in his book The Liberty Amendments. Levin’s book is a great read. Michael Farris is the head of our Convention of States Project and he has proposed other amendment ideas. I challenge you, dear readers, to consider your own amendments.
Convention of States – Who’s In?
So, 2/3 of the state legislatures equal 34 states. The Convention of States Project is working in a grassroots style to make an Article V Convention happen! We have four states that have approved their applications; Alaska, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. There are 32 states that are “in-process” this legislative season, and two that will file in the near future. That many states filing the same exact application is historic! Our goal is 40 states.
Oregon’s application is SJM 6. Sen. Brian Boquist is our Chief Sponsor. Sadly, our bill got stuck in the Senate Rules Committee and died there last week when the legislature adjourned for the session. However, we have learned a lot, and have changed our focus to lay the groundwork for the next legislative session in Salem.
Grassroots, Homeschool Style
Our strategy is to pass all 40 state applications in a grassroots, homeschool style of building public support. Grassroots, homeschool style is adults who don’t know how to lobby, but get in the car and go to the capital with their kids and learn by chatting with their legislators. Grassroots, homeschool style is adults who don’t know how to teach a topic, but they roll up their sleeves and sit down and study until they can explain it to their kids. And Grassroots, homeschool style is adults who know the power of prayer, the power of the old fashioned phone tree, and the power of calling your friends and family to explain the problem and what is needed to solve the problem. Homeschoolers did this in the battle against HR6 in 1994. (You can read about that battle here.) I was not homeschooling then, but my nephew and niece were. That might have been my first call to a legislator. I was scared, but I made the calls for them and their parents. I did it and so can you. Now we need to do it again. The good news is, we now have new technology like email, Facebook, Twitter and text alerts to make it a lot easier than phone and fax trees.
Michael Farris is also a Constitutional lawyer and a homeschool father of 10 children. He is the founder of Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), who along with Michael Smith, have fought for homeschool freedom in all 50 states over 35 years. Michael Farris and Michael Smith led that fight to defeat HR6 back in 1994. Today homeschoolers can educate their children in relative freedom because of their steadfast efforts.
How to Help Oregon get On Board
So, how can you help? First, listen to Mark Anderson’s interview with Michael Farris this weekend on the I Spy Radio Show. I can’t wait to hear it. Michael Farris is a fabulous speaker. (I have heard him at many a homeschool convention over the past 19 years.) Next, go to ConventionOfStates.com, and read and sign the petition to our Oregon legislators. We need a minimum of 100 signatures in every Oregon legislative district, especially those in Portland, Salem and Eugene. Thirdly, roll up your sleeves and sit down to study until you can teach this, simply, to someone else. It should be the length of an “elevator pitch” (as much time as you would have in an elevator with someone else to persuade them of your idea). Practice your elevator pitch to your spouse and your teens. Then make the pitch to your friends, neighbors, co-workers. We need every one of them to make this happen. We’re still early in the process but here in “liberal Oregon” we’ve already had more than 3,300 signers but we want thousands more to join to make Salem listen.
If you want to do more, we could use more District Captains. A District Captain’s main job is to get 100 people to sign the petition in their home legislative district. There is a job description you can read if you go to ConventionOfStates.com, click on “Get Involved” and “Be a Leader”.
If everyone does something, we will make this happen, even in Oregon! I can’t wait to see it happen! Will you please join me?
# # #
Contact: If you’d like get involved in Oregon, Deborah Lee can be reached via email (director.or@cosaction.com). You can also sign the petition, whether you live in Oregon or anywhere, by heading to cosaction.com.
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Guest: Michael Farris | Air Dates: July 18 & 19, 2015
Whether you’re mad at a Congress that stops nothing, or a president who thinks he can do anything or a Supreme Court that forgets everything about the Constitution, the thing that seems to unite all of us is that the federal government is divisive and out of control. If it is the nature of mankind and governments to gather more power, what can the States do about an out of control federal government that seems all too often to forget it is not an empire but a Republic?
Thankfully, our Founding Fathers provided a solution: a Convention of States.
Want to make this happen? Be sure to check out our guest post by Deborah Lee, Oregon State Director. Using Oregon as an example, she discusses how they’re using grassroots methods to make this happen and what you can do to get be a part of this.
Article V Convention of States
Do you remember hearing in high school about the checks and balances in our Constitution? Do you remember when was the last time you saw that actually happen? Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides a way out. Tune in this week to I Spy Radio to learn about the Constitutional power of a Convention of States (sometimes referred to as an “Article V Convention of States). From the Supreme Court doing constitutional gymnastics to keep Obamacare alive to rulings on gay marriage to the abuse of executive power to more than $100 trillion in federal debts and unfunded liabilities, this is a movement that is quickly gaining momentum.
We turn to Michael Farris, a Constitutional lawyer and scholar, who heads the Convention of States Project for Citizens for Self Governance. Tune in to hear: a brief primer on what a Convention of States is; the Constitutionality of a Convention of States and what it can do; the three distinct CoS movements; the difference between a Convention of States and an Assembly of States; and where the current CoS stands (who’s in and who’s not). We also answer the naysayers who claim proponents for a Convention of States are wrong on history and answer the doubters who claim a Convention of States will never happen, can’t or won’t work. Would a Convention of States open the doors to socialists who are salivating over the opportunity? We find out.
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Air Dates: June 20 & 21, 2015 | Grace-Marie Turner
The Supreme Court will decide soon what to do about the Obamacare subsidies, which some say are the backbone to the entire law. What will it mean for the healthcare system if Obamacare is, to use Obama’s words, “fundamentally transformed”? We talk with Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute about what the Court’s potential rulings could mean.
Obamacare advocates like to say we need to keep Obamacare because the Republicans haven’t come up with any plans to replace it. But this is a straw man arguement because a bad “comprehensive” plan is not inherently a better situation than a series of plans. It implies the healthcare system must be run by the federal government without stopping to ask whethere it should be meddling in your health care in the first place.
One aspect of Obamacare that many people haven’t heard of — including Oregonians — are School Based Health Centers. These “health clinics” are not what they seem. Like so much of the tripe pushed by the radical Left, what they claim is different, very different, than what they are. We talk with Nancy Traherne of the Rogue Vally Republican Women, which invited Mark Anderson to speak at their June 24th luncheon. (Note: If your organization would like Mark to come discuss how to fight back against SBHCs, please contact Karla Davenport for booking information.)
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Show 5-24 | Air Dates: June 13 & 14, 2015
The battle for control over federal public lands intensifies as Rep. Ken Ivory is attacked by a Far Left group and accused of fraud. Why is the battle so important? Jobs. If you don’t live inside of a major city, you know that those in rural areas create wealth and jobs by getting their hands dirty. Blue collar, good paying, and living-wage jobs through honest, hard work.
Logging, mining, farming, ranching, all create additional jobs beyond loggers, miners, farmers, and ranchers. For instance, the logging industry would be meaningless if not for millwrights, saw operators, electricians, welders, engineers, and many others. We’ve previously had on guests from Center for America, which has pointed out there is a coming shortage of exactly these kinds of jobs — skilled workers.
American Jobs for America’s Heroes
Our first guest, Brigadier General, Marianne Watson, of Center for America is spearheading their campaign “American Jobs for America’s Heroes.” Drawing on her background as Director of Manpower and Personnel at the National Guard, she is leading the effort to connect small business owners with National Guardsmen and veterans. This is a tremendous opportunity for small-business owners to hire America’s skilled service men and women. If you need a job filled, they have a job-posting site that will not only list your job but they will also act as your HR Department to match the right service personnel for it.
Ken Ivory Attacked by Far Left Group
Lands held by the federal government. Note the difference between east and west of the Rockies
Here on I Spy Radio, we don’t like it when our friends come under attack. We especially don’t like it when the attackers are well-funded, hypocritical leftist organizations. Such is the case with Campaign for Accountability, which filed allegations against Ken Ivory and his nonprofit organization, American Lands Council. Campaign for Accountability alleges fraud on three fronts: that Ken Ivory knows the effort to turn ownership of federal lands to the states is a “fool’s errand;” that, knowing this, he defrauded counties who paid for membership in his organization; and that American Lands Council exists primarily to enrich Ken and his wife.
What’s interesting is that most of those “reporters” in the press who covered this, didn’t bother asking, “Just who is this group accusing Ken Ivory? Are their accusations even valid?” So we did.
On their “about us” page, Campaign for Accountability says, “Millions of Americans’ lives are negatively impacted by decisions made behind the doors of corporate boardrooms, government offices, and shadowy nonprofit groups.”
You’d think an organization that calls itself “Campaign for Accountability” might want to, you know, be accountable and transparent. Especially when they accuse Rep. Ken Ivory of using his nonprofit to “primarily” enrich himself and his wife. So how much does the Executive Director for Campaign for Accountability get paid? Or the rest of their staff? What percent of their revenue goes to salaries — “enriching themselves” to use their terminology.
We asked. They refused to answer.
We also asked who their major donors were, so they wouldn’t be perceived as a “shadowy nonprofit group.” Again, they refused to answer. So much for accountability. And they accuse Ken Ivory of fraud?
Ken Ivory’s Responses
Tune in to hear Ken not only defend himself against the accusations of fraud but respond to what we found out about Campaign for Accountability. He is joined by Montana State Senator, Jennifer Fielder, who was part of the commission Montana assembled to examine the management of public lands.
Are you a small-business owner? Need staffing but don’t have an HR Department but want to find skilled workers? Find out more about American Jobs for America’s Heroes
Campaign for Accountability appears to be a spinoff of a Far-Left “nonprofit” funded by George Soros. While CFA is only a few months old and hasn’t filed tax forms yet (for nonprofits, these are known as “990s”). However, CREW has. Check out CREW’s tax filings for 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Feel free to compare these to Ken Ivory’s American Lands Council’s 990s for 2012 and 2013.
