Show Summary: Economics is always a strange business. But like so much else of American life, the Left is corrupting the economy and using it for their own means. Especially by involving the government. And now, with the Ukraine situation, we’re seeing private businesses waging a private war against Russia — when we’re not even at war with them. Combined with what happened in Canada, is this a foreshadowing of what will happen to our economic freedoms and liberties?
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Original Air Dates: March 5th & 6th, 2022 | Guest: Jonathan Williams
This Week
To quote Bill Clinton, “it’s all about the economy, stupid.”
We take a look at the state of the union speech, the competency of those in charge and their agendas, the economy, and also the economic policies that politicians can win on this year. Even here in Oregon. Plus, with the war in Ukraine, we’re seeing an entire new kind of warfare being waged. Economic warfare on a scale we haven’t seen in ages and in ways we’ve never seen. Private companies waging a private war against a country we’re not actually at war with. Combined with what we saw in Canada, what does this mean for our economic freedoms and liberties?
We talk with Chief Economist, Jonathan Williams, from ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) about what is going on. We talk about the SOTU speech, the competency of those in charge, and private companies blocking you when they don’t agree with your politics. And we’ll look at true economic policies to win on in 2022. Even right here in Oregon.
And don’t miss the discussion about what is happening, on economic terms, in the war between Russia and Ukraine. And what it means for our future economic liberties and freedom.
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Links Mentioned Research, & Additional Info
Jonathan Williams is the Chief Economist and Exec VP at American Legislative Exchange Council. Visit ALEC.org to find out more about what they do and how you can get their policies to your politicians.
Show Summary: Covid has exposed the rot in the system. It was always there but now people are waking up to it. This week, we look at the woke the Left didn’t want you to see. CRT in the classroom (yes, Virginia, it was there all along). Teacher’s union promotes “White fragility” and endorses racism. Plus corporate wokeness and a new congressional scandal so bad that even AOC gets it right.
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Original Air Dates: January 29th & 30th, 2022 | Guests: Kimberly Hermann & Justin Danhof
Exposing the Woke Rot
This week, we’re welcoming back two organizations out on the front lines of liberty, the Southeastern Legal Foundation and the Free Enterprise Project.
SLF recently discovered some documents the nation’s largest teachers’ union, the NEA (National Education Association) tried to hide from the public about what, exactly, they were supporting being taught in America’s classrooms. Now, why would they want to hide that? We talk with Kimberly Hermann about just what they discovered on the NEA’s website. And we talk with her about the continuing battles in the classroom. Including some legal remedies for parents who’ve been contacted by the FBI after they show up at board meetings.
See SLF’s Twitter thread about uncovering the documents the NEA tried to hide. Sickening this is being taught to your kids.
And the Free Enterprise Project continues its fight in the shareholders meetings of America’s wokest companies. How woke? Like Visa still sponsoring the Winter Olympics in China. Despite the fact the U.S. government has boycotted the games because of China’s genocide against its own people. We talk with Justin Danhoff about exposing and fighting the corporate wokeness and he has tools for others to get involved.
Plus, we talk about a new scandal in Congress that is so bad, it might just have you agreeing with AOC of all people. Insider trading. But did you know Congress passed a law to “stop” this, the STOCK Act? Except it doesn’t stop anything. Listen in and find out why.
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The backlash against COVID rules should be a lesson for Democrats and Republicans alike: America is still a land of freedom.
‘Catastrophic Moral Crime’: Bari Weiss Goes Viral After Perfectly Explaining Why Americans Are Fed Up With the Never-Ending Pandemic Mentality (Based Politics, Jan 22, 2022)
Kimberly Hermann Segments
Kimberly’s is the general counsel for Southeastern Legal Foundation: SLFliberty.org
NEA hid votes on ‘white fragility,’ Black Lives Matter, reparations amid new scrutiny (Just the News, Jan 11, 2022)
SE Legal Foundation’s Twitter thread on uncovering the documents (Twitter, Jan 10, 2022)
“In our last piece, we detailed successful litigation strategies for battling woke education using the Constitution and Civil Rights Acts. In this piece, we describe lesser-known strategies that can be equally as effective”
“ If a school district forces someone to agree with these statements [that colorblindness is a form of White supremacy], or shuts down disagreement, we step right into First Amendment territory.”
“… your kids have broad First Amendment protection both in and out of a classroom. If a school is going to force a student to say something they do not wish to say, or endorse a belief that they do not endorse, then that is compelled speech. It is unconstitutional.”
“In March of 2021, Mr. Pelosi made the omniscient move of exercising Microsoft call options valued at $1.95 million just two weeks before Microsoft was given a $22 billion contract with the U.S. Army.”
Show Summary: No ghosts but lots of gremlins as democrats try to sabotage the future of America’s economy. It’s no secret the democrats want to transform America’s economy into a socialist one. And their multi-trillion dollar spending bills will do it. So what’s really in the bill? If you think the problems with our supply chain are bad now, wait until the government runs it.
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Original Air Dates: October 30th & 31st, 2021 | Guests: Jonathan Williams & Jana Jarvis
This week: No ghosts but plenty of gremlins and goblins as our own government is looking to sabotage the future of America’s economy. To “transform it”, which is never a good thing. A look at what’s really in the bill — and a look at what it going on with our supply chain.
It’s the Economy Stupid?
Remember when Bill Clinton said that? Except from the democrats, now it’s let’s make the economy stupid. Then again, remember when Bill Clinton used to be seen as “liberal”? Now, he’s downright conservative in comparison.
Imagine AOC in charge of the economy.
And remember Obamacare, and the democrats “deeming it passed”? Yeah. You can look for that kind of trickery to get the multi-trillion-dollar bill through not to transform America’s health care but her economy. How’s that health care “transformation” gone for you? Health care cheaper for you? Or for America?
No. Of course not. But by the federal government seizing control of health care, democrats have been able to use it as a weapon. It’s what we warned you about: environmental policies is how they control business. Health care is how they control people.
Jonathan Williams of ALEC on the Economy
Jonathan Williams is the executive vice president of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC.org), which advises state legislature on how to improve their economies.
We talk about what’s really in the bill. AOC’s 1.5 million “climate corps” troops marshaling businesses down the new green path. A massive overturn of the economy that will weaken, not strengthen it. 87,000 new IRS agents unleashed to snoop through and spy on Americans. (Remember how Obama used the IRS to target his political enemies? Yeah. Now multiply that by 86,0000.
And perhaps worst of all, Janet Yellen’s hair-brained scheme to tax non-existent wealth. She wants to tax “unrealized capital gains.” In other words, tax money that hasn’t been made yet. That’s desperate.
And how long before they do away with “just taxing billionaires” and move on to “all those middle-class people are sitting on unrealized gains in the property values.
Problems in the Supply Chain
In case you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of areas of the country experiencing empty store shelves. How is it that just two years ago, when we had a much better economy under President Trump but we had no supply chain problems like we’re experiencing now? Could it be by design? This article from ZeroHedge alleges it may be. (And it sounds like it to us, too.)
Not to mention that Pete Buttigieg is out there sounding like he’s willing to let supply chain problems continue in an attempt to extort Congressional Republicans and reluctant democrats into voting for the massive spending bills. (See links below.)
So, what is going on with our supply chain? And, the big question: do we need to be worried?
To get to the bottom of that, we talk with Jana Jarvis, president of OTA, Oregon Trucking Associations (ORtrucking.com). She walks us through the problems at the port, what led to them, and some concerns for the near future.
It doesn’t help that there was already a shortage of truckers before the forced pandemic. Now, the Biden administration is targeting truckers and blue collar workers with forced vaccine mandates. The ATA warns that if Resident Biden continues along this path, the industry may lose up to 37% of its truckers.
Imagine for a moment if all the truckers walked off the job in areas where there are mandates. Imagine the impact of that. I mean, talk about a people’s revolution. Just park the trucks and say no more until you get rid of these mandates. ALL of them.
Is it time for a drive out? A national walk out by truckers? If any industry could force that kind of change, it’s the truckers.
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AOC, Democrats want to create ‘Civilian Corps’ to battle climate change (NY Post, May 5, 2021)
AOC: $10B Taxpayer-Funded Climate Change Corps Would Create 1.5M Jobs (Brietbart, May 7, 2021)
Really, AOC? Try to use math. That’s only $6,666 per “job.” What are they going to do, just send stimulus checks to democrats?
The real costs: 1.5 million activists × $40,000 per year (avg) = $60 billion. Every year. “Free” jobs for democrats. Who do you think they’ll donate to? Or campaign for? And that doesn’t even include healthcare or a lifetime of taxpayer funded pensions.
“The reality is the only way we’re going to get to a place where we work through this transition is if everyone in America and everyone around the world gets vaccinated,” [Deputy Treasury Secretary] Adeyemo admitted in an interview with ABC News.
THIS: Transportation Secretary Pete stated, “…The overall ‘Build Back Better’ vision is designed to reduce inflationary pressures. So if you care about inflation, you ought to care about not just the supply chain issues… but also the provisions in ‘Build Back Better’ like paid family leave, … making it easier to afford childcare, [or] community college, that are going to give us a stronger labor force and help us deal with that major constraint on economic growth.”*Sounds a lot like Blackmail to me.
Ports of LA, Long Beach to Fine Firms Over Container Backlog (Newsmax, Oct 25, 2021)*“In an effort to ease congestion at the nation’s busiest port complex, officials said Monday that they will start fining shipping companies whose cargo containers linger for too long at marine terminals.”
Horrifying: California In-N-Out Shut Down Permanently for Refusing to Check Customers’ Vaccination Status (Epoch Times, Oct 27, 2021)
Show Summary: Two state senators in Oregon call for a grand jury investigation into the willful misconduct by government officials by manipulating the covid data. It’s all about driving fear. Plus, a look at how we got here with Obamacare and Oregon’s own version, The Oregon Health Care Transformation.
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Original Air Dates: Sept 18 & 19, 2021 | Sen. Dennis Linthicum & Patti Milne
This Week: Call for Grand Jury Investigation
Last week, Senator Dennis Linthicum surprised us when he casually mentioned he was heading to a press conference to discuss his call for a grand jury into covid-19 malfeasance.
Wait. What now…?
So of course we needed to have him come right back to talk about this. Dr. Henry Ealy and Leah Wilson have both called for a grand jury investigation into public officials’ willful misconduct by manipulating — fear mongering — the data, which has driven the panic-demic.
How We Got Here
It’s been just over 11 years since the democrats forced Obamacare on the nation. Or “Deemed it passed” as Nancy said. Which led to the democrats seeing massive losses in 2010. And losing both the house and the senate.
A couple years later, Oregon went through its own “Healthcare Transformation”, which put Oregon’s own version of Obamacare into place, in case Obamacare was ever tossed out.
So we thought it would be a good idea to look back at how we got here. How did we move from a free-market system for health care to one that now seems to think it can order you to inject yourself with experimental vaccines?
We talk with former county commissioner, Patti Milne, who was in the thick og the battle as democrats pushed through Oregon’s grand scheme. Except here’s the thing: they had willing (duped) allies in their republican counterparts.
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Links Mentioned
Grand Jury Press Release & Info
The Press Release: Oregon Senators File Formal Grand Jury Petition Calling for Investigation into CDC’s Willful Misconduct to Hyperinflate COVID-19 Data Following Federal Law Violations (Stand for Health Freedom, Sept 16, 2021). Includes:
Uttar Pradesh, India Announces State is Covid-19 Free Proving the Effectiveness of “Deworming Drug” Ivermectin (Gateway Pundit, Sept 15, 2021)
The 33 districts in Uttar Pradesh, India have now become free from COVID-19 government informed on Friday. The recovery rate has increased up to 98.7% proving the effectiveness of Ivermectin as part of the “Uttar Pradesh Covid Control Model.”
The active caseload in Uttar Pradesh is down to 269, while the percentage of active cases against the total confirmed cases is 0 per cent. The active caseload, which was at a high of 310,783 in April, has reduced by over 99 per cent.
And this state is one of the five lowest Covid cases of all states in India. And it’s despite having only a low vaccination rate of 5.8% fully vaccinated compared to the USA that has 54% fully vaccinated.
The [Indian] government notification reads, “Doctors are advising to take ivermectin 12 mg to contain the impact of pandemic. This medicine is quite effective in protecting from covid-19. Therefore, we appeal each and every citizen to have this tablet.”
Idaho Doctor Sees 20-Fold Increase of Cancers
Idaho: U.S. doctor reports a ’20 times increase’ of cancer in vaccinated patients: ‘Post-vaccine, what we are seeing is a drop in your killer T-cells, in your CD8 cells’ (WND, Sept 15, 2021)
Dr. Cole said that vaccines seem to be triggering serious autoimmune issues, and described the situation as a “reverse HIV.”
“Cole explained that two types of cells are required for adequate immune system function: ‘Helper T-cells,’ also called ‘CD4 cells,’ and ‘killer T-cells,’ often known as ‘CD8 cells,'” the report said. “According to Cole, in patients with HIV, there is a massive suppression of ‘helper T-cells’ which cause immune system functions to plummet, and leave the patient susceptible to a variety of illnesses. Similarly, Cole describes, ‘post-vaccine, what we are seeing is a drop in your killer T-cells, in your CD8 cells,'” Those, he explained, “keep all other viruses in check.”
UK Hospitals Bribed to put Patients on Pathway to Death (2012)
Hospitals bribed to put patients on pathway to death: Cash incentive for NHS trusts that meet targets on Liverpool Care Pathway (UK Daily Mail, Oct 25, 2012)
Show Summary: Politics, not “science” drove Oregon’s shut down. And its reopening. As restaurants and lodging businesses struggle back in Oregon, there is a twisted road ahead through a minefield of politics. Worse, business’s usual ally, Republicans, aren’t up for the fight.
Yet.
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Original Air Dates: July 10, 2021 | Jason Brandt & Mike Nearman
We just finished celebrating Independence Day. But we’re not free from tyranny in Oregon. Not as long as there are big-government types who want to—and believe it is their right to—control every facet of your life. And businesses. All must be in line with the great gods of government.
While it’s nice of the Dear Leader to give us our God-given rights back, there’s the aftermath of all that destruction. And there is no light switch to just switch things back on again.
Oregon Restaurants and Lodging
That’s perhaps nowhere more true than in Oregon’s hospitality industry. Apart from churches, these were among the first to bear the brunt of Oregon’s abuse of power. Churches can (mostly) reopen and pick things up again. (Hopefully wiser and less trusting of Big Government.)
But that’s not true for small businesses that have now complicated supply chains. Or hiring part- and full-time workers. Or back rents and leases to pay. Not to mention paying taxes on the little money they did earn. Talk about rubbing salt in their wounds.
Jason Brandt on the Getting Back to Normal
Let’s be clear. There is no “normal” any more. Not when the governor of Oregon (or any other state) retains ultimate power that is unchallenged by a weak legislature. One held for decades by democrats who were all too happy to play along with the power grab. And be their own little dictator, shutting down access to the People’s House. So much for democracy, eh democrats?
But Jason Brandt is the President and CEO of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association. And despite the wreckage caused by the governor’s abuse of power, his job is to help his members try to pick up the pieces of their lives and businesses.
We talk with Jason about the complications and navigating the minefield in the road ahead. Faced with labor shortages and rehiring in the face of ongoing uncertainty, how do restaurants and hotels pick up and move forward. All that and more in the face of ongoing uncertainty.
Because here’s the thing. What happens if she just shuts it all down again?
Mike Nearman: Et tu Brute?
With the democrats power grab, you would think that republicans would stand up to it. But, sadly, this current crop of republicans did their best doormat impression. Sure, they talked. But did very little. And most of what they did do appeared to be cowering in the corner or make backroom deals for cash that bypassed the normal budget oversight.
Basically, they were the camp guards at the concentration camps. Hey. Don’t blame them for just doing their jobs, right?
Did they use the one power they had—walkout and deny quorum—to stop a single bill? No. But they did manage to negotiate a deal with democrats to get millions of taxpayer dollars for their districts in exchange for not stopping bills or even slowing them down. They also got a token “equal” seat at the table on redistricting.
Sure. Because the democrats actually gave up the final say on redistricting, right? Do these self-proclaimed “strategic thinkers” honestly believe they’ll have the final say on a sixth congressional seat?
The Current Crop of Republicans
Perhaps all one needs to see the level of thinking of the current crop of republicans is to see how they managed Representative Mike Nearman.
Let’s review. The democrats shut down the capitol building and protesters showed up, not liking it. They were locked out. And Oregon and Salem police surrounded the building — straight out of Cold War era Soviet Bloc.
Video captured Mike Nearman opening a side door, and walking out, which allowed protesters to enter the building. Democrats then acted horrified that protesters (compare Antifa’s and BLM’s 100+ days of violent rioting against the Federal Building in Portland) had entered their building. And so they demanded Mike be shot. Politically speaking.
And the republicans went along with it. The House resolution to expel Mike needed two-thirds. Which meant at least 3 republicans needed to vote with democrats.
Except they all did.
Political Fallout? In Oregon?
Rep Bill Post, claimed they had no choice. Imagine if the democrats had let Antifa into the building. What then.
Yeah, that’s good excuse making for voting like a democrat. They could have voted to sanction. They could have done all sorts of things. But expelling a sitting member over a misdemeanor in an acting “uniting” with democrats (who let slide misdemeanors and even sexual assault slide by with nary a whisper) was a stupid move.
The problem with politics in Oregon, or any state for that matter, is voters as a group have short memories.
It’s why bread and circuses have such power. Voters will forget that the democrat governor destroyed their businesses. Or their friends’ businesses. As long as voters get a few tidbits (that they’re paying for), they’re fine with status quo.
Will republicans who voted against Mike pay a price? It would be nice if they did. No incumbent is SO vital that they can’t or shouldn’t be replaced.
None.
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Links Mentioned
Jason Brant (Segments 1–3)
Find out more at Oregon Restaurants and Lodging Association (ORLA): OregonRLA.org
The June 26th news release, “Oregon Hospitality Freed from Restrictions No Later than June 30: There is no light switch. It will take years to build back what was lost.” (ORLA Blog, Jun 25, 2021)
“Simply put, are there tasks that technology can do (perhaps better than humans) that can be easily and inexpensively implemented? The answer is a resounding yes – with machine learning and artificial intelligence.”
“In the end, what I believe will come out of the pandemic is not necessarily higher wages, but a greater reliance on technology as an interface between management and staff as well as restaurants and their customers.”
Oregon restaurants push for fewer COVID-19 restrictions (KVDR, Jan 28, 2021)
Jason Brandt, the CEO of ORLA says the group is calling on the state to ease restrictions adding the science isn’t there to keep restaurants restricted to take out and delivery only.
“The vast majority of the states in our country have indoor dining open right now and they are finding ways to really manage the virus in a multifaceted way,” Brandt said.
He says the Oregon food service industry accounts for less than 1% of all workplace outbreaks in the state and 4.7% of Oregon’s overall outbreaks, but operations remain shut down.
The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Is Suing the State Over the Recent Dining Room Shutdown (Eater, November 20, 2020)
“Ousting Nearman via House Resolution 3 would require two-thirds support. Democrats hold a majority with 37 seats, meaning three Republicans would have to join them in voting in support of the resolution.”
One republican’s explanation for voting against fellow republican Mike Nearman (Facebook, June 10)
“How would you vote? What if a House Democrat had allowed Antifa into the Capitol? Would you vote to expel him or her? That is what we face. That is why we call for Mike to resign.”
Mike Nearman got the most votes from the PCPs who voted for his successor
SB 865: Prohibits person from simultaneously serving as holder of state office and as officer of state central committee of political party. Had it passed, recently elected to the ORP chair and treasurer, Senators Heard and Linthicum, would have had to step down.
Show Summary: It’s true economics isn’t the most exciting topic in the world — that is, until everything starts blowing up. Then you’ll wish you’d paid attention.
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This Week: Economics isn’t always exciting — unless things are blowing up. Or it’s a horse race.
We welcome back Jonathan Williams, Chief Economist and Executive Vice President of Policy of the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC has just released their 2021 Rich States, Poor States guide for 2021, an annual guide to the 50 states’ economic outlook. Talk about good, bad, and ugly. Look no further than how the states are competing with one another.
The Overall U.S. Economy & Economics
Before we narrow down to the states, we first look at the overall economy. This is a bit of a continuation of the last time Jonathan was on, when we talked about the democrats’ shift to what we call “non-reality economics.” The democrats’ plans are an explosion of taxes and spending sprees (what did we just say about exploding economics…?).
That discussion, was about the radical shift we’re seeing the democrats trying desperately to push on the U.S. Which, sadly, takes a hard left turn away from what has made America successful. It’s a fantasy land where debt has no meaning, money is infinite, and all we need to do is print money and borrow until every there’s a unicorn in every garage and a leprechaun in every pot.
But the problem democrats always run into is simple one. Reality. And there’s proof, thanks to the 50 test tubes of democracy that make up America.
Good Economies: How NOT to do it
Sometimes, to know what to do, it helps to know what not to do. And look no further than New York State, which had the worst response to covid and lost a congressional seat due to people fleeing the Empire State. And now new York will punish the people and businesses that for some reason haven’t left. Yet.
We talk with Jonathan about his terrific article in the National Review, “The Fallout from ‘Progressive’ Budgets in New York.” There has been a massive shift in who pays for things. Now, instead of New York being in debt to cover its debt, everyone else gets to go in debt to cover New York’s debts.
And that’s the direction we as a nation are headed. Where there is a fundamental shift in who pays for things: everyone is paying for everyone else. That’s socialism. Marxist ideology pushed onto America.
Socialism only survives as long as it is able to feed off the success of capitalism
– Mark Anderson
Rich States, Poor States
Why and how economies and economic policies work is sometimes beyond people’s wheelhouse. But everyone understands competition, right? Who’s best. Who’s worst. And who’s on the way up and who’s on the way down.
Courtesy Rich States, Poor States, 2021 Edition. (Click image for full size.)
That’s where Rich States, Poor States comes in. (You can download your own copy right here.) RSPS is a look back at the states’ economic performances over the last 10 years—of available data. This year, its’ a look at 2009–2019.
The backward-looking economic performance ranking examines how well states did. Oregon, from 2009–2019, really didn’t do too bad. This ranking looks at three variables: a state’s gross domestic product, their absolute domestic migration, and non-farm payroll.
Take a look at Oregon’s charts. And look at how well they’re correlated. As the state did better and better, culminating in 2015, people moved in (especially in 2016). Payrolls went up. And then, as Oregon’s GDP declined, there went the people. And payrolls dropped.
See? Economics isn’t too hard.
Oregon’s Economic Outlook
When it comes to Oregon’s economic outlook ranking, every year we’re like “please don’t embarrass us, please don’t embarrass us…” And then there we are. Near the bottom. Again. But it’s even worse this year.
You’ll have to tune in to hear just how bad. (Or, you could cheat and go right to Rich States Poor States to find out.) But here’s a hint. We beat even our idiot neighbor to the south in some categories. In fact, in the worst possible category. And we’re worse than New York State in some categories. You know, the one state we just mentioned. How not to run an economy.
Although at least the beat us to the bottom for the worst outlook. Hey. You gotta look for the positive right?
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Links Mentioned
Jonathan’s organization is American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Be sure to check their new and improved website which now features terrific, insightful articles and videos: www.alec.org
Rich States Poor States. You can download the latest (2021) edition, or explore previous ones.
“New Census Report: Americans Continue to Vote with Their Feet in Favor of Economic Opportunity” (ALEC, Apr 26, 2021)
Inflation is happening, despite what lies the Biden administration is spewing. See the Consumer Price Index charts.
Did You Know…?
The Fed has been pumping (printing) money into the economy. But something new happened in 2020. Now, they are buying corporate bonds. This is a direct investment into select corporations. Here’s a hint. It’s not mom-and-pop shops. It’s gigantic companies that don’t need the money, but the Fed is rewarding them anyway.
The Fed says it is going to start buying individual corporate bonds (CNBC, June 15, 2020)
Why is the Fed buying up mortgages? At $40 billion per month. Is this why the housing market keeps exploding? “Understanding the Federal Reserve Balance Sheet” (Investopedia, Mar 19, 2021)
Related Links
The Fed Should Get Out of the Mortgage Market: Even central bankers are starting to wonder why they’re adding $40 billion of housing debt every month. (Bloomberg Opinion, May 11, 2021)
“Why exactly is the Fed still increasing its holdings of mortgage-backed securities by $40 billion a month when Chair Jerome Powell himself has said that “the housing sector has more than fully recovered from the downturn”?* “The Fed has gobbled up almost $2 trillion of MBS since March 2020, which is more than its total aggregate purchases in any of its previous quantitative easing episodes.”
At an average home mortgage price of $250,000, the fed backs the mortgage on some 8 million homes. Yikes!
What Is An Agency MBS And How Does The Federal Reserve’s Purchase Of MBS Affect Mortgage Rates? (Quicken Loans, Feb 19, 2021)
“A mortgage-backed security (MBS) is a pool of home loans, often packaged by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae, sold on the open bond market to investors. The investors who buy the securities then receive the payback on a monthly basis when homeowners make their principal and interest payments.”
Difference Between Agency and Non-Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (The Balance, Jul 15 2020) – “Agency” simply means an dept of the federal govt, or MBS that become backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.
The Democrats’ War on Economics: Tax Explosions and Spending Sprees
Show Summary: A radical shift is underway as democrats shove America away from reality-based economics towards an economy where normal monetary policy is abandoned, taxes are imposed on the “undesirables”, and public monies are used to reward themselves and their allies. Think it’s not possible? It’s already underway. Find out what’s coming.
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Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!
Mondays
After the show airs on our network of radio stations, you can listen to our podcast either here on our site or your favorite podcast platform. We are now on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and more. See the full podcast list.
Original Air Dates: Apr 10th & 11th, 2021 | Carl Wilson & Jonathan Williams
This Week: When we were kids it was exciting to be handed a quarter thinking about how and where to spend it. And we learned that a quarter was wonderful, but a dollar was even better. Except maybe those lessons of having and handling money are being lost in the age of debit cards, or electronic purchases. Because the tangible feel of money and its worth is somehow getting lost. A coin or a dollar in the hand reminds a child of its temporary nature, and once spent it’s gone—versus money “out there” in the cloud somewhere, where there’s always more of it.
Basic economics are under attack.
Non-Reality-Based Economics
As politicians supposedly grapple with debt, it is somehow made mystical in the world of zeros and ones with digital accounts. Not surprising when computer modeling and predictions take over reality. But is there a point of reckoning that will be no longer be possible to bury or ignore? Basic economic principles would say yes.
This week, we work to uncover those economic principles that so many Left-leaning politicians wish us not to examine. (Especially in an AOC world where if the computer doesn’t say it, then it’s not so.) It is becoming painfully obvious that those in charge of America’s economics, and raising and spending the public’s money have no grounding in basic economics or business.
Central Assessment
We start off with Carl Wilson, former Oregon state representative, and owner of KAJO, out of Grants Pass, that airs I Spy. We discuss the new threat to local radio stations as Oregon decided to shift them into a new taxing scheme called “central assessment.”
To date, Oregon is the only state imposing this new taxing methodology on local radio stations. Instead of local counties determining their taxes, now a state central system will determine what their assessed value is. This potentially opens the door to a punitive system that large communications operations might be able to absorb, while hurting the mom’s and pop’s segments. Something far left democrats seem to do all too often while making policy decisions.
And don’t miss who is getting special carve-outs. Is this a backdoor way to collapse conservatives’ dominance in talk radio?
Economics 101? Or No Room for Reality?
Then we talk to Jonathan Williams, Chief Economist for American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. He brings us up to date on the spending that Biden’s administration is zeroed in on. We discuss what is happening with the dollar and a possible move by China to do more harm to America’s economy.
We’re only a few months into the Biden administration. But there is already a worrisome economic forecast on the horizon possibly coming our way in the next few years. We are spending trillions upon trillions, with more than $6 trillion planned just in the first 4 months. Which doesn’t even cover the “normal” government spending of $4.5 trillion per year.
Where is this coming from?
It can only come from wishful, magic money. Where it never has to be paid back.
Economics + Monetary Policy = Coming Crash?
In economics, just like in life, you ignore reality at your peril. See the links section below for some concerning videos that are warning about a potential and massive crash. Which, they claim, is all but certain. One of the most concerning is from Harry Dent. Harry Dent warns that globally, financial assets (stocks, bonds, etc.) are massively over-valued: $520 trillion which is 6.2 times global GDP of ~84 trillion. He says it normally is only about 2 times.
With so many warnings from well-respected economists and analyses, maybe it’s time to protect yourself.
The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version
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Links & Info
Carl Wilson (Segments 1–3)
Basic definition of central assessment: “The state assesses the property value of a business, rather than a local county assessing the value. The difference is the central assessment uses the company’s entire, statewide worth (even if they’re not a statewide company), including all property, equipment, brand value, and more. Even equipment decades old is lumped in—at original retail costs—rather than its current depreciated value.
Central assessment: A great writeup from Eric J. Kodesch: Oregon Supreme Court Finalizes DOR’s Complete Victory in Central Assessment Dispute (Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, Volume 29, Number 3, June 2019)
This is the kicker: “the Oregon Supreme Court agreed with the Department’s position that property is new property if it is “newly added to an account on the assessment rolls.” In other words, in addition to property purchased or constructed by the taxpayer, new property includes the decision by the Department to centrally assess property.
Further, the new property consisted of all of the property moved to the new account, and not just the property not previously subject to tax, such as the intangible property.”
In other words, its new if we say it’s new
This is rather alarming. It’s taxable if the govt decides it’s taxable and no pesky law designed to protect from the government can protect you
Oregon Supreme Court Provides Definition of “Data Transmission Services” for Central Assessment Purposes (Stoel Rives, LLP, Oct 2, 2014)
“As in most states, “central assessment” (or “state assessment”) generally means that the value of taxable property is determined “centrally” by the state’s Department of Revenue rather than by the local county assessor.
In Oregon, however, a major additional consequence of central assessment is that intangible property of a centrally assessed business is subject to tax, while the intangible property of a locally assessed business is not.
Furthermore, central assessment is based on the value of the taxable “unit” of property, as allocated and apportioned to Oregon taxing jurisdictions by formula. For these reasons, central assessment can, at least in theory, use the entire worldwide brand value of a business, including goodwill, as its starting point, as well as all of its real and tangible personal property.”
The bill to exempt radio stations from this onerous tax scheme is HB2331
Worrisome: Harry Dent: Stock Market 40% Crash in April, Nothing Can Save You (YouTube, Feb 8, 2021). “A 40% correction is coming for the stock market, this according to Harry Dent, New York Times best-selling author of Zero Hour. ‘The Fed is losing absolute control’.”
About that “hot” housing market. It may no be what it appears… Krystal Ball: The Next Housing CRISIS Is Here And The Villains Are Exactly Who You’d Expect (The Hill, Apr 6, 2021)
Peter Schiff: People Don’t Know What’s Coming (Mar 27th, 2021)
Peter Schiff: Fed is trapped. It will either Bankrupt the Government or the American People (Link)
Show Summary: Corporate wokeness? What happened to making profits for the real owners of a company—the shareholders? And the Biden administration’s outrageous racist policies to fix racism. But that just makes our government peddlers of racism.
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.
Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!
Mondays
After the show airs on our network of radio stations, you can listen to our podcast either here on our site or your favorite podcast platform. We are now on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and more. See the full podcast list.
Original Air Dates: Mar. 20th & 21st, 2021 | Scott Shepard & Cody Wisniewski
This Week: We know that Oregon is the Petri Dish of Leftist ideology. And in Oregon, many times we conservatives feel there’s a double standard and a double whammy of far-left ideas, policies, and actions hitting us as we watch constitutional rights not only get attacked but many times stripped. This week’s show is all about those double standards, especially when it comes to corporate and racial wokeness.
For those of us who just want America to be America so we can just live in peace and harmony, it becomes tiring to constantly have to watch and react to these never-ending reminders that if we rest, those precious rights go away. But, here we are, Oregon’s legislature once again proves the need for eternal vigilance. Especially when we look at the proposed anti-gun rights bills for 2021. Five bills that include one giving the Oregon Health Authority oversight of gun storage under the guise of a “health initiative” to stop adolescent suicide.
This, while teenage suicide rates have increased over this past year due to covid lock downs and masks orders. As they say never: let a good crisis go to waste.
Wokeness, Corporate Style
As if that weren’t enough, even when you just want to relax and be entertained, the Left inserts their ideology into the corporations that used to entertain us. Now, they want to indoctrinate. On social justice, on race, on everything. It’s wokeness brought to the corporate world. Or forced on it. We hope. Though we suspect many wholeheartedly embrace it.
Funny how companies used to worry about the bottom line. Stockholders used to worry about the customers and if their company was providing quality service and products. Not so much anymore where CEOs are convinced corporations are here to save humanity from itself.
Pushing Back on Corporate Wokeness
First up we talk with Scott Shepard of the Free Enterprise Project (a program of the National Center for Public Policy Research), regarding their confrontation with Disney’s CEO at a shareholder meeting. They wanted to discuss Disney’s embrace of far-left policies that counters what conservative stockholders may want.
Especially since Disney fired a conservative actress from a hit show for her tweets, while allowing similar comments from a progressive actor. Fairness and equity? How about just flat out hypocrisy. Which, of course, Disney can’t see.
Mr. Shepard talks to us about how the far-left got a foothold into corporate America and where its heading. Is America setting the legal stage for its own demise? But you can do something about it.
And don’t miss Biden’s in-your-face racist policies: cancelling farm-loan debts for minorities.
Wokeness, 2nd Amendment Style: Grab the Guns!
Then we talk to attorney Cody Wisniewski, who is with the Mountain States Legal Foundation. We talk about the bad news of Oregon’s latest attempts of eroding our 2nd Amendment rights with five new anti-gun rights bills. But we also discuss what is going right in other parts of the country. Including bills being introduced that would greatly increase gun rights and the states that agree.
Oregonians can take heart that constitutional efforts are winning, which makes it worthwhile to keep up the good fight.
The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version
Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. The player should be right at the top of the page. See the full list of podcast options.
SB 554 – limits possession of firearms in public buildings, even if you have a concealed carry license
HB 2510 — gives the Oregon Health Authority oversight regarding safe storage of firearms, punishable by fines up to $2,000. Yes. You heard that right. A health agency thinks they should be able to tell you how to store guns in your own home and fine you if you don’t do it their way.
HB 3055, regarding carrying when traveling now adds commercial airlines.
HB 3268 prohibits possession of weapons in the Capitol — except for police or military. Penalties are five years’ imprisonment, $125,000 fine, or both.
HB 25 43 prohibits transfer of firearms until State Police qualify the recipient of said firearm. Oregon Firearms Federation says this could allow the Oregon State Police to deny a firearm’s transfer forever — with no explanation or justification.
Equity & Fairness (But Only if You’re the Correct Kind)
Show Summary: Last week, our guest said a new focus of the political left is to infuse “equity and fairness” into everything. This week, we dig a little deeper into how that plays out: in community safety and policing, (including defunding the police), reparations, and especially socialized health care.
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.
Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!
Mondays
After the show airs on our network of radio stations, you can listen to our podcast either here on our site or your favorite podcast platform. We are now on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and more. See the full podcast list.
Original Air Dates: March 13th & 14th, 2021 | Nadra Enzi & David Ridenour
This Week: During Biden’s recent national address (actually, it’s been his only national address since ascending to the presidency), he pushed the point that if Americans would just obey the mandates they’d be allowed to celebrate Independence Day. Really? We must have very different ideas about the concept of independence.
Equity and Fairness
Actually, Joe’s approach could safely be called the far-left’s approach to governing, maybe even life. If you’d just throw down your inalienable rights, we’ll let you live. And you’ll think you’re free because we won’t mess with you as long as you do everything we tell you to. And that’s where America is heading under a Biden presidency. Follow the mandates regardless of Constitutional rights and we’ll get along just fine.
And, if you missed our show last week, with Kimberly Hermann of Southeastern Legal Foundation, you got a hint of it. Fairness and equity. This is the new focus of the political Left. The Marxists in all their forms.
Fairness and Equity: Socialized Medicine Version
Two of the big mandates, or rules, they want to push on America is socialized medicine and climate change. Both prescribe a different way of life that hands over personal freedoms and decisions in exchange for “government protections”.
Protections that allow the government to dominate every part of the American way of life. And remember: if they’re protecting it. They can also take it away.
And just wait until the vaccine mandates start coming out— determining whether or not you’ll be allowed to travel if you don’t have one, as countries gather to collectively agree do so mimicking a one world order.
Nadra Enzi: Leftists choose Ideology over All Else
So this week, we pick apart that agenda and how it’s trickling down into government policies and programs. Like reparations and soon the push to continue to fully socialize medicine. What’s driving all this? Ideology.
To talk about all of this we bring back a favored guest, Nadra Enzi, who fights a daily battle to bring law enforcement and community together for a safer life. A community safety advocate, he’s been on the battlefield of fighting for personal freedoms for years and discusses why now the push has become defunding police and reparations. All in the name of equity and fairness.
But when you break it down, it’s really only targeted for a few. And it’s really about those in power who want more power by dividing us.
David Ridenour, President of NCPPR
Then we talk to David Ridenour, founder and president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. David lived in Oregon many years ago, and things have certainly changed in this state. We discuss why NCPPR started in the Reagan days as a conservative think tank.
And there’s no greater example of Marxist ideology than socialized healthcare. We’re living through it right now. Because, as we’ve said many times on I Spy Radio, if you give the government power over your healthcare, you give them the right to control every part of your life. W
hy? Because now you’re fiduciary liability to them.
Government has the Lock. You Gave them the Key
And just look what we’re seeing. Covid has been the tool to lockdown the country, destroy a booming economy, and the excuse to demand compliance from citizens on everything from wearing masks to how close you’re allowed to stand. So we talk with David about socialized medicine as a key to condition people to accepting government. In every aspect of your life. After all, it’s about fairness and equity, right?
With the push toward a socialist state being driven harder than ever before, the work NCPPR does is more important now than ever.
The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version
Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. See the full list of podcast options.
“Both safety citizens and police critics hoped earlier community policing policies would be the solution to long-term tensions between law enforcement and urban communities. Its focus on relationship-building at all levels, however, seems to have fallen short of the mark. In fact, it appears that relationship-building between police and the public gave way to calls for diminished police powers and even abolishing the profession altogether.”
“Pay Us Like You Owe Us” – Senior White House Official Announces Biden Will Move on Slavery Reparations without Congress (Gateway Pundit, Mar 1, 2021)
Here We Go… House Judiciary Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Slavery Reparations Wednesday with Danny Glover and Ta-Nehisi Coates (Gateway Pundit, June 17, 2019)
Show Summary: Just when you thought the Constitution didn’t matter any more, along comes Southeastern Legal Foundation’s huge win in federal court to throw out the CDC’s power grab to block landlords from evicting renters. Updates on SCOTUS failing to take up voter fraud, the Texas power grid failure, and covid vaccines.
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.
Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!
Mondays
After the show airs on our network of radio stations, you can listen to our podcast either here on our site or your favorite podcast platform. We are now on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and more. See the full podcast list.
Original Air Dates: Mar 5th & 6th, 2021 | Kimberly Hermann & Chuck Wiese
This Week: Do you ever sit in your living room and think the world today just feels off?
In Oregon that’s not hard to do when we think about what people have endured over the past year. From businesses shut down orders, to losing their sole income—while watching bills pile up.
Victory in Federal Court: Overruling the CDC’s Power Grab
In all of this, renters were hugely impacted; they lost jobs only to find that no job might mean no home. So the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stepped in and upended Constitutionally guaranteed property rights and declared a moratorium to evictions. Which sounds nice. Except, why is the CDC (which is hardly an economics agency) inserting itself into private property rights and contract law? And, as usual, Leftist thinking left out the other half of the equation.
Because on the flip side, people were taking advantage of the situation by not paying rent — and landlords were being forced into not being able to pay their investment mortgages that also kept the roof over the renters’ heads.
Southeastern Legal Foundation: Big Win over Government Overreach
It was bad enough that the government stepped in, telling business owners their revenue streams were shut off, causing disruptions of US free markets like never before. But then to declare that if renters can’t (or won’t) pay, they can’t be evicted. And there sat the landlords, footing the bills. Imagine if the CDC, with their economic insights, had deemed customers could walk into stores and take whatever they want and not have to pay for it. What other powers could the CDC seize for itself? Or what other rights could the CDC take away on a whim? Property rights are the cornerstone of the Constitution.
Enter Kim Hermann , the General Counsel for Southeastern Legal Foundation, which stood up to tyranny and sued to protect constitutional rights. And, in an exciting slam of the gavel, the judge determined the CDC’s moratorium on evictions was unconstitutional.
And suddenly with that decision the world started to right itself. Just a little bit.
We talk to Kim about what this case meant and what does it mean for upcoming cases in the future. We also talk to her about election laws, the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear any election fraud cases, and H. R. 1, the legalizing- election-theft bill just passed by Congressional democrats. She also talks about what the states are working on to correct that election integrity problems. Brave men and women who are stepping up to help fight another good fight.
Updates on Texas’s Green Energy Failure and on the Vaccines
Then, scientist Chuck Wiese returns to give us some of updates on two stories we recently talked to him about: the power grid situation in Texas and the covid vaccines. But before we dip into those, Chuck shares with us his own experiences of being a landlord and what’s happened in Oregon.
Tune in to hear how once again Oregon was the Petri dish for Leftist ideology as it whittled away at property rights of landowners under Governor Kate that perhaps set the stage for the CDC’s eviction moratoriums. We also talk with him about some updates on what is going on in oil-rich Texas and why so many climate and green energy officials in Texas have quit since their big storm. And we touch base to get his thoughts on the latest vaccine and some ongoing concerns about the pandemic and the government’s response to it.
And when we fold all the above information into one big package we have to wonder if we will ever hear the truth from any government officials.
The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version
Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—catch the podcast version. I Spy Radio is now available on your favorite platform, or you can grab it right here. The player should be right at the top of the page. See the full list of podcast options.
Then we talk to 
