Category: Economics

Economics: Rich States, Poor States — Guess Where Oregon is

Economics: Rich States, Poor States — Guess Where Oregon is

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.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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: May 15 & 16, 2021 | Jonathan Williams

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.

Oregon's economic performance 2009 - 2019. Courtesy of Rich States, Poor States
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?

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.

Links Mentioned

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)
  • The Fed begins purchases of up to $250 billion in individual corporate bonds (Markets Insider, June 15, 2020)
  • Why the Fed’s new index approach to buying U.S. corporate debt ‘changes everything’ (MarketWatch, June 18, 2020)
  • Fed Makes Initial Purchases in Its First Corporate Debt Buying Program (New York Times, May 12, 2020)
  • Is the Federal Reserve Printing Money? (The Balance, May 11, 2021)
  • 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!
  • In 2010, The Fed answers FAQs on Mortgage Backed Securities
  • 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

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.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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?

economics doesn't matter any more. Everything is infrastructureThen 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

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.

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

Jonathan Williams (Segments 4–6)

Additional Economics and Financial Links

  • 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’.”
  • Monetary Policy in Action — Prices of Everything Is Going UP – Value of Everything Is Going DOWN (Peter Schiff on Tucker Carlson, Apr 5, 2021)
  • Retail Apocalypse: $100 Billion In Losses Trigger New Wave Of Bankruptcies & Mass Store Closures (Epic Economist, YouTube, Apr 7, 2021)
  • 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)
  • Luxury Stores Default ($200M in Rent) Along Manhattan’s 5th Ave (John Williams, YouTube, Apr 7, 2021)
  • Foreclosures BANNED until 2022?! (John Williams, YouTube, Apr 7, 2021)
  • Bank Meltdown Is Here! Commercial & Household Debt Lead To Worst Bank Apocalypse In All U.S. History (Epic Economist, Apr 2, 2021)
The Wokeness just isn’t Slowing Down | Corporate and Racist Racism

The Wokeness just isn’t Slowing Down | Corporate and Racist Racism

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.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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.

See Oregon’s list of woke anti-gun bills, below

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.

Links & Info

Scott Shepard  

Cody Wisniewski

Oregon’s anti-gun bills up for consideration

  • 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)

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.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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.

Links Mentioned

  • About Nadra Enzi (via National Center for Public Policy Research)
  • Oregon State Police pull out of Portland (Law Enforcement Today, Aug 14, 2020)
  • Oregon House committee considers bill to repeal law that allows police to declare unlawful assemblies (OregonLive, Feb 8, 2021)
  • Defunding the Police Defeats Public Safety, Especially in Black Communities (Project 21, New Visions, June 22, 2020)
    • “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.”
  • Bills to pay reparations for slavery stir tough feelings (Pamplin Media, March 9, 2021)
  • “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)
  • 3-month-olds can be racist (Washington Examiner, Mar 4, 2021)
  • Poll: Nearly 60% of voters oppose slavery reparation payments for black Americans (Just the News, Mar 11, 2021)
    • Less than one-third (31%) support the idea
Victory, Valor, and Vaccines – Wait, so the Constitution Matters?

Victory, Valor, and Vaccines – Wait, so the Constitution Matters?

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.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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.

The Green Energy Scam that Fooled Texas (and the Rest of America)

The Green Energy Scam that Fooled Texas (and the Rest of America)

Show Summary: Welcome to the new phase of Global Warming – Global Freezing. Yes, the Left really does want you to believe Global Warming caused the ice and snow in Texas. But they don’t want you to believe green energy failed. Sure.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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: Month # & #, 2021 | Myron Ebell & Chuck Wiese

It’s been a long week—or maybe going on two, depending on if you’ve gotten your power turned on—as ice invaded a rather comfortably mild winter for most.  Then temperatures dropped all across the nation, placing people in at times life-threatening conditions.  How did this happen when we’ve heard so often from the global warming community that carbon dioxide was creating rising temperatures?  But even as the snow and ice hit, those same experts blamed—what else?—global warming.

The Green Energy Scam

Unbeknownst to many, for years, governors like GW Bush, made policy decisions about investing in windmills and solar. Governors like GWB knew only what pro-Global-Warming “scientists” told him about Global Warming, which led to pro-Global-Warming policy decisions. However, these scientists’ predictions were made by claiming their computer models were nearly infallible. Or at least not to be questions. So governors didn’t.

But as the years of weather conditions didn’t match up with the predictions, science became a game of outfoxing, out-promoting, and outspending those who angrily exposed their lies and fraud. And now we see the results of what happens when following the brick road of lies leads to disaster, with oil-rich Texas being the prime example of unreliable “renewable” energy.

But why? Why were some, calling themselves scientists, willing to place themselves in a situation where they now look ridiculous? We examine that this week and hope to shed new light on some old fights.

Myron Ebell Weighs in on Texas Green Energy Failure

We start out with Competitive Enterprise Institute’s, Director for the Center of Energy and Environment, Myron Ebell, who grew up in Eastern Oregon and is now working in Washington, DC — the hotbed of the Global Warming debate. With Biden taking over and touting the US return to all things green, we discuss what happened this winter in Texas. Ebell walks us through how Texas got to the point of wind turbines freezing up and breaking, putting Texans at risk with no heat while in freezing temperatures. Texas of all places. A conversation that maps out why so much went wrong and that the rest of the nation cannot ignore, especially with the rush to infuse “climate change” into literally every level of government.

Chuck Wiese: The Global Warming Scam

Then we bring on meteorologist, Chuck Wiese, who is also a retired commercial pilot, where accurate weather data really mattered. He takes us in-depth into those magical, global warming computer predictions and brings to life the techniques used to create the computer model.

You’ll learn a bit more about weather itself, how its predicted, and why predictions routinely break down more than five days out. And we learn how those billion-dollar climate warming models compare to weather forecasting and why they not only don’t work in the long-term but can’t work in the long term. Real life information that global warming supporters can’t run from.

In other words, as Chuck would say, the Great Oz no longer has his curtain to hide behind.

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.

 

Facing a Biden World | Vaccines, HCQ, and Economics out the Window

Facing a Biden World | Vaccines, HCQ, and Economics out the Window

Show Summary: What do you really know about the vaccines? Did you know mRNA vaccines, which trick your cells into replicating covid-19 proteins, have never been tried in humans before? Are we all just human guinea pigs now? New revelations on HCQ, including its secret usage. And what impact with the Biden virus have when it’s fully unleashed on the economy? Taxes, job-killing executive orders, and impacts on states.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | [KLBM Live stream not available this weekend]
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | [KBKR Live stream not available this weekend]
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

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: Jan. 27 & 28, 2021 | Chuck Wiese & Jonathan Williams

This Week: With a President Biden in office for a little over a week, the Executive Orders have been signed in record amounts for any president. But Biden has a problem. There are many who are not only in disagreement with his new EO’s, but are willing to take him to court over them.

So this week we take a look at what Biden is doing to not unify America. Especially now that Americans have tasted the sweet fruits of a robust economy, energy independence, and peace agreements keeping us out of wars under a Trump presidency.

Biden’s desire to change us back to an Obama economy with critical restrictions on mining, fossil fuel production—effectively deciding who and which industries will be allowed to profit and who won’t—and his shut down orders may not go well for him as many rise up in opposition.

Medical Ethics: New Technology Vaccines & “Gain of Function” Research

To find out the specifics, first up we talk with a scientist, Chuck Wiese, to examine what is going on with covid and its vaccines. Concerns over the side effects, the experimental nature of them, and the safety of these vaccines is on the rise and we talk about the data that has exposed some deeply, big potential problems. We also talk about the ethics of using human guinea pigs to try out a first-of-its-kind vaccine technology, and the ethically troubling “gain of function” research that has led to creating diseases like covid-19, and China’s role on its release.

And don’t miss the stunning revelation of what was happening behind the scenes in the medical community with HCQ — hydroxychloroquine. Here’s an unsurprising hint: they were lying to you.

GameStop — Dawning of a New Economic Reality?

Then we bring on Jonathan Williams, of ALEC, who is watching the normal rules of economics seemingly disappear overnight. We look back at the last time Jonathan was on, one year ago, when President Trump had just introduced his budget, which wanted to cut spending and move toward a balanced budget by 2035. It would do it by forcing government to live within its means. Which would mean the Left could no longer siphon off money from taxpayers and give billions to their allies.

Don’t miss our review of the Green Funding Cycle!

Is that why the Left went all out to attack President Trump through every means possible? People do crazy things for just one million dollars. What would they be willing to do for trillions of dollars?

We talk about the crazy revolt happening now in the stock market as Reddit users go after the hedge funds, costing them $39 billion by one estimate. But is what we’re seeing with GameStop shares really such a good idea?

Executive Orders and the Biden Virus in the Economy

the unraveling of Trump’s economy through Biden’s attempts to stop oil in its tracks and bring back alternatives that put American on a bad path, weakening America while effectively giving countries like China a leg up. Why would anyone want to weaken America’s energy independence?

Be sure to visit ALEC’s terrific ranking of the states’ competitiveness and economic outlook site: www.RichStatesPoorStates.org. How is your state doing?

Biden seems to be stuck in an old script that now even his normal supporters such as unions are fighting mad at him for destroying good jobs on the Keystone Pipeline. People got used to good jobs and a good economy under Pres. Trump. Will they put up with this?

All is not well for a Biden world. Listen to find out why.

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.

Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Chuck Wiese

  • 55 People Have Died in US After Receiving COVID-19 Vaccines (Epoch Times, Jan 17, 2021)
    • Reporting system is passive, meaning reports aren’t automatically added; “reports on VAERS represent ‘only a small fraction of actual adverse events,’ the site states” makes one wonder how many have not yet been filed
    • Laughable: “Health officials on the VAERS website caution that a report to the system doesn’t prove a vaccine caused the adverse event…” This from the same govt that counted anyone who died with a sniffle as having died from covid-19
    • CDC said on Jan 6 that “severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines were happening at a rate of 11.1 per million vaccinations, compared to the rate of 1.3 per 1 million flu shots” TEN times the rate for flu shots. But that can’t be correct. 11.1 per million, with 10.5 million getting the vax = 116 severe reactions total. There have been way more than that – including 55 that died. Almost half that 116 figure.
    • “Norway changed its COVID-19 vaccination guide to direct officials not to give “very frail” people one of the vaccines, citing 13 deaths among people who were vaccinated.”
  • Israeli behind ‘game-changing’ Covid nasal spray says it’s 99.9% effective (Jewish News / Times of Israel, Jan 13, 2021)
  • Medical Doctor: Bacterial Pneumonias Rising From Mask Wearing (Principia Scientific, Jan 25, 2021)

The mRNA Vaccines

  • DNA vs. RNA – 5 Key Differences and Comparison (Technology Networks, Dec 18, 2020)
    • DNA is the blueprint for the organism; RNA is is the builder, the contractor that tells parts of the cell what to do and when to do it
    • “Messenger RNA (mRNA) copies portions of genetic code, a process called transcription, and transports these copies to ribosomes, which are the cellular factories that facilitate the production of proteins from this code.”
  • mRNA Vaccines vs. Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine (Darkhorse Podcast Clips, Jan 9, 2021)
    • mRNA vaccines untested in humans, tested for only ~9 mos

Gain of Function Research

Gain-of-Function Research: Ethical Analysis (Scientific Engineering Ethics, Aug 8, 2016). Read online or download PDF of the paper.

Jonathan Williams

  • Why Joe Biden Can Stop Worrying and Start Spending Like Crazy (New Republic, Dec 1, 2020)
  • Joe Biden Signs 17 Executive Orders and Directives (Before its news, Jan 20, 2021)
  • Davos ‘Great Reset’ conference opened by China’s Xi (WND, Jan 25, 2021)
  • New Research Debunks Claim That a $15 Minimum Wage Would Not Reduce Employment (Foundation for Economic Education, Jan 25, 2021)
  • Western Energy Alliance challenges Biden order pausing new oil, gas leasing on public land (America’s Voice, Jan 27, 2021)
  • Kerry’s ‘better choices’ comment on climate job losses opens door for GOP to pounce (Just the News, Jan 26, 2021)
  • Biden Vows to Cancel Oil and Gas Leases, but ‘Not Going to Ban Fracking’ (The Daily Signal, Jan 27, 2021)
    • According to Biden’s statement: “The executive order also directs the secretary of interior to stop issuing new oil and gas leases on public lands and in offshore waters wherever possible,” Biden said, adding: “Let me be clear, and I know this always comes up, we are not going to ban fracking. We’ll protect jobs and grow jobs.”

GameStop Shares

  • Explanation of GameStop (NBC News, Jan 2021)
    • “But the bigger and longer-lasting impact may be on how the market itself operates. Never before has a group of amateur investors taken on a hedge fund like this and won. The battle over GameStop has taken on something of a David vs. Goliath feel, with some people outside of finance painting it as a reckoning for parts of Wall Street.”
  • I’m Sorry, What Is Going on With GameStop and AMC? (Vulture, Jan 27, 2021)
    • A hedge fund bet GameStop would drop, internet users bought up shares to make it rise, which meant the short seller hedge funds lost billions. $23 billion by one estimate.

Related Links

  • Impact of Biden’s tax plan on Real Estate: What we know (Elliott Davis, Dec 3, 2020) [A good explanation and overview of Joe Biden’s tax plans. Take a read to see why we call Joe’s economics, the “Biden Virus”]
  • California surprise re-open! …leaving Oregon in last two lockdown states (Oregon Catalyst, Jan 26, 2021)
  • Monopolies and competition: “EU president: ‘Unbridled power held’ by Big Tech CEOs must be ‘reined in’” (WND, Jan 21, 2021)
  • Wild Wednesday: Market Gets Slammed Amid Vaccine Worries, Cautious Fed (Ameritrade, Jan 26, 2021)

 

Reopening America: Fear is the Enemy and Democrats are Its Allies

Reopening America: Fear is the Enemy and Democrats are Its Allies

Show Summary: Why is it Democrats fight against reopening America? Fear. They live it. They want you to live in it. A mixed show this week: exposing Dr. Fauci and Bill Gates. Helping entrepreneurs get started.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

Air Dates: May 23 & 24, 2020 | Clay Clark

This Week: Memorial Day weekend reminds us of all the American men and women in the military that lost their lives to protect our freedoms. And we’ve just lived through how, in only a few short weeks, those freedoms could be lost.

Reopening America: Fighting Fear, Fighting Democrats

Governors, almost exclusively Democrats, seemed to relish canceling freedom and liberty using their dictator-like powers, including Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown who claimed her powers exceeded not only the Oregon Constitution but even the U.S. Constitution. She and she alone could decide who could walk the streets, keep their business open, and who couldn’t.

Not to mention she could cancel your First Amendment rights to gather to worship by declaring churches a health hazard — while deciding Wal-Mart was not.

But it begs the larger question. What are they so afraid of? The virus? Or losing power? Right now, it seems they are more afraid of losing their grip on power than winning against the virus.

Entrepreneurs and Reopening America

It’s a mixed show this weekend. But in a good way. We bring to our show for the first time a quite different type of show for I Spy with our guest Clay Clark, an award-winning businessman for his entrepreneurial expertise. Clay has helped over 2,300 businesses and we wanted to get his thoughts on reopening America. And the important role entrepreneurs can and will play.

Clay discusses his devout beliefs in God and our county’s amazing freedoms. Using humor to approach difficult issues, Clay also talks about his deep frustrations with shut down orders. He points to Sweden, who despite not having any shutdowns, has had only 6 deaths per one million persons. He discusses their approach to COVID and why they have such a low death rate, along with the wrong decisions made here that led to worse results, despite being “based on science.”

Science will Save Us! Or is it being used to push Fear?

Not stopping there, Clay launches into government orders that keep shifting as “the science” shifts and what it’s done to business owners, let alone families. Or experts using error-filled computer models, which were never right, as the justification to keep us all locked up. And as states start to reopen and the fears some may feel, Clay, talks about what it will take for people to rebuild their life, or start a new business, or how to keep a business going.

As his sense of humor targets those politicians and experts who have given us ridiculous rules to follow, it’s a show that you will want to seatbelt yourself in and prepare for takeoff.

Fear Unmasked: Discover the truth about the Corona Virus Shutdown

We also spend a couple of segments discussing his recent ebook, Fear Unmasked: Discover the Truth about the Corona Virus Shutdown. The book is available as a free e-book because it was banned on Amazon. You’ll have to tune in to hear why.

Download Fear Unmasked as a PDF here

But we can say it exposes Dr. Fauci and his work with the Bill Gates Foundation as they rush toward a vaccine and virus tracking, which they hope will be forced on every American.

And before you think it will never happen here, famed attorney Alan Dershowitz—who only a few months ago was defending the President against unconstitutional impeachment efforts—recently aired his true feelings and said you have no Constitutional right to not be vaccinated. The government, he said, has the absolute right to drag you to a doctor and forcibly plunge the needle in your arm.

These are the “freedoms” our brave vets fought and died for?

Check out Alan Dershowitz appalling video, in which he proclaims The State can force you to get a vaccine and you have no Constitutional right to say no. Fast forward to 21:00

And don’t miss Clay’s announcement of his big Memorial Day, outdoor church gathering in Chicago where thousands are expected to gather. Go here for more details and check the Facebook page for live streams of the event.) Christian leadership, such as Mike Huckabee are helping to get the word out. Live streaming the event he’s hoping many will watch as they remember our fallen.

Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—the podcast version will be right here after the show airs.

Links Mentioned

  • CDC: “Whoopsies!”. The CDC  now says coronavirus ‘does not spread easily’ on surfaces (NY Post, May 20, 2020)
    • So what did we shut everything down for?
  • The Alan Dershowitz appalling video (fast forward to about 21:30).
    • Let me put it very clearly: You have no Constitutional right not to be vaccinated. … You have no right not to wear a mask. And if you refuse to be vaccinated, the State has the power to literally take you to a doctor’s office and plunge a needle into your arm.
  • Clay Clark’s websites are Thrive Time Show and Thrive 15
  • Oregon budget has a $3 billion gap (Portland Tribune, May 20, 2020)
  • Doctors raise alarm about health effects of continued coronavirus shutdown (Fox News, May 20, 2020)
  • Fear: Doctors raise alarm about health effects of continued coronavirus shutdown: ‘Mass casualty incident’ (Fox News, May 20, 2020)*
  • The lockdown has done untold damage to this country (Spiked Online, May 20, 2020)
    • “The role of the citizen in the Covid dystopia is to applaud the state, not question it.”
    • “How has the subjugation of democracy, liberty, daily life and reason to Covid hysteria been so successful? Through terror. It is not an exaggeration to say that the government launched a campaign of terror against the populace. Government adviser Professor Robert Dingwall is right to say that officials have ‘effectively terrorised’ people into believing that coronavirus will kill them. We have been incited to fear not only a disease, but each other.”
    • “Polls show that many people are now reluctant to go back to normal life. Many want schools to remain closed. There is fear about returning to work.”
  • CNN’s Anna Coren Doesn’t Want to Hear the FACTS | Clay Clark on CNN (Short Version) (via YouTube, May 2020)
  • Trump signs executive order to create ‘Bill of Rights’ for businesses during pandemic (Just the  News, May 20, 2020)*“President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing federal agencies to use emergency authorities to quickly identify regulations that can be rescinded or temporarily waived to spur job growth. The executive order includes a “Regulatory Bill of Rights,” putting the onus on rule-makers to be circumscribed and transparent in how they go about enforcing violations.”
  • Economist Paul Romer says coronavirus impact ‘likely to be worse than Great Depression of 1930s’ (Just the News, May 2020)
It’s True: Oregon has a Dictator | Constitutional Crisis

It’s True: Oregon has a Dictator | Constitutional Crisis

Show Summary: Is it time to storm the castle? You may want to after this. Governor Brown makes absurd claim her authority is higher than the Constitution. Unbelievable. Both a Constitutional scholar and the attorney for the plaintiffs in the church lawsuit v Oregon weighs in.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live!

Saturdays
10a – 11a: KFIR 720AM (entire Willamette Valley) | Direct Link to KFIR Live Stream
11a – noon: KLBM 1450AM (Union County) | Direct Link to KLBM Live Stream
11a – noon: KBKR 1490AM (Baker County) | Direct Link to SuperTalk Live Stream
7p – 8p: KWRO 630AM (Oregon Coast & Southeastern Oregon) | Direct Link to KWRO Live Stream

Sundays
8a – 9a: KWVR 1340AM (Wallowa County) | Direct Link: KWVR Live Stream
7p – 8p: KAJO 1270AM or 99.7FM (Grants Pass/Medford) | Direct Link: KAJO Live Stream

Air Dates: May 16 & 17, 2020 | Dr. Joyce Malcolm & Kevin Mannix

This Week: When we see a leader make a difficult decision to shut down an economy based upon the fear that millions might die, we, as fellow human beings, feel compassion and are willing to give those in charge the benefit of the doubt. In the face of a true, catastrophic emergency—like a tidal wave or earthquake—it’s reasonable to do so and most people want to do their part to pitch in and help.

But as the situation matures and it becomes clear that the actual outcomes are not as devastating as predicted, a responsible leader—looking out for the people—relaxes the emergency’s grip to ensure the peoples’ freedoms and liberties are restored as quickly as possible.  President Trump’s response has been nothing but looking out for the people, trying to protect them even though it sacrificed an amazing economy that had easily brought his 2nd term into his grasp.

The Constitution is at Stake

But not all leadership has the same philosophies or beliefs of restoring the people’s freedoms. In fact, some want to be overly “protective” (what some might call socialism) with the added emergency powers, and to put the people into a position where they are being treated as children, with no life choices because they, the leadership, know better. (What some might call fascism.)

What has been clearly demonstrated between the two choices is one understands the importance of liberty while taking precautions and acceptable risk; the other wants to safeguard their power while subjugating your freedoms. Your freedom is a direct threat to their power over you. These are the very struggles our Founding Fathers faced. And what about the rule of law to strike a balance between authority and liberty.

The Constitution vs States

With all the complexities of finding out how our Constitution interacts with states rights, the states’ Constitution, and statutes, we invite to I Spy a Constitutional scholar: Dr. Joyce Malcolm, a faculty member at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, who’s an expert on the evolution of individual rights, especially during the American Colonial era. She has testified before Congress and has had her work cited in a Supreme Court decision.

We discuss with Dr. Malcolm the broader issues of the Constitution, and how its preeminence is being challenged in the wake of Emergency Declarations. Who really has the authority here? She describes historically if other situations have ever impacted the US in any way like Covid has, with rights stripped by stay-home and business shut down orders. Does our First Amendment rights supersede our governor’s power to take them away?

Governor Brown vs The Constitution

All that to set the stage for our second guest as we take a very deep dive into what states are facing with some governors’ overreach. A couple of weeks ago, we spoke with Oregon Senator, Dennis Linthicum. He told us the governor is getting around the Oregon Constitution by not relying on the Constitution. She is, instead, relying statutory power. But isn’t Oregon’s Constitution the supreme law of the land? And isn’t the U.S. Constitution even higher than that?

“The governor’s attorneys argue that the balance between the governor’s executive orders and the freedom to practice religion favors the governor.”

We speak with Kevin Mannix (of Common Sense for Oregon) who is one of the attorneys that represents churches and businesses suing Governor Kate Brown and her administration’s emergency orders to shut things down.

Incredibly, her attorneys have actually argued in their motion to dismiss, that her powers are greater than the Constitution. And that’s just the tip of what she’s said.

The Church Lawsuit in Oregon

Tune in to hear Kevin Mannix’s response and line of attack as he fights for church members to gather for worship as they please. Along with the fight for businesses who’ve been at the whim of the Governor, who deigned to allow some to remain open while closing others. Including churches.  Mr. Mannix talks about the lawsuit, it’s status, and what it means if their injunction is given the affirmative. Are there signs she is backing down?

Listen this weekend to get some very important answers.

Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—the podcast version will be right here after the show airs.

Links Mentioned

Dr. Joyce Malcom  

  • Oregon Republican lawmaker requests special session to end governor’s coronavirus state of emergency (OregonLive, May 6, 2020)
  • Governor: Large Events Canceled Statewide Until Covid-19 Treatment or Cure is Found (Canby, May 7th, 2020)
  • AG Barr says ‘draconian’ coronavirus restrictions should be re-evaluated (NY Post, Apr 9, 2020)

Kevin Mannix

  • Oregon emergency order lawsuit raises thorny legal questions (Bend Bulletin, May 14, 2020)
  • Salem salon owner says she’s been fined, forced to close for defying state orders (KATU News, May 14, 2020)
  • Attorneys for Gov. Kate Brown say lawsuit filed in Baker County challenging executive orders is baseless, should be dismissed (Baker City Herald, May 13, 2020)
    • Attorneys from state Department of Justice say governor declared emergency under state statute, not constitution
    • THIS “The governor’s attorneys argue that the balance between the governor’s executive orders and the freedom to practice religion favors the governor.”
  • Salem church joins legal effort (Salem Reporter, May 7, 2020)

Related Links

  • All of Oregon opens, Including Portland (OregonLive, May 14, 2020)
  • Oregon Churches and Religious Leaders File Lawsuit (Willamette Week, May 7, 2020)
  • 10 Oregon churches sue governor (OregonLive, May 7, 2020)
  • Oregon churches sue Gov. Brown to reopen (Fox 12, May 7, 2020)
  • Oregon businesses sue Gov. Kate (Statesman Journal, May 15, 2020)
  • Yes, some Oregon retail stores can open (KGW, May 14, 2020)
    • “All Oregon stores can open to shoppers again Friday, as long as they aren’t in a mall”
    •  “The declaration gives the green light to furniture stores, jewelry stores, boutiques and art galleries, which were closed March 23 by Gov. Brown’s stay-home order. It also includes all other standalone shops, from toy stores to bookstores to secondhand stores. Those were never technically ordered to close, state officials clarified Wednesday.”
Going Over the Wall: What China Knew and What We Didn’t

Going Over the Wall: What China Knew and What We Didn’t

Show Summary: China lied is in the news. Did they? We talk with geopolitical expert Dr. Tim Ball to help us peer over the wall. Plus, what next in the rule by models era?

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Air Dates: April 25 & 26, 2020 | Dr. Tim Ball

This Week: On last week’s “best of” show with Scott McEwen, we discussed whether the corona virus was one of, if not the biggest, intelligence failures of all times. How did our intel community so badly missed what was happening in China? And even the mainstream media is waking up to the question, “Did China lie about what was happening?” And the questions about China are only just beginning.

So this week we are taking a deeper look at China as well as the U.S. and the world’s response to the “tyranny of experts.”

China Lied? Or something Else?

You have to wonder how the virus broke out of China and was spread worldwide when so many countries watch for those types of viral, biomedical attacks. Was it by accident? Or was there something much more nefarious?

If you remember when Trump first took office in 2016, even some senators were actually telling the intelligence community, “Don’t give Trump the full intelligence reports.” Given that, is it possible in 2020 some inside the intelligence community weren’t forthcoming about what was really happening inside China? Were there still deep state operatives who kept the truth from Trump on the corona virus as a set up to make him look bad? Even shutting down one of the most successful economies of all time?

But putting aside the maybe-they-did-maybe-they-didn’t, how is that one computer model, loaded with only guesswork from an rather small university in London manage to shut down the world so fast? Global warming enthusiast and supporters are most likely licking their lips as they see their dream come true—rule by mathematical modelling. But what does it prove? That if outcomes are scary enough people will adhere?

A Peek Over The Wall: China’s Perceptions of Itself and the West

We explore all those questions this week with geopolitical expert, Dr. Tim Ball. We usually have him on to talk Global Warming but this week, we tap into another of his areas of expertise. (Did you know Dr. Ball served in the military and had a top-secret security clearance?) We look at what the communist regime, their strategy, and the Chinese culture and history reveal about their truthfulness.

How China truly looks at the west, combined with how the West looks at China, makes for dynamic ripe for exploitation. We take a good, long look at China and examine how it’s unique geography and communist rule creates the perfect storm for a worldwide problem.

And we haven’t heard the end of “China lied.” Not by a long shot. Instead, things are only going to heat up. On Thursday, news began to break about federal investigators looking into some odd travel patterns by Chinese nationals in the early days of the Wuhan virus. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming weeks.

The Tyranny of Experts

The Other Side of the Virus Scare

Also, we look at how we’re now in an era of governing by computer models that can “prove” anything they want. And enslave societies to whatever the latest “scientific model” puts out. Did we miss the part where we entered The Matrix…?

And when it comes closer to home, not to mention our future, what will things look like on the other side of the virus scare? Clearly, going forward, we need more opinions and data than from just one source. But how do you fight the argument, “If we hadn’t done ______”? We talk with Dr. Ball to look at the impact of the few examples of “What might have happened” and how we can apply those to the U.S. and right here in Oregon.

Especially for next time. Because this new situation has many unintended consequences. And we need to think it through, thoroughly, so that we can be prepared for the next time a pandemic occurs.

Podcast Version

Trapped under a heavy object? Missed the show? Don’t worry—the podcast version will be right here after the show airs.

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