Tag: economics

Trump’s Promises | Trade and Immigration

Trump’s Promises | Trade and Immigration

Show Summary: Trump’s promises on trade and immigration reform were central to his campaign—and to his victory. Will he fulfill those promises?

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Air Dates: March 4 & 5, 2017 | William Gheen & Tom Stumo

There were two hot-button issues that were central promises Trump made during his campaign: fixing illegal immigration and getting us out of bad trade deals. We’ve seen the swamp’s alligators already fight back against Trump’s executive order on illegal immigrants, just imagine what will happen once he starts taking actions to renegotiate on trillion-dollar trade deals—which incorporate immigration policies.

We know what bad trade deals look like: the TPP. The Trans Pacific Partnership would have, among other things, done away with American sovereignty. It would have made our laws subject to a foreign court. But what would good trade deals look like?

Trump’s Promises

Infographic Trump's promises - immigration and tradeWe talk with Michael Stumo, the CEO of Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) to understand what effective trade policies look like — and how our politicians have sabotaged U.S. interests, whether wittingly or unwittingly. CPA is a coalition of agriculture, manufacturing and organized labor associations, companies and individuals. CPA’s mission is to develop policies to balance U.S. trade, maintain U.S. sovereignty, and develop an effective national production and economic strategy.

But first we talk with William Gheen of ALIPAC about another of Trump’s promises: fighting for legal immigration. We found out how President Trump is doing on fulfilling his promises and what people ought to be doing to make sure he does.

President Trump, in his speech to Congress, mentioned a “merit-based immigration system,” similar to what Canada uses. Is this something the U.S. should use? Tune in to hear the merits of the merit based system and how this could be a step in the right direction to radically transform our current system, which rewards family ties over real contributions to society.

Links Mentioned

William Gheen (Segments 1–3)

Michael Stumo (Segments 4–6)

Trump vs Globalism

Trump vs Globalism

Show Summary: It’s Trump vs Globalism. While we’ve had successful businessmen as presidents before, we’ve never had such a successful entrepreneur before.  And not just an entrepreneur but a builder. And sometimes when you build, you need to tear some things down. Like that whole New Order. Last week, Trump fired the first shot at the heart of Globalism: open borders. Listen this week to hear how and why a businessman’s approach is so different from the typical Washington mindset and how that approach will make for a successful transformation of America away from the Globalists who would rule Her.

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Air Dates: Feb. 5th & 6th, 2017 | Guests Carl Higbie & Jonathan Williams

This week it’s Trump vs Globalism. Globalism is about subverting America to the larger international order. It’s about the “global community” taking priority over—and largely deciding—America’s interests.

We see this “globalist” mindset especially in the environmental movement, where people who don’t even live in an area take it upon themselves to make environmental decisions for those who do live there. No logging. No mining. No ranching. No water.

Trump vs Globalism

Fortunately, the globalist candidate—Hillary Clinton—lost. And also fortunately Donald Trump understands exactly who the real enemies are: those who put the rest of the world ahead of America. President Trump brings an entrepreneur’s mindset to put plans to action to make America great again. A businessman’s mindset of demanding actions over plans, even if those actions aren’t perfect.

If there is one organization that has to be heaving a huge sigh of relief over the election, it has to be the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC has been promoting conservative, free-market, pro-business policies for decades. And now, finally, we have a businessman in office who truly gets it.

We talk with Jonathan Williams, the Vice President of the Center for State Fiscal Reform at ALEC about the changes Trump is already making. We especially focus on President Trump’s so-called “Muslim Ban”which put a 90-day moratorium on immigrants and travelers from seven countries where there is a high amount of radical Islam. We also look at how a businessman’s decision making is so vastly different from that of a career politician — to say nothing of a community organizer.

And then we talk with Carl Higbie, a former SEAL, author, and Fox News and CNN contributor about the “Muslim Ban” and Trump’s first military action—the attack in Yemen that killed 14 militants and, regretfully, a Navy SEAL. Here too, don’t miss how a businessman’s attitude and winning mindset will lead to incredibly different outcomes in the Middle East.

Watch Carl destroy a former Michigan governor as she tries to claim non-Americans not even in America are protected by the Constitution.

Links Mentioned

 

Do Issues Matter Anymore? Trump v Hillary on the Economy

Do Issues Matter Anymore? Trump v Hillary on the Economy

Show Summary: In the era of corrupt media, do real issues matter any more? Or actions for that matter. All you need is what someone says rather than actual actions. Or things like economic and tax plans. Want proof? Quick! When was the last time you heard someone in the mainstream media actually mention Hillary’s tax plan?

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We thought so. Join us this week for our continuing series of shows as we examine Hillary’s actions as we compare Hillary’s tax and economic plans to Trump’s. And the huge ticking time bomb of states’ unfunded liabilities.

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Original Air Dates: Oct 15 & 16, 2016 | Jonathan Williams

You would think that if Obamacare is such a great program, the economy should be humming along—no tinkering needed.  But just like Obamacare was going to make health care more affordable (who’s got the swamp land for sale on this one?) Wikileaks has exposed Hillary’s beliefs that by expanding programs like Food Stamps it will help “fix the economy” because it will give families more money to spend. Yes, she actually said this—to a bunch of bankers behind closed doors. Hillary’s tax plan and economic plan reveals an overwhelming foundational philosophy to tax, tax, tax. If Obamacare is an example of an economic policy and expansion of government programs that has increased taxation (as the Supreme Court termed it), Hillary’s economic policies will be even bigger and more expensive.

If you think your health care is already getting to be extremely expensive, just wait until you open your tax bill a year after Hillary is in office. And you won’t even escape it by dying because she wants to slap a 65% death (penalty) tax, which will destroy family-owned businesses and farms.

But you may not have heard about any of this—the Wikileaks or dire consequences of Hillary’s tax plans. In fact, Fox News reported that on Thursday evening news coverage for ABC, CBS, and NBC , 8 minutes per station was spent on Trump scandals with only 20 seconds spent on covering WikiLeaks (with one station not carrying it all), a scandal which has an actual document trail; tens of thousands of documents.  They’re not reporting the truth; they are reporting their agenda.

This week we turn away from the scandals and focus on policy—actions over words.   I Spy will talk with Jonathan Williams from ALEC who has just completed a report on the unfunded pension liabilities faced by every state.  We discuss the ticking time bomb, especially in Oregon, over the massive pay back states have with no money to pay it back. Consider this: in just two years the total amount of states unfunded liabilities has grown more than 900 Billion Dollars.  Almost a trillion dollars on top of what was owed in just two short years. And then consider what the MSM’s focus has been on, Trump’s alleged scandals.

This week, we compare Hillary’s and Trump’s tax and economic plans and even how their plans can impact the looming pile of debt at the state levels.  Be sure to tune in to hear some solutions and find out how one candidate’s plan just may give us a chance to dig our way out of this monstrous hole.

Links Mentioned

Related Links

 

Thanks Democrats! Oregon’s Train Wreck

Thanks Democrats! Oregon’s Train Wreck

Show Summary: After a decade of one-party rule (just like China!), Oregon is headed for a financial train wreck. From the disastrous Obamacare-Kitzcare deal to insurance companies fleeing the state to state agencies on a spending spree  to counties going bankrupt. And despite this, one particular segment of health care has billions in profits—at taxpayer expense.

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Air Dates: April 30 & May 1, 2016 | Lisa Lettenmaier & Scott Jorgensen

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Oregon is in a world of hurt thanks to Democrat policies. Brace yourself for the coming train wreck.

We start off by talking with Lisa Lettenmaier of Health Source NW. Lisa is our “in house” expert on the insurance industry and the broader aspects of health care. She has been following the disastrous (for consumers) roll-out of Obamacare and its ugly stepchild, Oregon’s Health Care Transformation.

Tune in to hear her shine the light on Oregon’s insurance industry and why customers can expect to see huge rate increases in the next year.  There are some parts of the healthcare industry that are benefiting from Obamacare but it’s not the insurers as they face steeper and steeper declines in revenues.  Oregon has lost two more insurers in Oregon and another one on a national level.  Listen as we unpack the reasons they are leaving the state and what’s happening behind the scenes.

Oregon and Its Free-Spending Ways

Scott Jorgensen, the chief of staff for State Senator Whitsett, then joins us to share insights into the consequences of government attempting to push policies that force expensive programs (think Medicaid without federal funding).

The Oregon Democrat Leadership’s answer is to continue to raise taxes to pay for the spending spree.  Ask most Oregon voters and they’ll tell you that by our own state constitution we’re supposed to have a balanced budget; which, to many, means we don’t spend more than we take in. Well, not under Democrat leadership. It’s “balanced” because we borrow huge amounts to make it balanced.

Tune in to hear how much every man, woman, and child—all 4 million of us—are on the hook for under this new model of funding Oregon’s government.  And guess what? It’s only going to go up. Did you know we borrow money against Oregon Lottery Revenue? Talk about a gamble!

Related Links

 

Why Trans Pacific Partnership is a Bad Deal for America

Why Trans Pacific Partnership is a Bad Deal for America

Show Summary: The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal is Obama’s final nail in America’s coffin. If you thought Obamacare and the Iran Deal were bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. In an explosive interview, we dive into why it’s bad and why our Congressmen vote for such atrocities. And not just why but who is supporting this? Plus, could one of the presidential candidates, who publicly says he’s against it, might actually be for it?

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Air Dates: Apr. 16 & 17, 2016 | Crista Huff (former Morgan Stanley VP

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One of the questions we consistently try to answer here on the I Spy Radio Show, is why. Why does a government agency do this or why does a politician do that? But uncovering “why” requires digging deeper into motivations and a lot times those motivations are hidden away, lurking in the shadows where you don’t know what happened behind closed doors or what’s been promised.

On this week’s show, we’re talking about the monstrosity better known as the TPP – the Trans Pacific Partnership. This is Obama’s magnum opus for weakening America. And it must be stopped. The TPP is a major trade deal involving 12 Pacific Rim nations, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Vietnam and others. China is not a signer, yet, because after the agreement is signed China can come in later through a back door.  Why, do you ask? Oh, you’ll find out why.

Trans Pacific Partnership = Anti-American

It’s amazing that anyone who calls themselves an American is backing this agreement. Foremost it represents a stunning loss of U.S. sovereignty.  But beyond that, common economic sense says this will harm the US economy–especially given that even its own supporters say it will result in only a 0.13% increase in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product by 2025. (See links, below, for citation.)

But even that less -than-rosy projection is based on the assumption of the U.S. being at full-employment. (How’s that worked out the last seven years?) So why take a huge gamble and throw our economy into upheaval for not even 1/50th of a percent increase per year over nine years?

It boggles the mind why would anyone in the U.S. support this. And not just why, but who is supporting this? Tune in to learn the answers, including whether one of the presidential candidates might be misrepresenting their position on the Trans Pacific Partnership. And find out why, if this goes through, it really could be the end of America as we know.

Links Mentioned During Show

  • Crista Huff’s terrific website, Good Fellow, LLC. Be sure to check out her fantastic TPP blog page, frequently updated with the latest info
  • Check out Crista on Kerry Lutz’s Financial Survival blogtalk podcast
  • If you want to stop the TPP, CALL the Capitol Switchboard! (202) 224-3121. Ask to be transferred to your Congressman’s office and tell them you want them to vote no on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal; do the same for both of your senators.
  • The Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee is Rep. Kevin Brady (TX).
  • Article via Drudge: New Balance publicly calls the TTP a bad deal (Apr 13, 2016)
  • Robert Zoellick and The Trilateral Commission and Robert (via FreedomWorks’ SourceWatch)

Related Links

We’re impressed with a number of articles from Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Here are a few of them:

 

Canada’s Experiment with Socialism (Part 2 of the Allure of Socialism)

Canada’s Experiment with Socialism (Part 2 of the Allure of Socialism)

Air Dates: Feb 27 & 28, 2016 | Dr. Tim Ball

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I Spy Radio continues to do what the Republicans ought to be doing: focusing on the Democrats. Especially their lurch toward outright Socialism. With either winner, the Democrats will have a socialist as their nominee. It will either be Bernie Sanders, who is an avowed socialist, or Hillary Clinton, an Undeclared Socialist.

With socialism being around as long as it has, there’s still the myth in every generation who thinks, “But this time it will work!”  Even though it has had resounding failures wherever it’s been tried.  Folks like Bernie and Hillary points to countries like Sweden or Finland as examples of “success.”

What they fail to mention is that Sweden or Finland are only becoming more successful because they purposely moved away from socialism to adopt more elements of capitalism.

Denmarks-socialismThink of it like a balance or teeter totter; whenever you give government all the rights, and therefore your decisions, you’re taking the rights and decisions away from the individual.  The reverse, freedom, is also true. By giving affirming the rights of the individual, it takes power away from the government.  So, the notion that you can somehow give away all of your rights and control over to government while still retaining personal freedom is a logical inconsistency.

The myth of socialism still hangs on

So to prove our point of why it can’t work, we go back to Canada and talk with Dr. Tim Ball and find out the realities of living in a socialistic country.  Listen as Dr. Ball talks about his personal experiences living in socialized Canada, including the loss of freedoms, opening a new business in a socialist country, and living in the so-called “ideal” (socialized) health care system.

What you’ll learn is this: If Canada is Bernie’s and Hillary’s “utopia,” they can keep it.

Relevant Links

Dr. Tim Ball’s books:

  • Slaying the Sky Dragon: The Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory
  • Human Caused Global Warming: The Biggest Deception in History
  • and The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science.

 

The Allure of Socialism – Why we keep trying this historic failure

The Allure of Socialism – Why we keep trying this historic failure

Socialism’s seductive spell has tripped up many “smart people” including Einstein. Usually right up until reality sets in. Eating the rich only makes everyone poorer.

Original Air Dates: Feb 20 & 21, 2016 | Dr. Tim Ball

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Despite the repeated, historic (dare we say “epic”) failures of socialism, every generation since the 1800s seems to flirt with this proven failure. Every generation seems to think, “This time we’ll make it work.”

Socialism: willingly giving up your liberty and freedom for government-provided security.
Jail: unwillingly giving up your liberty and freedom for government-provided security.

This week on I Spy Radio, we talk with Dr. Tim Ball, who knows all about socialism. He grew up in World War II England, witnessed the takeover of society by the government to “fight the war” only to have England embrace the “security” offered by socialists. In other words, basic subsistence in exchange for government domination and takeover of private industry. As a young man, witnessing the demise of his fellow countrymen’s freedoms, he left for Canada. Unfortunately, elements of socialism followed him to his new country.

Exposing Socialism

Hitler - "We are socialists, we are enemies of the capitalistics economic system...with its unfair salaries... and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions"This week, we get an exposé on socialism from someone who’s lived through it and even taught classes on it. With Bernie Sanders rising in the polls, it’s time to get a little intelligence on socialism. This week, we’ll look at the rise and development of socialism and, yes, the Nazis were socialists. Modern-day Leftists try to depict Nazis s extreme Far Right, “ultra conservative” or even the end-game of capitalism. “Nazi” meant “National Socialists.”

But why does the notion of state-imposed fairness, continue to appeal to us as a developed society?

Here in Oregon, where I Spy broadcasts from, the House just passed the nation’s highest minimum wage to create “fair” wages. Remember, from our show two weeks ago, under socialism it’s the State that determines not only what’s moral but what is “fair.” But if you think that’s scary, check out the links below on “basic income” and “universal income.”

And be sure to join us next week where we’ll get Dr. Ball’s personal experiences of living with socialism, including Canada’s socialized medicine and even martial law.

Related Links

  • Canada’s new prime minister interested in a European style “basic income
  • Video: European socialists now pushing “universal income” – no work required

 

Economic Warfare and Financial Terrorism – How the 2008 financial meltdown could happen in 2016

Economic Warfare and Financial Terrorism – How the 2008 financial meltdown could happen in 2016

Air Dates: February 13 & 14, 2016 | Kevin Freeman

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On the morning of Sept 11, 2008, John McCain and Sarah Palin were leading Obama and Biden in the polls by quite a bit. But by the end of the day, it saw the largest spike in short-selling in market history, ushering in the financial meltdown of 2008. Was it just some rogue day-traders? Or, as McCain thought at the time, was it an outright attack on our markets, perhaps by Russia and China? The end result was that not only did it set back the American financial markets, cause trillions of dollars of paper value to disappear in a matter of days, plunge thousands of Americans home-owners into bankruptcy, and hamstring our economy—it dramatically affected our 2008 presidential election.

What’s especially concerning is how similar the economic conditions of 2008 are to now—in 2016. Is history about to repeat itself? Have any of the vulnerabilities that ushered Obama into office been fixed?

Economic Warfare and Financial Terrorism

Over the last two weeks, there have been some very troubling headlines, including one that has nearly escaped notice: the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a Chinese-owned company. But this week on Drudge and other sources, there have been headline after headline of trouble in the stock markets — not just here in the U.S. but all across Europe. US and EU stock markets are off to their worst starts since the 1930s. Is history going to repeat itself? And can capitalism survive? Could all of this be a coordinated attack? And why?

Join us this week for a fascinating story of another type of warfare between modern governments: economic warfare and financial terrorism. Get a look at the weapons used and techniques used to deploy them.

On this week’s show, you’ll learn:

  • Was there an attack in 2008 on the U.S. stock markets?
  • What’s been done to prevent another one?
  • Why did the Chinese buy the Chicago exchange — and does it create any vulnerabilities?
  • The latest economic tool is “negative interest rates,” what impact can and will this have on the markets?
  • Are the same conditions from 2008 collapse happening now in 2016?
  • What about all those foreign donations to Hillary Clinton?

Links Mentioned

Related Links

  • Be sure to check out our previous shows with Kevin Freeman on the archives page

 

50 Test Tubes of Competition and Democracy

50 Test Tubes of Competition and Democracy

Air Dates: January 30 & 31, 2015 | Jonathan Williams (ALEC)

When, Where, and How to Listen

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States are in constant competition for people and businesses — with businesses leaving high tax states and people voting with their feet. Find out why Socialism and “Tax Cronyism” drive people away.

One this week’s show, we give Bernie Sander’s voters a headache.

Over the past ten years New York State has lost millions of residents and thousands of businesses that had all had it with NY’s high taxes and moved to other states.  They’ve moved to find a better place to live where owning a business or property isn’t suffocated, to where they didn’t have to feel like they were being held up at gun point by their own state.

Funny how that works, isn’t it? Our entire history is one of moving to better economic conditions. Leaving the “old country” for the chance to make a better, more profitable life. Moving west on the Oregon Trail or the California Gold Rush. People are not chained to their states — and the moment they feel they are, they move.

Bernie Sanders voters don't understand economicsWhile Bernie Sanders’ voters may not like to think about economics or the consequences of raising taxes, there are 50 states that all have their own sets of economic policies that have consequences, of action and reaction. And shrewd consumers of democracy can make decisions on where and how they live based on a free market principal—competition is good because it reduces costs and drives efficiency.

In their 8th Edition of Rich States, Poor States, Jonathan Williams and his co-authors, Dr. Author Laffer, and Stephen Moore have once again captured how states make their economic decisions and the consequences of those policy decisions.  Policies that impact your pocket book and quality of life and that should influence who you’ll vote into office.

Tune in to find out:
•    What drives a state’s economic success or failure
•    Tax Cronyism and how it ruins free markets
•    Can states or the federal government be run more like a business?
•    Which states have changed their liberal ways to create a strong, pro growth environment

With state and federal elections coming up soon this is a show not to miss.

Links Mentioned

Related Links

EPA Colluding with Environmentalists and Tribes

EPA Colluding with Environmentalists and Tribes

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Air Dates: Oct 24 & 25, 2015 | Lawrence Kogan & Tom Collier (CEO of Pebble Partnership)

The EPA long ago lost its watchdog status and has turned rabid environmentalist. Now, clear evidence of the EPA colluding with environmentalists and tribes is beginning to emerge—ironically, in what the EPA had hoped to turn into one of its trophy cases: the Pebble Mine.

Show 5-43 will air the weekend of Oct 24th & 25th. Join us as we expose collusion between the EPA and “environmental” organizations, the tribes, and other players.

What’s important to understand in this fight against a government agency run-amok, is that they violated the rule of law and a basic tenet of American freedoms: due process. The EPA, by applying an obscure rule that it had never used before in its four-decades’ old existence and by trying to circumvent the permit process, it was denying Pebble Partnership its due process. Just as though it had arrested someone in suspected of a crime and put them in jail without any Miranda rights, no legal counsel, and so on.

Links Mentioned

  • Lawrence Kogan’s firm: the Kogan Law Grouptons of great info and articles on the assault by the Enviro-Left on our free market system
  • Tom Collier’s group – the Pebble Partnership.