Tag: Oregon

13-09 Insane Government Spending – 2023 Essential Policy Solutions

13-09 Insane Government Spending – 2023 Essential Policy Solutions

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Show 13-09 Summary: This week, it’s all about insanity. Meaning, our governments’ insane spending that shows no signs of letting up. And that there’s just always more money on the national credit card. So when the inmates are running the asylum, what can we do about government spending? We talk with Jonathan Williams of the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC has just released its 2023 Essential Policy Solutions, which should be required reading for every legislator out there. Listen in for policies, economic and otherwise, that make sense in an insane world.

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Original Air Dates: March 4th & 5th, 2023 | Guest: Jonathan Williams

This Week – Government Spending. It’s Insane.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (or ALEC), is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. If you don’t know, they work with state legislatures — the 50 test tubes of democracy — to pass legislation that upholds principles of limited government, free markets and federalism You don’t last 50 years if you’re not having successes. And ALEC has had tremendous success stories. Including encouraging states to lower taxes. Even adopting a flat tax.

Don’t miss it! Be sure to RSVP for The Capital City Republican Women’s Luncheon, March 9th, 2023, starting at 11:30am (Mark will start his presentation at noon). To RSVP, send an email to CCRWSalem@Reagan.com. Lunch is $14. Coffee is $2. No cost to just come listen. Location will be sent to you after you RSVP.

This week, we talk with Jonathan Williams, ALEC’s Executive VP of Policy and their chief economist, about the insane government spending. After blowing through $1.9 trillion in the “American Rescue Plan” and another $2 trillion with Build Back Better, and still trillions more — in just 2 years — we’re facing a looming showdown over the federal debt ceiling. Addicted to government spending, Biden and the democrats don’t want any spending cuts. Of course not.

Maybe it’s because they just spent $360 billion on “global warming” and climate change in the most recent $1 trillion “inflation reduction act.” None of that money is going to conservatives or conservative organizations. So of course the democrats don’t want any cuts to government spending. That would be cutting off cash to their political cronies.

Government Spending: 2023 Essential Policy Solutions

Fortunately, to tackle this insane government spending ALEC has just released its 2023 Essential Policy Solutions. This essential guide is definitely essential for every state legislator.

Get your free copy! Download the PDF version of the 2023 Essential Policy Solutions. And then email it to all your legislators!

Jonathan Williams walks us through some of the more exciting solutions. Not just for government spending but also price transparency for hospitals and health care but also some model legislation for school choice.

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.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Essential Policy Solutions for 2023 – (American Legislative Exchange Council, March, 2023). Free PDF! Download it and email it to your legislators!
  • RSVP for The Capital City Republican Women’s Luncheon, March 9th, 2023, starting at 11:30am (Mark will start his presentation at noon). To RSVP, send an email to CCRWSalem@Reagan.com. Lunch is $14. Coffee is $2. No cost to just come listen. Location will be sent to you after you RSVP.
  • US stocks enter ‘death zone’  (Daily Mail, Feb 2023)
    • Morgan Stanley issues dire warning to investors who ‘followed prices to dizzying heights’ amid fears S&P 500 could plummet 26% within months.
  • American Rescue Plan (Biden’s $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Package (Investopedia, updated Sept 21, 2022)

Additional Related Research, Not Specifically Mentioned

13-08 The Mad, Mad Spending – Real School Choice Needed in Oregon

13-08 The Mad, Mad Spending – Real School Choice Needed in Oregon

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Show 13-08 Summary: Two guests this week and both talking about government spending. Donna Kreitzberg talks about redirecting portions of education spending to parents so they can make their own best school choice for their children. Then Senator Dennis Linthicum who says there is no end in sight for the amount of spending Oregon is looking to do in this legislative session. And be sure to stay through the closing where you’ll hear what he told us off air about the real reasons why democrats want to spend the kicker. Un. Believable.

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Original Air Dates: February 25th & 26th, 2023 | Guests: Donna Kreitzberg & Dennis Linthicum

This Week – Oregon‘s Insane Spending

It’s not just the amount of spending. It’s what they are spending it on. And it’s insane. Especially given that most economists and major financial institutions are predicting a recession this year. Not to mention continuing inflation and mounting job losses. So why is Oregon inflating its budgets like there are no limits of money?

And for goodness sake. Don’t miss the final closing when we reveal the real reasons democrats don’t want Oregonians to get their kicker refund.

Getting Real School Choice in Oregon

Since it’s not looking positive for school choice legislation in Oregon, Oregonians can still use ballot measures to do what the Oregon education lobby doesn’t want. Give parents the choice to pick the right school for their child.

Why does the education lobby want to keep kids in failing schools? Probably because they know government loves to throw even more money at problems. A failing school? Clearly, what they need is even more money. But, given that our schools already soak up a whopping 40% of our entire state budget, that clearly isn’t working. Especially since Oregon routinely ranks need the bottom but spends more than the national average per student.

So what’s the answer?

As usual, it’s less government. And more free market.

We talk with Donna Kreitzberg who is leading the effort to get school choice in Oregon. Not a pat-on-the-head choice. A real school choice. Where parents decide how to spend the money assigned to their child and will have the option to send their child to the school that best fits their educational needs.

But what about that money? Can parents just buy anything with it? And, if the state gives them the money, doesn’t that mean the state gets to say how it’s spent — not to mention all the woke regulations they’re pushing now in schools?

Nope.

Tune in to find out why.

Find out how you can help to get real school choice in Oregon. Head to Education Freedom for Oregon. Download and sign petitions. Volunteer. And please donate to help make this happen!

The Spending. Oregon’s Endless Spending.

And next we welcome Senator Dennis Linthicum back to discuss what’s happening in Oregon’s legislature. We’ll be having him on on a monthly basis to give us his inside the capitol view and the truth. Like the real reason why the democrats don’t want you to have your kicker refund.

When last we spoke, the 2023 legislative session had just started. And he wasn’t sure if the democrats, who had lost some of their stranglehold on power, would react. Or how they’d treat their republican colleagues.

So this week, we wanted to know more. And to hear about the budget. Oh yes. And what about that kicker refund. You know. The one that, by law, the state is supposed to return to the taxpayers. Why? Because it means they over collected taxes. They charged too much. So they are — again, by law — supposed to return that to the people they overcharged. And this year, that kicker would be, on average, $5,200 per working family. So why are the democrats so eager to spend it before taxpayers can get their grubby hands on what the democrats see as the democrats’ money?

Yeah. Sorry. You’ll have to tune in to hear why. Stay through to the very end.

Previous Parental Rights and School Choice Shows

Did you miss our previous shows on parents rights in education?

  1. Show 13-03: overview of parents rights in education with Suzanne Gallagher, CEO of Parents Rights in Education
  2. Show 13-04: the legal side of parents rights, especially if push comes to lawsuit with Ernie Trakas, senior litigation counsel for the Child & Parental Rights Campaign
  3. Show 13-05: the way out; real school choice with Ed Ludlow of the national school choice organization, EdChoice
  4. Show 13-06: you’ve made the choice, now how to choose a new school with Marc Thielman, former Alsea school superintendent
  5. And Show 13-08 (today’s show): getting school choice in Oregon with Donna Kreitzberg, head of Oregon’s school choice 2024 ballot initiative

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Links mentioned during the show

  • Education Freedom for Oregon – This is Donna’s real school choice website. You can:
    • download and sign petitions (single-signature petition sheets for yourself or 10-line ones to gather signatures from your friends, families, fellow parents at school, or neighbors)
    • Volunteer
    • And please donate to help get school choice on the ballot in Oregon!
  • Freedom Watch Alert: Second dangerous School Choice constitutional amendment petition (OCEAN Network, July 15, 2022)
  • Kotek proposes $13.5 billion for education (Oregon Capital Insider, Feb 6, 2023)
    • “Education accounts for $13.5 billion, more than 40% of her proposed $32.1 billion in spending of the state’s general and lottery funds.”
    • “But most of the money – an historic $9.9 billion – is devoted to the State School Fund, which pays for educating Oregon’s 550,000 K-12 students and for district operating expenses, transportation costs and other needs.”
    • The $9.9 billion marks an overall $600 million increase in K-12 spending for the biennium and would average out to about $9,682 per student in 2023-24 and roughly $10,000 per student in 2024-25, according to preliminary estimates from the Oregon Department of Education. The state is paying $9,468 per student in the current 2022-23 school year.
    • BUT: “Accounting for all education funding, Oregon spends about $12,855 per K-12 student, according to 2020 census data. The national average that year was $13,187, with some states spending more than $20,000.”

Additional School Choice Info and Related

 

13-06 Killing Title IX Protections in the Name of Woke | Plus Part 4: Choosing New Schools

13-06 Killing Title IX Protections in the Name of Woke | Plus Part 4: Choosing New Schools

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Show 13-06 Summary: This week on I Spy we continue our mini-series on parents rights in education. We are looking at what the Biden administration’s abandonment of Title IX means (it used to mean protection and equal access for girls and women) and what real school choice looks like — when parents make the choice to find a better school. What are the options and how to decide? How to even know if it’s the school or the child? And what about funding — should taxpayer dollars really go to private schools? And is it protected from frivolous parents? Are schools accountable top meet competency and proficiency standards? Maybe if the public schools had such standards, parents wouldn’t be looking elsewhere…

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Original Air Dates: February 11th & 12th, 2023 | Guests: Kimberly Hermann & Marc Thielman

This Week – So Much for Equality

If there’s one thing elected democrats say, it’s that they want equality. But if there’s one thing they do it’s remove equality. Which is why they are all for racial discrimination in the name of equality. Like affirmative action. Where, in their “logic” it makes sense to discriminate against Whites in favor of other races. Which is a bit like saying a little slavery is okay, as long as it’s done to the right kind of people.

Hint to democrats: discrimination is discrimination.

But maybe this mindset explains why the Biden administration thinks removing protections for girls and women in education is a good thing.

The Biden Administration: Killing Title IX

Title IX was intended to give girls and women an equal footing in education. Prior to Title IX, schools could discriminate against women and, perhaps most famously, not fund women’s sports. But now, the Biden administration’s new “guidance” would remove such protections. How? By doing away with the concept of women and girls. And making anyone who identifies as a woman a woman in their view.

Basically, if there are no women as a distinct entity, there are no women to protect.

To try to make sense of the nonsense, we welcome Kimberly Hermann. She is the chief legal counsel for Southeastern Legal Foundation and they have file da brief in support of states pushing back against the Biden administration’s guidance.

Visit SLFLiberty.org to find out more about the great work Southeastern Legal Foundation is doing to defend your constitutional rights. You can even submit a case they might be interested in.

Kimberly walks us through what Title IX is, what it was intended to do, and why Title IX is so important to defend. You’ll also hear how the courts, including appellate courts, are, in fact, defending the notion that there are two sexes. Which is extremely encouraging.

But can you believe this? Has society gone so far down the woke toilet that we will end up needing the Supreme Court to tell the rest of society what a woman is?

Yikes.

Parents’ Rights Part 4: Choosing a New School

This week, we also continue our mini-series on parents rights in education. Last week, we discussed the Real School Choice movement. So far, five states have already adopted real school choice. (This means parents can choose whichever school they want to send their kids and the education dollars attached to that child.) And there are nearly a dozen more close to adopting real school choice and over two dozen in total that have at least some form of legislation on the table.

This is not only a win for parents, it’s a win for education itself. And it’s thanks to exercising free market principles.

Think about it. Parents (consumers) can choose to spend the education dollars how they want and where they want. Funding students not systems, means that the school systems must become competitive to attract consumers (parents). Better up your game or you lose out.

That is what real school choice is all about. Give parents the power, not bureaucrats.

Find out more about Oregon’s real school choice battle. If parents can’t get it in the legislature, they are prepared to go with a ballot initiative

But if you’re a parent and  you exercise your school choice, how do you choose a school? How do you know it’s the school and not your child? What are the signs you should be looking for? And with the dozen-plus types of other schools out there, how do you find the right one for your child.

We talk with Marc Thielman, the former superintendent at the Alsea School district, to answer those questions and more.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

More Info on Title IX

  • Title IX: 50 years later (American Psychological Association, June 28, 2022)
    • “Changes to Title IX regulations dispensed by the U.S. Department of Education in 2020 removed the mandatory reporting requirement. These Trump-era changes also narrowed the definition of sexual harassment, excluded off-campus assaults from the law’s protections, and made a series of other changes that left some Title IX offices scrambling to update their institution’s procedures”
  • Title IX’s Positive Impact on Education Life BEFORE Title IX (Vector Solutions, No Date)
  • 10 Facts Everyone Should Know About Title IX (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Aug 23, 2017)

More Info on Choosing a School

 

Real School Choice - the Way out for Parents
13-05 The Way Out: Real School Choice | Parents Rights Part 3

13-05 The Way Out: Real School Choice | Parents Rights Part 3

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Show 13-05 Summary: Part 3 of our mini-series on parental rights. Week 1 was a general overview or parental rights and a look at what parents and kids are facing. Last week was a look at the legal side of things, especially if push comes to lawsuit. This week, it’s a look at the way out: real school choice. Where the dollars pegged to a child, follows them and parents can use those public funds to spend on whichever school best suits their child. Competition. It’s a wonderful thing!

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: February 4th & 5th, 2023 | Guest: Robert Enlow

This Week – Real School Choice

The answer to most problems with Big Government is simple: take money away from big government and apply free-market principles.

Don’t miss the other two parts our series on parents’ rights: Part 1 (overview of parents rights) and Part 2 (legal aspects and, if necessary, lawsuits)

And when it comes to bad education systems, this means real school choice. Where bad schools in bad education systems either improve to good schools. Or they lose the money when they lose a child whose parents take their child elsewhere.

In the past, this option was only available to the rich. Who were still paying school taxes and paying to put their child in a better school.

But right now, thanks to parents staying home due to covid lockdowns—who got to see just how bad things really were thanks to virtual classrooms—there is a movement sweeping the nation. And it’s real school choice.

Real School Choice Defined

Real school choice. What is it? It’s when parents can decide how and where to spend the dollars “pegged” to their child on a school of their choice.

Real school choice happens like this: Education systems get a pot of money every year. Think of that as the “education bank.” These monies are drawn from different sources. Broadly speaking, federal, state, and local taxes all pay into the bank. States, the bank’s administrators, determine how many students there are and determine a per-student amount. A percentage of that per-student spending is pegged to the student as the parents decide where to spend it. Usually, this takes the form of an education savings account, commonly referred to as an”ESA.”

How much of that percentage, where, and how the funds can be spent vary from state to state.

And, unlike what this Kansas State Board of Education member thinks, parents can not use the funds to buy latte machines. (Although it makes one wonder how many schools have used their funds to put latte machines in teachers’ lounges…)

For more information on what school choice is, see this definition from one of the nation’s leading school choice organizations, EdChoice.

Our Guest: Robert Enlow of EdChoice

Speaking of which, this week we welcome Robert Enlow, the President and CEO of EdChoice, to talk to us about this nationwide movement. As of this writing, five states (with three in just the last two weeks) have adopted real school choice. And at least 28 more — including Oregon! — have introduced legislation for some form of school choice.

This didn’t happen over night.

Be sure to visit EdChoice.org. They have research, polls, tools, trainings and more to make universal school choice happen in your state!

No surprise, Milton Friedman, who advised President Reagan to get America’s economy back on track (which mainly boiled down to getting government out of the way), came up with the idea. Now, some 50 years after he came up with the idea of a school voucher system, we’re seeing it take hold.

Real School Choice in Oregon

Oregon has been at the bottom of education for decades. Oregon even removed competency requirements for graduation under former governor Kate Brown. So, not surprisingly, even here in Oregon, parents are fed up. We wanted to talk to experts who have actually made this happen in other states, who’ve been part of successful campaigns to get school choice. So we turned to EdChoice to talk about how these states made it happen. How did they win? And we talked about the arguments for and against school choice so you’ll know what to face.

As Robert Enlow said — echoing the mission of I Spy Radio — if want to be a successful advocate, you need to be an informed one.

If you want real school choice in Oregon, or in your state, don’t miss this show!

Want more information and insight on school choice here in Oregon? Check out these past I Spy Radio shows.

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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.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Our guest’s organization is EdChoice. They are the nation’s leading organization for and advocate of school choice. They have research, tools, polls, even training if you want to help bring school choice to your state! Find them at EdChoice.org
  • Arizona leads on school choice. Should Utah follow suit? (Deseret News, Jan 16, 2023)
  • Achieving the potential of school choice (The Gazette, Colorado, Jan 17, 2023)
  • “Public education funding without boundaries: How to get K-12 dollars to follow open enrollment students” (Reason Foundation, Jan 24, 2023)
    • How to ensure state and local education funds flow seamlessly across district boundaries.
    • States are increasingly enacting open enrollment policies that give students options across school district boundaries. But this is only half the equation. Policymakers must also ensure that education dollars follow the child to the school of their choice, a concept referred to as funding portability.
    • Download the full policy brief: Public Education Funding Without Boundaries (PDF)
  • Iowa Gov Kim Reynolds signs historic school choice bill: ‘We will fund students not systems’ (Fox News, Jan 24, 2023)
  • ‘Fund Students, Not Systems’ with Universal School Choice” (Townhall.com, Jan 23, 2023).
  • Legislators in 28 states have introduced bills to fund students instead of systems this year. (Corey DeAngelis, Twitter, Feb 1, 2023)
  • 25 million eCommerce companies in the world – Myth or Fact? Dissecting the $4.9 Trillion industry with 2022 data. (Pipecandy.com, March 2022)

Oregon Centric

  • Kotek proposes spending $765M (Register Guard, Feb 1, 2023) Increases school budget
  • Portland School District announces hiring freeze due to dwindling enrollment (Pamplin Media Feb 1, 2023)
    • Portland  lost 3,000 students from 2020 to 2022. The district said its “dramatic, unprecedented enrollment decline” isn’t over. It expects to lose about 500 more students next year. But despite fewer students, “Superintendent Guerrero, along with leaders from other Oregon districts, are calling on state leaders to pour more money into public school funding. ”
  • See our previous shows on this topic, including the referendum movement for 2024 if the legislature ignores Oregon parents. These show pages have additional links and info.
  • Parents Rights in Education (Oregon and other state chapters)
12-46 Elections: An Overturned One and What Happened in 2022

12-46 Elections: An Overturned One and What Happened in 2022

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Show Summary: Some post-game analysis of what happened on election night with Marc Thielman. Despite the gloomers and doomers in the Republican Party complaining the wins weren’t big enough, there was a lot of good news for Republicans in 2022’s elections. And the elections would be really good news if they were not clearly trying to insert votes into races not yet called. Does anyone remember when they said they needed the machines to speed things up? But first: Kimberly Hermann with the Southeastern Legal Foundation to discuss what they’ve learned since finally being given the court-ordered (twice!) external communications by the George Soros D.A. with those helping set up the successful attempt to remove an elected governor — despite the D.A. having none of the evidence she claimed she did.

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Original Air Dates: November 12th & 13th, 2022 | Guests: Kimberly Hermann & Marc Thielman

This Week – Elections Matter

Elections do matter. But what happens when they attempt to steal one? Or they do steal them? Or, even worse, overturn an election? Like what they tried to do with President Trump.

Because you can’t trust a government if you can’t trust how they were elected.

This week, we talk with Marc Thielman—former gubernatorial candidate, now activists, consultant, and lead petitioner on real school choice—about the 2022 midterm elections. Plus, he is deeply involved in the election integrity movement.

Get involved! Head to BattlegroundOregon.org to see what you can do and to support those in the fight for fair elections

We go over the outcomes (so far), and look at the national landscape. As of this writing, it is looking like the Republicans will take the House and possibly the senate. So why are the Doomers in the Republican party moaning and blaming Trump?

Imagine winning the Superbowl by two points only to have half the team complain about the quarterback. If that’s Mitch McConnell’s and Paul Ryan’s level of teamwork, it makes you question just how hard they tried to win.

But, as we discuss, there are some good evidences that there really was a red wave. Just not the red tsunami we were hoping for. And, sadly, not here in Oregon either.

With the ongoing fraud on display for all to see in Arizona, we talk with Marc about changes that need to happen to ensure we can trust the elections again.

Elections: If you can’t Win Them, Undo Them

But before we get to Marc, we talk with Kimberly Hermann. We last talked with her in April 2022 after their big win against the corrupt George Soros Missouri D.A., Kim Gardner. John Solomon’s Just the News had filed a FOIA request for communications between Garnder and outside forces involved in her wrongful prosecution of Eric Greitens. After winning in court, after several court orders to enforce, Gardner finally handed over the ordered information two weeks ago.

In case you missed it, Eric Greitens was elected governor in 2016. He then set out to actually fulfill his campaign promises. Unheard of, right? One of those was to dismantle a “low income housing” project that was soaking the government and making a lot of people wealthy. This made people angry. And some of those angry people approached Kim Gardner with a scheme to remove the governor. And it worked.

Gardner accused Greitens of trying to blackmail a hairdresser with whom he’d had an affair, by threatening to release a nude photo of her if she talked about the affair. Greitens admitted to the affair but denied ever trying to blackmail anyone.

Eventually, Greitens gave into pressure and resigned. Except. Gardner made it all up. She had to withdraw her prosecution because she admitted she never had the photo she claimed Greitens had used for blackmail.

What a mess. But damage done. An election overturned.

Prosecutorial Misconduct

Don’t miss what the FOIA documents reveal. Mysterious payments, and confirmation that, yes, this was a clear case of prosecutorial misconduct.

By all rights, Kim Gardner should be removed from her position. And she should be prosecuted. But in today’s corrupt “justice” system, it looks like she will not be punished beyond the slap on the wrist she already got.

But. Thanks to the elections, there is a new sheriff in town (well, new state attorney general). And perhaps he will take up the case to restore trust in the system.

And let’s hope prosecuting Kim Gardner is just the start. Let’s hope elections also draw the crosshairs.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Kimberly Hermann Segments (1–3)

  • Records reveal external forces that aided Soros-funded prosecutor in toppling Missouri GOP governor (Just the News, Oct 24, 2022)
    • St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner turned over concealed records to Just the News under court order, revealing new details about her office’s ethically tarnished prosecution of Eric Greitens, including alleged victim’s concern that topless photo allegedly used to extort her might not exist.
  • Read the FOIA documents: 393 pages of Documents (PDF)
  • New evidence found that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner was directly involved in false criminal allegations against Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (97.1 FM Talk, Oct 25, 2022)
  • OUTRAGEOUS! Highest Missouri State Court Fines Kim Gardner ONLY $750 After She Admits to Wrongdoing in Greitens Case — Records Show 62 Acts of Misconduct (Patriots Worldwide News, Aug 31, 2022)
  • Story behind Republican governor’s prosecution forced into the open (WND, Oct 25, 2022)

Marc Thielman Segments (4–6)

  • Midterm Updates and Silver Linings: For 2024, Democrats now own the economy (Technofrog Substack, Nov 9, 2022)
    • The silver lining (if Repubs don’t take control of both houses of Congress): “Democrat control means Democrat ownership of what is to come: a predicted recession and continued inflation.”
  • Republican majority expands to 88 in West Virginia House (MetroNews, WV, Nov 9, 2022)
    • Unofficial results from Election Night show the Republicans picking up 10 more seats in the House. That takes the GOP majority in the 100-member House [from 78] to 88.
  • U.N. Tells Rich Countries to Pay $2 Trillion a Year for Climate ‘Justice’ (Breitbart, Nov 8, 2022)
    • “An annual transfer of funds from rich to poor countries, starting at around $2 trillion by 2030 and rising thereafter, is needed for climate “justice” according to a U.N.-backed report released Tuesday. China has been specifically excluded from the demand for reparations…”
  • Warnings of ‘Red Mirage’ Ignore Real Problem With Mail-in Ballots: Experts (The Epoch Times, Nov 8, 2022)
  • VIDEO: A Direct Message to Elected Republicans ft. Sean Davis | The Liz Wheeler Show (via YouTube, Nov 8, 2022)
  • U.S. Warming Over Last 50 Years Exaggerated by Up to 50%, New Evidence Shows (The Daily Sceptic, Nov. 4, 2022)
  • Red wave after all? GOP winning popular vote by wide margin despite incongruous results (Just the News, Nov 11, 2022)
    • GOP candidates have so far received 50,672,592 votes, or 52.3% of the total ballots cast as of this writing. Democrat candidates, by comparison, have so far received 44,802,597 votes, or 46.2% of the total.
  • Clackamas County will work into the weekend to tally results of 65,000 remaining ballots (OregonLive, Nov 10, 2022)
12-44 If You Can’t Offer Hope, Push Fear | Democrats Desperate

12-44 If You Can’t Offer Hope, Push Fear | Democrats Desperate

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Show Summary: This week, it’s politics as unusual. In today’s political environment, it seems even the improbable could be possible. Probably. We talk with Jo Rae Perkins and Chuck Wiese in a show that ended up looking at the fear being pushed in the democrats’ political ads. When you stop running on the success of your policies, and turn to mudslinging and fear, your side should definitely be afraid. And this year, for good reason.

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: October 29, 2022 | Guests: Jo Rae Perkins & Chuck Wiese

This Week – The Democrats’ “Fear Porn”

It’s a given in politics that if you can’t offer hope, then offer fear. It is literally the only thing Democrats have left.

It’s a bit of a turn from FDR. In the looming shadow of World War II, FDR famously said, “All we have to fear is… fear itself!” Now, under Biden, it’s become, “All we have is… fear.” But it’s just become laughable. More so when you realize what they’re doing. They are trying to blame Republicans for their economy. And they’re trying to blame Republicans in advance. “Things will get worse if you elect Republicans.”

It’s hard to type that with straight face.

Fear: It’s All the Left has Left

We welcome back Jo Rae Perkins, Oregon’s Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. She is running against long-, long-time incumbent, Ron Wyden. Who used to be, ten years ago, a proponent of privacy. Now, he’s all for the government prying into everything. And arresting one’s political opponents.

It’s amazing how four decades in Washington D.C. can mutate one’s political beliefs. It’s like that quote attributed to Mark Twain: “Politicians and diapers need changed often. And for the same reasons.”

Jo Rae has a lot of answers for what ails Oregon and America right now. We ask about her take on turning the economy around, dealing with federal agencies, what Republican should concentrate on in the first 100 days in office, and what can be done about Oregon’s failing education system.

Find out more about Jo Rae — and help her get some more commercials on the air — by visiting perkins.vote

And she has questions. Questions the mainstream media aren’t asking. Like, Ron thinks tax dodgers should be punished. But what happened to the $2 million Ron’s wife got in PPP loans to keep people on the payroll? Because she didn’t keep them on the payroll. Well, Ron?

But she rightly points out that in this election cycle, all the Left has left is fear.

Democrats. Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

Al Gore: Non-Believers Threaten My IncomeThen we welcome back fan-favorite Chuck Wiese to continue the discussion on fear. As a Global Warming debunker, Chuck knows all about how the Left uses fear to push their agenda. Like the typical, “We only have ___ years to do something before it’s too late!!!” Usually, what “do something” means is “give us more money.”

We start by talking about the latest global warming fear porn: “The Scientist’s Warning.” Wooooo! It’s a propaganda “film” designed to, once again, scare people into giving money to “scientists.”

You can see the excerpted film, “citizen’s pledge” and quiz mentioned during the show by heading here.

Explain how producing more oil in the U.S. causes climate change but asking other countries to produce more oil does not cause climate changeBut they fearmongers lose because they go waaay over the top.

And don’t miss the updates to the election integrity federal lawsuit Chuck, Marc Thielman, and others have filed.

They are taking a unique route: They’re not asking to prove their is election fraud; they’re asking to prove their isn’t. They just need access to monitor the machines to prove it.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Here is what Citizen Free Press calls, “The Headline of the Week.” I’d almost say of the month
  • [IEA] Energy Chief Who Pushed To Slash Oil And Gas Investments Now Decries ‘Global Energy Crisis’ (Daily Caller, Oct 25, 2022)
  • U.S. Senate votes to move forward with stopgap funding bill (Reuters, Sept 27, 2022)
  • Surveillance Under The Patriot Act (ACLU, 2011)
    • Ron Wyden then: “I want to deliver a warning… when the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry.” What happened to you, Ron?
  • Why Are Walmart And Other Major U.S. Retailers Canceling BILLIONS Of Dollars In Orders As Summer Comes To An End? (The Economic Collapse, Sept 18, 2022)
  • Also: Walmart and other retailers are canceling billions of dollars in orders (Retail Wire, Sept 14, 2022)
  • Florida’s 2022 NAEP test scores (DeSantis Press Release, Oct 24, 2022)
  • Oregon school performance craters (OregonLive, Oct 24, 2022)
  • Oz Odds Of Winning PA Soar After Historic Fetterman Debate Meltdown (Zero Hedge, Oct 25, 2022)
  • Fetterman Faces Fallout From Disastrous Debate: ‘Worst Performance By Any Candidate I Have Ever Seen’ (The Daily Wire, October 25, 2022)
  • Marina Medvin on Twitter: “NY State Supreme Court reinstates all fired unvaccinated employees, orders backpay, says the state violated rights, acted arbitrary & capricious, notes: ‘Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19’.” (Twitter, Oct 25, 2022)
    • Link to NY Supreme Court Case, George Garvey, et al., v. City of New York
      • Page 11, last paragraph: “Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19.” Boom. There ya go.
  • Two-thirds of Americans polled reject the Democratic Party platform on abortion (Life Site News, Oct 25, 2022)
    • “Do you think a pregnant woman should be able to legally have an abortion in the second or third trimester of pregnancy under any circumstance, as a matter of choice?” one question asked. By a 2 to 1 margin, respondents said “No” to this question, which represents the Democratic Party’s stance on abortion.
socialism - how it's marketed, how it is
12-42 Teeing up the Election: That Tick on America’s Back

12-42 Teeing up the Election: That Tick on America’s Back

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Show Summary: Socialism is a parasite that only survives because it lives off the blood of capitalism. It does not create wealth, it creates ruin. It has tried and failed. Oregon has been seeing its effects for decades. But this election, it could all change.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of June 2021
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: October 15th & 16th, 2022 | Guest: Sen. Dennis Linthicum

This Week – Socialism: The Prosperity Parasite 

When you think about it, socialism is a parasite that only survives because it lives off the blood of capitalism. Socialism does not create wealth, it creates ruin. It has tried and failed in many countries, leaving destruction in its wake. But those pushing it here in America and especially in Oregon, are only able to promote it because those pushing it are funded by the profits (and taxes) generated from capitalism.

Oregon has been seeing socialism’s effects for decades. But this election, it could all change.

By the way. We used to call Oregon the Petri Dish of Leftist politics. Now it’s the Wuhan Lab of Leftist politics.

Senator Dennis Linthicum on Socialism in Oregon

We welcome back Senator, Dennis Linthicum (SD-28, Klamath Falls) to talk about socialism and its effects in Oregon. As a state senator in Oregon, he sees the policies pushed by the democrats, many of whom are socialists or wannabes. They just haven’t come out of the closet yet. But once Oregon is full socialist, they’ll drop the mask.

Be sure to get Dennis’s newsletter. It’s easy! Just send an email to dennis@electdennis.com to sign up

During the interview, we focus on four broad policy issues: society (education, crime, attacks on the family, etc.); economics (we’re living it under Biden); environment (spotted owl, the Klamath area has been under assault for decades, timber); and healthcare. On health care, Oregon just got a billion dollars to experiment with Medicaid, expanding it to virtually everything because, you guessed it, global warming.

And, Measure 111, is on the ballot this year. It would make universal health care permanent in Oregon by making it a constitutional right.

Remember. Environmental laws are how they control businesses. Healthcare is how they control people.

That’s how they seized such broad control during covid.

Don’t miss this in-depth examination of socialism and it’s impact on Oregon. We have this year to stop it. And, for once, things are looking good.

Be sure to check out the Featured Reading section in the links section for five great articles describing socialism.

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.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Featured Reading: Socialism
History Lesson For Millennials: Here’s Why Socialism NEVER Works (The Federalist Papers, Feb 22, 2016)
Socialism Destroys Lives and Would Destroy America – It’s That Simple (The Western Journal, October 26, 2018)
Socialism’s Historical Destruction of the Environment (Case for Conservatism, October 10, 2022)
5 Ways Socialism Destroys Societies (Townhall, Feb 25, 2014)
Socialism: Destruction, starvation, tyranny, and death are cool again (Babalú Blog, September 19, 2018)
Socialism Will Always Destroy Democracy (The American Conservative, June 7, 2019)
Or watch: Klavan Explains Why Socialism Kills Countries (Daily Wire, July 24, 2018)

  • See the Cato Institute’s Report Card on America’s governors. Notice how the entire Left Coast gets an “F”: “Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors 2022” (Cato Institute, Oct 12, 2022)
  • [Canada’s healthcare hellscape is now offering assisted suicide to wounded veterans] Veterans Affairs says worker ‘inappropriately’ discussed medically assisted death with veteran (Global News Canada, August 17, 2022)
  • ‘Abandoning People’: Canada’s Broadening Assisted Suicide Law Dangerous for the Vulnerable, Critics Say (The Epoch Times, August 24, 2022)
  • NHS Waiting List Tops 7 Million for First Time Leaving 1 in 8 People in England Waiting for NHS Treatment (The Daily Skeptic, Oct 13, 2022)*Wait up to 8 hours for an ambulance
  • Canada is Euthanizing the Poor (via VK.com, Aug 16, 2022)
  • Euthanasia is Now a Leading Cause of Death in Canada, And Ethicists Are Freaking Out (Daily Caller, Aug 12, 2022)
    • “[Canada’s] broad eligibility has led to more than 10,000 Canadians being euthanized in the most recent year for which data is available, making it the sixth leading cause of death in the country, the AP reported.*Matthew Yglesias: “Canadian institutions seem to be using euthanasia legalization to avoid the expense of caring for the disabled.”
  • Disturbing: Experts troubled by Canada’ euthanasia laws (AP News, Aug 11, 2022)
  • Euthanasia in Belgium and the Netherlands: On a Slippery Slope? (Research Gate, JAMA Internal Medicine, Aug 2015)
  • Dr Pierre Kory on Disillusionment (drtrozzi.org, Oct 12, 2022)
    • “I did not understand we were striking at the very heart of the pharmaceutical industry”
  • How surrogacy is transforming medicine (UnHerd, Oct 6, 2022)
12-39 It’s the Elections, Stupid | The Front Lines of Freedom are in Oregon

12-39 It’s the Elections, Stupid | The Front Lines of Freedom are in Oregon

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Show Summary: This week, we’re focusing on the front lines of freedom. And right now, our freedoms come down to the elections. We speak with a businessman running for Congress to get government out of the way, and a scientist who attended the Washington County trial in which the State and county are attempting to hide public records from the public. And you won’t believe what the judge did to the expert witness.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of June 2021
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: September 24th & 25th, 2022 | Guest: Mike Erickson & Chuck Wiese 

This Week – It’s the Elections, Stupid

Bill Clinton famously had a sign on the Oval office wall, “It’s the economy, stupid.” It served as a daily reminder that the economy is what matters most to most people. Well, who is in charge of that economy comes down to elections.

In Oregon, the far-left policies keep us entrenched in high taxes, rising housing costs, and dubious curricula in public schools to cripple the next generation, and elections that don’t bring answers to the problems. It all feels hopeless. and many have left the state going to redder pastures to find the answers in states that make sense. Lower taxes, less big government, lower public debt, or maybe none at all if you’re in South Dakota. Meanwhile, Oregon’s lawmakers look to ruin our electric grid by pulling out dams, then force electric cars on its citizens whether we like it or not. Thus dies the free market.

Mike Erickson, Candidate for Oregon’s New CD 6

Speaking of that sign in the Oval office, we’ve gone from “It’s the economy, stupid,” to “It’s a stupid economy.” Here’s a hint to voters in Oregon’s new CD 6. If you want to fix the economy, don’t elect someone who has no business experience. Oregon, and the nation, needs elected officials who have practical business experience — not someone who has spent their entire life in government. (Hint number two: Biden has no practical business experience and look how that’s worked out.)

If you want to support Mike Erickson, find out what you can do at MikeEricksonforCongress.org. (Start by sharing that with your family and friends!)

Remember the strategy we mentioned months ago: If you live in a safe district (in Oregon, that’s CD 2) or in a hopeless district (CDs 1 and 3), put your time and money and energy to promote and support candidates in districts where they have a chance to flip a seat. That’s CDs 4 (Alek Skarlatos), 5 (Lorie DeRemer), and 6 — Mike Erickson.

Mike is running against Andrea Salinas, a far-left democrat who spent her entire adult life in and around government. On her website, she says she grew up in a hard-working family where nothing was handed to them but they made it through hard work. And, like Mike, she also had a cop for a father. So why is Mike fighting for police and she’s voting to defund the police? And how did she go from “working hard” and pulling oneself up through hard work to a career fighting for government handouts paid for by other people?

So Much for Open and Honest Elections

Here’s a funny thing.

In Oregon, the Secretary of State’s job is to audit other state agencies. But for some reason, she has declared that the elections division is off limits. Why is that? Instead, she has joined a lawsuit against a voter to declare a Washington County database should be shielded from public view and scrutiny.

Imagine trying that if the IRS wanted to audit your business. No, you can’t see the numbers. Trust us. Everything’s fine. You’d be saying that from jail. But the State is refusing to hand over a database, calling it proprietary information of a private company handling Washington County’s elections.

And why is a private company handling our elections to begin with?

We talk with Chuck Wiese — a scientist, analyst, and meteorologist, who has stepped up and joined the front lines of freedom — who was there at both days of the Sippel case trial. You won’t believe what the judge did to an actual, world renowned data scientist. Well, it’s Oregon. Maybe you will.

If the judge decides against the Sippel case, it will only continue to fuel the fire and doubts about the 2020 election. The only way to put out that fire is to open up the data to prove there wasn’t any manipulation. But hiding it and then expecting people to trust the government…?

Regardless of whether or not you think the 2020 election, when it comes to elections, any election, the Golden Rule should be “Open the books.” Hiding the results behind a wall of secrecy is, well, just stupid.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Mike Erickson Segments 1–3

Chuck Wiese Segments 4–6

 

What to do about our many healthcare crises. It is just one healthcare crisis after another.
Our Many Healthcare Crises, Part 2 | The Root Cause of Many of Them

Our Many Healthcare Crises, Part 2 | The Root Cause of Many of Them

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Show Summary: When Obamacare was passed (rammed through without a single Republican vote), it was supposed to fix health care and lower costs. All those savings, remember? What happened? But there are more problems and more spending than ever. This week, we continue our talk with healthcare-system expert, Lisa Lettenmaier, but zero in on the two root causes of many of, if not all of, our many healthcare crises.

Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of June 2021
Current I Spy Radio broadcast areas. Click for full-size map.

The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: August 6th & 7th, 2022 | Guest: Lisa Lettenmaier

This Week – Our Many Healthcare Crises

We continue our deep dive into the problems plaguing our health care system—the many healthcare crises and the ever-growing expense. How is it that we are spending more than ever — by far! — on healthcare and yet it’s just one crisis after another? 

But this week, we zero in on the two main problems. And they should be no surprise, really, for anyone who has followed I Spy Radio’s many shows on healthcare or for anyone who has a lick of common sense. The two root causes are money and government. Particularly, government interference.

Healthcare crises in the UK: "My cousin had to deliver his child because the ambulance said they’d take 4 and a half hours to come for his wife. What is the UK coming to? He had to watch a YouTube tutorial on how to deliver a baby."
Healthcare crises in the UK. THIS is what they want to emulate?

We bring back our healthcare system expert, Lisa Lettenmaier. Lisa is currently an insurance agent and owns Health Source NW. But her background is in accounting, overseeing budgets and forecasting for major companies. So when she looks at the healthcare crises, she is viewing it not just from an insurance standpoint but from a systemic-analyst’s viewpoint.

Need healthcare and not sure where to turn? Give Lisa a call. Her website is www.HealthSourceNW.com.  She helps individuals and businesses throughout Oregon and SW Washington make sure they have the right coverage for when, God forbid, they really need it. Will your policy cover what you think it does? 

The Root Cause of So Many Healthcare Crises

This week, you’ll also hear an extended opener from I Spy Radio host, Mark Anderson, on the government’s interference — sabotage, really — of the normal free-market forces that would normally lower cost and improve care. Mark walks you through what a free market system would look like. Hint: we don’t have one now (remember Obama et al. when they were pushing Obamacare:  “the free market failed”?), not in health care. And he walks you through the government interfering with the free market, much of which can be traced back to a 1943 IRS ruling.

If you didn’t already think “they” are destroying things on purpose, you’ll believe it after this show. No one, no government, makes this many “mistakes” on purpose.

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.

Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info