Tag: Oregon’s economy

It’s the Government, Stupid | Troubling Economic Indicators Right Now

It’s the Government, Stupid | Troubling Economic Indicators Right Now

Show Summary: This week, it is all about the economy with Jonathan Williams from the American Legislative Exchange Council who is on to discuss some troubling economic indicators that the propaganda media won’t tell you about. Are we in the beginning stages of the transition to socialism…? Because this is what it would look like.

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Original Air Dates: June 11, 2022 | Guest: Jonathan Williams

This Week – It’s the Government, Stupid

“It’s the economy, stupid.” 

That was the sign Bill Clinton had in the Oval Office. It was a reminder that what really mattered to people was a strong, growing economy, With jobs and opportunities, lower prices and a chance to live the American dream.

Now, with Biden residing in the office, it’s more like “It’s the government stupid.” Because instead of focusing on growing the economy, it’s all about growing government. At all cost. 

But as with all government-run economies, we are quickly lurching toward a crash when the big government types will have a reckoning. Government-dominated economies never work.

You are living in the transition stages of a switch from capitalism to socialism. High food prices. High energy prices. Exploding inflation. High crime. And effort to remove guns from law-abiding citizens. This is what the entry to socialism looks like. And to see how it ends up, look at Venezuela.

Jonathan Williams: Troubling Economic Indicators

It’s always a pleasure to have our friend, Jonathan Williams, back on the show. Jonathan is  the Chief Economist and Executive Vice President for Policy at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

This week, we walk through the attempted coup of our economy, troubling economic indicators that warn of impending slowdown and potential stagflation. These aren’t some distant economic indicators. These are deeply worrying economic indicators here and now. Like in the housing market.

Be sure to check out the American Legislative Exchange Council and their yearly publication, Rich States, Poor States.

And we talk about some of ALEC’s other programs. Like their  Education Task Force. Which has helped other states enact school choice. Can Oregon get it on the ballot? And get a win? (We’ll have Marc Thielman on next week to discuss the latest ballot initiative for school choice.)

And we talk with him about Oregon’s Republican candidate for governor, Christine Drazan, and what she ought to be focusing on in her economic platform.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Biden Administration Expected to Reinstate Price Controls, Bringing Back 1970s Gas Lines, Experts Warn (Epoch Times June 6, 2022)
  • Germans warned of further food price hikes: Soaring energy costs threaten the survival of farmers, the industry says (RT, June 8, 2022)
  • JP Morgan CEO Says There’s a “Hurricane” Coming for U.S. Economy, “You Better Brace Yourself” (Bloomberg News, via We Love Trump, June 2, 2022)
  • The First ‘Global Inflationary Depression’ Is Very Possible (Seeking Alpha, Mar 5, 2021)
  • Inflation Is Just Getting Started. (Peter Schiff, via YT, June 9, 2022)
    • May CPI est 8.3%
    • Oil over 122 per barrel
    • Atlanta Fed’s GDP Q2 estimate is 0.9%
  • Welcome to communism where you arrest your political opponents: “FBI Raids Home Of Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate And Whitmer Challenger, Takes Him Into Custody” (Daily Wire, June 9, 2022)
Get off the Path to Tyranny | Stop America’s Slide toward Socialism

Get off the Path to Tyranny | Stop America’s Slide toward Socialism

Show Summary: With one of the most-locked down economies in the nation, Oregon knows about tyranny. We talk with State Senator Dennis Linthicum on how we correct course—statewide and nationally.

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Five Different Times, on Seven Different Stations. Listen anywhere! All stations stream live! And find us on your favorite podcast platform.

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
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Original Air Dates: Jan. 09 & 10, 2021 | State Sen. Dennis Linthicum

This Week’s Show: Getting off the Path to Tyranny

Now on the other side of all the election let downs, illegal ballots cast, state officials stepping all over their own state’s constitution, riots, and those killed during the riots we’re shaking off the desire to hide our heads in the sand, and instead focus on fighting back.

Pretending we don’t have serious problems, or overreacting by pushing violence and government overthrow, won’t solve anything. We need a steady hand on the wheel as we try to untangle and undo the forces determined to destroy our country.

New Rules in Elections. Win if Possible. If not, Chang the Rules

A recent Just the News article from John Solomon wrote that the 2020 election wasn’t just an election, it was a political watershed in which the rules and strategy for winning were rewritten. So by not thinking it through of what has to happen now, with all these institutions and media in favor of socialism, stopping it means we must take instead seize new rules and strategy for winning.

This week, we take a deep dive into Senator Linthicum’s latest newsletter. He examines how we in Oregon have been forced into shut downs and a ruined economy through the government’s manipulation of numbers, using covid as the cover.

Jump down to read Senator Dennis Linthicum’s full newsletter

What better way to exercise their desire to rid of us our rights while making us beholden to the scraps of money tossed into households, making them grateful. A socialist-style society being formed as covid smoking flares keeps the truth hidden. Covid or global warming it doesn’t matter. It’s the same tactics designed to confuse and manipulate. Their bureaucracy of supports all respond to one goal: control of everything.

The senator walks us through how the mirrors of deception are made and used and ties it back to current events in DC. This while Trump is making clear that he may be leaving the presidency, but he’s not leaving the fight.

Neither are we.

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

Dr. Frank Bures: False positive COVID PCR tests sow confusion (Winowa Daily News, Jan 3, 2021)* “I have seen it written that anywhere from 25% to 40% of people with COVID infections are totally asymptomatic.”

Experts: US COVID-19 positivity rate high due to ‘too sensitive’ tests (MSN, Aug 30, 2020)

Fauci reinforces WHO’s recognition that vaccine may not prevent contraction (Just the News, Jan 5, 2021)

 Senator Dennis Linthicum’s Newsletter

The massive COVID-19 “Test-Test-Retest” scheme is the only thing that keeps Gov. Kate Brown’s lockdown hype going. The destructionists in control love their power and testing has proven to be the perfect tool. We all know that good data is a requirement for good decision making. The testing mantra was originally portrayed as the tool to help us gather good data and lead us to make good decisions. But now we see the data isn’t being used to make good decisions it is being manipulated for ulterior ends.

COVID-19 testing has expanded dramatically throughout our state and the nation. Thus, as more and more people get tested, local county health organizations can use the data to pump statistical non-information and keep the public confused and fearful. What we do see, in the statistics, is that COVID-19 “cases” might be rising but the numbers are bolstered mostly by non-ill, non symptomatic people who are presumed to have COVID-19 although they feel just fine.

False positives have long been recognized as problematic and the World Health Organization (WHO) finally released a guidance memo on December 14th, warning that high cycle thresholds on PCR tests will result in false positives. So this misguided policy perspective is unforgivable. Also, the “infection fatality rate” is falling faster as the presumed, confirmed, and asymptomatic cases keep rising. This should be great news but it is never treated by the media or political class, as such.

This makes me wonder about several things…

  1. What does our future hold?
  2. How long will these lockdowns last?
  3. Will lockdowns become a common “goto” too?

This last question may seem outlandish, but recall that the WHO’s original definition of a pandemic was regarding, “epidemics worldwide with enormous numbers of deaths and illness.” A new definition appeared on the scene right in front of what we now call the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic. This newer definition removed criteria about the severity of any illnesses and also removed the criteria for high rates of mortality. The definition now refers to a pandemic as “a worldwide epidemic of a disease.”

If you are wondering why death rates are never discussed, it is because they are no longer relevant to the definition. This means the media, health officials and the political class can push this entirely spurious statistic to keep thoughtful questioners at bay and give statistical reinforcements to the next administrative dictator.

The public was complacent with the original “flatten the curve” logic because it was to meant preserve personal protective gear, ventilators, and hospital beds. All good goals and, indeed, the death curve has been flattened for nearly eight months. Yet, death counts don’t count and case counts remain the COVID-19 boogey-man.

The above graphic for case counts shows an obvious upward trend. In fact, this statistic is so visually terrifying that scare-mongers avoid publishing the fact that the annual average compares favorably to other flu seasons. The nefarious news sources and social media networks are doing their best to censor and quiet the rising anger against their unbalanced reporting and the government’s needless and ineffective lockdown strategies.

From the data we can determine that these mandates are incapable of stopping a viral outbreak. But, what if the purpose of these mandates is not about stopping the virus? What if these mandates are about control? Monetary, physical, emotional, and spiritual control?

My press-releases over the last several weeks have tried to alert people to the changing landscape being twisted beneath our feet. The Governor is promoting “Lock-down Mania”. Why? It behooves us to question what is the end goal of her “mania”? Could it be to eviscerate the economy, sabotage our cultural heritage and preach a unique brand of medical mysticism that borders on malpractice?

The Governor’s office, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), executive agencies and Democrat cronies are perpetuating either one of two dystopian futures. They offer us, on one-hand, the statistically improbable COVID contagion that will destroy the lives of us and our loved ones; or on the other-hand, their lockdown inspired destruction of our free-market economy, complete with untold financial ruin, bankruptcy, unemployment, and despair.

Biden portrays the future as a “dark winter”, but it doesn’t have to be. The future doesn’t have to be a dimly lit hellhole of socialism if the truth can prevail. We must not allow our future to be consumed by what lies in the dark heart of these leftists who are clamoring for positions of authority within the new regime.
We must continue to unite against the left’s endless proposals for the bureaucratic central state. Stand together for the principles our nation’s founders documented so elegantly. Stand and fight for these self-evident truths:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Our individual rights and liberties are not dependent on whether the president, congress, governor, or legislature honors those rights. Those rights belong to us as individual free-will, moral agents graced with unique attributes and filled with human dignity. Our rights are eternal vouchers that belong to every person regardless of race, creed, religion or heritage and the state has no right to intervene in any person’s just pursuits for their own lives, livelihoods, and the well-being of their posterity.

I will not back down from the fight to preserve our American heritage. Together we can bring Oregon back to our original constitutional form of limited government, but we’ll need to hold fast to our principles and not let them steal our livelihoods from us.

***

Oregon’s Economic Outlook: Math meets Imaginary

Oregon’s Economic Outlook: Math meets Imaginary

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Show Summary: Do you have an unlimited amount of money? Or time?  If not, then welcome to the world of economics—where math meets reality. Or, if you’re you’re talking about Oregon Democrats in charge of Oregon’s economic outlook, where math meets imaginary.

Original Air Dates: June 8 & 9, 2019 | Guest(s): Jonathan Williams

When it comes to economic outlook, there’s no better organization to turn to than ALEC — American Legislative Exchange Council, the nation’s premiere economic forecaster for the 50 states. And when it comes to Oregon’s economic outlook, they know what can make Oregon successful.

If only Oregon Democrats did.

Oregon’s Economic Outlook

Governor Kate Brown and Oregon's Economy: where math meets imaginary
Those two kids in the front look like they’re running the numbers on how much all this is gonna cost their generation…

We’ve said often that Oregon is the Petri dish for all things Left, except the Petri dish is no longer needed to prove what works or doesn’t work in economics.  States across the U.S. are demonstrating how increased taxes are not the way to economic recovery.  And even though the proof is in the pudding our Democrat legislators refuse to take heed.

Now ranked a very dismal 44th in ALEC’s survey of economic outlook among the states, Oregon may soon find their economic coffers emptying as businesses leave to move to much more friendly taxed states.  It’s already happening. Stimson Lumber announced this last week that they were packing up, closing their operations in Forest Grove, and heading out of state.

Oddly, with all its spending, Oregon may soon be one of the biggest cheerleaders of the Trump economy. Because what do you think will happen if suddenly the economy retreats when Oregon just decided to raise billions in new taxes?

Jonathan Williams from ALEC

To bring clarity to the problems of high taxed states we bring on Jonathan Williams, co-author of Rich States Poor States to give us the good and bad news of how states are dealing with Trump’s booming economy.  He discusses Oregon’s problems and why it was ranked so low—and that was before the new multi-billion-dollar business tax was passed.

We also get to look at what states like Idaho, Texas, Tennessee and others are doing not only enjoying Trump’s tax cuts but jumping on and cutting their own state taxes that highly benefits their citizens. (Like and support your people? What a concept!)

Listen to find out how Oregon is starting down the path of socialism by the D’s desire for centralized planning.  Hear what one Democrat Senator had to say while standing on the senate floor about businesses that could no longer afford to stay in Oregon. And listen to hear how Democrats are using the tax codes to only allow the “right” kind of business to operate in Oregon. Is this a new trend in national politics?

If nothing else, Oregon Democrats are proving the importance of borders. If the D’s get too destructive you can vote with your feet.

Podcast Version

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Coverage Map of I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of November, 2018
I Spy Radio Show broadcast areas, as of Nov 2018. 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

Links Mentioned