エピソード

  • Hotdogs, Apple Pie, and Deficit Spending Exploding Like Fireworks
    2025/07/04
    This week's show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 This week -- The Big Bad Billionaires’ Tax Cut squeaks through the Senate with J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. After we recorded, the House grudgingly concurred as self-styled fiscal conservatives caved in to support the massive increase in the national debt -- all to give billionaires the huge tax cut they cherish. The BBB front-loads the tax cuts, and delays the program-slashing cuts until after the next election. That's a "tell." The surprise retirement announcement from North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis and non-MAGA GOPer Don Bacon in a Democratic-leaning Nebraska Congressional seat sends a dire warning to purple-seat Republicans on the ballot next year. Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow announces a $2.1 million haul in her first partial fundraising quarter. Elon Musk reignites his war with Trump and the Republicans, threatening to fund campaigns against anyone voting for Trump’s Big Bad Bill AND Trump threatening to turn DOGE and ICE on Elon. Access to Mackinac Island could become a lot more expensive. Lawmakers are looking at putting some limits on parking and ferry transport fees in the wake of a new monopoly of ferry boat options. Another petition drive is in the works for Michigan. Led by Voters Not Politicians, this ballot proposal would limit political contributions by state-regulated utilities and companies with large state contracts … while providing some sunshine on dark money in politics. We’ll talk with VNP’s Kimberly Murphy-Kovalick about the first VNP-led ballot drive since the group ended gerrymandering in 2018. We recorded the podcast on July 2 and, as of then, state lawmakers are nowhere near resolving the state’s budget. This week's guest is a leader in the battle over the exorbitant cash being donated for political campaigns. A coalition of state nonprofits is hoping to ban some of Michigan’s largest corporations from donating massive amounts to politicians. Under the effort, regulated utilities and those with government contracts in excess of $250,000 would be unable to make political contributions. It hopes to put the question to voters next year. The coalition includes Voters Not Politicians, the group that led the successful 2018 campaign to pass an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment. Joining the conversation is Senior Director of Policy and Programs of the Voters Not Politicians Ballot Committee, Kim Murphy-Kovalick. (Full disclosure: Walt Sorg was one of the founders of Voters Not Politicians in 2017, but no longer affiliated with the group other than as a financial donor.) Clay Jones/claytoonz.com This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================
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    38 分
  • Potty Mouth Potus
    2025/06/26
    This week's show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 As Donald Trump’s poll numbers continue to sink to new record lows, his anger grows. He’s been lashing out at media reports that his Iran War didn’t end Iran’s nuclear program, signs of opposition to his Big Bad Budget Bill among Republicans in Congress … and possibly having his golfing schedule interrupted by his war in the Middle East. Michigan political news on our radar this week: Democrats across Michigan and the nation are trying to figure out the implications of New York City’s mayoral election. In Michigan, the victory of Zohran Mamdani comes as especially welcome news to U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The prosecuting attorney in Michigan’s 2nd largest county wants to be Attorney General Republican candidates for both the U.S. Senate and Governor are trying to figure out how to finesse the highly unpopular idea of Medicaid cuts with their support of Republican federal budget proposals. Kristi Noem says Trump has solved the southern border problem … and now it’s time to focus on the northern border. Does that mean a fence down the middle of Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron and Lake Superior (with Canada paying for it)? And we can now officially say “goodbye” to "Big Balls." 19-year-old Edward Coristine, one of the first teenage Ninjas hired as part of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is no longer working for the federal government according to multiple media reports. Matt Davies:Washington Post This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================
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    32 分
  • Arrested Developments
    2025/06/20
    This week's show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press The Trump administration’s latest anti-democracy tactic is arresting the opposition. Trump’s masked brownshirts have now moved from arresting immigrants who haven’t committed crimes to arresting elected officials and threatening their staffs with arrest for the crime of disagreeing with Donald Trump and Stephen Miller. Adding to the terror: threats and acts of violence aimed at politicians and government workers, with the horrific murder of a Minnesota legislator and her husband the most terrifying attack of all. We are joined by a senior leader in the Michigan Legislature who has served the public for 30 years: Senate Majority Floor Leader Sam Singh. And we can’t overlook the pathetic, under-attended and over-priced birthday parade that was so boring even the birthday boy himself fell asleep as the soldiers marched by…while five-million or so pissed off Americans took to the streets for peaceful protests over the full panorama of Trumpism. Also on Michigan's political radar this week: The campaign finance scandal growing out of opposition to Governor Whitmer’s COVID policies brings its first criminal conviction There’s another Republican in the race for Governor, the second announced candidate who has already lost a statewide election Two more Democrats have announced they are running for Congress in Michigan swing districts, including the recently resigned U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. State Democrats are dialing up the attacks on the proposed Trump budget, with a focus on healthcare and Michigan jobs. Michigan’s junior U.S. Senator is making more national headlines. This time it was Elissa Slotkin verbally castrating Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a cross-examination that has gone viral. If you missed it, we’ll have a link to the exchange on our website. We begin with the first guilty plea in what’s likely to be a growing campaign spending scandal: the funding of the Unlock Michigan campaign which threatens former state Senate GOP leader Mike Shirkey. The original complaints about the financing of Unlock Michigan were filed by longtime GOP activist Bob Labrant and with the assistance of Mark and Jeff: Jeff as a witness, and Mark as attorney for the trio. Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin cross-examines Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether he's authorized troops to fire on unarmed civilians at protests. MarkFiore.com This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management =========================== ===========================
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    33 分
  • Les Miserables (Guest: Journalist Jordyn Hermani)
    2025/06/13
    This week's show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Donald Trump made his first visit to the now Woke-Free Kennedy Center this week for a performance of his favorite musical, Les Miserables. He apparently failed to see the irony in how the musical’s plot mirrors the week in Los Angeles: the people rising up to protest a militaristic autocracy intent on smashing their rights and who ultimately overturn the ruthless militaristic autocracy. The French resistance barricades the streets and light fires. And, as we record this week’s show, a member of the United States Senator is assaulted and handcuffed by Kristi Noem’s security detail - sparking outrage on the left, and lies on the right. There’s also a lot of Michigan political news on our radar this week: Governor Whitmer has joined with other Democratic governors in opposing Trump’s politicizing of the National Guard and threats to launch military invasions of more cities. Another Michigan Democrat has entered the conversations about 2028 presidential nomination. Senator Elissa Slotkin has entered the conversation after mapping out a center-left strategy for taking on Trump. State house Republicans have passed education budgets that jack up state support for private schools and totally gut the budgets of the state’s public universities, with MSU and UM having nearly all their state support wiped out. And a shout-out to the NY Times for the best headline of the week in the reporting on The Resistance, adapted from Shakespeare: First we employ all the lawyers! Amen to that! We're joined by Bridge Michigan political and state government reporter Jordyn Hermani for a deep dive into the politics of Michigan’s budget and the multiple 2026 races that have national importance. She is an Emmy-nominated journalist whose byline has been featured in several publications including POLITICO, The Detroit Free Press, Indianapolis Star and now Bridge Michigan. Her coverage of Michigan politics throughout the years has seen me featured on a host of networks such as CNN, CBS News, Fox News, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and NPR. Jordyn also has been featured in the Columbia Journalism Review and Washington Post. Outside of politics, she is an avid trail hiker and estate sale enthusiast. Her passions include cats, horror movies, hockey and her husband… but she quickly adds “not necessarily in that order!” AnnTelnaes.substack.com This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management =========================== ===========================
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    48 分
  • A Disgusting Abomination (Guest: MI Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel)
    2025/06/06
    Our apologies for the audio distortion on this week's episode. We'll enlist some newly out-of-work DOGE techies to fix it for next week 😂 This week's show is sponsored by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 The bromance appears to have ended between the world’s wealthiest man and the world’s most brazen. What does the growing rift between The Ketamine Kid and TACO Don mean for the next few months? Senator Joni Ernst has a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease with her revelation that we’re all going to die … allowing Democrats to note it will happen faster under GOP policies. And "Big Balls" is back in the news. The 19-year-old Doge Wunderkind is now a top-level executive with the General Services Administration which gives him access to all sorts of data on every American compiled. And he’s drawing one of the top salaries in the federal government - more than $106,000 a year. There’s also a lot of Michigan political news on our radar this week. MDP Chair Curtis Hertel There’s a new campaign finance scandal growing with revelations of a huge dark money slush fund. The state Republican Party is moving out of its downtown Lansing headquarters, saying it has far more office than is needed for its current staff. The jokes write themselves. Some Republicans are trying to impeach Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson State Democrats continue to hone in on the impact of federal Medicaid cutbacks in the run-up to 2026. We are joined by Democratic State Party chair Curtis Hertel. Michigan looks to be the focal point for 2026, critical to control of Congress … and with expensive, competitive races to replace term-limited Gretchen Whitmer, Jocelyn Benton and Dana Nessel. RJ Matson, CQ Roll Call This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management =========================== ===========================
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    52 分
  • Buh Bye “Big Balls” (Guest Law Professor/Author Leah Litman)
    2025/05/30
    This week's show is sponsored by: EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News Fulton Fish Market 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Dave Whamond:cagle.com "Big Balls" and all his Doge teenage mutants are on their way out as head Doge Elon Musk slinks to the exits, unhappy with Trump’s pretty much ignoring efforts to cut the federal deficit as the mostly dysfunctional Re¡publican Congress decides if it needs to inflict even more damage on the nation. We’ve got the usual lineup of Trump outrages through the week: handing out pardons like Oprah hands out cars, sending his sons and Vice President to suck up to the crypto kings at their convention, and whining as a three-judge panel tells him he doesn’t have the right to impose his tariffs. We’ve got new polling that points to a Benson-James showdown for Governor, and one of two women going head-to-head with Mike Rogers. But it’s still 15 months until the primary. Donald Trump says he’s open to giving pardons to the ragtag militia members who were planning to kidnap and murder Governor Whitmer. Why not? In the last few days he’s pardoned a half-dozen or more conflict felons, all of whom happen to be MAGA zealots Whitmer keynotes the annual Detroit Chamber policy conference on Mackinac Island talking unity, and drawing appreciative chuckles with references to her budding bromance with Trump. New national polling hints that her working cooperatively with Trump is paying benefits. Attorney General Nessel issues her own scorecard in the ongoing filing of lawsuits against Trump’s most outrageous and illegal actions. Spoiler alert: Nessel and the coalition of Democratic state attorneys general are winning most of the cases MSU could be facing a new financial challenge as Marco Rubio starts a purge of Chinese nationals attending American universities. Another victim could well be the landlords of the most pricey rental units in East Lansing We're joined in the podcast by author, legal commentator and UM law professor Leah Litman. Her book LAWLESS: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes has just been published. Litman teaches and writes on constitutional law, federal courts, and federal post-conviction review. Her research examines unidentified and implicit values that are used to structure the legal system, the federal courts, and the legal profession. In 2023, the American Law Institute named Litman a recipient of its Early Career Scholars Medal, which is awarded every other year to “two outstanding early-career law professors whose work is relevant to public policy and has the potential to influence improvements in the law.” Also in 2023, the American Constitution Society recognized Litman with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award. Leah is is one of the co-hosts and co-creators of Strict Scrutiny, a Crooked Media podcast about the US Supreme Court, which received the 2023 Podcast Academy award (Ambie) for Best Politics or Opinion podcast and a 2023 Anthem Award for its coverage of the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade. Following her clerkships, she worked at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, one of the DC law firms targeted by Donald Trump for retribution – something struck down earlier this week by a federal court. The firm said in its lawsuit that Trump was punishing the firm for cases it had taken, noting among other things that it had filed a suit this year challenging Trump’s dismissal of inspectors general and previously represented some of his political opponents. Clay Bennett, Counterpoint Media This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting
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    49 分
  • The Music of the Night (Guest: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed)
    2025/05/22
    This week's show is sponsored by: EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News Fulton Fish Market 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Mike Luckovich - Atlanta Journal Constitution Donald Trump had one of the best weeks of his 4-month presidency this week, with his "Big Beautiful Budget Bill" sneaking through as his personal music of the night. The “let’s protect the rich folks, screw everyone else” budget passed the U.S. House after an all-night session; His new ride, the $400-million gold-leaf jet, is officially in the hands of the Air Force needing about $1-billion in upgrades; He wrapped up his crypto-coin-scam to the tune of a few hundred million dollars more with his Meme-coin dinner. This past week may go down in history as the most corrupt week in the history of American government, far surpassing the exploits of even Richard Nixon or Warren Harding. There’s also a lot of Michigan political news on our radar this week: The DeVos family has invested the first five-million dollars in its continuing family campaign to take over Michigan politically… Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum launches her campaign for Secretary of State, something she’s wanted to do for years; A new name has emerged as a challenger for Tom Barrett’s seat in Congress. He’s Matt Maasdam, a retired Navy SEAL and former military aide to President Barack Obama (the guy who carried the nuclear codes); other names are being floated as possibilities. Among them: former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and Michigan native Bridget Brink, who resigned her position to protest Trump’s treatment of President Zelensky. Mark will have his thoughts on the passing of former Michigan Chief Justice Michael Cavanagh, a little known but towering figure in the annals of Michigan state government and our justice system. Also this week: Jeff and producer Walt Sorg and talk politics, healthcare … and Trump corruption… with U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed The race for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination has four heavyweights poised to battle over the next year. Among them: former Wayne County health director and Bernie Sanders favorite Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He ran for Governor in 2018, coming out of nowhere to score 30 percent of the vote to Gretchen Whitmer’s 52 percent. Recognized nationwide as an expert on improving the American healthcare system, he authored Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide, which explains how to build a healthcare system that guarantees high-quality, affordable healthcare for every American. In 2020, he was selected to serve on President Biden’s Unity Task Force for Healthcare, helping craft policies that are lowering prescription drug prices today. Dr. El-Sayed is a native of southeast Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with the highest distinction and played on the Wolverines men’s lacrosse team. He earned his medical degree from Columbia University on an NIH-funded fellowship and a second doctorate at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Lalo Alcaraz/Andrews McMeel Syndication This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management =========================== ===========================
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    38 分
  • High Flying Bribe, With Extra Legroom – (Guest: Economist Justin Wolfers)
    2025/05/16
    This week's show is sponsored by: EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News Fulton Fish Market 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 The grifting is like a Musk rocket ship, soaring off to near space while the passenger has a big giggle. In this case, it’s a $400-million airplane for Donald Trump’s personal use now (after a $1-billion taxpayer-funded retrofit), and even beyond ... assuming he agrees to leave the White House. In the time he’s able to take away from golf, social network posting and watching TV, Trump is getting occasional briefings on what his band of zealots are doing to the nation…and backing away from at least a few of his most damaging decisions. Case in point: tariffs. Yes, he’s still a fan of what amounts to a national sales tax, but he’s backing away from the most excessive as his approval ratings move into used-car-salesman numbers. We’ll talk about the economics of Trump’s ever changing policies with University of Michigan economics professor Justin Wolfers. Also on our political radar screen this week (between Newark-style outages!): There's another Democrat in the race for U.S. Senate, former state House Speaker Joe Tate. Onetime Republican congressman David Trott is talking about a return to the U.S. House, but running this time as a Democrat Washtenaw County prosecutor Eli Savit has joined the race for the Democrats' nomination for Attorney General And the DeVos family has dropped a cool $5-million as their first investment into the John James for Governor campaign Joining the conversation this week is one of the world’s most respected economists, Justin Wolfers. Dr. Wolfers is a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and a visiting professor of economics at the University of Sydney. He is also a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research; a non-resident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a research fellow with the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn; a research affiliate with the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London; and an international research fellow with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Dr. Wolfers earned his Ph.D. in economics in 2001 from Harvard University, and was a Fulbright, Knox and Menzies Scholar. He earned his undergraduate degree in economics in his native Australia at the University of Sydney in 1994, winning the University Medal. He was recently named by the International Monetary Fund as one of the "25 economists under 45 shaping the way we think about the global economy." This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA a full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals - Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals - Issue Advocacy Research • Community - Media Relations • Issue - Image Management • Database Development & List Management =========================== ===========================
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    50 分