Month: October 2017

What Trump Has Wrought: Virginia Edition

by D.J. McGuire (who lives and votes in Virginia)

Last year, as my fellow MPU podcasters inquired as to why Donald Trump’s nomination would be enough for me to leave the Republican Party, I cited the Goldwater effect to explain how one campaign can change a party, permanently. The Republican nominee in 1960 (before Goldwater) ran on the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960, and was bitterly disappointed to have won roughly one in three African-American votes. The Republican nominee in 1968 (after Goldwater) ran on a “Southern strategy”, and was largely content with having won barely one in eight African-American votes. The nominee in both years was the same man: Richard Nixon.

As it happens, a similar example has been revealed in Virginia: Ed Gillespie.

Read More

Christmas in October

Episode 124 of the More Perfect Union podcast covers the first wave of the Robert Mueller Russia investigation indictments, the ongoing dysfunction in the Trump White House, a new conspiracy theory tied to the JFK assassination document dump, and why otherwise honorable 93-year-old men in wheelchairs should not be judged by the size and location of their hands.

​ Ed Gillespie’s Fake Tax Cut

by D.J. McGuire (who lives and votes in Virginia)

As Virginia’s campaign for governor careens to its conclusion on November 7, I do believe I have managed to solve at least one mystery of Election 2017. Namely, what in the hell happened to Republican nominee Ed Gillespie‘s tax cut proposal?

The answer is: it was a mirage.

Read More

Of Gods and Generals (Ep. 123)

Episode 123 of The More Perfect Union podcast looks at the feud between White House Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly and a gold-star marine family, how the former living presidents are weighing in on the Trump administration, the looming senate tax reform debate, and what happens when immigration law clashes with the constitutional right to choose.

Like what you heard? Subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a podcast. 

And if you like talking politics, join us in our Facebook political debate group, OPEN FIRE, where you can discuss news and politics with Kevin, D.J., Greg, Rebekah, and lots of other smart, fun people.

Find us on Twitter at @MPUpodcast

A Day in the Life of Joe Republican, Fifteen Years On

by Cliff Dunn

Joe gets up at 5 a.m. now instead of 6 a.m. so he can make his first job. He takes a sip of bottled water rather than drinking from the tap: Maybe it’s because the planners in his state bungled their guesses at how much water they’d have over the long term (using flawed climate projections), because the local government botched their water sourcing, or because the local politicians spent years not being honest about how much their system truly cost.

Stopping Future Harvey Weinsteins (Ep. 122)

Segments include:

  • Harvey Weinstein and the sexual secrets of Hollywood
  • What the Trump administration got wrong (yet again) this week
  • What the DOJ got right about transgender rights
  • Whether it helps or hurts girls to join the Boy Scouts of America
  • One cohost’s insights into how transgender issues have affected his family

Where is Puerto Rico’s Place in the Union?

by Cliff Dunn

Hurricane Maria is, without a doubt, a humanitarian catastrophe for Puerto Rico, and one which deserves a good deal of aid for her people.  However, the disaster which has befallen Puerto Rico is unusually complicated: Long before the hurricane hit, the island suffered from decades of poor governance and underinvestment in its infrastructure.  Maria’s impact on the island was akin to a tree falling on top of a derelict house: Rather than just knocking a hole in the roof, the whole house came crashing down.

More Perfect Union – Gun Debate Segment

[iframe style=”border:none” src=”//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/5827162/height/360/width/480/thumbnail/yes/render-playlist/no/theme/custom/tdest_id/357649/custom-color/f80c27″ height=”360″ width=”480″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen]

This is an excerpt from The More Perfect Union podcast that covered the Las Vegas shooting and our discussion of guns in America.

Click here to listen

Leaving Las Vegas (Episode 121)

Episode 121 of The More Perfect Union podcast finds the hosts clashing about the need for gun safety legislation in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting attack. Then the gang turns their sites to all things Trump as they share stories, theories and gossip about the day care president and the worrisome world around him.

Like what you heard? Subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a podcast. 

And if you like talking politics, join us in our Facebook political debate group, OPEN FIRE, where you can discuss news and politics with Kevin, D.J., Greg, Rebekah, Cliff, Molly, Helena, and lots of other smart, fun people.

Find us on Twitter at @MPUpodcast

Trump’s Trade War, Part II

by D.J. McGuire

The Trump Administration’s efforts to “renegotiate” the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have now created so many hackles that the Chamber of Commerce stepped in.

That Trump is willing to risk a trade war to feed his lust for protectionism is not news (he’s already set off Canada and the United Kingdom), but when the Chamber of Commerce sounds the alarm about a Republican president, we’re in big trouble.

Was the New Deal Racist? Yes.

by D.J. McGuire

The more one looks at the actual policies enacted during the Roosevelt administration, the more one comes to the painful conclusion that FDR, whatever his intentions, allowed the government under his command to build a welfare state not for all, but for whites only. Perhaps I’m coming to this realization later than most who are younger (I’ll turn 45 next week), but I am painfully certain I’ve reached it faster than those who are my age or older.