Podcasts about Congressional Research Service

Southwest Airlines files to fly to all Open Skies countries, the TSA explains last year's New Jersey drone scare, a Lufthansa A321 flew for 10 minutes without a pilot at the controls, sleep and fatigue in military aviation, a new direction for the Boeing criminal charge, and lithium-ion fires onboard airplanes. Also, a resurrected aviation podcast and a brand new one. Aviation News Southwest Airlines seeks permission to expand international network Southwest Airlines filed a request with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to fly international routes to all countries with Open Skies agreements. That would include European countries, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The airline has not confirmed specific new routes yet. International air travel is governed by bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries, and so airlines need economic authority from the DOT. These Open Skies treaties set the terms for airlines to operate between nations, including route rights, frequency, and capacity. See: U.S. Air Carriers and International Economic Authority from the DOT. Economic Authority is authorized by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation in the form of a certificate for interstate or foreign passenger and/or cargo authority. Newly Released Documents Show What the Feds Knew About the New Jersey Drone Scare In December 2024, the President said the “drone” sightings were "nothing nefarious." Congress received a classified briefing indicating no threat to the public, but the FAA imposed flight restrictions. At the time, TSA presented an internal slideshow (“official use only”) showing four incidents as normal air traffic. That slideshow is now publicly available. Lufthansa Jet Flew 10 Minutes With No Pilot at Controls After Cockpit Emergency Spanish investigators say the Captain on Lufthansa flight LH1140, an A321, took a toilet break, and then the First Officer in the cockpit suffered a “sudden and severe” incapacitation. The Captain had difficulty getting through the security door and the plane flew for 10 minutes without anyone at the controls. Report to Congress on Sleep and Fatigue in Military Aviation The report titled Management of Sleep and Fatigue in Military Aviation [PDF] was published by the Congressional Research Service on May 13, 2025, and examines the effects of sleep deprivation and its impact on operational readiness and aviation safety. The report highlights that military aviators face significant psychological and physiological demands, which can lead to sleep deprivation and fatigue. These conditions are exacerbated by factors such as unpredictable schedules, long-duty days, challenging flight conditions, and disruptions to circadian rhythms due to crossing multiple time zones. Research has shown that sleep deprivation negatively affects cognitive, physical, and emotional functioning, increasing the risk of accidents in training and combat environments. To mitigate these risks, the Department of Defense employs both non-pharmacological and pharmacological strategies. Non-pharmacological measures include administrative policies that limit duty hours, regulate flight schedules, and educate aviators on the importance of sleep. Pharmacological measures, such as FDA-approved medications, are used selectively when behavioral strategies are insufficient. The report also discusses congressional considerations regarding fatigue management policies and their effectiveness in ensuring aviator safety and mission success. US proposes dropping Boeing criminal charge In an online meeting, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials told families of the 737 Max crash victims that the Government may allow Boeing to sign a non-prosecution agreement to settle the case. This would avoid the criminal fraud trial scheduled to begin on June 23, 2025. An earlier settlement agreement was rejected by a judge. A DOJ official said after the meeting that a decis...

President Donald Trump has named Todd Blanche—his former criminal defense attorney in the 2024 hush money trial—as the acting Librarian of Congress, ousting Dr. Carla Hayden, the first woman and first African American to lead the nation's library. Blanche, who represented Trump in his 34-count conviction, now oversees the world's largest repository of books, films, and historical treasures—despite having no experience in libraries or archives. Senate Majority Leader John Thune says Congress is probing whether the president has the authority to fire a legislative branch official. Senior House Democrats warn that Blanche could access confidential Congressional Research Service requests and have asked the inspector general for a full investigation. Will the Library of Congress remain a nonpartisan guardian of knowledge, or will it become a political pawn? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For review:1. Houthi rebels have downed 6 MQ-9 Reaper Drones since 15 March, and 15 Reapers since October 2023. The U.S. Air Force has about 280 Reapers in its inventory, each costing about $28 million, according to the Congressional Research Service.2. Iran Fortifies Nuclear Sites. Commercial satellite images taken on March 29 showed hardened entrances to (nuclear) complexes beneath Mt. Kolang Gaz La.3. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday told Hamas to release hostages it is holding in order to eliminate what he said was Israel's pretext to continue its war in Gaza.4. Deadly ambush by Hamas on an IDF vehicle operating inside Israeli-held buffer zone, illustrates the terror group is still a dangerous threat.5. Crimea Becomes a  Key Issue in Russia-Ukraine Peace.6. Chinese aircraft carrier CNS Shandong (17) once again deployed again to the Philippine Sea, marking the second time this month.7. Royal Australian Navy Enlisted Sailors Graduate US Navy Nuclear Power Training Course. Eight Royal Australian Navy sailors graduated from the six-month course on April 18 and are now qualified to handle the reactors and other associated systems on the nuclear attack boats that Canberra is set to receive under the 2021 AUKUS Agreement.8. Northrop Grumman reported a $477 million loss on the B-21 Raider bomber in the first quarter of 2025, as higher costs for manufacturing and materials affect the company.The B-21′s inflation adjusted average procurement unit cost is about $692 million.The Air Force plans to buy at least 100 B-21s but has left the door open to buying more bombers.

 CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's Nightline, CBS's Sunday Morning, NBC's Today Show, PBS,, CNN,, Fox; National Public Radio;Washington Post, NewYork Times, are just some of the places you have read or seen him!Civil & Disability Rights are the topics of this show. With Civl Rights History being Preserved for Generations to learn about, What about Disability Rights with it's Multiracial History of Leadership & Activists?? I am concerned.Ralph was an author of the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973&  the American with Disabilities Act along with many others in many Drafts it took to get through a Bi-Partisian Congress as the national law. His work in Civill Rights is amazing as he was trained by many icons including Dorothy Height, Senator Edward Brooke (R, MA), Benjamin Hooks, Roy Wilkins, Wade Henderson. Senator Edward Kennedy, Bayard RustinYou hear very little of  Black Disability Leaders & Activists that are so pivitol to helping in this fight. Brad Lomax, The Black Panters, Dr. Sylvia Walker, (my mentor), Don Galloway or The Honorable Rep. Major Owens ( D, NY). & the Honorable Justin Dart, Tony Coehlo, Ed Roberts, Senator Lowell P. Weicker(R.CT) & others to advance Disability Rights & ADA History.Ralph Neas was both active duty and reserve in the United States Army (1968–1976). In late 1971, he joined the Congressional Research Service's American Law Division at the Library of Congress as a legislative attorney on civil rights. In January 1973, he was hired as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, eventually becoming the Senator's chief legislative assistant.From 1981 through 1995, Neas served as Executive Director of the nonpartisan Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the legislative arm of the civil rights movement. Neas coordinated successful national campaigns that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Civil Rights Restoration Act; the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988; the Japanese American Civil Liberties Act; the preservation of the Executive Order on Affirmative Action (1985–1986 and 1995–1996);and the 1982 Voting Right Act Extension.Final passage on all these laws averaged 85% in both the House of Representatives and the Senate; in addition, another 15 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights legislative priorities were enacted into law in the 1981–1995 period"The Americans with Disabilities Act Award" from the Task Force on the Rights of the Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities for "historic leadership regarding the enactment of the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities" October 12, 1990;Benjamin Hooks "Keeper of the Flame" award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 91st Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, July 10, 2000"President's Award for Outstanding Service", Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, September, 2007.© 2025 Building Abundant Success!!2025 All Rights ReservedJoin Me ~ iHeart Media @ https://tinyurl.com/iHeartBASAmazon ~ https://tinyurl.com/AmzBASAudacy:  https://tinyurl.com/BASAud

In this gripping episode of Cup of Justice... investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell, and attorney Eric Bland — dive deep into the second Jane Doe lawsuit against JP Miller, revealing shocking details of alleged sexual abuse in an unaccredited religious school.  The lawsuit details how Miller's father, Wayne Miller, mishandled the initial report, placing the victim with the alleged assailant. The conversation also touched on the broader issues of church and school regulation, the challenges of pursuing civil and criminal cases, and the impact of media coverage on public perception. The team explores the systemic failures that allowed predatory behavior to continue, discussing the challenges victims face when reporting assault and the complex legal landscape of pursuing justice. Highlights include: Explosive new allegations against JP Miller Insights into the challenges of reporting sexual abuse Behind-the-scenes details of the upcoming Murdaugh Murders Hulu series Expert legal analysis from Eric Bland on civil litigation strategies With their trademark blend of investigative reporting and candid conversation, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in true crime, legal insights, and equal justice for all. Also! Big Congrats to Liz who appeared on Julie Grant's CourtTV show Friday, and catch EB on Anderson Cooper discussing a separate legal matter involving Nancy Mace. ☕ Cup's Up! ⚖️ Episode Resources Murdaugh Murders Hulu Show IMDB Page Mandy & David on Hulu Set - Instagram Jane Doe No. 1 Lawsuit & Article on LUNASHARKMedia.com Jane Doe No. 2 Lawsuit & Article LUNASHARKMedia.com IRS 501(c)(3) Tax Guide for Churches & Religious Organizations “What is a ‘Church' for Federal Tax Purposes?” - Congressional Research Service, Oct 25, 2023 Justice for Mica protestor asks police officer about definition of harassment - TikTok, March 4, 2025 Upcoming Events: Liz with Julie Grant on CourtTV - March 7, 2025 Episode EB with Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN Julie Grant on EB's “Good Skill” podcast Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ Premium Members also get access to episode videos, case files, live trial coverage and exclusive live experiences with our hosts. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. Check out Luna Shark Merch With a Mission shop at lunasharkmerch.com/ What We're Buying... Hungryroot - hungryroot.com/coj - Let Hungryroot know Cup of Justice sent you! 40% off your first delivery will automatically apply at checkout. Here's a link to some of our favorite things: https://amzn.to/4cJ0eVn Find us on social media: bsky.app/profile/mandy-matney.com   |   bsky.app/profile/elizfarrell.com   |   bsky.app/profile/theericbland.bsky.social Twitter.com/mandymatney | Twitter.com/elizfarrell | Twitter.com/theericbland https://www.facebook.com/cupofjustice/ |  https://www.instagram.com/cojpod/ YouTube  | TIKTOK SUNscribe to our free email list to get alerts on bonus episodes, calls to action, new shows and updates. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3KBM *** Alert: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email info@lunasharkmedia.com and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** *The views expressed on the Cup of Justice episodes do not constitute legal advice. Listeners desiring legal advice for any particular legal matter are urged to consult an attorney of their choosing who can provide legal advice based upon a full understanding of the facts and circumstances of their claim. The views expressed on the Cup of Justice episodes also do not express the views or opinions of Bland Richter, LLP, or its attorneys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. In 2024, he published his debut book, entitled Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry. The book profiles a series of powerful magnates to illustrate the concentration of power in the global food system. Barons has received universal acclaim, including a coveted starred review from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and has been named one of the “Best Books of 2024” by the latter. The host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots applauded the book, remarking, "I have come away with a completely different idea of agriculture that I cannot unsee." Frerick previously worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. During the 2020 presidential campaign, he advised candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg on agricultural policy before ultimately serving as Co-Chair of the Biden campaign's Agriculture Antitrust Policy Committee. He is a 7th generation Iowan and 1st generation college graduate, with degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He also serves on the Board of Directors as Vice President for Common Good Iowa and as Treasurer for the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project.

Nations pursue access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy that will sustain their national security objectives. While the China-Russia led alliance continues to rely largely on fossil fuels, Western countries increasingly seek to replace these traditional energy sources with renewable offerings, leading to less reliable and more expensive electricity. This has profound national security implications.International organizations such as the United Nations and the International Energy Agency promote the existence of an “energy transition” to renewable energy, despite no signs that a transition is imminent. This is dangerous. Simultaneously, the United Nations promotes diversion of trillions of dollars from the West to China and the Global South to promote climate policies and renewable energy use.Future energy policies based on reliable energy supplies must necessarily include a full consideration of the national security implications.What are the potential dangers of operating and enacting energy policies based on future ideals as opposed to current realities? What is the position of the Trump administration on these matters? What is the role of the United Nations in promoting energy policies that will weaken the West?To explore these questions and more, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hosts Dr. Brenda Shaffer, Senior Advisor for Energy at FDD; Michael Ratner, Energy Specialist at Congressional Research Service; and Ken Moriyasu, Washington Correspondent at Nikkei Asia. The conversation is moderated by Clifford D. May, FDD Founder and President.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/03/04/powering-national-security-energy-policy-in-the-us-and-beyond/

In this two-part episode, hosts Tiff and Kat break down Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that unleashed unlimited corporate spending in politics — and how that money fuels climate inaction. With fossil fuel giants pouring millions into elections and lobbying, we explore how this decision came about in the first place. Join us as we uncover the link between big money, political gridlock, and the fight for a sustainable future.As Amazon Associates, some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you click and buy.Sources:https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained More Perfect podcast: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolabmoreperfect/episodes/citizens-united https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/citizens-united-v-fec/ Congressional Research Service: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12691 https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00825851/ Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and the Distortion of American Elections: https://amzn.to/3WXyjeJ Patreon: patreon.com/greeningupmyactInstagram: @greeningupmyactFacebook: Greening Up My ActEmail us with questions: greeningupmyact@gmail.comYouTube: Greening Up My Act

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss the transition process for the U.S. President and the U.S. Congress. Included in the discussion is the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 and general information regarding this law.Research/Resources: "Presidential Transition Act of 1963”. Published in U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) website February 16, 2023 and available on https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1612/pdf/COMPS-1612.pdf "Implementation of the 1963 Presidential Transition Act” by Paul C. Light. Published in Brookings website December 4, 2000 and available on https://www.brookings.edu/articles/implementation-of-the-1963-presidential-transition-act/"Presidential Transition Act: Provisions and Funding” summary by Henry B. Hogue. Published in Congressional Research Service website May 22, 2024 and available on https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46602"Presidential Transition Act Summary” by Troy Cribb. Published in Partnership for Public Service website March 13, 2024 and available on https://presidentialtransition.org/reports-publications/presidential-transition-act-summary/  "2024 Transition Timeline” by Center For Presidential Transition. Published in Partnership for Public Service website and available on https://presidentialtransition.org/transition-resources/transition-timeline/ "The Inaugural Oath”. Published in Library of Congress website and available on https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/inaugurations/an-orderly-transition/the-inaugural-oath/#:~:text=The%20president%20takes%20the%20oath,Supreme%20Court%20or%20another%20judge. "The 119th Congress begins today. Here's what to know for the 2025 session.” by Caitlin Yilek. Published in CBS News website January 3, 2025 and available on https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-congress-2025-what-to-know/Check out our website at http://artofdiscussing.buzzsprout.com, on Facebook at Art of Discussing and on Instagram @artofdiscussing.Got a topic that you'd like to see discussed? Interested in being a guest on our show? Just want to reach out to share an opinion, experience, or resource? Leave us a comment below or contact us at info@artofdiscussing.com!! We'd love to hear from you! Keep Discussing!Music found on Pixabay. Song name: "Clear Your Mind" by Caffeine Creek Band"

When citizens have questions for the government, they often turn to their rep in Congress. When Congress has questions, it turns to the Congressional Research Service. Now the CRS has a new director. Karen Donfried joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When citizens have questions for the government, they often turn to their rep in Congress. When Congress has questions, it turns to the Congressional Research Service. Now the CRS has a new director. Karen Donfried joins me now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week, Kelly looks back on the major events of 2024 with Amy Mackinnon and Ellen Laipson. Amy Mackinnon is an award-winning national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy. She has reported from across Eastern Europe and was previously based in Moscow and in Tbilisi, Georgia, as senior editor for the crisis reporting site Coda Story. Mackinnon is a recipient of the duPont-Columbia award for her reporting on homophobic vigilantes in Russia. She is a regular commentator for BBC World Service radio and television and her work has been published and broadcast by Coda Story, Slate Magazine, Vice News, and CNN among others. Ellen Laipson is the Director of the International Security Program at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. She joined GMU after a distinguished 25-year career in government and as President of the Stimson Center (2002-2015). Her last post in the US government was Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council (1997-2002). She also served on the State Department's Policy Planning Staff, the National Security Council staff, and the Congressional Research Service. She was a member of the CIA External Advisory Panel from 2006 to 2009, President Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board from 2009 to 2013, and the Secretary of State's Foreign Affairs Policy Board from 2011 to 2014. Ellen currently serves on the ISD board of advisers. Amy and Ellen's recommended books for the holidays: The Ecology of Nations by John M. Owen IV The Achilles Trap by Steve Coll The Cure of Troy by Seamus Heaney The opinions expressed in this conversation are strictly those of the participants and do not represent the views of Georgetown University or any government entity. Produced by Freddie Mallinson and Theo Malhotra. Recorded on December 16, 2024. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more, visit our website, and follow us on Linkedin, Twitter @GUDiplomacy, and Instagram @isd.georgetown

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found Click On Picture To See Larger PictureThe [DS] /[CB] is imploding and the [CB] is trying to keep it from crashing, not because they want the economy to thrive because they war waiting for Trump to take office. Florida looking into gold to counter the fiat currency. The fake news pushing the narrative that Trump's policies will cause the economy to crash. The [DS] is now pushing a multi level plan that consists of riots, plandemic, solar flares, drone warfare and war.  The drones are most likely US based and they are using them for tracking. The [DS] will use this to push fear into the public. Raskin is now demanding Trump use the FBI for background checks. The [DS] is panicking, they are not in control.   (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); Economy https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1867589390752522681  vacancies are 5% below pre-pandemic levels. This is in contrast to October US job openings reported by the BLS which have declined 34% since February 2022 and are ~8% above the pre-pandemic. However, data provided by Indeed is more current than the BLS-provided series, which suggests US job openings will continue to fall in the coming months. The labor market is set for more weakness. https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1867280198045249637   and significantly above the World War 2 levels. The worst part? Current projections assume lower interest rates and no recessions over the next decade. In Q3 2024, annualized net interest costs reached a record $1.12 trillion. What happens if a recession hits? https://twitter.com/DOGE/status/1867347161886994485   New report: Taxpayers subsidize swanky country club memberships for World Bank and International Monetary Fund staffers in D.C. According to an exclusive report from the New York Post yesterday, Staffers at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank raking in six-figure, tax-free salaries at both global bodies qualify for free memberships at the Bretton Woods Recreation Center in Maryland, according to documents obtained by The Post.   Stiff initiation fees at the IMF-owned course — which range from $12,000 to $20,000 — are automatically waived for all employees on the payroll of the two institutions, according to the documents, which are not in the public domain. Now, how are those membership fees effectively subsidized? Well, the U.S. taxpayer has “financial commitments” to the World Bank and the IMF numbering into the hundreds of billions, and American tax dollars (and debt) remain the top “contributor” to both institutions. Here's this, from a Congressional Research Service report released in May of this year:   And, from a CRS report released in 2022 on the IMF's financial structure: The United States contributes $117 billion to the IMF quota (17.46%). In addition, the United States has contributed $44 billion to funds at the IMF that supplement quota resources.   Source: americanthinker.com   https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1867361922255139235    markets. They shouldn't be looking for every last penny knowing how many families are hurt. They've got record profits, and I'd rather these foreign companies spend it on the great men and women on our docks, than machinery, which is expensive, and which will constantly have to be replaced. In the end, there's no gain for them, and I hope that they will understand how important an issue this is for me. For the great privilege of accessing our markets, these foreign companies should hire our incredible American Workers, instead of laying them off,

Take Charge of Your Future. Imagine Possibilities with Design Thinking - and Test Them. Join our Design Your New Life in Retirement Program - two new groups start in January. Learn more _______________________ Getting older brings questions. Debra Whitman, PhD, the Chief Public Policy Officer for AARP, had questions, too. Her research led her to write the new book "The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond." You'll benefit from her insights from interviews with experts and takeaways from cutting-edge research across a range of topics including brain health, an older workforce, caregiving and retirement. _______________________ Bio Debra Whitman is the author of The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond. She is an economist and expert on aging issues with an extensive background in policymaking and research. As EVP and Chief Public Policy Officer for AARP, Debra leads a team of 150 experts in all aspects of policy development, analysis, research, and global thought leadership to produce policy and research insights and solutions that help communities, lawmakers, and the private sector improve our lives as we age. Debra serves as an AARP spokesperson on a diverse set of issues including long-term care and caregiving, financial security, health and longevity, and engaging a multi-generational workforce. She connects with a range of stakeholders such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Forbes and the Aspen Institute. Previously, as staff director for the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, Debra worked across the aisle to increase retirement security, lower health care costs, protect vulnerable seniors, make the pharmaceutical industry more transparent, and improve our long-term care system. Before that, she worked for the Congressional Research Service as a specialist in the economics of aging and  served as a Brookings LEGIS Fellow to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Debra is a public speaker, mom, and an advocate for those whose voices need to be heard. _______________________ For More on Debra Whitman The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond LinkedIn @policydeb on X _______________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like The Measure of Our Age – MT Connolly Breaking the Age Code – Dr. Becca Levy Ageism Unmasked – Dr. Tracey Gendron Lifestyle and Financial Decisions As We Age – Marjorie Fox, JD, CFP® ________________________ Wise Quotes On the Big Questions of Midlife & Beyond "So I've been working on aging for the last 25 years at the Social Security Administration, running the Senate Aging Committee and then here at AARP, but I realized when I was about to turn 50, I didn't have the information I wanted at my fingertips. I had books like What to Expect When You're Expecting and Social Security for Dummies and lots of other great resources, but nothing that just comprehensively looked at all of the things that I was curious about. And so I wrote down a list of questions, everything from the most basic: How long will I live? Will I be healthy to more practical things like How long will I work or Will I have enough money? And then some tough questions like Will I lose my memory? and How will I die? And so those became the chapters of the book, but one of the things that happened as I was starting to put this together was my husband had a major heart attack at 48. And I'll get a little bit emotional talking about it, but he was hiking by himself and had what they call the Widow Maker, which, being his wife, is not a great term when I heard it. And luckily Boulder Mountain Rescue raced up the mountain and carried him down before his heart stopped. And that experience, Joe, just helped me to think that even though I spent all my...

Is the under-21 pilot program for interstate trucking meeting its goals? We'll find out what the Congressional Research Service says. Also, OOIDA is working to dispel the driver shortage myth, increase truck parking and encourage lawmakers to show their support for the industry. And a small eastern Tennessee town cut off by flooding from Hurricane Helene has found a unique way to reconnect – one involving semitrailers. 0:00 – Newscast 10:21 – OOIDA tackles driver shortage myth, truck parking and more 24:52 – Small town reconnects with the world in a unique way 39:51 – Is the under-21 pilot program really working?

During the RNC and DNC, Jen interviewed nine members of Congress about Congress itself. What is it like to work there? Do they think Congress is dysfunctional? If so, how do they think it could be fixed? In this episode, listen to the most interesting responses from all of the interviews. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources David Daley. October 4, 2024. The Guardian. OpenSecrets. OpenSecrets. Accessed October 30, 2024. Congressional Research Service. Accessed October 30, 2024. Congressional Research Service. Music by Editing Production Assistance

 CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's Nightline, CBS's Sunday Morning, NBC's Today Show, PBS,, CNN,, Fox; National Public Radio;Washington Post, NewYork Times, are just some of the places you have read or seen him!Civil & Disability Rights are the topics of this show. With Civl Rights History being Preserved for Generations to learn about, What about Disability Rights with it's Multiracial History of Leadership & Activists?? I am concerned.Ralph was an author of the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973&  the American with Disabilities Act along with many others in many Drafts it took to get through a Bi-Partisian Congress as the national law. His work in Civill Rights is amazing as he was trained by many icons including Dorothy Height, Senator Edward Brooke (R, MA), Benjamin Hooks, Roy Wilkins, Wade Henderson. Senator Edward Kennedy, Bayard RustinYou hear very little of  Black Disability Leaders & Activists that are so pivitol to helping in this fight. Brad Lomax, The Black Panters, Dr. Sylvia Walker, (my mentor), Don Galloway or The Honorable Rep. Major Owens ( D, NY). & the Honorable Justin Dart, Tony Coehlo, Ed Roberts, Senator Lowell P. Weicker(R.CT) & others to advance Disability Rights & ADA History.Ralph Neas was both active duty and reserve in the United States Army (1968–1976). In late 1971, he joined the Congressional Research Service's American Law Division at the Library of Congress as a legislative attorney on civil rights. In January 1973, he was hired as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, eventually becoming the Senator's chief legislative assistant.From 1981 through 1995, Neas served as Executive Director of the nonpartisan Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the legislative arm of the civil rights movement. Neas coordinated successful national campaigns that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Civil Rights Restoration Act; the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988; the Japanese American Civil Liberties Act; the preservation of the Executive Order on Affirmative Action (1985–1986 and 1995–1996);and the 1982 Voting Right Act Extension.Final passage on all these laws averaged 85% in both the House of Representatives and the Senate; in addition, another 15 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights legislative priorities were enacted into law in the 1981–1995 period"The Americans with Disabilities Act Award" from the Task Force on the Rights of the Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities for "historic leadership regarding the enactment of the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities" October 12, 1990;Benjamin Hooks "Keeper of the Flame" award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 91st Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, July 10, 2000"President's Award for Outstanding Service", Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, September, 2007.© 2024 Building Abundant Success!!2024 All Rights ReservedJoin Me ~ iHeart Media @ https://tinyurl.com/iHeartBASAmazon ~ https://tinyurl.com/AmzBASAudacy:  https://tinyurl.com/BASAud

OA 1076: In the wake of the devastation left by hurricanes Helene and Milton, we examine the state of FEMA's Congressional funding. Has disaster relief actually become a “partisan” issue, or is this really just a Republican thing? How are these funds distributed, and why can't Congress ever seem to fully fund anything? Matt explains why the current state of Congressional appropriations has him looking for flights to Denmark. Then: Why is Ron DeSantis's Department of Health threatening to bring criminal charges against local TV stations airing pro-choice ads in support of Florida's proposed Amendment 4? Finally, we drop a footnote to check in on the current state of the longest-running criminal trial in Georgia history and listen in on what the judge most recently assigned to the Young Thug RICO case has had to say to Fani Willis's office about how they are handling it. “Disaster Relief Fund State of Play: In Brief,” Congressional Research Service (8/14/2024) “The Congressional Appropriations Process: An Introduction,” Congressional Research Service (11/30/2016) Letter sent by Florida Department of Health General Counsel John Wilson to WFLA-TV dated 10/3/2024 Get 15% off OneSkin with the code OPENING at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod If you'd like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Stand Up is a daily podcast that I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Check out StandUpwithPete.com to learn more I'm Moe Davis.  I was born and raised in Shelby, North Carolina.  We had a farm in Rutherford County where my dad grew up where we had horses and black angus cows.  I graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in criminal justice and I worked in law enforcement training at the North Carolina Department of Justice before I went to law school at North Carolina Central University.  I've been a member of the North Carolina Bar since 1983, which is the same year I joined the Air Force.  While in the Air Force, I earned a Master of Laws in government procurement law from the George Washington University School of Law and a Master of Laws in military law from the U.S. Army JAG School.    I'm best known for having served as the Chief Prosecutor for the terrorism trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  After serving in that role for two years, I resigned when I was ordered to use evidence that was obtained by torture.  Later, I was head of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division at the Congressional Research Service; a law professor at the Howard University School of Law; and an administrative law judge at the U.S. Department of Labor.  I've written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and I've appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News and NPR.     I retired in 2019 and moved back home to western North Carolina.  I was the Democratic Party nominee for the NC 11 congressional seat in 2020.  My wife and I have a rescue cat named Mika and a rescue dog named Maggie.   Built to lose. I've been training to lose this Senate race for all of my life.   I voted for Al Gore in 2000, cheered for Carolina basketball during the Matt Doherty era, and watch the Carolina Panthers on Sundays (shudder).   It's the thrill of a lifetime to give voters in District 37 the opportunity to choose their next representative. I'm going to lose, but we'll have some fun, make some noise, and raise some hell on the way down.   My platform Abortion is healthcare. We must fully fund public education. We need common sense gun laws to keep our communities safe. And all of those would be achievable in our purple state if we had a representative democracy instead of this gerrymandered nonsense. When I'm not losing Family I'm mom to Winnie (7) and Max (6) and wife to Dan.  Community • Davidson Town Planning Board Member • Davidson K-8 PTO President • Volunteer for the Davidson Housing Coalition • Past President of the Davidson-Cornelius Child Development Center • Past Member of the Davidson Mobility Committee   • Past Member of the Davidson Sustainability Committee   Science I'm a Senior Behavioral Scientist at the University of Michigan's Center for Academic Innovation. My job is to use technology and behavior change theory to help college students succeed.  Entrepreneurship Prior to my work at UM, I was Founder and CEO of pip & grow, a baby box company. During our seven years in business, we received national awards (including SCORE small business of the year), were featured in Forbes and MSN, and I was named to the inaugural Forbes Next 1000 list. I left the company in September 2021 in the hope of finding better work-life balance. (Spoiler: I was not successful  The Stand Up Community Chat is always active with other Stand Up Subscribers on the Discord Platform.   Join us Thursday's at 8EST for our Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing The Stand Up Community Chat is always active with other Stand Up Subscribers on the Discord Platform.   Join us Thursday's at 8EST for our Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art  Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing  

Join Boyd Matheson in digging into Tuesday’s headlines! Former Ambassador Jeff Flake shares what is next in his career path. James Capretta delves into how different candidates’ budgets will affect America’s fiscality. Learn about the value of the Congressional Research Service and their new director with Kevin Kosar. Sarah Jane Weaver provides input on Hulu’s new show and misrepresentation in the media and More!

Karen Donfried will begin her new role as the director of the Congressional Research Service this month. She will inherit an agency that serves as a vital intellectual resource for lawmakers navigating complex policy landscapes. With a rich history of providing nonpartisan expertise, CRS stands at a crossroads, facing both technological challenges and increased competition in the information age. Kevin Kosar from American Enterprise Institute sheds light on how Donfried's leadership will be crucial in shaping the future of this indispensable institution, ensuring it remains a source of objective analysis in an era of polarized politics and information overload.

The Power Hour is a weekly podcast that discusses the most interesting energy and environmental policy issues of the day with top national experts.  Today's guest brings decades of experience as one of the people responsible for ensuring that our elected members of the House and Senate, and their staffs, have information they need to make informed policy decisions.  Mark Holt, Energy Policy Specialist, with the non partisan Congressional Research Service, brings a unique perspective on nuclear energy policy that you won't to miss.  Jack and Mark discuss how nuclear policy has changed over the years and some of the policy challenges that the technology currently facesJoin the conversation with an email to  thepowerhour@heritage.org!  Thank you for listening and please don't forget to subscribe and help us to spread the word.    

Our Guests Bill Ballenger Is a seasoned political commentator and analyst with a distinguished career in Michigan politics. A former Republican member of both the Michigan House of Representatives and the State Senate, he also served as editor of Inside Michigan Politics until January 2016. In March 2016, he founded The Ballenger Report, a political blog, and launched a weekly podcast, further shaping Michigan's political discourse. Ballenger is a frequent commentator on Michigan politics for various national and international media outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, and the BBC. Mr. Ballenger holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare. Josh Ruebner Is Policy Director at the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project (IMEU Policy Project). He is also adjunct lecturer in Justice and Peace Studies at Georgetown University and is pursuing his PhD at the University of Exeter's European Centre for Palestine Studies. Prior to joining IMEU, Ruebner worked at American Muslims for Palestine and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights after a stint as an Analyst in Middle East Affairs for Congressional Research Service. He is the author of Shattered Hopes: Obama's Failure to Broker Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Israel: Democracy or Apartheid State?

Over the course of the past 170 years, the world has experienced many different forms of terrorism designed to create fear, push for political aims, and recruit followers. Groups of varying political ideologies have used terrorism over the years, making this an issue that never really goes away, it simply morphs and changes. However, one thing remains the same... all of these groups eventually come to an end. It may surprise you that the average lifespan of a terrorist group is 8-10 years, which can seem unbelievable with the staying power of groups like al-Qaeda (founded in the 1980s), the "Provisionals" of the IRA (who used Terrorist attacks in Ireland for over 20 years), and the New People's Army (which has utilized terrorist tactics in the Philippines since 1969). These are the outliers rather than the norm. This episode takes a look at amazing research conducted by Dr. Audrey Kurth Cronin, Director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology, who has collated the ways in which terrorist groups come to an end. Spoiler alert, sometimes these groups morph into something worse, so it is important to understand why terrorist groups exist, what their goals are, and how the global community can work to hasten these groups' turn away from targeting civilians. Take a listen to engage in this global conversation on understanding how terrorism ends. Purchase Dr. Kurth Cronin's book How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns and her second book Power to the People:  How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow's Terrorists to dive even deeper into the topic.Audrey Kurth Cronin is Trustees Professor of Security and Technology and Director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology (CMIST).  Cronin's best-known book is How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns (Princeton, 2009), which the New Yorker called a “landmark study.”  Her latest book, Power to the People:  How Open Technological Innovation is Arming Tomorrow's Terrorists (Oxford, 2020), analyzes emerging technologies and devises a new framework for analyzing 21st century military innovation. It was short-listed for the Lionel Gelber prize and won the 2020 Neave prize.    Cronin was a Marshall Scholar from Princeton, earned a DPhil from Oxford, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. Formerly Distinguished Professor at American University, she founded and directed the Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology in Washington, DC.  She also gained accreditation, founded, and ran the International Security graduate program at George Mason University.  She has been director of the core course on War and Statecraft at the National War College, Director of Studies for the Changing Character of War program at Oxford University, and Specialist in Terrorism at the Congressional Research Service. She has also served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and frequently advises at senior levels. She was Chairman of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Terrorism and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Congress' own think tank … the Congressional Research Service … is getting new leadership. Foreign policy expert Karen Donfried (DAWN-freed) will become its director … starting September 23rd. She'll take over for an interim leader who's held the top job for more than a year. Donfried previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs … and as president of the German Marshall Fund. She also worked as a European specialist for C-R-S for 10 years.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress' own think tank … the Congressional Research Service … is getting new leadership. Foreign policy expert Karen Donfried (DAWN-freed) will become its director … starting September 23rd. She'll take over for an interim leader who's held the top job for more than a year. Donfried previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs … and as president of the German Marshall Fund. She also worked as a European specialist for C-R-S for 10 years.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Austin and Nate discuss Austin's recent book Barons, concerning consolidation and corruption in the food system. With a focus on the midwest, Austin and Nate discuss how the rise of industrial agriculture has degraded the heartland, how it was allowed to happen, who has been responsible, and most importantly, how to move forward with a different, more humane agriculture that values the health of people and places. They spoke about the necessity of a two prong approach, one involving building capable mid-sized farms and the other taking a hatchet to the monopoly industrialists who have been allowed to seize our land and our resources. Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. He is a 7th generation Iowan and 1st generation college graduate, with degrees from Grinnell College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The Senate recently received testimony from the bipartisan co-chairs of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy, who were tasked with creating a report to Congress with recommendations needed to adapt our National Defense Strategy to current threats. In this episode, hear the testimony about that completed report during which they discuss preparations for a possible world war and the need for more American kids to fight and die in it. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes The Report Jane Harman et al. July 2024. Senate Committee on Armed Services. Jane Harman: Warmonger Open Secrets. October 10, 2002. Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. September 14, 2001. GovTrack. Iridium Communications April 2, 2024. wallmine. GuruFocus Research. March 8, 2024. Yahoo Finance. December 29, 2023. Market Screener. Bing. Iridium. Iridium. Iridium. Retrieved from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine version archived November 11, 2022. Axis of Aggression or Axis of Resistance? Angela Skujins. June 8, 2024. euronews. Nikita Smagin. June 15, 2023. Carnegie Politika. Defense Innovation Unit Defense Innovation Unit. Military Service Kristy N. Kamarck. December 13, 2016. Congressional Research Service. Christopher Hitchens. October 3, 2007. Vanity Fair. Mark Daily. Feb. 14, 2007. Los Angeles Times. Israel-Palestine Shay Fogelman. August 16, 2024. Haaretz. Steven Scheer and Ali Sawafta. August 14, 2024. Reuters. July 2, 2024. Al Mayadeen English. Steve Crawshaw. January 26, 2024. The Guardian. Patreon August 12, 2024. Patreon. C-SPAN Fundraiser C-SPAN. Bills: NDAA 2025 Audio Sources July 30, 2024 Senate Committee on Armed Services Witnesses: Jane M. Harman, Chair, Commission on the National Defense Strategy Eric S. Edelman, Vice Chair, Commission on the National Defense Strategy Clips 26:20 Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS): The document details the way in which the 2022 National Defense Strategy and Assessment, completed just two years ago, did not adequately account for the threat of simultaneous and increasingly coordinated military action by our four primary adversaries. A group which I have come to call the Axis of Aggressors. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS): I appreciate the Commission's recommendation that national security spending must return to late Cold War levels — a goal which matches my plan to spend 5%, eventually, of GDP on defense. That level of investment would be temporary. It would be a down-payment on the rebuilding of our national defense tools for a generation. Tools that have sharpened can reduce the risk that our adversaries will use military force against US interests. 33:10 Jane Harman: The threats to US national security and our interests are greater than any time since World War II, and more complex than any threats during the Cold War. 34:00 Jane Harman: Sadly, we think, and I'm sure you agree, that the public has no idea how great the threats are and is not mobilized to meet them. Public support is critical to implement the changes we need to make. Leaders on both sides of the aisle and across government need to make the case to the public and get their support. Eric Edelman: There is potential for near-term war and a potential that we might lose such a conflict. The partnership that's emerged among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea is a major strategic shift that we have not completely accounted for in our defense planning. It makes each of those countries potentially stronger militarily, economically, and diplomatically, and potentially can weaken the tools we have at our disposal to deal with them. And it makes it more likely that a future conflict, for instance, in the Indo-Pacific, would expand across other theaters and that we would find ourselves in a global war that is on the scale of the Second World War. Eric Edelman: The 2022 NDS identified China as the pacing challenge. We found that China is, in many ways, outpacing the US. While we still have the strongest military in the world with the farthest global reach, when we get to a thousand miles of China's shore, we start to lose our military dominance and could find ourselves on the losing end of a conflict. China's cyber capabilities, space assets, growing strategic forces, and fully modernized conventional forces are designed to keep us from engaging in the Taiwan Strait or the South or East China seas. China, as has been testified to before Congress, has infiltrated our critical infrastructure networks to prevent or deter US action by contesting our logistics, disrupting American power and water, and otherwise removing the sanctuary of the homeland that we have long enjoyed. 38:00 Eric Edelman: For its part, Russia has reconstituted its own defense industrial base after its invasion of Ukraine much more rapidly than people anticipated. Vladimir Putin seeks to reassert Russia as a great power and is happy to destabilize the world in order to do so. 38:15 Eric Edelman: Our report describes the threats posed by Iran, North Korea, and terrorism as well. Clearly, Iran and North Korea both feel emboldened by the current environment, and terrorism remains a potent threat fueled by the proliferation of technology. As the DNI has said, the current war in the Middle East is likely to have a generational impact on terrorism. 39:20 Jane Harman: First finding: DoD cannot and should not provide for the national defense by itself. The NDS calls for an integrated deterrence that is not reflected in practice today. A truly all elements of national power approach is required to coordinate and leverage resources across DoD, the rest of the Executive branch, the private sector, civil society, and US allies and partners. We agree with the NDS on the importance of allies, and we commend the administration for expanding and strengthening NATO and building up relationships and capabilities across Asia. We also point out ways for the United States to be better partners ourselves, including by maintaining a more stable presence globally and in key organizations like NATO. We call for reducing barriers to intelligence sharing, joint production, and military exports so we can better support and prepare to fight with our closest allies. 40:25 Jane Harman: Second recommendation is fundamental shifts in threats and technology require fundamental change in how DoD functions. This is particularly true of how DoD works with the tech sector, where most of our innovation happens. We say that DoD is operating at the speed of bureaucracy when the threat is approaching wartime urgency. DoD structure is optimized for research and development for exquisite, irreplaceable platforms when the future is autonomy, AI and large numbers of cheaper and attritable systems. I know this because I represented the Aerospace Center of Los Angeles in Congress for so many years, where exquisite, irreplaceable satellite platforms were built. And now we know that there is a plethora of commercial platforms that can do many of the same things and offer redundancy. DoD programs like Replicator and the Defense Innovation Unit and the Office of Strategic Capital are great, but they're essentially efforts to work around the larger Pentagon system. 42:00 Eric Edelman: Mr. Wicker, you raised the issue of the foresizing construct in your opening statement, and we, as you noted, found that it is inadequate. I mean, it was written actually before the invasion of Ukraine and before the emergence of this tightening alliance between Russia and China. And we propose that the force needs to be sized, the joint force, in conjunction with US allies and partners, to defend the homeland, but simultaneously be able to deal with threats in the Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. These are not all the same fights, so different elements of the force would be required in different parts of the globe, but US global responsibilities require a global military response as well as a diplomatic and economic one. 43:20 Eric Edelman: The DoD workforce and the all-volunteer force provide us with a kind of unmatched advantage, but recruiting failures have shrunk the force and have raised serious questions about the sustainability of the all-volunteer force in peacetime, let alone if we had to mobilize for a major conflict or a protracted conflict. 44:30 Jane Harman: Additionally, we think that Congress should revoke the 2023 spending caps and provide real growth — I know Senator Wicker loves this one — for fiscal year 2025 defense and non-defense national security spending that, at a bare minimum, falls within the range recommended by the 2018 NDS Commission. That range was never achieved. Subsequent budgets will require spending that puts defense and other components of national security, other components jointly across government and the tech sector and partners and allies, on a glide path to support efforts commensurate with the US national efforts seen during the Cold War. Jane Harman: We agree on a unanimous basis that the national debt is its own national security challenge. If we want to approach Cold War levels of spending, we need to increase resources and reform entitlement spending. 45:40 Jane Harman: During the Cold War, top marginal income tax rates were above 70% and corporate tax rates averaged 50%. We don't call for those numbers, but we are calling for an increase in resources and point out that interest on the debt is higher than our total top line of defense spending. 49:55 Jane Harman: The notion of public service isn't new as you know, Mr. Chairman, it's been around for years. It was around when I served in Congress, and Congress did not act on any of the proposals that I saw. It is still a way to get all of the public, at the proper age, engaged in understanding the requirements of citizenship. A lot of our young people have no earthly idea, sadly, because they have no civic education, what our government really is and what are the ways to serve. And surely one of the most honorable ways to serve is as a member of the military, you did it, and other members of this committee have done this. And I think that is the way to revive a kind of sense of coherence and patriotism that we are lacking right now. Eric Edelman: We have not really, as a society, talked about the need for national mobilization, but if the worst were to happen and some of the worst scenarios we discuss in our report were to come to pass and were we to face a global conflict, it would require mobilization on the scale of what we did as a nation during World War II. And we haven't done that in a long time. We haven't thought about that in a long time. There are a lot of elements to it, including stockpiling strategic materials, but being able to rapidly bring people into the military, et cetera, I just don't think we are prepared to do it. I think we have to have a national discussion about this, and I think it goes hand in hand with the earlier discussion you had with my colleague about public service and serving the nation. 52:05 Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI): We had in World War II, two years, essentially from September 1st, 1939 to December 7th, 1941, to prepare. And I doubt we'll have two years to prepare in this environment. Eric Edelman: President Putin, in some ways, has done us a bit of a favor by having invaded Ukraine and exposed, as a result, some of the limitations of US defense industrial production, and shown that it's grossly inadequate to provide the equipment, technology, and munitions that the US military and our allies and partners need today, let alone given the demands of a potential future conflict, which might be even more taxing. Jane Harman: I remember being a member of the Defense Policy Board when Jim Mattis was Secretary of Defense, and his piece of advice to us was, let's do everything we can to keep Russia and China apart. Well, oops, that has not happened. And there is this close friendship and collaboration between them. You asked how is it manifested? Well, we see it most at the moment in Ukraine, where Russia was the aggressor violating international law and invading Ukraine, and China is a huge help to Russia in evading our sanctions by buying Russian gas and by its efforts to ship into China material for the war. And then you add in, as you mentioned, Iran and North Korea, which are suppliers of drones and other lethal material to Russia. And this unholy alliance, or I think you call it Alliance of Aggression, is extremely dangerous. Let's remember that both North Korea has nuclear weapons, Iran is at breakout for nuclear weapons, and the other two countries are nuclear countries. And where this goes is, it seems to me, terrifying. And that is, again, why we need to leverage all elements of national power to make sure we deter these countries from acting against us. Eric Edelman: Ukraine offered to give up, and I was involved in some of the diplomacy of this back in the nineties, the nuclear weapons that were left on its territory after the end of the Soviet Union. As a result of that, Ukraine gave them up, but in exchange for assurances from the United States, Russia, Great Britain and France, that its territorial integrity would be recognized along the borderlines that existed before the 2014 seizure of Crimea by Putin, which was a violation of those undertakings. If our assurances in the non-proliferation realm in this instance are shown to be hollow, it will raise questions in the minds of all of our allies about the assurances we've given them, our extended deterrent assurances, whether it's for our allies in Europe, part of our multilateral NATO alliance, or our bilateral allies in East Asia, or our partners, parts of special relationships we've developed in Middle East with Israel, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt and others. So the whole fabric, frankly, of the international order is at risk here, depending on the outcome in Ukraine. And to your point, if Putin is successful in Ukraine, the lesson that Xi Jinping is likely to draw is that he too can be successful in Taiwan or in the East China Sea or the South China Sea. Eric Edelman: Nuclear deterrence, Senator Fisher, is the fundamental on which everything else is built in terms of our national security. It's operating every day. It's not visible to American citizens, but the fact of our nuclear deterrent force, all three legs of the triad being available is the most powerful deterrent that we have to conflict. It's not sufficient, but it is the absolute basis, and we really, I think, agreed with the conclusion our colleagues on the Strategic Posture Commission reached, which is that we have to move forward with alacrity on all the elements of modernization of the nuclear triad. That's the GBSD Sentinel Program, that is the B-21, that is the Ohio replacement class. All of those things have to be accomplished and there are problems. One of the reasons we highlighted education is that some of the problems that GBSD are running into have to do with lack of skilled workers to be able to pour the kind of special reinforced concrete that you need for the new silos for missiles, the new control systems for missiles. We lack welders in the submarine industrial base, as Senator Wicker knows well. So there's a lot that has to be done across the board in order to move forward with nuclear modernization, but it is absolutely fundamental to our ability to deter aggression against our allies and of course against the homeland. Eric Edelman: The force right now is too small, and so we have to grow the force, and that's in the face of the recruiting challenges that we've highlighted in the report that the Army in particular, but also the Navy and the Air Force have faced. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE): And I'm going to interrupt you. Please. Why is it too small? Can you explain in this setting the threats that we are facing when we look at the adversaries that we face and how that has changed over the last decade? Eric Edelman: It's too small, in part because the Department was sizing itself for one conflict. But if you have to be present in three theaters, as we are now, we've got conflicts in two theaters now, if we have a third conflict in the third theater, it's going to require a lot more forces. People talk, for instance, about the Indo-Pacific being largely a Navy and Air Force fight. That's correct, but the logistics that support the Navy and the Air Force will largely be manned by the Army. And so we have to have an Army that is sufficiently large that it can operate in all of these places, potentially simultaneously, because honestly, it is very hard to imagine today a conflict in the Indo-Pacific that doesn't become a global conflict very quickly. Someone asked earlier in the hearing about cooperation between Russia and China. The last time I testified before this committee was two years ago about the so-called "Three Body Problem," Russia and China being both nuclear peers of the United States. And one of the criticisms that was leveled at my colleague, Frank Miller and me, was that, well, there's no evidence that Russia and China are collaborating in the nuclear area. Well, we just saw them flying strategic bombers together up near Alaska, so I don't know what more evidence you want that they're beginning to collaborate in that strategic area. Eric Edelman: If we got into some kind of conflict in the Indo-Pacific, whether it be over Taiwan or the South China Sea or East China Sea, what might Russia do? One thing that comes to mind is take advantage of the separatist movement in Moldova to move on Moldova, a country that's trying to move closer to the European Union and to the West, which would then precipitate additional conflict in Europe, or take advantage of the ethnic Russian speaking minorities in the Baltic states, say Latvia, to initiate a conflict there. How would we manage that? When you raise that question with Department [of Defense] leaders, they basically say, well, that — to go back to the chairman's point earlier — well that would be sort of like World War II or would require national mobilization, and that's correct, but we haven't really taken the next steps to really focus on what that and what a protracted conflict would actually look like. We're optimized to fight very short wars. 1:21:00 Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): There are five different domains in which our country will be attacked in the future. Air, land, and sea, most people would understand, but space and cyberspace are the new domains, which will precede any attack on the first three. Jane Harman: On cyber, it's a huge threat and I don't think we minimize it in any way. One of the things we might anticipate, for example, is if China decides to annex Taiwan, or whatever euphemism they might use, they might engage in a major cyber attack here first, for which we are under-prepared, a cyber attack of our infrastructure. When I was in Congress, I represented the Port of Los Angeles, which with the Port of Long Beach is the largest container port complex in the country. 50% of our container traffic enters and exits through those ports. There are cranes on the port to move the cargo, and those cranes have Chinese technology. So guess what? Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): All of which are subject to the possibilities of cyber attack. Jane Harman: Absolutely. We should anticipate that our ports could go down. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): Throughout our entire society, we find that to be the case though. Jane Harman: I'm agreeing with you and this is devastating. Does the American public understand this? No. Jane Harman: You also mentioned space. Again, something I know something about, since I used to call my district the aerospace center of the universe, where most of our intelligence satellites were made. We are more dependent on space as a country and more vulnerable in space because of that dependency than any other country. Shoring up space, which is one of the threats we address, is absolutely crucial. And it's not just military space, but commercial space. You talked about communication. A lot of how we communicate is through commercial space and think how inconvenienced the public would be if all of a sudden their little devices, which we're all dependent on, didn't work. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL): What's hurting us too is a lot of our government schools, I call 'em government schools because I went in thousands of them while I was coaching, recruiting, and the problem we have is hate that's being taught in a lot of our government schools, towards our country. Why would any young man or woman want to fight for a country that they don't believe in, that they're being taught to hate? It's absolutely amazing to me the direction this country is going. So is there any agreement there, Representative Harman? Jane Harman: There is agreement there. I think hate on both sides is totally destructive. I think the absence of civics education and the absence of institutions that help people understand what patriotism means. We had a conversation about national service, which might be a way to get all of our youth back together. I mean, this country sadly, is in a point where many people say our biggest enemy is us fighting each other. 1:33:35 Jane Harman: One of the problems is the kind of deployments the military does every two years. Moving somewhere where in many cases the spouse works and having to change his or her job every two years is very burdensome. It's also hard on kids, and so that could change. 1:36:20 Eric Edelman: The BRICS was actually kind of an invention of Goldman Sachs. It's not really a serious military organization. Jane Harman: But I think that Congress is somewhat complicit in the way the budget process doesn't work, and this insistence on requirements and oversight rather than on what is the problem set we are solving for, which is how the tech sector thinks. I've been making a comment about DIU, the Defense Innovation Unit, that was set up by the late Secretary Ash Carter, that maybe we should outsource the Pentagon to DIU, which is ably headed by someone named Doug Beck, who had 11 years experience in the private sector, because they know how to think about this. I couldn't agree with you more. The budget of DIU is $1 billion out of $850 billion. Doug Beck says he can leverage that. Sen. Angus King (I-ME): It's technologies that win wars, new technology, right? Jane Harman: I'm in violent agreement with you. He says he can leverage that into $50 billion of commercial investment, but that's still a pittance compared to the kind of change we need to undergo. Not just at the Pentagon, but at the Pentagon lashed up with other government agencies, with the tech sector, and with partners and allies. That is our point about all elements of national power, which will win the next war. 1:42:55 Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): Ambassador Edelman, you spoke with Senator Fischer about the multiple theater force construct. Basically the kind of threats we're planning for, and there's a time when this nation planned to fight two major wars at a time, and I think now we're down to a force that can fight one conflict and protect our homeland, and hopefully scare bad guys everywhere else around the world and not starting war. Is that right? Eric Edelman: That is correct. That's what the 2022 NDS describes. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): So that's what our national Defense Strategy says. Is the current force even capable of doing that, in your opinion? Putting aside what it should be capable of doing, which I'll come to momentarily. Can it even do that? Eric Edelman: I think there are very serious questions about whether the force in being could actually execute the strategy. Jane Harman: The word pivot probably should be retired. I don't think we can leave anywhere. I think we have to have an understanding of the threats against us, not just against regions, everywhere. The whole idea of this multiple force construct is flexibility and having an adequate deterrence so we don't engage in more wars. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): In your report you talked about the current force structure that we have, and I think you had identified that the Marines are only ones meeting that. We agree with that. What you failed to do is basically identify why we have not, or why you all did not, take up women being in selective service or joining selective service, because women make up 74% of the healthcare and education industry, 52% of financial activities. They're a tremendously strong force. And there's a lot of women I don't want to go up against. I can tell you that in so many ways. I guess my question is simple. Does the commission support women registering for selective service? Jane Harman: Well, I'll speak for myself. I do. I think that women are, a majority of our population, a majority of the talent pool, many of the most talented women serve on this committee. So yes, they should be. We should be. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): I'll make it clear that what we talked about does not require women to participate in military draft. Jane Harman: I understand. It's registering. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): Yeah, registering, that's all. Jane Harman: And my answer to that is yes. Eric Edelman: Our view was that you have to be able to deter and potentially defeat adversaries in all three of the main theaters that we have been engaged in since the end of the Second World War, and which we repeatedly engaged in. I mean, there's been no shortage of efforts to try and extricate the United States from the Middle East. The last NDS in 2018 said we should be willing to run risk in the Middle East. I think on October 7th we got a sense, and then again on April 13th, of what running additional risk means in the Middle East. So it's our view that we have to be able to manage to do all of those things. Eric Edelman: The homeland, if there's a conflict, is not going to be a sanctuary anymore. And the first attacks will likely be in the cyber domain, and they will be incredibly disabling for our society, but also for the department. But getting all of the agencies of government that would have a role in all this, because it goes beyond just DoD, it goes beyond just DHS, I mean, it goes to the Department of Transportation, it goes to Commerce. I mean, it's an unbelievably complex issue. And we're only now wrapping our minds around it and it needs a lot more work and attention from the department. Jane Harman: The public is essentially clueless about the massive cyber attacks that could be launched any day by our adversaries, not just nation states, but rogue actors as well. Music by Editing Production Assistance

What has the People's Republic of China been doing to grow its influence in the Pacific Island nations that proved so crucial in the Pacific theater in WWII, and will be just as important for the next Great Pacific War?Our guest for the full hour is be Cleo Paskal.Cleo is Non-Resident Senior Fellow focusing on the Indo-Pacific at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. She has testified before Congress multiple times and regularly lectures for seminars for the U.S. military. She is also a columnist with India's The Sunday Guardian newspaper. She is surprisingly short, but as this is a podcast, no one will notice.Showlinks:Protecting the Corridor of Freedom to America's Asian Border, by Cleo Paskal. Published July 1, 2024 in Journal of INDO-PACIFIC Affairs.Island-Hopping with Chinese Characteristics—What the PRC Is Island-Hopping with Chinese Characteristics, by Cleo Paskal. Published in the Autumn 2023 edition of the Naval War College Review.Chinese Lessons From the Pacific War: Implications for PLA Warfighting, by Toshi Yoshihara. Published January 5, 2023 at Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.The Compacts of Free Association report by the Congressional Research Service, April 2024.Map of the South Pacific Ocean.Summary:The conversation discusses China's growing influence in the Pacific Island nations and its comprehensive national power strategy. The Pacific Island nations, located between Hawaii and Guam, are strategically important for the US. China's comprehensive national power metric ranks countries based on various factors, including economic, military, and political influence. China's approach is externally focused and aims to increase its own power while decreasing the power of other nations. The Chinese Communist Party's influence extends beyond government and includes economic, social, and criminal elements. The US and its allies need to be aware of China's grand strategy and its impact on the Pacific region. The principal themes of the conversation are the importance of addressing corruption in the Pacific Islands, the strategic significance of the Pacific region, the need for maritime domain enforcement, and the role of the US in supporting the Pacific Islands.Takeaways:China is actively growing its influence in the Pacific Island nations, which are strategically important for the US.China's comprehensive national power metric ranks countries based on various factors and aims to increase China's power while decreasing the power of other nations.China's approach is externally focused and includes economic, social, and criminal elements.The US and its allies need to be aware of China's grand strategy and its impact on the Pacific region. Corruption in the Pacific Islands is a major issue that needs to be addressed, as it undermines national security and allows China to gain influence in the region.The Pacific region is strategically significant, and control over the islands and maritime routes is crucial for both the US and China.Maritime domain enforcement is essential to protect the rights and interests of the Pacific Islands and to counter illegal activities by China.The US should provide support to the Pacific Islands in terms of intelligence sharing, investigations, and strengthening their legal systems to combat corruption and defend their communities.The US needs to increase its presence and engagement in the Pacific Islands to counter China's influence and protect its own interests in the region.Sound Bites:"If you have a Pacific centered map, you know, the Indo-Pacific is going to be the, to the 21st century, what the Atlantic was to the 20th century.""China's comprehensive national power mentality seems to have actually translated into action in the way that they interact with the region.""China's approach is not just a kind of zero-sum game. They will go into the other side loses more.""You are sending in the mercy or Guard cut or whatever corruption that's happening on the ground is what's feeding out into the maritime environment, the air environment, and the entire national security bubble and corroding it.""We should have an unlimited prosecution and investigation budget. You don't compete on their terms, you compete on our terms because fundamentally, I think our system is better.""Unless we raise the cost of taking the money from China and give breathing space to the people who are trying to defend their communities and the things that they believe, it's not going to tip in our favor."Chapters:00:00: Introduction and Call to Join the Conversation02:10: Overview of the Pacific Island Nations07:24: China's Comprehensive National Power Strategy13:33: China's Influence in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas21:23: China's Braided Approach and Challenges for the US32:18: The Corrosive Effect of Corruption on National Security34:44: The Significance of the First and Second Island Chains38:29: The Importance of Geography in Conflict41:58: The Need for a Stronger US Presence in the Pacific Islands47:14: China's Political Warfare in the Pacific Islands53:22: China's Maritime Strategy in Latin America56:20: Enforcing Maritime Domain Awareness in the Pacific Islands59:41: The Importance of FBI Field Offices in the Pacific Islands

On today's show we are talking about how the US Federal Government manages and disposes of about 1/4 of the entire land mass of the United States. There is a handy report published by the Congressional Research Service which summarizes all of this. The report can be found at https://crsreports.congress.gov --------------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

This week on Facing the Future we'll look at whether the Fed has seen enough progress on inflation to begin cutting interest rates? Our guest is Gordon Gray, executive director of the Pinpoint Policy Institute. Then, we'll say farewell to frequent co-host Tori Gorman as she takes up a new job with the Congressional Research Service.

In this episode, Ben and Kate discuss federal immigration policy and laws in the United States and any impacts on the upcoming 2024 election.Research/Resources: “Immigration.” Department of Homeland Security Statistics, February 7, 2024, https://www.dhs.gov/ohss/topics/immigration“How Texas is challenging the Biden administration on border policy” by Arelis R. Hernández, Nick Miroff, Maria Sacchetti and Ann E. Marimow. Published in The Washington Post website March 12, 2024 and available on  https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2024/03/12/texas-border-battles-immigration-migrants-biden/“U.S. Border Patrol Encounters at the Southwest Border: Fact Sheet.” Prepared by Members and Committees of Congress. Published in Congressional Research Service website and available on  https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47556#:~:text=The%20definition%20includes%20persons%20both,present%20in%20the%20United%20States.&text=Border%20Protection%20(CBP).,%2Fstats%2Fnationwide%2Dencounters.“CBP Releases January 2024 Monthly Update.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection, February 13, 2024, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-january-2024-monthly-updateCheck out our website at http://artofdiscussing.buzzsprout.com, on Facebook at Art of Discussing and on Instagram @artofdiscussing.Got a topic that you'd like to see discussed? Interested in being a guest on our show? Just want to reach out to share an opinion, experience, or resource? Leave us a comment below or contact us at info@artofdiscussing.com!! We'd love to hear from you! Keep Discussing!Music found on Pixabay. Song name: "Clear Your Mind" by Caffeine Creek Band"

The current government under President Biden's helm has advocated for more accessible home loan options catering to high-risk borrowers, a move that could magnify the danger of defaults due to rising housing prices. This information is coming in from the experts who discussed the matter with the Daily Caller News Foundation. This aim has been pursued through various measures introduced by government-linked corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are regulated by the Federal Home Financing Administration (FHFA). Altogether, these tactics are costing the higher-risk borrowers less and compensating by charging the lower-risk borrowers more. Industry insiders are warning that this could lead to a ballooning amount of debt held by Americans, fueled by government-sanctioned lending. This surge in lending poses a threat, as a proliferation of foreclosures and defaults could potentially cause disruption in the housing market. Jason Sorens, a senior research fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research, speaks of the scenario in terms of a 'subprime crisis,' where high-risk borrowers are incentivized to take on debt they may not be able to repay. Sorens draws concern particularly on the impact of these policies on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose bottom line could be hit hard. The FHFA's approach to legitimize and facilitate the process for high-risk borrowers took shape in May 2023, reports from the Congressional Research Service reveal. The new approach adjusted the lending criteria - for instance, borrowers with credit scores ranging from 640 to 659, with a down payment between 15% to 20%, observed their fee rate drop to 2.250% from 2.750%. However, the borrowers with higher credit scores found their rate increase as a consequence. Those with credit scores from 760 to 779, making the same down payment, witnessed a surge to 0.625% from a previous 0.250%. The escalating home prices had its effects on these enterprises, pushing them to up the ceiling of housing debt Americans can procure through these government entities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss the qualified business income deduction in light of a February 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service that examined the provision's effect on investment and employment, equity, and taxpayer compliance.

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 700 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Austin is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. During the 2020 presidential campaign, he advised candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg on agricultural policy before ultimately serving as Co-Chair of the Biden campaign's Agriculture Antitrust Policy Committee. He is a Fellow of the Thurman Arnold Project at Yale University, an initiative that brings together faculty, students, and scholars to collaborate on research related to competition policy and antitrust enforcement. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Common Good Iowa and the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. In 2022, The Advocate named him a "Champion of Pride.” He recently published his debut book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry, which profiles a series of powerful magnates to illustrate the concentration of power in the American food system. The book has received universal acclaim. Publishers Weekly gave it a Starred Review and the host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots commended the book, remarking that “I have come away with a completely different idea of agriculture that I cannot unsee." The book has received praise from across the political spectrum, including a rave review from The American Conservative. Austin also has a strong track record of organizing conferences and other forums to push the conversation forward on agriculture policy. He recently worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to organize a conference and publish a compendium at Yale Law School entitled “Reforming America's Food Retail Markets,” which explored competition issues in the nation's food retail industry. He previously spearheaded other conferences at the Yale Law School, including “Big Ag & Antitrust: Competition Policy for a Sustainable and Humane Food System.” He also created & organized the "Heartland Forum" in Storm Lake, Iowa, the first candidate forum during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary process, which focused on the impacts of economic concentration in rural America. ​Austin is a 7th generation Iowan. His mother Kathy managed a beauty salon in his hometown of Cedar Rapids before opening her own bakery. His father Scott delivered and merchandised beer for a local, family-owned beer distributor. Austin's passion for agriculture comes from spending weekends working with his Grandpa Frerick. ​He has held a job since the age of 12, when he started working at the Cedar Rapids Gazette as a paperboy. He attended Grinnell College on merit scholarships and Pell Grants. While in college, Austin wrote two theses on corporate power in Iowa's slaughterhouse communities. After being the first in his family to graduate from college, Austin attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for graduate school on a full academic scholarship. He has since held positions at the Congressional Research Service and at the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis, where he published research on executive compensation, pharmaceutical corporate charity abuses, and the growth of concentration in the American economy. “In this eye-opening debut study, Frerick, an agricultural policy fellow at Yale University, reveals the ill-gained stranglehold that a handful of companies have on America's food economy…It's a disquieting critique of private monopolization of public necessities.” --Publishers Weekly, starred Barons is the story of seven corporate titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for everyone else. Take Mike McCloskey, Chairman of Fair Oaks Farms. In a few short decades, he went from managing a modest dairy herd to running the Disneyland of agriculture, where school children ride trams through mechanized warehouses filled with tens of thousands of cows that never see the light of day. What was the key to his success? Hard work and exceptional business savvy? Maybe. But more than anything else, Mike benefitted from deregulation of the American food industry, a phenomenon that has consolidated wealth in the hands of select tycoons, and along the way, hollowed out the nation's rural towns and local businesses. Along with Mike McCloskey, readers will meet a secretive German family that took over the global coffee industry in less than a decade, relying on wealth traced back to the Nazis to gobble up countless independent roasters. They will discover how a small grain business transformed itself into an empire bigger than Koch Industries, with ample help from taxpayer dollars. And they will learn that in the food business, crime really does pay—especially when you can bribe and then double-cross the president of Brazil. These, and the other stories in this book, are simply examples of the monopolies and ubiquitous corruption that today define American food. The tycoons profiled in these pages are hardly unique: many other companies have manipulated our lax laws and failed policies for their own benefit, to the detriment of our neighborhoods, livelihoods, and our democracy itself. Barons paints a stark portrait of the consequences of corporate consolidation, but it also shows we can choose a different path. A fair, healthy, and prosperous food industry is possible—if we take back power from the barons who have robbed us of it.   The Stand Up Community Chat is always active with other Stand Up Subscribers on the Discord Platform.   Join us Thursday's at 8EST for our Weekly Happy Hour Hangout!  Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube  Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art 

“FISA 702” allows the government to spy on foreigners and store the information that they collect about American citizens incidentally. After more than a decade of FBI officials inappropriately searching the database of our information without warrants, Congress just reauthorized the program and made some changes - some reigning the program in and some expanding it. In this episode, learn what those changes are and how they are likely to affect you. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes FISA Jasper Ward. April 20, 2024. Reuters. Luke Goldstein. April 12, 2024. The American Prospect. December 2019. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. Edward C. Liu. April 13, 2016. Congressional Research Service. History of Surveillance Mark Klein. November 8, 2007. C-SPAN Washington Journal. James Risen and Eric Lichtblau. December 16, 2005. The New York Times. NSA Spy Center Kashmir Hill. March 4, 2013. Forbes. James Bamford. March 15, 2012. Wired. PRISM program T.C. Sottek and Janus Kopfstein. July 17, 2013. The Verge. Laws Vote Breakdowns Audio Sources April 19, 2024 April 12, 2024 Speakers: November 8, 2007 C-SPAN Washington Journal Music by Editing Production Assistance

After an unprecedented embassy bombing followed by an unprecedented drone and missile attack, Israel and Iran may have us on the brink of WWIII. In this episode, as Congress and the Biden administration ponder additional support for Israel, we take a look at what has already been approved for Israel in the 2024 defense authorization and funding law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes Netanyahu Howard Eissenstat. Sept 20, 2012. Slate. Akiva Eldar. February 10, 2009. Haaretz. Attacks on U.S. Bases Ken Klippenstein. February 9, 2024. The Intercept. Doug G. Ware. November 6, 2023. Stars and Stripes. Doug G. Ware. October 31, 2023. Stars and Stripes. Iran-Israel Conflict David Hearst. April 15, 2024. Middle East Eye. Tom Spender. April 15, 2024. BBC. Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw. April 14, 2024. The Intercept. Barak Ravid. April 14, 2024. Axios. Ben Samuels. April 14, 2024. Haaretz. Cassandra Vinograd and Natan Odenheimer. April 14, 2024. The New York Times. Permanent Mission of I.R.Iran to UN, NY (@Iran_UN). April 13, 2024. Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita C. Baldor. April 3, 2024. PBS NewsHour. Fear of U.S. War with Iran Ali Vaez. April 15, 2024. Foreign Affairs. Murtaza Hussain. April 14, 2024. The Intercept. Carol E. Lee et al. April 14, 2024. NBC News. Uri Misgav. November 23, 2023. Haaretz. Julian Borger. December 17, 2023. The Guardian. Marwan Bishara. October 9, 2023. Aljazeera. Defense funding for Israel Yuval Azulay. April 15, 2024.” CTech by Calcalist. Noah Robertson. November 15, 2023. Defense News. Jeremy M. Sharp. March 1, 2023. Congressional Research Service via EveryCRSReport.com. Raytheon. 2021. Rafael. Jeremy M. Sharp. September 30, 2014. Congressional Research Service via EveryCRSReport.com. Tony Capaccio. May 27, 2014. Bloomberg. January 7, 2014. Boeing. Boeing and Raytheon Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Open Secrets. Open Secrets. Open Secrets. Open Secrets. Foreign Military Financing Nathan J. Lucas and Michael J. Vassalotti. February 21, 2020. Congressional Research Service via EveryCRSReport.com. March 2017. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, U.S. Department of Defense.* Abraham Accords U.S. Department of State. Jordan Zvi Bar'el. April 15, 2024. Haaretz. Jonathan Shamir. April 16, 2023. Haaretz. Saudi Arabia April 14, 2024. Al Arabiya English. Laws Executive Producer Recommended Sources King Abdullah. 1947. From the Internet Archive, originally published in The American Magazine. Music by Editing Production Assistance

#104: April FIER (Friends of IER) Podcast 4/11/24 Guests: Paige Lambermont: Paige is a Research Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in the Center for Energy and Environment. In her role, she covers the electrical grid, energy regulation, nuclear power issues, and other free-market energy topics. In 2024, Paige was selected to be a Visiting Fellow for the Independent Women's Forum. Jordan McGillis: Jordan is City Journal's Economics Editor. Previously, McGillis was a Manhattan Institute Paulson policy analyst. Before that, he was deputy director of policy at the Institute for Energy Research. McGillis's research and writing on energy, technology, and economic progress have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and the New York Post. He writes regularly for National Review and the American Spectator and he has been cited by the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means, the Congressional Research Service, and the U.S Defense Department's Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs. Travis Fisher: Travis is the director of energy and environmental policy studies at the Cato Institute. He has nearly 20 years of experience in energy policy, including leadership roles at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Institute for Energy Research, Department of Energy, Electricity Consumers Resource Council, and Heritage Foundation. Links: A Nuclear Plant's Closure Was Hailded As A Green Win. Then Emissions Went Up: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/20/nuclear-plant-closure-carbon-emissions-new-york How the Inflation Reduction Act Bankrolls EPA Overreach: https://www.cato.org/blog/how-inflation-reduction-act-bankrolls-epa-overreach Biden Administration Releases Its Electric Truck Mandate: https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/biden-administration-releases-its-electric-truck-mandate/ Can We Engineer Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/31/climate/climate-change-carbon-capture-ccs.html

The American food system is under the control of a few elite power players. The economic dynamics of the food system not only shape our food culture, but also affect our health. Our guest this week is Austin Frerick, an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. Austin is the author of “Barons: Money, power, and the corruption of America's food industry”. In his book and in this interview, he describes the stories of seven corporate barons who dominate the food industry, each representing structural issues within the system. We discuss the importance of the Farm Bill, its impact on production, and the monopolization of the industry that profits at the expense of both farmers and consumers. Learn more about Austin's  work and this topic at https://www.austinfrerick.com/ or follow Austin @AustinFrerick on social media.

This week, the Supreme Court will hear its first major abortion case since the Dobbs decision. We’ll get into how the use of abortion pills has changed post-Roe and the possible revival of a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law. Plus, an update on the efforts to limit judge shopping. And, the story of a woman who completed an extreme running race. Here's everything we talked about today: “Biden's Trustbuster Draws Unlikely Fans: ‘Khanservative' Republicans” from The Wall Street Journal “Showdown in Cowtown” from Politico's Morning Money “Where a Suit Can Proceed: Court Selection and Forum Shopping” from the Congressional Research Service “Use of Abortion Pills Has Risen Significantly Post Roe, Research Shows” from The New York Times “What is the Comstock Act?” from The 19th “Optimist Pollster Finds Americans Are Far More Alike Than Different, With Shared Values Bridging Political Divides” from Good News Network “Jasmin Paris Is First Woman to Finish Barkley Marathons” from The New York Times We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

This week, the Supreme Court will hear its first major abortion case since the Dobbs decision. We’ll get into how the use of abortion pills has changed post-Roe and the possible revival of a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law. Plus, an update on the efforts to limit judge shopping. And, the story of a woman who completed an extreme running race. Here's everything we talked about today: “Biden's Trustbuster Draws Unlikely Fans: ‘Khanservative' Republicans” from The Wall Street Journal “Showdown in Cowtown” from Politico's Morning Money “Where a Suit Can Proceed: Court Selection and Forum Shopping” from the Congressional Research Service “Use of Abortion Pills Has Risen Significantly Post Roe, Research Shows” from The New York Times “What is the Comstock Act?” from The 19th “Optimist Pollster Finds Americans Are Far More Alike Than Different, With Shared Values Bridging Political Divides” from Good News Network “Jasmin Paris Is First Woman to Finish Barkley Marathons” from The New York Times We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

This week, the Supreme Court will hear its first major abortion case since the Dobbs decision. We’ll get into how the use of abortion pills has changed post-Roe and the possible revival of a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law. Plus, an update on the efforts to limit judge shopping. And, the story of a woman who completed an extreme running race. Here's everything we talked about today: “Biden's Trustbuster Draws Unlikely Fans: ‘Khanservative' Republicans” from The Wall Street Journal “Showdown in Cowtown” from Politico's Morning Money “Where a Suit Can Proceed: Court Selection and Forum Shopping” from the Congressional Research Service “Use of Abortion Pills Has Risen Significantly Post Roe, Research Shows” from The New York Times “What is the Comstock Act?” from The 19th “Optimist Pollster Finds Americans Are Far More Alike Than Different, With Shared Values Bridging Political Divides” from Good News Network “Jasmin Paris Is First Woman to Finish Barkley Marathons” from The New York Times We love to hear from you. Send your questions and comments to makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Matt Glassman joins Lee and James to discuss the right way to do politics. Glassman is a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. Before that, he worked on congressional operations, separation of powers, appropriations process, agency design, and congressional history at the Congressional Research Service. He also served as professional staff on the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.How do you do politics? What is the right way to do politics? Is there one right way? Does it vary between the White House and Congress? These are some of the questions Matt, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

A bill is quickly moving through Congress that supposedly would “ban TikTok.” While it is clearly aimed at TikTok, this bill is really about creating a new Presidential power to remove Americans' access to apps, websites, games and other entire tech platforms. In this episode, using the text of the bill itself, we examine how exactly this new censorship power would work if the bill passes the Senate and becomes law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes The Not a TikTok Ban Bill Drew Harwell et al. March 13, 2024. The Washington Post. David E. Sanger. March 13, 2024. The New York Times. Aamer Madhani. March 8, 2024. AP News. Opposition to the bill Jenna Leventoff. March 13, 2024. ACLU. Access Now et al. March 12, 2024. ACLU. How we got here Dan Primack. March 12, 2024. Axios. Samantha Delouya and Brian Fung. November 30, 2023. CNN. Emily Baker-White. August 21, 2023. Forbes. November 20, 2023. Reuters. Brian Fung. December 30, 2022. CNN. James K. Jackson. February 14, 2020. Congressional Research Service. Grindr Echo Wang. May 13, 2019. Reuters. Jeff Farrah. April 15, 2019. TechCrunch. ByteDance Lily Kuo and Annabelle Timsit. March 13, 2024. The Washington Post. April 16, 2023. TikTok. Censorship and Spying Jonathan Vanian. January 22, 2024. CNBC. May 16, 2023. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Public Affairs. Marielle Descalsota. December 27, 2022. Business Insider. Lily Hay Newman. May 7, 2019. Wired. Israel and AIPAC Camille Bressange. March 16, 2024. The Wall Street Journal. Kate Linthicum. March 13, 2024. The Los Angeles Times. Celine Alkhaldi et al. March 8, 2024. CNN. December 3, 2023. Velshi on MSNBC. Rep. Mike Gallagher. November 1, 2023. The Free Press. Mater Dei High School. TikTok September 20, 2021. BBC. The Bill Audio Sources House Floor March 13, 2024 Clips 19:00 Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): There was there were some people who were legitimately concerned that this was an overly broad bill and they got an exclusion written into the bill that I want to read. It says the term "covered company" does not include an entity that operates a website or application, whose primary purpose is to allow users to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews. Why is this exception in the bill? Why did somebody feel like they needed this exception if the bill itself only covers social media applications that foreign adversaries are running now? 21:15 Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ): While this bill establishes a national security framework that could apply to other applications, much of the public attention is focused on TikTok. 23:15 Rep. Michael Gallagher (R-WI): Mr. Speaker, TikTok is a threat to our national security because it is owned by ByteDance, which does the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party. We know this because ByteDance's leadership says so and because Chinese law requires it. This bill, therefore, would force TikTok to break up with the Chinese Communist Party. It does not apply to American companies. It only applies to companies subject to the controlof foreign adversaries defined by Congress. It says nothing about election interference and cannot be turned against any American social media platform. It does not impact websites in general. The only impacted sites are those associated with foreign adversary apps, such as TikTok.com. It can never be used to penalize individuals. The text explicitly prohibits that. It cannot be used to censor speech. It takes no position at all on the content of speech, only foreign adversary control of what is becoming the dominant news platform for Americans under 30. 25:55 Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): This divestment requirement is not new. It's not without precedent. When the app Grindr, a popular LGBTQ app, was acquired by a Chinese company, and the United States government determined that sensitive data of LGBTQ members of the military and US government officials got into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, they required divestment. This happened quickly. Why? Because Grindr was a very valuable social media company. The same is true with regard to TikTok, and there will be no disruption to users, just as there was with Grindr. 27:25 Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL): Last week, under the leadership of the Chairwoman and the Ranking Member, they brought up for consideration our bill before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On the morning of that vote, TikTok, delivered a push notification and a pop up to thousands of users across the country. They used geolocation data targeting minor children to then force them to call congressional offices in order to continue using the app. And in doing so, these children called and they asked the question: what is Congress? And what is a Congressman? This influence campaign illustrates the need for this bill. 29:20 Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): The people sponsoring this bill today claim that the real issue is ownership. But who owns this company? It's not 100% owned by Bytedance. 60% of it's owned by investors, including American investors. 20% are owned by the founders and 20% are owned by over 7000 employees. The company's headquarters is not in China, it's in Singapore. And the American user data isn't housed in China. It's housed in Texas, controlled by a database owned by Oracle. 30:20 Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): So if we think we can address the privacy concerns, what's left to address? Frankly, content moderation. Remember, before Elon Musk bought the crime scene at Twitter, it was all a conspiracy theory that these algorithms were silencing and canceling people. You guys are crazy. Now when Elon Musk bought Twitter, he did keep it operating with 80% fewer employees. But what we found is a lot of the employees were trying to do content moderation, shape who sees what and how they see it, which algorithms are used, how does it promote certain people and, and filter others? So really, what you're saying here is if you're not fully engaged with America's three letter agencies in content moderation, we plan to 'TikTok' you. And this bill isn't just limited to TikTok. It's a coercive power that can be applied to other apps like Telegram, Tor. Things that provide privacy would be targeted by this bill. 34:20 Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): First of all, this is not a ban on TikTok. I'm a grandmother of teenagers, I understand the entertainment value, the educational value, communication value, the business value for some businesses on this. This is not an attempt to ban TikTok. Its an attempt to make TikTok better. Tic Tac Toe. A winner, a winner. 41:00 Brett Guthrie (R-KY): I was asked, does this just affect TikTok? And no, it's any foreign adversary, or any app that is owned, controlled or unduly influenced by any foreign adversary. We must protect our national security and help keep America's private data out of the hands of our foreign adversaries. I urge support of this bill, and I yield back. 51:55 Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN): After hearing from national security experts last week, it is clear the prolific use of media platforms controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries poses a danger to our country. 53:15 Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA): This bill would greatly expand the Executive's authority to ban tech companies with zero congressional oversight. I cannot sign a blank check to some future president who would easily and dangerously weaponize this legislation to profit in silence. 55:20 Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL): We aren't banning a company, as the high paid lobbyists for Bytedance - which is owned by China - would lead you to believe. We aren't infringing on constitutionally protected speech or growing the size of government. All we're saying is, Break up with the Chinese Communist Party. 1:02:30 Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY): Who's going to be prosecuted by this bill? Is it Bytedance or TikTok? Will they be taken to court? No. I mean, they're the target of this, but how do you elicit or effect a ban on them? By prosecuting Americans? The only way you can ban TikTok and the other companies from being here is to say what this bill says, which is the government will bring a civil action suit against you, if you so much as host them here. If you have an app store that allows them to be here, you're an American or an American company and you will be the target of this bill. Those are the only people who can be pursued under this bill and I know it's in order to go after TikTok, or so they say. Music by Editing Production Assistance

Kids Online Safety Act Infographic Northeast Youth Ministry Summit (Register Now!!!) According to Wikipedia:   The "Kids Online Safety Act" (KOSA) is a bill introduced in the United States Senate by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D‑CT) and Marsha Blackburn (R‑TN) in February 2022[1] and reintroduced in May 2023; the bill establishes guidelines meant to protect minors on social media platforms.[2] The bill charges individual state attorneys general with enforcing the bill.[3] The bill has been criticized by civil rights organizations for potentially enabling censorship, including of material important to marginalized groups.[4]Bill summary[edit] The bill is summarized by the Congressional Research Service with the following: This bill sets out requirements to protect minors from online harms. The requirements apply to covered platforms, which are applications or services (e.g., social networks) that connect to the internet and are likely to be used by minors. However, the bill exempts internet service providers, email services, educational institutions, and other specified entities from the requirements. Additionally, covered platforms must provide (1) minors (or their parents or guardians) with certain safeguards, such as settings that restrict access to minors' personal data; and (2) parents or guardians with tools to supervise minors' use of a platform, such as control of privacy and account settings. Covered platforms must also; disclose specified information, including details regarding the use of personalized recommendation systems and targeted advertising; allow parents, guardians, minors, and schools to report certain harms; refrain from facilitating advertising of age-restricted products or services (e.g., tobacco and gambling) to minors; and annually report on foreseeable risks of harm to minors from using the platform. — Congressional Research Service summary, 118th Congress S. 1409 Criticism[edit] The bill has been criticized by members of the "Don't Delete Art" (DDA) movement and anti-censorship groups due to the chances of increased online surveillance and heavy censorship of artists' work. Along with support from the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Coalition Against Censorship, Fight for the Future, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, DDA has encouraged people to signal their opposition through an online petition that labels KOSA as one of several "Bad Internet Bills."[5] A letter sent to the United States Congress by Evan Greer—director of Fight for the Future—and signed by multiple civil society groups claims that KOSA could backfire and cause more harm to minors.[6][7] Fight for the Future has set up a Stop KOSA website for people to sign a petition and contact lawmakers against the bill.[8] Interpretation of harms[edit] Critics, including the EFF, notes that the bill's definition of harm toward minors leaves room for broad interpretation decided by the state attorneys general who are charged with enforcing the bill,[9][10] likening it to the FOSTA-SESTA bills.[11] The conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation has written that the initial 2022 iteration of KOSA doesn't go far enough, as the bill doesn't explicitly list transgender healthcare as a harm.[12][13] The inclusion of the phrase "consistent with evidence-informed medical information"[14] could be used by attorneys general to cherry-pick anti-trans sources as justification, since there is no definition of what "evidence-based medical information" can include.[15] Senator Blackburn, co-author of the bill, has argued that some education about racism and the civil rights movement overlaps with critical race theory, which she labels a "dangerous ideology" that can inflict "mental and emotional damage" upon children.[16] She has also explicitly stated that the bill will be used to censor content involving the transgender community.[17] EFF columnist Jason Kelly states that in the framework provided by the bill, that KOSA could be used to censor education about racism in schools since it could be claimed that it impacts mental health.[18] References[edit] ^ "Blackburn, Blumenthal Introduce Bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act". blackburn.senate.gov. May 2, 2023. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. ^ "S.1409 — 118th Congress (2023-2024)". Congress.gov. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. ^ "S.1409 — 118th Congress (2023-2024)". Congress.gov. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. (Section 11 B) In any case in which the attorney general of a State has reason to believe that an interest of the residents of that State has been or is threatened or adversely affected by the engagement of any person in a practice that violates this Act or a regulation promulgated under this Act, the State, as parens patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in a district court of the United States or a State court of appropriate jurisdiction...S. 1409 ^ Lorenz, Taylor (February 1, 2024). "Online safety legislation is opposed by many it claims to protect". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 1, 2024. ^ Nayyar, Rhea (July 26, 2023). "Artists Call on Congress to Stop 'Bad Internet Bills'". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. ^ "Letter: 90+ LGBTQ and human rights organizations oppose KOSA". Fight for the Future. November 28, 2022. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. ^ Feiner, Lauren (May 2, 2023). "Lawmakers update Kids Online Safety Act to address potential harms, but fail to appease some activists, industry groups". CNBC. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. ^ "Stop KOSA". Fight for the Future. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023. ^ Kelley, Jason (May 2, 2023). "The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. It will be based on vague requirements that any Attorney General could, more or less, make up. ^ Molloy, Parker (July 27, 2023). "Congress is About to Pass a Very Bad Internet Bill. Here's How You Can Stop It". Substack. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. The bill would enforce monitoring of anyone under the age of seventeen and give state attorneys general the power to censor content. ^ Philips, Sarah (July 27, 2023). "This Bill Threatens Access to LGBTQ+ Online Communities". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. Like SESTA/FOSTA, KOSA creates the aforementioned duty of care for social media companies, giving state attorneys general the power to sue sites like Instagram or Twitter if they put up content they deem "harmful" for kids and teens. With SESTA/FOSTA, we saw that tech companies preferred to shut down already-policed content about reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ identities, and sex education than risk a lawsuit. ^ Eckert, Jared (March 21, 2022). "How Not To Keep Children Safe Online". The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. ^ Philips, Sarah (July 27, 2023). "This Bill Threatens Access to LGBTQ+ Online Communities". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. KOSA's supporters might want to ignore the fact that it's a censorship bill in disguise, but the Heritage Foundation is saying the quiet part out loud. The hard-line conservative organization has openly said KOSA will help them censor the content conservatives don't want young people to have access to. ^ "S.1409". Congress.gov. May 2, 2023. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023. Sec 3.b.2: the covered platform or individuals on the platform from providing resources for the prevention or mitigation of suicidal behaviors, substance use, and other harms, including evidence-informed information and clinical resources. ^ Molloy, Parker (July 27, 2023). "Congress is About to Pass a Very Bad Internet Bill. Here's How You Can Stop It". Substack. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. (In a block quote from Evan Greer) The phrase "consistent with evidence-informed medical information" does nothing to prevent that, because AGs can always find cherry-picked studies to support their wild claims. They're doing this right now. In his "emergency" order attempting to ban gender-affirming care, Missouri's attorney general cited a Swedish study that claims there is a lack of evidence to support the efficacy and safety of gender-affirming care. There is no legal definition of "evidence-based." Those are just words. This bill will absolutely allow AGs to go after platforms for recommending speech they don't like to younger users. Tying the duty of care to specific mental health outcomes is also problematic because it will lead to suppression of all discussion around those important but controversial topics. ^ "Why Is Critical Race Theory Dangerous For Our Kids?". U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. July 12, 2021. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. While parents struggle to help their children manage the mental and emotional damage inflicted by this dangerous ideology, the left will continue to re-write our education system to fit their woke agenda—and they won't stop until CRT is in every classroom in America. I will gladly stand with Tennessee parents to demand an end to this latest, unhinged attempt to brainwash our nation's children. ^ "Senator appears to suggest bipartisan bill would censor transgender content online". NBC. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023. ^ Kelley, Jason (May 2, 2023). "The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023. KOSA's co-author, Sen. Blackburn of Tennessee, has referred to education about race discrimination as "dangerous for kids." Many states have agreed and recently moved to limit public education about the history of race, gender, and sexuality discrimination.

In this episode, Andrew gets into the weeds of congressional reform with Kevin Kosar, an 11-year veteran of the Congressional Research Service and now a resident fellow at AEI. Andrew and Kevin talk about the Hastert rule, the best shape of table for getting work done, the collective action problem in Congress, and why Congress needs to hire more people instead of bragging about how little they spend on staff. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4GRfX-F2jXU Congress Overwhelmed - https://amzn.to/47mc19r Follow Kevin Kosar: https://twitter.com/kevinrkosar | https://kevinrkosar.com Follow Andrew Yang: https://andrewyang.com | https://twitter.com/andrewyang To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two members of Congress, one from each side of the aisle and each branch of Congress, are currently under criminal indictment, yet are steadfastly clinging to their roles as lawmakers. In this episode, we've got the dirt straight from the criminal indictments of Rep. George Santos of New York and Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes Sen. Bob Menendez The Indictment Egypt Aysha Bagchi and Josh Meyer. November 13, 2023. USA Today. Mark Mazzetti and Vivian Yee. October 14, 2023. The New York Times. Larry Neumeister. October 12, 2023. AP. Nicole Hong et al. October 1, 2023. The New York Times. Jeremy M. Sharp. May 2, 2023. Congressional Research Service. Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam October 24, 2020. BBC News. September 2, 2020. The New York Times. Marriage Nina Burleigh. October 31, 2023. Intelligencer. Previous Indictment Nick Corasaniti and Nate Schweber. November 16, 2017. The New York Times. April 1, 2015. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs. Initial Appointment to Senate Marek Fuchs. December 9, 2005. The New York Times. Rep. George Santos The Indictment House Ethics Committee Investigation November 16, 2023. House Ethics Committee. November 9, 2023. House Ethics Committee, Investigative Subcommittee. Brazil Fraud Case Andrew DePietro. October 21, 2022. Forbes. Expulsion Attempts Kevin Freking. November 17, 2023. PBS NewsHour. Kevin Freking and Stephen Groves. November 2, 2023. AP. Wealthiest Districts Andrew DePietro. October 21, 2022. Forbes. IRS Doesn't Fight Dark Money Maya Miller. April 18, 2019. ProPublica. Bills Audio Sources October 28, 2023 Chat Box with David Cruz Clips 3:25 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): You know, I have drawn from my personal credit union savings account, for the better part of 30 years, $400 every week in cash. And while that may seem old fashioned, some people may think of it as crazy, the reality is that the government has those records. They have the accounts that show that and they chose not to use it. So, you know, this is why I look forward to being in a position to actually speak to these issues, so that New Jerseyans will have a different set of facts than the ones they have right now. 5:20 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I was not barred from going into an intelligence briefing. I still have all of my intelligence credentials. 7:20 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I have not missed a beat. I've been here for votes and for hearings, and for pursuing the issues that are important to the people in New Jersey. 11:35 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I still serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which gives me a perch on all of these global issues, and I am pursuing them in the same way as I did before. The difference is that I am not leading the [Senate Foreign Relations] Committee, but I am very much active in the Committee pursuing the things that I care about for New Jersey. 15:25 David Cruz: So the considerations that Egypt received, including getting a green light from your committee, the quid pro quo as it were, was Egypt behaving better in exchange for arms sales and other considerations? Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): Each consideration depended upon the nature of the sale, whether it was for example, defensive equipment, whether it was equipment for the Sinai, where they are playing a vital role for security with Israel, which everybody -- Democrats and Republicans -- have called for. So these followed the traditional uses of both foreign aid and arms sales in a way to ensure that the US national security interests was pursued and that's simply the case. 16:15 David Cruz: And in the case of one of your co-defendants receiving a contract to certify halal — Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): I can't answer for my co-defendant, you'll have to ask him. David Cruz: Well, the question is, was it your relations with Egyptian officials that helped ease the way for him to get that contract? Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ): David, there's a lot of suggestions. As a matter of fact, as I read the indictment, there's a lot of inferences, but not a lot of facts at the end of the day. Those inferences try to play and create a storyline. That is the most negative pejorative storyline you can create. But when those get challenged by the facts, as we will, in the legal proceedings that both motions and trials will allow us to do, then we will see a totally different story. May 27, 2021 Senate Foreign Relations Committee Witnesses: Robert F. Godec, Acting Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African Affairs Sarah Charles, Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, United States Agency for International Development Clips Sen. Bob Menenedez (D-NJ): Then, finally, I will make a comment. It is not a question. I have spoken to the Egyptians on more than one occasion on this issue at their behest. I have a real sense that if the GERD issue is not dealt with in a way that assures them of their concerns about the Nile flowing into what would be the heart of their water supply in Egypt that they will do what is necessary. I do not like red lines, but they have suggested that they have red lines and I take them at their word that they have red lines. Not that they are desirous of doing that. They also have a very strong expression that they hope to have a resolution peacefully, but that they have their own red lines. I hope that we are engaging in that very robustly because the last thing we need, in addition to everything that is going on in Ethiopia, in addition to the possibility of a famine, to the sexual violence that is taking place, is to then have a military conflict over the GERD. So I just seriously hope we are fully engaged and understand where the parties are and how serious some of them are of purpose. Executive Producer Recommended Sources Music by Editing Production Assistance

For the first time in U.S. history, the Speaker of the House of Representatives has been fired from the job mid-term. This episode is a play by play of the drama that lead up to this historic event, including the passing of a temporary government funding law which triggered agents of chaos to give Kevin McCarthy the boot. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via Support Congressional Dish via (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes Government Shutdowns Clinton T. Brass et al. Updated December 10, 2018. Congressional Research Service. Christopher Hickey. September 29, 2023. CNN. Credit Rating Downgrade Elliot Smith. September 27, 2023. CNBC. Elliot Smith. August 2, 2023. CNBC. Funding Process Congressional Research Service. September 11, 2023. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget. The Continuing Resolution [Jen's Highlighted Version.] Wikipedia contributors. Retrieved October 8, 2023. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. The Ousting of Kevin McCarthy S. Dev. October 4, 2023. CBS News. Mini Racker. October 3, 2023. TIME. Audio Sources October 3, 2023 September 30, 2023 C-SPAN Clips Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA): We will put a clean funding stop gap on the floor to keep government open for 45 days for the House and Senate to get their work done. We will also, knowing what had transpired through the summer -- the disasters in Florida, the horrendous fire in Hawaii and also disasters in California and Vermont -- we will put the supplemental portion that the President asked for in disaster thereto keeping the government open while we continue to do our work. September 30, 2023 Clips Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX): Today, the most important priority is keeping government open. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY): To shut the government down would be disastrous for the American people, our military, and our economy. The time has come for everyone to put the American people above all interests and continue to do our work as responsible, reasonable, and serious legislators. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA): I cannot justify shutting down our entire government over obscure policy decisions. September 30, 2023 Clips Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): The alternative to our action today -- an entirely avoidable government shutdown -- would not just pause our progress on these important priorities, it would actually set them back. September 29, 2023 Clips Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA): This bill, that was just dropped on us a few hours ago, really is a piece of garbage, and that is putting it nicely. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN): We need to make some serious cuts to our bloated government in areas where we don't need it. We have way too many bureaucrats. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN): As I have stated many times with these continuing resolutions, they tell us to pass a continuing resolution so we don't have to pass another continuing resolution. Well, that line of thinking is like telling a crackhead that I am going to give you more crack to get you off of crack. The truth is we are just addicted to money, and now we are addicted to our great grandchildren's money. September 28, 2023 Clips Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS): I oppose a shutdown of government, in part because a shutdown would make the crisis that we face at our border even worse. September 27, 2023 Clips Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO): We don't want continuing resolutions or omnibus bills. We want to go through the funding of the Federal Government bill by bill, sit down, and work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): Enough is enough. I am putting my countrymen first. I don't think we should send another nickel to Ukraine. September 27, 2023 Clips Sen. James Lankford (R-OK): We have got to deal with the issue of government shutdowns. They hurt us more than help us. September 26, 2023 Clips Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX): It will be up to Democrats to make a choice. Will they shut down this open border or will they shut down the government of the United States. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on CNN September 21, 2023 Clips Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA): This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down, but it doesn't work. September 21, 2023 Clips Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA): Madam Speaker, this majority is a failure. The clowns are running the circus. The day Speaker MCCARTHY handed his gavel over to the clown show, this was the inevitable outcome. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA): The Republican majority in this House is a joke. They wasted weeks talking about gas stoves, weeks arguing about book bans, weeks telling kids what soccer team they can play on, and now we are on the eve of a shutdown and they are doing nothing to stop it. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK): Shutting down the government is bad for the American people. It is an abdication of our responsibility. It is something we should not do September 20, 2023 Clips Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS): Let's secure the border. Let's decrease our country's dependence on Communist China. Let's commit to reigning in government spending. September 19, 2023 News 12 Westchester Clips Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY): This is stupidity, the idea we are going to shut the government down when we don't control the Senate, we don't control the White House. Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY): If the clown show of colleagues that refuse to actually govern does not want to pass a CR, I will do everything we need to do to make sure a CR passes. The bottom line here is this: we're not shutting the government down. September 19, 2023 Clips Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK): It is simply an inappropriate tool in the toolbox, in my opinion. I have seen both sides use it. My side, sadly, has used it more. I hope we don't do it this time. September 19, 2023 PBS NewsHour Clips Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC): A shutdown is not the best thing in the world, but continued path toward bankruptcy is not an option either, for me. September 18, 2023 Clips Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): Mr. Speaker, I'm not voting for a Continuing Resolution. I'm not voting to continue the failure, and the waste, and the corruption, and the election interference. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): It is only a review of single-subject spending bills that will save this country and allow us to tweeze through these programs and force these agencies to stand up and defend their budget. September 13, 2023 Clips Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA): We should make border security a condition of any continuing resolution when the fiscal year ends on September 30. September 12, 2023 Clips Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): No continuing resolutions; individual spending bills or bust. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): Individual, single-subject spending bills that would allow us to have specific review, programmatic analysis, and that would allow us to zero out the salaries of the bureaucrats who have broken bad, targeted President Trump, or cut sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden. Rep. George Santos (R-NY): A shutdown would only hurt the very people who are putting their lives at risk for all of us. YouTube Executive Producer Recommended Episodes Music by Editing Production Assistance Cover Art Designed by Clare Kuntz Balcer with images from and

In prison for speech in American and how many more J6 suicides of non-violent people does the DOJ crave?Owen Shroyer is being put in prison for his speech. His statements warn the public that the government will come for them next. We also talk about the suicide of a 22 year old charged in the J6 events after being there for only 10 minutes and not harming any people or property.What does God's Word say? Enemies not Flesh and BloodProverbs 28:2-10When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.3 A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.4 Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them.5 Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.6 Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.7 A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.8 Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor.9 If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.10 Whoever leads the upright along an evil path will fall into their own trap, but the blameless will receive a good inheritance.Episode 1,089 Links:Bloodlust; As the body count, excessive prison sentences, and new arrests related to January 6 pile up, the twisted bloodlust of the Left is on full displayBLM gunman who shot a driver in the head has charges dropped, sentence reduced, eligible for parole in 2026; Prosecutors and judges are not doing their jobsPolitical Prisoner Owen Shroyer Gives Exclusive Interview After Sentencing for Free Speech …Fulton County Special Prosecutor's Law Firm Earns Nearly $550,000 in Trump Case, so FarAlex DeGrasse Explains Election Integrity When It Comes To State Legislators Versus The CourtsCompeting Slates of Electors Have Happened Before; Congressional Research Service demolishes Fani Willis' filthy lies about Trump's ‘fake-elector-scamWeek Four of Disbarment Trial of Trump's Attorney John Eastman Wraps Up with More Testimony About Wisconsin's Botched 2020 ElectionExplosive Testimony from Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice at Disbarment Trial of Trump's Attorney John EastmanThe future Attorney General of the United States, Jeff Clark, explains why the '14th Amendment' argument to remove President Trump from the ballot is completely phony!Republican Rep. Scott Perry unleashes on regime reporter who tries suggesting that Republicans don't have any evidence against Joe Biden for their impeachment inquiry.Nets Scream ‘No Evidence' in Gleeful Compliance to WH Memo on Biden Impeachment4Patriots https://4patriots.com Protect your family with Food kits, solar generators and more at 4Patriots. Use code TODD for 10% off your first purchase. Alan's Soaps https://alanssoaps.com/TODD Use coupon code ‘TODD' to save an additional 10% off the bundle price. BiOptimizers https://bioptimizers.com/todd Use promo code TODD for 10% off your order. Bonefrog https://bonefrog.us Enter promo code TODD at checkout to receive 10% off your subscription. Bulwark Capital http://KnowYourRiskRadio.com Find out how Bulwark Capital Actively Manages risk. Call 866-779-RISK or visit KnowYourRiskRadio.com Patriot Mobile https://patriotmobile.com/herman Get free activation today with offer code HERMAN. Visit or call 878-PATRIOT. RuffGreens https://ruffgreens.com/todd Get your FREE Jumpstart Trial Bag of Ruff Greens, simply cover shipping. Visit or call 877-MYDOG-64. SOTA Weight Loss https://sotaweightloss.com SOTA Weight Loss is, say it with me now, STATE OF THE ART! Sound of Freedom https://angel.com/freedom Join the two million and see Sound of Freedom in theaters July 4th. GreenHaven Interactive https://greenhaveninteractive.com Digital Marketing including search engine optimization and website design.

What is the Supreme Court's “shadow docket” and why does it matter? Preet speaks with Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and the author of “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.”  References & Supplemental Materials: Steve Vladeck, “The Shadow Docket,” Barnes & Noble, 5/16/23 “Major Questions Doctrine,” Congressional Research Service, 11/2/22 FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Supreme Court, 4/21/23 Stay Tuned in Brief is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Please write to us with your thoughts and questions at letters@cafe.com, or leave a voicemail at 669-247-7338. For analysis of recent legal news, try the CAFE Insider membership for just $1 for one month: cafe.com/insider. Check out other CAFE shows Now & Then and Up Against the Mob.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices