Podcast appearances and mentions of ed o'keefe

Over the weekend, the University of Pennsylvania's president, Liz Magill, resigned following backlash over her answers during a Congressional hearing on antisemitism. Now, the presidents from MIT and Harvard are facing growing calls for them to also step down. CBS News' Nikole Killion reports from the University of Pennsylvania.College campuses across the country are experiencing increasing hate, following the war in the Middle East. Wesleyan University's President, Michael Roth, joins CBS Mornings to discuss free speech and how the conflict is impacting students.President Biden is losing voter support in Michigan, a state he won in the 2020 election over his response to the Israel-Hamas war. There are also troubling signs for the president according to new CBS News polling that shows 62% of people say they disapprove of his handling of the economy, as CBS News' Ed O-Keefe reports from Washington. This morning, the nominees for the 81st Golden Globe Awards were announced. Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis joins CBS Mornings to break down the nominations and the frontrunners for the prestigious award, airing on CBS January 7, 2024."CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King sits down with Julia Roberts to discuss her new apocalyptic thriller, "Leave The World Behind." In this preview clip, Roberts revisits her role in "My Best Friend's Wedding," and imagines where her character would be today. The full interview airs Tuesday on "CBS Mornings."See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show Ed and I discuss the perception that the public has about the construction industry and how we can encourage more people to enter the profession. He talks candidly about what the sheetmetal union is doing to raise the bar in the industry and frankly where he thinks they can be better. I think this is a rare and even handed discussion about out industry and the role organized labor plays in the process. We also share our opinions on what I feel is a change worthy commercial targeted to construction workers. IG profiles referenced promoting the construction industry: Little Operator NS Builders Sheet Metal Enterprises BuildWitt Enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/joekelly/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/joekelly/support

Vice President Kamala Harris discouraged would-be migrants from making the trek to the United States during her trip to Guatemala. "Do not come. Do not come. The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border," Harris said during a press conference with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei Monday. CBS News contributor Maria Elena Salinas interviews senior White House and political correspondent Ed O'Keefe just days after he covered the vice president's first international trip to Guatemala and Mexico. O'Keefe himself is of Guatemalan descent, and he spoke with Salinas about visiting Guatemala, interviewing President Giammattei and dissecting the politics of VP Harris' travels.

05/10/21 : Joel is joined by the CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library to bring us an update on land rights.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

04/07/21 : CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Ed O'Keefe, joins Joel Heitkamp to bring us an update on the library progress and how the wildfires have affected it.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed O'Keefe is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven. He is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world’s only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice neither flavor nor nutrition.  Ed O’Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… What limits your ability to grow and find success in your entrepreneurial endeavors? According to serial entrepreneur Ed O’Keefe, the problem most often comes from within.  Whether it is because of over-confidence, over-eagerness, or some other misconception, many entrepreneurs will experience what Ed calls an undertow during their journey to success. That’s why, in Chapter 5 of his book, Time Collapsing, Ed O’Keefe explains how to break the mold of misconceptions and start reaching your highest potential.  Dive into this week's episode as Ed O'Keefe, CEO of Marine Essentials and founder of Wake Up Foods, breaks down common entrepreneurial undertows and the questions you can ask to avoid them. Ed touches on reverse engineering your future, the Law of Attraction, and finding your superpower. Stay tuned.

Ed O'Keefe is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven. He is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world’s only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice neither flavor nor nutrition.  Ed O’Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” But is waiting for your purpose stopping you from going out and actually achieving success?  In Chapter 5 of his book, Time Collapsing, Ed O’Keefe argues that the road to success relies more on chasing opportunities than discovering your purpose. Start building momentum now, and you just might find your purpose on the way.  Join us for this week’s episode as Ed O'Keefe, CEO of Marine Essentials and founder of Wake Up Foods, breaks down the reality behind the road to success. Ed discusses the misconceptions about finding your purpose and following your passion, and why building momentum along your journey is the most valuable thing you can do. Stay tuned.

Ed O'Keefe, a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven, is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research-based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world's only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice no flavor or nutrition.  Ed O'Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… Wouldn't it be great if you met all your goals within a year? Sound impossible? Then you haven’t asked yourself “the freedom question.”  Coined by Ed O'Keefe, author of Time Collapsing, “the freedom question” is a way of seeing past initial obstacles in order to find solutions and achieve success. In Chapter 4 of Time Collapsing, Ed details three easy exercises that will help you utilize “the freedom question” and start performing at previously unreachable levels.  Grab your coffee or sit down with a glass of wine as best-selling author and serial entrepreneur Ed O’Keefe reveals the rewarding value of “the freedom question.” Stay tuned as Ed gives real-life examples of how “the freedom question” propels innovation and success, and how you can start using it to reach your goals today.

America decided. But America is still counting. We still don't know the outcome of Tuesday's election. Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are all still too close to call. Major is joined by CBS News political aces Ed O'Keefe and Anthony Salvanto to discuss this history-making week. Join us for a beef stew lunch in the cafeteria at CBS News' Times Square election headquarters.

Ed O'Keefe is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven. He is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world’s only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice neither flavor nor nutrition.  Ed O’Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… Do you want to be a high performer? Then it’s time to lose the friction that is holding you back.  Far too often, the tools we have accumulated to help us on our journey toward a successful life end up becoming the stumbling blocks in our path. In the third chapter of Ed O’Keefe’s book, Time Collapsing, he discusses these common points of friction and how to overcome them in order to perform at a higher level. His advice? Learn how to more effectively do less.  In this episode, best-selling author and serial entrepreneur Ed O'Keefe shares his advice on how to lose the friction that is stopping you from reaching your highest potential. Get comfortable and listen in as Ed discusses the importance of pursuing relationships that sharpen and serve you, the problem with waiting for societal permission, and the life skill that is essential to your success: mental toughness.

National Review columnist David Harsanyi joins host Ryan Wrecker to discuss his most recent article, "The Questions Joe Biden Should Answer about Hunter’s Emails" and also "Biden Is Still Underperforming Hillary." Next, hear CBS reporter Ed O’Keefe’s updates on Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign trail. Listen to the show on Apple Podcasts? Leave us a 5-star review: apple.co/2Of49Bv and subscribe to Overnight America on other great apps like Radio.com If you like what you hear, we're live weeknights on KMOX 1120AM. We welcome your calls at 800-925-1120. Like and follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/RyanWreckerRadio/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed O'Keefe is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven. He is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world’s only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice neither flavor nor nutrition.  Ed O’Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… Many of us fall into a variety of different traps throughout our lives: the cycle of societal obligation and guilt, the limitations of equating time with money, and, most commonly, the misconception that in order to be successful, we must first pay our dues.  According to  Ed O'Keefe, best-selling author and serial entrepreneur, these traps are detrimental to success. In Chapter 2 of his book, Time Collapsing, Ed provides exercises and examples to help you break free from the traps that may be standing in your way and start living like a “time collapser.” In this episode,  Ed O'Keefe, CEO of Marine Essentials and founder of Wake Up Foods, discusses the common traps that hinder us from living our happiest and most successful lives. Ed explains how societal pressures can misguide us on our path to success, why a flexible mindset is better than perfectionist one, and the reason “time collapsers” don’t wait for permission to get started. Stay tuned.

Ed O'Keefe, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation CEO, talks about the future Presidential Library planned in the badlands of North Dakota.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed O'Keefe is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven. He is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world’s only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice neither flavor nor nutrition.  Ed O’Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… Do you want to be successful? Then start breaking the rules.  While this may sound counterintuitive, author and entrepreneur Ed O’Keefe reveals that it is actually the best way to come out on top. In the first chapter of his book, Time Collapsing, Ed tells the stories of how several successful leaders have broken through their limitations in order to turn their passion into entrepreneurial growth.  Get your coffee ready and tune in to this week's episode as Ed O’Keefe, CEO of Marine Essentials and founder of Wake Up Foods, discusses how you can find success using the “time collapsing” pattern. Ed provides examples of successful entrepreneurs and creators who solved problems for their customers, took their passion to the world, and hustled their way to the top. Stay tuned.

Ed O'Keefe is a serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and father of seven. He is the CEO of Marine Essentials, a research based supplement and health education company with ingredients and formulations you can trust. Ed also founded Wake Up Foods, the world’s only allergen-free, 100% plant-based waffles that sacrifice neither flavor nor nutrition.  Ed O’Keefe currently hosts the Wake Up Minute podcast, where he interviews top experts who encourage others to live healthy and fulfilling lives. In this episode… What stops you from achieving your goals -- what are the points of friction that are holding you back? Are your core values misaligned? Are you still struggling to find the purpose of your business? Or do you just have too much on your plate?  According to Ed O’Keefe, the CEO of Marine Essentials and founder of Wake Up Foods, the first step to reclaiming your power over your business is losing your friction.  In this week's episode, serial entrepreneur Ed O'Keefe reveals the secret to performing at a high level: less, not more. Ed talks about why you should eliminate the friction that is holding you back by taking full responsibility and realigning your core values. Stay tuned.

Chris Voss is the Principal and Founder of the Black Swan Group, a company that solves business communication problems using hostage negotiation strategies. Chris uses his experience as an international hostage negotiator to train business leaders in Fortune 500 companies on how to negotiate in the boardroom and get the results they want. He has taught his methods in various business schools including, Harvard School of Business, MIT, Georgetown, USC, Northwestern University, and many more. He is the author of Never Split The Difference: Negotiating Like Your Life Depended On It, where he imparts his wisdom of how to use negotiation tactics in sales, with your family, or even with your local baker. In this episode… The ability to negotiate in business is a crucial factor in whether or not you can get the results you want out of a deal. If you are unable to convince your client of their need for your services, then you have essentially lost a moment to deepen your relationship with them and comprehend their genuine need. Chris Voss, author, international hostage negotiator, and Founder of The Black Swan Group, has taken the world by storm with his tactics for negotiating in the boardroom and at home.  What is the importance of emotional intelligence in negotiation? How can underestimation be your secret tool in closing a deal? How do you determine which 90-second golden nugget can help you cinch the deal in your favor? Get the answers to those questions and more in this week's episode of Wake Up Minute, Ed O'Keefe talks with author and international hostage negotiator, Chris Voss, about  business negotiation strategies that will work seamlessly within the four walls of a boardroom and outside of it. Also, watch out for Ed’s announcement on how to get a free copy of Ed O’Keefe’s book, Time Collapsing: The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning, and how to get 50% OFF on his anti-inflammatory pack. Stay tuned.

Ed O'Keefe is the father of seven children, serial entrepreneur, strategic consulting coach, and the founder of Wake Up Foods. Ed has worked with countless companies growing them from scratch to seven and eight-figure businesses. With his encouragement and guidance, he has helped entrepreneurs take the next step in scaling and building their company.  He created Wake Up Foods to provide a healthier food option that offers lower carbs and calories that's 100% plant-based and allergen-free that both kids and adults cannot help but love. Ed is also the host of the podcast Wake Up Minute. In this episode… Mental toughness. What is it and how do you cultivate it? In a world where everything changes regularly and things are always running at top speed, how do you make sure that you're on the right track? How can you ensure that the innovations and visions you have in mind are actualized and that they answer your “why”? Ed O'Keefe, the founder of Wake Up Foods and the father of seven children, has made it his goal to create a community of entrepreneurs that strive to grow their mental and physical capacity. He has also made it his mission to show people that doing what you feel needs to be done is the right thing to do despite the pushback you get through the process. In this week's episode of Top Minds, Dr. Scot Gray talks to Ed O'Keefe, founder of Wake Up Foods, about what it means to be an entrepreneur who isn't just about vision and who is all about taking action. Tune in as they discuss the mental toughness needed to survive in any industry, the importance of freeing yourself from the obligation trap, and why it's vital to re-evaluate your life and goals on a regular basis.

Networking Remote 2020: A discussion of business, networking, and communityPowered by ShipOffers and hosted by ShipOffers CEO Tony Grebmeier.Listen to a special series of panel discussions with the biggest names in e-comm and entrepreneurship designed to help you survive and thrive in today’s changing environment. This episode features Ezra Firestone, Perry Marshall, Ed O'keefe and Tony GrebmeierResources from Perry Marshall1) An 8020 plan to ease out of quarantine: https://www.perrymarshall.com/covid8020/2) 8020 Sales and Marketing book for $7: https://www.perrymarshall.com/8020Resources from Ezra Firestone1) Blue Ribbon Mastermind https://smartmarketer.com/mastermind/2) Covid Update: Big Challenges, Bigger Insights & Good News for Ecommerce Businesses https://smartmarketer.com/covid-19-update-big-insights-for-ecommerce/Resources from Ed O'keefe 1) World's Only Plant-Based. Gluten-Free. Dairy-Free. Nut-Free. Soy-Free Waffles https://www.wakeupfoods.com/discount/TONYG15 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

*SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEW FEED TODAY! SEARCH 'DEBRIEFING THE BRIEFING' AND LEAVE A RATING/REVIEW*The world is focused on the fight against COVID-19 and in the United States specifically, President Trump's response. But what about the 2020 presidential election? Is former Vice President Joe Biden close to picking a running mate? CBS News Political Correspondent Ed O'Keefe joins Major for a Campaign 2020 week-in-review.Welcome to our new weekend series, Debriefing the Campaign

Ed O'Keefe is the CEO of Marine Essentials and founder of WakeUp Foods, a healthy and delicious allergen-free 100% plant-based product that sacrifices neither flavor nor nutrition. He has built his company, Marine Essentials, on the principle of creating outstanding supplements and health education that transforms people's lives. He has worked with countless experts in their field in order to bring you a product that is good for everyone, from professional athletes to every single member of your family. Ed is also the host of his own podcast, Wake Up Minute, where he features top experts to inspire people to live their lives on their own terms and in their own ways. In this episode… Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but less than half the world's population actually makes time to eat breakfast in the morning. Lack of time is one of the reasons, and the lack of great grab-and-go food options is another. For Ed O’Keefe, this is something that needs to be addressed which is why he created Wake Up Foods’ ready-to-eat waffles so that people get to enjoy healthy and nutritious food even with their hectic schedules. In this episode of Wake Up Minute, Dr. Jeremy Weisz of Rise25 Media sits down with Ed O'Keefe, founder of WakeUp Foods and the host of the podcast itself, about what inspired Ed to create the brand, how he was able to come up with their main product, and why he’s so passionate about inspiring people to choose the better options for themselves. Stay tuned.  

Ed O'keefe is the Founder of Wake Foods, a company that produces 100% plant-based, allergen-free food waffles that both kids and adults cannot help but love. The company intends to revolutionize the way we see snacks so that not only are you able to enjoy a guilt-free snack, you’re also able to give your body lasting energy with zero crashes and zero sugar. In this episode… Having grown up in a big family and having a big family of his own, it would have been easy for Ed O’keefe to just fall into the trap of just giving kids what’s available. But he wanted his kids to enjoy food that didn’t just taste good, he wanted them to enjoy food that offered health benefits as well and that’s why he came up with Wake Up Foods. Ed O’keefe is the Founder of Wake Up Food, a company that produces 100% plant-based, allergen-free waffles that sacrificed neither taste nor health benefits. Tune in to this episode of InspiredInsider where host Dr. Jeremy Weisz talks to Ed about his life growing up in a big family and his life now as a father to seven kids. Ed shares what prompted him to create Wake Up Foods, what sets his products apart from other food items, and the people who helped shape and influence the way he saw food and the need to have healthy options.

Unprecedented glitches force Iowa Democrats to delay the results from last night's caucuses. The only results from the Iowa caucus at this hour are chaos and confusion. Democratic candidates put a positive spin on Iowa, then move on. We'll talk with former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who claims he won. Political correspondent Ed O'Keefe flew overnight from Iowa to New Hampshire in a cloud of uncertainty. President Trump addresses Congress and the nation tonight in a State of the Union address, less than 24 hours before the Senate is expected to acquit him.

Only on the "CBS This Morning" podcast, CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe talks with Iowa-based CBS News campaign reporters Musadiq Bidar and Adam Brewster about what they've learned while traveling more than 20,000 miles each throughout the Hawkeye State. They discuss the issues that Iowa voters are most passionate about how the caucus system works. Plus, Bidar and Brewster explain which candidates have built the strongest campaign infrastructures in the state, how the race has evolved since the summer and why it's important for a candidate to do well in Iowa.

Only on the "CBS This Morning" podcast, CBS News political contributors Robby Mook and Terry Sullivan discuss the 2020 presidential race with less than 50 days until the Iowa caucuses. Talking with CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe, Sullivan, Senator Marco Rubio's former 2016 campaign manager, shares how candidates can stand out in a crowded field and on a crowded debate stage. Mook, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager from 2016, discusses how Democrats can compete against President Donald Trump and the Republican Party's growing campaign war chest.

Collaborating With Micro-Influencers, Utilizing Keywords & Hiring Email Lists Roland sits down with Ed O’Keefe: Father of Seven, Founder of Traffic Mastery Live, and Author of 'Time Collapsing'. They talk as seasoned friends about the current eco-system of traffic, what’s working now, and Ed shares some great tips for entrepreneurs and investors. For more from Ed O’Keefe, you can check out EdOKeefeLive. Listen Today For The first thing to think about if you’re going into business: Assess the potential of a market by looking at its size and quality in relation to the price point. How to start a business from scratch by hiring email lists. How to spot the gaps in your whole game plan. Why you need to be ‘broad and shallow’ in your knowledge of your business - broad in your understanding of everything but with expertise in at least one area. How many Investors lose money because they don’t have the above understanding and have zero understanding of digital marketing. Why you need to find something with a ‘disruptive hold in the market place’ for it to have longevity. Does your market have 'a pain', are you truly solving it, is it growing or is it dying…? The value of reverse engineering competitors’ funnels and iterating off their starting points. How to get market data quickly and inexpensively. Utilizing brand keywords, buyer intent keywords and competitor keywords. Using Micro-Influencers (Influencers with under 50K followers) to build social proof that you can then amplify. Why you need to have a differentiating competitive advantage in order to compete, and if you don’t have one, what to do. “In our household, the one piece of advice we give is to be nice to everyone along the way as you pursue your dreams because that stuff comes back full circle”. Ed O’Keefe Click to find us on Apple Podcasts and other podcast players

From reporting on congress to building the first mobile streaming news network, small-town, north Dakotan Ed O’Keefe has extensive media experience. And as CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation, O’Keefe is creating an experience that preserves and shares Roosevelt’s legacy. For more on the “In The Arena” podcast, visit https://www.governing.com/ITA  

South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg sat down with CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe on Monday in Iowa, where he launched a new bus tour across the state, to discuss his "Medicare for all who want it" plan. The Democratic presidential hopeful also discussed the importance of winning Iowa, foreign policy, community policing and his efforts to win over black and Latino voters. Buttigieg comments on his marriage to husband, Chasten, and whether the country is ready for a gay president.

On this episode of the "Where Did You Get This Number?", Anthony and CBS News political correspondent Ed O'Keefe discuss the California Democratic convention and what it means for the 2020 presidential race.

Shorenstein Center Spring 2019 Fellow Edward F. O'Keefe served most recently as Senior Vice President of Content Development at CNN, previously worked as a reporter at ABC News and editor in chief of Now This, and is a media industry expert in mobile, short-form video, OTT and streaming content. His research as a Shorenstein Fellow has focused on why news may be the key to winning the streaming video wars, and who is doing news (even if they don't call it that) in the streaming universe to-date.  In this special episode of the Shorenstein Center Media & Politics Podcast, Ed O'Keefe reads his paper "Streaming War Won" in its (very engaging) entirety.   For the original, written, version of this paper visit https://shorensteincenter.org/streaming-war-won/

"If your goals don't scare you, they aren't big enough!" - That's what we are talking about today. When you are trying to achieve a goal, it stretches you to do something that you would not normally do. This extra pressure on you is called "positive stress" or "positive tension"and it is responsible for your push towards achieving your goals. Listen as Ed shares his story of climbing mountains in pursuit of a new goal - a scary goal!

On the eve of President Trump’s first State of the Union address, Washington Post congressional reporter Ed O’Keefe talks with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) about the legislative climate of Trump's first year.

On Monday, The Trump administration announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvador. 200,000 Salvadorans who have been living and working here legally for decades will now have to leave. What does the administration have to gain by doing this now? Plus a discussion on Michael Wolff's book, "Fire and Fury," and a check-in on Oprah 2020. Hosts Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela lead a discussion with Wajahat Ali, TV host and contributor to the New York Times, and Ed O’Keefe, congressional reporter for the Washington Post. Like what you hear? Give us a follow @InTheThickShow. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Internet plays an essential role in our modern society and yet the way the Internet will be governed is still unclear. In anticipation of an impending Federal Communications Commission vote to reverse the so called “net neutrality” regulation implemented during the Obama administration, we look at the law which the FCC is trying to enforce. We also examine our current lawmaker’s plans for Internet governance by listening to highlights of three hearings featuring testimony from lawyers from Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Please Support Congressional Dish Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Bills H.R. 3989: Amend Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 S. 652 (104th): Telecommunications Acto of 1996 Additional Reading Article: House foreign surveillance turf war heats up as law sunset nears by Daniel R. Stoller, Bloomberg, December 1, 2017. Article: Colorado warns families to be prepared in case congress doesn't come through on CHIP funding by Kimberly Leonard, Washington Examiner, November 27, 2017 Article: Congress confronts jam-packed December with shutdown deadline looming by Mike Debonis and Ed O'Keefe, The Washington Post, November 26, 2017 Article: States prepare to shut down children's health programs if congress doesn't act by Colby Itkowitz and Sandhya Somashekhar, The Washington Post, November 23, 2017. Article: Here's how the end of net neutrality will change the internet by Klint Finley, Wired, November 22, 2017. Article: What is net neutrality? by Aaron Byrd and Natalia V. Osipova, NY Times, November 21, 2017. Article: Will the Telecommunications Act get a much-needed update as it turns 21? by Richard Adler, Recode, February 8, 2017. Article: Cable tv price increases have beaten inflation every single year for 20 years by Nathan McAlone, Business Insider, October 31, 2016 Article: 20 years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996, rekindling Congress's political will by Stuart N. Brotman, The Hill, February 8, 2016. Article: The city that was saved by the internet by Jason Koebler, Motherboard, October 27, 2016. Article: This was 1995: A pop culture snapshot by Patricia Garcia, Vogue, September 1, 2015. Article: Why your internet prices are bound to go up by Brian Fung, Washington Post, July 23, 2015. Report: In a nutshell: Net neutrality, CBS News, March 1, 2015. Report: AT&T buys DirectTV for $48.5 billion by Roger Yu, USA Today, May 18,2014. Article: Federal appeals court strikes down net neutrality rules by Brian Fung, Washington Post, January 14, 2014. Article: Legal gymnastics ensue in oral arguments for Verizon vs. FCC by Jennifer Yeh, Freepress, September 10, 2013. Report: Comcast completes NBC Universal merger, Reuters, January 29, 2011. References Bill Resources: H.R.1555 Communications Act of 1995 Bill Roll Call: H.R. 3989 Vote Roll Call FCC Resources: Telecommunications Act of 1996 Mission Statement: AIPAC - America's Pro-Israel Lobby Network Map: Community Networks Publication: Public Law 104 Telecommunications Act of 1996 Publication: The USA Liberty Act Report: Akamai's State of the Internet 2017 Report: FCC Fact Sheet Support Page: AT&T HBO Channels Visual References Cable Prices vs. Inflation, 1995-2015 Sound Clip Sources Senate Select Intelligence Committee: Facebook, Google and Twitter Executives on Russian Election Interference; November 1, 2017 (Senate Social Media) Witnesses: Colin Stretch - Facebook Vice President & General Counsel Sean Edgett - Twitter Acting General Counsel 1:49:24 Sen. Roy Blunt (MO): Mr. Stretch, how much money did the Russians spend on ads that we now look back as either disruptive or politically intended? It was at $100,000. Is that— Colin Stretch: It was approximately $100,000. Blunt: I meant from your company. Stretch: Yes, approximately $100,000. Blunt: How much of that did they pay before the election? Stretch: The— Blunt: I’ve seen the— Stretch: Yeah. Blunt: —number 44,000. Blunt: Is that right? Stretch: So— Blunt: 56 after, 44 before. Stretch: The ad impressions ran 46% before the election, the remainder after the election. Blunt: 46%. Well, if I had a consultant that was trying to impact an election and spent only 46% of the money before Election Day, I’d be pretty upset about that, I think. So, they spent $46,000. How much did the Clinton and Trump campaigns spend on Facebook? I assume before the election. Stretch: Yeah. Before the elec— Blunt: They were better organized than the other group. Stretch: Approximate—combined approximately $81 million. Blunt: 81 million, and before the election. Stretch: Yes. Blunt: So, 81 million. I’m not a great mathematician, but 46,000, 81 million, would that be, like, five one-thousandths of one percent? It’s something like that. Stretch: It’s a small number by comparison, sir. 2:19:55 Sen. Tom Cotton (AR): Do you see an equivalency between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Russian Intelligence Services? Sean Edgett: We’re not offering our service for surveillance to any government. Cotton: So you will apply the same policy to our Intelligence Community that you apply to an adversary’s intelligence services. Edgett: As a global company, we have to apply our policies consistently. Cotton: This reminds me of the old line from the Cold War, of one who did not see a distinction between the CIA and the KGB on the other hand, because the KGB officer pushed an old lady in front of an oncoming bus, and the CIA officer pushed the old lady out from the path of the oncoming bus, because they both go around pushing old ladies. I hope that Twitter will reconsider its policies when it’s dealing with friendly intelligence services in countries like the United States and the U.K. as opposed to adversarial countries like Russia and China. House Select Intelligence Committee: Facebook, Google and Twitter Executives on Russian Election Interference; November 1, 2017 (House Social Media) Witnesses: Kent Walker - Google Senior Vice President & General Counsel Colin Stretch - Facebook Vice President & General Counsel Sean Edgett - Twitter Acting General Counsel 39:05 Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ): Social-media platforms have the responsibility of striking a balance between removing false information and preserving freedom of speech. Can you give us some brief detail of how each of your companies plan to target perceived false news while protecting the robust political discourse? Kent Walker: Let me take that because that was the sort of next stage to my answer to Mr. Shift’s question. We are taking a number of different steps beyond advertising to focus on fake news. We are working to improve our algorithms, to provide additional guidance and training to the Raiders who provide quality feedback for us, and to look at a wider variety of signals to improve the ranking of authentic and genuine news on our sites and to demote sites that we feel are deceptive or misleading. We are also making broader use of fact-check labels, working with third parties, for both Google Search and Google News. And when it comes to advertising, we’ve taken steps to disallow advertising on sites that misrepresent their nature or purpose, and to add to our policies around or against hate speech, incitement of violence, and the like. Colin Stretch: I would group our efforts with respect to false news into three buckets. First, we find that most false news is financially motivated, and we’re making efforts to disrupt the financial incentives. That, we think, will make a big dent in it. Second, we’re looking to stop the spread of it. So when we have information that’s been disputed by independent fact-checkers, we limit the distribution and we alert users who are attempting to share it that it has been disputed. And third, we’re engaged in a number of user-education efforts to help, particularly around the world, users approach some of the content they see with a more discerning eye. Sean Edgett: We’re tackling this challenge in a few ways, and I think the way this was characterized is correct: it’s a balance between free speech and what’s real and what’s false. And we often see there’s a lot of activity on the platform to correct false narratives, and one of those things, for example, is the text-to-vote tweets that we turned over to you, which we took off our platform as illegal voter suppression. The number of tweets that were counteracting that as false and telling people not to believe that was, like, between eight and 10 times what we saw on the actual tweets. But we’re working on the behavior. That’s where we’re focused right now. We’ve had great strides in focusing on that for things like terrorism and child sexual exploitation. We’re trying to figure out how we can use those learnings to stop the amplification of false news or misinformation, and think we’re making great strides there, but it’s a definite balance. We also have work we’ve done, just like my peers, around ads transparency that, I think, is going to help educate the consumer about who’s paying for an ad, what else they’re running, what they’re targeting, what they’re after—especially around electioneering ads, who’s paying for it, how much they’re spending. We are also working with third parties. We have a Trust and Safety council of experts, academics, around the world who are helping us think through the things that we’re trying to employ to tackle these issues and how they will impact the debate and free speech on our platform. So we’re working hard on this, but it’s a challenge. 59:39 Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL): I submit to you that your efforts have to be more than just about finding malicious and deceptive activity, that you have a responsibility—all of you have a responsibility—to make sure that we are not adding to the problem by not being as rigorous and as aggressive as we can in terms of vetting the content and in terms of making sure that we are being really dynamic in doing that. And I also want to just say that I think it’s ridiculous that a foreign entity can buy a political ad with rubles but can’t give a political contribution to me—a Russian person can’t give me a political contribution. There seems to be some legislation that needs to be had here, is all I’m saying. 1:16:05 Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL): Let’s look at unpaid content for a second. Sometimes these fake accounts are pulled down, but the fake story takes the false claims of widespread voter fraud, for example, generated by these accounts have spread thousands of thousands of times, often picked up by legitimate news accounts. What do you do to flag that? What do you sense is your responsibility? And before any of you answer, let me just notice this, that if we’re asking is, are we still in this situation? As of just a short time ago—and I’m talking about when this meeting started—on Twitter, if you clicked on the hashtag “NYCTerroristAttack,” which is “trending,” marked with a red button saying “live,” the top tweet links to an Infowars story with the headline, “Imam: I Warned De Blasio About New York City Terror; He was Too Busy Bashing Trump.” This is a real-time example of when we talk about this information being weaponized. How quickly can you act, and what’s your responsibility to set the record straight so that the people who saw this know that it’s fake news and at least at some point in time it can’t keep spreading like some sort of virus through legitimate world? Sean Edgett: That’s something we’re thinking about all the time because it’s a bad user experience, and we don’t want to be known as a platform for that. In your example, in for instance, the system self-corrected. That’s not—that shouldn’t be the first tweet you see anymore. It should be a USA article, the last time I checked. Quigley: But you saw this. Edgett: USA Today. At lunch I did, yeah, and I also saw the system correct it. Quigley: Can you give me a really good guess on how long it was top? Edgett: We can follow up with you and your staff on that, and I don’t have the stat in front of me. Quigley: Yeah. Edgett: So I don’t know. But we are, like we said earlier, trying to balance free speech with making the information you see on the system—especially around trends that we direct you to, so if you’re clicking on a hashtag, we want to make sure you’re seeing verified accounts and accurate information and reporting. Sometimes it doesn’t work as we intended. We learn from those mistakes and tweak and modulate going forward. Quigley: Beyond the correction, do you have a responsibility to flag something as “this was fake news”? Edgett: We see our users do that a lot. We’re an open, public platform with respect to journalists and other organizations who point these things out. You may have seen that on this instance, for example. Quigley: Yeah, if someone’s breaking the law, you’ve got to feel like you have a responsibility to do something about that. It’s not—as you said, this is a—with this extraordinary gift, this platform of free expression, comes the responsibility you all talked about. So, if you know something’s illegal, you know you have the responsibility to do something. At what point does this become something where you can’t just correct it; you’ve got to say to the public, this isn’t true. Edgett: Right. And we take swift action on illegal content, illegal activity, on the platform. A good example of this is the text to vote, voter suppression tweets that we’ve turned over to this committee. We saw swift action of the Twitter community on disputing those claims; and Twitter actively tweeted, once it discovered these things were on the platform, to notify our users that this was fake information, that you could not, in fact, vote by tweet, and pointing people to a tool that would allow them to find their nearest polling place. That tweet— Quigley: Is this [unclear] because that was illegal activity, or is this—if something’s just fake, do you think you have an equal responsibility? Edgett: We took that down because it was illegal voter suppression. We are actively working on, how do we balance what is real and fake, and what do we do in the aftermath of something being tweeted and re-tweeted, like you said, and had people even seen it and how do we make sure that they’re seeing other view points and other facts and other news stories. Quigley: Do you have a policy right now where if you know something’s out there that’s not true, of saying so? Edgett: We do not. We have a policy that fosters the debate on the platform. We have a policy that takes down a lot of that content because it comes from automated malicious accounts or spammers. That stuff we’re removing and acting on as quickly as we can. Quigley: And I understand how you’re trying to distinguish that, but the fact is if something’s fake, it doesn’t matter if it’s from a fake account or some bot or something. If it’s just not true and it’s wildly obvious, before it goes viral and gets picked up legitimate, you must feel like you have some responsibility. Edgett: We are—we are deeply concerned about that and figuring out ways we can do it with the right balance. 1:57:39 Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA): RT, Russia Today, on your platform, has 2.2 million subscribers. Fox News, on your platform, has 740,000 subscribers. CNN has 2.3 million subscribers. The Intelligence Community assessment that was made public in January spoke about RT, and it said, “RT conducts strategic messaging for Russian government. It seeks to influence politics and fuel discontent in the United States.” So my question to you is, why have you not shut down RT on YouTube? Kent Walker: Thank you, Congresswoman. We’ve heard the concerns, and we spoke briefly about this previously. We recognize that there’re many concerned about RT’s slanted perspective. At the same time, this is an issue that goes beyond the Internet to cable, satellite television and beyond. We have carefully reviewed RT’s compliance with our policies. We’ve not found violations of our policies against hate speech and incitement to violence and the like. Speier: It’s a propaganda machine, Mr. Walker. The Intelligence Community—all 17 agencies—says it’s an arm of one of our adversaries. Walker: And we agree that— Speier: I would like for you to take that back to your executives and rethink continuing to have it on your platform. Walker: Yes. We agree that transparency’s important for all of these different sources of information. We are working on additional ways to provide that for all government-funded sources of information, including Al Jazeera and a range of government organizations. 2:05:27 Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC): Is it constitutionally protected to utter an intentionally false statement? Colin Stretch: So, it depends on the context, but there is recent Supreme Court precedent on that. On Facebook— Gowdy: On which side: that it is or is not? Stretch: That it is, in most cases, protected. However, on Facebook, our job is not to decide whether content is true or false. We do recognize that false news is a real challenge. The way in which we’re addressing it is by trying to disrupt the financial incentives of those who are profiting from it, which is where most of it comes from. Most of this, most of the fake-news problem is coming from low-quality websites that are trying to drive traffic on every side of every issue, and by disrupting the financial incentives, we’re able to limit the distribution. We’re also trying to make sure that users do know when a story has been disputed by a neutral third party and alerting users to that fact— I’ll stop. I’ll stop there. Gowdy: Well, I’m smiling only because on the last break a couple of my colleagues and I were wondering who those neutral fact-checkers are, and I really do appreciate your desire to want to have a neutral fact-checker. If you could let me know who those folks are, I’d be really grateful, because people in my line of work might take exception with the neutrality of some of the fact-checkers. So, if I understand you correctly, the authenticity of the speaker is very important; the accuracy of the content, less so. Stretch: That’s how we approach it. That’s exactly right. Gowdy: All right. For the life of me, I do not understand how a republic is served by demonstrably, provably, intentionally false information. And I get it, that you don’t want to be the arbiter of opinion—I don’t want you to be, either—but today’s not Thursday, so if I say it is, I swear I don’t understand how my fellow citizens benefit from me telling them something that is demonstrably false, and I am saying it with the intent to deceive. I just—for the life of me, I don’t get it, but I’m out of time. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism: Facebook, Google and Twitter Executives on Russian Disinformation; October 31, 2017 (Social Media) Witnesses: Colin Stretch - Facebook Vice President and General Counsel Sean Edgett - Twitter Acting General Counsel Richard Salgado - Google Law Enforcement & Information Security Director Clint Watts - Foreign Policy Research Institute, National Security Program Senior Fellow Michael Smith -New America, International Security Fellow 38:25 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI): And I gather that all of your companies have moved beyond any notion that your job is only to provide a platform and whatever goes across it is not your affair. Colin Stretch: Senator, our commitment to addressing this problem is unwavering. We take this very seriously and are committed to investing as necessary to prevent this from happening again. Absolutely. Whitehouse: Mr. Edgett? Sean Edgett: Absolutely agree with Mr. Stretch, and this type of activity just creates not only a bad user experience but distrust for the platform, so we are committed to working every single day to get better at solving this problem. Whitehouse: Mr. Salgado? Richard Salgado: That’s the same for Google. We take this very seriously. We’ve made changes, and we will continue to get better. Whitehouse: And ultimately, you are American companies, and threats to American election security and threats to American peace and order are things that concern you greatly, correct? Stretch: That is certainly correct. Edgett: Agree. Salgado: That’s right. 52:15 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA): Mr. Salgado, why did Google get preferred status to Russia Today, a Russian propaganda arm, on YouTube? Richard Salgado: There was a period of time where Russia Today qualified really because of algorithms to participate in an advertising program that opened up some inventory for them, subjective standards around popularity and some other criteria to be able to participate in that program. Platforms or publishers like RT drop in and out of the program as things change, and that is the case with RT. They dropped out of the program. Feinstein: Well, why didn’t you revert RT’s preferred status after the ICA came out in January 2017? It took you to September of 2017 to do it. Salgado: The removal of RT from the program was actually a result of, as I understand it, is a result of some of the drop in viewership, not as a result of any action otherwise. So, there was nothing about RT or its content that meant that it stayed in or stayed out. 2:03:15 Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI): So, Mr. Stretch, you said that there are 150 people at Facebook just focused on the content of what’s on your platform. How many people do you have, Mr. Edgett, at Twitter to concentrate on the content and ferretting out the kind of content that would be deemed unacceptable, divisive? I realize there are a lot of First Amendment— Sean Edgett: Right. Hirono: —complicated issues, but how many people do you have? Edgett: Well, we harness the power of both technology, algorithms, machine learning to help us, and also a large team of people, that we call our Trust and Safety team and our User Services team, it’s hundreds of people. We’re at a different scale than Facebook and Google, obviously, but we’re dedicating a lot of resource to make sure that we’re looking at user reports about activity on the platform that they think is violent or activity on the platform they think is illegal, and prioritizing that accordingly. Hirono: So, you have fewer people than Facebook. Facebook has 150; you said you have hundreds. Edgett: Yeah, we have hundreds— Hirono: Hundreds. Edgett: —across User Services and Trust and Safety, looking at the issues of content on the platform. Hirono: What about you, Mr. Salgado? Richard Salgado: Google has thousands of people. There’s many different products, and different teams work on them, but internally we’ll have thousands of people working on them. We also get a good deal of leads on content that we need to review for whether it’s appropriate or not that come from outside the company as well. Hirono: You have thousands of people just focused on the content— Salgado: On various types of content. Hirono: —as Mr. Stretch indicated to us that he has at Facebook? You have thousands of people dedicated? Salgado: We have thousands of people dedicated to make sure the content across our—and remember, Google has many different properties within it—but, yes, the answer is we have thousands that look at content that has been reported to us as inappropriate. Hirono: So, in view of that, Mr. Stretch, do you think 150 people is enough people? Stretch: Senator, to be clear, the 150 people I mentioned earlier is people whose full-time job is focused on addressing terrorism content on Facebook. In terms of addressing content on the site generally, we have thousands. And indeed, we have a Community Operations team that we announced earlier this year that we were going to be adding additional thousands to the several thousands that are already working on this problem every day. Hirono: I think it’s pretty clear that this is a whole new sort of use, or misuse, of your platform, and you may have various ways to address terrorist content, but this is a whole other thing. 2:32:10 Clint Watts: Account anonymity in public provides some benefits to society, but social-media companies must work to immediately confirm real humans operate accounts. The negative effects of social bots far outweigh any benefits that come from the anonymous replication of accounts that broadcast high volumes of misinformation. Reasonable limits on the number of posts any account can make during an hour, day, or week should be developed and human-verification systems should be employed by all social-media companies to reduce automated broadcasting. 2:33:07 Clint Watts: Lastly, I admire those social-media companies that have begun working to fact-check news articles in the wake of last year’s elections. These efforts should continue but will be completely inadequate. Stopping false information—the artillery barrage landing on social-media users comes only when those outlets distributing bogus stories are silenced. Silence the guns, and the barrage will end. I propose the equivalent of nutrition labels for information outlets, a rating icon for news-producing outlets displayed next to their news links and social-media feeds and search engines. The icon provides users an assessment of the news outlet’s ratio of fact versus fiction and opinion versus reporting. The rating system would be opt-in. It would not infringe on freedom of speech or freedom of the press. Should not be part of the U.S. government, should sit separate from the social-media companies but be utilized by them. Users wanting to consume information from outlets with a poor rating wouldn’t be prohibited. If they are misled about the truth, they have only themselves to blame. 2:44:20 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI): Mr. Watts, you’ve been a U.S. Army infantry officer, you’ve been an FBI special agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force, you’ve been executive officer of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, and you’ve been a consultant to the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and National Security Branch, so you clearly take American national security very seriously. It is, and has been, your life’s work. So, when you say, ”The Kremlin disinformation playbook,” which we’re talking about here, “will also be adopted by authoritarians, dark political campaigns, and unregulated global corporations who will use this type of social-media manipulation to influence weaker countries; harm less-educated, vulnerable populations; and mire business challengers,” you’re not just talking about the Russian election-manipulation operation getting worse and having to be contained. You’re talking about it as if it’s a technology that other bad actors can adopt and have it metastasized entirely into new fields of dissimulation, propaganda, and so forth. Clint Watts: Yes. Whitehouse: Correct? Watts: Everybody will duplicate this if they don’t believe in the rule of law, if they want to destroy democracies from the inside out. Anyone with enough resources and time and effort, if they put it against us, they can duplicate this. I could duplicate it if I chose to. Whitehouse: So, if we don’t stop it now, it’s going to get exponentially worse. Watts: Yes. And I think the one thing that we should recognize is even in the U.S. political context, if we don’t put some sort of regulation around it, if bodies like this don’t decide how we want American politics to work, everybody will be incentivized to use this same system against their political opponents, and if you don’t, you will lose. 2:51:35 Sen. John Kennedy (LA): The First Amendment implications of all of this concern me as well. I mean, what’s fake news? What do you think fake news is? Clint Watts: Fake news, over the years since I’ve been involved and talking about this, is any news the other side doesn’t like, doesn’t matter what side it is. Kennedy: That’s right. Michael Smith: Senator, if I may. I’m teaching undergrads a course at Georgia State University this semester titled Media, Culture, and Society; and we’re about to start classes focused on fake news later this week. I would submit that fake news might best be defined as deliberate mis- or disinformation, which is tailored or engineered to achieve a particular outcome in the way of behaviors, to persuade perceptions in a manner that lead to behaviors such as perhaps a vote for or against somebody. Kennedy: Well, that’s a good definition, but I’ll end on this: in whose opinion? Watts: But I think there are parameters that we could come around. I mean, reporting versus opinion is a key point of it. I think also in terms of fact versus fiction, I’ve actually set up rating systems on foreign media outlets before the U.S. Government’s paid me to do that, you know, in the Iraq/Afghanistan campaigns. House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee: FCC Oversight; October 25, 2017 Witnesses: Ajit Pai: FCC Chairman 14:00 Rep. Greg Walden: Ultimately, Congress is the appropriate forum to settle the net neutrality debate. I think you hear a little of that passion here on both sides. And I’ve been continuing my efforts to negotiate a compromise. Although my staff continues to engage in the various affected parties in productive discussions toward that end, my colleagues in the minority have, unfortunately, seemed largely uninterested at this point. Love to see that change, by the way. Door remains open. We’re willing and able to codify net neutrality protections and establish a federal framework in statute for providing certainty to all participants in the Internet ecosystem. I don’t think we need Title II to do that. 1:31:45 Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH): Voice-activated virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are becoming an increasingly popular consumer gateway to the Internet. Some day soon they might even become consumer-preferred interface with the Internet, leaving the age of the desktop Google Search behind. You get Yelp results in Siri, OpenTable in Google, TuneIn radio from Alexa. These interactions are occurring through private partnerships among these companies to have their apps interact. However, it creates a situation where, by definition, the consumers’ access to other Internet content is limited or completely blocked. It’s the question of, who answers Siri’s question when you ask Siri something? Chairman Pai, can the FCC do anything about this? Ajit Pai: Congressman, under our current Internet regulations, we cannot. Those do not apply to edge providers. 1:36:12 Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA): Will you commit to us that you’ll apply or consider applying broadcast-transparency requirements to state-sponsored media outlets like RT? And if not, why not? Ajit Pai: Congresswoman, thank you for the question. As I under— Eshoo: Uh-huh, you’re welcome. Pai: As I understand the law— Eshoo: Uh-huh, mm-hmm. Pai: —there is no jurisdictional hook at this point, no transfer of a license, for example, that allows the FCC to a certain jurisdiction. Eshoo: But what about those that have a license and carry them? Do you have—doesn’t the FCC have any say so in that, or is this, as the Intelligence Community said, that they are a principle international propaganda outlet? So are they just going to operate in the United States no matter what? Pai: Congresswoman, again, under the Communications Act and the Constitution, the First Amendment, we do not have currently a jurisdictional hook for taking and doing an investigation of that kind. If you’re privy to, obviously, classified or unclassified information that suggests that there might be another agency that has, obviously, a direct interest in the issue—and we’re, obviously, happy to work with them—but at the current time, as I’ve been advised, neither under the First Amendment nor under the Communications Act do we have the ability to— Eshoo: Well, First Amendment applies to free speech in our country. It doesn’t mean that the Kremlin can distribute propaganda in our country through our airwaves. I just—I don’t know if you’re looking hard enough. 1:40:05 Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY): In 2013, and I was one of the households affected by this, there was a carriage dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable. And CBS blocked Time Warner Cable Internet customers from viewing its shows online through a CBS.com website. So I couldn’t get any of CBS or SHOWTIME or any of that on TV. If you went to the website, because Time Warner Cable was our cable provider and Internet service provider, you couldn’t go to CBS.com—it was blocked. Or SHOWTIME to watch any of the shows that was coming out. And that was when some new ones were coming out that August, so we were trying to find that. But some members of Congress said, bring this up, and I think Chairwoman Clyburn was acting chairwoman at the time and said that she didn’t believe the agency had the jurisdiction to intervene in this situation. And Chairman Pai, do you think if it happened now, do you think the FCC would have the opportunity to intervene in a similar case? Ajit Pai: Congressman, I think the legal authorities have not changed to the extent that the FCC gets a complaint that a party is acting in bad faith in the context of retransmission dispute, then we would be able to adjudicate it. But absence to such a complaint or additional authority from Congress, we couldn’t take further action. Guthrie: But currently the Title II, open Internet, is still in effect. Is that—how would that affect it? Pai: Oh, currently, yes. Just to be clear, I should have added was well then, our Internet regulations would not apply to that kind of content to the extent you’re talking about, the blocking of online distribution of [unclear]. Guthrie: Because it only applies to the service provider, not to the content provider? Pai: That is correct, sir. Federal Communications Commission: Open Internet Rules; February 26, 2015 (Open Internet Rules) Witnesses: Agit Pai: FCC Commissioner 38:05 Ajit Pai: For 20 years, there has been a bipartisan consensus in favor of a free and open Internet. A Democratic president and Republican Congress enshrined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 the principle that the Internet should be a vibrant and competitive free market “unfettered by federal and state regulation.” And dating back to the Clinton administration, every FCC chairman—Republican and Democrat—has let the Internet grow free from utility-style regulation. The results speak for themselves. But today the FCC abandons those policies. It reclassifies broadband Internet access service as a Title II telecommunications service. It seizes unilateral authority to regulate Internet conduct to direct where Internet service providers, or ISPs, make their investments and to determine what service plans will be available to the American public. This is not only a radical departure from the bipartisan market-oriented policies that have serviced so well over the past two decades, it is also an about-face from the proposals the FCC itself made just last May. So why is the FCC turning its back on Internet freedom? Is it because we now have evidence that the Internet is broken? No. We are flip-flopping for one reason and one reason only: President Obama told us to do so. Barack Obama: I’m asking the FCC to reclassify Internet service under Title II of a law known as the Telecommunications Act. Pai: On November 10, President Obama asked the FCC to implement his plan for regulating the Internet, one that favors government regulation over marketplace competition. As has been widely reported in the press, the FCC has been scrambling ever since to figure out a way to do just that. The courts will ultimately decide this order’s fate. Litigants are already lawyering up to seek a judicial review of these new rules. And given this order’s many glaring legal flaws, they’ll have plenty of fodder. 40:46 Ajit Pai: This order imposes intrusive government regulations that won’t work, to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, using legal authority the FCC doesn’t have. Accordingly, I dissent. 1:03:15 Ajit Pai: And I’m optimistic that we will look back on today’s vote as an aberration, a temporary deviation from the bipartisan consensus that has served us so well. I don’t know whether this plan will be vacated by a court, reversed by Congress, or overturned by a future commission, but I do believe its days are numbered. Telecommunications Bill Signing: February 8, 1996 (Bill Signing) 4:59 Vice President Al Gore: I firmly believe that the proper role of government in the development of the information superhighway is to promote and achieve at every stage of growth, at every level of operation, at every scale, the public interest values of democracy, education, and economic and social well-being for all of our citizens. If we do not see to it that every project, every network, every system addresses the public interest at the beginning, then when will it be addressed? How can we expect the final organism to express these values if they are not included in its DNA, so to speak, at the beginning? For that reason, in 1993, on behalf of the president, I presented five principles that the Clinton administration would seek in any telecommunication reform legislation: private investment, competition, universal service, open access, and flexible regulations. Telecommunications Act Conference: December 12, 1995 (Conference) 22:15 Rep. Rick Boucher: In the very near future, most homes are going to have two broadband wires that will offer the combination of telephone service and cable TV service. One of those will have started as a telephone wire; the other will have started as a cable television wire. The programming that is affiliated with the owners of those wires obviously is going to be available to consumers in the homes, but other programmers may very well be denied access. And if access to other programming is denied, consumers will be deprived of video offerings to which they should be entitled. Telecommunications Act Conference: December 6, 1995 (Conference) 27:14 Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL): No one has a right to give pornography to children. While we have not previously criminalized this area on the federal level, it’s necessary to do so now. This is because of the advent of the Internet, which enables someone in one location to instantly send or make available pornography to children in every city in America. Children don’t have the right to buy pornography in any store in America, yet some would argue there’s a right to give it to them free, delivered to their home by computer. Telecommunications Act Conference: Telecommunications Reform Act of 1995; October 25, 1995 8:58 Sen. John McCain: I believe the Senate bill in its present form is far too regulatory. Any bill that gives 80 new tasks to the Federal Communications Commission, in my view, does not meet the standard that we have set for ourselves of trying to allow everyone to compete in a deregulated—in an environment that is changing so quickly that none of us predicted five years ago that it would look like it is today. And today we have no idea what the industry will look like in five years. 32:00 Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN): One thing that does please me is when I think about one of the last renaissance of electricity, electricity goes to the big cities and leaves out the rural areas, and then we have to come up with the REMCs. When we move America to the World Wide Web, though, we’re not allowing cherry-picking and to move to the great resources in the big cities, but the rural areas will be included in the World Wide Web. And so I congratulate both of you to making sure that that happens, that some of the strength of this country lies in the heart of America, and I think that’s pretty exciting. House Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance: Telecommunications Act Part 1; May 11, 1995 1:25:36 Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO): Unlike the case for telephone service, every American household has access to at least one, and soon many more, competitive video providers today. The case simply has not yet been made that the federal government has a duty to do anything other than provide for access to alternative in the case of a purely entertainment service like the upper tier of cable. We have provided that access. We will expand that access in this bill. It is time we focus on the real issues addressed by 1555, the building of advanced broadband networks and the benefits that it will bring to all Americans. House Energy & Commerce Committee: Cable Television Deregulation; February 2, 1994 Witnesses: Bill Reddersen - Bell South Corporation Senior Vice President Jeffery Chester - Center for Media Education Executive Director Edward Reilly - President of McGraw-HIll Broadcasting 7:27 Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA): As telephone companies are able to offer cable TV service inside their telephone-service areas, they’ll have the financial incentive to deploy the broadband technology that will facilitate the simultaneous transport of voice and cable TV service and data messages, building out the infrastructure, creating the last mile of the information highway, that distance from the telephone company’s central office into the premises of the user homes and businesses throughout the nation. 24:36 Bill Reddersen: It is our goal to have you pass legislation this year that enables us to deploy a second broadband network that will compete effectively with cable and bring consumers new and innovative educational healthcare information and entertainment services. 25:12 Bill Reddersen: However, unless you eliminate the competitive advantages this bill confers upon cable companies, our industry will not be able to compete effectively against companies that already have a dominant, if not monopoly, position in programming markets, nor will the bill encourage telephone companies to make or continue the substantial investments required for widespread development of broadband networks. Cable companies are formidable competitors and do not need protection. Cable is a 21-billion-dollar-a-year-gross business, passing over 90% of U.S. homes. According to a recent survey, only 53 out of over 10,000 cable systems compete against a second cable operator. Cable has vertically integrated and diversified into multi-billion-dollar programming and communications businesses. Cable companies and the emerging cable telco alliances clearly do not need protection from telephone companies that currently have no video programming market share, virtually no broadband facilities to the home, and little or no operational experience in the video marketplace. 37:55 Jeffrey Chester: While we share the goal of this committee that every community be served by at least two wires, there are no guarantees that this will be achieved in the near future, even with the proposed legislation. We are also troubled by the unprecedented wave of mergers and acquisitions taking place in the media industries. Serious concerns are raised by the emergence of new media giants controlling regional Bell operating companies, cable systems, TV and film studios, newspapers, broadcasting properties, and information service providers. Without federal intervention, control of the nation’s media system will be in the hands of fewer and less-accountable companies, possessing even more concentrated power. 40:45 Bill Reddersen: Just as we have established private librar—public libraries—and public highways, we need to create public arenas in the electronic commons in the media landscape. A vibrant telecommunication civic sector will be an essential counterbalance to the commercial forces that will dominate the information superhighway. 2:24:38 Bill Reddersen: The common carrier requirements of this legislation are essentially, if executed the way they have in the telephone industry, the second model that you articulated, and that is that if additional capacity was required and someone shows up, we build. Okay? That is the fundamental premise underlying common carrier regulation. 2:30:04 Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH): Does it really matter if BellSouth builds the wire, the limitless wire, or the cable industry builds the limitless wire if indeed it is essentially a limitless technology that is open to everyone who wants to sell his or her product, including Mr. Reilly, on that particular technology? If you have the common carrier status and you have the ability to deliver your programming, is it really relevant whether BellSouth owns the wire or Mr. Angstrom owns the wire, and if it is indeed relevant, why is it relevant, Mr. Reilly? Edward Reilly: Well, it’s relevant in any instance where the company that owns the wire is also engaged in the programming business at all. If someone is prepared to build a wire and agree that they would never want to be in the programming business, and that we were given very strong safeguards— Oxley: Why is that a problem? Reilly: Well, because we end up inevitably competing with our programming— Oxley: Of course you do. Reilly: —against someone who owns both the wire and the programming content that goes on that wire. Reilly: Why is it relevant, though, if BellSouth owns the wire and you’ve got limitless access and limitless capacity, why does it make any difference that the people who supposedly own the wire are competing against you? They’re competing head to head. You are simply paying the same shelf space for your product as the owner of the product that’s providing that kind of service. Oxley: Well, we have—we believe that there is ample opportunity in that type of environment for a number of anti-competitive activities that would certainly damage our ability to try and be an equal player. Where we get positioned on the wire, what comes up when the menu first comes up, how the billing is organized—there’s a whole host of issues that go along with owning the wire and setting up the infrastructure that can create a significant competitive advantage to someone who chooses to use that for their own program service. 2:38:47 Rep. Billy Tauzin (D-LA): I think the key for us here is to guarantee that there are comparable providers of services and how they get it to us, as long as it’s comparable and we have choice and all people have access to it. If we guarantee that kind of policy for America, we don’t much have to worry about the risk. Consumers take over from there as long as we guarantee, if we do have common carriage on a line, that the owner of the line can’t discriminate; can’t play games with the competitors who own that line; that you can’t play bottleneck games, as publishers are complaining about in the other bill we’re going to debate pretty soon on MMJ; that, in fact, there’s fairness on the playing field. Here’s a question for you in regard to that fairness: If the telephone companies or the utility companies can in fact do what you can’t do—produce their own programs and send them over those lines, even if we restrict them in the number of channels they can use, which I really have a problem with, as Mr. Boucher does—are we going to make sure that the same provisions of program access apply to those producers of programs that we’ve applied to the cable producers? You raised the issue in your testimony. You talked about the problems we had in cable where they own both the software and the hardware—in essence, the content and the conduit—and the problems consumers had as a result of that. Are we going to require the cable companies make 75% of their channels available to competitors? Are we going to require that the utility companies, when they build lines, fiber optic lines, are going to be similarly required to make access available to their competitors? If we’re talking about a real competitive world here, are we going to build a world where some have obligations others don’t have? Some must carry and some don’t? Some must give access to their programs to competitors, as cable is now required to do because of the bill we successfully passed over the president’s veto last year, and over cable’s objection? Are we going to make that same requirement now available—enforced upon other competitors who build wires, or who build some other systems, who decide to deliver it under some particle-beam technology we haven’t dreamed of yet, or the satellite delivery systems that are coming into play? Are we going to create some real equality in this competition, that’s going to give consumers comparable choices? That’s the key word to me—comparable choices. Are we going to do that? Or are we going to dictate the technology, confine you to so many channels, not require you to carry what others have to carry, put requirements on one competitor—the cable company can get on the telephone company’s lines, but the telephone company can’t get on the cable system’s line? Come on. It seems to me if we’re going to build policy that gets consumers real, comparable choices out there, we have to answer all those questions. Video: What the world looks like without net neutrality Video: Net Neutrality II: Last Week Tongight with John Oliver Special Thanks! To Adam Hettler for performing The Most Dangerous time of the Year! See more of Adam here! Background music for The Most Dangerous Time of the Year. Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)  

The Veterans Health Administration operates a taxpayer-funded health system to provide our nation’s veterans physical and mental health services. The Veterans Choice Program is a fundamental change to that system as it allows veterans to get taxpayer-funded health care in the private sector. In this episode, learn the history of the Veterans Choice Program, discover the changes that Congress and the Trump Administration have made to the program this year, and get some insights into the future of the program. Please Support Congressional Dish Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Bills H.R. 3230: Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 Allows veterans to get medical care outside the Veteran's Administration system; they can go to any health facility that serves Medicare patients, health centers, the Defense Department, and the Indian Health Service. Veterans are only given this option if they'd have to wait over 30 days for an appointment with the Veteran's Administration or if they live 40 miles or further from a Veteran's Administration clinic. If eligible, the veteran will receive a special identification card. How it works: Veteran notifies VA, VA puts Veteran on an electronic waiting list or authorizes their request, VA works out a payment agreement with the health care provider, VA reimburses health care provider but no more than they would for Medicare services. If the veteran gets treated for a problem that was not related to their military service, their health insurance plan will be responsible for payment and the health care provider will be responsible for going after the insurance company for the money. Veterans can not be charged higher co-payments for care at private facilities than they would have been charged at the Veteran's Administration. This program will end in three years. Orders a private-sector review, establishes a fifteen person commission, and creates a technology task force to review VA practices. Wait times for care can not be considered when determining performance bonuses for top officials at the Veteran's administration and performance goals that disincentivize using private health providers for veteran care will be eliminated. Wait times for health care at the VA, VA facility quality measures, and VA doctor credentials will be published online. The VA will add 1,500 graduate medical education residency positions for five years to address staffing shortages. Extends the program that reimburses medical students for education costs and increases the amounts they'll receive for working for the VA. Expands coverage for mental health care related to sexual assaults, which will include veterans on inactive duty. This will be effective August 7, 2015. Extends a pilot program for assisted living care for veterans with traumatic brain injuries until October 2017. Disqualifies public colleges that charge veterans more than State residents from being qualified schools for veteran education benefits. Makes it easier to fire or transfer senior executives at the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Appropriates $15 billion to implement these changes. S. 544: A bill to amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other purposes Eliminates the end date for the Choice Program, which was supposed to expire when the money ran out of after three years. Changes the payment system from one where the veteran's health insurance plan must pay for non-service related treatments, with doctors getting reimbursed directly from the insurance companies to a new system where the Veterans Department will pay and be reimbursed by the insurance companies. Establishes legal permission for the government to share medical records of veterans with "private entities" S. 1094: Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act Title I: Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Creates a new office, headed by a Presidential appointee, in charge of VA employee accountability and processing of whistleblower complaints. This office will have the power to impose disciplinary actions. The identities of whistleblowers must be protected unless the whistleblower consents to disclosure. The Department of Veterans' Affairs must train employees on the whistleblowing process. Title II: Accountability of senior executives, supervisors, and other employees Gives the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the power to suspend, demote, or fire senior executives as long as the executive receives 15 days advance notice and all evidence against him or her, legal representation, and the ability to argue their case in an official process created by the Secretary that takes no more than 21 days. Gives the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the power to remove, demote, or suspend Veterans Administration employees for performance or misconduct. Demoted employees will have their pay decreased. The demotion or removal process must be completed within 15 business days and the employee has 7 business days to respond. These new procedures "shall supercede any collective bargaining agreement to the extend that such agreement is inconsistent with such procedures.". There is an appeal process but it must be started within 10 business days after the date of the removal, demotion, or suspension. The appeal must be decided within 180 days. The Secretary can not remove, demote, or suspend a whistleblower without approval of a Special Counsel or unless the Assistant Secretary refuses to act on the whistleblower account or unless a final decision has been made regarding the whistleblower's disclosure. Gives the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the power to order the repayment of bonuses or relocation expenses paid to VA employees if the Secretary determines that the employee engaged in misconduct or poor performance before the bonus was awarded. There is an appeal process via the Office of Personnel Management. S.114: VA Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017 Title I: Appropriation for Veterans Choice Program Deposits $2.1 billion in the Veterans Choice Fund, which will not expire. Title II: Personnel matters Doubles the number of positions that can be labeled has having staffing shortages and gives the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the ability to directly hire people to those positions. "Executive Management Fellowship Program" A program to give VA employees 1 year of training in the private sector and to give private sector employees 1 year of training in the VA. Between 18 & 30 people from the private sector and the same amount from the VA will be selected in August of each year to participate. To accept the fellowship, the person must agree to work as a full-time employee of the VA for two years and is prohibited from working the corresponding private sector industry for two years after completing the program. Performance Evaluations Political appointees of the VA will have annual performance plans similar to the ones administered to career employees. Promotions Gives the Secretary of Veterans Affairs the ability to easily promote existing employees or people who voluntarily left within 2 years, one employment status at a time. Employment Opportunity Database Creates a website that will list vacant positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Title III: Major medical facility leases We're paying to replace VA facilities in 28 locations. H.R. 3236: Surface transportation and veterans health care choice improvement act of 2015 Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD080: The July Laws Additional Reading Article: VA secretary David Shulkin: I don't consider this Texas church gunman as a veteran by Melissa Quinn, Washington Examiner, November 6, 2017. Article: Funding for a new veterans choice program remains the big, unresolved question for VA by Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio, October 24, 2017. Article: AFGE ramping up anti-privatization campaign, as VA readies new Choice draft by Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio, October 17, 2017. Article: Focus on VA hiring, not Veterans Choice, AFGE says by Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio, October 6, 2017. Article: Trump signs bill to speed up VA disability appeals process by Richard Sisk, Military.com, August 23, 2017. Article: Last-minute Veterans Choice funding bill filled with key VA hiring flexibilities by Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio, July 28, 2017. Article: Fix for Veterans Choice shortfalls fails in the House with little funds left by Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio, July 24, 2017. Radio Transcript: VA pane report to suggest more private care choices for veterans, Morning Edition with David Greene, NPR, July 6, 2017. Article: Shulkin offers first glimpse at a new VA Choice plan by Nicole Ogrysko, Federal News Radio, June 8, 2017. Article: Trump extends program allowing some veterans to use local doctors, hospitals by Lisa Lambert, Reuters, April 19, 2017. News Report: Barry Coates dead; veteran was at heart of VA scandal by Scott bronstein, Nelli Black, Drew Griffin and Curt Devine, CNN Investigations, January 27, 2016. Article: How the VA developed its culture of coverups by David Farenthold, The Washington Post, May 30, 2014. Article: Obama accepts resignation of VA secretary Shinseki by Greg Jaffe and Ed O'Keefe, The Washington Post, May 30, 2014. References Budget Plan: 2018 FY Homeland Security Budget-in-Brief GAO Report: Veterans health care: Preliminary observations on veterans access to Choice Program care House Amendment Act: S.114 of the 115th Congress Interactive Timeline: Veterans Choice Program Slideshow: Billing Procedures, VA Veterans Choice Program and Patient-Centered Community Care Strawman Document: Proposed Strawman Assessment Sound Clip Sources Hearing: Bills related to veterans choice; House Committee on Veterans Affairs; October 24, 2017. 02:42 Rep. Phil Roe (TN): To that end, I believe it’s important to state yet again that this effort is in no way, shape, or form intended to create a pipeline to privatize the V.A. healthcare system. I want to be completely clear about that. Everyone who participated in the roundtable earlier this month and contributed to the development of this legislation should be completely clear on that. Everyone listening today should also be completely clear on that. Supplemental care sourced from within the community has been a part of the V.A. healthcare system since the 1940s and services to expand V.A.’s reach and strengthen and support the care that V.A. provides. Rhetoric aside, strengthening and support V.A. is what this consideration is about—this conversation is about. It should go without saying that V.A. cannot be everywhere providing everything to every veteran. Expecting V.A. to perform like that sets up the V.A. to fail. That’s why my draft bill preserves V.A.’s role as the central coordinator of care for enrolled veteran patients. In addition to consolidating V.A.’s menu of existing community-care programs into one cohesive program, my bill would create a seamless, integrated V.A. system of care that incorporates V.A. providers and V.A. medical facilities where and when they are available to provide care a veteran seeks and a network of V.A. providers in the community who can step up when needed. Under my draft bill, the V.A. generally retains the right of first refusal, meaning that if V.A. medical facilities can reasonably provide a needed service to a veteran, that care will be provided in that facility. But when the V.A. can’t do that, my bill would ensure that veterans aren’t left out to dry. Press Conference: Trump signs veterans health care bill; C-Span; August 12, 2017. 0:30 David Shulkin: The V.A. Choice and Quality Employment Act has three important components. The first is that this helps us expand our ability to hire medical-center directors and other senior executives to serve in the V.A. This is about leadership, and it’s really important that we get the right leaders helping us to do the job for veterans. The second is that this bill authorizes 28 new facility leases that will be in different parts of the country that provide our veterans with updated facilities, something that, again, we are committed to providing our veterans with world-class care. And third, and most important, this bill allows us to continue to be able to provide care in the community for our veterans to make sure that they’re getting high-quality care and not waiting for care. Already this year, in the first six months of this year, we have authorized over 15 million appointments for veterans in the community. That’s 4 million appointments more than what was experienced at this time last year. So we’re making a lot of progress in expanding Choice. Hearing: Fiscal year 2018 Veterans Affairs budget; Senate Veterans Affairs Committee; June 14, 2017. 12:29 David Shulkin: Two years ago—I’m sure you’re going to remember in July of 2015 we had too little money in our community-care accounts within the V.A., which we solved with your help by accessing unused funds in the Choice account. So we transferred money from Choice into community care. We now have too little money in the Choice account, which we’re working to solve, again working with you, with legislative authority, to replenish funds into the Choice account. So this is the situation that we’ve described before where for a single purpose of providing care in the community we have two checking accounts, and I will tell you, I wish it were easier than it is. We have to figure out how to balance these two checking accounts at all times. And obviously it’s not a science, it’s an art; and we’re having difficulty with that once again, and that’s why we need to work with you to solve it. The Veterans CARE program that we outlined for you last week will solve this recurring problem permanently by modernizing and consolidating all of the community-care accounts, including Choice. Hearing: Examining the Veterans Choice program and the future of care in the community; Committee on Veterans Affairs; June 7, 2017. Witness: David Shulkin - Veterans Affairs Secretary 12:55 David Shulkin: Just in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, we saw 35% more authorizations for Choice than we did in the first quarter of 2016. So far in fiscal year 2017, we have approximately 18,000 more Choice-authorized appointments per day than we did in fiscal year 2016. But we still have a lot more work to do. That’s why we’re seeking support for the Veterans Coordinated Access and Rewarding Experiences program, the Veterans CARE program. Let me just go over that again because you need a good acronym in Washington. The Veterans Coordinated Access—that’s the C and the A—Rewarding Experiences program—the CARE program. I’ve testified before and I’ll report again today that our overarching concern remains veterans’ access to high-quality care when and where they need it. That’s regardless of whether the care is in the V.A. or in the community. Our goal is to modernize and consolidate community care. We owe veterans a program that’s easy to understand, simple to administer, and that meets their needs. That’s the CARE program, and now it’s time to get this right for veterans. So we need your help. 14:23 David Shulkin: Here’s how veterans could experience V.A. healthcare, with your help. The veteran talks with their V.A. provider. That’s a conversation over the phone, virtually, or in person. The outcome is a clinical assessment. The clinical assessment may indicate that the V.A. specialist is the best for the veteran, or it may indicate that community care is best to meet the veteran’s needs. If community care is the answer, then the veteran chooses a provider from a high-performing network. That’s the veteran choosing a provider from the high-performing network. Assessment tools help veterans evaluate community providers and make the best choices themselves. We may help veterans schedule appointments in the community, or in some circumstances, veterans can schedule the appointments themselves. We make sure community providers have all the information they need to treat the veteran. We get the veteran’s record back. We pay the veteran’s bill. This is all about individualized, convenient, well-coordinated, modern healthcare and a positive experience for the veteran. If the V.A. doesn’t offer the necessary service, then the veteran goes to the community. If the V.A. can’t provide timely services, the veteran goes to the community. If there are unusual burdens in receiving care, the veteran goes to the community. If a service at a V.A. clinic isn’t meeting quality metrics for specific services, veterans needing that service go to the community while we work to support that clinic to improve its performance. And veterans who need care right away will have access to a network of walk-in clinics. 19:20 David Shulkin: We want to make sure that if the service is low performing, if it’s below what the veteran could get in the community, that they have the opportunity—they don’t have to leave the V.A. They’re given a choice so that they are able to get care in the community or stay at the V.A., because, you know, if a veteran has a good experience and they have trust in their provider, they’re going to want to stay where they are. But that is the purpose. The whole idea here is to improve the V.A., not to get more care in the community. And the very best way that I know how to improve health care is to give the patient, in this case the veteran, choice and to make those choices transparent to let everybody see, because then if you’re not performing as high-quality service, you’re going to want to provide a higher-quality service, because you want to be proud of what you’re working on. And I want the V.A. to be improving over time, and I think this will help us do that. 24:42 Sen. Patty Murray (WA): Secretary Shulkin, in your draft of Veteran CARE plan, you outline a number of pilot projects that sound to me uncomfortably like a proposals that are made by the so-called straw-man document. It’s from the commission on CARE and by the extreme, and to me unacceptable, plan put forward by the Concerned Veterans of America. And those include creating a V.A. insurance plan and separating it from CARE delivery, dividing the governance of a V.A. insurance plan and the health system, and alternative CARE model that sends veterans directly to the private sector. The goal of those types of initiatives, as originally stated in the straw-man document, is “as V.A. facilities become obsolete and are underused, they would be closed when availability and accessibility of care in the community is assured.” Those policies serve not only to dismantle the V.A. and start the health system down to a road to privatization, I just want you to know I will not support them, and I will fight them with everything I have. So, I want to ask you, why are you agreeing to pursue those unacceptable policy options? David Shulkin: Well, first of all, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and as clearly as you have. I share your goal. I am not in support of a program that would lead towards privatization or shutting down the V.A. programs. What I am in support of is using pilots to test various ideas about governance, about the way that the system should be, organized in the way that we should evolve, because I don’t know without testing different ideas whether they’re good ideas or not. 35:28 Sen. Jerry Moran (KS): You said something that caught my attention: this will not be an unfettered Choice program— David Shulkin: Yep. Moran: —and I wanted to give you the opportunity to explain to me and to the committee what that means. Shulkin: Yeah. There are some that have suggested that the very best approach is just give veterans a card, a voucher, and let them go wherever they want to go. And I think that there are some significant concerns about that, and you’re going to see this proposal is not that. This proposal is to develop a system that is designed for veterans, that coordinates their care, and gives them the options when it’s best for in the V.A. and when it’s best in the community. Unfettered Choice is appealing to some, but it would lead to, essentially, I believe, the elimination of the V.A. system all together. It would put veterans with very difficult problems out into the community, with nobody to stand up for them and to coordinate their care. And the expense of that system is estimated to be at the minimum $20 billion more a year than we currently spend on V.A. health care. So for all those reasons, I am not recommending that we have unfettered access. At some point in the future, if you design a system right, giving veterans complete choice, I believe in principle, is the direction we should be headed in, but not in 2017. 39:05 Sen. Jon Tester (MT): I want to go back to the Choice program, community care versus V.A. care, and tell you where we’re probably all on the same page around this rostrum, but as we’re all on the same page and the budget comes out and gives a 33% increase for private-sector care versus a 1.2% increase for care provided directly by the V.A., it doesn’t take very many budgets like that and pretty soon you’re not going to have any vets going to the V.A., because all the money’s going to community care, and they will follow the money. I promise you they will follow the money. I think that—I don’t want to put words in the VSO’s mouth. He’ll have a chance here in a bit—but I think most of the veterans I talk to say, build the V.A.’s capacity. In Montana we don’t have enough docs, we don’t have enough nurses, we don’t have enough of anything. And quite frankly, that takes away from the experience and the quality of care, and so by putting 1.2% increase for care provided directly by the V.A. and 33% for private-sector care, we’re privatizing the V.A. with that budget. David Shulkin: Yeah. I told you I wasn’t going to say that you were right again, but there’s a lot that you said that I think that we both agree with. And the goal is not to privatize the V.A. What we’re asking for in this is something we don’t have. We need additional flexibility between the money that goes into the community and the money that can be spent in the V.A. Right now we’re restricted to a 1% ability to transfer money between. We are seeking that you give us more latitude there for exactly the reason you’re talking about, Senator. We need our medical centers and our VISNs to be able to say that they need to build capacity in the V.A. where it’s not available. The reason why we’re letting people go in the community now is because the V.A. doesn’t have it. We have to get them that care. Tester: I got it, but if we don’t make the investments so they can get that health care, they’ll never get that health care there. Shulkin: I— Tester: Okay. Hearing: Veterans affairs oversight; House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; May 3, 2017. Witness: Dr. David Shulkin - Veterans Affairs Secretary   16:13 David Shulkin: More veterans are opting for Choice than ever before, five times more in fiscal year 2016 than fiscal year 2015, and Choice authorizations are still rising. We’ve issued 35% more authorizations in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 than in the same quarter of 2016. 18:00 David Shulkin: My five priorities as secretary are to provide greater Choice for veterans, to modernize our systems, to focus resources more efficiently, to improve the timeliness of our services, and suicide prevention among veterans. We are already taking bold steps towards achieving each of these priorities. Two weeks ago the president signed a reauthorization of the Veterans Choice Act, ensuring veterans can continue to get care from community providers. Just last week the president ordered the establishment of a V.A. accountability office, and we’re moving as quickly as we can within the limits of the law to remove bad employees. V.A. has removed medical center directors in San Juan; Shreveport, Louisiana; and recently we’ve relieved the medical center director right here in Washington, D.C. and removed three other senior executive service leaders due to misconduct or poor performance. We simply cannot tolerate employees who act counter to our values or put veterans at risk. Since January of this year, we’ve authorized an estimated 6.1 million community-care appointments, 1.8 million more than last year, a 42% increase. We now have same-day services for primary care and mental health at all of our medical centers across the country. Veterans can now access wait-time data for their local V.A. facilities by using an easy online tool where they can see those wait times. No other healthcare system in the country has this type of transparency. V.A. is setting new trends with public-private partnerships. Last month we announced a public-private partnership of an ambulatory care development center, with a donation of roughly $30 million in Omaha, Nebraska, thanks to Mr. Fortenberry’s help there. Veterans now have, or will have, a facility that’s being built with far fewer taxpayer dollars than in the past. Finally, V.A. is saving lives. My top clinical priority is suicide prevention. On average 20 veterans a day die by suicide. A few months ago the Veterans Crisis Line had a rollover rate to a backup center of more than 30%. Today that rate is less than 1%. In support of our efforts to reduce suicides, we’ve launched new predictive modeling tools that allow V.A. to provide proactive care and support for veterans who are at the highest risk of suicide. And I’ve recently announced the V.A. will be providing emergency mental health care to former service members with other-than-honorable discharges at all of our medical facilities. We know that these veterans are at greater risk for suicide, and we’re now caring for them as well as we can. 23:19 David Shulkin: The VISTA system is something that, frankly, V.A. should be proud of. It invented it, it was the leader in electronic health records, but, frankly, that’s old history, and we have to look at keeping up and to modernize the system. I’ve said two things, Mr. Chairman, in the past. I’ve said, number one is, V.A. has to get out of the business of becoming a software developer. This is not our core competency. I don’t see why it serves veterans. I think we’re doing this in a way that, frankly, we can’t keep up with. So, I’ve said that we’re going to get out of that business. We’re either going to find a commercial company that will take over and support VISTA or we’re going to go to an off-the-shelf product. And that’s really what we’re evaluating now. We have an RFI out for, essentially, the commercialization of VISTA that we wouldn’t longer be doing internally. 27:33 David Shulkin: We also, as we get more veterans out into the community, out into the private-sector hospitals, we have to be very concerned about interoperability with those partners as well. 38:24 Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL): Given that your goal is one program, are you analyzing which program ultimately would be phased out, because we have a tendency to instead of phasing out programs because they have people with a vested interest in them, simply— David Shulkin: Yes. Schultz: —going along to get along rather than rocking the boat, and so if we’re adding $3 1/2 billion to the Choice program and it had 950 million left, there have been challenges with the Choice program and confusion, and there are still challenges with the community care program, in what direction is the V.A. thinking of going when we—and what is the timeline for ultimately— Shulkin: Right. Schultz: — phasing out one program and only having one? Shulkin: Right. Well, with almost certainty I can tell you there will not be three programs, because the current Choice program will run out of money— Schultz: Right. Shulkin: —by the end of this calendar year. So, that program is going to go away and should be through December of this year. What we are hoping to do is to work with you so that we can introduce a community-care funding program—the chairman referred to it as Choice 2.0—which is a program that makes sense for veterans, which is a single program that operates under one set of rules for how veterans get care in the community. And that new legislation, which we believe needs to be introduced by late summer or early fall in order to make the timeline, would end up with a single program. Schultz: So, you eventually envision phasing out community care with the advent— Shulkin: Yes. Schultz: —of Choice 2.0. 1:33:11 Rep. Charles Dent (PA): In the one-page FY ’18 skinny budget we received in March, there’s a V.A. request for $2.9 billion in new mandatory funding, presumably to complete the FY ’18 funding for the Choice program after the mandatory $10 billion of the program is completely exhausted in January, I guess. Does this indicate the administration’s intent to fund the successor Choice program out of mandatory funding? David Shulkin: Yes. 1:45:37 Rep. Tom Rooney (FL): And many of the providers that are technically participating in the Choice program are refusing to accept Choice patients because they know that they’ll have to wait a long time to get paid themselves. So some providers that don’t accept the Choice patients will only do so if the veteran agrees to pay for the services up front. And that leaves the veterans in that same bind they were in before Choice, which was either face the excessive wait times at the V.A. facility with no option to obtain immediate care elsewhere without paying out of pocket first. And obviously that’s not the point, or that’s not what we’re looking to do. So, I mean, you as a doctor can probably appreciate, you know, with these people that want to take the Choice program to help veterans but they know that it’s going to take forever to get reimbursed be like, hey, will you pay me first, and then, you know, we’ll deal with getting reimbursed later. I don’t know if that’s the rationale, but it sounds like that. The OIG has criticized the V.A.’s monitoring oversight for these contracts and reported that these contracts still don’t have performance measures to ensure the contractors pay their providers in a timely manner, and the OIG made this recommendation January 30 of this year. So, as you work to expand the Choice program, how are you implementing the OIG’s recommendation specifically with regard to timely reimbursements? David Shulkin: Well, there is no doubt that this is an area of significant risk for us, that monitoring and making sure that the providers are paid is critical because of the issues that you’re saying: the veterans are being put in the middle. I would not recommend the veterans put out money for this. That is, as you said, is not the point of it. What we have done is we have done multiple contract modifications. We’ve actually advanced money to the third-party administrators. I’ve suspended the requirement that providers have to provide their medical records to us in order to get paid. We are improving our payment cycles through the Choice program, but it’s not perfect by any means. We have to get better at our auditing of these processes, and those were the IG recommendations, and we are working on doing that. So this is a significant area of risk for us. In the reauthorization, or the redesign, of the Choice program, what we’re calling Choice 2.0, we want to eliminate the complexity of this process. The private sector does not have to do the type of adjudication of claims that we do. They do auto adjudification. They do electronic claims payments. We just are not able to, under this legislation, do all the things that, frankly, we know are best practices. That’s what we want to get right in Choice 2.0. 1:56:40 David Shulkin: Our care needs to be focused on those that are eligible for care, particularly when we have access issues. So, I’d be glad to talk to you more about that. I do want to just mention two things. First of all, our policy is for emergency mental health care for other-than-honorable, not dishonorably, discharged; dishonorably discharged who were not— Rep. Scott Taylor (VA): Sorry if I misspoke. David Shulkin: Yeah, yeah, okay. Rep. Scott Taylor (VA): But I do applaud you for those efforts. David Shulkin: I just wanted to clarify that. Rep. Scott Taylor (VA): I know that there are a lot of wounds that are mental, of course, and— David Shulkin: Absolutely. Rep. Scott Taylor (VA): —I get that. I applaud you for those efforts. Hearing: Veterans affairs choice program; House Committee for Veterans Affairs; March 7, 2017. Witness: David Shulkin - Veterans Affairs Secretary Michael Missal - Veterans Affairs Inspector General Randall Williamson - GAO Health Care Team Director 20:35 David Shulkin: However, we do need your help. The Veterans Choice Program is going to expire in less than six months, but our veterans’ community-care needs will not expire. This looming expiration is a cause for concern among veterans, providers, and V.A. staff, and we need help in eliminating the expiration date of the Choice program on August 7, 2017 so that we can fully utilize the remaining Choice funds. Without congressional action, veterans will have to face longer wait times for care. Second, we need your help in modernizing and consolidating community care. Veterans deserve better, and now is the time to get this right. We believe that a modernized and revised community-care program must have seven key elements. First, maintain a high-performing integrated network that includes V.A., federal partners, academic affiliates, and community providers. Second, increase Choice for all veterans, starting with those with cer—(audio glitch). Third, ensure that enrolled veterans get the care they need closer to their homes, when appropriate. Fourth, optimize coordination of V.A. healthcare benefits with the health insurance that an enrolled veteran already has. Fifth, maintain affordability of healthcare options for the lowest-income enrolled veterans. Sixth, assist in coordination of care for veterans served by multiple providers. And last, apply industry standards for performance quality, patient satisfaction, payment models, and healthcare outcomes. 23:24 Michael Missal: In October 2015, V.A. provided Congress with a plan to consolidate all V.A.’s purchased care programs into V.A.’s community-care program. Under consolidation, V.A. continues to have problems determining eligibility for care, authorizing care, making accurate payments, providing timely payments to providers, and ensuring the necessary coordination of care provided to veterans outside the V.A. healthcare system. 30:30 Randall Williamson: Finally, substantial resources will likely be needed to carry out Choice 2.0. Resources needed to fund IT upgrades and new applications for Choice are largely unknown but could be costly. Proposed changes in Choice eligibility requirements, such as eliminating the 30-day, 40-mile requirement for eligibility, could potentially greatly increase the number of veterans seeking care through community providers and drive costs up considerably. Also, if medical-center staff begin scheduling all appointments under Choice 2.0, as V.A. currently envisions, hiring more V.A. staff will likely be costly and tediously slow. Already, since Choice was established, V.A. medical-center staff devoted to helping veterans access non-V.A. care have increased threefold or more at many locations. 1:04:00 David Shulkin: We are looking primarily at technological solutions, and we are looking at the use of telehealth, which we are doing across V.A. on a scale that no other health system in America is even approaching—2.1 million visits; over 700,000 veterans getting access through telehealth services—and so we are looking at this very seriously about dramatically expanding its use to be able to support where we don’t have health professionals. 1:06:20 David Shulkin: Remember, we have four missions. The clinical care is what we always talk about, but we also have an education mission. We train more American healthcare professionals than any other organization in the country, we have research that’s dedicated solely to the improvement of the wellbeing of veterans, and we also serve a national emergency-preparedness role. So, all four of these missions are very important to us. I would just say two things. One thing is we know from the Choice program that only 5,000 of the several—of more now than a million veterans who’ve used the program chose only to use the Choice program. So they’re saying exactly what your constituent told you, which is the V.A. is essential and important to them. But we are not going to allow the V.A. programs to be diluted, and one of the reasons why that’s so important is that we need to modernize the V.A. system. Our lack of capitalizing the V.A. system in terms of the buildings, the equipment, the IT systems, could make it a noncompetitive system. But we’re going to make sure that the facilities that are open are the best for veterans, and veterans are going to want to continue to get their care there. The community-care program is a way to make sure that we supplement the V.A. in an integrated fashion. 1:10:00 Rep. Mike Bost (IL): The department itself has estimated that it can treat and cure most of the remaining 124,000 diagnosed cases of hepatitis C within the next three years. Is it the V.A.’s commitment that that timeline will be held to and that these will be treated regardless of the level of their liver disease or where they might be at? David Shulkin: Yes. Thanks to the support from Congress, we were provided the resources to meet that timeline. I actually think we’re going to beat it, but with one caveat. What we’ve learned is that our initial outreaches, we were getting thousands and thousands of veterans to come in and to get treatment. We have a treatment, of course, as you know, that now cures more than 95% of hepatitis C. So it’s tremendous medical advance. The doctor to my right is one of those doctors. He’s an I.D. doctor who does this in his clinical work at the V.A. Unknown Speaker: Thank you. Shulkin: What we’re finding now is, and if Dr. Yehia wants to comment on this, we’re finding that we’re now seeing less and less veterans coming in to get cured. There is a substantial number of veterans for a number of reasons, either psychological reasons or social reasons, who are not taking advantage of this care. And so this is now becoming a research question for us. How do we have to begin to approach people that are saying, I have a disease that may end up killing me, but I’m not interested in the treatment. And so I think we’re going to beat your three-year timeline, but there's still going to be a subset of veterans that don’t want to come in and get care. 1:12:50 Rep. Mike Bost (IL): What would happen if we didn’t make that extension go past the August 7, and what would be the final cutoff if we don’t get it past? David Shulkin: Well, first of all, if we don’t do this extension, this is going to be a disaster for American veterans. We’re going to see the same situation that we saw in April 2014, that Senator Kaine started out tonight with, that we saw in Phoenix. And so here’s the timeline. We do need to do this now. As I think Chairman Roe referred to, already today veterans are not able to use the Choice program, because the law states that we have to obligate the funds now for when the care is going to be delivered. So a pregnant veteran who comes to us and says, I want to get care using the Choice program, they no longer can, because nine months from now is past August 7. But this is now beginning to happen with care that is multiple months in length, like oncology care and chemotherapy and other types of therapies. We have a chart that shows that when you start getting towards the end of April to May, this is where you’re going to start seeing a large number of veterans not being able to get access to care, because episodes of care that we’re used to, like hip replacements and other things, are generally three to four months. So we think the time is now that we need to act. Bost: Okay, so, but what we’re doing is not any intention to privatize or anything like that. This is just making sure that those people who are on the Choice program, that we are moving forward to make sure that those services are provided. Shulkin: Not only that, but this is not going to cost any additional money. We are just seeking the authority to spend the money that you’ve already given us past August 7 of this year. 1:17:15 David Shulkin: We are going to go and we are going to start providing mental health care for those that are other-than-honorably discharged for urgent mental health. And we want to work with Representative Coffman on his bill on this, and we want to do as much as we can. But I don’t think it can wait, and so we’re going to start doing that now. I believe that’s in the secretary’s authority to be able to do that.   Hearing: A call for system-wide change; House Committee for Veterans Affairs; October 7, 2015. Witnesses: Robert McDonald: then Secretary of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin: Under Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Brett Giroir: Senior Fellow at the Texas medical Center Health Policy Institute 13:37 Robert McDonald: As you know, we have five strategies: first is improving the veteran experience, second is improving the employee experience, third is achieving support-service excellence, fourth is establishing a culture of continuous improvement, and fifth is enhancing strategic partnerships, and we would be happy to drill down on those during the question period. 14:17 Robert McDonald: In the past year, we’ve moved out aggressively in response to the access crisis, meeting increasing demand and expanding capacity on four fronts: more staffing, more space, more productivity, and more V.A. care in the community. During that period of time, we’ve completed 7 million more appointments for veterans of completed care: 4 1/2 million in the community, 2 1/2 million within V.A. We’ve added more space, we’ve added more providers, we’ve added more extra hours, all in effect to get more veterans in. But because of that, and because we’ve done a better job of caring for veterans, we have more veterans desiring care. So even those 97% of appointments are now completed within 30 days of the needed or preferred date, the number not completed in 30 days has grown from 300,000 to nearly 500,000. 16:15 Robert McDonald: We simply can’t make many necessary changes because of statutory limitations. We need to consolidate our various care in the community programs. We need a freer hand to hire, assign, and reward the executives we task to act as change agents. We need a freer hand in disposing of outdated, unused, or little-used facilities. We need a freer hand in the management of existing facilities so facilities’ managers can adjust their use of resources to the changing needs of veterans. 25:47 Brett Giroir: As background, in 2014 9.1 million of 21.6 million U.S. veterans were enrolled in the VHA. Of these, 5.8 million were actual patients, and on average these patients relied on the VHA for much less than 50% of their healthcare services. These demographic data combined with access challenges suggest reconsideration of whether the VHA should aim to be the comprehensive provider for all veterans’ health needs or whether the VHA should evolve into more focus centers providing specialized care while utilizing non-VHA providers for the majority of veterans’ healthcare needs. Either paradigm could be highly beneficial to veterans as long as the demand and resources are prospectively aligned and there is a consolidation of current programs to simplify access to non-VHA providers. 30:05 David Shulkin: The V.A. approach is to find the very best care that serves the veterans, and I think that we’ve shown that in response to our access crisis that we have encouraged the use of community care to address our access issues. I think the difference here between—maybe what I would expand on what Dr. Giroir said is that the care that V.A. provides is very, very different than the care that the private sector provides. The V.A. provides a much more comprehensive approach than just dealing with physical-illness issues. It provides psychological and social aspects of care that actually meet the needs of what veterans require. And that's why I think that we really do need to do what Dr. Giroir said, which is to see what VHA provides best for our veterans and what care can be provided by the private sector, and it’s that hybrid-type system that's going to meet our veteran's needs. 34:39 Former Rep. Corrine Brown (FL): I think the elephant in the room is that there are people out there that would actually want to just completely close the V.A. and privatize the entire V.A. system, which is totally unacceptable and it is absolutely not what the veterans want. And as you begin, I want you to discuss flexibility, but I want you to let people know how many people we actually serve every day throughout this country. Robert McDonald: Thank you, Ranking Member Brown. As I was going through my confirmation process, I often got the question from senators why—you know, from some senators, small group—why don't we get rid of the V.A. and just give out vouchers? So I studied that—as a business person, I wanted to know—and what I discovered was V.A.'s not only essential for veterans, it's essential for American medicine and it's essential for the American people. Three-legged stool: research. We spent $1.8 billion a year on research. We invented the nicotine patch. We were the ones who discovered the aspirin was important for heart disease—take an aspirin every day. First liver transplant. First implantable pacemaker. Last year two V.A. doctors invented the shingles vaccine. I could go on. That research is important for the American people, and I didn't even mention posttraumatic stress or traumatic brain injury or prosthetics, things that we're known for. Second, training. We trained 70% of the doctors in this country. Who's going to train those doctors without the V.A.? We have also the largest employer of nurses and the largest trainer of nurses. Third leg is clinical work. Our veterans get the best clinical care because our doctors are doctors that not only do the clinical care but also do research and teach in the best medical schools of our country. So I think the American people benefit from the V.A., and it would be a big mistake to even think about privatizing it. 1:06:06 Rep. Phil Roe (TN): Let me go right to what I wanted to talk about which is my own veteran’s officer at home—person that does my work at home—and basically what she’s saying is, how do you get an appointment through the Veterans Choice Program? She said she had been trying to put together a summary, and what's happening is there’re two ways you get in there: a veteran can either be eligible by a 30-day wait list or more than 40 miles. And the most of problems she saw were the 30-day list. And this is what happens. Below is the information’s been given to me by the roll out of the program. In my experience, there appears to be a breakdown somewhere in this process but have been unable to get clear answers on how to fix it. The V.A. blames TriWest; TriWest blames the V.A. Eligibility is determined by the V.A. primary-care doctor if the appointment’s passed 30 days. The non-V.A. care staff then uploads this list of eligible veterans to the V.A. central office here in Washington nightly, and the veteran’s told to wait five to seven days and then call TriWest. The central office then sends the information to TriWest, can take three to seven days. If the consults don't get added, medical documentation didn't get uploaded, authorizations gets canceled, then the veteran’s on a merry-go-round. Look, when they came to my office to get an appointment, I said, you need an appointment with Dr. Smith. They went out front and made the appointment. That's what should happen. It ain’t that complicated. And all of this in between—and I could go on and on—TriWest has a different view of it, and I want to submit this to the record because it really gets to the bottom of what’s actually going— Unknown Chairman: Not objection. Roe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The non-V.A. care staff were given no training on this, and they basically were left just to wing it, how to make these appointments. That was one of the things was brought up in the report. Our local V.A. care—non-V.A. care staff—increased from 5 to 15 but still are struggling to make all these appointments, and there's talk of—now, listen to this right here—there is talk of calling each patient for every appointment to make sure they keep it. If the patient says, I don't want to go, they still are told to call them two times a month until the past the appointment time. That's a complete waste of time. And the outpatient clinics also ought to be able to add patients to the electronic wait list instead of sending them over because appointment may come up; veterans get left out like that. And the TriWest portal is not very friendly. Private doctors did not like jumping through all the hoops of the Choice programmers saying they must give a percent of their fee to TriWest in order for TriWest to file the claim. So, we have a clinic that’s closing in our office, in our V.A., on a chiropractic and pulmonary clinic, because the doctors are just fed up with the way the system is. It’s so bureaucratic. So, anyway, I could go on and on. This is a very extensive—this is on-the-ground stuff that’s going on today at our medical center, and I bet you it's going on around the country. And I think these are things I will submit to you so you can get to work on this, and, again, appreciate the effort that you put into it. Mr. Chairman, there’s some valuable information here for the V.A. to use. And I yield back. Unknown Chairman: Thank you. Ms. Brown, you had a question. Corrine Brown: I do, because I want the secretary to answer that, because I think—I'm meeting with TriWest today—but the important thing is, you can't send a veteran to an agency or anywhere until they get prior approval from the V.A. because the most important thing is that that doctor get that reimbursement. So can you clear this up? I mean, no person in my office can send someone to a doctor; it must go through the system so that you get prior approval. And once that's done, how long—why does it take so long for that physician to get reimbursed, and can he answer that question? Robert McDonald: We have flowcharted that process, and let me let David talk about the improvements that we’ve made to that process. He'll answer questions one and three, and I'll take two on the facilities. David Shulkin: Okay. Dr. Roe, I think your old adage on the three A's is exactly right. And you have to remember we brought this Choice system up in 90 days. This is a national, very complex system, and what we've heard after bringing it up in 90 days is exactly the type of feedback that you've been hearing from your constituents. The secretary and I are both out in the field, we understand that these problems are happening, and so what we've begun to do is to redesign the system and to process-map it out. Both the secretary and I spoke to the CEO of TriWest last evening, and we are beginning now to make outbound calls to the veterans before they had to call in. We are beginning to actually embed TriWest staff in the V.A. so that they're working in teams, and we're beginning to start eliminating some of those steps. It is going to take a while. It is painful to watch this when you hear stories like what you're hearing, but we understand the problems there, we are working very hard, we think TriWest and Health Net are working to help us make the system better, and we're committed to doing this with urgency. 1:58:08 David Shulkin: We do have a crisis in leadership. We have too many open, vacant positions. We have too many people in acting positions and interim positions. You can't expect that you're going to have a transformation in a health system unless you have stable leadership in place. We need your help on this. We need your help to help create the V.A. to be an environment people want to come and serve and to be excited about, and we are asking for your help in Title 38 for the—Hybrid Title 38—to be able to help get the right type of compensation for leadership positions in V.A. That will help us a lot. Hearing: HR 1994 VA accountability act and HR 3236 surface transportation and veterans health care choice improvement act; House Rules Committee; July 28, 2015. 1:28:40 Bradley Byrne (AL): We don’t need to have a government-run healthcare system for our veterans. We need to transition out of it and give all of our veterans a card, just like an insurance card. Hearing: Veterans Affairs health care and budget; House Veterans Affairs Committee; July 22, 2015. 19:20 Robert McDonald Clinical output has increased 8% while budget has increased 2%, 35% more people (1.5 million beneficiaries) 20:22 Robert McDonald Increased Choice authorizations by 44% (900,000), 4% more appointments, percentages of wait times, wait times for types of care 21:50 Robert McDonald Care crisis of 2014 was caused by an imbalance in supply and demand, VA has been governing to fit a budget, not making budget fit the care, stats on new enrollees, 147% increase. enrolled veterans use VA for 34% of their care 56:00 Robert McDonald Here is a packet explaining the transformation of the VA, we have an advisory board full of CEOs, VA is going through the largest transformation in it’s history 1:09:40 Tim Heulskamp (KS) Concerned that money will be redirect away from Choice and he thinks “many employees” are not supportive of Choice, throws out bullshit numbers James Tuchschmidt corrects him and said they took money out to pay for the Hepatitis C drug 1:11:50 Tim Heulskamp wants to know why only two people have been fired for the wait time scandal. Robert McDonald many have retired, one indictment, 1,300 have been fired, new leadership, 7 million more appointments this year 1:27:30 Rep.Jackie Walorski (IN) Veterans died because of the Veteran’s Administration, I wanted to see people go to prison, list of things she’s pissed about, "Nothing is working” Robert McDonald 300,000 on wait list a year ago, low wait times, 1:35:00 McDonald we need a better system for anticipating what demand will be. 34% of eligible people are using VA system right now 1:35:20 Robert McDonald the crisis in 2014 was due to Vietnam vets, not Iraq & Afghanistan and we need to prepare as they age 1:36:00 Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) Why don’t we “refer out" the care that’s not directly related to military service? Robert McDonald people like to have all their doctors in one place, private sector doctors have to treat veterans differently - different questions to ask 1:41:00 Phil Roe (TN) Getting veterans outside care should be be through 1 program because it "aught to be easy" 1:43:50 Robert McDonald Moral is low because people don't want to be called out for not caring. They work hard every day 1:46:00 Kathleen Rice (D-NY) Why is there a budget shortfall? Robert McDonald 7 million more veterans needed care. "That's the reason" 1:56:00 Mark Takano (D-CA) New way of operating with non-VA providers - "Care in the Community" - not a conspiracy to "disappear the VA" - That's why we changed the name 2:05:00 Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) We should "outsource" collections” of payment from veterans with other insurance James Tuchschmidt We are looking at doing that. Wenstrup we should take bids. 2:18:00 Robert McDonald We are in favor of Choice program & we need to know about any employees who aren't because "that would be wrong" - Don't care where they get care as long as it's great care 2:20:00 Jerry McNerney (D-CA) Do you favor public private partnerships? Robert McDonald Yes, it's part of our transformation strategy. we have an “office of strategic parterships” 2:22:55 James Tuchschmidt We thought more people would use Choice, the goal was to not have vets waiting more than 30 days for care, we're asking to use that money to pay for care we purchased, we want a bill before you leave in August 2:28:00 James Tuchschmidt We’ve treated over 20,000 veterans with hepatitis C and veterans can use the Choice Program to get their treatment Rep.Ralph Abraham (LA) $500 million would be designated for Hepatitis C treatment Robert McDonald yes Hearing: Non-VA care: An integrated solution for veteran access; House Veterans Affairs Committee; June 18, 2014. 50:40 Rep. Beto O’Rourke (TX): Why have the V.A. at all? Why not privatize that care? The private sector could do it better. What’s missing in the V.A. is competition. Our veterans deserve the very best. Let’s not keep them in this institution that’s not working. From veterans, almost to a person, I hear, if I get in the V.A., I love the care. I’m treated very, very well. The outcomes are great. Don’t touch the V.A. So, what do you do best, and what does the V.A. do best? And five years down the road, after we get out of this current crisis, what will this look like? Unknown Speaker: That’s a great question. And it’s an honor to serve El Paso, where I spent part of my childhood when my dad was in the army as a doc. I will tell you that I hope it does not take five years. And I think everybody else would echo that statement. My belief is that the first phase is to make sure that the program that the V.A. has invested taxpayer money in—VAPC3—is put in place, is mature, that the processes on the V.A. side are mature, that our processes are mature, and that together we’re identifying where those pockets of veterans are that might not otherwise be able to get what they need in a complete capacity through the direct V.A. system because they lack the capacity to deliver on all the needs, and that the V.A. syst— Yes, sir. O’Rourke: Let me—I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I do want to understand what you think beyond taking care of capacity issues when the V.A.’s not able to see someone in a reasonable period of time. Are there specific kinds of care that you all would be better equipped to take care of? For example, I often think the V.A. is or should be better at handling PTSD or the aftereffects of traumatic brain injury because they see so many people like that as opposed to your typical health system or hospital. Maybe that’s a V.A. center of excellence. Is there something on the outside that we should just move all appointments or consults or procedures in a given area over to the private sector or let the private sector compete for? Unknown Speaker: Great question. My personal view is that it’s too early to ask that question—or to answer it, probably a better way to put it. It’s early to ask it, it’s right to ask it, you’re looking over the horizon line, but that we first need to get the pieces plugged together. And then there needs to be a make-by decision, category by category, and facility by facility, to look at what’s best done with taxpayer funds. Is it best to have the direct system provide care for four veterans in a particular category? Is that really necessary? Or should we buy that on the outside because it’s more efficient and more effective? 54:30 O’Rourke: You know, I’ve been on this committee for a year and a half now—it’s my first year in Congress—but I’d never been approached by a lobbyist on my way in to a meeting. Today I was, who represents providers in the private sector in El Paso and said, we have a hard time getting paid. It takes us a year sometimes. We want to see these veterans who are not able to be seen by the V.A., but it’s going to be really hard to do this if we don’t get paid. 1:34:00 Jolly: We need to do even more in providing a veteran choice. This, bottom line. The question, though, is how do we do that in a way that’s fiscally responsible? And so my question for you generally—and again, if you don’t have enough information, that’s certainly fine—in your role of supporting non-V.A. care, can you give either an assessment, if you have the technical information, or if it’s just in a working opinion on the cost effectiveness compared to traditional care, realizing that we have hard infrastructure costs within our V.A. system that aren’t reflective when you go to non-V.A. We can look at all sorts of data. I’m somebody who thinks typically data’s manipulated to get whatever outcome or position we want to finally be able to support. But can you give an opinion or assessment on the cost effectiveness of non-V.A. care versus within the V.A.? Ms. Doody: I can tell you from our experience with Project ARCH—and I wish I could give you specific numbers, sir—the company Altarum, who was contracted to collect this information—my understanding is they’re going to report back to you folks in 2015—are looking at the cost of care per veteran. From my understanding, it is less than if they would have gone to a V.A. facility for certain procedures. So, again, it’s anecdotal. It may be geographic; I can’t comment on the other regions or other states in our nation. But also just limiting the amount of mileage, the travelling that the veteran would have to do travelling to a V.A. hospital to receive care as a savings to the system also. 1:45:00 Titus: You confirm that you can’t talk about the cost effectiveness; there’s just not enough data there, yet you think it’s working pretty well, but we don’t have any hard figures, and we also know that CVO’s been kind of unable to assess the cost going forward, and nobody’s talking about how to pay for it. Yet, we are moving pell mell towards more veterans using this kind of non-V.A. care. And it’s not that I’m opposed to that, but I want us to do it right or else we’ll be having hearings five years from now, talking about all the problems with non-V.A. care. Now, to hear y’all talk about it, you’re not having any problems; things are working great under your networks. But we know that’s not true, either. I mean, there are problems out there, and we need to be serious about how to address them from the beginning. Now, as I understand it, y’all are just kind of like the middleman, like Sallie Mae and Medicare Advantage, where you have a contract to provide a service. That’s fine, but as you push more people out into the private sector, do you see your kind of business growing, or is your network going to cover more areas, or are more new networks and competition going to come on to be part of this new system that we’re going to be creating? Hearing: A continued assessment of delays in VA medical care and preventable veteran deaths; House Veterans Affairs Committee; April 9, 2014. 2:35 Rep. Jeff Miller (FL): On Monday, shortly before this public hearing, V.A. provided evidence that a total of 23 veterans have died due to delays and care at V.A. medical centers. Even with this latest disclosure as to where the deaths occurred, our committee still doesn’t know when they may have happened beyond the statement from V.A. that they most likely occurred between 2010 and 2012. These particular deaths resulted primarily from delays in gastrointestinal care. Information on other preventable deaths due to consult delays remains unavailable. Outside of the V.A.’s consult review, this committee has reviewed at least 18 preventable deaths that occurred because of mismanagement, improper infection-control practices, and a whole host—a whole host—of maladies that plagued the V.A. healthcare system all across this great nation. 8:53 Rep. Jeff Miller (FL): Mr. Coates waited for almost a year and would have waited even longer had he not personally persistently insisted on receiving the colonoscopy that he and his doctors knew that they needed. That same colonoscopy revealed that Mr. Coates had Stage IV colon cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and to his liver. 13:55 Barry Coates: My name is Barry Lynne Coates, and due to the inadequate and lack of followup care I received through the V.A. system, I stand here before you terminally ill today

The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe talks with U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin for a wide-ranging conversation about the most critical issues affecting America’s 22 million veterans and their families.

It's not just Charlottesville. Public acts of anti-Semitism are on the rise across the country, and they're directly linked to the rise in white nationalism. In order to understand the threat posed by white nationalism, we need to examine its anti-Semitic roots.   Hosts Maria Hinojosa and Julio Ricardo Varela lead a discussion with Eric Ward, Executive Director of the Western State Center, and Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of T’ruah, The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. Plus, a quick check-in with Washington Post congressional reporter Ed O'Keefe about the recent DACA news. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ed O'Keefe, Congressional reporter at The Washington Post, talks about the latest dealmaking between President Trump and Democratic leaders in Congress, plus other national political news of the day.

Process: It matters. During the first seven months of the 115th Congress, the Republicans tried - in multiple ways - to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act. We already know what they were trying to do; in this episode, hear the full story of how they tried to get their bills passed into law. Later in the episode, we also do a quick summary of what to expect in September as deadlines related to flood insurance, government funding, marijuana, and many other topics loom. Please support Congressional Dish: Click here to contribute using credit card, debit card, PayPal, or Bitcoin Click here to support Congressional Dish for each episode via Patreon Mail Contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North #4576 Crestview, FL 32536 Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD048: The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) CD123: Health or Profits CD146: Repeal & Replace CD151: AHCA - The House Version (American Health Care Act) Additional Reading Article: 861,000 high-risk South Florida homes don't have flood insurance by Jackie Wattles and Chris Isidore, CNN Money, September 8, 2017. Article: Homeowners (and Taxpayers) Face Billions in Losses From Harvey Flooding by Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times, August 28, 2017. Article: The night John McCain killed the GOP's health-care fight by Ed O'Keefe, The Washington Post, July 28, 2017. Article: Collins, McCain, Murkowski vote to kill 'skinny' Obamacare repeal by Juliet Eilperin, Kelsey Snell, and Sean Sullivan, Bangor Daily News, July 28, 2017. PDF: Read the Senate 'Skinny Repeal' Bill, The New York Times, July 27, 2017. Article: Senate releases 'skinny' Obamacare repeal bill by Rachel Roubein, The Hill, July 27, 2017. Article: The Senate Health-Care Vote-o-rama: A Guide For the Perplexed by John Cassidy, The New Yorker, July 27, 2017. Article: Vote-a-rama: Here's what to know about the Senate practice by Jessica Estepa, USA Today, July 27, 2017. Article: The Skinny Repeal Gets a Score by Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, July 27, 2017. Article: Making Sense of the Obamacare Repeal Process by Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, July 26, 2017. Article: Senate Republicans Clear Key Health-Care Hurdle by Russell Berman, The Atlantic, July 25, 2017. Article: Senate votes to begin Obamacare repeal debate by Peter Sullivan, The Hill, July 25, 2017. Article: Senate Parliamentarian Challenges Key Provisions of Health Bill by Robert Pear and Thomas Kaplan, The New York Times, July 21, 2017. Article: How Rand Paul tried to lead an eye doctors' rebellion by David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post, February 1, 2015. Article: The History of Regulation, NaturalGas.org, September 20, 2013. Article: What to Know About the New Flood Insurance Program by Lori Widmer, Insurance Journal, July 31, 2012. References Consider This! Podcast: Episode 190: How Subverting the Free Market Brings Us Corporate Behemoths Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017: CBO Cost Estimate, July 20, 2017 Healthcare Freedom Act of 2017: CBO Cost Estimate BCRA: Senate Version 2, July 13, 2017 BCRA: Senate Version 1, June 22, 2017 GovTrack: Motion to Waive All Applicable Budgetary Discipline Re: Amdt. No. 270, July 25, 2017 GovTrack: Motion to Proceed on HR 1628: American Health Care Act of 2017, July 25, 2017 GovTrack: S. Amdt. 271 (Paul) to HR 1628 GovTrack: S. Amdt. 667 (McConnell) to HR 1628 Vote Summary GovTrack: Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 National Weather Service: Hurricane Harvey YouTube: You're Dead Norma Tanega 1966 Sound Clip Sources Briefing: House Speaker Weekly Briefing, July 27, 2017. Timestamps & Transcripts Senate Session: Senate Leaders Speak Ahead of Health Care Vote, July 25, 2017. Part 1 Part 2 Sound Clip Transcripts Senator Chuck Schumer (NY): Many of us on this side of the aisle have waited for years for this opportunity and thought it would probably never come. Some of us were a little surprised by the election last year, but with a surprise election comes great opportunities to do things we thought were never possible. So all we have to do today is to have the courage to begin the debate with an open amendment process and let the voting take us where it will. Senator John McCain (AZ): Our system doesn’t depend on our nobility. It accounts for our imperfections and gives us an order to our individual strivings that has helped make ours the most powerful and prosperous society on Earth. It is our responsibility to preserve that, and even when it requires us to do something less satisfying than winning, even when we must give a little to get a little, even when our efforts managed just 3 yards in a cloud of dust while critics on both sides denounced us for timidity, for our failure to triumph. I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to cooperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and, by so doing, better serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood. Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order. We have been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. That’s an approach that’s been employed by both sides: mandating legislation from the top down, without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary maneuvers that it requires. We are getting nothing done, my friends. We’re getting nothing done. And all we’ve really done this year is confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Our healthcare insurance system is a mess. We all know it—those who support Obamacare and those who oppose it. Something has to be done. We Republicans have looked for a way to end it and replace it with something else without paying a terrible political price. We haven’t found it yet, and I’m not sure we will. All we’ve managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasn’t very popular when we started trying to get rid of it. I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments to be offered. I will not vote for this bill as it is today. It’s a shell of a bill right now. We all know that. Senator Dick Durbin (IL): But there was an interesting thing happened at the end of this. At the very last moment, the very last vote that was cast was cast by Senator John McCain. Everybody knows that John is diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. He made it back from Arizona here to cast his vote, and he asked for 15 minutes after the roll call to make a speech. I don’t think many, if any, senators left the Chamber. Democrats and Republicans stuck around to hear his speech after the vote. Can I tell you that’s unusual in the Senate? Most of us race for the doors and go up to our offices and watch on television and may catch a piece of that speech and a piece of the other speech, but we sat and we listened because of our respect for John McCain. Senator Ron Wyden (OR): Mr. President, the pitch to Republican Senators this afternoon before the first vote was that it was nothing but a little bit of throat clearing — just a first step to get the conversation started. Let’s be clear, nobody can pretend the stakes aren’t real now. In a few minutes, the Senate will be voting on yet another version of the Senate TrumpCare bill. I call it the BCRA 3.0. It features a special gut punch to consumer protection offered by Senator Cruz. Senator Ron Wyden (OR): There was no hearing in the finance committee, no hearing in the HELP committee. Senators are flying in the dark, and as far as I can tell, the proposal is going to be before us without having been scored by the CBO. Senator Ted Cruz (TX): And the Consumer Freedom Amendment was designed to bring together and serve as a compromise for those who support the mandates in Title One. The Consumer FreedomAmendment says that insurance companies, if they offer plans that meet those Title One mandates—all the protections for preexisting conditions—they can also sell any other plan that consumers desire. Senate Session: Debate on American Health Care Act, July 26, 2017. Sound Clip Transcripts Senator Rand Paul (KY): Today we will vote on a bill we voted on many times. The Senate itself voted on this two years ago. It’s the identical bill. We’re going to vote on a bill we voted two years ago, and I hope everybody that voted for it before will vote for it again. It’s what we call a clean repeal. It’s not cluttered with insurance-company bailouts, it’s not cluttered with this and that and new federal regulations; it is just trying to peel back Obamacare. Now while it is a clean repeal, it is only a partial repeal. Why? It’s only a partial repeal because we have these arcane Senate rules that say we can’t repeal the whole thing. Because we’re only repealing part of it, Obamacare will remain. Senator Rand Paul (KY): My government shouldn’t be telling what I can buy and what I cannot buy. My government should not tell me which doctor I can choose and which doctor I have to leave behind. The government should not be involved in my healthcare business. I want to be left alone. The right to privacy, the right to be left alone, is a fundamental right of Americans. That’s what this is about. Senator Rand Paul (KY): So, are we going to have some government involvement? Yes. But because government is so pitiful at anything they do, we should minimize government’s involvement in any industry. Senator John Cornyn (TX): People keep talking about a secret process. Well, this is about as open and transparent as it gets, and everybody will have an opportunity to offer an amendment, to discuss what’s in the amendment, and to vote on it. Senate Session: Resumed Debate on American Health Care Act, July 27, 2017. Sound Clip Transcripts Senator Chuck Schumer (NY): Mr. President, it is likely, at some point today, we will finally see the majority leader’s final health care bill, the bill he intends to either pass or fail. Thus far, we have been going through a pretense, defeating Republican bills that never had enough support even within their own caucus to pass. Repeal and replace has failed. Repeal without replace has failed. Now we are waiting to see what the majority leader intends for the Republican plan on health care. If the reports in the media are true, the majority leader will offer a skinny repeal as his final proposal. Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio) Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations

For years, individual Senators have enjoyed wide sway in blocking judicial nominees who come from their home states. But that may soon change, as Republicans in the Senate try to transform the judiciary under President Trump. Ed O’Keefe of the Washington Post explains all the ways this could show up in Americans’ every day lives.

Today we have Ed O’Keefe, Father of seven, grew up in a household of 13 children. He is the author of the book, “Time Collapsing! The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning!” He has used his time collapsing methods to leap to the top of industries. He has started multiple companies from scratch to multiple seven and even eight figures. In dentistry, Ed sold over $50,000,000 in marketing systems and seminars. He started Marine Essentials and has sold over $60,000,000 in health supplements. On top of having seven kids and running the businesses mentioned, Ed was a Kokoro 40 Graduate! A 51-hour mini-hell week created by commander Mark Divine. Ed also runs a podcast, the "Ed O'Keefe Show" and invests in KNOWfoods.com a health food company that is disrupting the food industry. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: [0:55] Jeremy introduces today’s guest, Ed O’Keefe. [2:30] What is Know Foods? [4:30] Hell on the Hill. [10:30] Pushing through pain. [13:00] What is Kokoro Camp? [25:00] Tapping into inner strength. [30:00] How Know Foods got started. [36:00] The power of serving and helping others. [38:30] The Freedom Question. [43:30] What Ed learned by studying certain celebrity figures like Will Smith. [54:00] Loosing the friction. [1:03:00] Permission to be yourself and when your soul awakens. [1:07:00] Ed talks about B2B in Dentistry. [1:12:00] Ed’s success with writing sales copy. [1:18:00] Ed’s shift to Marine Essentials. [1:27:00] Lessons learned from direct marketing. In this episode… The heart of our desire in life is to get permission to be ourselves. Do you have that permission? Are you still looking for someone to speak into your life and tell you that you don’t have to perform, that you can be yourself? On this episode of Inspired Insider, business expert Ed O’Keefe walks through what it has meant for him as discovered the key to living in the freedom of permission. What would it be like for you to walk in that same freedom that Ed experiences? Don’t sit around wondering - find out on this episode! Do you ever feel like you are stuck? Do you feel like you are bogged down with the junk and baggage in your life? What if you could declutter from all that and lose the friction that holds you back? On this episode of Inspired Insider, Ed O’Keefe share the wisdom and insights he has learned from observation and sometimes from hard life experiences to help leaders like you succeed! Find out what steps you can take today to start down the road of getting rid of those obstacles and difficulties that are keeping you from your true potential. To hear Ed expand on this topic, make sure to listen to this episode! What if there was one simple question that could unlock massive potential for leaders and companies to see exponential growth? This simple question is hiding in plain sight and most people miss it every day! On this episode of Inspired Insider, entrepreneur and business leader Ed O’Keefe shares how he came to understand “The Freedom Question” and how it’s unlocked his understanding of potential both personally and professionally. Ed has seen the power of this question at work and he wants to share it with leaders like you. Find out how you can learn from Ed’s key insights and leverage them for success on this episode! Think about leaders and individuals that you are drawn to, what qualities do they exude? Are they individuals who are self-centered, egotistical, proud, and boastful? More likely than not, they exhibit the opposite of those qualities, right? Most people want to spend time with leaders and others who are selfless and put other people’s needs above their own. Ed O’Keefe shares how he has witnessed the power of serving and helping others exemplified by key leaders in business. He is convinced that this quality can make all the difference in growing and expanding your influence as a leader. If you’d like to hear more of Ed’s observations, make sure to listen to this episode of Inspired Insider! What do you do when you are faced with a difficult task? How do you tap into the strength you need physically, emotionally, or mentally to overcome obstacles that you face? What if you had a way to truly tap into an inner reserve of strength and inspiration to get through even the most challenging experiences? On this episode of Inspired Insider, business leader Ed O’Keefe shares the lessons he has learned from strength and fitness coaches, influential leaders, and much more to help him develop an inner strength that he’s never experienced before. Learn more from Ed on this episode! Resources Mentioned on this episode Ed’s Facebook page: facebook.com/EdOKeefeShow Ed’s Twitter page: twitter.com/EdOKeefeSHOW Ed’s website: edokeefeshow.com BOOK: Time Collapsing-The New Art of Speed, Money, Power & Meaning PODCAST: The Art of Time Collapsing Podcast & Seminars - Ed OKeefe Show KNOW FOODS Dan Kennedy Gary Halbert John Carlton Spanx http://www.hellonthehill.com/ Mark Divine CrossFit Dirty Jobs Podcast Movie: The Shift Sponsor for this episode This is part of the Skubana Ecommerce Mastery Series where top Sellers and Experts teach you what really works to boost your ecommerce business. Skubana is a platform to manage your entire ecommerce operation. Check out Ruwix to learn the solution of the Rubik's Cube and other twisty puzzles like Pyraminx, Square-1 etc.

Want to know how to leap ahead, compress time, and achieve your goals faster...? This interview with Ed O'Keefe will give you both the mindset and the practical steps to move faster and skip the "pay your dues" slow-lane that most people settle for. Ed's the author of Time Collapsing! The New Art of Speed, Money, Power & Meaning, and maybe, more importantly, he's not just an author, he's built more than one 7-8 figure business. Building one business beyond $1 million in annual revenue is an accomplishment. Do it more than once and you've got a system. Ed's done that and I'm excited to share this interview with you. Listen and you'll discover... • How Ed reached deep to persevere through a mini Navy Seal "Hell Week" experience and how you can apply the lesson to your business this week. • How to use your mind to turn and struggle into an "enjoyable experience" so that you can push through the difficulty and achieve your true potential. • Ed's approach to staying present and focused on the positive outcome you want at all times. • The secret to "collapsing time" and blowing past false limitations. • Using modeling to jump to the top 3% of performers as fast as humanly possible. • And so much more... Grab this interview today, you'll be able to use what Ed shares to speed up your success starting this week... Click here to listen >> Timeline 00:12 Steve introduces Ed O Keefe to the show. 01:20 Ed reveals he has 7 kids, all under the age of 12….wow! 02:20 Ed tells us how he started off in business and how he came to realize that you can be whatever you want to be. 08:37 We all hit roadblocks in our lives. Ed explains how he has dealt with this while also telling us about a 2 ½ day Navy Seal course he did that was so grueling that people have died while attempting it. 17:39 Ed tells a great David Goggins story, the guy amongst other things holds the WR for chin-ups in 24 hours. 21:36 Steve loves Ed's book so much that he bought 10 copies for his workshops. Ed breaks down what Time Collapsing is about and discusses the Leapfrog Theory. 26:53 Ed expands on an important chapter of his book, Modeling, and how it can help you. 31:32 Ed explains how the ultimate leverage point in any business is sales. He explains how his business went from $200k sales per month to $1.7m in only 4 months! 36:04 Ed explains the difference between KnowFoods and health supplements. 40:20 Ed tells us how to get in touch with him. Mentioned in the show Time Collapsing: The Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning Denis Waitley The Psychology of Winning Earl Knightingale Lead the Field David Goggins Lone Survivor Dan Kennedy Corey Rudl Direct Response Marketing www.knowfoods.com Mark Divine Unbeatable Mind Michael Murphy Robert Ringer Winning through Intimidation www.Edokeefeshow.com www.TimeCollapsing.com

Today we have Ed O’Keefe, Father of seven, grew up in a household of 13 children. He is the author of the book, “Time Collapsing! The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning!” He has used his time collapsing methods to leap to the top of industries. He has started multiple companies from scratch to multiple seven and even eight figures. In dentistry, Ed sold over $50,000,000 in marketing systems and seminars. He started Marine Essentials and has sold over $60,000,000 in health supplements. On top of having seven kids and running the businesses mentioned, Ed was a Kokoro 40 Graduate! A 51-hour mini-hell week created by commander Mark Divine. Ed also runs a podcast, the "Ed O'Keefe Show" and invests in KNOWfoods.com a health food company that is disrupting the food industry. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: [0:55] Jeremy introduces today’s guest, Ed O’Keefe [2:30] Ed talks about sales copy. [4:40] Niche coaching clubs. [9:00] Ed’s shift to Marine Essentials. [13:00] The problem with free trials. [17:00] Ed’s first campaign with Marine Essentials. [18:30] Ed shares a great tip regarding direct mailing. [22:00] A family story from Ed. In this episode… You learn from the content you consume. That’s not a shocking statement. But most business leaders don’t discern what content and more importantly, what voices they allow to influence their thinking. You need to find the right business coach. It could make all the difference. You need an outside perspective to help you see the aspects of your business that you are too close to notice. On this episode of Inspired Insider, you will hear from renowned business coach and entrepreneur, Ed O’Keefe. Ed and Jeremy discuss mistakes to learn from, the impact a business coach can have, building the right team, and so much more! Grab a pen and paper, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. One of the most important assets for a leader to have is also one of the most underrated; humility. How do you achieve humility? Usually, you become humble because you faced failure or a setback. But there are those leaders that you get around who exude humility because it’s just a part of who they are. Either way, a lack of humility is a dangerous trait in a leader. You need to know your limitations and how to grow from your mistakes. Ed O’Keefe isn’t shy to talk about the missteps and errors he has made in business. It’s refreshing to hear from a business leader that doesn't always put a positive spin on everything, he’s aware of his errors and he wants leaders like you to learn from them. Listen to this episode of Inspired Insider to learn more about Ed’s story! Are you looking for that one thing that will push you over the top? Have you been tweaking your approach but feel like there is something missing that you can’t put your finger on? You might need a business coach. Jeremy’s guest on this episode of Inspired Insider is Ed O’Keefe. Ed has worked with business and entrepreneurs to help them take their success to the next level. He has developed tools and strategies leaders like you can implement to see the results you’ve been looking for. To hear more about Ed’s approach, make sure to catch this episode! You hear it mentioned a lot by high caliber leaders but it bears repeating, you need the right team around you. The truth of the matter is, a good leader can only go so far by themselves. If you are wondering what is holding your business back, take a look at your team. Have you put the right people in place? Do you trust them? Have you given them the tools they need to succeed? Before you change your vision or start a new endeavor, it’s best to take a look at the people you have around you. To hear more about the necessity of a healthy team, listen to this episode of Inspired Insider. Resources Mentioned on this episode Ed’s Facebook page: facebook.com/EdOKeefeShow Ed’s Twitter page: twitter.com/EdOKeefeSHOW BOOK: Time Collapsing-The New Art of Speed, Money, Power & Meaning PODCAST: The Art of Time Collapsing Podcast & Seminars - Ed OKeefe Show KNOW FOODS Dan Kennedy Gary Halbert John Carlton

There’s a paradox of success you must be aware of.  At the same time your tsunami of success is finally hitting, there’s an undertow of success generated as well.  Artists, athletes, celebrities, and entrepreneurs all fall prey to the undertow.  Beware of the undertow. In this episode, we discuss: What the undertow does Why even good companies fail The dangerous mindset of success Three mind freeing questions to ask yourself Pick up a copy of my brand new book Time Collapsing: The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning free for a limited time at TimeCollapsing.com and spread the word!   “Every growth point is just another test to the next growth point.” – Ed O’Keefe CLICK TO TWEET

Most people fail at success principles because they don’t know how to handle the reality of the path.  Goals are vital because they give us a directional point, but they aren’t everything. In this episode, we discuss understanding the power of directional pull.  The idea that you need to have it all figured out before you get started, is a myth.  The stronger choice is to get moving. We discuss these concepts: Chasing opportunity versus following your passion The three phases: the Tectonic Shift, the Tsunami, and the Undertow The trim tab theory Ready for your tectonic shift?  Pick up a copy of my brand new book Time Collapsing: The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning free for a limited time onTimeCollapsing.com   “Goals are all about directional pull” – Ed O’Keefe CLICK TO TWEET

We all seek things we’d like to change in our current life, and all solutions are hiding beyond the obstacles that we currently have.  There’s a distinct pattern of mental breakthrough that I call “The Freedom Question”.  This question allows you to shoot out of the present and into the future. In Chapter Four of Time Collapsing: The New Art of Speed, Money, Power, and Meaning, I discuss the Freedom Question and: What the freedom question is and why it works The success stories of Warby Parker, Amazon, PayPal, and others Exercises to practice the freedom question Tools to see ‘beyond the obstacle’ The ‘Interview Process’ Grab your free copy of the book, and don’t forget to share this podcast on Facebookand Twitter so that others, like you, can learn about Time Collapsing and the Freedom Question.   “It’s very easy to get stuck on what is and fail to transition into what is possible.” – Ed… CLICK TO TWEET

One of the biggest problems with self-help and success programs is that you leave with more on your to-do list than when you started.  It’s time to “Lose The Friction” as we dive into the third chapter of Time Collapsing.  When you lose the friction, you eliminate the meaningless work or relationships that are holding you back. We’ll discuss: How removing the friction in your life can help you pick up speed The steps to letting go of the friction Using zero base thinking to decide what you need to let go of Why emotional control is so vital Behind the scenes of the stories in this chapter To learn more, check us out at the Ed O’Keefe Show online and don’t forget to rate and review the show on iTunes.   “Friction builds up when external events are moving you and dictating how you feel.” – Ed…

Life is full of traps.  The worst traps are those you don’t see or recognize that you’ve fallen into.  So many of us are searching for the rules and tools to succeed but the rules themselves are the traps. It’s time to crawl out of the traps and into an open mind space where we can discover who we are and what our core purpose really is.  In Chapter Two “The Trap” of my bookTime Collapsing!, we’ll discuss some of the most common traps you can find yourself in and why they aren’t beneficial to your growth. We dig deeper into: Why most people aren’t experiencing the life they want The different types of traps that are holding you back How emotional intelligence plays into your success You can get a free copy of my book, Time Collapsing! here.  Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and comment on iTunes.   “Time collapsers don’t confuse their identity with what they do.” – Ed O’Keefe CLICK TO TWEET

Learn how serial entrepreneur Ed O’Keefe used Time Collapsing to build three 7-8 figure  businesses in completely different markets while raising seven kids. For show notes, links and more resources check out this episode on: http://entrepreneurignited.com/success-time-collapsing-ed-okeefe Connect with us on:http://facebook.com/derekgehl http://twitter.com/DerekGehl_4Real http://instagram.com/derekgehl

Do you have an idea that hasn’t been created yet?  Perhaps it has been created but you know that you could do it better? It’s time to harness that power and move forward with your destiny. Let me share with you the first chapter of my book, Time Collapsing: The new art of speed, money, power, & meaning. I’ll show you the distinct patterns that are happening with almost all wildly successful people. Many of these people are creating massive disruption in their industries. These real world examples are your teachers. I’ll share with you the stories of many game changers, including: Sara Blakely, creator and CEO of Spanx Author and speaker, Tim Ferris Navy Seal commander Mark Divine, creator of SealFit JK Rowling, author of Harry Potter & Oprah Winfrey If you don’t already have my book, Time Collapsing: The new art of speed, money, power, & meaning, you can get it for free by visiting TimeCollapsing.com.  

Ed O’Keefe has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of starting and taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures  He’s the Creator and Founder of a dental coaching company, and top selling brands such as Marine-D3 supplements.  He works with entrepreneurs helping them take their business to 7 & 8 figures through using multiple media channels through his "time collapsing" methodology...

Do you want to get to the next level of business but find it difficult to communicate your value and raise your prices? Today, Suresh May and I introduce entrepreneurs from all over  to join in and discuss the steps they took in growing their revenues from $5,000 to $50,000 a month. Across the board, one thing they all had in common when starting to expand their businesses, was a realization that the future of their businesses required a massive change in perspective. Tune in to hear Suresh ask poignant questions that reveal why developing expertise, knowing your ‘why,’ and narrowing your focus are all key to transforming your business from ordinary to extraordinary! In this episode, you will… Understand how shifting your beliefs can positively shift your profits Hear why a narrow focus is so important when leaping to the next level of business Learn that you have at least one thing to offer that nobody else can replicate Discover how to leverage the skills you have to get the business you want Realize that being an expert in a niche can make you millions   “Transform from ordinary to extraordinary.” – Ed O’Keefe CLICK TO TWEET

In episode 044, I interview Ed O'Keefe and a conference room full of ROCK STAR entrepreneurs LIVE at Ed's Time Collapsing mastermind. I asked the room one BIG question about how you can go from start to your first million dollar business, and the result is this incredible show!

Do you find yourself operating within the confines of society’s linear approval systems, always looking to the higher-ups for encouragement, approval, and permission? If this sounds like you, you won’t want to miss this episode –it’s chock-full of information on how you can leapfrog to the top of your business game while bypassing the feelings of obligation we often have to slow down and work our way through the ranks. Tune in for advice that works on how to get ahead quicker, starting today! In this episode, you will… Hear about Robert Ringer’s Leapfrog Theory and how it can vault you to the top! Understand how the concept of sequential linear thinking can hold you back Discover how rising above society’s linear approval systems will exponentially increase your rate of success! Learn what to do when visualization and strong work ethic aren’t enough to get ahead Learn that choosing short-term safety and security can lead to long-term financial sacrifice   “An entrepreneur is somebody who finds and creates value wherever they go.” – Ed O’Keefe

Have you been trying to figure out how to accelerate your journey from where you are now to where you want to be? If so, you’ll definitely want to tune in to learn how Time Collapsing can help speed up your success. That’s the bulk of what we talk about today, because I believe everybody has the capacity to be successful as an entrepreneur with the help of a few time-saving hacks. Just like parenting (and I should know, with 7 kids of my own!), if you have the desire to be great, a commitment to be present, and the intention of raising your kids – or growing your business – to be great, you’re way ahead of the game. That said, achievement is about more than just committing and intending, because the real magic doesn’t happen in our heads – it happens out in the real world where results are measurable. Tune in and start Time Collapsing today! In this episode, you will… Realize what it means to be a part of the Exponential Age Learn what the Leapfrog theory is and how it will help you accelerate success Listen to ways you can build your business around your lifestyle to do everything you want! Discover the difference between internal and external forces and how they affect success Understand that past events create limiting patterns on our actions today and hear how to overcome them   “An entrepreneur is somebody who finds and creates value wherever they go.” – Ed O’Keefe

Anyone seeking high performance will benefit from this episode! Today I speak off-the-cuff on the essence of time-collapsing strategies. You’ll get a quick take on core ideas that I’ve seen create amazing results for my clients. You don’t have to accept the conventional rules about the way things are “supposed to” progress. Create your own rules! Flip everything you think you know on its side and rethink your assumptions. Stop and ask yourself crucial questions about who you are and what it is you really want. When was the last time you did that? In this episode, you will . . . Discover the “sequential trap” you may be in Learn about trading up for experience and authority Hear about finding your “It” factor Understand why good models are so important for your own strategies Start to look for your “friction points”   “Duplicate others’ success and then accelerate it!” – Ed O’Keefe CLICK TO TWEET

The Art Of Time Collapsing - How To Get Where You Want Faster Than You Thought! Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and most importantly Father of 7 (all under the age of 11, Ed O’Keefe has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of starting and taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures. Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as Marine-D3 (sold over half a million bottles), and strategic consulting products helping motivated entrepreneurs how to take their idea to market and scale using multiple media channels (online, direct mail, newspaper, etc..) As O’Keefe explains, “I was blessed to grow up being the 12th of 13 kids on the southside of Chicago. That’s why my wife and I are still there.” He hosts his online TV Show: “The Ed OKeefe Show! Going Behind The Scenes OF Greatness!” With a focus on interviewing inspiring individuals doing “amazing” things, O’Keefe’s goal is to create a format where the average person can get world-class advice from high performers. Brand new book: “The Art of Time Collapsing! How to Get What You Want Much Faster Than You Ever Thought!” As O’Keefe explains, “Time and rules imposed on us create barriers to our dreams and goals from being achieved. This book lays out the exact mindset, process, and strategies that high performers do to take something that usually takes people 3 years and achieve it in 3 months.”

Brian Kurtz: The Lost Art of Using Direct Mail & The Internet To Scale Any Business Hello everyone! Welcome to another episode of The Ed O’Keefe Show. On this episode I have a very special guest Mr. Brian Kurtz. Brian was the Executive VP at a one of the most renowned direct response marketing and publishing businesses of all time, Boardroom Inc. For 33 years he was the right hand, where he went from list management to the direct response side, to managing copywriters to running it for many years. Now before you wonder if this is for you or not, let me just tell you when I went into this interview my number one goal was to listen to how Brian and Boardroom went from a company from zero to doing hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and mailing as Brian says in the interview close to 2 Billion direct mail pieces of all time. One of the secrets that I’ve discovered in our business is that everything’s about the list meaning who are you communicating with, and then how you reach them. So in this episode we discuss how to scale the business, any business, from a mathematical perspective and it’s not going be the same math you think you’ve already heard before. So dive in, enjoy, share it, let me know what you think! Selected Links from the Episode:51:00 Secrets of Successful Direct Mail by Richard V. Benson Show Notes:00:00 - 00:30 Teaser00:30 - 3:19  Introduction3:19 - 11:43 Work history and present time focus11:43 - 17:01 Optimization team in converting traffic17:01- 18:01 Tracking by metrics (lifetime value of original source and renewal rates at different time periods)18:01 - 23:39 Concept of how to promote and how to respond23:39 - 1:09:00 Q/A How far are you willing to be negative?>28:03 - 51:59 Value ladder>> 29:28 - 33:19 Contact strategy>> 33:19 - 51:29 Regression offering>51:29 - 1:03:40 Q/A How many of the secrets are still true?>1:03:40 - 1:09:00 Q/A What are you studying and why?1:09:00 - 1:15:47 - How to contact1:15:47 - 1:18:03 Closing remarks1:18:03 - 1:21:02 Sponsor People Mentioned:1:04:27 Ryan Deiss1:04:51 Jeff Walker1:06:43 Stu Mclaren1:06:50 Robert Scrob

Ed is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and Father of 7 children. He’s built several multi-million dollar businesses from scratch in record time. He founded and created the top selling brands InspiredWear, Marine-D3, and several consulting products that help entrepreneurs launch and scale their business.

Gary was a gentleman who I hired through the organization called Vital Factors. He was my mentor and coach on operations and scaling for about a year and a half as I was growing my dental marketing consulting business. He was the one who came in and really showed me how to get fact-based management style. People love Gary’s stories and I’ll tell you, any business that grows beyond the one-person operator, even though I could argue that even if you are a one-person operator, you need to know these numbers. You need to know how to focus on what’s really important. And that’s why we call it Vital Factors! Please remember to share this episode with those who could benefit from it! Selected Links from the Episode: 20:21 – Vital Factors: The Secret to Transforming Your Business- And Your Life by Lee Froschheiser21:47 – Finding Your Way: A Guide to Discovering God’s Best for Your Life by Gary LaFerla39:58 – Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t by Jim Collins Show Notes:00:00 – 00:18 Teaser03:00 – 01:10 Introduction04:32 – 03:30 Vital Factors06:12 – 07:23 Story about Larry10:05 – 14:20 Personal and business dreams14:20 – 26:38 Maturity, discipline and the Vital Factors29:20 – 32:29 Talking about Kathryn Leigh from Vital Factors Book35:11 – 33:11 Delegate and focus your time35:53 – 51:15 Vital Factors53:57 – 57:56  The benefits of the Vital Factor team process/business examples01:00:38 – 1:03:25  Goals and controls and coaching your team for success01:06:07 – 01:04:27 Steve Campbell success01:07:09 – 01:08:06  Coaching your team01:10:48 – 01:13:46  Closing story01:13:46 – 01:15:25  MarineD3 Sponsor01:15:25 – 01:16:28  Dormant Forces Sponsor People Mentioned:02:12 – Michael Gerber03:28 – Los Angeles Times03:29 – New York Times12:24 – Kirk Douglas12:25 – Dean Martin12:26 – Tony Curtis12:32 – Deborah Reynolds12:52 – Rock Hudson13:19 – Ludwig20:56 – TNT22:59 – Cort Furniture23:01 – Hawthorne Caterpillar23:03 – Cold Stone Creamery23:08 – Los Angeles Clippers23:12 – WebEx23:45 – Vilfredo Pareto54:16 – Doug Ducey54:22 – Procter and Gamble01:04:32 – Ed O’Keefe

Tony Grebmeier has been a friend of mine for a little over a year and we met through this health supplement business. Tony runs a company called “Ship Offers”. Ship Offers is a private labelling company and formulation company for health supplements but that’s not what we talked about in this episode. Tony’s stories are absolutely fascinating! He went from making millions to drug addiction to getting sober, while insuring his family units stayed together. And now he’s been sober for many years. So in this episode we talk about the disease of addiction and overcoming it, but also the phase in his life that actually led him to it. You will see in this episode, we did something different! We did a power talk where we interviewed each other so we could both use the information for our podcasts. So throughout this episode we go back and forth asking each other questions. You will hear some behind the scenes that I shared about Kokoro camp, my prep work, my mindset, and my goals while being there! Please subscribe and share this so that we can get the message out and transform lives one person at a time! Selected Links from the Episode:18:06 Ed O’Keefe Show19:21 Chicken Soup for the Soul36:05 Zero to One51:45 Kokoro camp Show Notes:00:00 – 00:24 Teaser00:24 – 02:34 Introduction02:34 – 04:45 Greetings and Similarities04:45 – 09:14 Backstory of Tony09:14 – 13:26 Drug addiction13:26 – 15:15 How Tony made his first millions15:15 – 22:14 Backstory of Ed22:14 – 26:25 How Ed chose the path on being an entrepreneur26:25 – 28:06 Road to success28:06 – 32:27 The Art of Time Collapsing32:27 – 35:12 Success and Selfish Traps35:12 – 39:07 Leapfrog theory39:07 – 44:18 Skill sets & super power44:18 – 48:12 Overcoming things48:12 – 01:00:15 Relationships and Networking01:00:15 – 01:03:55 Acknowledgment and life advice01:03:55 – 01:05:30 MarineD3 Sponsor01:05:30 – 01:06:31 Dormant Forces Sponsor People Mentioned:18:16 Lloyd Irvin19:19 Tony Robbins19:20 Jack Canfield23:26 Bill Gates24:04 Jesse Itzler24:47 Marquis Jets25:51 Warren Buffet32:09 Brian Tracy32:14 Zig Ziglar36:04 Peter Thiel36:10 Paypal41:21 Gary V41:22 Bob Proctor41:26 Mark Cuban47:29 Vinnie Fisher

Ed O'Keefe is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and most importantly Father of 7 (all under the age of 11). Ed's gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of starting and taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures. Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as Marine-D3 (sold over half a million bottles), and strategic consulting products helping motivated entrepreneurs how to take their idea to market and scale using multiple media channels (online, direct mail, newspaper, etc..). Each new business is completely different than the last, forcing him out of his comfort zone. Ed loves helping high performing individuals and businesses take their game to the next level. Specializing in advising companies who: 1. are looking to launch a supplement the health market 2. who are already doing 7 figures and want to scale to multiple 7 or 8 figures without losing their minds, their money, and their lifestyle…or 3. the previously successful entrepreneur who is looking to launch their next business. In this show we discuss topics such as: Time Collapsing Leap frog theory Hack into influential social networks Embrace the Grind Financial management and importance of a wealth account Entering and competing in competitive markets Avoiding the Trap Power spending Visit http://edokeefeshow.com/ to subscribe to Ed's podcast Visit http://marined3.com to see Ed's supplement company

This interview I have is with a very special guest and good friend Lewis Howes! You probably heard of him; he is currently a New York Times bestseller for his book called “The School of Greatness”. In this interview Lewis shares an amazing story of how he went from a high-level athlete to a career ending injury which made him go on the path of entrepreneurship. Nowadays Lewis teaches phenomenal courses at Lewishowes.com where he holds webinars on how to hold webinars for your business, and how to build the life that you want. This interview is great because we got a chance to talk about a lot of things like how Lewis learned, how he assimilates information rapidly, how he finds mentors, and how he takes action. Lewis shares a surprising story about which story out of his entire book, is the the most impactful. The story is profound about overcoming obstacles and dealing with adversity. So I know you’ll love this interview; please let me know what you think of it. And share with those who could benefit from it! Selected Links from the Episode: 32:09 Mastery (Book)57:48 The Gift (Book)59:19 The 4-Hour Workweek1:04:26 School of Greatness podcast1:07:55 Your Erroneous Zones (Book)1:11:51 lewishowes.com Show Notes:00:00 - 00:28 Teaser03:00 - 02:35 Introduction05:07 - 12:10 Brief background of Lewis to success and athletics14:42 - 17:55 How Lewis fought depression and became inspired20:27 - 23:23 How he came into LinkedIn and used it for business25:55 - 26:52 Stumbling into webinar and using social media websites29:24 - 33:22 Starting to receive earnings and make more35:54 - 34:47 Breakthrough depression as an athlete37:19 - 38:34 Meeting Joe De Cena and Spartan sports41:06 - 47:34 Lewis Howes' book and going in Podcast 50:06 - 56:50 Reflection of book to Lewis' brother 59:22 - 1:04:52 Book's Process 1:06:40 - 1:10:24 Lewis' support with other people1:12:56 - 1:12:25 Closing remarks, Lewis plans and how to connect with him1:12:25 - 1:13:59 MarineD3 Sponsor1:13:59 - 1:14:57 Dormant Forces Sponsor People Mentioned:15:24 NFL18:16 LinkedIn35:47 Joe De Sena38:57 Aristotle39:06 Peter Till47:43 Tim Piering58:21 Tim Ferriss1:05:26 Tony Robbins1:07:50 Wayne Dyer    

My interview with Jesse Itzler is absolutely awesome! This guy is a trip, he’s hysterical, he’s a business badass and he’s a warrior athlete. He was crazy enough to hire a navy seal and not just any navy seal, a complete and utter bad dude who you’ll learn more about in this interview we have together. If you haven’t read the book, “Living with a seal” you are going to be inspired to do that. A little bit of a background on Jesse; he was a rapper in his early 20s. He’s well known for his popular New York Knicks anthem called “Go New York go New York go!” which I asked him about in the interview.  He co-founded Marquis Jet, the world’s largest prepaid private jet card company in 2001 which he and his partner sold to Berkshire Hathaway. He then helped pioneer the coconut water craze with ZICO coconut water which he and his partner sold to the Coca Cola company in 2013. Nowadays you can find Jesse at NBA’s Atlanta Hawks games where he is the owner, and you will hear more about in our interview.  Jesse married the founder of the company called Spanx which all women know about, Sara Blakely. You’re going to be in for a treat while listening to this interview. I was in heaven interviewing this guy! Enjoy! Selected Links from the Episode: 01:15 Living with a SEAL (Book)02:02 Zico Coconut water59:21 Hell on the Hill Show Notes:00:00 - 00:30 Teaser00:30 - 01:20 Intro01:20 - 03:17 Jesse Itzler's Brief Background03:17 - 05:17 Ed Presents Jesse Itzler05:17 - 10:10 Jesse's Living with a SEAL10:10 - 11:19 Race Experience with the SEAL11:19 - 13:31 Jesse's Wife Sara reaction living with a SEAL13:31 - 17:53 SEAL moving in with Jesse17:53 - 19:53 Mental Toughness and Awareness19:53 - 23:31 Pushing the limits, being capable of doing so much more23:31 - 25:02 Workouts25:02 - 28:58 The most fun workouts and Jesse's experience doing the workouts28:58 - 31:51 The SEAL and Kevin Garnett31:51 - 34:57 The Meeting34:57 - 39:26 Skinhead Story39:26 - 41:06 Ed's Friend41:06 - 44:24 David's level of security44:24 - 46:40 Jesse's Advice to David46:40 - 54:11 Jesse's Career, Super Power, and Network54:11 - 57:08 Jesse's Go NY Go57:08 - 58:14 Any influence that Mark Cuban had on Jesse58:14 - 59:15 Atlanta Hawks59:15 - 01:04:42 Hell on The Hill Event and #2016OfEverything01:04:42 - 01:05:45 Ending Remarks01:05:45 - 01:07:14 MD3 Sponsor01:07:14 - 01:08:14 Dormant Sponsor Selected Links from the Episode: 01:15 Living with a SEAL (Book)02:02 Zico Coconut water59:21 Hell on the Hill Show Notes:00:00 - 00:30 Teaser00:30 - 01:20 Intro01:20 - 03:17 Jesse Itzler's Brief Background03:17 - 05:17 Ed Presents Jesse Itzler05:17 - 10:10 Jesse's Living with a SEAL10:10 - 11:19 Race Experience with the SEAL11:19 - 13:31 Jesse's Wife Sara reaction living with a SEAL13:31 - 17:53 SEAL moving in with Jesse17:53 - 19:53 Mental Toughness and Awareness19:53 - 23:31 Pushing the limits, being capable of doing so much more23:31 - 25:02 Workouts25:02 - 28:58 The most fun workouts and Jesse's experience doing the workouts28:58 - 31:51 The SEAL and Kevin Garnett31:51 - 34:57 The Meeting34:57 - 39:26 Skinhead Story39:26 - 41:06 Ed's Friend41:06 - 44:24 David's level of security44:24 - 46:40 Jesse's Advice to David46:40 - 54:11 Jesse's Career, Super Power, and Network54:11 - 57:08 Jesse's Go NY Go57:08 - 58:14 Any influence that Mark Cuban had on Jesse58:14 - 59:15 Atlanta Hawks59:15 - 01:04:42 Hell on The Hill Event and #2016OfEverything01:04:42 - 01:05:45 Ending Remarks01:05:45 - 01:07:14 MD3 Sponsor01:07:14 - 01:08:14 Dormant Sponsor People Mentioned:01:39 Michael Jordan01:40 Knicks01:45 Marquis Jet01:54 Berkshire Hathaway01:55 Warren Buffet02:06 Coca Cola Company02:27 Atlanta Hawks02:40 Spanx02:44 Sara Blakely09:14 David Goggins29:05 Kevin Garnett45:18 American Sniper46:45 The Art of Time Collapsing57:22 Mark Cuban

Drew Canole is the ultimate fitness expert who has transformed his life and many others through the power of juicing mental and spiritual transformation.  In my interview with Drew we go over his backstory and how he went from being successful in a career to completely jumping out of it and following his passion which I know you see a theme in a lot of these interviews. We go deep into what made that transformational shift, and what will surprise you most about Drew is how many mentors and coaches he taps into throughout this call.  I hope you enjoy this. Drew is amazing. Make sure you check him out at fitlife.tv and I take his top-selling green juice mixture which he'll tell you all about organifi. And by the end of this, I have a feeling you will be inspired, have some awesome insights as to how the body really works. And also learn a thing or two about what it's like to perform at this level.  Selected Links from the Episode:07:10 - The Art of Time Collapsing07:51 - Bible12:46 - AlphaReset.com18:20 - Dr. Weston Price20:18 - WellnessFX.com27:48 - Vinny Fisher28:36 - Doug Brackman29:37 - Brian Tracy29:45 - Michael Nitty29:47 - Tony Robbins30:17 - Fit Life TV31:59 - The Myers-Briggs32:10 - KOLBE 35:36 - Liam Neeson37:44 - OrganifiShop.com38:27 - Elon Musk's biography38:37 - Einstein38:38 - Benjamin Franklin Show Notes:00:00 – 00:15 Teaser00:15 – 01-07 Greetings02:24 – 07-10 “Overnight Success” and Drew’s brief history and his first client07:10 – 19:43 Spirituality and juicing insights, benefits and results and bloodtesting19:43 – 25:39 Drew’s fitness regimen and recovery25:39 – 36:40 Drew’s coaches and mentors and their ideas, tests, and activities36:40 – 40:09 FitlifeTV and how to get Organifi with an ending inspirational advice40:09 – 42:43 Sponsor Message

Hello ladies and gentleman this is Ed O’Keefe and welcome to the first video blog where I go over a book review! One of my favorite books of all time, “Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat” by Michael Masterson, also AKA Mark Ford. Now in this short review, I tell you a funny story about how the first time I met Michael Masterson at one of his seminars and how I ended up drinking, would loiter in for 3 hours before we went with Michael to do Brazilian Jui Jitsu. But more importantly, in this you’re going to get some of the best nuggets I took out of his book. This book is definitely worth reading and is really a blue print for anyone who is looking to seriously grow a business from scratch or if you are at the million to 10 million dollar range looking to bring it up to the next level, you will get to hear some insights from a proven pro. So hope you enjoyed it, give me a feedback, let me know what you think and I will see you on the other side. Thanks so much!   Show Notes: 00:00 - 00:30 Teaser 00:30 - 2:07 Sponsor 2:07 - 3:08 Intro about the Book 3:08- 3:47 Intro about Speaker 3:47 - 9:19 Meeting with Michael Masterson 9:19 - 9:45 How Ed Relates 9:45 - 25:42 Stages of Business 10:14 - 15:19 Infancy 15:19 -19:46 Childhood 19:46 - 20:53 Adolescence 20:53 - 25:42 Adulthood 25:42 - 26:46 How to double things we do fast 26:46 - 28:42 Rating 28:42 - 29:59 Invitation for Book Review   http://edokeefeshow.com/ready-fire-aim-zero-to-100-million-in-no-time-flat-book-review/

Visit EOFire.com for complete show notes of every Podcast episode. Ed is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and Father of 7 children. He's built several multi-million dollar businesses from scratch in record time. He founded and created the top selling brands InspiredWear, Marine-D3, and several consulting products that help entrepreneurs launch and scale their business.

Ed O'Keefe is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and most importantly Father of 7 (all under the age of 10!). Ed O’Keefe has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of starting and taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures. He is the Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as InspiredWear, Marine-D3 (sold over half a million bottles), and strategic consulting products that help motivated entrepreneurs showing them how to take their idea to market and scale using multiple media channels.

Ed O'Keefe is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and most importantly Father of 7. Ed has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures). He is the Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as InspiredWear, Marine-D3 (sold over half a million supplement bottles), and strategic consulting products that help motivated entrepreneurs showing them how to take their idea to market and scale using multiple media channels. Show Notes:00:00 - 01:45 Introduction01:45 - 03:21 Ed O'Keefe introduction03:21 - 08:41 Ed O'Keefe's history & transition/Learning & Execution08:41 - 13:02 Inspiration & Mantras/Inspired Wear/Process13:02 - 13:59 Winning Through Intimidation13:59 - 16:47 Leapfrog Theory/MarineD316:47 - 20:11 Inspired Wear20:11 - 27:48 Advice for business starters/Traffic generation27:48 - 32:16 Time Management/Taking it to another level32:16 - 37:10 Balancing of Family & Business/ Rules & Process37:10 - 40:37 3 top skill sets for Entrepreneurs30:37 - 45:37 Integration of Social Media/Personal achievements45:37 - 55:46 Inspiring People/Interaction and strategies around people/Life philosophy55:46 - 60:58 Relationships & Mentoring/Strategies/Connecting with Ed Selected Links from the Episode: Source for About AJ Mihrzad13:02 Winning Through Intimidation by Robert Ringer14:49 MarineD3 http://edokeefeshow.com/

Father of 7, Ed O'Keefe shares how he prepared for SealFit's Kokoro Camp 40. 0:00 - 2:03 Introduction 2:03 - 4:22 How it Started 4:22 - 15:00 Preparation Work 15:00 - 21:10 Mindset 21:10 - 29:16 Training 29:16 - 31:25 Rucking and Gear 31:25 - 33:25 Team Work & Leadership vs. Athleticism 33:25 - 36:10 Support with the Experience References: 5:01 - sealfit.com 8:03 - Ben Greenfield -Kokoro Articles 9:19 - Beyond Training by Ben Greenfield 10:26 - Grander Pt by Coach Brad 14:56 - The Willing Warrior by Joe Stumpf 15:15 - Way of the Seal by Mark Divine 15:18 - Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine 19:30 - Tim Ferriss- The Scariest Navy SEAL Imaginable…And What He Taught Me 19:40 - The Warrior Elite by Dick Couch 27:10 - Box Breathing by Mark Divine 31:00 - Lance Cummings Tips on Rucking and Gear If you ever wanted to train like a Seal and experience a glimpse to what Hell Week is like, then Kokoro Camp is for you. http://sealfit.com/sealfit-events/sea...Created by Commander Mark Divine, Seal Fit is an academy that has some of the best training in the world for people who want to test themselves to the ultimate limits.From the SealFit Website:SEALFIT Kokoro Camp is, quite simply, the world’s premier training camp for forging mental toughness, modeled after the US Navy SEAL Hell Week. Yes, it is brutal. No, it’s not for everyone. You may not qualify, or make it through the training. Yet, if you’re ready for this challenge…YOU’LL FIND IT TO BE AN EXPERIENCE THAT CHANGES YOUR LIFE, FOREVER.Kokoro is designed to break you down, then rebuild you into a powerful leader and consummate team player—the kind that makes everyone else better. Whatever your path in life, the confidence and wisdom gained during this 3-day intensive can multiply your performance and success by a factor that’s impossible for you to even imagine right now.Kokoro Camp is designed to help you discover the deep power of your resilient spirit over your mind, and your mind’s control over your body. The program is skillfully executed by a cadre of SEALs with over 125 cumulative years of Special Warfare experience.You’ll be pushed to your limits, because that’s where the biggest breakthroughs happen. That’s also why this is not “something you try”. It takes absolute, 100% commitment. You must have a deep and powerful reason for attending this camp, and be ready to pay the price for the ultimate freedom you’ll gain by the end."This video is a quick recap of how Ed O'Keefe, a serial entrepreneur and father of 7, prepared for this 50 Hour Non-Stop Event!

Roland Frasier started out selling real estate when he was 18 and gradually moved into doing syndications of real estate and business investments. Roland held real estate, insurance and securities licenses and did leveraged buyouts with Prudential Securities while he was in college and law school.After law school, Mr. Frasier started his own law practice and grew it to one of the top firms in San Diego providing services to entrepreneurs, business owners and marketing and entertainment industry clients. While there Frasier acted as Managing Partner and conducted all the marketing and advertising campaigns, generating clients through copywriting, speaking, networking and forming joint ventures.During that time Roland began joint venturing deals with clients and gradually evolved from practicing law to buying and selling companies, repositioning businesses and direct response marketing (including copywriting for his own direct mail company, infomercials and other projects).Over Roland's career He has completed infomercial deals with Guthy-Renker and K-Tel Direct, publishing deals with Simon & Schuster and Random House, negotiated shows with major hotels on the Las Vegas strip, been involved in over 100 private and public offerings, run international hedge funds, advised major brands on a variety of business and legal related issues (from PepsiCo to MacDonald's), worked with copywriting great Gary Halbert, created presentations and marketing campaigns for major brands and much more.Roland Frasier has a real passion for business and putting deals together and is always on the lookout for businesses to buy, reposition and sell.   Show Notes: 0:26 - 1:25 Introduction 1:25 - 2:06 Background on Roland Frasier 4:25 - 5:15 Tying Opportunities together 5:15 - 6:43 Money 6:43 - 8:37 Relationship with Father and Language of Business 8:37 - 10:29 Money Definition 10:29 - 12:06 Uniqueness in working with Guthy Renker 12:06 - 15:41 High level thinkers 15:41 - 17:41 System for accumulating information 17:41- 23:55 Phase of Confusion 23:55 - 26:37 Learning how to Think 26:37 - 31:09 Looking at the Scale 31:09 - 33:06 Business Relationship 33:06 - 36:49 Negotiation style 36:49 - 39:17 Balancing Transparency 39:17 - 42:55 Creating value 42:55 - 44:39 Spotting Opportunities 44:39 - 44:53 Talking about book working on 44:53 - 46:33 How to contact Roland Frasier

Are you a small business owner or entrepreneur? Do you have trouble developing the best strategy to grow & scale your business? Are you having issues building your dream team? Do you have a tough time getting the numbers to make timely business decisions?    Vince Fisher has have more than 10 years of experience growing businesses to 7 and 8 figures. His companies have generated approximately $300 million in gross revenue for my own businesses, and have had more than 1000 team members in my employment. Vince has great understanding of how putting the proper strategy, the best team, and the right processes & procedures into place allows you to scale your business with purpose.   0:33-2:25 Introduction 2:25-4:12 Vinnie Fisher Background 4:12-12:48 Business History 12:48-15:48 "Success Trap" 15:48-22:36   Transition and Mental Approach 22:36-26:05   Vision/Goal of Business 26:05-31:13   Current focus - Fully Accountable 31:13-32:38   The book discussion: The Best Investment A Better You 32:38-40:18 Best approach when starting out 40:18-44:41 Metrics 44:41-47:41 Home Values 47:41-50:38 Foundation of relationship 50:38-52:26   Seminars/training for Entrepreneur 52:26 Closing advice

Com Mirza is a multi millionaire serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and investor. With operations and offices in 7 countries, a portfolio of 26 companies, millions customers and a growing staff of hundreds of employees globally.  He currently lives in a multimillion dollar apartment in the Burj Khalifa the worlds tallest building in downtown Dubai, and is driven to give back via technology, entrepreneurship, education and personal development. In the beginning of 2012 Com Mirza promised his billionaire mentor he would focus more of his life on contribution, value, education, philanthropy, charity and giving back. He committed to spending a portion of his time every month to help others reach the metalevel and multi millionaire level. Through small and medium size intense masterminds, workshops, seminars and trainings Com Mirza has managed to help over 40+ people become millionaires, and over 300+ people become hundred thousandaires. He’s on a mission to help over 100 people build a net worth of over 1 million dollars. 0:16-1:09 Introduction 1:09-1:48 1st business experience 1:48-2:01 Started 8th company 2:01-3:38 Failure and mindset correlation 3:38-9:52 New beginning/business 9:52-12:33 Turning point 12:33-13:37 Mindset 13:37-15:11 Belief system 15:11-21:15 Abundance 21:15-24:39 Creating a thought/meditation 24:39-29:02 Legacy 29:02-29:29 Break 29:29-33:31 Strategy: investment 33:31-40:19 Younger self advice/ interaction strategy 40:19-41:22 Strategy

We are very pleased to release part 2 of our interview with Ed O'Keefe, entrepreneur, author, and father of 7! Ed O'Keefe was reaching the end of desire to be a coach for dentists and he decided to create something from scratch.  That is really challenging to do and something very few people have done.  Ed then gives us a few high level points about this very topic.  Why go to work for anything if you are not passionate about it, especially in this day and age. Next Ed O'Keefe walks us through some of the reasons why we (everyone) feels overwhelmed, like they are 'dumb', or like they 'stink'.  Ed starts with a mini biology lesson and helps us understand how we as a species have evolved much slower than the technology we use on a daily basis.  Take just six hours a day to pick one thing to focus on and really learn for 90 days.  When you wake up after 90 days you will be in the 1% of that niche that you chose. Once we start talking about how Ed O'Keefe keeps balance in his life, his first bit of advice is to throw the work 'balance' out of the equation.  When you are at work, be 100% focused on work.  When you are spending time with your family, be 100% focused on your family, completely in the moment. Finally, we get some great Value Bombs from Ed O'Keefe: You need to take care of yourself (physically, spiritually, mentally, socially) you are not going to be great at supporting other people If you are in business, your early focus should be what is your customer acquisition and monetization strategy. When you feel like a loser, surround yourself with winners Bonus! Do not talk poorly about your children or your spouse, ever Books discussed in this show: Dan Kennedy's Books Cory Rudl's Books Follow Ed O'Keefe here: Ed O'Keefe Show (with free gifts!) Inspired Wear (with a free gift!) Twitter As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

We are very pleased to release part 1 of our interview with Ed O'Keefe, entrepreneur, author, and father of 7! Ed O'Keefe is the 12th of 13 kids, and the youngest boy of 9.  His parents are also still together, celebrating 61 years together this month!  Ed comes from the background of working in a stable environment.  Get a job and join a union so you know where your money is coming from.  Ed was also the first in his family to graduate college.  That is a major accomplishment! Ed O'Keefe shares a story about clothing, the tempory tattoos of our day with phrases and thoughts (and corporate messages/logos).  Ed was wearing a wrestling shirt with a message on it that struck a cord with his friend and his friend's son.  It was so important that this message is now a tattoo on all the members of this family.  This led Ed to creating his own line of clothing with messages on it that he and his family support. Next Ed O'Keefe shares his vision of the future so that from the health supplement point of view people are living longer and healthier, from the clothing point of view that he is working with some great designers and brands that fit with the athlete market, and from his personal point of view having the time, energy, and resources to spend time with his kids as they grow up. Books discussed in this show: Dan Kennedy's Books Cory Rudl's Books Follow Ed O'Keefe here: Ed O'Keefe Show (with free gifts!) Inspired Wear (with a free gift!) Twitter As always, a special thank you to The Strand for our intro and outro music!

Today's guest, Ed O'Keefe is an Entrepreneur, Author, and most importantly Father of 7 (all under the age of 10). Ed has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of starting and taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures. He is the Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as InspiredWear, Marine-D3 (sold over half a million bottles), and strategic consulting products that help motivated entrepreneurs showing them how to take their idea to market and scale using multiple media channels. Ed teaches us how to eliminate all the noise, so we can focus on the things that are truly important in our lives. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: -More isn't better, remove 20% of what you're doing everyday. -Surround yourself with the people who are who you want to be. -Identify what's important to you in your life. -How to feel ultimate supreme confidence. -The best way to prioritize your health. -Not letting guilt control you when you've fallen off the wagon. -Learning how to embracing the chaos in your lift in order to succeed. -How to allow your priorities to change after kids. -Creating mental toughness to perform at your highest level. -Never needing others approval ever again. LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: The Ed O'Keefe Show Website - http://edokeefeshow.com/ Ed O'Keefe Show YouTube - http://bit.ly/1Iqsv0V Ed's Twitter - https://twitter.com/EdOKeefeSHOW Ed's Facebook - http://on.fb.me/1fDJH7M LeadPages Affiliate Link - http://bit.ly/1OMX6qz LINKS FROM INTRO: Flexline Dynamic Cable Trainer - http://bit.ly/1h2RtJo Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week.

Ed O'Keefe is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and most importantly Father of 7.  Ed has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figures). He is the Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as InspiredWear, Marine-D3 (sold over half a million supplement bottles), and strategic consulting products that help motivated entrepreneurs showing them how to take their idea to market and scale using multiple media channels. For show notes, links, information and How to Attract, Sell and Deliver like a Million dollar Online Coach go to http://www.onlinesupercoach.com/

Today we are joined by a very special man Ed O'Keefe. What I love about Ed most is he is a no nonsense, tell it like it is kinda guy who also loves to work hard, takes care of his family AND knows how to have fun. Now, I first met Ed when he was speaking on stage at an event a mentor of mine, Lloyd Irvin, was putting on. One of the things I enjoyed most from Ed's talk was how well he explained his approach and how it all works together. It was very straight forward, easy to follow and practical. It was also brilliant information which really had an impact on me and my business. In fact, months later at Lloyd's Birthday party I really enjoyed it when I had the chance to talk with him a little more.. All I can say is Ed really gets direct response marketing inside and out..  On and off stage, he's just a great guy to know. He comes from a huge family, and also has 7 children himself.. All under 10 years old. Ed is an Entrepreneur, a Best-Selling Author, and most importantly for you listening in on this call, Ed has gone from being dead broke to cracking the code of starting and taking multiple businesses from zero to multiple 7 and even 8 figure profits. He is the Creator and Founder of top selling brands such as Inspired Wear, Marine-D3 (sold over half a million bottles), as well as strategic consulting products that help motivated entrepreneurs - showing them how to take their idea to market and scale them using multiple media channels. If you didn't know of Ed before now, what you need to know is you're about to listen in on some words of wisdom from a very heavy hitter and self made man. Please give him your full respect and attention. Enjoy! --- My mission is to create 200 new multi-millionaire business owners who solve world problems with entrepreneurship. How? You'll do better when you know better. Would it help you to have a mentor who can cut your learning curve by sharing their mistakes with you so you could avoid them? Would it help you to talk to that mentor and learn how they shifted their mindset to allow success to happen in the first place? Would it help you to hear them talk to other high-level entrepreneurs about their journeys, their mistakes and how they overcame their challenges to create the lives and financial success they desire? The Best Business Podcast was created for you to have all this in one place. If you like it, please subscribe, give an honest review and share with a friend you think will benefit so I may serve you both together. "Your success is my success." -- Daryl Urbanski  

After interviewing many successful entrepreneurs I have recognized that they all have one thing in common. They all have the ability to overcome adversity. In this episode I interview a millionaire entrepreneur and learn how his mind thinks when he faces challenges with family, business, and financial failure. Episode Featured Guest: Ed O'Keefe Ed O'Keefe is an Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, and Father of 7 children. He's built several multi-million dollar businesses from scratch in record time. He founded and created the top selling brands InspiredWear, Marine-D3 and consulting products that help entrepreneurs launch and scale their business. In This Podcast Episode You Will Learn: Why our culture sets us up for failure and how to overcome it How to balance having a family with managing your business Why your belief systems are preventing you from achieving success The mental breakthrough to help you create wealth in your life The $125,000 business mistake that you can learn from and avoid How to find the right business partners when forming joint ventures The one thing that entrepreneurs need to realize to grow their business Links and Resources Mentioned in the Show: EdOKeefeShow.com - Ed's Podcast DentistProfits.com - Ed's Dentist Marketing Business InspiredWear.com - Ed's new T-shirt company Don't Miss an Episode.  Subscribe to One of the Links Below: Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes Click Here to Subscribe via Stitcher Click Here to Follow via Soundcloud Thank you for Listening to the Podcast! If you've found value in this episode of the Marketing Access Pass Podcast, I would love to hear about it!  Please head on over to iTunes and leave me a Rating and Review (5 stars would be awesome!) so others who are interested in starting an online business can find the show and learn how to escape the "rat-race".  Click here to learn how to leave a rating and review.  If you have any questions or comments about this show, please post them in the comments area below and my guest and I would more than happy to answer them.

$50 Million and Counting .... With Ed O'Keefe 1:28 - A brief overview of Ed’s journey to entrepreneurial success 4:26 - On becoming an entrepreneur 7:41 - Taking advantage of emerging opportunities 8:23 - How Ed built a $50 M dollar business 9:12 - “Your job is create an offer which is really a sale process that either has such a great conversion rate or such a great average ticket… “ 10:36 - It all comes down to mathematics 14:22 - How Ed’s getting 230 - 240 ROI 15:20 - Brief Case study - targeting higher end buyers by developing a system and restructuring price offer 17:58 - An example of a recurring income model 20:50 - Repositioning your product by adding values 23:57 - Giving away value in a leveraged format 28:00 - Building authority through content marketing 30:27 - How does an entrepreneur  build a successful business? 31:21 - Most common challenges in getting started with business and overcoming them 34:01 - Ed’s book, “The Art of Time Collapsing: How to get What You Want Much Faster Than You Ever Thought” 38:19 - Learning and summary Resources mentioned: www.edokeefeshow.com www.inspiredwear.com

This episode of podmissum features a conversation with representatives from some of the most popular social media platforms. The conversation was moderated by CNN’s Chris Cuomo and he was joined by Andrew Fitzgerald, a member of the News and Journalism Partnerships team at Twitter, Jordan Goldman, the founder and CEO of Unigo, Ed O’Keefe, the editor-in-chief of NowThis News, and Victoria Rogers, who performs outreach on behalf of Kickstarter, working with creators and the institutions that support their work. To listen to this episode Click on the "pod" icon in the upper left, to the left of the episode title. Click on the hyperlink below, to the right of the text "Direct Download." You may follow Podmissum On iTunes By clicking on the RSS icon at the bottom of the right column, below the word Syndication. iOS and Android App Purchase the app for iOS (download Podcast Box and purchase Podmissum in-app). Purchase the app for Android that you may download to your device.  

As we transition from a YouTube generation to a Pinterest generation, this new type of sales letter is going to win. ---Transcript--- Good morning. This is Russell Brunson, and welcome to Marketing In Your Car. Hey guys and gals and anyone who is out there in podcast land and listening today. I am excited today because today I am going to be working on our supplement. A lot of you guys know if you have been listening to this or following me, we have a supplement. I have been wanting to do a supplement for 10 years now, and finally about a year ago we put one together and launched it and it’s been great. We are having a ton of fun with it. We have been testing a lot of different things. Initially what we started doing with it, we started with a free plus shipping type thing where they would get the first bottle for free. We would charge them shipping, and after 14 days we would start billing their card and ship them out a new supplement, which has been working good. We are at point now where our recurring is around $50,000 a month from it. Not too bad for a little side project. Right? We should do half a million bucks or so this year from that supplement. So that is kind of cool. I want to grow it big. I have been people who got supplements who are doing half a million dollars a month or more. I am on this eternal mission to figure out how in the world do I scale it. I think it is how it goes. The weight is really hard to scale immediately. We are spending $80 or so to get a free customer. In some cases we are able to break even by day 14, which is awesome. Sometimes it takes to day 45 or beyond to break even. I don’t know about you, but I have a risk. I am pretty into taking risks and stuff, but I am risk intolerant with my money. Day 45, if we haven’t broke even by that point it kind of scares me. How do we create something where we can break even at day one or make a profit at day one and go from there? That has been the mission that we have trying to look at. We are looking at all the other people that are doing really well with supplements right now. Ed O’Keefe has a really good supplement that I take now. I bought it to go through the sales process, and I am actually addicted to it. There are bunch of really good supplements as well. I have been watching their funnels. What has been interesting is that most of the guys that killing it right now aren’t doing free plus shipping type things anymore. They are selling one, three or four bottles off their order page and upsales for other things. We are working on that. What I really want to talk about today is an interesting thing that I have been looking at. The shift from the sales video back to the sales letter. For the last two year, sales videos have been the thing that has been crushing it. I don’t think it is going to go away at all, but it is interesting. For a while it felt like the market was in this YouTube generation where everyone is watching videos. Over the last year or so it seemed like it shifted more to the Pinterest generation where we are looking at images and text, if that makes sense. For example, if you post a video on YouTube or you post an image on YouTube, traditionally you are going to get way more comments, shares, likes, things like that from an image than you ever would from a video. Isn’t that interesting? Where forever it was video, video, video. With our supplement we created a sales video version and sales letter version. The sales letter, we also did it a lot different than we normally do. We are trying to test some things that go against what I have always believed as the norms. I am testing to see if maybe I am wrong. If I am wrong, that is cool. I would rather be wrong and rich than right and broke. We are testing this out, and I have been looking at, if you guys know Miconi, he owns Mind Valley, and if you look at them, they are crushing it right now in the personal development space. If you look at the way they design their websites and sales letters, they are very different. They are not a traditional sales letter, or even the sales letter way that I have done them and I have taught them where you are starting with a star story and a solution and you are going through this process. They are more like these blocks of stuff. That’s the best way to explain it. If you look at one of Mind Valley’s sales letters, go to MindValley.com, and look at their sales letters, he sells theirs 10 or 12 blocks. Each block is its own little message. People can scan it. It almost looks like infographics. You scan it and see the things. Each block has a topic. They have bullet points. They have pictures and the next block and the next block and the next block. There is not a logical story progression throughout. It is just like we are talking about the benefits. This block we are talking about the guarantee. This block we are talking about what other people have said about it. This is the ingredient block and stuff like that. We design this sales letter to go that way. We are going to be doing tons of testing and video versus sales letter versus video with sales letter versus tons of different things we are going to try out. It is really interesting to me right now that I feel like, I look at different markets. If you look at the warriors for example, all of the offers that are in there, none of them are video, very few of them are video. The majority are all text. I am wondering if we are going to start transitioning back to a spot where people prefer more text based sales letter so they can scan more. They can get their information. If so, I am curious and I am interested to see if it will change the way the sales letters are built because the old school, traditional sales letter is a long story. You can’t just scan because you are going to miss the point of the story. Whereas the way that Mind Valley is doing theirs and the way  we are doing this one, is it very scannable. Each block is independent of itself. If you are looking at that chunk, that block whatever you want to call it. It has one message. Each block has its own core message. Anyway, it is just very interesting. I am excited to test this and see what is happening. I definitely think that we are transitioning away from the YouTube generation and transitioning towards the Pinterest image, text generation. Beware of that in your marketing. Look at how else can you add more text elements. At least, if you don’t have, you don’t want to make text sales letters, at least have an option that has a text version of your sales video. I think people are getting now where they don’t want to watch videos as much. It was intriguing for years, but now it’s like, “Oh crap. A video.” Whereas you have text, they can scan, they can find what they want. It is interesting. I don’t know if I am right or wrong, but I am predicting the rebirth of the sales letter. The rebirth will be much different from the old sales letter. I don’t think it is going to be story based. I think it is going to be block based. That is what I have for today. I am at the office. I am going to go play with my new sales letter. The smackdown will begin. Video versus sales letter. Maybe it will be a combination of both that wins. I don’t know, but we are going to find out. We are going to put it to the test because I want to see where people minds are at right now. It will be interesting. I am here at the laboratory. I am going to step in, and I will report my results back to you guys in the next week or two or three when we get some testing done, drive some traffic and see what people are responding best to. Thanks so much everybody, and we will talk to you all again soon.