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More than a decade after Governor Scott Walker passed Act 10—historic legislation that reined in the power of public sector unions and saved taxpayers over $30 billion—the law is under threat once again. In this episode, radio host and Fox News contributor Guy Benson sits down with Governor Walker to revisit the battle that captured national attention, the reforms that transformed Wisconsin, and how a quiet April 1st Supreme Court election could roll it all back. With new lawsuits filed and a court majority now leaning left, the consequences of repealing Act 10 would be far-reaching: higher taxes, less classroom funding, and a return to bloated union contracts. Together, they explore what's really at stake and why voters across the country should be paying attention. This conversation isn't just about Wisconsin—it's about preserving constitutional balance and preventing courts from overriding the will of the people.
In this episode, former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks with ACTA's President Michael Poliakoff. Governor Walker is now leading Young Americans for Freedom -- an organization committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.
How to Receive a Pardon – Guest Syreeta OwensSyreeta Owens has overcome her past and is now on a new path in life, all because of receiving a pardon. Admittedly, Syreeta acknowledges her past mistakes, leading her to have a felony record early in life. She wanted forgiveness, and that's just what she received under Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Since then, she's led an exemplary life. She has a BA in Social Work from UW Milwaukee; she is an advocate for Domestic Abuse victims and currently works for the State of Wisconsin as a Probation & Parole Officer. Show Highlights:· Pardon opportunities closed under former Governor Walker. · Her father inspired her to go for a pardon· Difference between Expungement and a Pardon· Wisconsin Pardon Requirements· Pardon Process· Pardon Board and the questions they ask· Social Media cleanup is a must · Similarities of Pardon from Governor and Pardon from God · Updates to Pardon ProcessSyreeta Owens, along with A Prisoner's Pardon, is willingto assist people in receiving their pardons. If interested, email michelle@prisonerspardon.com Advertisement– A Prisoner's Pardon Book by C.C. Skye Book Trailer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_dDQrWXk3lc8B-qQDuIgWjTqa2rMxOmv/view?usp=drive_linkAmazon Link: A Prisoner's Pardon: Only Through AFather's Love: Skye, C.C., Foth-Regner,Kitty, Fallahee, Kate:9798988355625: Amazon.com: BooksOn sale now on Amazon is the long-awaited book APrisoner's Pardon, Only through a Father's love, can freedom be found. It isjust in time for Father's Day and would make a wonderful gift for any father.It shows just how important a father is needed and that the father is not just out ofthe family house but also the house of Government and the Church house. Allthree institutional houses are broken, and only through God the Father canrestoration be made. For those in book clubs, C.C. Skye has a great offer. If you are interested in doing a question and answer with her about the book A Prisoner's Pardon, email michelle@prisonerspardon.com.This is a great opportunity to get to meet the author.We look forward to hearing from you. Remember to follow us on social media: Facebookwww.facebook.com/aprisonerspardonLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/prisonerspardonTwitterhttps://twitter.com/AliceaMichelleInstagram
Happy Act 10 Day everyone, the only true holiday that celebrates you, the Wisconsin taxpayer. It has been 12 years since Governor Scott Walker signed common sense collective bargaining reform into law here in Wisconsin and to date, this one tiny change, asking government employees at the state and local level to pay a small amount, minuscule really, towards their health insurance and retirement benefits has resulted in almost 17 billion dollars in savings. $17 billion dollars! That's over $3,700.00 for every adult in the state. Now, some will ask, how can that be? $17 billion, there is no way? Remember that prior to Governor Walker, the vast majority of government workers in Wisconsin paid zero, nothing, nada for their plantinium benefits. Nothing. Now that they pay something, even a small amount, the savings to taxpayers really adds up.
On this episode of Freedom Fighters, Governor Walker reflects on taking on the unions in Wisconsin, and how conservatives should give the power of education back to the parents. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/support
Dan reports on Governor Walker making a big endorsement as well as the ongoing miracle that is COVID science changing just when Democrats need it to.
On June 26, 2014, the life of Bree Moore, a 20-year old young woman with a bright future, was cut short with an act of violence. She was shot to death by her boyfriend in a fit of dating violence.The murder of Bree Moore was more than tragedy. It was yet another sad moment in an ongoing American tragedy. Dating violence is one of the unreported issues in America.The story of Bree's life, the inspiring person she was and the unspeakable tragedy that befell her, has focused a searchlight on the epidemic of teen dating violence in Alaska. Bree's parents, Butch and Cindy, wanted to make sure Bree's death was not simply a statistic. What happened to Bree should not have happened and her death should be a lesson for all Alaskans. Their efforts prompted the Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Education (known as Bree's Law) into The Alaska Safe Children's Act, which was signed into law by Governor Walker in July 2015. Because of Bree's Law, dating violence education is being taught in grades 7-12 in all Alaska public schools. It instructs teens how to develop healthy relationships, practice supportive communication skills, recognize the warning signs of an abusive relationship, and where to go for help.To learn more visit: www.breeslaw.org
We know that Career & Technical Education is a great pathway for students to secure the skills they need for high-wage, high-demand careers. But Tech Ed is also a great path for our students to become entrepreneurs and run businesses of their own!In this episode, we explore the role of free enterprise in CTE with Governor Scott Walker, President of Young America's Foundation. In addition to our conversation on entrepreneurship, we pick Governor Walker's brain for insights he's gained from decades of leading government and public policy.Listen to discover:Why Tech Ed may be a better path to entrepreneurship than a business degreeWhat suburban districts are missing that rural and urban districts have figured outWhat government should be doing to support ongoing workplace trainingThe 4 things studies show keep families out of povertyTips for working with those of differing viewpoints, especially in today's highly-politicized worldTo learn more about Young America's Foundation, visit www.yaf.org.
Therapist and self-advocate Sean Inderbitzen discusses PTSD on the autism spectrum. (VIDEO - 24 mins) Sean is a Behavioral Health Therapist, and lives with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has a caseload with 33% of his patients that live with ASD and varying co-morbid psychiatric conditions. Prior to being a mental health clinician, he was a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist for Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for 3 years. He was also appointed by Governor Walker to the Statewide Independent Living Council of Wisconsin. He is an incoming member to the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, and provides training on motivational interviewing, ASD and employment, and ASD and co-morbid psychiatric conditions. For more about Sean's work: http://seaninderbitzen.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/sean-inderbitzen-msw-apsw-member-of-mint-a844141b1 Follow Different Brains on social media: https://twitter.com/diffbrains https://www.facebook.com/different.brains/ https://www.instagram.com/diffbrains/ Check out more episodes of Exploring Different Brains! http://differentbrains.org/category/edb/
Today Aaron Tilton joins us to discuss financial tools to earn, trade and lend crypto with Smartfi. Aaron Tilton is the Chief Executive Officer of SmartFi, which he co-founded with a vision to empower users by explaining the confusing nature of cryptocurrencies to a broad audience and making the modern tools of wealth generation accessible to all. Aaron is also the President and CEO of Blue Castle Holdings and Power Block Coin. As co-founder in 2007, Aaron has chief responsibility to oversee the development of the leading new nuclear plant project in the Western US. Previously Aaron developed and negotiated equity positions and power purchase agreements with municipal and investor owned utilities throughout the Southwest. Aaron led these activities for two new power projects in the region. Aaron had also advised a venture capital firm on state regulatory matters for an online pharmacy that utilized an online medical consultation. Aaron has broad experience in pharmacy automation software and hardware solutions. Aaron is a former Utah State Representative, having originally been appointed to the seat by Governor Walker when it was prematurely vacated. He was formally elected to the position in 2004, and again re-elected in 2006. Aaron is a Utah native where he lives with his family. He is active in his church and loves to ride Motocross with his son. Links https://smartfi.com/ *Disclaimer. Richard Carthon is the Founder of Crypto Current. All opinions expressed by members of the Crypto Current Team, Richard or his guest on this podcast are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Crypto Current. You should not treat any opinion expressed by Richard as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy but only as an expression of his opinion. This podcast is for informational purposes only. ~ Put your Bitcoin and Ethereum to work. Earn up to 12% interest back with https://get.tantralabs.io/earn/?utm_source=cryptocurrent&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=advertising-display-cryptocurrent&utm_content=lp (Tantra Labs). ~ New to crypto? Check out our https://bit.ly/394YKFw (Crypto for Beginners) Step-by-Step Guide to Crypto Investing! ~ Follow us on https://bit.ly/3CPwepn (Youtube), http://bit.ly/2TRIArp (Twitter), http://bit.ly/38yfrqo (Instagram), http://bit.ly/39DhpHi (Facebook), http://bit.ly/38wsXL5 (LinkedIn), & https://bit.ly/3yQ30Es (Tik Tok). ~ Want to make ~$25+ a month for FREE? Sign up to get a FREE https://www.emrit.io/?referral=cryptocurrent (emrit.io Coolspot today)! ~ Want to learn more about cryptocurrency? Check out our https://bit.ly/2CbaYzw (educational videos) today! ~ https://bit.ly/2TF3Gtb (Swan) is the easiest and most affordable way to accumulate Bitcoin with automatic recurring purchases. Start your plan today and get $10 of free Bitcoin dropped into your account. ~ Want access to cool crypto/blockchain projects that you can use immediately? Check out our https://bit.ly/3eZ8J1E (partnerships page)! ~ Looking to attend a cryptocurrency or blockchain event? Check out our https://bit.ly/2ZVCV8f (events page)! ~ Tune in on https://bit.ly/2CN9bl1 (Crypto Current TV) throughout the week for a 24/7 crypto stream on the latest action on crypto markets, news, and interviews with the industry's top experts! ~ Enjoying our podcast? Please leave us a 5 star review http://bit.ly/2Is3iJ9 (here)! ~ Stay up to date with the latest news in cryptocurrency by opting-in to our http://bit.ly/2xmkKfQ (newsletter)! You will receive daily emails (M-S) that are personalized and curated content specific to you and your interests, powered by artificial intelligence. ~ We were featured as one of the http://bit.ly/2vRAGGl (Top 25 Cryptocurrency Podcasts) and one of the...
Scott Walker is the former Governor of Wisconsin and current President of Young America's Foundation. During our conversation with Governor Walker, we discuss his transition into public service, how to discover and engage our faith, pursuing more meaningful and productive conversations, combatting cancel culture, and what drives his optimism for the future of the United States.At the end of the podcast, Governor Walker answers the Final Project question: "When Scott Walker's Project is complete, what will he be most proud of? How will he want to be remembered?"Young America's Foundation (YAF) is committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values. For more information, visit https://www.yaf.org. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and join us in the conversation.Instagram: @projectincompleteTwitter: @projincompletewww.projectincomplete.com
SMARTFI CEO AARON TILTON JOINS TATIANA TO TALK ALL ABOUT THE COMPANY'S NEWLY-LAUNCHED, STATE-OF-THE-ART CRYPTO INVESTING & TRADING PLATFORM. Former Utah State House representative and entrepreneur Aaron Tilton saw that cryptocurrency was going to be the financial tool of tomorrow years ago. He started an energy company dedicated to helping crypto miners find cheap and reliable energy to run the backbone of the blockchain. Now, he and his team have a new, bleeding-edge project: SmartFi, an all-in-one investing, trading, swapping & lending platform that's designed to make using crypto as the basis for your finances as easy, secure and reliable as possible. Today, he joins Tatiana to talk all about where SmartFi came from, where it's going, and why you should be signing up. About the Guest: Aaron is President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Blue Castle Holdings, Inc. the parent corporation of Power Block Coin, LLC. Blue Castle Holdings formed Power Block Coin, LLC in response to the growing demand for electricity in the cryptocurrency mining market in 2017. Power Block Coin also responded to the cryptocurrency market demand for loans by becoming a non-bank lender in 2018. After founding Blue Castle Holdings, Aaron has overseen the acquisition, development of all assets and political strategies for the developments of a new two-unit nuclear power plant project. Previous to founding Blue Castle Holdings he developed and negotiated offtake and power purchase agreements with municipal and investor owned utilities throughout the Southwest for two new power projects in the region. Aaron advised a venture capital firm on state regulatory matters for a first of a kind online pharmacy that utilized an online medical consultation. He has broad experience in pharmacy automation software and hardware solutions. Aaron is a former Utah State Representative, having originally been appointed to the seat by Governor Walker when it was prematurely vacated. He was formally elected to the position in 2004, and again re-elected in 2006. Aaron served on the following committees, House Public Utilities and Technology Committee (Vice Chair) House Retirement and Independent Entities Committee (Vice Chair) Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee Interim Revenue and Taxation Committee Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee Aaron is a Utah native where he lives with his family. He is active in his church and loves to ride Motocross with his son. More Info: Tatiana Moroz – https://tatianamoroz.com Crypto Media Hub – https://cryptomediahub.com SmartFi – https://smartfi.com Friends and Sponsors of the Show: Proof of Love – https://proofoflovecast.com Global Crypto Advisors – https://globalcryptoadvisors.io You have been listening to The Tatiana Show. This show may contain adult content, language, and humor and is intended for mature audiences. If that's not you, please stop listening. Nothing you hear on The Tatiana Show is intended as financial advice, legal advice, or really, anything other than entertainment. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Oh, and if you're hearing us on an affiliate network, the ideas and views expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the network you are listening on, or of any sponsors or any affiliate products you may hear about on the show.
Former Utah State House representative and entrepreneur Aaron Tilton saw that cryptocurrency was going to be the financial tool of tomorrow years ago. He started an energy company dedicated to helping crypto miners find cheap and reliable energy to run the backbone of the blockchain. Now, he and his team have a new, bleeding-edge project: SmartFi, an all-in-one investing, trading, swapping & lending platform that's designed to make using crypto as the basis for your finances as easy, secure and reliable as possible. Today, he joins Tatiana to talk all about where SmartFi came from, where it's going, and why you should be signing up. About the Guest:Aaron is President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Blue Castle Holdings, Inc. the parent corporation of Power Block Coin, LLC. Blue Castle Holdings formed Power Block Coin, LLC in response to the growing demand for electricity in the cryptocurrency mining market in 2017. Power Block Coin also responded to the cryptocurrency market demand for loans by becoming a non-bank lender in 2018. After founding Blue Castle Holdings, Aaron has overseen the acquisition, development of all assets and political strategies for the developments of a new two-unit nuclear power plant project. Previous to founding Blue Castle Holdings he developed and negotiated offtake and power purchase agreements with municipal and investor owned utilities throughout the Southwest for two new power projects in the region. Aaron advised a venture capital firm on state regulatory matters for a first of a kind online pharmacy that utilized an online medical consultation. He has broad experience in pharmacy automation software and hardware solutions. Aaron is a former Utah State Representative, having originally been appointed to the seat by Governor Walker when it was prematurely vacated. He was formally elected to the position in 2004, and again re-elected in 2006. Aaron served on the following committees, House Public Utilities and Technology Committee (Vice Chair) House Retirement and Independent Entities Committee (Vice Chair) Public Education Appropriations Subcommittee Interim Revenue and Taxation Committee Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee Aaron is a Utah native where he lives with his family. He is active in his church and loves to ride Motocross with his son. More Info: Tatiana Moroz – https://tatianamoroz.comCrypto Media Hub – https://cryptomediahub.com SmartFi - https://smartfi.com Friends and Sponsors of the Show: Proof of Love – https://proofoflovecast.comGlobal Crypto Advisors – https://globalcryptoadvisors.io You have been listening to The Tatiana Show. This show may contain adult content, language, and humor and is intended for mature audiences. If that's not you, please stop listening. Nothing you hear on The Tatiana Show is intended as financial advice, legal advice, or really, anything other than entertainment. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Oh, and if you're hearing us on an affiliate network, the ideas and views expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the network you are listening on, or of any sponsors or any affiliate products you may hear about on the show.
Former Utah State House representative and entrepreneur Aaron Tilton saw that cryptocurrency was going to be the financial tool of tomorrow years ago. He started an energy company dedicated to helping crypto miners find cheap and reliable energy to run the backbone of the blockchain. Now, he and his team have a new, bleeding-edge project: SmartFi, an all-in-one investing, trading, swapping & lending platform that's designed to make using crypto as the basis for your finances as easy, secure and reliable as possible. Today, he joins Tatiana to talk all about where SmartFi came from, where it's going, and why you should be signing up.About the Guest:Aaron is President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Blue Castle Holdings, Inc. the parent corporation of Power Block Coin, LLC. Blue Castle Holdings formed Power Block Coin, LLC in response to the growing demand for electricity in the cryptocurrency mining market in 2017. Power Block Coin also responded to the cryptocurrency market demand for loans by becoming a non-bank lender in 2018.After founding Blue Castle Holdings, Aaron has overseen the acquisition, development of all assets and political strategies for the developments of a new two-unit nuclear power plant project.Previous to founding Blue Castle Holdings he developed and negotiated offtake and power purchase agreements with municipal and investor owned utilities throughout the Southwest for two new power projects in the region. Aaron advised a venture capital firm on state regulatory matters for a first of a kind online pharmacy that utilized an online medical consultation. He has broad experience in pharmacy automation software and hardware solutions.Aaron is a former Utah State Representative, having originally been appointed to the seat by Governor Walker when it was prematurely vacated. He was formally elected to the position in 2004, and again re-elected in 2006. Aaron served on the following committees,House Public Utilities and Technology Committee (Vice Chair)House Retirement and Independent Entities Committee (Vice Chair)Public Education Appropriations SubcommitteeInterim Revenue and Taxation CommitteeHealth and Human Services Appropriations SubcommitteeAaron is a Utah native where he lives with his family. He is active in his church and loves to ride Motocross with his son.More Info:Tatiana Moroz '“https://tatianamoroz.comCrypto Media Hub '“https://cryptomediahub.comSmartFi - https://smartfi.comFriends and Sponsors of the Show:Proof of Love '“https://proofoflovecast.comGlobal Crypto Advisors '“https://globalcryptoadvisors.ioYou have been listening to The Tatiana Show. This show may contain adult content, language, and humor and is intended for mature audiences. If that's not you, please stop listening. Nothing you hear on The Tatiana Show is intended as financial advice, legal advice, or really, anything other than entertainment. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. Oh, and if you're hearing us on an affiliate network, the ideas and views expressed on this show are not necessarily those of the network you are listening on, or of any sponsors or any affiliate products you may hear about on the show.
By Walt HickeyWelcome to the Numlock Sunday edition.This week, I spoke to Pat Garofalo who writes the wonderful newsletter Boondoggle. Pat appears in Numlock all the time, here's a recent thing of his I covered in February:Lawmakers in 11 states have introduced bills for the 2021-22 legislative session that would form an interstate compact to eliminate tax giveaways to corporations. Right now, companies play states off one another, goading them into bidding wars over who gets less money to host the corporation. For many states, who see new businesses as a way out of their problems, this has become an increasingly standard practice, but if every time a company wants a new HQ it's a 50-party bidding war, eventually we're going to not collect taxes from businesses anymore. To avert this, the states are eyeing a disarmament, not unlike what Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas worked out in 2019. If the compact enters law, states will agree not to use tax incentives to poach jobs from the other states in the compact. This isn't particularly new, as there are 200 ongoing interstate compacts and each state is in an average of 25. Pat's beat is one of my favorites, he covers one of the most pervasive ways the big and powerful fleece the government at the expense of the small and not as powerful. Today in another special podcast edition of the newsletter, we talk about the botched Foxconn deal, why everything is suddenly a “campus,” the Peace of Kansas City and whether or not the federal government accidentally screwed over every local corporate tax incentive project.Pat can be found at his newsletter, Boondoggle, and his book The Billionaire Boondoggle is really great.This interview has been condensed and edited. Pat, thank you so much for coming on. You have a bunch of really cool stories coming out through both your day job and your newsletter, Boondoggle, but just taking a step back, do you want to talk a little bit about what you generally cover when it comes to incentives and how different cities try to woo different companies to various successful and unsuccessful ends?The tagline that I use is "how corporations are ripping off your state and city," and I got interested in this actually way back during The Great Recession. I was an economic policy reporter covering this fallout from the recession and the austerity push that was happening across the country. You saw all these wacky situations where cities were literally turning off their streetlights, while at the same time paying to give some billionaire a sports stadium. Then the more I started digging into this, I realized it wasn't just sports stadiums.It was hotels, it was massive sporting goods stores. It was every corporate headquarters in the country. There's been this long, decades-long push amongst the corporate elite in this country to tell a story about how economic development happens in the U.S. and to reap rewards for doing things that way. And it's totally wrong. The way they're going about it and the way the politicians they have in their pockets go about it is just backwards. It's just the completely wrong way to build local economies. That's the sort of work I've been doing ever since.The Amazon HQ2 thing was a huge illustration of this, where, basically, it inverted the way that lots of local economics should work and turned cities into bidders for a headquarters that was going to happen nevertheless.Right, and that one was an interesting anomaly in this system that corporate America has built because it was so public. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, was so brazen about it and pitting all these states and cities against each other. The really problematic aspect of this to me is actually how much of it happens in the dark, how much of it we don't know about. These deals are often presented by local officials as a fait accompli. They come out and announce it before any other resident, any other local official can have a say, and say, "Hey, we're doing this. We're going to give this corporation a bunch of money. You're going to see all those benefits. You're welcome. Goodbye."The reason for that is that these things actually pay a lot of political capital. If you dig into the literature on incentives and corporate tax deals, they don't pay off on the economic side. They don't create jobs, they don't boost incomes, they don't boost local GDP, they often cost localities a whole lot of money, but what they do increase is incumbent politician vote totals. One of the most fascinating stats that I've seen in the academic literature about this stuff is that states' use of incentives goes up once every four years. Why is that? Because governors are running for re-election.Whoa. The secrecy component, you've written a lot about this lately. I like how you've really highlighted that there are towns and city councils that are voting on incentive packages where they don't even all necessarily know who the money is going towards in some cases with server farms and whatnot.Yeah, this is totally wild. This actually happened in Fort Wayne recently. Literally, the city council was voting on an incentive package, and most of the city council did not know who the recipient was going to be — it turned out to be Amazon — because the people who were involved in the deal making had signed non-disclosure agreements. This is public officials, spending public dollars, signing non-disclosure deals with the corporation to say that they can't divulge any information about the recipient, including, literally, its name. It's just so corrupt. This to me is just — there's the economic stuff, right, that these deals are not paying off for states and cities, and they're not bringing the economic benefits? But that also is just problematic democratically, right? How are you supposed to assess the job that your local officials are doing if they literally will not tell you who they are meeting with, who they are dealing with and who they're giving your money to?It's so huge. And I wanted to take everything back to a very big case that has gone down that has attracted a lot of attention and I think put a lot of these stories on the map, which is the situation with Foxconn and Wisconsin. It's got all the makings of things that you've been talking about: it came about during an election, the economics of it were suspect to begin with and only kind of got worse as it went along. The economic benefit has really folded and collapsed. I would love to hear what that story is and where we're at now because I know that we've actually had some recent news on it.To back up to this from the beginning, this was 2017, Donald Trump had just been elected President. Scott Walker was the Governor of Wisconsin. They announced this massive deal with Foxconn, which is a Taiwanese manufacturer, they make a lot of Apple products. And it was something on the order of $4.8 billion. They were going to create tens of thousands of blue collar jobs, and this is Wisconsin in the Midwest, so that was a big deal. It was going to be part of Trump's big move to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., make America great again.Then fast-forward a few years, and Foxconn literally did nothing. There was just nothing there. They changed their plans over and over and over. It went from tens of thousands of jobs in a manufacturing site to 1,000 white collar jobs in an office building. The whole thing unraveled and actually the promising thing about this deal in my mind was that there actually was a political price for it, as opposed to a political benefit. Governor Walker lost his re-election to current Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, in large part because of this deal, because Wisconsin residents looked at this thing and went, "This is not good. This is clearly not working out for us." So, Evers recently renegotiated the deal. The amount of money went from about $4.8 billion to about $80 million. So a huge, huge, huge decrease in the amount of money.One of those Bs became an M. That's not usually a good sign.Exactly. I think the nice thing about that deal was that there actually was a little democratic accountability. Someone lost office, the current governor had a mandate to re-negotiate and he did, and that's good. I still don't love the deal for two reasons. One, is that in a sense, you're sort of giving Foxconn another whack at something it doesn't deserve. It didn't even come close to fulfilling its side of the original deal, and so you're letting it rework it and try again and promise something new. There's no real reason to think that Foxconn is going to keep its promises this time either, but you're still putting the state on the hook for $80 million, which again, is a lot better than $4.8 billion. That's great. That's many billions of dollars that you're not liable for, but there's certainly a world in which just letting the original deal play out and having Foxconn just fall on its face and not meet any of its metrics and, therefore, not get most of its money would have actually saved the state money, if we assume that Foxconn is going to fulfill the second deal, which I don't really think it will, but that remains to be seen. But the second part of this is that — and then this is an important part, I think, of the overall incentive stories — localities in Wisconsin made investments on the premise that Foxconn was going to build the first thing, the massive manufacturing plant. Made infrastructure investments, seized homes through eminent domain. One town in Wisconsin is on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for eminent domain for seizing folks' homes. Those people had to move. And now the plant just isn't happening. And that's one of the things I tell people, I spend a lot of time in my day job at the American Economic Liberties Project, talking to folks around the country, both in office and activists and community members about these deals. One of the things I bring up all the time is these plans are not ironclad. The officials will tell you, "Oh, we are giving X million dollars and we are receiving Y benefits," as if Y benefits are certain and it's definitely going to happen, but they often don't and Foxconn is such a perfect example There are reasons that they don't that are both nefarious — like the corporation never intended to do the thing it was doing, it was just dragging people along to get some money—- but also legitimate, right? Sometimes a pandemic happens and lots of corporations have to suddenly change their spending plans, but the way these deals get treated in the public square, and in public debate, and the way that politicians talk about them as if they're done deals.Foxconn is just such a great example of the sort of things that folks need to look out for and why states and localities need to be really, really careful. Because again, these little Wisconsin towns spent money, but the one village in Wisconsin actually had its credit downgraded because its promised outlays for Foxconn were so high that even the credit rating agencies were like, "Whoa, there is no way that this is going to happen." But they did it! And now they're just out this money. No one's ever going to make them whole. Even if Foxconn fulfills the second smaller deal and does build this smaller plant, you're never going to get that back. For those folks who had their homes seized and had to move, you're not going to get your house back either. That's why states and localities need to be so, so, so, so careful when they enter into these massive mega-deals.The reason that these deals are struck and come up with is because for the point of view of the company, it's really privatizing a lot of the benefit and publicizing a lot of the risk. And it seems like this is just a really good illustration of what went down in Wisconsin. You have to look at who's holding the bag right now. What negative consequences Foxconn suffered as a result of backtracking on this deal versus what are the negative consequences that small towns have suffered?Absolutely. Foxconn's ding was to its reputation, right? But again, it got to come right back and renegotiate a new deal. The number of times you see these things fall apart, and then you turn around and the same company comes riding back in and says, "Oh no, we'll do it here. And we'll do it better." I mean, Tesla is a perfect example, it has ripped off city after city after city. Elon Musk is a sort of famous grifter in this state, not just with Tesla, but with some of his other companies. And yet, states and cities still will sit down at the table and will give him something and say, "Okay, this time it's different. Our community is different." It can get really distressing. But I think one of the reasons that happens, and you'll often see in this space, it is the big tech companies that tend to get some of the largest deals, some of the flashiest deals.Talking about Amazon HQ2, we can talk about a new Apple campus in North Carolina. We can talk about Tesla getting deals all over. Austin is throwing money at tech companies left and right. It's because there's this allure, right, of these shiny new tech jobs. Even though this is actually just a very old model of ride into town, promise the residents a lot of benefits in return for a lot of money. You can literally date this back to the beginning of the United States. Alexander Hamilton got the first corporate tax break in U.S. history for a manufacturing plant in Paterson, New Jersey that never was completed. We started off exactly where we wound up. And some of his associates went to jail.I think I missed that song in the musical.Somehow, Lin Manuel Miranda left that one out of the show. But it goes back to World War II, in the post-World War II period when Southern states were trying to diversify their economies coming out of the war. They were mostly agricultural. It was Mississippi that really started this shtick of going to Northern manufacturing plants and saying, "Hey, we'll give you a lot of money. Bring your plant down here." John F. Kennedy, when he was in the Senate, would go on the Senate floor and just rail about Southern states, poaching Northeastern manufacturing plants. Even though today's version of that is to pay some shiny tech company to do it like a Foxconn, like a Tesla, this is the same story that we've seen over and over and over again.Setting aside the municipal blow back, setting aside the fact that that's money that you can't spend on school textbooks, and when you don't collect property taxes, that does have ramifications for what you can offer kids in libraries and all that kind of stuff. Setting that aside, you have this really cool study that's come out that talks about how states give incentives and how that actually affects small businesses in the area. Do you want to go into what the research showed?This is a fascinating new study by a guy named Manav Raj at the Stern School of Business. He very kindly sent it to me and it shows two things. It shows, one, that political competitiveness in a state legislature is correlated with increased use of incentives. So, the tighter the governing majorities are, the smaller the governing majorities are in the state legislature and the likelier the legislature has to flip back and forth between the two parties, the more likely that legislature is to hand out incentives. And then the second thing is the more incentives the legislature hands out, the less likely it is that small businesses will succeed. This study is so fascinating because it ties together a lot of what both myself and all the other folks in this space have been talking about for so long, which is that these things are not about economics, they're about politics.They're about entrenching dominant incumbent firms and harming small businesses. It makes sense, right? The companies that get the bulk of these incentives are the large, big ones that can afford to pay to have lobbying shops. Amazon and other big companies will literally pay people, who are called site selection consultants — that's a job — to go out and to figure out how to get the most money out of these states and localities. Small businesses just can't afford to do that. The academic research is really clear: It's big companies that get the most of this stuff. So, states and cities are literally subsidizing the business model of large companies vis-à-vis their smaller competitors, right? It makes perfect sense that this is harmful to small folks who just don't get the same level of support from the state.The example that always comes to mind when I talk about this particular aspect is Amazon. Amazon is notorious. They've gotten some $3 billion-plus dollars in state and local incentives over the years. Most of that is actually not HQ2, even though that was a big one. Most of that is for its distribution network, it's for its warehouses and for its distribution houses. You can see if you're a small retailer how they really grind your gears, right? That Amazon is receiving money to build out its distribution network, that's not something you ever receive as a small business. If you're just selling stuff out of your garage, it's not like the mayor is going to come down and be like, "Here, have all this money to buy a delivery truck. Excellent. Keep up the good work." That doesn't happen.So, it's making the cost of building out distribution networks cheaper for Amazon versus other retailers, which Amazon then turns around and uses as leverage to pound other retailers into the dirt. Amazon is notorious for using its distribution network as a stick to beat other retailers with. They'll say, "Oh yeah, if you pay us to use our distribution network, we'll give you Prime access. We'll do all these other things." And they just ratchet up the fees year after year after year, so you sort of just become beholden to Amazon's taxpayer-funded network. The fact that it was great to put some numbers to this story and to have data showing that this feeling that we all had in this space, that this is bad for small businesses, actually does bear out when you look at the data.Then the second part was really interesting to me too. The fact that tighter, more competitive legislatures give out more incentives. It does make sense if you think about it, because in a tight legislature, where say, the majority has one or two votes and it can only lose one or two or their bills go down, that gives each individual lawmaker more leverage to get concessions during legislative debates. Since we know that incentives are good political capital, that seems to be what state legislatures go for. So, if you're like the Joe Manchin of the Missouri legislature, you're the critical key vote that can be lost, you go and say, "Hey, give my buddies down here some incentives, and then sure, I'm on your bill." I was just really fascinated with, again, Manav Raj at the Stern School of Business. I wrote it up in my Boondoggle newsletter. It just really tied together a lot of strands, circling back to the core point about all this, which is that it's a political problem. It's not an economic problem. The economics are unambiguous. This stuff is bad for states and localities. The reason it continues year after year, and folks like me are actually screaming about it all the time is because these giveaways make for really good politics.It's really interesting, that finding about how it negatively impacts small business, which very much makes sense to me because small business owners do tend to pay corporate taxes. Because they are individually held, they tend to do profit and then pass those profits on to shareholders, which are taxed. And you have the entire Amazon credo, like Bezos notoriously said, “your margin is my opportunity.” That seems very true here, where the local tax base is subsidizing a new contender, which to some notoriety, aggressively minimizes its tax obligation, right? Whereas your local retailer operating with QuickBooks is a little less adept at doing that.Yeah, Amazon was born out of a tax loophole, right? The whole reason that Jeff Bezos got into online book selling is because he realized that there was a hole in the law that said, if you didn't have a physical presence — and this hole has since been patched — but that if you didn't have a physical presence in a state, you didn't have to collect sales tax. From Washington, he was able to sell books in every other state without collecting sales tax. Obviously, that lets him undercut every local bookseller that has to pay sales tax because they're literally handing you the book and you're giving your money, and there are sales taxes involved in that transaction.Bezos took that out of the equation. He then used that, and the proceeds he made from that, to just pull the same trick in line after line after line after line. I mean, there are lots of reasons Amazon is what it is and not all of them are tax-related, but that is a really key part of its power, is its ability to both avoid paying taxes on the one hand and then to actually collect subsidies and government largesse and other regulatory favors on the other.You've also highlighted a number of other recent cases. There was this case in Nashville regarding Oracle and they managed to get a 50 percent property tax for 25 years. How does that shake out for Nashville?This is such a weird one. Tennessee is sort of notorious for these deals. Memphis has a horrific record of just handing out corporate tax giveaways willy nilly. I talk about Memphis a bunch in my books because it's just —There's a monument to it. A very large pyramid, I understand.Exactly. You come walking down the street, here you go, here's your corporate tax abatement. This deal with Oracle is strange. The way it's structured is that Oracle will come in, it's building a "campus." And this is the hot new thing now in taxes, it's call everything a 'campus.' Every time you're bringing a company, it's building a 'campus' because that's more than a headquarters and that's more than just new jobs. It's always a 'campus' now. An Apple campus is opening in North Carolina, a new Google campus in North Carolina.But, anyway, Oracle will pay $175 million in Nashville up front for some public infrastructure, a pedestrian bridge, a park, some other stuff. And then yes, will get a 50 percent rake off on its property taxes until that $175 million is repaid. This isn't actually new money going out the door and Oracle does have these upfront costs. It's just a very strange situation in which Nashville has decided to sort of outsource its infrastructure building to a private corporation and then recoup it through taxation. It's just a little weird. It's not the most egregious of these deals I've seen. I think the larger concern with that deal is that there are real displacement concerns, and that's part of the problem with a lot of these arrangements is that they don't do anything to sort of ameliorate the knock on effects of the people who are already there.This large corporation comes riding in and brings all these workers, contrary to what the corporation usually tell you. Those aren't local people getting hired. It's oftentimes just current employees moving in. There are gentrification and displacement concerns with this Oracle deal that the city says it has a handle on, but in my experience, it probably doesn't because cities don't ever really in these circumstances. It's just weird, the way to structure it, and that Nashville decided that the way to do this was to have Oracle pay for a bunch of stuff that taxpayers should just pay for, and then give it a giant tax break when you could just tax Oracle and build the public infrastructure like normal? But the reason I actually liked this Nashville situation is because there's a congressional candidate in Nashville— her name is Odessa Kelly, and she's the head of an organization called Stand Up Nashville — who is talking about these deals a lot and has been through a bunch of them in Nashville, a bunch that were much worse than this Oracle deal. She also was a key part of the city negotiating one of the better stadium subsidies arrangements in America. They made a really good deal actually with the new Nashville MLS team that's coming there, and in return for some public subsidies for a sports stadium, which I generally hate — cities should not do that — they did actually make a really good community benefits agreement. She is now running for Congress on this platform of stop letting corporations hose our city. It's a really interesting test of whether the politics of this can be flipped on their head, because I've been saying this whole time, this is a political problem.There's political capital to be built from doing these deals and if you're an incumbent politician, getting your face in the local paper and being able to send out a press release and to be able to tell about all this job creation is big. You send out tweets and Facebook posts and say, “look at all the good I'm doing." That's worth something politically, even if it actually turns out to be worth bupkis, economically. Odessa Kelly's campaign is going to be a really interesting case study, if you could flip that on its head and say, "No, actually, this isn't working for our city and this isn't appropriate, elect me to stop doing these things and we need more community input." Her line was just great, she said, "Oracle, isn't the prize. Nashville is the prize." And I just love that because it's exactly right.That's great.It's so perfect because the thing about these deals, right, is that we've been told, and this sort of gets back to what I said at the beginning of this story, the corporate elite and the politicians who love them have told us for 40, 50, 60 years that you should be thankful we are here. We are going to come in to town and rain down benefits upon you, and that's why we deserve these tax giveaways. When, actually, it should be the other way around. That should be the city saying, "No, it's a privilege for you to be here. And if you want to be here in our excellent community, where we have paid for lots of great things with our taxes, then we have certain expectations for you and you have to achieve certain benchmarks for the community."The way we talk about economic development is just backwards, the way to build a local economy isn't to dump a bunch of money on a corporation and hope something good happens. It's to have the best education system, have the best transportation system, have the highest quality of life for workers. Then corporations are going to want to come there, right? Places have incumbent advantages and they need to play them up and build on them. That was one of those maddening things about Amazon HQ2, was that why is Northern Virginia — for all intents and purposes, the greater DC Metro area — paying all this money for Amazon to be in the nation's capital?Are you kidding me? Amazon doesn't want to have a massive presence in Washington, DC where, oh, by the way, Jeff Bezos has a massive house and owns a newspaper? Of course he wants to be here! And yet we've been told that we need to grovel before these corporations in return for their investments that they were going to make anyway. So, that's why I just love the Odessa Kelly line to flip this on its head. I really hope it goes well for her.I mean, I live in Queens right near where the other HQ2 was going to go, and I was very frustrated by that because that place is really lighting up already. I don't know how much you need to write him a check to move into a neighborhood that is already blowing up. One of my favorite stories that you've ever covered was the Kansas City-Kansas City ending of the conflict between the Kansas Cities. And I guess what I'm wondering is, how has that been going? Are you seeing more of that? Is there moving forward any kind of hope for more of those disarmament campaigns? I know that you had kind of alluded to recently a number of state legislatures that were looking at a disarming compact, but I guess I'm wondering what's the status?This was — for listeners who are interested in the backstory — a so-called border war between Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. It's so good.They were literally using incentives to have companies move a couple of miles because the Metro area straddles the state line. So, companies were literally just moving back and forth across the border. Nobody's job was changing, people's commute was just altered a little bit. And yet tons of money was going out the door to do this obviously ludicrous thing. And even though it did take forever, and much longer than it should have — because, again, this is obviously and patently stupid — the two states did agree to a ceasefire and said, "Okay, we're not doing this anymore. No more incentives to get companies to just hop the border within the Metro area. That's no good for anybody, obviously."So, it's holding. It's sort of tenuous. Every now and again, you'll see a company pop up and say that it's going to try and claim incentives to hop back and forth from one state or another. It looks like it's going to break, but it is holding so far. Assuming that keeps holding, and I think it will, then that is a model for a larger solution to this problem because that's always the next step, right? So, what are we actually going to do about it? And unless we think that the federal government is going to use its power to come in and put the kibosh on this, which is... Actually, we should maybe circle back to this. It accidentally may have recently. But I don't think —We'll circle back to that.I don't think it's going to do it affirmatively in any big way anytime soon. There is an effort amongst state lawmakers to form a compact that essentially is a sort of collective ceasefire where all the states will get together and say, "We're not doing this anymore. Every state that joins this compact agrees not to use state or local incentives to steal businesses from any other state in the compact." It's like multilateral disarmament, right? That's the problem, is that no one state wants to just say, "Okay, we're turning off the spigot," because there's going to be a political cost. Some governor next door is going to be a jerk about it, and start poaching all your businesses, and claiming that great things are happening. And you're going to look terrible and probably lose your re-election campaign. So, the great thing about the compact is everybody sort of puts the weaponry down together and says, "Okay, let's all do this at the same time."They also agree to a bunch of data sharing practices, which I think would be really helpful just because it's just that much harder to play states off against each other because they'll be able to literally ask, "Hey, what's this corporation telling you? Oh, well, here's what they're telling us." It would improve a lot of things. There are bills in 13 states at the moment to form this compact. I believe a 14th is coming, though I won't get ahead of them, in a state that is pretty exciting, but I'll let them announce it and we can talk again when they do. That's up from this coalition working on this effort two years ago, when there were bills in five states and it's up to 13 now. This isn't going to happen this week or next week or next year, but I do think it's really promising. I've seen a noticeable uptick in interest in it since the pandemic, because state lawmakers, for reasons good and bad, are looking around and realizing that this is a giant waste of money and are looking for ways to sort of collectively get out of handing out these incentives. I think it's promising and it's just such a good model. It doesn't depend on the federal government doing anything. It's just the states agreeing to do it together at the same time. So, we will see!That's cool. So, how did the federal government maybe accidentally stop corporate giveaways?There's a provision in the most recent COVID relief package that says that any state that enacts a net reduction in taxes needs to pay back to the federal government an equal amount of relief funds. Essentially, if you decide to cut taxes by $100 million, give back $100 million in your relief funds, because you clearly didn't need it if you were cutting taxes. If you look at the way the law is phrased, I think it doesn't take a deep reading to say that it applies to most definitely new state and local corporate tax incentive programs, but even because it talks about administrative analyses being part of the equation here, also new awards under existing programs. I think there's a world in which you can very, very credibly claim that this provision should apply to incentive programs.Most certainly any new incentive program that gets authorized, you should have to pay back the federal government by the same amount and maybe new awards under existing programs. This makes sense. This is the federal government trying to essentially ensure that members of other states didn't have to subsidize tax cuts in a particular state. I think it certainly applies, and the key is going to be what the Treasury says about it. Treasury will be issuing guidance on this provision about what counts and what doesn't and what you have to do to pay back. But if Treasury goes with what me and a lot of other folks are saying, and applies this to incentive packages, suddenly new incentive programs will be twice as expensive! So, if you authorize a $2 billion incentive program, it's not just those $2 billion out the door, it's also $2 billion in relief funds that need to go along with it.It could be very interesting to see how states react. States are throwing a fit about this provision in general, but so far, Treasury has been pretty adamant about wanting it policed the way it's written in the law. We're going to see, but if Treasury goes along with that interpretation, there could be just a window there where these things have to slow down for a couple of years and hopefully give the folks who are working on a compact a little time to try and get it implemented instead of just having to play constant whack-a-mole, because that's sort of how you feel like working on this.That every day, a new bad deal pops up somewhere and you're scrambling so hard to try and just address that, that there's no time to sit down and stop them systemically. The piece I did recently on that study about small businesses, I had sitting around for several weeks just because new bad deals kept popping up. I kept having to write newsletters about those and be like, "Oh, I have to push the study edition back another week." And that's sort of how it is on policy level all the time too.So Janet Yellen, please make Pat's job easier. That about wraps everything up. Where can folks find you?The newsletter is called Boondoggle, it's on Substack. I work at the American Economic Liberties Project and a lot of my work on not just taxes, but corporate power in general at the state and local level shows up there. And I am on Twitter @Pat_Garofalo, the underscore is really important because otherwise -The most important underscore.The most important underscore because otherwise, you're going to wind up following a conservative member of the Minnesota State House.Got it. And you and he, I understand, have distinctly different opinions on corporate tax incentives.On most things.All right. Well, thanks again. I will be sure when I open up the Numlock Campus to call it a campus.I hear you should move to Memphis. Move Numlock headquarters to Memphis and you're going to get a really sweet deal.Noted! If you have anything you'd like to see in this Sunday special, shoot me an email. Comment below! Thanks for reading, and thanks so much for supporting Numlock.Thank you so much for becoming a paid subscriber! Send links to me on Twitter at @WaltHickey or email me with numbers, tips, or feedback at walt@numlock.news. Get full access to Numlock News at www.numlock.com/subscribe
In this episode of Personally Speaking, Msgr. Jim Lisante is joined by former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Governor Walker is now president of “Young America’s Foundation”. The vision of Young America’s Foundation is to show generations of young people how conservative ideals work. Governor Walker would like the Young America’s Foundation to reach every college in the country, pushing back against political correctness and cancel culture initiatives on campuses.Support the show (http://closeencountertv.com/cetvdonate.asp)
Episode 461 Governor Scott Walker is a First Class Father and 45th Governor of Wisconsin. Governor Walker is currently the President of YOUNG AMERICA’S FOUNDATION (YAF). He served two terms as Governor of Wisconsin from 2011-2019. As President of YAF Governor Walker has instituted The Long Game which is an ambitious action plan to beat back the deep-rooted cultural rot that has infected America’s youth. Instead of teaching young people to hate America, the Governor seeks to instill a new sentiment in the hearts of young Americans, one based on freedom and the values that made America great in the first place. In this Episode, Governor Walker shares his Fatherhood journey which includes two children. He discusses some of the challenges he faced being the Governor of Wisconsin while being a dad. He details the goals of The Long Game and why it is so important for today’s youth. He describes the importance of the Nuclear Family Unit and the devastating effects of the Fatherless Crisis. He talks about the values he has instilled in his two boys and what he said to them when it came time for them to start dating. He offers some great advice for new or about to be Dads and more! YAF - https://www.yaf.org/news/jointhelonggame/ Belcampo Meat - https://belcampo.com/?utm_source=FATHERHOOD&utm_medium=INFL&utm_campaign=FATHERHOOD MY PILLOW - https://www.mypillow.com Promo Code: Fatherhood Save Up To 66% Off 1-800-875-0219 Subscribe on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCD6cjYptutjJWYlM0Kk6cQ?sub_confirmation=1 More Ways To Listen - https://linktr.ee/alec_lace First Class Fatherhood Merch - https://shop.spreadshirt.com/first-class-fatherhood-/we+are+not+babysitters-A5d09ea872051763ad613ec8e?productType=812&sellable=3017x1aBoNI8jJe83pw5-812-7&appearance=1 Follow me on instagram - https://instagram.com/alec_lace?igshid=ebfecg0yvbap For information about becoming a Sponsor of First Class Fatherhood please hit me with an email: FirstClassFatherhood@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alec-lace/support
Former Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, is now President of Young America's Foundation fighting for individual liberty, sacred freedoms, and equality for all. Governor Walker is no stranger to a fight as he successfully won a vicious recall effort while Governor of Wisconsin. Now he takes his fighting skills to YAF with a bold new initiative called The Long Game. The Long Game will wrestle the education of young Americans everywhere away from the dark clutches of the Left and bring the next generation of politicians, CEOs, and culture makers into the light.
Today marks the ten year anniversary of Act 10, Scott Walker's most consequential government reform and clearly our state's most successful public policy initiative by far. A new analysis at maciver institute.com shows that Act 10 has saved Wisconsin taxpayers over $13.9 billion dollars since it was enacted 10 years ago. That is 13.9 billion with a b. (That is almost $3,000 dollars in taxpayer savings for every adult in Wisconsin.) While Big Labor and the professional protesters tried to convince you that collective bargaining reform would see our school children wandering the countryside aimlessly, prisoners loose on the streets and the general end of modern civilization here in Wisconsin, remember that the 13.9 billion in savings has gone towards significant tax cuts at the state level, more funding for education at the local level and kept some local governments out of bankruptcy. Thank you Governor Walker for, despite the outrageous tantrum of a few, passing Act 10 and thank you Governor Evers for keeping this historic taxpayer protection reform in place.
Frank Lasee - former Wisconsin State Senator, past president Heartland and former member of Governor Walker’s administration. Alfredo Ortiz, President Job Creators Network
Hey everyone! Episode 22 is live! On Today's episode I got the opportunity to interview Sean Inderbitzen. Sean is a Behavioral Health Therapist for Northlakes Community Clinic, and lives with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has a caseload of 25% of his patients that live with ASD and varying comorbid psychiatric conditions. Prior to being a mental health clinician, he was a Vocational Rehabilitation Specialist for Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for 3 years. He was also appointed by Governor Walker to the Statewide Independent Living Council of Wisconsin. He is an incoming Member to the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, and provides training on Motivational Interviewing, ASD and Employment, ASD and Comorbid Psychiatric Conditions. If interested in a consult please email him at Seabindie@me.com
Governor Scott Walker discusses the global impact of Coronavirus and how we can deal with it through every level of government and with the help of the private sector. Plus, 9 years ago this week, Act 10 was passed resulting in massive savings for the taxpayers. Lastly, Governor Walker discusses the President's growing silent majority that is fed up with the extreme tactics liberals are taking against Donald Trump. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/support
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, who was appointed by Governor Walker to fill the vacancy left by Justice David Prosser who retired in 2016, will face voters for the first time in 2020. But, this usually non-partisan race has already become politicized among an already busy and contested election year. Politics and state government reporter Riley Vetterkind walked through each candidate, their platform and what’s riding on the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Support the show.
Governor Scott Walker sat down for a discussion with former Vice President Dick Cheney hosted by Young America's Foundation at Beloit College. They discussed global and national issues that our government faces today before students and community members. On this week's podcast, Governor Walker shares a few notes about their conversation. Plus, the Governor discusses the double standard of professional athletes in politics, as the NBA is silenced by China. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/support
The keynote speaker for the 25th Annual Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast will be former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The Quad Cities Prayer Breakfast is Saturday at 8 a.m. at the RiverCenter in Davenport. The event will also feature music from The Browns. Governor Walker joined AM Quad Cities.
Governor Scott Walker discusses the news and events of the day. In episode 10, Governor Walker focuses on taking on the national debt crises. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/support
Imagine hiring an industry's top lobbyist to lead the state agency in charge of handing out contracts to that very industry. In Wisconsin, we don't have to imagine. Just look to the Department of Transportation, where Secretary Craig Thompson wasn't even on the job a week before he signed off on two single-bid contracts worth almost two million dollars. In his first eight months running the DOT, Thompson has approved $320 million in single-bid contracts. That's just $12 million less than his predecessor under Governor Walker approved in two years. A 2017 audit found tens of millions in wasted taxpayer dollars thanks to single-bid contracts, doled out without a competitive bidding process. Until Thompson took over, stamping out that waste had become a crusade at DOT. But under the lobbyist-turned bureaucrat's leadership, that has apparently come to a screeching halt. Imagine that.
Governor Scott Walker explains the name for this podcast - "You Can't Recall Courage" - and the record of reform that let to the name. Then, Governor Walker discusses comments Democrats have made on pro-life legislation in Virginia. Lastly, Governor Walker discusses the diplomatic relationships between Iran and the United States, Joe Biden and Barack Obama's policies of the past in regards to Iran. Show Note: You can now become a show supporter for "You Can't Recall Courage" -- Support this podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes by contributing here: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/support --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/scottwalker/support
Jeff was joined by Grace Jang. Jang worked for former Governor Bill Walker for his entire 4 year term. She held several positions including communications director and deputy chief of staff. Prior to that she worked for KTVA and KTUU as a producer and reporter. They discuss her time with Governor Walker, her background in media, the infamous Speedogate incident, and her new communications and consulting business, Grace Jang Solutions.
Listen to the full interview from Wisconsin's Afternoon News
Melissa Kadrmas is a Financial Representative for Thrivent Financial, and volunteers to serve as the Commander for the La Crosse U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla. She also is appointed by Governor Walker to the Wisconsin Small Business Regulatory Review Board and serves on the NFIB Wisconsin Leadership Board. You can learn more about Melissa here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissakadrmas/ This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite here: http://authorsunite.com/. Thank you for listening to The Business Blast Podcast! Tyler --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/authorsunite/support
The Wisconsin governor's race is starting to draw broader attention. Some recent national polls show Democratic candidate Tony Evers ahead of Republican Gov. Scott Walker in hypothetical head-to-head matchups.
Governor Walker talks election, sales tax holiday, and officer funeral on Wisconsin's Morning News
Bruce Murphy on Wisconsin's Morning News: Is FoxConn double crossing Governor Walker?
We welcome back former Battleground WI panelist Jorna Taylor to dig into breaking political news. We discuss the huge opportunity for progressives to elect a state senator in the District 1 special election on June 12th now that the unpopular Rep. Andre Jacque has come through the GOP primary despite establishment opposition. We also discuss Peter Barca’s decision not to run in Congressional District 1, news that Republican Ed Brooks will resign in Assembly District 50, and get Jorna’s thoughts on the governor’s race. Finally we bat around Governor Walker’s order to state agencies for 0% growth in their 2019-2020 budgets; the latest Foxconn scandal, $100 political baby bribes, net neutrality, and more.
Big Labor's seemingly unending lawsuits against Act 10 - Governor Walker's collective bargaining reform that's saved taxpayers billions - just keep coming. Despite being upheld in various appeals courts, including the Wisconsin Supreme Court, unions are now suing with the Janus v. AFSCME as a pretense in yet another doomed effort to bring down the landmark law. Catch the MacIver News Minute on News/Talk 1130 WISN every Tuesday and Thursday at 8, 11, and 2. Listen to News/Talk 1130 WISN live: www.iheart.com/live/1130-wisn-4245/
Wisconsin Medical Society's Government Relations team discusses highlights from Doctor Day 2018. This episode includes discussion about Governor Walker's 2018 health care stability plan, the four key issues physicians brought to legislators, the Society's agenda for an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. and the Wisconsin State Supreme Court race.Join Mark Grapentine, JD, Lisa Davidson and Peter Welch for their lively discussion of topics important to physicians in Wisconsin.
Mayor Soglin meets with the media to discuss how Madison businesses will be affected by Governor Walker’s plan to offer incentives to Kimberly Clark in the Fox Valley.
Governor Scott Walker discusses the 2017-19 state budget that he signed into law Thursday with MacIver's Matt Kittle, filling in for Vicki McKenna on News/Talk 1130 WIBA. More Vicki McKenna at News/Talk 1310 WIBA: wiba.iheart.com/onair/vicki-mckenna-29300/
The long-overdue budget process is finally wrapping up, but Governor Walker is already undoing some significant additions to the bill. Also, new questions are emerging over the Foxconn deal. Do the Legislature's attorneys think Walker and GOP lawmakers went too far? We also run recent Foxconn statements through the PolitiFact Truth-o-Meter. Plus we look at an upcoming story on the costs of renting in Milwaukee. All that plus winners and losers and your questions.
Governor Walker joins Mark, Foxconn.
MacIver President Brett Healy joins Vicki McKenna to talk about one strange week in Wisconsin's stalled budget negotiations. Earlier in the week, the Senate presented its budget plan - and a couple days later, the Assembly announced that it has reached a deal with Governor Walker to sacrifice the gov's income tax cuts at the altar of transportation. More Vicki McKenna at News/Talk 1310 WIBA: wiba.iheart.com/onair/vicki-mckenna-29300/
Governor Walker's administration: Trouble?
JIM GOODMAN and his wife Rebecca operate Northwood Farm, a certified organic dairy farm that provides fresh milk to a local cheese producer. They also market beef directly from the farm and at the Dane County Farmers' Market in Madison, WI. Their cows are raised according to organic standards and are predomiantly grass-fed.Jim is also a frequent contributor to National Family Farm Coalition.On april 30th, he wrote: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) must be replaced with a transparent trade agreement that ensures farmers in all three nations—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—receive fair prices for their production, that consumers are guaranteed the right to know the content and origin of their food, and that strong environmental protections are put in place to protect the sustainability of rural communities.While our government officials appear to be concerned about the well being and economic viability of Wisconsin’s dairy farmers, I wonder if they are really more interested in the viability of the “dairy industry”.Are they concerned about fair farm prices and the environment or keeping the economic engine rolling? Since the Assembly, Governor Walker and the Wisconsin Department Of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) have done all they can to encourage Wisconsin farmers to produce more milk, never questioning how much milk might be too much, I’m guessing their concern lies with a dairy industry that depends on cheap milk. Find out more at www.nffc.net & www.northwoodorganicfarm.com
This week the panel digs into the latest scathing audit of WEDC, Governor Walker's failed jobs agency. The audit finds that WEDC cannot even track the number of jobs it allegedly created, has over $11 million in delinquent loans, and to top it all off spent over $41,000 on chauffeurs. The panel also discussed the new GOP anti-riot bill, the apparent appointment of extreme right-wing Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to the Department of Homeland Security, and the shocking bad week for Trump. Finally, the panel discusses the state of the health care debate, including Walker's waiver which would impose forced drug testing for BadgerCare, and the U.S. Senate health care repeal process where Sen. Ron Johnson has joined the working group.
Governor Walker on the Dan O'Donnell Show
In this episode, Trump returns to Wisconsin. Craig Gilbert on the political ramifications of the president’s visit at a time when he’s flip-flopped on what his supporters must have felt were core convictions. Also, PolitiFact Wisconsin reporter Tom Kertscher on what the stats say about our economic well-being as Governor Walker prepares to run for a third term. Carjackings and politics: What’s likely to happen with an eight-bill package of legislation meant to tamp down crime in the city.
Guest: Sam Hagedorn, Chairman of Republican Party of Milwaukee County............President Trump carried Wisconsin, the first Republican to win it since President Reagan in 1984.......the GOP has had a great renaissance in Wisconsin thanks to Governor Walker and a very strong state GOP party..............and a few other stories from the news............... ...........please check out my BLOG......and follow me on Twitter......
In this episode of "On Politics," we analyze President Trump's relationship with congressional Republicans, discuss yet another pension flub in Milwaukee County and how Governor Walker's plan for the state's highways may end up costing taxpayers more money.
Governor Walker has recently proposed elimination of the position that oversees this valuable program that provides fresh food to local schoolchildren and assists producers. Mayor Soglin discusses what this means to the City of Madison.
We hear from Madison reporter Patrick Marley on Governor Walker's speech at CPAC. The ACLU sues MPD, Ashley Luthern will tell us what happens next. Can we talk? For one night we did, a look back at Tuesday's "Across the Divide" event. Plus our weekly winners and losers and your questions.
Washington Bureau Chief Craig Gilbert on Trump's Supreme Court pick and on developing spheres within the White House. Where does Priebus fit in? Jason Stein on Governor Walker's welfare plan and Dan Bice and Mary Spicuzza on the possibility that the sheriff might make a run for the Senate. Plus, winners and losers and your questions.
Gregg Goers, English teacher at Neenah High School, joined the morning show to talk about attending Governor Walker's "State of the State" address. He along with a select group of students and administrators were invited to attend.
Fresh off his "State of the State" address, Governor Walker joined the show to recap and dive into some of the key pieces of his speech. Topics included; Transportation, Education and of course the Green Bay Packers.
Fresh off his "State of the State" address, Governor Walker joined the show to recap and dive into some of the key pieces of his speech. Topics included; Transportation, Education and of course the Green Bay Packers.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) awarded $585,000 in grants to five Milwaukee-based organizations. Governor Walker announced the news on December 14 at MARKETPLACE 2016, the 35th annual statewide conference for minority, woman, and veteran-owned businesses, held at the Potawatomi Hotel and Conference Center in Milwaukee.
We reflect on Milwaukee Sherman Park unrest and its implications, including the right-wing effort to exploit the situation and the desperate need to get serious about expanding economic opportunity in Milwaukee’s African-American community. We also discuss a Citizen Action revelation that Governor Walker's jobs agency misrepresented job creation in Sherman Park. The panel bats around news that Johnson Controls shareholders approved the company's merger with Tyco International enabling them to dodge $150 million in U.S. taxes and dole out lavish gold parachutes to top executives on our dime. Finally, we dig into the shocking news that one of the nation's largest health insurance corporations is pulling out of ObamaCare in retaliation for the Obama Administration's move to block a proposed mega merger.
We welcome Citizen Action of Wisconsin organizer Anita Johnson to review a federal judge’s ruling that major parts of the voting restrictions laws passed by the conservative legislature and signed by Governor Walker between 2011 and 2014 are unconstitutional. In the case brought by Citizen Action of Wisconsin the judge found that several of the voting restrictions constitute intentional racial discrimination against African American and Latino voters in Milwaukee. We also talk about news that Affordable Care Act insurance rates in Wisconsin could increase anywhere from 5% to 36% in 2017 and how these costs are being driven by prescription drugs and underlying price of medical services. Finally the panel weighs in on Donald Trump’s surreal week, a national push back against payday lenders, and next Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary elections.
Wisconsin is a beautiful place to be. Donald Trump vs The Republican Party. Apple and the FBI. Fact of Crap: One a piece for the both of us. Mail Bag: One for Al in Jersey: Little known facts. A few from Joe: 1) Governor Walker signs bill for online voter registration. 2) Egypt airport officials defaced my vintage guitar: Bryan Adams. 3) Anti-gay writings take center stage in Wisconsin court race. The Rest of the Show: 1) Big profitable US companies paid no taxes. 2) Pentagon flew drones over US to aid first responders. Happy Easter see ya in 2 weeks.
We welcome U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin to discuss her letter to Governor Walker calling on him to stop withholding data on the number of people he forced off BadgerCare who have successfully transitioned to Affordable Care Act health insurance. Sen. Baldwin also discusses the future of health care reform and her comprehensive efforts to make higher education more affordable and accessible. The panel also discusses a crazy right-wing bill to allow concealed weapons in schools, the latest outburst from Rep. “Loose Cannon” Bob Gannon, a bill to expand the number of locations you can vote early, public records concealed by Walker's WEDCulous jobs agency, and this week's Paul Ryan Watch.
Guest: Barry Casselman, The Prairie Editor, joins us for a look at Washington after Speaker Boehner's resignation.......why did he leave? who will replace him? what lies ahead for relations between the US House and the Obama administration......relations with the GOP Senate........is Senator McConnell next? why is the base so angry with the GOP leadership? Click to support some of our friends.... ...CLICK AUDIBLE.COM, YOUR SOURCE FOR AUDIO BOOKS! CHECK OUT MY FRIEND CARLOS GUEDES AND HIS MUSIC........ FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER......
Guest: Barry Casselman, The Prairie Editor.....we will look at the so called Trump Factor in the 2016 campaign......his impact on the topic of illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, leadership, job creation, trade deals and the manufacturing base......we will also look at the upcoming GOP debate in a few weeks........who will be there? who is gaining who is falling back in this quest for the nomination......also, what is going on in the Democrat side with Senator Bernie Sanders.....Governor Walker is in...........the Iran nuclear deal....and a few baseball thoughts with the All Star Game in Cincinatti........ .... Click to support some of our friends.... YOU CAN GET TALK SHOW UPDATES HERE........ ...CLICK AUDIBLE.COM, YOUR SOURCE FOR AUDIO BOOKS! CHECK OUT MY FRIEND CARLOS GUEDES AND HIS MUSIC........ CHECK OUT MY BOOK: CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN..... FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER...... GET MY POSTS BY E-MAIL HERE......
GUEST: Jim Yardley, contributor to Canada Free Press, American Thinker & editor of Patriot Dreams.....we will discussed the GOP field.......the key question is this: Who can win? Who is the most conservative candidate who can win? Who can win 270 votes? Who can pick up Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and a few other states that Bush won in 2004 but the GOP lost in 2008 & 2012..... Click to support some of our friends.... ...CLICK AUDIBLE.COM, YOUR SOURCE FOR AUDIO BOOKS! CHECK OUT MY BOOK: CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN..... LISTEN TO THE MUSIC OF CARLOS GUEDES...... FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER...... GET MY POSTS BY E-MAIL HERE.......
Media Call: New Wisconsin Polling on Health Care Issues Impacting State Budget Citizen Action of Wisconsin will be joined by Public Policy Polling and members of the Joint Finance Committee to release new poll results on key health care issues. The polling was conducted March 6-8, and had a sample size of 1,071 Wisconsin voters. Questions include whether Wisconsin should accept enhanced federal funds for BadgerCare, and whether Governor Walker has responsibility to take action to protect Wisconsin residents from a possible U.S. Supreme Court decision that could take health insurance subsidies from over 184,000 Wisconsinites.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin joins State Senator Kathleen Vinehout and State Representative Melissa Sargent on a media call to announce a contingency plan in case the Supreme Court takes health insurance subsidies away from over 183,000 Wisconsinites. The announcement of the legislation coincides with U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments on the case of King vs. Burwell, which could take tax subsidies away from over over 13 million people in states that did not set up their own federal health insurance marketplace under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Participants on the call will make the case that it is malpractice for Governor Walker and the State Legislature not to create a contingency plan in the the Supreme Court takes health insurance subsidies away. Many Wisconsinites just above the poverty line were dropped from BadgerCare by Governor Walker and the Legislature in 2014 and pushed into the federal marketplace. In addition, many people on the federal marketplace have preexisting conditions, and have no where else to go to get life saving health coverage.
GUEST: Frank Burke, businessman in Wisconsin and contributor to American Thinker, joins me for a discussion about Governor Walker and the media.........how is Governor Walker doing? will he run for president in 2016? CLICK AUDIBLE.COM, YOUR SOURCE FOR AUDIO BOOKS! CHECK OUT THE BOOKS OF ILEANA JOHNSON! CHECK OUT MY AMERICAN THINKER POSTS ARCHIVES! CHECK OUT THE MUSIC OF JOANNA MELL, HARPIST..... CHECK OUT MY AMERICAN THINKER POSTS! CHECK OUT THE BABALU BLOG! CHECK OUT MY BLOG AND GET UPDATES ABOUT MY POSTS! CHECK OUT THE MUSIC OF CARLOS GUEDES..... WANT TO READ A GOOD BOOK? TRY MY BOOK "CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN"
We will look at the top stories of the week, from Iraq to Washington, from President Obama to the GOP Congress....the Obama resolution to fight ISIS, Governor Walker in the UK and evolution.... CLICK AUDIBLE.COM, YOUR SOURCE FOR AUDIO BOOKS! CHECK OUT MY AMERICAN THINKER POSTS ARCHIVES! CHECK OUT THE MUSIC OF JOANNA MELL, HARPIST..... CHECK OUT THE MUSIC OF CARLOS GUEDES..... WANT TO READ A GOOD BOOK? TRY MY BOOK "CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN"
Governor Walker's presidential political arm may be at odds with the grassroots.
On the Best Of Larry Kudlow today, Larry talks with Governor Kasich and Senator Coburn. Also on the show is Thomas Sowell and General Keane. Lastly, Governor Walker and the Money/Politics Panel. Happy New Year from Larry!
On the Best Of Larry Kudlow today, Larry talks with Governor Kasich and Senator Coburn. Also on the show is Thomas Sowell and General Keane. Lastly, Governor Walker and the Money/Politics Panel. Happy New Year from Larry!
On the Best Of Larry Kudlow today, Larry talks with Governor Kasich and Senator Coburn. Also on the show is Thomas Sowell and General Keane. Lastly, Governor Walker and the Money/Politics Panel. Happy New Year from Larry!
In this episode of the Red Eye Report, we discuss Shady ass Doctors. We watch a movie that would definitely win the Awkward Oscar. And as usual, we stand with Governor Walker. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Governor Walker has kicked over 62,000 Wisconsinites off BadgerCare by rejecting billions of dollars in federal health care funds for the program. On November 4th, Vote for Mary Burke! Mary Burke will accept the federal funds for BadgerCare.
Guest: Frank Burke, businessman, writer and contributor to American Thinker. We will discuss the allegations against Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin PLUS those missing IRS E-mails. Check out our new sponsor: AUDIBLE.COM (www.audibletrial.com/cantotalk.) Looking for a good book to read? Check out my book: CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN BY SILVIO CANTO JR
Report Release: Is WEDC's Job Impact Fairly Distributed? Thursday Media Call to release report which raises questions about political and geographic preference in WEDC's jobs numbers. TELECONFERENCE FOR WISCONSIN MEDIA Thursday 10:30 A.M. Statewide: Citizen Action of Wisconsin is releasing a new report on the performance of Governor Walker’s privatized jobs agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, which finds geographic disparities and troubling political correlations. The report will be released Thursday morning on a statewide media call. Joining the call to discuss the implications of the findings will be Senate Democratic Leader Chris Larson and State Representative Sandy Pasch. This report includes new data self reported by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation showing job impact by county, region and legislative district. The report finds a large disparity in job impact between regions of Wisconsin and legislative districts. WHAT: Teleconference to discuss report on WEDC's geographic disparities and political correlations. WHEN: 10:30 AM., Thursday, February 20, 2014 WHO: --Robert Kraig, Executive Director, Citizen Action of Wisconsin --State Senator Chris Larson (Senate Democratic Leader) --State Representative Sandy Pasch --Kevin Kane, Lead Organizer, Citizen Action of Wisconsin (Report Lead Author) More info kevin.kane@citizenactionwi.org 414-550-8280
Peter, raised in New York, joins us for the 10th anniversary of 9/11.Mail Bag:No Mail Bag this week.The Rest of the Show:1) Peter tells his story.2) Remembering September 11, 2001.3) Osama Bin Laden.4) Who's to be our next President?5) Governor Walker.6) Peters John Lennon story.
Edition #494 No war but class war Check out Stitcher Smart Radio and use the promo code "BEST" Visit www.Stitcher.com/BEST Act 1: Is Wall Street Set Up To Reward Evil - Lee Camp Song 1: Wonderful world - Sam Cooke Act 2: William Cohan Extended Interview Pt. 1 - Daily Show Song 2: Octopus's Garden - The Beatles Act 3: Bush and Obama's Failure to Extract Mortgage Relief from Bankers Continues to Dampen Economy - The Progressive Song 3: Suffer - The Echoing Green Act 4: William Cohan Extended Interview Pt. 2 - Daily Show Song 4: Protest Song - Southpaw Jones Act 5: Record Profits - Where Are The Jobs - Young Turks Song 5: Class Warfare - Chris Priest Act 6: Governor Walker tries to create jobs Part 1 - This American Life Song 6: Say Hey (I Love You) [feat. Cherine Anderson] - Michael Franti & Spearhead Act 7: Rich First-Grader Buys Whole Sheet Of Gold Stars - The Onion Song 7: Can't buy me love - The Beatles Act 8: Governor Walker tries to create jobs Part 2 - This American Life Song 8: Solitary - VNV Nation Act 9: Boehner BS Debunked By Cenk - Young Turks Song 9: Honesty - Billy Joel Act 10: Three wrongs don't make big oil right - Jim Hightower Song 10: Bulletproof - La Roux Act 11: Hedge Funds Make More In An Hour Than You Make In A Half Century - Lee Camp Song 11: Radioactive - Vitamin String Quartet Act 12: Shocking Graph U.S. Income Inequality - Young Turks Voicemails: Response to Dominick being right on climate urgency - Dave from Olympia, WA Thank you for Johann Hari clip on world food supply - John from San Francisco Voicemail Music: Loud Pipes - Ratatat Final comments promoting the Johann Hari podcast Bonus Voicemail: Reaction to Citizen Radio - Daryl from CA Bonus iPhone/iPod Touch App Content: Debt To America - Daily Show Produced by: Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunes!
Governor Walker's actions in Wisconsin have ignited a protest movement that no one could have predicted. Police estimate that over 100,000 people attended a rally at the Wisconsin State Capitol building on Saturday March 12. Today we will speak to a parent who became involved in the protests because many of the state employees that the Governor is attacking are teachers. If you want to know what's really happening in Wisconsin, tune in Monday at 3:30pm EST (2:30pm Wisconsin time).
What is happening in Wisconsin? How does it affect you? Will it affect you? Is education important to Republicans? I let Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow explain just a few of the problems that Wisconsin's Governor Walker is facing while trying to take union rights away.
Pastor Jeff Williams: February 27, 2011 Living Deb-Free, Part III, "Barriers to Forgiveness." [A clip from Forrest Gump was played here where they were throwing rocks at a house, and Forrest said, "Sometimes there just aren't enough rocks." Forrest has a way with words, doesn't he?] Good morning to you. We are on a series called "Debt-Free Living," and we are studying forgiveness together. We're taking our time doing so. We're going to spend a couple of months together on this subject. It's not a one-and-done kind of thing, but we're really trying to get deep into it. This morning we want to talk about some of the barriers to forgiveness. Why is it that some of us make it through and others of us get stuck? We're going to identify some of those barriers. If you're taking notes, I'd like you to write those things down, write those barriers down, and then identify which it is that's sticking you. Where are you getting stuck in your forgiveness journey? Circle that one and say, "That's the one by the grace of God that I'm going to break through." That's going to be our job today-to identify that barrier. Before we get into that, I want to have a little quiz. I want to test you on your Bible knowledge and your history. We're going to give you some quotes of last words from famous people. These are quotes many of you have heard before. Maybe you can identify who said them. The first one is from American history, "I regret I only have one life to lose for my country." If you think you know who said that, you don't have to say it; but how many of you think you have an idea? Yeah, it was Nathan Hale. A few of you? Yeah, some of you guys were real confident but you weren't quite right. Our first spy-that's what he said when he was killed by the British in the Revolutionary War right before he died. Here's one that you'll recognize, "Et tu, Brute?" That was Julius Caesar's on the Ides of March before he was stabbed to death, betrayed. Here's one from the Bible. Let's see if you recognize these famous last powerful words. "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit." That was the first martyr of the church, Steven, as he was being stoned to death. The Apostle Paul was leading the charge. Steven said, "Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit," and then he died. What a dramatic way to go and what powerful last words those are. These next last words are also from the Bible. They're spoken by somebody that will surprise you. "Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood," (in 1 Kings 2:9, page 327 of pew Bible). This is somebody that you know, a Bible character that you know-these were the last words [he spoke] before he took his dying breath. The last words were words of vengeance, of bitterness, of unforgiveness. He was telling somebody to kill another person. Do you know who said this? David-the one who wrote Psalms 23 about "the Lord is my Shepherd" and those gentle words, the last words before he died, were to tell his son, Solomon, to kill a person. "Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood." What caused David to be so angry and so bitter? We're starting at the end, and then we're going to go back to the beginning. Let's first turn to 1 Kings 2 (page 327). David is on his death bed, and he is giving his son Solomon directives. He's blessing him; he's giving him a charge. It starts off really well, "Live for God. Serve Him. Do what's right," but then he starts listing people he is happy with and people he's upset with. When we get to Verse 8, he says, "'And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: "I will not put you to death by the sword." But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his gray head down to the grave in blood.' "Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City" that bears his name. He said, "This person insulted me." Wow, that seems like an overreaction, doesn't it? Somebody insulted me, so I want him dead. He said, "I told him I would not kill him, but I never said my son wouldn't. I have a loophole here, and I'm going to use it." Let's see what happened. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the Book of 2 Samuel 16 (page 311 of pew Bibles). David was at a low point in his life and in his reign as King. He had a son whose name was Absalom, and Absalom rebelled against David. He decided that he too wanted to be King. He was rising in popularity with men and women. Men loved him because he was brave, and the women loved him because he was handsome. He had this winning smile and charm, and he was charming the people. The people started saying, "We wish you were King. We like you better than your father." Power started going to his head, and pretty soon he decided, "I think I want to be King." He staged a rebellion against his father. Now David loved his son and did not want to fight against his son; so he decided that for the time being, he would step down from his throne and leave the palace. Now David was wandering through the countryside. He didn't know what he was going to do; he didn't know what he was going to do. All he knew was that his son was trying to kick him out of power, and he didn't want to battle his son; so he voluntarily left his throne. Now his popularity was at a low at this point. There was a lot of dissention in the southern region of the Kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah. By the time his son took the throne, David was already out the back door. He had a group of faithful followers with him; his general and others were with him. They came through town and found a man who absolutely hated him named Shimei. Shimei couldn't stand the ground that David walked on. Shimei saw this as an opportunity to tell King David exactly what he thought. He was vulnerable; he was in a defeated posture, and Shimei said, "This is my chance. He's not going to be King anymore. He can't hurt me anymore. I'm going to tell him exactly what I think!" He was going to get so mad and so worked up that he would pick up stones and start throwing them at David. He was going to pick up dirt and start throwing it at David, along with insults and cursing toward him. Imagine what it would be like for Governor Walker if he were to take a stroll through the protestors today. With all the hatred that there is right now, he'd be in danger, wouldn't he? Imagine if Gaddafi were to take a walk through Libya right now in the midst of the protestors. Imagine if Mubarak were to walk through the Egyptian protestors. Wow! They would be taking their lives into their own hands. David was actually walking with his bodyguards, and that didn't even stop Shimei. This guy was so mad that not even the presence of bodyguards would stop him. Let's take a look in Verse 5, "As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Saul's family…" Remember Saul was the one who was King first and then David. "…came out from there. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and he cursed as he came out. He pelted David and all the King's officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David's right and left. As he cursed, Shimei said, 'Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel!'" He doesn't think to highly of David. "'The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Saul, in whose place you have reigned. The Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!'" Tell us how you really feel, Shimei. Don't hold back. Wow, he just puts it all on the line. "Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the King, 'Why should this dead dog curse me Lord the King? Let me go over and cut off his head.'" Some of those stones were hitting him, and he didn't like it. Some of that dirt was landing on him. He said, "Let me just go ahead and take care of this little peon for you. It'll be my pleasure." You know how it is when you're having a bad time? Maybe you're feeling like a failure, you're feeling like the world is against you, and it doesn't matter anymore. Have you been there? "Go ahead, throw the stones. I deserve it. I'm a bad King. My people hate me! I'm a bad father. My son is going against me. Go ahead-I deserve it. Kick me while I'm down. Save what you need to say. I don't care!" Have you ever been there? You're just so discouraged and so upset that you just don't care anymore. "Go ahead and insult me. Go ahead and try to hurt my reputation and say things. I don't care anymore. Everybody else is, so go ahead!" That's his attitude; that's his posture, so he tells them, "No, don't stop him." Maybe God is just telling him to do that. "Just go ahead." Verse 13, "So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt." When they arrived at their destination, all the people with him were exhausted, "And there he refreshed himself." He took a bath and cleaned up his wounds. I've never been walking down a road while being sprayed by rocks, dirt, and insults continually; but I'm sure that was very stressful for David. David seems to take the high road. David doesn't order him to be killed or anything like that. What happened was Absalom was killed in a battle. David said to his men, "When you go to battle, don't harm my boy. Whatever you do, be gentle with my son." Well, it didn't work out that way. David's general killed Absalom in the field of battle. David was broken-hearted; but as a consequence of that, the southern kingdom regrouped and decided to make David King once again and unite the North and the South. It was the end of Civil War. It was the end of brother against brother. The nation was restored. Israel was one, and David was the one King. There were no more threats to his throne; so nationally, even though it was a time of grieving for David, it was a time of rejoicing. We think of our Civil War, and we think of the joy in our country when we were united as one country under one President again. It was a time of healing and rebuilding. That was how David looked at it. So this was good news; the country was one, but there was one citizen that was not happy about David becoming King again. There was one citizen who, when he picked up Israeli Newspaper, read an article that said, "David is now King again." He read that headline and went, "Uh-oh. I'm in big trouble." Do you know who that might be? Shimei. "I am in so much hot water. That king is going to come after me, and this time he's not going to be so nice; so he decides what he is going to do is find the King first. "I'm going to find David first, and I'm just going to beg for my life. I am going to say, 'I am so sorry. What was I thinking? You're awesome. I'm a scumbag, and maybe I can live?" In Chapter 19:18 (page 316), he's coming his way. Shimei went to meet him, and it says, "…he fell prostrate before the king and said to him, 'May my Lord not hold me guilty. Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the King left Jerusalem. May the King put it out of his mind. For I your servant know that I have sinned, but today I have come here as the first of the whole house of Joseph to come down and meet my lord the King.'" You're awesome! You're the greatest King ever! Abishai does not buy it. He doesn't like this guy. He still might have scars from the stones that he threw, so he says, "Let's put this guy to death. I mean he cursed the King's anointed. He cursed you. Can I take care of him now?" Remember in history how we read about Abraham Lincoln when the South was defeated, there were many in the North who said, "Yeah, let's stick it to them. Let's make them pay." Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech at his second Inauguration and said, "With malice toward none and charity to all." He talked about uniting the country and gently helping up the brothers that had fallen and healing the country. His focus was on healing. This wasn't a time to gloat. This was a time to heal; this was a time to unite, and that's what David said. David said, "No one's going to be put to death in Israel today. Do I know that today I am King over Israel?" Verse 23, "So the King said to Shimei, You shall not die." And the King promised him on oath." I won't kill you. You will live. Shimei lucks out because he catches him on a low and a high. The first time he insults him, David doesn't care because his kingdom is in chaos, and his son is trying to kill him. He is so low that he doesn't care. The second time he encounters Shimei, the country is united. He's not feeling good, so you know when you're in a good mood, sometimes things like insults don't bother you as much. If you were to go out today and win the lottery and your enemy then called you and said, "You're just lucky, and you're still a no-good so-and-so even if you won the lottery. Even if you're rich, you're still a no-good blankety-blank." You'd laugh and say, "What do I care? I'm rich. Okay, have a good day, bye." It's a great day for you. It's a good day, so David says, "I'm going to let him off." But over the years, something changes. From that time as a middle-aged man until the time when he is an old man at age 70, years later, he thinks about that. He mulls it over in his mind; and the more he thinks about it, the angrier he gets. He says, "He embarrassed me. He showed total disrespect for me. He caused me emotional and physical pain. He made me look ridiculous when he threw dirt on me. I said I wouldn't kill Shimei, but I never said my son wouldn't kill Shimei," so by the time he reaches his grave, the last words out of his mouth are "bring his gray hair down to the grave in blood." Somewhere along the line, the forgiveness process broke for David. He became so consumed with anger and bitterness that his last dying words were words of revenge, so let's talk about those barriers. Let's try to identify those barriers. Number one, a failure to empathize with the person who heard us is a burden for forgiveness. A failure to empathize will keep us in unforgiveness. Empathy is one of the most important steps in unforgiveness. Empathy is where I put myself in the place of another and try to figure out why they did what they did. It doesn't make what they did right. It doesn't justify it. It doesn't take my pain away, but it helps me in the forgiving process. Not one time does David say to Shimei, "Why are you so angry with me?" Not one time. "I don't know you. You don't know me. Why are you throwing stones at me? What have I done to you?" If he would have asked that one question, maybe he would have learned something about Shimei that could have saved Shimei's life and saved himself the embarrassment that happened. If he would have said, "Stop throwing stones. Stop cursing me. Tell me why you're angry," maybe he would have won over a loyal subject that day. Maybe Shimei would have gone from hate to love. Remember the Bible gives us a clue. It says he is from the household of Saul. When Saul died, David became King; but when he became King, it was a divided kingdom. There was the North and the South. When Solomon's son died-when he was killed-David eventually became King over the whole country, but Saul's family and loyal followers continued to fight David's followers. Over time, David's power increased and Saul's power diminished to the point where David was in complete control; but there was a lot of bad blood between Saul's side and David's side. Because he was related to Saul, possibly somebody in David's army or maybe even David himself in battle, killed a relative. Maybe he was mad because he lost his father to David's father or his brother to David's army. Maybe he even lost a son. That changes everything, doesn't it? "If I understand the reason for your anger with me is because somebody in my army killed a close relative of yours, then that anger is justified, is it not?" David didn't take the time to find that out. David didn't take the time to empathize with the man who was throwing the stones. Sometimes when somebody is throwing stones at us, we don't take the time to figure out why they're doing what they're doing, why they're saying what they're saying. Remember the story we told about the gunman coming into that schoolhouse and shooting those little girls? Do you know one of the reasons why the Amish could forgive? Then the Amish said to his widow, "We forgive your husband." They empathized with her. They said, "She does not have a husband. She does not have a father or her children. We want you to know we're here to support you. We want you to know we love you." Then she shared with them a story. She said, "My husband was very angry with God because he had a child who died. The child became sick, and he prayed to God to heal the child; but God did not heal the child. God let the child die. He was so angry over the years, he became increasingly bitter; so he decided he would take revenge on God and go out and kill these innocent children because he was so angry with God." Of course that doesn't make it right. It is still just as awful and horrendous as it ever was, but it allowed the Amish to empathize and understand what was going on-twisted thinking though it was-they began to understand that this man had pain in his life, excruciating pain. He was acting in anger. The Amish forgave the gunman. Empathy is very important. It's part of that receiving process. It's part of that listening process. Why did the person hurt me? What happened in their past? Who hurt them? It doesn't make it right. It doesn't take away my pain, but it's a very important beginning in the process of forgiveness. I want to talk on this briefly, but number two is sometimes unforgiveness is a failure to trust God, a failure to trust the justice of God. What does God's Word say about those who've harmed people-those who've committed unjust acts against people? Romans 12:17 (page 1123), "Do not repay evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." Now I'm not talking about somebody who deserves to be prosecuted by the law. If somebody has committed a crime against you, yes, the state should punish them. They deserve to be punished or even go to jail if it's an egregious enough act. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about your right as an individual, not the state, but as an individual. You do not have the right to enact revenge. The Bible says revenge belongs to God. God will carry out justice. Do you trust that? Do you trust that God's keeping records? Do you trust that God's keeping an account? If you trust in the justice of God, then you don't have to take revenge into your own hands. The Amish said this many times, "We trust in the justice of God. We understand why he did what he did. It's not right, but we are not seeking revenge. It is God's place to judge and merit out justice." So maybe you're having a barrier and you're holding onto that grudge because you want revenge. Forgiveness is giving up the right to revenge. It's putting that into the hands of God. Thirdly, it is a failure to recognize the danger of unforgiveness. We fail to recognize the danger of unforgiveness or the power of unforgiveness. Did you know science is confirming what the Bible has taught-that unforgiveness is unhealthy for you? Did you know that if you're retelling a story-sometimes you're retelling a story, and there's unforgiveness-that your blood pressure can reach dangerous levels by just telling the story? Your physical body will begin to recreate and manifest the signs that happened when you were hurt. That anger will resurface. Did you know there's a part of your brain that is stimulated by the thought of revenge, literally? Physiologically there is a chemical change. There are pleasure centers in your brain, and guess where those pleasure centers are located? The same area where we have sexual cravings and cravings for things like food. There is a pleasure center of your brain that is aroused when you go into your restaurant, you think about your favorite dessert or your favorite food, and then you smell it. There is a pleasure center in your brain. If we were to take an MRI of your brain, we would see that there's an arousal in your brain for what you're about to eat. In that same pleasure center where there is a chemical reaction to sexual intimacy and desire for that-in that same center of the brain, we are stimulated by revenge. When somebody you hate is getting what's due, you love it a little bit too much. That's what that study says to us. It says it's a little dangerous because something chemical is happening there that you can get hooked on, that you can get pleasure from, and you're going to likely repeat that behavior because it is giving you pleasure. When your favorite football team is winning, you're happy; but when your favorite football team is defeating the football team you hate the most, you're really happy. When David was walking through the crowd and was leaving his throne, Shimei was in his glory. Shimei was like, "Yeah, you dirty dog! You scoundrel! You are getting what you deserve," and he was loving it! I'm not going to ask you for a raise of hands, but I guarantee [some of you would say yes]. How did you feel when you were a kid and there was a bully at school that was picked on. How did you feel when your bully got what was due? Yeah, you got pleasure from that. Somebody wronged you or robbed you-maybe somebody robbed you financially, and the day they went to jail, you were like, "Oh, I'm loving this article a little bit too much." Why I'm telling you that is to say this: forgiveness is not for the light-hearted. Forgiveness is not for the week of heart. Forgiveness is tough because you're battling not just emotions and memories but something physiological that is going on in your brain. There's a war going on. We're saying, "By forgiveness, I'm going to change my response to that person and that event." To take on that process is not for the faint of heart. It's a struggle, so we need to be aware of that. Fourthly, a breakdown is when we fail to finish the process. We don't complete it all the way. Years ago, I had strep throat, and I had to speak on a Sunday. We only had one service back then, but I remember something really cool. When I would preach, my throat didn't hurt anymore. My glands were swollen to the point where I couldn't talk properly, but when I preached, I had my normal goofy voice. As soon as I was done, everything started to hurt again, and I could hardly talk. It was really weird. The doctor gave me a bottle of meds, and he said, "Take this all the way through until it's gone." I said, "Okay." I'm halfway through the bottle, and I'm feeling good. In fact, I'm feeling normal. My throat is normal; my headache is gone; no fever. I'm feeling 100 percent normal. I don't need to finish this prescription. I know the doctor said to finish the bottle, but I'm cured; so I put it aside, and about two days later, like really fast this time, I was like, "Oh no. Oh, gee. I should have finished the bottle." So the next time when I got strep throat, the same thing happened. My glands were so swollen, and it really hurt. When I preached it was fine. As soon as I was done preaching, it hurt again. I finished my bottle [this time]. Friends, sometimes you will think you have the battle licked. You'll just not pay attention to it. Maybe you'll start nursing some of those bitter thoughts, and there's just this little bit of bitterness left, a little neglected there. You feel like "I'm fine. I'm normal. I'm over it. I can move on." There's this little bit of bitterness, and you neglect it. You don't finish the process, and all of the sudden, those feelings start coming back. Those emotions start coming back. Everything all of the sudden is where it was before. The past has become the present. Is this making sense to anybody? Finish the process. Stick to it. Some offenses are so wrong that you're committing to the process of forgiveness for an entire lifetime. It's not just this one event and then it's done. It is a process I enter into, but there might be times years from now where I'm reminding myself of the grace of God. I'm reminding myself of the decision I've made. I'm taking control of my thoughts and feelings and saying, "I have forgiven. I have released the past. That no longer defines me." Remember what victim identity is. We said victim identity is this: You are a victim. You've been hurt. You've been damaged. You're a victim. What happened to you is you were victimized. That's the verb, so the noun is you are a victim. The verb is you are victimized, but when victim identity takes place, the verb and the noun become one. The verb and the noun become the same. You become that offense, so that starts to define who you are. You're no longer just you. You are this person who had this terrible thing happen to you, and that becomes your identity; so you live in a state of perpetual victimness. Forgiveness we said was the key to breaking free and becoming a victor instead of a victim. You say, "This does not define me anymore. Grace and forgiveness define me. I am an even better person because this happened to me. God is making me a better person. I'm helping others. I'm a victor, not a victim. I'm letting go of the past." Now this last barrier is that in the opposite. This last barrier is a failure to see the whole person. How many of you woke up this morning looking exactly like you do right now? Nobody, right? Except Justin Bieber. He wakes up and his hair is just like that. Ladies, that's true. I don't want to pop any teenage bubbles here today. What if we were to come in your room this morning as soon as you'd woke up, the moment you sat up for the first time, and take your picture? I know that's creepy, but this is an illustration. What would we see if we were to put that picture of you on the wall today? How would your hair look? What if we got in really close where we could see the drool there? We see you, ladies, without your makeup. We see you guys without your hairpiece. Some of those 8 o'clockers, we'd see them without their teeth. You don't say a word (congregation breaks into laughter)! I will not forgive you. I will show up, take your picture, and put it up on the wall. We wouldn't look very good, so what if we took that picture and put it on the wall and said, "This is you! This is what you look like. That's who you are." You'd say, "Well, yeah, that was me at that moment, but give me 20 minutes. Let me take a shower, wash my hair, and put on my makeup. Let me comb my hair, brush my teeth, and shave. I can look better than that. I have looked better than that! That's not an accurate representation of who I am. That was me in a moment, but that's not what I look like all the time. That's not fair!" Friends, unforgiveness is taking a snapshot of a person at their worst and saying, "That's who you are! That's all you are-that terrible thing I see, that ugly person I see in this snapshot. That is you!" That is not them. That was them at that moment; that was them at that time, but this did not define who they are either. When there's unforgiveness, we define, and we say, "That is you! That is all you are! That is all you'll ever be!" Remember Jared Loughner, the man who shot Congressman Giffords in the face because he hated her and killed a little girl? He killed a staff person, and he injured others. She is now rehabilitating. We've all heard that story; we've all seen his picture, right? The bald head, the creepy smile, the eyes that kind of look through to your soul-he has that maniac Charles Manson kind of face. We all look at that face, and we go, "That guy's a monster! Anybody who'd do that to people is a monster!" Friends, it is easy to have unforgiveness to a monster, isn't it? When we look at that picture, that defines who he is. To all of us who do not know him, that guy is a monster; and that picture, that event, defines him in our minds. When his mom and dad see that picture, what do they see? Do they see a monster? When his brother, sister, or his best friends look at that picture of Jared, do they see a monster? They see what he did as monstrous, but when they see him, they see their son, their brother, their friend; and their heart breaks because they see the whole person. When David looked at Shimei, all he saw was the stone thrower. All he saw was the guy who insulted him and threw rocks and dirt. He didn't know him. He didn't know what kind of dad he was. He didn't know what kind of father he was, whether he was a Godly man or not, took care of his family or not. He didn't know whether he was a hard worker or whether he was a good friend or not. He just took a snapshot of Shimei and said, "That is Shimei-this crazy, cursing, dirt-throwing, stone-throwing jerk, and I want him dead! It gives me pleasure as I go into eternity to know that my son is going to kill this dirty jerk." Wow! "David, how about if we defined you like that? How about if we defined you and took a snapshot of you in bed with Bathsheba and said, "That's who you are, David. That's all you are. What if we took a snapshot of you signing the death warrant for her husband Uriah to be killed in battle? How about if we put that up and said, 'Here, David, that's you'?" David would say, "Yeah, that was me, but that's not all I am. I wrote the Psalms. I led our nation into battle and victory more than any other soldier in history. I united our kingdom. I established our capital. I brought the Ark to the capital. I started building the Temple of God. I've been a great king!" Well, David wouldn't want that standard applied to him, would he? Nobody does. When we say, "I'm not going to forgive," we are saying we are going to take a snapshot at their worst and say, "That is all they are to me." One of the barriers of forgiveness is that. It's easy to not forgive a monster, but when we see the whole person, that enables us to forgive. We watched a clip from the movie "Forrest Gump" as you were coming in. Jenny, the character, had gone through nightmare experiences in her home. We could only imagine what she went through as she was throwing the rocks at the house in anger and saying, "How could you do that?" We can only imagine the abuse her character must have went through in the story. Then she collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Forrest Gump says, "Sometimes there's just not enough rocks." Now we're going to look at an artist who wrote a song called 70x7 about the house he grew up in and the memories of neglect and abuse that he endured; but through the power of forgiveness, he's no longer throwing stones. He's experiencing healing. Let's listen to this song together: (here's a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5-Q1zAhqpA). Would you join me in prayer this morning please? Father, we can identify with that young man. We have had events in our past that have shaped who we are-things that are good but also things that are painful, people who helped us but also people that hurt us. Some hurt us deeply, and we have a choice to make. We can either live with anger and bitterness and throw stones till we are exhausted, or we can choose to forgive by Your grace and through Your strength. We can begin to heal. That will not define who we are. We can have a new start. Father, I pray for those of us who identified our barrier today. This is the area we struggle in; this is the area where we keep losing the battle. I pray that that area of weakness could become a strength. I pray, Lord, that we would put down the stones and pick up the cross. There we would find grace not only to be forgiven but to forgive. I pray that we'd exchange death for life and hope for despair. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Stimulated Boredom | Reviews. Gadgets. Gaming. Geek Culture. Podcast.
Amidst the protests in Wisconsin between Governor Walker and teacher's unions over collective bargaining rights (including salary & benefits) and the state budget deficit, I try to shed some light on the situtation, while dissecting the political ramifications of removing a union's primary form of leverage. Are unions a good thing? What would 'breaking the backs' of organized labor mean for unions and future election math? Would stripping the unions of their bargaining rights really solve the budget deficit problems in Wisconsin (or other states, for that matter)? As someone who has never been in a union, nor worked in an industry where unions were an option, I welcome additional insight from those who have. Also, I discuss the 2012 Federal budget and the threat by the GOP of a government shutdown. Have we seen this tantrum before in 1995 when Republicans shut down the government only to see Clinton's ratings soar and the GOP receiving the lion's share of the blame in the public eye? Are threats like this, from either party, a constructive alternative or should there be more focus on making an effective argument before resorting to such dramatic and unnecessary tactics? Finally, I round out the show with an update on the situation in Libya. Due to his desire to hold onto power until 'the last drop of his blood is spilled', it appears that the only solution in sight is the physical removal (and/or death of Gadhafi). Also, I delve into the ramifications of widespread protests in the Middle East and the concern that it may find its way to Saudi Arabia and the effect this might have on the U.S. (aka: foreign policy & oil imports). Again, we return to the question: Does the United States, based upon the circumstances, support democracy in principle or in practice? www.stimulatedboredom.com
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