Podcasts about republican white house

As the Trump administration intensifies its attempts to reshape U.S. colleges and universities, Christiane Amanpour speaks to those who are pushing back. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey talks about her concerns as her state is targeted by the Republican White House and Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth discusses why he believes the Trump Administration is, in his words, “selling Jews a dangerous lie” by claiming its crackdown is to combat Anti-Semitism. Then, Mike Valerio's report on how South Korean women are fighting against explicit images made with AI deepfakes. Also, British playwright Ryan Calais Cameron discusses his timely West End smash, ‘Retrograde', a play revealing how Sidney Poitier's career was almost derailed by the Red Scare. Plus, as Sudan marks two years of its devastating war, an echo from history as Christiane revisits her reporting on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur in 2004. And finally, a tribute to a giant of Latin American literature, Mario Vargas Llosa. As the Peruvian author dies aged 89, Christiane looks back at their conversation when he told her how he got started by writing love letters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Check out CrabDiving radio podcast Friday!  

Former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is to step down from his role at Meta.He is due to be replaced by former Republican White House deputy chief of staff Joel Kaplan, who served under George W Bush from 2006-2009.Ian Guider joined Will O'Callaghan for Friday's business slot.Hit the ‘Play' button on this page to hear the conversation.

Our Chief Asia Economist Chetan Ahya discusses the potential impact of tariffs on China and other Asian countries following the US election.----- Transcript -----Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Chetan Ahya, Morgan Stanley's Chief Asia Economist. Today on the podcast – with a Republican White House now in place, tariffs are the key issue that will matter to Asia.It's Tuesday, November 12, at 2 PM in Hong Kong. With the US election results in, the question now is not if there will be tariff hikes, but when and how much. Will China alone see rising tariffs, or will there be universal tariff imposed on all imports to the US? The previous president Trump administration imposed several tariffs on Chinese imports beginning in 2018. And looking back, our learning is that weaker corporate confidence weighed more heavily on Asia's growth outlook than the direct effect of tariffs on exports. Just to elaborate on the point on direct impact of tariffs: Despite the tariffs imposed on China during that period, what we observed is that China's market share in global goods exports improved after the US started to impose tariffs on imports from China. Looking forward, let's consider a scenario of 50 per cent tariffs on China alone. The hit to global and China corporate confidence may not be as large as it was in 2018 and 2019. This is in part because US-China trade tensions have persisted for several years now. Companies have invested in diversifying their supply chains since then, and the US share in China's exports has declined since 2017. Given all this, the drag on China's exports may be less than the 1 percentage point that we saw last time. The rest of Asia would also experience a slowdown, but we think the overall drag on growth would be less significant this time. The effects on individual economies would differ based on their exposure to China. We think Australia and Indonesia will be more exposed. Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand would be moderately exposed. And India and Japan would be less exposed given a low share of export to China. But what happens if the US imposes 50 per cent tariffs on China and a 10 per cent universal tariff on the rest of the world? In this scenario, the damage to corporate confidence and the global capex and trade cycle would be much larger. The drag could be similar or greater than what we saw in 2018 and 2019. Asia excluding China has now become more dependent on the US as a source of end-demand. Global supply chains might have to be rewired yet again. This would cause a significant disruption to the corporate sector and a material impact on Asia's growth trajectory. Of course, the final effect of US tariffs on Asia growth would also depend on the scale of policy support. Asia's policy makers could allow their currencies to depreciate in response to a strong dollar. Then, against a backdrop of weaker currencies, Asia's central banks could be constrained in their ability to cut rates immediately – similar to what happened in 2018-[20]19. Hence, they would prefer to take a fiscal easing first. Back in 2017-[20]19, Asia's fiscal deficit widened in aggregate by 1.1 percentage point as policymakers sought to provide some cushion to growth downside. Once currencies stabilize, they will take up monetary easing.Things may move quickly once Trump takes office in January, and we will continue to keep you updated. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with a friend or colleague today.

Donald Trump has (once again) won the United States presidential election — despite 34 felony counts, 1 conviction, 2 cases pending, 2 impeachments, and 6 bankruptcies.  That means a Republican White House, a Republican leaning Supreme Court, a Republican majority in the Senate, and a likely Republican House of Representatives. With Republicans at the helm, so much is at stake for our democracy — particularly for women and the childfree.And that's where the 4B movement comes in. In this episode we'll cover the 4B movement, what it is, how it's growing into a 5B, 6B, and 7B movement, why childfree women are embracing it, and what it means for our future. Read the book Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea's Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women's Rights WorldwideRead an interview with Nayoung Kim, one of Korea's 4B activists, and watch this YouTube interview from Asian Boss. Buy your own Dinky x Cheese Grotto pairing box! Use DINKYPOD10 at checkout. DINKY MERCH IS NOW LIVE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!  Join the next Dinky trip: Adventures In Egypt With Erika Of DinkySupport this show. (We haven't launched the Patreon yet, lol) Wanna connect with us on social media? You can find us on Instagram and TikTok at @dinkypod.  If you have a question or comment, email us at dinky@dinkypod.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/dinky--5953015/support.

You asked! We listened! The $99 Annual Deal is extended until Election Day. Make sure you upgrade from your complimentary status if you are coming from Patreon!Here it is… Our conversation with Kevin Ryan on the state of the culture and philosophy that this election takes place in. With that, my final thoughts. Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise? I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you.That's a quote from a Star Wars prequel and it's the final decider on who I believe will win the President, the Senate and the House. We will get back to that. First, let's empty the file on my 2024 election thoughts in order. First, the landscape…Donald Trump is a flawed candidate damaged by January 6th and hard capped at 48%It's the reason his party tried to overthrow him during the primaries. However, his resilience and ease in overcoming those challenges is telling. Donald Trump began to gain and beat Joe Biden in head to head polling after he was indicted and his New York trial had a positive effect on his pollingThis was the first moment I believed Trump could have a redemptive arc. If the public did not understand the charges against him and saw the prosecutions as political, he would be a martyr beyond core MAGA. The Dobbs decision has been rocket fuel for DemocratsIn off-year elections and special elections the present threat to reproductive rights have gotten Democratic voters to the polls. My criticism that they might be punished for not taking the threat seriously enough has not panned out as of yet. Joe Biden's presidency has been broadly unpopular and specifically unpopular with anyone who makes under $100,000 a yearBiden was elected in the panic of COVID to be a steady hand at the wheel. He lost that with Afghanistan and never regained it. The border went from a purely GOP partisan issue to a mainstream winner for Republicans almost entirely because of executive orders Biden made at the beginning of his presidency. Issue after issue, the same playbook unfolded… deny, deny, deny until you blame it on Trump. But nothing was more personal than inflation. A class warfare issue like no other. Personal story, my wife and I were driving to dinner with friends. The husband was at the wheel of their new Tesla. The issue of politics comes up. I mentioned Trump was doing well because of the economy. “But the economy is good?” Is the response. And it is a sentiment I've heard from many people in my orbit and online. The stock market is booming? We avoided a recession? Inflation is lower here than anywhere else the world? How is this a weakness?And behind the wheel of a new Tesla, I agree.Which is where we get to that $100,000 a year figure. Because anywhere below that, inflation gets infinitely worse. It's persistent and embarrassing. A ritual humiliation and reminder you are not good enough. That kind of stuff sticks with people. So that's the landscape… how about the candidatesTRUMPTo say that Donald Trump has run his best campaign out of his three tries is an understatement. I'll be honest, I stopped trying to fully understand the logic of Trump sometime in 2016. His combativeness, the issues he centered and erratic behavior is impossible to grade. Why did he just send that tweet? Has he discovered a hidden undercurrent in American society? Or did the KFC bucket he had last night make him farty?In his two previous attempts he often didn't seem to understand which way was up either. He fired two different campaign directors in 2016. He fired one of them in 2020. Both times, election day came with him trailing mightily in the polls. The refrain for his chances became religious. He will pull through… because…But that's not the case this cycle. Susie Wiles, a Florida GOP veteran who watched her party take a purple state and drench it blood red and Chris LaCivita a bare-knuckle student of the last era of a Republican dominance under George W. Bush have run the ship from initial announcement to election day. Tactically, the boat has pointed in the right direction. Trump decapitated well-funded rivals in his own party in Desantis and Haley. He ended the political career of the man who beat him in 2020. Trump has stayed off Twitter and has largely been able to avoid his habit of turning a bad 24 hours into a bad 3 days because of his inability to concede a point. He has mitigated his worst issue, abortion, as well as anyone who appointed the justices that flipped Roe vs. Wade can and accentuated his strengths with the economy and the border. Of course, he is still Trump. He's an a*****e that viserally annoys 40% of the country. He is the loser pissbaby who couldn't wrap his head around losing in 2020 and did a January 6th. And with that I will now leave space on the page so you can add the pet issue or event that you believe best encapsulates why Donald J. Trump should never be president again.If you need more space, please open a new window and hit return until you have enough. He also got shot in the face and survived. Not really sure how that factors into an election. Which brings us to…KAMALA Well… Let's start with…BIDENJoe Biden is unpopular. This is in part because two of his failures played into both sides of the coin that helped him beat Trump.His strength, foreign policy, where he sat on the powerful Senate committee for years was telegenically shattered with the Afghanistan pullout. It is impossible to say you did a good job when people are falling off the landing gear. His weakness, the border, which he gleefully signed executive orders for on day one of his presidency created another telegenic disaster and supercharged an abusive of America's asylum system. It's impossible to say you did a good job when hundreds of Haitians, Chinese and Congolese have found themselves in Texas border towns.Add inflation, add Gaza.But it was his age that ended his career. The one thing he couldn't ultimately shift the blame for.The depression about his horrific debate created a panic for him to drop out, an unthinkable move as late in the campaign. Which brings me to Darth Plagueis the Wise… It was at the RNC when I sat in stadium seating talking with a man I would later be told knows everyone in Washington. We were watching something in a stadium in recessed seating which is what reminds me of the Darth Plagueis scene. I am steadfast and pig headed that Biden won't drop out. He's too stubborn, I said stubbornly. Very calmly… he explains to me that Joe Biden will drop out this Sunday. He would have done it during the RNC but he didn't want to give the most important speech of his career while he had COVID. Within and hour Mark Halperin reported something similar.Sunday morning, I wrote a newsletter about how Biden would never say die. Sunday afternoon, Biden announced he would not seek the presidency. I looked like quite the a*****e. It was Joe-ver. My assumption was that taking over a campaign mid-stream was like trying to fix an F1 car while driving it and trying to win a race. Impossible. And yet…KAMALAThe Democrats hot swapped Biden for Kamala and for a shining glimmer of a moment… it looked like something was brewing. Brat Summer. Coconut Trees. Unburdned by what has been.Sure there were some weird moments… why do so many big named Dems not want to be VP? But the vibes! THE JOY! When Kamala selected Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro, the leftist base of the party rejoiced! She picked a man who is at his best explaining liberal solutions to normies! Not the polished Obama clone just because he is the very popular governor of a swing state. This was bold! This was new! This was interesting!And then… she tacked right… Wait. Why pick the guy that can explain single payer health care with a Cabelas metaphor if you are going to talk about how Israel has a right to a lethal defense force that can eradicate any enemy it identifies? Why not pick the Jew who is +20 in Pennsylvania?At least she found a wedge issue to distance herself from Biden… wait… didn't do that either. Did she parlay the buzz of the summer into a series of interviews with friendly media to reintroduce herself? Nope. Didn't do that either. I took a lot of crap from folks when I said she lost the debate. Not because she didn't rhetorically hold her own, but because she had the most to gain by telling America about herself and she mostly spent her time running down Trump. Cathartic after Biden's disaster? Sure. But not the mission. And she hasn't really done much since then. To her credit, her campaign has not been a flaming disaster like her 2019 run was. But… one thing seems to be the same as that failure… the more America sees of Kamala Harris, the less they like her. Which brings us to…THE RACEDo any of my opinions about the Harris campaign matter? Donald Trump is a one-man Get Out The Vote drive for the Democrats. The specter of him returning to power raised OVER A BILLION dollars since Kamala took over. And so we get to the final decision and it is determined by what you believe… Do you believe polls that say Donald Trump is more popular than he has ever been?Do you believe polls that say Democrats are at Obama-level excitement for Kamala?Do you believe (as our friend Ettingermentum has spelled out) that polls are herding to a stalemate because they are terrified to overestimate Democratic support again and are therefore overestimating Trump support? Do you believe that an administration with a 30/60 right track/wrong track environment can win re-election? That's a lot to think about… much like the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise… Because in that RNC conversation with the Guy Who Knows Everyone… where he told me the exact day Biden would drop out and I didn't believe him... He told me something else. He told me Kamala would be the candidate.And he went further…He told me that Democratic power brokers know she can't win. But they know she's a bad candidate and don't want her around in 2028 when the party can really rebuild. So this a suicide mission. Raise a lot of money. Give her the old college try. Pat her on the head when it's over and never have to be in the Kamala Harris business again. So, do I believe him now?I believe that Donald Trump is inarguably the defining figure for a decade of politics, love him or hate him. I believe he has run a better campaign than both of his opponents. I believe enough independent voters did not have a good time the last four years. I believe Donald Trump, the 45th president will become the 47th president. Donald Trump will be the 4,547th president. I believe the map is too favorable to Republicans to not hand them the Senate. But I don't believe that a shoddy Get Out The Vote operation and reliance on low propensity voters in blue states is enough to win them the house. Republican White House, Republican Senate. Democratic House. Of our four scenarios… PAX MAGA - Republican SweepDemocratic Civil War - GOP White House and Senate, Democratic HouseUnburdened By What Has Been - Democratic White House and House, GOP SenateRoe Sends Her Regards - Democratic SweepI believe Democratic Civil War… is the most likely. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/subscribe

Live from Vanguard and Nancy Reagan's “Just Say No” bumpersticker, it's an all-new terrific Tuesday edition of Business Pants. Joined by Analyst-Hole Matt Moscardi! In today's ESG-shaped bass guitar called September 17, 2024: a very special seminar where we help business news headline writers be better at their jobs, otherwise known as BIZ NUGGETS!Our show today is being sponsored by Free Float Analytics, the only platform measuring board power, connections, and performance for FREE. DAMION1Boeing two for Tuesday:In our 'Oh great, you pay me 273 times the median salary and I have to sit with the knuckle draggers!?' headline of the week. Boeing execs barred from flying business class to save money during strikeIn our 'Strike could cost Boeing the equivalent of 3 failed former CEO Dave Calhouns per day' headline of the week. Strike could cost Boeing $100 million-plus in daily revenue, analysts say$33MIn our 'Chefs will put their recipes on a pizza box to help Pizza Hut make better pizza' headline of the week. Pizza Hut will put your résumé on a pizza box to help you get a jobOn the Yum Brands board, only 2 of 12 directors selected a Pizza Hut food as their favorite Yum Brands food. Taco Bell wins with 5, KFC a close second with 4. At least there's a demographic that's worse off than women on this board (4 of 12) and that's Pizza Hut loversIn our 'Zuck is banning Putin from Facebook for being a shithead' headline of the week. Meta is banning Russian state media outlets like RT from its apps everywhere for engaging in political interference campaigns SAME HEADLINE: WHO DID IT BETTER?DR: In our 'Whatever you do, please don't mistake me for somebody who gives a shit!!' headline of the week. Jamie Dimon is still committed to DEI but says he's not wokeMM: In our 'I'm a full-throated, red-blooded, patriotic, unwoke, capitalist CEO. Also, my assistant told me we have black people that work at JPMorgan now, so that's cool.' headline of the week. Jamie Dimon is still committed to DEI but says he's not wokeDR: In our 'I re-wrote this headline for clarity: Disinterested and racist/sexist board of directors' Impact on Corporate DEI Policies' headline of the week. Robby Starbuck's Impact on Corporate DEI PoliciesMM: In our 'The side of the bottle says, "Side effects include increased racism, misogyny, anger issues, self-loathing, c-list internet celebrity, and a possible cabinet position in the Republican White House..." Should I take it?' headline of the week. Robby Starbuck's Impact on Corporate DEI PoliciesDR: In our 'Nelson Peltz has already taken credit for this' headline of the week. The Walt Disney Company makes history with record-breaking 60 EmmysMM: In our 'Nelson Peltz was disappointed in the result, saying, "Only 60? Probably because of all the blacks they keep casting."' headline of the week. The Walt Disney Company makes history with record-breaking 60 EmmysDR: In our 'Can we cut-and-paste the formatting of this headline to this one from the NYT: How Telegram Became a Playground for Criminals, Extremists and Terrorists. Or this one from Futurism: OpenAI's Strawberry "Thought Process" Sometimes Shows It Scheming to Trick Users' headline of the week. Boar's Head will never make liverwurst again after outbreak that killed 9MM: In our 'It's the Germans fault' headline of the week. Boar's Head will never make liverwurst again after outbreak that killed 9DR: In our 'Is this what an S&P 500 board with only 18% female influence looks like?' headline of the week. Delta is reminding prospective flight attendants that they must wear 'proper' underwear to their interviewsMM: In our 'Given 74.6% of flight attendants are women, this is for you ladies - only Elon Musk can wear a diaper to work like a big fat baby.' headline of the week. Delta is reminding prospective flight attendants that they must wear 'proper' underwear to their interviewsDR: In our 'Zuck pretends to cede control' headline of the week. Instagram gives parents more control over teen accountsMM: In our 'Mark Zuckerberg retains total and complete control of Instagram' headline of the week. Instagram gives parents more control over teen accountsMATT1In our 'Just because there's asbestos in our baby powder doesn't mean you're sick because of OUR asbestos... That could be ANYONE's asbestos... Have you checked Gary's house? I mean, no offense Gary, but your house smells like asbestos all the time. I'm pretty sure there was asbestos in the breakroom coffee machine - or at least it tasted like it. Given these facts, judge, we rest our case.' headline of the week. J&J gets $260 million talc verdict overturned in Oregon, new trial orderedIn our 'We only have 74.6% of directorships, 93.9% of CEO positions, and make 120% more. It's a long road to get to 100% of everything like it used to be, but someone has to climb it. Strap in boys, let's get it done!' headline of the week. Elon Musk's Quest to Make Men Great AgainIn our 'I'm running out of things to say about Elon Musk and his terrible tweets' headline of the week. I'm running out of things to say about Elon Musk and his terrible tweetsIn our 'I'm sorry, I thought this was the snarky bad joke downer show... how the hell did this headline get in here?' headline of the week. Cleanup Group Says It's on Track to Eliminate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

An Indiana lawyer who worked in the Reagan White House has endorsed Kamala Harris for President. Peter Rusthoven was an Associate Council to President Ronald Reagan. He's one of a dozen former Republican White House lawyers backing Harris. He sat down with WISH-TV Government Reporter, Garret Bergquist, to explain.A down-ballot candidate says voter awareness is one of her biggest campaign obstacles. We find out how severe that problem is.Our Political Team talks about Harris' endorsements and a new lawsuit over IU's campus expression policy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our US Public Policy and Currency experts discuss how different outcomes in the upcoming U.S. elections could have varying effects on the strength of the dollar.----- Transcript -----Ariana Salvatore: Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I'm Ariana Salvatore from Morgan Stanley's U.S. Public Policy Research Team. And I'mAndrew Watrous: And I'm Andrew Watrous, G10 Currency Strategist.Ariana Salvatore: On this episode of the podcast, we'll discuss an issue that's drawing increasing attention from investors leading up to the U.S. election -- and that is the U.S. dollar and how a Harris or Trump administration could impact it.It's Thursday, August 15th at 10am in New York.Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley experts came on this show to discuss the current strength of the US dollar, which has had quite a historic run.Now we all know there are numerous ways in which politics could affect the currency. But before we get into the details there, Andrew, can you just set the stage here a little bit and give some context to listeners on where the dollar is right now and what's been driving that performance?Andrew Watrous: Yeah, the dollar's been rising this year. So, if you look at a trade weighted gauge of the US dollar, it's up about 3 percent, so far. And part of that US dollar strength is because growth expectations for the US have risen since January. There's a survey of Wall Street economists, and if you look at their median forecast for the US growth, it's moved up about one percentage point since January.And as a result of that strong US growth, we've seen Fed policy expectations move higher. We started this year with the market pricing the Fed to be below 4 percent by December. And that expectation for where the Fed is going to be in December has moved up about 1 percentage point since January.So, robust US growth and a higher near-term Fed policy rate expectation have made the US more attractive as an investment destination. And that's boosted the US dollar broadly as capital flows to the US.Ariana Salvatore: That makes sense. Now, thinking about the balance of the year, it's impossible to look ahead and not consider how the US election could impact or change this trend that you've been talking about. As we get closer to November, investors are also starting to question just what will happen to the dollar in a Republican or Democratic win. What's been our approach to thinking through that question?Andrew Watrous: So, if you look at policies proposed by the Republican presidential campaign, a number of those policies, if implemented, would probably boost the US dollar.First, higher tariffs on goods imported from our trading partners could weigh on expectations for growth abroad. That would make the US more attractive in comparison, maybe send capital to the US as a safe haven due to policy uncertainty. And of all the scenarios we look at, we think that one where the Republicans control both Congress and the White House would be the scenario in which the federal government spends the most and issues the most debt.More spending would likely make US growth expectations and bond yields higher in comparison to what we'd see in the rest of the world. So, a Republican presidential administration could attempt to offset some of that US dollar strength; but in the near term we think that the US dollar should go up if a Republican White House looks increasingly likely. And on the other side, the dollar could go down if the likelihood of a Democratic White House looks increasingly likely -- as some positive risk premium around trade and fiscal policy is reduced.Ariana Salvatore: Okay, so you mentioned quite a few policy variables there. Let's take those issue areas one by one. On trade policy and geopolitical risk, it wouldn't surprise us from the policy side to see a potential Trump administration introduce tariffs, just given the rhetoric we've seen on the campaign trail. We've talked about the potential impact from 10 per cent universal -- targeted or one-for-one tariffs -- which all come with varying degrees of economic impacts.On the currency side, Andrew, walk us through your thought process on how the risks to growth expectations from tariffs could factor into dollar positive or negative outcomes.Andrew Watrous: So, a lot of our thinking on this is shaped by what we saw in 2018 and 2019, when there were trade tensions. During that period, the dollar moved higher, starting in spring 2018 until the end of 2019, and a big part of that dollar strength was probably due to trade tensions between the US and China. Those tensions meant that investors were probably more hesitant to take on risk outside the US than they otherwise may have been. That's why the US dollar kept rising during that period, despite the Fed cutting rates three times in 2019. And in 2018 and 2019, we saw expectations for growth in countries outside the US moving lower -- in part because of trade tensions during that period.So, from speaking to my colleagues in the economics department here at Morgan Stanley, it seems pretty plausible that something similar happens to expectations for growth outside the US, again, if another trade war looks increasingly likely. And that drop in what people expect for growth outside the US would probably boost the US dollar as the US looks more attractive in comparison.Ariana Salvatore: Got it. Now, shifting gears slightly to the fiscal policy outlook. We've said that the Republican sweep outcome is the most likely to lead to the greatest degree of fiscal expansion, and that's because we think lawmakers are going to have to contend with the expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. We think that in a divided government outcome, or a Democratic sweep, some of those tax measures are still on the table, but it'll probably be a narrower extension from a deficit standpoint.So, Andrew, what would a fiscally expansionary regime mean for the dollar?Andrew Watrous: So, as you mentioned, the most fiscally expansionary scenario would be a Republican sweep scenario. And we did some research into capital flows; and the Treasury data show that historically, higher US spending is associated with net inflows of private capital into the US. And if you look at the pace of US spending versus the pace of spending in Europe, if you look at that differential -- that differential is positively correlated to movements in Euro. So faster US spending means lower Euro relative to spending in Europe.Ariana Salvatore: So, we expect that a Republican administration's policies might strengthen the dollar in summary. But it's possible that they don't like that dollar strength. We've heard Trump talk about the benefits of a weaker currency for exports, for example. So, what might a Republican presidential administration try to do to maybe offset some of the strength?Andrew Watrous: Yeah, so if we're right and the Republican policies do strengthen the dollar, that Republican administration could try to offset that dollar strength with a number of policy tools. And those might be effective in weakening the US dollar against one or more of our trading partners. But we don't think that the market expectation of those dollar negative policy options would fully offset the effect of other Republican policies, which would boost the dollar.There are legal, logistical, and political challenges associated with a lot of those dollar negative policy options. So, for example, former US Trade Representative Lighthizer has reportedly expressed doubt about the viability of broad international coordinated intervention against the US dollar. He said that no policy advisor that he knows of is working on a plan to weaken the dollar. And former President Trump reportedly rejected a 2019 proposal to intervene against the dollar from former White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro.Ariana Salvatore: Got it. So, sounds like we have a lot of moving pieces here and we will keep refining our views as we get some more policy clarity in the coming months. Andrew, thanks for taking the time to talk.Andrew Watrous: Great speaking with you Ariana.Ariana Salvatore: And thanks for listening. If you enjoy thoughts on the market, please leave us a review wherever you listen and share the podcast with a friend or colleague today.

In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News, the former president and current Republican White House hopeful acknowledged the possibility of jail time or house arrest following his historic criminal conviction in a hush money trial. Brookes Spector  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ron DeSantis was involved in a multi-car accident on Tuesday in Tennessee, one which left the Republican White House hopeful uninjured.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Author, journalist and broadcaster John Kampfner joins Eamon to reflect on the impact a Republican White House post the 2024 Presidential election could have on global stability.Recorded on Monday 5th June 2023. Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-stand-with-eamon-dunphy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“The Cold Calculus Behind the Shrinking GOP Presidential Field.” Would-be Republican White House aspirants face a harsh reality: It's not just Donald Trump who's freezing the 2024 field, reports Jonathan Martin. As GOP strategist Scott Jennings puts it: “They don't have a Trump problem, they have a [Ron] DeSantis problem.” But consider this: “[T]he history most on the minds of the Republicans considering the race, who are not named Trump or DeSantis, is what happens when there's a bloody battle between top contenders. Spoiler: It augurs well for a third candidate.” And this afternoon, a subset of the Congressional Black Caucus will sit down with President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris to officially restart the push for police reform legislation following the funeral of Tyre Nichols, whose death last week at the hands of Memphis police has galvanized advocates for reform. Black lawmakers have zeroed in on their first and biggest request of Biden: a commitment to talk about policing in next week's State of the Union. One CBC member told us the group is even considering telling Biden exactly what they want him to say — and that they expect him to bang the drum until legislation hits the Oval Office. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing. Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.

“I'm watching everybody slowly turn into a pro-Trump zombie that I've ever worked with or been around; everyone's doing their rationalizations.“ So recalls special guest this episode, Sarah Longwell, conservative strategist turned watchdog of Republican populism as Executive Director of the Republican Accountability Project and Publisher of The Bulwark. “The fact that there were a bunch of people that I respected who I had been intellectually interested in for many years — when those people saw the world the same way I did, it kept me from feeling insane." Those people included highly respected conservative journalist Charles Sykes, founder of The Bulwark, and William Kristol, veteran of several Republican White House positions, now Chairman of the Republican Accountability Project (RAP). Longwell goes on to describe perhaps the most visible outcome of her partnership with Kristol thus far, the “Republican Voters Against Trump” campaign, which ran throughout the 2020 election.  Not sparing in her criticisms of the left, Longwell also calls out the political hazards of progressive pronoun obsession and legislative overreach by the White House. “Especially if you think that the Republican Party is as dangerous as we do,” she cautions, “you really are rooting for the Democrats to build a broad coalition. And that's not what's happening at the moment.” So much happening yet not happening in US politics these days, with legislation gridlocked but primary elections coming up soon. Join us for a fast-paced, no-holds-barred discussion with one of Washington's keenest minds and sharpest wits, Sarah Longwell of the Republican Accountability Project and The Bulwark.  SHOW NOTES Our Guest Sarah Longwell: Twitter, Defending Democracy Together, The Bulwark Additional Resources ‘I Can Talk To Anyone': McCarthy Defends His Visit To See Trump At Mar-A-Lago (Forbes) McConnell endorses Herschel Walker, solidifying GOP establishment support for Senate candidate in Georgia (Washington Post) The 147 Republicans Who Voted to Overturn Election Results (New York Times) The 2020 Election Was A Good One For Republicans Not Named Trump (NPR) All The Trump Family Members Who Might Launch Their Own Bids For Office (Forbes) Trump Lost the 2020 Election. He Has Raised $207.5 Million Since (New York Times) House Republicans oust Cheney for calling out Trump's false election claims, minimize Jan. 6 attack on Capitol (Washington Post) Spanberger, one of most vulnerable House Dems, announces she'll run in redrawn Virginia district (The Hill) Bill Kristol (Twitter) Charlie Sykes (Twitter) Find us online! Patreon: patreon.com/purpleprinciplepodcast Twitter: @purpleprincipl Facebook: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast Instagram: @thepurpleprinciplepodcast Our website: https://bit.ly/2ZCpFaQ Sign up for our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2UfFSja  

More than a year ago, on January 29, 2020, Real Science Radio's interview of Kevin Anderson of the Van Andel research center may have been the world's first full-program broadcast interview with a molecular biologist on the coronavirus outbreak. Today, Bob Enyart and CRS' Dr. Anderson update their reporting on the covid to include discussion of RNA, an RNA vaccine, and vaccines morally tainted by testing or manufacturing with tissue from aborted babies. * How Close Is Too Close: When considering commercial or medical activity morally stained by a relationship with the killing of unborn children, how close is too close? Toward answering that question, consider this letter that Bob Enyart wrote to someone critizing Colorado Right To Life for accepting donations via PayPal... Hi Christine! Thanks so much for writing and for your love for the innocent! We encourage you in your boycott of PayPal. Hopefully it will make a difference! Sadly, in so many ways, most major companies, especially the tech companies and national brands, provide enormous support for the abortion industry. Firms with direct connections to financially supporting Planned Parenthood include Verizon, T-mobile, United Airlines (which here in Denver even helped PP purchase their mega-abortion mill), Adobe, American Express, Bank of America, Bath & Body Works, Ben & Jerry's (as in Pelosi's freezer), Boeing (with their 737s that we all fly), Clorox, Converse, Dockers, Energizer, Expedia, ExxonMobil, Fannie Mae, Groupon, Intuit (accounting software, Quicken/Mint/Quick Books), Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, Benadryl, BENGAY, Imodium, Pepcid, Sudafed, Listerine, Band-Aid, Neosporin, Polysporin, Caladryl, Baby Powder, Desitin, Stayfree, Mylanta), Levi Strauss, Liberty Mutual, Macy's, March of Dimes, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Nike, Oracle, Pepsi (who performed their own aborted fetal tissue taste-test research until we helped stop them), Pfizer, Progressive Insurance, Starbucks, Susan G. Komen (which we fight to expose), Tostitos, Unilever (Lipton, Vaseline, Brut, Hellman's Mayonnaise, Comfort, Dove soaps), United Way, and Wells Fargo. Many more businesses financially support abortion, directly and indirectly, including billions of dollars worth of "in kind" donations such as Sprint and AT&T. Another example of helping Planned Parenthood, from this very weekend, is Amazon (Bezos/Washington Post) kicking Parler off its servers, Parler being a prolife-friendly free speech platform in competition with Twitter which is overwhelmingly editorially and otherwise pro-abortion). The businesses that provide enormous support worth far more even than the dollars the abortionists get from the above companies, include Facebook, Twitter, Direct TV, and Dish. Also, the companies that financially support efforts which are primarily pro-abortion, for example, those that fund the nothing-if-not-pro-abortion "Womens Marches" around the nation, include Adobe, Aetna, Allstate, Autozone, Avon, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield, BP (British Petroleum gasoline), Charles Schwab, Craigslist, Deutsche Bank, Freddie Mac, Frito Lay, General Electric (their appliance division was purchased by China's Haier in 2016 with the rights to use the "GE" brand name for forty years), Jiffy Lube, JPMorgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, Kraft Heinz, March of Dimes, Monsanto, Nike, Oracle (with their PeopleSoft and Sun Microsystems), PayPal, Prudential, Qualcomm, Shell Oil, and US Bank.  Some companies go even further, like Walmart. Not only is their corporate policy pro-abortion, but they actually are abortionists themselves. They effectively perform abortions, with Walmart itself having killed hundreds of thousands of unborn children by selling in their stores the abortifacient Morning After Pill. Of course when you look at the actual support for abortion, financial support and the even greater "in-kind" support, it crosses not only the entire economy but also the major political parties. For example, as you can see documented at kgov.com/funding, the Republican Prescott Bush was the treasurer for and a board member with Margaret Sanger of national Planned Parenthood and his son president George H. W. Bush began "Family Planning" Title X funding, the conduit used to send billions to Planned Parenthood. Prescott's grandson, president George W. Bush, hailed as a hero by the "pro-life industry", in his eight years gave to Planned Parenthood a billion dollars more than Bill Clinton had given them even though for half his presidency Bush had the trifecta of a Republican White House, Republican Congress and a Republican Supreme Court. (Of course Jeb Bush was a director of the Bloomberg Family Foundation that gave tens of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, but the pro-life leaders who supported him for president didn't seem to care much about that.)  You may recall that Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said abortionists should not get one red cent. He then fought for a budget that fully funded Planned Parenthood in his pro-Obama, pro-Democrat 2016 budget. Then Republican President Donald Trump (with a Republican Congress), who could have fought against abortion funding the way he fought for funding for the wall, could have refused to sign any legislation that gave even a single dollar to Planned Parenthood. Instead, by his signature, he gave a billion dollars to the abortion firm authorizing for his first years in office funding of Planned Parenthood at Obama levels. (Before pro-lifers knee-jerk defend Trump signing those spending bills, which by comparison makes PayPal's donations to Planned Parenthood insignificant, they should consider how to defund ISIS. Step One: Don't give them a billion dollars.) ​ Christine, the corporations listed above supporting abortion could be multiplied, without exaggeration, by a thousand. Regarding the admirable goal of not supporting companies that support evil (and especially, abortion), the Apostle Paul put efforts like that in perspective when the Holy Spirit inspired him to write in the Bible, "then you would need to go out of the world" (1 Cor. 5:10). But again, thank you, and we do encourage you in your boycott of PayPal, even to not donating to Colorado RTL, and we hope your effort makes a difference! In Christ, Bob Enyart Director, CRTL

More than a year ago, on January 29, 2020, Real Science Radio's interview of Kevin Anderson of the Van Andel research center may have been the world's first full-program broadcast interview with a molecular biologist on the coronavirus outbreak. Today, Bob Enyart and CRS' Dr. Anderson update their reporting on the covid to include discussion of RNA, an RNA vaccine, and vaccines morally tainted by testing or manufacturing with tissue from aborted babies. * How Close Is Too Close: When considering commercial or medical activity morally stained by a relationship with the killing of unborn children, how close is too close? Toward answering that question, consider this letter that Bob Enyart wrote to someone critizing Colorado Right To Life for accepting donations via PayPal... Hi Christine! Thanks so much for writing and for your love for the innocent! We encourage you in your boycott of PayPal. Hopefully it will make a difference! Sadly, in so many ways, most major companies, especially the tech companies and national brands, provide enormous support for the abortion industry. Firms with direct connections to financially supporting Planned Parenthood include Verizon, T-mobile, United Airlines (which here in Denver even helped PP purchase their mega-abortion mill), Adobe, American Express, Bank of America, Bath & Body Works, Ben & Jerry's (as in Pelosi's freezer), Boeing (with their 737s that we all fly), Clorox, Converse, Dockers, Energizer, Expedia, ExxonMobil, Fannie Mae, Groupon, Intuit (accounting software, Quicken/Mint/Quick Books), Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, Benadryl, BENGAY, Imodium, Pepcid, Sudafed, Listerine, Band-Aid, Neosporin, Polysporin, Caladryl, Baby Powder, Desitin, Stayfree, Mylanta), Levi Strauss, Liberty Mutual, Macy's, March of Dimes, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Nike, Oracle, Pepsi (who performed their own aborted fetal tissue taste-test research until we helped stop them), Pfizer, Progressive Insurance, Starbucks, Susan G. Komen (which we fight to expose), Tostitos, Unilever (Lipton, Vaseline, Brut, Hellman's Mayonnaise, Comfort, Dove soaps), United Way, and Wells Fargo. Many more businesses financially support abortion, directly and indirectly, including billions of dollars worth of "in kind" donations such as Sprint and AT&T. Another example of helping Planned Parenthood, from this very weekend, is Amazon (Bezos/Washington Post) kicking Parler off its servers, Parler being a prolife-friendly free speech platform in competition with Twitter which is overwhelmingly editorially and otherwise pro-abortion). The businesses that provide enormous support worth far more even than the dollars the abortionists get from the above companies, include Facebook, Twitter, Direct TV, and Dish. Also, the companies that financially support efforts which are primarily pro-abortion, for example, those that fund the nothing-if-not-pro-abortion "Womens Marches" around the nation, include Adobe, Aetna, Allstate, Autozone, Avon, Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield, BP (British Petroleum gasoline), Charles Schwab, Craigslist, Deutsche Bank, Freddie Mac, Frito Lay, General Electric (their appliance division was purchased by China's Haier in 2016 with the rights to use the "GE" brand name for forty years), Jiffy Lube, JPMorgan Chase, Kaiser Permanente, Kraft Heinz, March of Dimes, Monsanto, Nike, Oracle (with their PeopleSoft and Sun Microsystems), PayPal, Prudential, Qualcomm, Shell Oil, and US Bank.  Some companies go even further, like Walmart. Not only is their corporate policy pro-abortion, but they actually are abortionists themselves. They effectively perform abortions, with Walmart itself having killed hundreds of thousands of unborn children by selling in their stores the abortifacient Morning After Pill. Of course when you look at the actual support for abortion, financial support and the even greater "in-kind" support, it crosses not only the entire economy but also the major political parties. For example, as you can see documented at kgov.com/funding, the Republican Prescott Bush was the treasurer for and a board member with Margaret Sanger of national Planned Parenthood and his son president George H. W. Bush began "Family Planning" Title X funding, the conduit used to send billions to Planned Parenthood. Prescott's grandson, president George W. Bush, hailed as a hero by the "pro-life industry", in his eight years gave to Planned Parenthood a billion dollars more than Bill Clinton had given them even though for half his presidency Bush had the trifecta of a Republican White House, Republican Congress and a Republican Supreme Court. (Of course Jeb Bush was a director of the Bloomberg Family Foundation that gave tens of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, but the pro-life leaders who supported him for president didn't seem to care much about that.)  You may recall that Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said abortionists should not get one red cent. He then fought for a budget that fully funded Planned Parenthood in his pro-Obama, pro-Democrat 2016 budget. Then Republican President Donald Trump (with a Republican Congress), who could have fought against abortion funding the way he fought for funding for the wall, could have refused to sign any legislation that gave even a single dollar to Planned Parenthood. Instead, by his signature, he gave a billion dollars to the abortion firm authorizing for his first years in office funding of Planned Parenthood at Obama levels. (Before pro-lifers knee-jerk defend Trump signing those spending bills, which by comparison makes PayPal's donations to Planned Parenthood insignificant, they should consider how to defund ISIS. Step One: Don't give them a billion dollars.) ​ Christine, the corporations listed above supporting abortion could be multiplied, without exaggeration, by a thousand. Regarding the admirable goal of not supporting companies that support evil (and especially, abortion), the Apostle Paul put efforts like that in perspective when the Holy Spirit inspired him to write in the Bible, "then you would need to go out of the world" (1 Cor. 5:10). But again, thank you, and we do encourage you in your boycott of PayPal, even to not donating to Colorado RTL, and we hope your effort makes a difference! In Christ, Bob Enyart Director, CRTL

         The U.S. Chamber's Vice President of Transportation and Infrastructure, Ed Mortimer joined the program to discuss the current state of play in Congress and the Chamber's advocacy efforts on behalf of the engineering industry. Transcript: Host:Welcome to another edition of Engineering Influence, a podcast from the American Council of Engineering companies. Today, I am pleased to welcome Ed Mortimer to the show. Ed serves as the Vice President of transportation and infrastructure at the US Chamber of Commerce, where he oversees the development and implementation of the Chamber's, transportation and infrastructure policy, and represents the Chamber on Capitol Hill, as well as before the administration and industry organizations. In addition, Ed also leads the Americans for Transportation Mobility coalition, which is a collaborative effort by business, labor, transportation stakeholders, and concerned citizens to advocate for improved and increased federal investment in the nation's aging and overburdened transportation system. We at ACEC are members of that coalition which helps us amplify our voice to Capitol Hill. And Ed comes to the Chamber from AECOM where he served as director of government relations. So in other words, Ed knows our industry and he understands Congress and it is great to have him on the show. So welcome to Engineering Influence. Ed Mortimer:Great, Jeff, good to be with you. Host:So we were kind of talking about this beforehand, before we went live, but, you know, things are happening at least a little bit on the Hill. If you can give us a kind of an update on the legislative prospects for a surface bill, now that the House has passed their version. And of course that was dead arrival in the Senate and the Senate has been acting on their own version of not only a surface bill, but a WRDA bill. Where are things standing right now? Do you think we'll get something passed? Ed Mortimer:Well, Jeff, we're definitely in a critical moment to get something passed through the Senate. We have 63 days until the expiration of the FAST Act. And it's been over a year since the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee marked up their surface transportation reauthorization, the American Transportation Infrastructure Act, which was a 27% increase in highway funding. Unfortunately we haven't seen any action since then to bring the full bill to the floor. We need the banking committee who does a transit title, commerce committee, which does a safety title. And then the most critically the finance committee, which pays for the Senate bill. Since we haven't raised the gas tax in 27 years, they need to come up with $110 billion in new revenue to pay for that 27% increase in funding to date. They have not been able to do that. Ed Mortimer:We have been advocating for action on this. As you mentioned, the House of Representatives passed a bill, which unfortunately wasn't something we were very excited about in the sense that, the bill was introduced in the transportation committee and marked up in a partisan way. Not one Republican vote in committee, it was a 494 or 5 billion five-year reauthorization. And then all of a sudden, right before the bill came before it became a $1.5 trillion bill with a lot of things that I think your members. And again, the Chamber and the business community think are important, such as school construction, affordable housing. But in our view, we have an authorization bill that expires September 30th. We have divided government, so we have a Republican Senate, a Democrat House and a Republican White House. So the end of the day we need bipartisan solutions because until a bill signed into law, it doesn't do us any good. Ed Mortimer:And so our view was the House bill did not move that process forward of getting that bipartisan solution. So, but it passed, at least they got it through. Now we need the Senate to move out and then get into a House-Senate conference committee. So we urging the Senate knowing that they have a lot of things going on, or obviously working on the next COVID relief bill, they have appropriations that expire in September. But again, this is a, this is a priority that Congress is supposed to do their job. They're supposed to get these bills done in time and we need the Senate to act now, so we can get this bill into conference and get it to president's desk before September 30th. Host:Yeah, this is not something which is creeping up unexpectedly on either chamber. I mean, last Congress, the conversation was about the fiscal cliff that happened with the FAST Act and dealing with that, uh, knowing that there was going to have to be a reauthorization coming up because the law was expiring. The Senate was the first out of the gate, early on moving a surface bill. And it just seemed that the House's answer increasingly, it seems with the, you know, the polarization in Congress that you had a surface bill, but then it was run out of the Speaker's office and all these other policy provisions were tacked on and it became more of a political football and you're right. There were some things in the bill, that I think overall industry is interested in, you know, issues related to resiliency issues related to school construction, rural broadband, especially now in the post COVID working remotely kind of environment, but we need a surface bill Host:We've been looking at this over time. And infrastructure has always historically kind of been a broad bipartisan issue, but it does seem like those parts and elements have disrupted the dynamic, the T&I part - we mentioned that the process there was, was as partisan as we've ever seen it. And, you know, is this going to be the new norm? I mean, do you think that in your experience in working with Congress and this administration, just how things have developed do you think we can get back to that level of compromise and bipartisanship, or do you think we're going to be in a pitch partisan battle moving forward? Ed Mortimer:Well, I mean, I think it's gonna be a combination of both. And I will say, you know, a couple of weeks after this extremely partisan, uh, transportation bill came up, the committee unanimously approved a water resources development act, bill, and, you know, uh, on July 27th, the full h]House is going to take it up under suspension of the rules, which means two thirds vote to approve it. It should probably get 300 to 400 votes. So as painful as the surface markup and that situation was, they have come back and were able to get this WRDA bill done on a bipartisan basis. So, we are optimistic that we can get back to cause again, at the end of the day with divided government, you need bipartisan solutions. And we've always whether we had divided government or not. We've always been able to work on a bipartisan basis. Ed Mortimer:Now it may not be the same as it was 20 years ago. But we are optimistic that, you know, there's an old saying there is no Republican road or a Democrat bridge. And so at the end of the day, we have to hold our lawmakers accountable because they should work together to do the people's business. And in our view, infrastructure is a core responsibility of the federal government. You go back to the constitution, it actually requires the federal government to do two things. Now they may have wandered a bit from that, but the only two things that the constitutional part of the federal government to do is national defense and interstate commerce. And so investing in infrastructure is really critical to the backbone of our economy. And we have to hold our lawmakers accountable. We can't just let them say, well, I passed a bill through the House or we did a mark-upw. We have to tell them until it's gets signed into law engineers, don't benefit the American public. Doesn't see the fruits of the engineering industries labor until these bills get signed into law. And so we cannot accept half passage and press releases saying we just passed this 50% increase of funding because it doesn't mean anything until it's signed by the president, wherever that is. And then we can get the states the predictability of federal investment over the next several year period. Host:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's, I still remember, you know, and I don't know if it's there still, because I haven't gone into the committee room, uh, since the, uh, the Congress, the new Congress, but, you know, the last Congress could be turned around after entering a room on the left hand side is Adam Smith talking about the responsibility of the sovereign to maintain commerce and infrastructure. And on the right, is the constitution, uh, specifically outlining the federal responsibility for maintaining post roads. And of course, you know, the national infrastructure, so it is a federal responsibility and you're absolutely right. We can't take half measures. We have to get a bill done because it will, it's necessary for the certainty that the states need, especially now with, with, you know, shrinking budgets, for those states to be able to do long-term planning and, you know, the programs need to be there to, to allow our economy to recover. You did mention WRDA, and I think that's an important point that the reference, because this is always the sleeper bill, it's the one that generally gets the bipartisan support. It passes with overwhelming majorities in both chambers, but it doesn't get the press that it really deserves. From your position at the Chamber, how important is that WRDA bill, you know, it's critical for water infrastructure, you know, inland waterways, port stamps, harbors, but what's the economic impact of getting a bill like that done? Ed Mortimer:Well, what WRDA does is, and Jeff, why it's really important for the engineering industry is it's 2015. Congress has done this bill every two years. And so every two years they authorize new water projects. So without that action, uh, the Corps cannot start new projects. Why is it important? Because before 2015, it was seven years until the previous authorization was done. So this is the third time in a row that Congress is on track to meeting that responsibility. What does that mean? That means that communities can make plans and investments knowing the federal government going to do this bill every two years. Um, water infrastructure is critical to so many communities throughout the country, particularly in the agricultural, the manufacturing industry. And we all know that our infrastructure systems are old at the best and our locks and dams are some of the oldest. We've been band-aiding them for 25 to 30 years. And so these water investments are really critical, so many communities, we're also looking at, you know, you talked earlier about resiliency, we're looking at natural disasters are happening. And so doing this water bill every two years allows engineers to provide the innovation and technology that they can bring to the table and we're repairing and modernizing these water systems. We can make sure the resilient to handle the new natural disasters that perhaps our forefathers 50 years ago, hadn't planned on us dealing with. Host:Yeah. So you did mention earlier the, um, pandemic response bill, do you think that infrastructure investment like support for state DoT or local transit agency airports or other sectors might be included as a portion of that bill? Ed Mortimer:Well, it has to, okay. Our transportation systems have suffered substantially since the pandemic started. We shut down most of this country. Um, some parts of this country now we're going through a mini second shutdown. Um, the revenue sources for state DoTs is dried up significantly. AASHTO has said that they need an additional $37 billion to continue projects through the next year. Um, transit agencies have submitted proposal for $32 billion. Um, the heroes act, which passed the house includes 15 billion for state DoTs and 15 billion for transit agencies. Um, the Senate bill that McConnell has started the process of putting out there only includes $10 billion for airports. But I can tell you that we need, we will fight very hard and vigorously to ensure that any final product includes funding for those state DoTs, for those transit agencies in the airports, because they have suffered not because of anything they did, but because of a pandemic, that's a federal response has to take place to ensure that we're able to continue the business. Ed Mortimer:So many engineers have been able to continue work. They're essential workers. We be able to actually in several States move projects faster because of a lack of traffic on some of the infrastructure. So we actually have an opportunity here to take advantage of this unfortunate situation, to maybe expedite some infrastructure projects in a more timely manner. So it's a combination, all of us to ensure that the Senate, uh, the ball's in their court, the house passed a bill Baldwin Senate court. They need to come together. They need to ensure that this type of funding is available. Cause whether we get in long-term reauthorization of the fast app or an extension of this program without state match we're going to see a reduction in projects at the, at the, at the, on all levels of government. So it's critical that we urge the Senate to include this as this process moves forward. Host:Yeah, absolutely. And that's something that's been a core focus of our digital advocacy effort. Of course, we were hoping to have a spring convention and legislative fly in as normal, but COVID disrupted that. So we switched over to a virtual advocacy campaign, which was successful in the House. And of course our target is right now is the Senate. And our grassroots advocates have been very, very vocal and sending messages to their members of the Senate and also organizing meetings, virtual meetings over zoom and other formats. What has the Chamber have been doing in terms of grassroots activities to support those objectives? Ed Mortimer:So we've been very active, you know, educating our members about what's going on. Um, we've actually started a social media campaign where we have a calendar every day. It's, you know, I mentioned 63 days, to the expiration, we remind lawmakers every day, they haven't acted and that the clock is ticking. We actually have on our website, let's rebuild america dot com. We have a ticker that shows the hours, the minutes, the days that are taking now, um, for action. Um, and so like your members, we've learned to kind of change our advocacy. It's no longer um, just our folks walking the halls of Congress, but it's doing zoom. Uh, it's being involved in social media campaigns. You know, we're still talking to members of Congress and their staffs in a different way. Um, but to be honest with you, it's, it's still effective. Ed Mortimer:They still hear it. And I know engineers have a lot on their plate right now, but we need you to step up and have your voice heard these members of Congress need to hear how many jobs your company has, uh, what projects you're working on and what are the opportunities that may go away if they don't act. Um, it does make a difference and telling our story is really going to be critical in next three weeks where there's so much noise in Washington, right. We watched the news and we know the ongoing pandemic. Um, but making sure that our voice is heard, that the lawmakers truly understand the ramifications of not acting to invest in infrastructure. Uh, it's really to make the difference whether we get the right amount of funding in this next bill or not. Host:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you turn on the television it's wall to wall COVID-19 coverage. You look at the major newspapers and they talk about, you know, the issues going on around the country. Um, and it doesn't seem like this is getting a lot of play, but honestly, the people who matter are paying attention and the best way to cut through the noise, cut through the media cycle is to get to them directly, um, either a message by email or a request for a zoom meeting. The ones that we've had have been very successful and the members have been very receptive meeting because we're able to amplify our voice. You can never get, let's say 50 people into a Senate office or 50 people into a House office. Now with zoom, you can have as many people as you want on that meeting with that member of Congress. Host:And you can essentially have a full fly in and one meeting virtually. So it's of critical importance. Um, also the ATM coalition, which is something that we've been involved with. Um, you know, you see a lot of the social media activity going on our page. Uh, we always retweet the messages and we, and we try to drive people over to the website, um, which is for the coalition it's, it's faster, better, safer, safer. So our faster, better, safer. Yes, I know exactly. I always get caught up on that. Tell us a little bit more about that coalition in some of the, some of the things that it's focused in on. Ed MortimerYeah. So we started this coalition, um, and it's been around for a while. And, and what we decided was, you can't just have the engineers, the construction industry, go up to the Hill and continue to ask for funding. We need to broaden the coalition. And so the goal of the coalition was let's bring organized labor in, let's bring other parts of the business, community retailers, Farm Bureau. And so we're trying to widen the coalition of stakeholders that understand the importance of infrastructure. And so ACEC and their membership in it allows us to do those activities. And then Jeff as you mentioned, we're able to kind of amplify all of our messages in this world of Twitter and so much noise, uh, being able to have colleagues to amplify the message are really important. Um, and so the coalition does that. We partner with folks, we tell the story of members all over this country. Ed Mortimer:And so ATM really is focused on from it from a grassroots campaign and on the outside in, so we hear stories around the country. We try to tell those stories to the members of Congress, um, you know, ACEC's got a great Capitol Hill office, and you guys work the inside the beltway, we partner with you guys on many of those efforts, but again, it's working inside the beltway and combining that with an outside the beltway campaign, to make sure that we're bringing the vast array of resources that we have, and we pull them together and pulling them together. We're able to be more effective than if we just do all of our, do our own campaign. So, you know, I really love what you guys do. Um, your membership has been extremely active. Um, I know it, cause I hear from members of Congress all the time hearing about what ACEC members were just in your chapters are very active at the state level. Ed Mortimer:And you've been, the chapters have been very effective at the state level raising revenue. We need to take some of the lessons learned at those state campaigns and bring it to Washington because so much of Washington tells us why they can't do something. Engineers know how we can do something. And we just have to remind these folks. And then we got to hold them accountable, whether they're Republican or Democrat, um, too many times, they tell us what we want to hear and they don't do anything after the meeting. So when you meet the zoom meeting, follow up with them and say, okay, you promised me X, Y, and Z, where are you at on those promises? Where's the bill? Has it been approved? Is the bill going to the White House? because it doesn't help you and remembers if we don't get these things done. So again, I think bringing all these resources to the table that none of the organizations that care about this can do it on their own, but together we really are bringing that large stakeholder community that can make a difference. Host:Yeah. If you were able to bring the engineering sector of the economy together with the construction sector of the economy and then the labor that actually gets it all done and have a unified voice it's practically unbeatable because you you're covering all fronts. Um, and I, and I think that's a good point. I mean, from, from the perspective of our state chapters, you know, they're working very hard on their own issues at the state legislative level, but if there's a success that, and this was kind of a call for stories, if there's a success that you've had at your state level to let us know, so we can filter it up because success at the state level translates to success in the federal level, because the members of Congress from that state delegation pay attention to what happens in the state house. And if you're able to go back and say, Hey, in Pennsylvania or Illinois, we were able to do this. So Mr. Senator or Congressman, it's not impossible, and this is how we did it. Um, it all feeds together and we all kind of self-support. So, uh, anyone out there listening who as a story or as a kind of a case study, make sure to let us know so we can get it to Ed. We can get it to people at the ATM coalition and kind of get that communicated to Congress. Ed Mortimer:Yeah. Jeff, if I could make one more point on that, the other thing is we see a lot of state officials come to Congress. So, you know, when they hear these stories, a lot of these folks that have, are now coming to Congress, we're seeing more and more of them say, Hey, I, I worked with the engineers on getting a gas tax raise or a sales tax raised. And that's going to be very helpful as we continue to grow base of support in this Congress to make the real investments that are required. So that's why in another way that, you know, these folks that end up at the state level, they find their way to DC. So cultivating those relationships and keeping them going is going to be really critical. Host:Absolutely. Well, before I let you go, I've got to ask a NEPA question because, you know, this has been n one of the administration's main focuses policy-wise from a regulatory standpoint, so I know that the Chamber supported the administration's NEPA reform, um, and of course the streamlining of project delivery, which is crucial. Why do you think it's important to the business community in general? And do you think that the changes in the NEPA regulations will make it through legislative and judicial challenges? Ed Mortimer:So good question. So, you know, look, the Chamber believes we need to modernize our infrastructure. That also means we need to modernize the way that we deliver projects to the engineers on the frontline of the challenges in the permitting process. Almost 20% of the cost of many major federal projects is due to the planning approval process. And NEPA has been used by our opponents to delay and stop projects. And that's not what NEPA was meant to do. NEPA was meant to encourage public participation and to make sure environmental regulations are being met, um, engineers that work on products today, I guarantee you any project at any ACEC members working on is going to make the infrastructure more environmentally sensitive than what it replaced, just because innovation and technology that engineers bring to the table. And you're replacing an infrastructure that was built 50 years ago or longer. Ed Mortimer:So the reality is, is that we need to show the business community because the business community is willing to pay more for infrastructure. As you know, we've been out there saying we need to adjust the fuel tax, but if we do adjust the fuel tax, we also need to show the business community that we're going to use limited dollars more effectively. And so we did support the administration's executive order on tightening up, uh, the NEPA requirements. Um, again, it doesn't change the NEPA law and there's some misconception out there. Uh, it does not change the law. It just changes the way federal agencies implement NEPA, and it provides some reasonable timelines for it. And while the Mark dental community and others have raised a lot of objections to it, um, actually in the Senate EPW bill that I mentioned that moved through the committee on a 21 to zero vote, um, that was sponsored by Senator Carper of Delaware. Ed Mortimer:It includes language that would put a two year time limit on lawsuits, on NEPA projects, um, Democrats and Republicans in the last two surface transportation bills have supported, you know, ways to kind of expedite permit approvals. So again, we believe this needs to be done without changing environmental law without cutting corners, but putting reasonable timelines. And if the answer is no, we'd rather see limited dollars go to projects that get to yes. And so again, if we're going to make the major investments necessary to modernize, we have to figure out a way to modernize these rules. So, you know, the administration just made an announcement that they finalize these rules. Um, they're going into litigation, um, as all of these things always do. Um, you know, do you believe that it's solidly, it should last that now obviously if there's an election this fall, um, there could be a change in an executive order, and that's why we wanted to get the Senate bill codified into law because a law is a lot harder to change than an Executive Order. And so that's one of the other reasons that we want to push to get that Senate bill done. Um, because getting that enacted into law this year would make sure that it's going to last where the Executive Order, if there does happen to be a new administration, it's pretty easy for them to just eliminate that Executive Order. Host:Yeah, that's, that's a really good summary because I think that a lot of people are following it, but they're not following it too closely, but it is all about keeping the pipeline open for projects. It's about easing burdensome regulations. It's not about undermining environmental quality or protections, but about getting projects from paper to completion faster. That benefits the local level all the way up to of course, the federal bottom line. So, that's very important. Ed, is there, is there anything that we didn't cover that you want to make sure that our listeners know? I mean, this is a great opportunity to hear from the Chamber. Ed Mortimer:Sure. Well, one thing I wanted to let you know, the engineers know that there's a couple of things that Chamber's really going to be advocating for in the next COVID relief bill. Um, one is liability protection, making sure that businesses that are following CDC and other health guidance, um, don't have frivolous lawsuits, as long as they're showing they're doing the right thing. Uh, making sure that we extend the PPP program, uh, and work to make sure that our businesses are able to survive through this very challenging time that did not come from anything they did. We also want to make sure, as we talked about state and local governments get resources to make up for some of the lost revenue that they had. Um, and we it's really critical that we get these done before they leave for the August recess. Um, you know, in our view, they shouldn't go on recess until this is done.Ed Mortimer:Some of these programs, actually the PPP program, the unemployment insurance, additional funding expires this Friday. And so we have to hold these lawmakers feet to the fire. Um, it's been a challenging start in Senate where at this point there's probably not 50 votes for the initial proposal that was put out there. It's going to be a lot of horse trading, um, but we have to keep our eye on the ball and remind our lawmakers, stop the partisanship. Uh, you have to do the right thing on behalf of the American people. Businesses need some certainty that these things are going to be locked into place. And so, you know, this is something that is really critical to all businesses. But I know in the engineering business, a lot of engineering companies took advantage of PPP, and we want to ensure that you're able to keep your employees through this very difficult time. We want to make sure there's government support there - very timely and targeted. So these aren't just longterm extensions, but timely and targeted to help businesses get through this pandemic. So urging you all to talk to your lawmakers about that and ensuring that they get this done before they leave for the August recess. Host:Absolutely. And those are issues that we will be joining you with, and helping you to advocate for, uh, throughout, um, the current session of Congress. And hopefully they do get this done before leaving for recess. And if they don't, they, they shouldn't go. Um, this is, this is critically important for the economy and for the industry. So, um, there's a lot to do. Um, if you're listening out there, you have a voice, make it, um, follow a Ed on Twitter at Chamber Moves - @ChamberMoves, and that's his Twitter feed, the ATM Coalition, faster, better, safer, that's www dot faster, better, safer.org, check them out and stay with us. And, uh, we'll keep you informed ed. I really appreciate you coming on the show. Uh, love to have you on when we get closer to the lecture and kind of maybe, uh, uh, look at, you know, the two potential outcomes and kind of where we might be going from an infrastructure standpoint. I'm a little too early to tell. We need to get Congress moving first before we can talk about that. Absolutely. Well, glad to glad to do that and good to be with you. All, everybody stays safe and let's keep busy. Yep. Host:Great. Stay safe and enjoy, uh, I guess the, the, the hot sweltering DC weather. Ed Mortimer:Right. Host:But thank you again, ed. And you've been listening to engineering influence from ACEC. 

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