Mike & Jay kick off the show with a look at the Biden administration’s recent guidance to health care providers and pharmacies regarding federal law on abortion services. Mike believes that the guidance is well within the authority of the federal government and should make at least a marginal difference in providing women access to abortion services. Jay doesn’t entirely disagree but feels that the language of the guidance was heavy-handed and could have a chilling effect on medical care providers.
Next, they turn to the most recent inflation report and the state of the economy. Mike believes that while the most recent numbers are bad, there’s a good chance that we’ve turned a corner, though there are some serious structural issues to consider. Jay feels that the Fed should have acted sooner to raise interest rates, and questions the extent to which we should trust “expert opinion” on these matters.
After that comes a discussion of COVID in the wake of the BA.5 variant’s rise. Mike believes that we’re still not doing nearly enough to get the world vaccinated. Jay doesn’t disagree but has much greater concerns than Mike does about how this would happen, and the waste of money due to incompetence and corruption.
Following that, they consider Joe Manchin – the Democrat other Democrats love to hate. Jay argues that Machin’s position on not going along with Democratic proposals on climate change make good policy sense, and his somewhat newfound refusal to consider tax increases is a smart political move. Mike agrees, though he points out the inconsistency between Manchin’s concerns about inflation and his position on tax increases.
Then the guys turn to the case of Brittney Greiner. They conclude that the State Department may need to do a better job of warning travelers heading to particularly dangerous countries, and that high-profile Americans should be especially concerned. While they have reservations about prisoner-swaps, they end up agreeing that they’re almost certain to happen in certain circumstances.
Finally, they consider the “independent state legislature” theory – the idea that state legislatures can make federal election laws that are unreviewable by state courts, even if they may violate the state’s constitution. While they find it an intellectually intriguing argument, in the end Mike & Jay don’t think it holds water, and that when the Supreme Court hears Moore v. Harper – the case that revolves around this theory – a majority of the justices will agree with them.
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Speaker McCarthy, Roberts’ Report, Biden’s Judges
Judge Pierre Bergeron on State Courts, Criminal Sentencing, and Trial by Jury
Santos’ Lies, 1/6 Report, Trump’s Taxes, FY23 Budget, Zelensky, Immigration
Budget Deal, TikTok Bans, SBF / FTX and Campaign Finance
Griner, Sinema, GA Senate, Trump Legal Woes, DNC Primary Changes
Trump Special Master, Rail Strike, Student Loan Forgiveness, Sedition Convictions
Garland’s Special Counsel, Trump Tax Returns, MBS Immunity, Pot Legislation
Trump Special Counsel, Midterms & 2024, Same Sex Marriage, Biden & Xi
Midterms: Results, Reactions, Consequences, Ballot Issues
Pelosi Attack, Affirmative Action, Trump’s Taxes, Twitter, Midterms
Robb Willer and Jan Voelkel on Strengthening American Democratic Attitudes
Fetterman & Oz, Midterms & Polling, Republicans & Ukraine
Truss Resignation, Russian and Iran, Senate Debates, Midterm Predictions, Lindsey Graham, Loan Forgiveness
1/6 Committee, Trump Documents, Danchenko & Durham
Nuclear Armageddon, China Chip Ban, Pot Pardons, Trump Search, Judicial Corruption
Nord Stream Sabotage, Russian Annexation, Special Master Overruled, McConnell, Old Joe
Trump’s Legal Troubles, Putin’s Nuclear Threat
Special Master, Inflation, Migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Graham’s Abortion Ban
Bill Kuhn on the GOP as a Threat to Democracy
Special Masters, Trump Rally, Removing Insurrectionists, Labor Laws
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