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Is the IRS really paying for this?

The IRS is paying a penalty for targeting conservatives. Except that it’s a rather small amount. And nobody got fined, fired, or jailed for it. And you, the taxpayer will be footing the bill. And the damage was already done. But hey, they are paying!

Deerfield, Illinois is determines to learn the exact wrong lesson from Kennesaw, Georgia. Whereas Kennesaw required homeowners to own a gun, Deerfield is banning them. Kennesaw saw their crime rates drop in subsequent years. I wonder what will happen in Deerfield.

What would be next after strict gun control if it were enacted here? Knife control? Don’t laugh. That’s exactly what’s happening in London.

Mentioned links:

Federal judge approves $3.5 million settlement in IRS tea party targeting

Village Bans Semi-Automatic Weapons, Residents Must Remove From Home Or Face Up To $1,000 Fines — Per Day

London murder rate beats New York for month as stabbings surge

London’s murder rate surpasses New York’s for 1st time ever

London Mayor Sadiq Khan enacts ‘knife control’ policies to crack down on stabbing epidemic

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Reconsider this, Martin Shkreli

In a “Reconsider This” segment, I give you an update on the case of Martin Shkreli, the guy who bought the rights to Daraprim and then jacked up the price. What’s happened to him lately?

And Vic from Memphis calls the voicemail feedback hotline! In response to my despondency over the thought that ObamaCare is forever, he tries to life my spirits. Let’s see how well he does, or even if my spirits can be lifted.

Mentioned links:

Martin Shkreli sentenced to 7 years in prison

Martin Shkreli Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Fraud

Episode 123: A Win For the Free Market, and a (Sort Of) Win For Religious Freedom

The GOP Tax Bill Repeals Obamacare’s Individual Mandate. Here’s What That Means for You

House GOP bill repeals ObamaCare taxes — with one exception

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What did ObamaCare really do to our insurance premiums?

When given examples of people whose health insurance premiums have greatly increased after the poorly-named “Affordable Care Act”, ACA advocates have been able to respond that those are cherry-picked cases, or that premiums were increasing before the ACA and would have increased anyway.

That was then, this is now.

Bermuda has paved the way in the same-sex marriage debate, starting with government that is  actually representative of the people.

Consumer confidence is up. Way up. How much? Take a listen.

Mentioned links:

Yes, It Was The ‘Affordable’ Care Act That Increased Premiums

Bermuda becomes first jurisdiction in the world to repeal same-sex marriage

US consumer confidence rises to highest level since 2000

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A budget that all of DC can get behind. (That’s not a good thing.)

I’ve got 2 stories this episode about the economy; one good and one bad. Both are directly related to what Trump and the Republicans are doing.

The stories are one about the tax cut and one about the budget. Listen in to find out which is good and which isn’t.

Mentioned links:

Granite Grok (Conservative politics in New Hampshire in 10 minutes or less)

Here’s what America’s biggest companies plan to do with all that cash coming back to the US

Over 100 companies giving ‘Trump Bonuses’ after tax victory, ‘tsunami building’

Apple, Capitalizing on New Tax Law, Plans to Bring Billions in Cash Back to U.S.

The Trump Spending Binge

Trump’s budget balloons deficits, cuts social safety net

Planned Parenthood’s Taxpayer Funding Safe Under Spending Deal

Conservatives lash out at GOP spending binge

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It’s episode 200!

It’s here; episode 200! And what an extravaganza it is.

I have an interview with D. J. McGuire. He’s a co-host of The More Perfect Union podcast, one of my favorites. I wanted to speak with D. J. because he has moved from being a conservative Republican to a conservative Democrat. Contradiction in terms, you say? It didn’t used to be. When I moved to Georgia, Sam Nunn was one such animal. In today’s political climate, however, it’s certainly an endangered specie. I talked with him about his conservative bona fides, why he switched, whether his views have changed, and what would cause him to switch back. It’s a fascinating discussion.

And I have feedback from 5 listeners, including a voice mail. (See, it really does work!) I’ll be answering their questions as part of this episode.

So thanks for joining me for the longest episode ever (over 56 minutes!) of one of the shortest political podcasts out there. I hope it gets you to consider this.

Mentioned links:

The Conservative Zone

Black Lives Matter: 28% of Abortions Done on Black Babies But Blacks Just 12% of Population

Birthright citizenship in the United States [Wikipedia]

Podcasts mentioned:

The More Perfect Union Podcast

The Ben Shapiro Show

Challenging Opinions

GetReligion

Observations

The Ricochet Podcast

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (including “Let My People Think”)

BreakPoint

Radio Free Acton

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Are Democrats aware of this?

I have yet another example (well, 2, actually) of Democrats trying to apply a religious test to someone trying to work in government. More and more Democrats are getting comfortable with this.

Bernie Sanders has decided to introduce a bill to create Medicaid for all. Because a system that is losing money hand over fist, pays  out less than private insurance, and is losing doctors all the time is just what we need to “fix” the health care system.

Or not.

And you can still donate to The Salvation Army for hurricane Harvey and Irma relief. Details here.

Mentioned links:

No Religious Test Clause [Wikipedia]

Episode 181: Cuts to Sex-Ed in Schools, and A New Religious Test for Government Work [previous episode of “Consider This!”]

Did Durbin and Feinstein Impose a Religious Test for Office?

Feinstein w/Barrett; 9-7-2017 [Video of questioning]

Dick Durbin Appears to Illegally Grill Trump Judicial Nominee Over Her Religion [Video of questioning]

Sanders Wants ‘Medicare For All.’ Here Are 8 Reasons That’s Dumb.

Medicare for All is becoming the new litmus test for Democratic presidential hopefuls.

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The economics of FirstNet

While I highlight your feedback to me on this show, this time I’m highlighting my feedback to another podcast.

This is my feedback to an episode of Congressional Dish, hosted by Jennifer Briney. Jennifer does the work of finding out what bills are going through Congress and brings you the “in a nutshell” versions of them to you, so you can find out what they’re doing for you, or to you. Her recent episode was about a project called FirstNet, a program designed to create a new nationwide wireless network just for first responders, so they aren’t blocked during emergencies because of everyone using their phones to find out if loved ones are OK.

This project was started in the wake of 9/11, and may come to fruition soon. She was glad to hear this was happening, but was concerned over the corruption that was part of the beginning of this process, and that the for-profit corporation AT&T was getting the contract, because, as she put it, AT&T puts profit first, and customers (in this case first responders) down on the list.

This is my response, mostly to the economic aspects of her concern, and how the free market has not been allowed to work properly, and the result is that we’re in monopolistic mess. I greatly encourage you to listen to her episode for the context of this feedback, and subscribe to her podcast.

(Jennifer never guarantees that she’ll use feedback that she gets in her show, and this bit of audio is 7 minutes 38 seconds, quite an imposition to her and her audience. So if she doesn’t use it, I’d absolutely understand.

Also, below is an extended transcript, more than what I said in my audio feedback. I got on a roll and couldn’t stop writing. I pared it back for the audio feedback, but this is everything I wanted to say.)

Mentioned links:

Congressional Dish, episode 155: FirstNet Empowers AT&T

Why Can’t The Market for Medical Care Work Like Cosmetic Surgery?

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Red state, blue state, solvent state, broke state

George Clooney called Donald Trump a xenophobic fascist, and said his immigration policies were idiotic and intolerant. But when George, who wants to bring in as many unvetted immigrants as possible, gets a wake-up call as terrorism rings throughout the UK, where does he take refuge? Yeah, you guessed it.

And I’ll take about a surprising trend in state solvency. Which states, run by which political parties, are better off financially? Well, if you’re a regular listener to this podcast, you won’t be so surprised.

Mentioned links:

George Clooney interview: ‘Donald Trump is a xenophobic fascist’

How Ironic: George Clooney Moving Family Out of England For ‘Security Reasons’

George Clooney Plans to Move Amal and Twins Back to LA for Security Reason

Best-Run States Are Low-Tax Republican, Worst-Run Are High-Tax Democratic, Study Finds

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Charlie Gard gets the death penalty

If you’ve heard about the situation in the UK regarding Charlie Gard, you may be one of a minority in the US. Seems there are bigger stories here, like the dissecting of the handshake Trump and Putin had at the recent G20 meeting. (Gotta’ have your priorities.)

Just a few months old, Charlie Gard has a very rare medical condition that there is no known cure for, so doctors in the UK have said that Charlie must die. They’ve even prevented the parents from taking Charlie to the US for an experimental treatment at their own expense. Socialized medicine often decides who lives or dies based on the cost to taxpayers, but clearly money is not the issue here. It’s all about control.

This episode has my thoughts on the matter. Things have gone upside down.

Mentioned links:

MP GRAPHICS blog

MP Graphics Facebook page

Timeline: Parents battle to save Charlie Gard

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For some, not exactly a raise

This time out, I’m reconsidering 3 topics I’ve covered in the past with some new information.

Stevie Wonder: He said something that I’ve said about Black Lives Matter in the past. Will it carry more weight?

San Bernardino: Five years ago, I talked about how this California city went bankrupt. They’re finally coming out of it. Now what?

Seattle: So how’s that minimum wage hike working out for them? Exactly as predicted. (Predicted by conservatives; not by the liberals that passed it.)

Mentioned links:

Previous episodes of “Consider This!”

Episode 7: Voter ID, Canadian Health Care, and Bankrupt Cities

Episode 137: Do Political Parties Matter for Local Issues?

Episode 154: #AllBlackLivesMatter

After five long years, San Bernardino is officially out of bankruptcy. What’s next?

What are the political party affiliations of the City of San Bernardino Mayor and Common Council?

Stevie Wonder: ‘You Cannot Say Black Lives Matter and Then Kill Yourselves’

New study suggests that Seattle’s $13 minimum wage is hurting workers

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