Beyond Politics

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A Devastating Federal Indictment for Trump. Why Is He in Bigger Trouble This Time? Jun 09, 2023

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Former President Donald Trump is going to be indicted again, this time on federal charges stemming from his secreting away classified documents from the White House. Former prosecutor and Congressman Paul Hodes runs through why we are seeing these charges, what we can read in to the fact that the Department of Justice is bringing them, and why they could spell deeper legal peril for Trump than the state charges we saw two months ago. Also: should Trump be treated differently than other defendants? Why does his history of criminal behavior matter? And why are so many Republicans so deep into the cult of Trump that they can't shake out of it as the charges mount?

YOUR Mailbag questions! Can We Just Get Rid of the Supreme Court? Jun 07, 2023

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One of the upsides of the fact that we now have 20,000 subscribers and climbing on the Blue Amp channel on YouTube is we have a really big interactive community that can throw questions at us and that we can give responses to, and vice versa. If you are interested in participating in a future mail bag, then just So when we asked them to throw questions at us, they came through bigly! Today, we cover three great ones about the Department of education, a pivotal Supreme Court ruling, and who needs a Supreme Court anyway?!?

A Republican Governor Issues A Devastating Warning to His Party Jun 06, 2023

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New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu didn't just decline to run for President. He issued a dire plea to fellow Republicans to turn away from their current course of culture war and wedge issue politics, before they destroy themselves. Also: why is Biden so accomplished and yet so unpopular? The panel unpacks Matt Robison's Newsweek article on that question, and the eerie rise of RFK Jr. First of a Two Part Episode.

Financial Life Planning: PART TWO How to teach your kids about money (without driving yourself crazy) Jun 04, 2023

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This is PART TWO of our show on how do you teach your kids about money, without making it a chore for you?

We're once again bringing you an episode from Financial Life Planning with Matt Robison and Financial Advisor Mike Morton. Do you offer an allowance? Is it tied to chores or some other ‘work?’ Do you give your kids the freedom to spend their money with abandon or try to control what they buy? Have you had an honest discussion about college and the immense expense associated with higher education? Plus:

Giving freedom to kids to spend their own money - and allowing the ‘failures’ that come with some of those decisions
Chores - Do you pay your kids to be a contributing member of your family?
When and how to talk to teenagers about college expenses

Democrats Won the Big Showdown. Now What Happens Next? Jun 01, 2023

Show notes

Congressional insider and former Chuck Schumer right hand man on policy Ryan McConaghy joins to grade Matt Robison's argument that the debt ceiling deal was a huge win for President Biden, and also evaluate whether it was a win for Kevin McCarthy as well, and what the real world impact will be. Then: can Congress accomplish anything else after this? And will Senate Democrats finally do away with an arcane procedure that is slowing down judicial confirmations?

There's a Surprising Deal to Avoid Economic Catastophe. Did Anyone Come Out Ahead? May 30, 2023

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Were there clear political "winners" and "losers" in the debt ceiling deal that will prevent a total meltdown of the American economy? Or is this a much more nuanced situation? Could everyone have actually come out ahead? The panel points out how you can tell. Also, why the sudden Republican agreement to impeach their hardest-charging warrior?

Financial Life Planning: How to teach your kids about money (without driving yourself crazy) May 28, 2023

Show notes

How do you teach your kids about money, without making it a chore for you? We're once again bringing you an episode from Financial Life Planning with Matt Robison and Financial Advisor Mike Morton. Do you offer an allowance? Is it tied to chores or some other ‘work?’ Do you give your kids the freedom to spend their money with abandon or try to control what they buy? Have you had an honest discussion about college and the immense expense associated with higher education? Plus:

Giving freedom to kids to spend their own money - and allowing the ‘failures’ that come with some of those decisions
Chores - Do you pay your kids to be a contributing member of your family?
When and how to talk to teenagers about college expenses

Did this clever candidate figure out the key to the Democrats' future? May 26, 2023

Show notes

We've known Trevor Chandler for a long time: as a congressional staffer, LGBT rights activist, and political organizer. So when decided to jump into a local San Francisco race, it didn't surprise us. What did surprise us was the message he decided to run on. Could it be the key to pushing back on the Fox News attacks and unifying the Democratic Party?

Dems Need to Change Their Entire Approach. Here's How. May 25, 2023

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Former Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper is out today with Saving Democracy, a how-to guide on how individuals and small groups can actually tilt the balance of power away from right-wing extremists and back to sanity and democracy. David joins us to explain why state governments have become engines of Republican extremism, and how effective it can be for grassroots Democrats to fight back and win by focusing much more heavily on the state and local level and leveraging the advantages they have.

Republican Presidential Field Takes Shape. Do Any of Them Have a Chance? May 23, 2023

Show notes

Republican Senator Tim Scott has everything his party should want in a Presidential contender...except a clear path to being the nominee. The panel looks at whether he, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Asa Hutichinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis or anyone else has any chance of wresting the nomination away from Donald Trump, and whether retail politics-heavy states like New Hampshire can actually help.

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