American Viewpoints

Bankrate.com analyst Sarah Foster descibes the results of a new survey that shows young families (and individuals) struggle more financially and emotionally than others when it comes to holiday spending. The discussion includes the current econoic conditions and typical expections for gift-giving and other spending. Foster also explains ways to prioritize personal finance needs while still enjoyin...

John Berlau from the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains what happened with the FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse. He also discusses what the situation could mean for investors, businesses, and public policy.

Jason Resendez from Consumers For Quality Care offers advice on knowing how effective your health insurance coverage is, what your rights are, and how to spot aspects of health care costs that can be avoiced. This includes "surprise billing" and other ways patients get billed unexpectedly.

Fred Lucas from the Daily Signal assesses theresults of the midterm elections. The discussion includes the messaging, the economy, and the partisanship involved.

David Huntsman from the Huntsman Institue for Mental Health and Heidi Arthur from the Ad Council discuss the new national campaign to lower social stigmas and other barriers to accessing mental health care in America.

Dr. Thomas Hogan from the American Institute for Economic Research reacts to the new CPI report showing that inflation, once again, continued to rise. He discusses the reasons for the increases, what consumers can expect regarding the impact on their finances, andsuggests ways to deal with the likely continued inflation increases.

Linda Chavez is the Chair of the Center for Equal Opportunity. She discusses the case before the US Supreme Court that challenges the use of race as a factor in college and university admissions.

The Daily Wire's Tim Meads comments on the debate caused by an editorial in The Atlantic. Professor Emily Oster's oped calls for what she calls "pandemic amnesty" - calling for Americans to set aside differences and angrer over disagreements related to COVID-era issues. Meads discusses his response to that in which he says agreement on what was/is true and accountability should be reached before b...

Financial advisor Eric Robert from Stifel Financial (https://www.stifel.com/) describes how the latest interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve will affect family budgets. He also addresses the ongoing inflation and how it relates to the interest rate hikes. https://www.clearpathinvesting.com/

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo received both criticism and praise for his statements (and actions) during the era of Covid shutdowns and restrictions. In this discussion, he describes the process he used to sort fact from fear and how to keep individual freedom in the conversation. Dr. Ladapo also explains what public officials and public health bureaucrats should have learned from the...

Marian Tupey, a senior fellow at the CATO Institute and editor of HumanProgress.org, discusses common claims about the planet's population, resources, and opportunity for wealth in the new book he coauthored with Gale Pooley. Superabundance: The Story Of Population Growth, Innovation, And Human Flourishing On An Infinitely Bountiful Planet challenges assumptions over overpopulation and scarce reso...

Michael Petrilli from the Thomas B Fordham Institute discusses the results of the recently-released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results. The NAEP is often called the "report card" on schools and/or the public education system. Petrilli says the latest results are concerning and some of the causes can be attributed to the school shutdowns and online-only format over the last...

Sgt Betsy Smith from the National Police Association assesses the performance of St. Louis Police who stopped a school shooting in progress at the Central Visual & Performing Arts High School. One student and one teacher died before police fatally shot the attacker. Smith also discusses the almost immediate politization of the situation by politicians who used the occasion to promote gun control p...

The Competitive Enterprise Institute's Ryan Young reacts to President Biden's announcement that his administration is going to address "junk fees" as part of his effort to lower the cost of living. These "junk fees" include add ons for airline travel, cancellation fees by hotels, and concert ticket processing fees.

Landmark Legal Foundation has obtained records relating to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s directive that the DOJ investigate individuals attending school board meetings. In this discussion, Landmark's Assistant General Counsel, Mike O'Neill, describes what they found after news that the National School Boards Association contacted the US Department of Justice, encouraging them to consider inve...

Ed Mierzwinski, the Senior Director of the Public Interest Research Group's Federal Consumer Program, argues that regulators and lawmakers should address financial processes that they say is a bad deal for college students. Beyond just on campus incentives to convince young people to sign up for credit cards, Mierzwinski says the problems includes the colleges/universities and financial institutio...

Super.com's Radhika Dugga explains why credit scores and credit (or a lack of) cause anxiety for many Americans. In addition to the concerns about debt in general, accessing credit means accessing opportunity for many low and middle income Americans. Dugga also describes the secured bank card they developed to help people build a favorable credit score.

Jon Schwepp from the American Principles Project explains what the Stop The Sexualization Of Children Act is and would do if passed into law. It's proposed in Congress with little chance of passing under the current makeup of Congress and calls for federal tax dollars from going to entities that promote sexual materials to children. This could include drag shows sponsored by schools or district-af...

PayPal was recently caught adding policies to their service that could have resulted in the company fining users for "misinformation". Following an online and a media backlash, the company backtracked and claimed the rules were announced in error. RedState.com's Susie Moore discusses the brief policy changes, the legal implications, and the state of censorship in business, particulalry in today's...

Dr. Thomas Hogan from the American Institute for Economic Research explains why the hotly-debated policies in government have immediate affects on your personal finances. From oil product and gas prices to overall inflation to recent jobs reports, what happens in Washington DC is changing most Americans' personal finances.

Vinnie Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker, assesses some of the Biden Administration's proposals to change federal regulations related to contract workers. Supporters of the proposals, including labor unions, say it will protect contract and gig workers who don't get benefits that come with full time employment. Opponents say the ideas would take away the flexibility and...

The Manhattan Institute's Brian Riedl breaks down the extreme levels of waste and fraud associated with the federal spending plans. The discussion covers the numbers of dollars involved (as near as we can tell), the efforts to prosecute fraud as they stand now, and what it will mean to all taxpayters, Here's his recent article on the problem: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/pandemic-fraud-and-...

Gabe Phifer, host of the St. John The Philosopher Youtube show and Mike's cohost each weekday morning on NewsTalk STL, assesses a recent New York Court ruling that said polyamorous marriage should have the same legal protections as marriage between two people. The discussion was a response to this op-ed by Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council: https://washingtonstand.com/commentary/ny-jud...

Former US Department of Homeland Security official Paul Rosenzweig points out potential concerns the US should have about Microsoft's growing workforce in China. The company has announced plans to have around 10,000 workers working in manufacutring and software development there. The conversation covers both personal information security and national security concerns. https://www.law.gwu.edu/paul...

Author Laura Wellington expands on her recent article, Why So Many Woman Have Given Up On Dating, and points to technolgy, culture, and even COVID issues as reasons she believes are contributing to some women deciding to not pursue dating and relationships. https://laurawellington.medium.com/why-so-many-women-have-given-up-on-dating-64620dc579bd