I Hate Politics Podcast

Bethesda Magazine and its news website Bethesda Today refocus on their core market as a new federal administration seeks to remake the Washington DC metropolitan area. Sunil Dasgupta talks with publisher Jennifer Farkas and editor Jule Rasicot about the road ahead for local journalism in Bethesda and Montgomery County, MD. Newly in public domain music by Clara Smith and The Troubadours.

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : The regional power transmission organization covering New Jersey to Illinois goes to Annapolis and finds upset legislators. Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services can't seem to spend the money it has to improve service. A state program to give renters on the verge of eviction legal assistance seems to have worked. City of Rockville eases...

Facing a fiscal crisis, MD Governor Wes Moore has proposed $2 billion dollars in spending cuts in his 2025 budget proposal (as well as taxes and fees). What does that $2 billion look like to legislators beginning to hear from constituents and advocates? Sunil Dasgupta asks Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon and the Appropriations Committee member Emily Shetty to break down the cuts and put...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th president of the US amidst fears in blue states like Maryland where hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors live and work. Maryland Governor Wes Moore presents a balanced budget for 2025 with $1.4 bn in cuts, $1.3 bn new revenue, and $800 m in transfers from savings. Newly in public domain musi...

MCPS Student Takeover: Lorena Treviño of Walter Johnson High School talks with Leila Khademian and Teemo Taiwo, co-presidents of Wootton High School's Black Student Union, about continuing racist incidents and adult failures in one of the academically best-performing high schools in Montgomery County, MD. Newly in public domain music by Nacio Herb Brown and the Carl Fenton band.

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando makes a big political play on housing policy. State could cut 5 percent from the University System of Maryland budget. The Town of Cheverly in Prince George's County files lawsuits against the neighboring Bladensburg for trying to annex land on which a big development project is planned. Newly in public do...

The state of Maryland is looking down a deep fiscal hole as the 2025 General Assembly session begins. Sunil Dasgupta asks state Senate leaders, Brian Feldman, chair of the Education, Energy, and Environment Committee, and Jim Rosapepe, vice-chair of the Budget and Taxation Committee, for their solutions. Newly in public domain music by Nacio Herb Brown and the Carl Fenton band.

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Pepco raises rates in DC and MD. How much salt should you use to melt snow on your driveway? Indian-Americans dominate special elections in Loudoun COunty, VA. MD Senator Brian Feldman says a new special elections law is possible in the 2025 state assembly session. MD Delegate Heather Bagnall proposes a statehouse joint resolution to exonerate witche...

The Maryland General Assembly starts its 2025 session on January 8 looking down a deep fiscal hole. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Majority Leader David Moon and Environment and Transportation Committee Chair Marc Korman about how the House of Delegates is thinning about the budget crisis. Newly in public domain music by George Gershwin and Nacio Herb Brown.

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Maryland's statewide aggregate property value estimated to increase 20%. State's Climate Subcabinet issues report but fiscal constraints remain. 2024 road safety update and Delegate Julie Palakovich-Carr takes on modified exhaust noise. And more every week. Music by Sting Pain Index.

With news that wholesale prices of electricity are going to rise sharply next year, there is increasing concern about the regional transmission organization called PJM, which covers 13 states from New Jersey to Illinois. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Maryland Delegate Lorig Charkoudian and West Virginia Delegate Evan Hansen about how they see the problem and are working together. Music from Washington...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) launches a pilot to make it easier for tens of thousands of small nonprofits to join the CFC charities list. Montgomery County Public Schools released its budget proposal, with an ask of an extra $300 million and a new bill proposes to raise Board of Education member salaries to $124,000 Music by Sting Pain Index.

Holiday Weekend Special with local music featured on the podcast. Artists and bands in order of appearance: Cataclizm, Oren Levine, Dear Daria, Apollo 66, Sting pain Index, Myster Treefrog, 7 Door Sedan, Jim Kennedy, and Doogie Whittaker. Links at ihppod.org .

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : DC area towns Bladensburg and Cheverly fight over annexing a site ready for redevelopment. George Washington University Hospital narrowly avoids a medical resident strike. Silver Spring United Methodist Church unveils plans to build affordable housing on church grounds. A racist incident shakes Wootton High School. And more. Music by Sting Pain Index...

Housing lobbyist Tom Coale and housing researcher Salim Furth argue that reducing public comment on by-right development projects, standardizing environmental waivers, early vesting of development entitlement, and other permitting reforms can jumpstart housing supply and mitigate the housing shortage in Maryland. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Coale and Furth about their recent paper on the subject htt...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Prince George's County Executive hopeful position themselves. Montgomery County Council considers a formal resolution to block its president from running for higher office. Impact tax reduction vetoed; County Executive wants new tax. 2-acre brush fires in Rock Creek. And more. Music by Sting Pain Index.

December begins the budget politics season. School districts announce their proposals and local and state leaders begin to think about their own numbers. This year, Maryland is looking ahead to a structural budget deficit in part because of its ambition on a new education funding law called the Blueprint for Maryland's Future. Sunil Dasgupta talks with the Maryland State Education Association's le...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : The Archdiocese of Baltimore embarks on a major reorganization plan that will close 31 parishes. MD Gov Moore joins county leaders to question a power transmission project that will feed data centers in Virginia. Police staffing woes continue for Montgomery County, MD, among other jurisdictions. And a recruitment scandal in a Fairfax, VA, high school...

For this Thanksgiving week episode, Sunil Dasgupta talks with young activist and Kennedy High School junior Richa Tripathi, who is now the president of the youth wing of the local advocacy group MoCo Pride. Music from Washington DC rock 'n' roll band 7 Door Sedan.

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Democrats want to cooperate and resist Trump. Will it work? MD Senator Will Smith Jr and Delegate Lily Qi break from orthodoxy on housing and primary election reform. MD People Counsel files FERC complaint against transmission company as electric rates set to rise. Route 1 in Prince George's County finally gets a makeover. MCPS wants to stop paying f...

A citizen science project finds elevated nitrogen dioxide in 65 percent of DC and Maryland home kitchens it tested. Nitrogen dioxide in homes comes from natural gas combustion in cooking stoves and is known to cause asthma. Sunil Dasgupta spoke with Barbara Briggs of Beyond Gas, a local climate group which organized the testing, Montgomery Village community leader Djamila Bah, a testing volunteer,...

The weekly news analysis from I Hate Politics : Maryland looks at a bleak fiscal picture, which gets really bad in 2-3 years. Can the Moore Administration go into 2026 without a major new tax. Marriott lays off 800 employees from its Bethesda HQ. Three major progressive groups–AIM in Montgomery, PATH in Howard, and ACT in Anne Arundel counties—come together to form the Maryland Just Power Alliance...

Two nonprofit executives, Yanique Redwood and Ronnie Galvin, left the US in 2020 prompted by the pandemic but long alienated by America's political and economic system. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Redwood and Galvin who have now written a book, "We Quit America: Our Exit from a County Designed to Kill Black People" to help those who might be thinking about getting out after Trump's recent victory. w...

Maryland ponders the consequences of elections. Apple Ballot makes a clean sweep in Montgomery County school board races and the teachers' union roars. In Calvert County, a racially-charged Halloween decoration appears to be adjacent to school board politics. How election officials responded to coordinated bomb threats during the counting phase. The curious case of non-citizen voting in DC. And mo...

Following Donald Trump's victory in the Nov 5 elections, Sunil Dasgupta talks about lessons learned with Montgomery County Democratic activist Jill Ortman-Fouse who spent the last three months in rural North Carolina organizing on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign. Music from Washington DC rock 'n' roll band 7 Door Sedan.