The Politics Guys

In this midweek supporters’ episode preview, Mike & Jay discuss Donald Trump’s tax returns and IRS authority, our political predictions for 2023, followed in the full episode by George Santos and the importance of lies in the Republican Party, and the crazy idea of enlarging the House of Representatives. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-politics-guys/donationsAdvertising Inq...

In this first episode of 2023, Mike & Jay discuss the 15 rounds of voting required to elect Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House, Chief Justice Roberts’ report on the federal judiciary and the MIA Supreme Court leak investigation, and the impact President Biden has had on the judicial branch two years into his term. Mike’s Recommendation Year of the Rabbit  Jay’s Recommendation Endurance: Shack...

Mike talks with Pierre Bergeron, a judge on Ohio’s 1st District Court of Appeals about judicial elections, state constitutional interpretation & abortion rights, the lack of good sentencing data & why it matters, and Judge Bergeron’s concerns about how few cases result in trials by jury. Measures for Justice How a Spreadsheet Could Change the Criminal Justice System. Pierre Bergeron and Mi...

Mike & Ken discuss the many lies of Rep-elect George Santos, the final report of the House January 6th Committee, whether the House Ways & Means committee should have released Donald Trump’s taxes and IRS audits of high-income taxpayers, important non-budget items in the recently passed federal budget, Ukrainian President Zelensky’s address to a joint session of Congress – minus a majority...

Mike & Jay open this episode with a discussion of the FY 2023 federal budget, followed by a look at the movement to ban TikTok in the United States, and close with the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX crypto exchange, and what it says about our campaign finance system. Mike’s Favorite Christmas Album Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics Mike’s Top 5 Christmas Songs #5 Tiny Tree Christmas. Ryan...

This Mike & Ken episode features a discussion of the Brittney Griner Viktor Bout prisoner exchange, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement that she’s leaving the Democratic Party, the implications of Raphael Warnock’s victory over Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate runoff, the 17 count conviction against the Trump Organization, independent counsel Jack Smith issuing subpoenas in his...

Mike & Jay open the show by talking about the 11th Circuit reversing District Court Judge Aileen Cannon’s order for a special master in the Trump document seizure case. Mike sees it as a clear rebuke of Cannon’s ruling while Jay thinks it’s not quite that and believes that despite the ruling there’s some justification for what Judge Cannon did. Next they discuss legislation imposing an agreeme...

This week, Kristin returns to the podcast! She and Mike start off by discussing Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Jack Smith as Special Counsel in the Trump investigations. They also unpack the Trump Tax Return saga, as well as the Biden Administration’s ruling that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman has immunity in a civil lawsuit concerning the brutal torture and murder of jou...

Mike & Ken kick off the episode with a brief discussion of a story that just broke as they were starting to record – Attorney General appointing a special counsel in the Trump case. Following that, they look at the nearly final results of the 2022 midterms, discussing what each party might take away from the elections, and then look toward the 2024 presidential and congressional races. Then th...

It’s all midterms on this episode, with Mike & Jay starting with the results and their reactions, thoughts on why the ‘fundamentals’ got it so wrong, how the polls (mostly) got it so right, the Georgia runoff election, how this affects the Trump / DeSantis battle for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, what both parties should take away from the midterms, and how ballot issues related to abo...

Mike & Jay open the show with a discussion of the response to the attack on Paul Pelosi, which sent the 82-year-old spouse of the Speaker of the House to the hospital with a fractured skull. Next is a look at Supreme Court oral arguments in Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard. It seems likely that the Court will find racial preferences in college admissions unconstitutional, overturning its...

Trey talks with Robb Willer and Jan Voelkel about their research on the interventions that increase Americans' democratic attitudes. Topics Trey, Robb, and Jan discuss include: - What led to studying democratic attitudes? - How can we decrease partisanship? - What are antidemocratic behaviors? - Democratic backsliding - Relating to those who are not like us Follow Robb Willer and Jan Voelkel on Tw...

Mike & Jay open the episode with a discussion of the debate between Pennsylvania US Senate Candidates John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz. They agree that Fetterman’s performance was difficult to watch, though Mike suggests that Fetterman’s difficulty on the debate state doesn’t necessarily tell us that much about his ability to function as a United States Senator. Jay raises concerns about the Fette...

Trey & Ken start the episode with Liz Truss and her 44 days as Prime Minster of the United Kingdom. They consider not only what led to this moment, but also what the probability is for her successor. This includes the possibility of Boris Johnson returning. Next, they discuss both Putin’s use of martial law, his implementation of strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, and the involvement of I...

Mike & Jay kick off the episode with a discussion of the January 6th committee, including allegations that Trump knew he lost the election and chose to knowingly promote a false narrative as well as encourage the January 6th rioters. They also consider what the committee has accomplished overall, with Jay admitting that they ended up doing a better job than he expected. Jay predicts that Trump...

Mike & Jay open the show with a few updates followed by a discussion of President Biden’s comment that. “We’ve not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis”. The guys agree that while this may be technically true, it wasn’t the most politically astute thing for Biden to say, and it’s yet another example of his penchant for less than helpful public statements....

Trey opens the episode with a brief tribute to the passing of Coolio before Trey & Ken start the episode with the recent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. Relatedly they discuss Russia's recent annexation of parts of Ukraine and what political or military changes that might bring. Next, they discuss Judge Cannon's overruling of special master Dearie. Ken explains why he was wrong about th...

Mike & Jay open the show with a discussion of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that District Judge Aileen Cannon abused her discretion in denying the Department of Justice use of the roughly 100 classified documents they seized in their Mar-a-Lago raid until a special master reviewed them. Jay doesn’t entirely agree with the 11th Circuit, arguing that Judge Cannon acted reasonably give...

Mike & Jay open the episode with an update of developments in the FBI search of Donald Trump’s home and office, including the special master appointed by Judge Cannon, Cannon’s denial of DOJ’s request to allow them access to certain documents, and how they expect the process to play out. Next, they take a look at the August inflation report. Mike & Jay agree that the current inflation pict...

Mike talks with Bill Kuhn, co-founder of Fight for a Better America and author of Facts & Fury, where he make the argument that the Republican Party has done significant damage to American democracy. Topics Mike & Bill discuss include: how Republicans are strategically smarter than Democrats the electoral advantages of the GOP important differences between Republican activists and ‘regular...

Mike & Jay open the episode with a discussion of Judge Aileen Cannon’s order to appoint a special master to review the Trump Mar-a-Lago raid documents. Mike agrees with many legal analysts (including former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr) that the ruling is on shaky legal ground but sees is as politically wise. Jay agrees, though he thinks that Cannon’s order is more defensible than Mike bel...

Mike & Trey open the episode with a look back at the political legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who died this week. They believe that even though Gorbachev has long been out of power, his impact is felt to this day and there are important lessons we can take away from his failure to preserve the Soviet system. After that, they’re joined by Ken Katkin for a disc...

Trey & Ken start the show by deep diving into Biden’s executive action on student loan forgiveness. Ken argues it is good for the country, won’t impact inflation, and is constitutionally valid. Trey argues that it will increase the cost of higher education in the long run and is simultaneously a sign of a President overstepping his power in order to win midterm votes.  Next, the pair looks not...

Mike & Jay kick off the show by discussing the possibility that the affidavit used to obtain the FBI’s search warrant on Donald Trump’s home and office might be made public, at least in redacted form. They both agree that the unusual circumstances seem to merit more public information than we currently have, though they remain doubtful as to whether we’ll ever see much of the affidavit. They a...

Mike talks with Michelle Wilde Anderson, professor of property, local government, and environmental justice at Stanford Law School, about her recently released book, The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America. Topics Mike & Michelle Cover Include: the problem of citywide poverty poor cities and gateway cities ineffective “solutions” to citywide poverty how pathologizing poor cit...