The Politics Guys

(There was a very short period in Mike’s life where he thought he could handle his teaching job, write a book, host The Politics Guys, and start a new podcast – Politics Plus. It soon became evident to Mike how insane trying to do all this at once was, and so he quickly shut down Politics Plus. But before he did, he’d posted four interviews – all of which he thinks are pretty good and are worth sh...

Trey and Mike open this week’s show focusing on the recent Ohio 12th District special election. Both Trey and Mike agree that the 12th District looks like trouble for Republicans. This year, statistically, Democrats should do better and both agree the evidence suggests they might do a bit better than that. Specifically Trey points to the shifting demographics for Republicans where suburban voters...

In this listener comment episode Mike and Jay discuss: Google and antitrust Mike’s inconsistent use of Occam’s Razor Why there aren’t more good candidates Jay’s ‘line in the sand’ on Trump The $12 billion in payments to U.S. farmers hurt by the trade war The information release fight between the Department of Justice and House Republicans President Trump’s calls to halt the Mueller investigation L...

(There was a very short period in Mike’s life where he thought he could handle his teaching job, write a book, host The Politics Guys, and start a new podcast – Politics Plus. It soon became evident to Mike how insane trying to do all this at once was, and so he quickly shut down Politics Plus. But before he did, he’d posted four interviews – all of which he thinks are pretty good and are worth sh...

Mike and Jay open this week’s show with a look at the trial of Paul Manafort, who’s accused of tax fraud, bank fraud, and bank fraud conspiracy. Both of the Guys agree that things look pretty bad for Manafort. While the charges aren’t directly related to Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, Mike and Jay say that Mueller couldn’t simply ignore evidence of crimes discovered as part of his investig...

Mike talks to political scientist John Sides about his Democracy Fund Voter Study Group report, 'Muslims in America: Public Perceptions in the Trump Era'   Dr. Sides is an associate professor of political science at The George Washington University, co-author of the books Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America (coming out in September of 2018) and...

There was a very short period in Mike's life where he thought he could handle his teaching job, write a book, host The Politics Guys, and start a new podcast - Politics Plus. It soon became evident to Mike how insane trying to do all this at once was, and so he quickly shut down Politics Plus. But before he did, he'd posted four interviews - all of which he thinks are pretty good and are worth sha...

This week the show is produced for the first time ever in Oklahoma City. Trey, now officially part of Oklahoma Christian University, is joined by Ken who is preparing to move to Denver. The first topic is Trump’s trade policy. The Trey and Ken to differing degrees agree that subsides to farmers is simply a policy mistake fixing the earlier policy mistake of enacting tariffs. While Ken has some bou...

In this listener comment episode, Mike and Jay get into: If the media - Time magazine in particular - was fair in its photographic portrayal of President Trump’s immigration policy, and if Mike and Jay spend too much time on a media sideshow. How much deference federal courts should give to administrative agencies. Whether Jay thinks government regulations to prevent pollution are wise and necessa...

This week, Mike and Jay open the show with a discussion of the summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. They agree that President Trump’s performance was bizarre and awful. Mike says this, combined with everything else we’ve seen regarding Trump and Russia, is enough to convince him that President Trump is either compromised by Russia or believes he...

Mike talks to Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the pediatrics residency at the Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, and an assistant professor at Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine, where she heads the Hurley Children’s Hospital Public Health Initiative. It was through Dr, Mona’s courageous and unflagging efforts that the public learned about the dangerous levels of lead...

Mike and Trey kick off the show by discussing the 12 Russian intelligence officials indicted this week for hacking into Democratic Party systems. Mike says that despite the fact that these Russians will never face trial in the United States, the indictments point to the importance of allowing Robert Mueller to complete his investigation, which is not at all the pointless ‘witch hunt’ some claim. T...

In this listener comment episode, Mike and Trey address these questions: Why has the executive branch become so much more powerful than the legislative and judicial branches, and what can we do about it? What motivates President Trump’s political allies beyond short term outcomes? If the Democrats take control of Congress are we still stuck in a stalemate or do we see President Trump force the GOP...

This week's show kicks off with Mike and Trey discussing the likely strategies of both the left and the right once President Trump names his Supreme Court nominee. After that it's discussion of the resignation of scandal-plagued EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The Guys agree that Pruitt was exactly what many Republicans wanted in terms of policy, but that the mounting scandals became too much of a...

In our first ever three-person Politics Guys, Northern Kentucky University Law Professor Ken Katkin joins Mike and Jay to discuss: how Kennedy was different from the Court’s four other conservatives whether the Justices are politicians in robes or if they base their decisions on more than partisan calculations if Senator McConnell should hold off on hearings for President Trump’s nominee to replac...

This week’s show starts off with Mike and Jay discussing Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. There’s so much to cover here that the Guys decided to do an entire episode on it, which will drop in the usual Wednesday slot (July 4). There were a bunch of important Supreme Court decisions announced this week, which Mike and Jay then get into. First was a big win for President Trump’s travel ban. Jay...

In this listener comment episode, Mike and Jay address the following listener questions: Should police be given the level of qualified immunity from prosecution they currently receive? Will a recent federal court ruling change anything? We need to keep an eye on regulators, but doesn’t Jay think we also need to watch companies? How do we keep companies honest, and working in the best interest of c...

This week’s show starts with Mike and Jay discussing the bipartisan furor over family separations that have occurred as a result of the Trump administration’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ immigration policy. Mike argues that the policy is inhumane, that Donald Trump lied when he said he could do nothing about it - as evidenced by the Executive Order he signed halting the policy - and that the policy was incom...

This episode features Trey and Ken’s responses to the following listener questions: Why do we have the Electoral College? Why isn’t there a way to invalidate fraudulent elections? What would it take for a third party rise to national prominence? Can you explain ranked-choice voting? What do you think about ranked-choice voting in light of the recent Maine election? What We’re Reading A Spy Named O...

Mike talks about his new interview podcast, Politics Plus. On the show, he’ll be interviewing men and women from across the ideological spectrum about American politics, economics, history, and culture. You can find and subscribe to Politics Plus by searching for it in your podcast app. If for for any reason that doesn’t work, you should also be able to subscribe by entering the show’s feed URL in...

Trey and Ken open the show by discussing the 500 page Justice Department finding on the FBI. They both largely agree the report shows former FBI Director James Comey was insubordinate, but they differ on who it helps most rhetorically. Trey thinks that the FBI agents didn’t express their political positions in a responsible way while Ken thinks that the report understates the amount the FBI helped...

This episode features Mike and Jay’s responses to the following listener questions: Jay says he’s pro-choice with it comes to people choosing their own health care. Is he also pro-choice when it comes to a woman’s right to choose whether or not to end her pregnancy? Jay suggested that President Trump’s hardball negotiating style brought North Korea back to the bargaining table. But President Trump...

Mike and Jay open with a look at the G7 meeting in Quebec, Canada. They agree that President Trump's protectionism is bad policy, though Jay still thinks that the president might be using his tough talk as a negotiating tactic and may not impose long-term tariff barriers. Mike says that President Trump's call to readmit Russia to the group is a horrible idea because, unlike the G7 countries, Russi...

Mike talks to Dr. Robert Sutter, a Professor of International Affairs at the Elliott School of George Washington University. Dr. Sutter has worked both in government and in academia, including positions with the CIA, State Department, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's published 20 books, over 200 articles and several hundred government reports dealing with contemporary East Asian and Pa...

This week, Mike and Jay start with a look at the Trump Administration's announcement that it would be imposing hefty steel and aluminum tariffs on U.S. allies Mexico, Canada, and the European Union on 'national security' grounds. The administration is also considering a major tariff on imported cars (also ostensibly for national security). Both Mike and Jay think this protectionism is one of the w...