The Rational Republican

In this episode, James and Nick welcome Xander Almeida who was instrumental in removing anti-LGBT language from the Oregon Republican Party platform in 2009. We talk about what else we would change in the party platform and briefly discuss our favorite Democrat for president.

James and Nick welcome Russ Casler to discuss the Oregon public employee retirement system (PERS). We talk about the history of how PERS began, the current state of the program, what the problems are, and what can be done to fix it.

In this episode, James and Nick welcome Ernie Hernandez, a Mexican-American living in Portland, OR who happens to be gay. Ernie talks about growing up Catholic in Mexico and how he discovered he was gay. We also talk about how the Republican Party can be more friendly to the LGBT community and how anti-LGBT language in the party platform alienates potential voters.

Nick and James welcome our first guest, Justine Hostetler, to talk about misinformation, disinformation and fake news. We touch on the genocide in Myanmar, Covington Catholic, Jussie Smollett and vaccines, among others.

Nick and James talk about one of the most divisive topics in politics.

In episode 1 Nick and James talk about how divisive politics are hurting our nation and how the government shutdown is an example of what happens when we stop looking for common ground and just try to "beat the other guy".

Introduction to the podcast. I talk about what I'm hoping to accomplish with the series.