Sam and Michael review the Republican debate and cover all the delusion and fear mongering. Ben Carson's Goldeneye fantasy(20:00). Donald Trump goes birther Ted Cruz. Jeb Bush wants us "back in the game!" Jeb Bush's secret strategy and Jeb donors now only giving him money out of loyalty.

And Andy Kindler joins us. Why Andy's website never changes. Why Andy does not like Ted Koppel and the time that Nelson Mandela owned Ted Koppel. The problem with Ricky Gervais. Why the Golden Globes are so absurd. Andy Kindler does not like doing Oscar picks. What's going on with Maron and Bob's Burgers. The Republicans are awful but Chris Cillizza is worse and where you can see Andy performed in Seattle and Portland. (36:00)

On The Fun Half: why Bernie will over perform in Iowa and Trump will underperform. Trump locks up the Republican acceptance. Carly Fiorina makes a bizarre attack on Hillary Clinton.

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1/14/16

Mehrsa Baradaran a Professor at the University of Georgia Law School and author of the new book How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy explains the history of the banking sector in America and the split between Hamilton and Jefferson. (11:50) 

-The change in banking beginning in the early 1980’s. Community banks and the shifting realities of banking for the poor. Why Hamilton and Jefferson were both right about banking. The New Deal’s strict banking codes and the lack of financial crises for decades following their implementation. Banking deregulation under the Reagan and Thatcher conservative movements. Obama’s “standing between the banks and the pitchforks” and the lack of a push for fundamental change following 2008. The continuity of financial policy under Bush and Obama. (22:20)

-The fundamental inequality between the “banked” and “unbanked.” The huge subsidy that banks receive from the federal insurance. The logic of Post Office banking. How the credit works and how it works for postal banking. Why being in debt isn’t a moral failing. How the poor are left to pure market credit like payday loans and the big banks are federally insured, despite bank failings being far more disastrous. Small credit for the poor meaning the difference between solvency and insolvency. (27:40)

-How postal banking would work in practice. The advantages of postal banking v. payday loans. Where the concept of postal banking has been raised politically. Why Postal Banking is far from radical. (37:50)

On The Fun Half: The military is socialist. The origin story of Jimmy Sullivan. Will Bernie Sanders win Iowa and New Hampshire. Al Jazeera shuts down and Peyton Manning makes a lame joke. The Duck Dynasty guy endorses Ted Cruz. Why the Chelsea Clinton attack on Single Payer healthcare helps Bernie Sanders, how Bernie can campaign better and your calls and IMs.

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Blogger Digby (Heather Parton) explains why she was underwhelmed by President Obama's final SOTU(12:30). When the Obama Administration finally understood how rabid the Republicans are. How President Obama spoke past Republicans and still offered an olive branch. Can Obama ever shake the bipartisan myth? The palpable conservative disappointment after the Iran/Navy situation was resolved(23:50). Thank God President Obama wasn't successful in "bringing people together" to cut Social Security. How outside conservative money is drowning the GOP establishment(35:20). No Republican moderates exist. The Koch brothers are more important than the Republican Party establishment. How Obama talks about the military and American power. The Republican Party's teenage angst and Debbie Wasserman Schultz needs to go!(55:20)

On The Fun Half: Ted Cruz says "embodies New York Values". Oregon militia men welcome a ISIS supporting  Hitler lover as their new IT guy. Also Oregon militia guys do not want dildos in the mail and your calls and IMs.

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1/12/16

Ian Millhiser a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Editor of ThinkProgress Justice, explains the Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case and how it allowed for Public Unions to exist and grow. The free rider problem and public unions. The Harris case and the Supreme Court conservatives cruel attack on home care workers. How the Roberts Court manipulates overturning precedents. How conservatives manipulate the judicial process. The Friedrich Case and the final overturning of the Abood case. The differences between unions and political parties. Are retirement funds unconstitutional if Abood is overturned. The historical context of the war against unions and how reign on the radical right on the Court.

On The Fun Half: Carly Fiorina still failing and still lying. Debating a conservative. Break in at the Flint City Hall and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is disgusting in defense of his response to the Flint crisis. What will Barack Obama's final State of the Union sound like. A letter from a Oregon militiamen to his wife. White supremacists call voters for Donald Trump in Iowa. Also your calls and IMs.

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Chris Savage, the Publisher  of Eclectablog, explains the decisions that led to the poisoning of Flint, Michigan's water supply with lead. How state officials ignored warnings that Flint's water was sunder threat. How lead damages children for the rest of their lives. What the State is doing to reverse the crisis. The City Manager system and the Lead poisoning of Flint and will anyone be held criminally accountable for what has happened in Flint? (9:42)

Sam on Flint and the massive environmental crisis in Porter Ranch California. (28:35)

On The Fun Half: why is Marco Rubio running ads against Chris Christie? What establishment candidate will stay in the race? Bernie Sanders is picking up momentum in Iowa. We talk with a recovering Libertarian. How do we move the country to the left. Maine's Governor, Paul LePage is a insane racist and Chris Christie loves him and your calls and IMs.

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1/8/16

Casual Friday! We have  Cliff Schecter (@cliffschecter) and Film Guy Matthew Weiss (@langdonboom).

Cliff Schecter joins on Obama's executive orders on guns and the evolving debate on gun control. Closing gun sale loopholes. Government initiatives funding mental health and "smart gun" technology. The cultural momentum against guns. Maine Governor LePage's contention heroin dealers with names like "D-Money" are impregnating white girls. (7:04)

FilmGuy Matthew talking sports and why sports movies don't work. The new "Deadwood" movie and filmmaker Shirley Clarke and recommends a TV series by Caveh Zahedi called "The Show About the Show." (39:30)

And Sam returns from his foray into jury duty qualification. He wasn't selected. (56:20)

On the fun half (1:17:50): the outrageous framing during the CNN's "Guns in America" town hall, jury duty talk, Joseph Lieberman, and your calls and IMs!

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1/7/16

-Alexis Goldstein in to talk financial reform in 2016. What are the main takeaways of Dodd-Frank, why it was a big victory and why it is a big target for lobbyists. The importance of the CFPB in protecting Americans from fraud. How Dodd-Frank deals with failing banks and opaque derivatives markets, mortgage-backed securities and CDOs. The importance of the Volcker Rule. (6:38) 

-Would Dodd-Frank be having a bigger effect if it was enforced more strictly? Why we haven’t seen a change in trading behavior since the Volcker Rule, and why this might mean it’s being ignored. (17:52) 

-The contrast between Bernie and Hillary with regard to financial reform? Financial reform evolution v. revolution. The obstacles criminal prosecutions for bankers. Citigroup’s foray in writing laws. JP Morgan vs. Louis Brandeis. Holder’s admission some are “too big to jail.” (25:55)

-The “New Glass-Steagall” legislation making its way through congress and coming up in presidential primary debates, and why the removal of Glass-Steagall was vital in creating the financial crisis. Why Alexis is encouraged at the debate on financial reform we’re currently having, and how the debate is changing. Financial reform as a bipartisan issue. Finishing the unfinished business of financial reform. (35:37) 

-And on the Fun Half! Why the new iPhone is obscene, more financial reform, and your calls! (45:30)

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1/6/15

Steven A. Cook is on to discuss the Saudi perspective on current turmoil in the region as a "status-quo" power(5:50). Why the Saudis see the Iranians as meddling. The power and hypocrisy of the House of Saud and its support of radical ideologies(9:33). Why the House of Saud and Wahabi radicals are reliant on each other. On Iran(14:07). What is the next logical step in heightened aggression. Why Steve doesn't expect a ground war, and why continuance of proxy wars can be expected. The situation in Yemen. Why the Saudis miscalculate when they see Iranian manipulation behind uprisings in Bahrain and elsewhere. On Iraq and Syria(20:12). What does the Iran/Saudi for the fight against ISIS? Saudia Arabia's insecurity around US relations with Iran. The difficulty of negotiating between "bad actors," and the conversation the US needs to have about our interests in the Middle East(23:48). What is the effect from the global transition from oil.

Omer Aziz on Sam Harris(32:16). Harris' inability to deal with the complexity of issues in the Islamic history. How "muslim reformers" are intellectual junk food that pays well. How "Islamic reformers" ignore the interpretive function of the religious. Diversity of political, cultural, and scientific traditions within Islam(41:24). What would a genuine Islamic reformation look like? The "hubris" of self-identifying as a "reformer," especially in a culture that isn't your own.

On the Fun Half - Conservatives mock Obama tears, Candy Carson shares more implausible Ben Carson lore, Donald Trumps new ad, and your calls and IMs!

Investigative journalist David Neiwert explains what is motivating the militiamen who have takeover the Federal Wildlife Refuge in Oregon (12:55). The armed wing of the Koch brothers efforts to destroy America's public lands. Religions role in the far Right militia movement (19:30). The different strains of the extremist right. The Oath Keepers and the many ways that Right Wing groups threaten public safety. How racism drives the movement and why do we take the Militia movement seriously at all (29:44)?

And how much Raman do the Oregon survivalists have with them?

On The Fun Half: President Obama issues new executive orders on gun safety and "Nation of Islam Obama" explains the real plan. We take a call form our favorite right wing caller Doug. And your calls and your IMs.

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1/4/16

The moral and legal obscenity of the Tamir Rice case. Why the Police who killed Tamir Rice were incredibly reckless. The obvious racial reasons for the killing of Tamir. The myth of the "War on Cops".  Who are the far-right terrorists takeover a federal building in Oregon and the crimes that led to the Federal building takeover.

On The Fun Half: Saudi Arabia's brutal executions. Ben Carson defends mass executions in Saudi Arabia. Obviously Donald Trump is a big racist. And your calls and IMs.

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