Beyond Politics

On Sundays, we post shows from Financial Life Planning with financial advisor Mike Morton and man-in-need-of-advice Matt Robison. This week: we have interest rates now, so what does that mean, in a nutshell, for our daily lives. And is there anything we need to, you know, DO about it?

The answer is: YES! We cover:

Justin Elliott is one of the team of reporters at ProPublica who conducted the blockbuster investigation that uncovered the Clarence Thomas corruption scandal. Elliot takes us inside the story and how he reported it. His reporting uncovered the financial ties between Harlan Crow and Justice Thomas: millions of dollars in gifts, benefits, and luxury trips. His newest article revealed strange details: a secret real estate deal where Crow bought Clarence Thomas' mother's house, and let her live in it rent free, and also paid years of tuition for Thomas's adoptive son at a swanky private school.

Matt walks into the belly of the beast, joining Alicia Preston guest-hosting on the Jack Heath show, one of the top conservative radio programs out there. They cover the question of when are politicians too old, and the controversial idea that we spend too much money on senior citizens anyway.

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joins us to expose a "toxic cocktail of creepy billionaires and phony front groups and dark money" ruling the Supreme Court in this interview coming fresh off a blockbuster Senate hearing. Corrupt right wing Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife have raked in millions from people with cases before the court. It's all part of a broken system that funnels hundreds of millions in dark money to put these people on the court and then tells them what to do.

Republican insiders think so, and they see an emerging strategy to try to take DeSantis down in one particular early primary state. Also, what is up with the big new messaging plan from Democrats on the Republicans debt ceiling plan, and will it work? And how worries should we be that three of the four biggest banking failures in US history happened in the last couple months?

Financial advisor Mike Morton and Matt Robison dive into when it makes sense to borrow money to pay for stuff (like cars) vs. digging deep into your savings. And does it make sense to use a HELOC? And what the #$%^ IS a HELOC anyway?

President Biden is running for re-election, but are his chances of beating Trump uncomfortably...even? Also, what does a new rule say about whether Democrats are swinging too far to the left? And is there a simple deal to be had on the debt that could save America from economic catastrophe?

Tucker Carlson has been a disaster for America, and he is an embarrassment that Fox News is trying to put behind them. But the big question is, will Fox get any better without him? And what about the rest of the media, which seems perpetually locked in both-sides-ism and unwilling to provide the context to help Americans understand what has been happening in our country in the age of Trump. Mark Jacob is a former editor for the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times and co-author of six books about history and photography.

Ron DeSantis was the Fox News "Great White Cope" (cope with their soured love affair with Trump, that is)...until things started going south. Now questions are swirling about whether he's been a paper tiger all along. Columnist Jason Sattler and host Matt Robison debate the top five flaws that are most likely to complete DeSantis' flameout, and try to figure out whether he can ultimately turn things around and defeat Trump.

One of the strangest political ads ever and it's strangely...dirty?!? Also what's underneath the move to get Senator Feinstein to resign? Does Kevin MCCarthy actually have a plan to save America from his own insane Republican Congress? And what should we hope for int he Fox-Dominion lawsuit?