After taking heat from her Democratic rivals for months, Sen. Elizabeth Warren released her plan for covering the cost of government-sponsored health care for all Americans. 

Warren says the price tag is roughly $52 trillion over ten years, yet insists she can pay for it by taxing billionaires, cracking down on tax cheats, and streamlining administrative costs of the program.

Chris Jacobs is CEO of the Juniper Research Group and author of "The Case Against Single Payer." He tells me why all three of Warren's ideas fall far short of meeting the expected costs, why two of her three ideas are contradictions of one another, and why the math is laughably wrong on the tax enforcement plan. He will also explain what kind of tax increases will really be needed to pay for Warren's health plans and why he suspects she won't admit that she'll have to tax everyone.

Listen to the full podcast with Chris Jacobs.

This coming Monday marks the start of a very dark chapter in American history.  On November 4, 1979, Iranians took over the U.S. embassy in Iran.  Then a 20-year-old U.S. Marine stationed at the embassy, Kevin Hermening became the youngest American hostage held captive for the next 444 days.  

In the final installment of his three-part interview with Greg Corombos, Hermening details the anguish inflicted upon the Americans by their Iranian captors, the surprise visitor he received while held captive, and how freedom felt after losing it for more than a year.

This coming Monday marks the start of a very dark chapter in American history.  On November 4, 1979, Iranians took over the U.S. embassy in Iran.  Then a 20-year-old U.S. Marine stationed at the embassy, Kevin Hermening became the youngest American hostage held captive for the next 444 days.  

In the second installment of his three-part interview with Greg Corombos, Hermening walks us moment by moment as the Americans lost control of the embassy and were taken captive.

This coming Monday marks the start of a very dark chapter in American history.  On November 4, 1979, Iranians took over the U.S. embassy in Iran.  Then a 20-year-old U.S. Marine stationed at the embassy, Kevin Hermening became the youngest American hostage held captive for the next 444 days.  

In the first installment of his three-part interview with Greg Corombos, Hermening details his military journey to Iran and how things there were obviously deteriorating in the days leading up to the attack on the embassy.

Presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are vowing to abolish private health insurance if elected president and have all Americans get their coverage through the federal government.

Projections suggest such a plan would cost $32 trillion over the first ten years. Warren plans to pay for that with a two percent wealth tax on the super rich.  Sanders admits he would raise taxes on the upper class and the middle class, but both insist their plans will be a net positive financially for American families.

But is that true?  Would the tax plans raise even close to enough revenue to pay for this new entitlement?  National Taxpayers Union President Pete Sepp says they won't and so does the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget.

The CFRB says to make ends meet, lawmakers would need to enact a 42 value-added tax on consumers, a 32 percent payroll tax split between employers and employees, a 25 percent income tax surcharge on all Americans, or require everyone to pay roughly $7,500 to buy into the federal health care program.

In this podcast, Sepp details the devastating effect such tax increases would have on American families and the U.S. economy.  He also addresses the possibility that the government will just let our debt pile up even higher and faster.

This past weekend, U.S. forces successfully killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the terrorist figure responsible for inspiring some of the most grisly murders and rapes in recent times. The surgical strike resulted in no U.S. deaths or injuries and even the wounded dog is on the road to recovery.

But how do special forces prepare for missions like this and how are they trained to respond to the enemy's actions to successfully execute the mission?

Retired U.S. Army Lt. General Jerry Boykin served 36 years in uniform, much of it in special forces. He was an original member of Delta Force and at one time commanded all Green Berets.

Gen. Boykin walks us through the planning, rehearsing, and executing of missions like the one that took out Baghdadi. He also cuts through the political bluster to explain when presidents are required to inform key members of Congress about a mission and when they are not.

Listen here for the full podcast.

A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 51 percent of American adults favor a Medicare for All approach to health care. But 58 percent also oppose abolishing private insurance and even more oppose paying more in taxes to pay for single-payer health care.

After all these years, why is there such a disconnect between what Americans think they support and what they actually support once they know the facts?

In this podcast, we ask Galen Institute Pres. Grace-Marie Turner about this discrepancy and what she thinks about new reform ideas from the House Republican Study Committee.

Politicians keep fighting over how to help Americans pay for their health care. But why is health care so expensive in the first place?

In his new book, "The Price We Pay," Johns Hopkins University surgeon and Prof. Marty Makary details the epidemic of overtreating and overcharging patients.

In this podcast, Makary tells Greg Corombos why doctors often order treatment when none is actually needed. He also burrows down into why patients are stuck with astronomical medical bills without ever knowing the costs before treatment.

Makary explains why ideas like pointing patients towards healthier lifestyles, showing doctors how often they order treatment compared to their peers, and price transparency are among the keys to bringing competition and results back to the health care sector.

Listen to the full podcast here.

On Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence announced a cease-fire agreement that will end Turkish aggression against the Kurds in northern Syria for at least five days as a stepping stone to long-term stability.

But while Trump heaps praise on the deal and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, what does the deal actually accomplish? Does it bring at least a brief stretch of stability to the region or or is it a flimsy deal that really sells out the Kurds?

In this podcast, we discuss all these questions with American Foreign Policy Council Senior Vice President Ilan Berman. And we'll also ask why Trump is so effusive in his admiration for Erdogan and what impact this whole episode will have on U.S. relations with other allies.

In the second half of our interview with Conservative Partnership Institute Chairman Jim DeMint, the former U.S. senator and co-author of "Conservative: What to Keep," DeMint explains how conservatives want to help people who are struggling without making them dependent upon government. 

He also walks us through a number of conservative policy ideas and innovations to improve our nation, including Education Savings Accounts and converting vehicles to run on natural gas.

Listen to the full podcast as DeMint also tells Greg Corombos why there isn't much appetite for policy innovation in Congress these days and how people can come together around possible policy solutions in an era when the partisan divide seems wider than ever.