Evidence of Design

In this episode we discuss the Rochester City School District's 9/3/2021 announcement that high school students may start the school year virtually because a bus driver shortage is causing school transportation jobs to go unfilled. The RCSD is not the only school district facing a bus driver shortage: district's across the country are short bus drivers, causing transportation disruptions to the start of the new school year.

We explore what's possibly causing the bus driver shortage, critique the standard of the 40 hour work week, and urge for the RCSD's systemic problems, such as poverty and segregation, to be resolved.

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In this episode we discuss the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban re-takeover.

The costs from United States' 20 year war are steep: 250,000 lives (83x those that died 9/11) and over $2.2 trillion ($11,000,000 an hour over the past 20 years) of debt-financed spending.

We revisit clips from the Bush Administration in 2001 and hear their demands of the Taliban and projections for how the war would go.

From a conventional war, to counterinsurgency, to nation building, to training security forces, to withdrawal and, now, to armed oversight of evacuation, U.S. involvement has been varied and challenged.

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We chat with folks from Roctricity to help us understand Rochester's new Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) power program--Rochester Community Power. Beginning in September, most Rochester residents will be automatically enrolled in Rochester Community Power which aims to deliver 100% renewable NYS-generated electricity at a fixed rate of 0.058 $/kWh for the next two years.

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In this episode we discuss the "Right to Repair" movement with Kevin O'Reilly (@kevin_oreilly7), director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group's Right to Repair campaign.

Recently, the Biden Administration and 27 state governments have pushed legislation to make it easier and more affordable for consumers to repair consumer electronics, medical equipment, farming equipment, and more. Why? Well, for years consumer advocates have pushed for "Right to Repair" legislation to ensure consumers can repair devices without having to (1) throw them out and buy a new one when an issue arises or (2) be forced to pay heavy costs getting it repaired through the Original Equipment Manufacturer.

Right to Repair legislation would enable consumers and third party repair businesses (similar to third party car mechanics) to obtain the parts necessary to repair devices, the knowledge of how to repair devices, and greater choice of who to go to in order to repair a device. This could have extensive economic benefits for consumers and environmental benefits for us all.

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In this episode we discuss the first disbursements of the expanded child tax credit, break down myths about why a social safety net is bad, and discuss what's in the Democrats' proposed $3.5 trillion budget.

The expanded child tax credit, passed earlier this year in the American Rescue Plan with zero Republicans voting in favor of it, is a big deal. The vast majority of American families with children will now receive $3,600 for each child between the ages of 0-6 and $3,000 per child between the ages of 7-17. This is far higher than what the tax credit was before the ARP. As important, the credit is now fully refundable, meaning even the lowest income families will receive it. What's more, half of the tax credit is being disbursed as monthly installments through the end of the year, akin to universal basic income for families with children. Government programs can be incredibly helpful to enable people to live their lives more comfortably.

Speaking of which, we also break down myths about the social safety net. Believe it or not Senator Rubio, poverty is solvable by increasing income.

Lastly, we discuss what's in the Democrats' proposed $3.5 trillion budget, among which is a proposal to make the aforementioned expanded child tax credits permanent.

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We analyze the battle royale genre (e.g. movies, games, books) and what it says about our culture.

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We discuss the proposed creation of a global minimum corporate tax.

We discuss recent https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax (reporting) by ProPublica that (re)reveals how the wealthy avoid paying their fair share of taxes. We say (re)reveals because this should come as a surprise to no one given a preponderance of similar evidence. All the same, the reporting helps shine an even brighter light.

While the wealthiest Americans nominally pay a "high" dollar value in taxes, their true tax rate is fractions of what it is paid by most Americans. Using tax loopholes and tax avoidance strategies essentially only available for the wealthiest, they abscond from paying their fair share of taxes, taxes which would benefit everyone in society through public service spending.

Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans flash their true anti-majoritarian colors by obstinately blocking any efforts to rectify this oligarchical inequality, such as refusing Biden's efforts to raise the top marginal tax rate from 37% to 39.6% (which wouldn't even really affect the wealthy given the strategies they use to avoid paying taxes as shown in the ProPublica report) and refusing to adequately fund the IRS.

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We discuss three important civic opportunities in Rochester, NY.

1.) Joining the recently created Rochester Food Policy Council

2.) Sharing your feedback with the City and RCSD about how American Rescue Plan Funding should be spent

3.) Preparing to vote in the June 22nd primaries

We also review the book "Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One Click America" by Alec MacGillis.

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