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Aside from a little half-crowing about calling the development of public hiccups in the relationship between the POTUS & so-called "First Buddy", Crazy Eddie & his Navy veteran co-host reflect on the crises in SoCal & if there's a path for AOC to Pennsylvania Avenue that's not on a tour bus.
 
 Call us whatever you want, but we do make an attempt to answer a question (specifically about how to "reach" White men) by virtue of telling the truth on our gut and what's with the cringeworthy state of the relationship between the Democratic Party and White men & if there's a way thru for AOC.

Our master of all things audio, Edmund Matuk III (Crazy Eddie), and features editor Jack DeViney meet again. This fine, gorgeous day in Upstate New York finds our two hosts revisiting a number of topics. Trending or not, we've learned a lot about our fellow Americans simply by driving, DeViney asserts. Hint: many of our fellow citizens don't just look self-absorbed and contrarian on social media....and naturally the discussion returns to the (increased) tariffs implemented by the 47th POTUS. Tariffs have long been in place in America (and most other recognizable world powers), but the President took things to levels not seen in a little more than a century. 

Another sticking point for DeViney is the either disregard for or ignorance of history when it comes to the so-called Gilded Age: "while yes, otherworldly increases in wealth occurred amidst this vast transformation [that occurred in the same timeframe as the creation of the Federal Reserve System and the implementation of the Federal Income Tax], but folks seem to have forgotten one of the other main hallmarks [of the Gilded Age] right along with obscene new wealth, which was abject poverty." 

Indeed, the streets of gold immigrants had heard of? They found out the hard way they didn't exist. And Hell, they might be there in places today, but they ain't for everybody.

That includes our hosts. "Stay outta Malibu, Lebowski!"

A bit of a change in our own private schedules meant Crazy Eddie was building fences and playing a round of golf in beautiful upstate New York while for DeViney an upended work schedule meant an "everything-upended" weekend. No matter: there was further talk of the issues driving the American people, from tariffs to the figures behind the figures in government, et al. Sort of a deep-dive episode befitting the Holiday.

As you can see, though, our friend the Cyclops (Levi, perhaps?) wasn't enjoying himself so much during this part of his journey. Stay tuned!

Re-emerged from their work behind the scenes, audio engineer Edmund Matuk III (Crazy Eddie) and Jon David (Jack) DeViney returns to review the tariffs at center stage. Along the way, Amazon, Microsoft, Elon Musk and, ah, yes, most certainly Apple come under renewed scrutiny. Save the "God bless America"'s and "Assembled in CA" crap and bring your jobs home (and let people pay $8,000 for a new iPhone assembled by Americans) and bring home your ex-patriated taxes before we bring them home for you. If civilians face the death penalty and we treat corporations like people, then we posit that any Firm refusing to bring their tax dollars home should face revocation of corporate charter and seizure of assets.

Otherwise, the plan has no teeth if Cook just backslaps his way to a special deal. No, we've had enough deals for mega-corporations. Ayn Rand novels are fun to read, not to live in, thank you kindly.

Mind you, this is a very pro-capitalism publication. But constrained, responsible capitalism that doesn't operate under the false assumption that there's no obligation to our society, to America, Her Republic and Her People. Again, if we're to treat corporations like people, then so be it. 

Do the right thing, be heroes, and bring your jobs and tax dollars home. Just like Americans were willing to destroy our manufacturing sector in favor of cheaper prices at Walmart, the inverse must prove true now: we're willing to pay more in order for it to be made in 'Merica. Otherwise, what is all the uproar about? Let's have a plan and give it teeth, or else stop the nonsense.

#tariffs #Republic #ElonMusk #Amazon #Apple #Microsoft #manufacturing #taxes
#CorporatePatriotism

From tariffs to for-profit prisons, Edmund Matuk III (Crazy Eddie) co-hosts alongside Jon David (Jack) DeViney for Episode 287 of the flagship podcast. New shows loom, however, and the flagship itself is being divided into seasons.

All episodes before the most recent season will be archived and unavailable for free download as of 30 April, so get the older ones while still available! This episode (along with the rest of the current season) will remain available until two seasons from now when they, too, will be archived. All episodes 2+ seasons old will be available upon request for $1.30 apiece or for $13.00 per season.

Beginnings abound as The ModState Podcast returns for Episode 286 and discusses the so-called "Signalgate" messaging turmoil in Babylon (Washington, D.C.) as well as why we're doing this again in the first place.

Speaking of which, this marks the first time our longtime audio engineer, Edmund Matuk III, joins as co-host along with our features editor, Jonathan DeViney. The duo, dubbed Crazy Eddie Matuk and Jack DeViney, respectively, are unafraid of the unorthodox and discuss a bit of that as well as the national temperature of America and Her People.

A bit uneven at times, perhaps, but said duo looks forward to ModState, as a publication, returning to a more frequent publishing timetable and thus ironing out any kinks fairly quickly. Thank you all for tuning in and keeping us going with your support and input.

Tell us what you'd like us to riff on in 287 in the comments below and we'll make our best attempt to meet the request. Keep in mind we're a current events publication covering macroeconomic and sociopolitical issues as affect America (where we're born) and Her Allies near and far. 



As discussed on this episode, we've 2 rules that govern what we produce and that we request govern any topical suggestions you kindly present for our consideration:

1) no "ad hominem" (personal attacks) content
2) no discussion supporting or otherwise encouraging violence; foreign policy and military actions are fair game, but we think all of the folks old enough to care enough about the oft-unreported (or under-reported, like the repeal of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948) content we bring to your attention? We think they know the difference in the two (inciting civic violence versus discussing state-on-state warfare).

A gem discovered on our servers at long last, we're thrilled to present our interview with US Army Sergeant (ret.) Ian S. Haynes (RIP) from 2019. Part one (of three, provided we find the other two), Mr. Haynes was a member of the East Orange, New Jersey police force and retired as a Staff Sergeant from the US Army. Both co-founders of this podcast had the privilege of serving with him at Walter Reed (the President's Hospital) from 2011-2013.

Happy Friday, and we hope you enjoy this perspective from before the 'Rona and the end of the War in Afghanistan as much as we did (both in 2019 and upon rediscovering it)!

While we are labeling this as episode number 285, we are in the process of re-organizing all episodes into seasons. Older seasons will be archived and available for download only upon request at the conclusion of said reorganization. So, this will likely end up as Episode One of whatever season this becomes. But, for now, we do hope you enjoy this and all other episodes of the ModState podcast(s). We feel we've come a long way toward making this a better, more enjoyable product for everyone!

-- Special thanks to Edmund Matuk III (Crazy Eddie) for helping clean up the audio on this one in particular --

Something to be augmented over the coming 24-36 hours as more States are determined one way or another in terms of where their Electoral votes will fall. Candace Smith and/or Nate Wellein may respond with their 10-15 minute segment and we go from there, or the Thunder may very well Roll in a completely different way and it stays just me and you grown folks out there for Election Nights 1 and....however many nights until we know for certain who the next President of America will be. I will also be publishing several Electoral maps I consider the most likely outcomes over our now-protracted Federal elections process. So, we lean into it a bit. Updates to this update are pewwwwwwww

In making a comeback with Candace Smith and Jack DeViney co-hosting, this episode marks a fine return to form for half of the duo; while Candace acquitted herself well with a keen drive-by diagnosis of the insanity of the moment in Israel and Gaza, DeViney manages only to spring to life later in the episode.

And, of course Donald Trump is among the topics for conversation. We'd be remiss to not, as the wise sage Mr. Trump himself once said, "Well, you know the wind only blows sometimes." And...he's not wrong!

In any case, it's a return and a clear sign there's more ahead. We've missed y'all and will be back soon, with DeViney vowing to do better (or at least not kneecap Candace in the process while making Episode 282).

Welcome back to the ModState Podcast. On this episode Nate and Candace being their journey through the education ecosystem starting with Student Loans. 

Candace and Nate begin by examining the difference over the decades from a inflationary standpoint, the political changes and feelings the Vietnam war brought on, and then finally the student loan crisis today. 

No matter what side of the isle you subscribe too Student Loans are a problem. In fact the entire system is worth examining. Thank you for joining the ModState team!

As always please leave your comments or send your thoughts to [email protected]

Show Notes:

1) https://educationdata.org/college-tuition-inflation-rate

2) https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-forgiveness-supreme-court-case-explained-8c62622e87c4ebff995f971263d932fc

3) https://tcf.org/content/report/reagan-administrations-campaign-rein-predatory-profit-colleges/

4) https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/

5) https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-02-28-mn-12707-story.html

6) https://theintercept.com/2022/08/25/student-loans-debt-reagan/

7) https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-student-loan-debt-trends-economic-impact

8) More to come...