Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are continuing their desperate attempt to save their power from the impending blue tidal wave coming their way. Their favorite tactic recently was pressuring red states to illegally redistrict before the midterms. Texas quickly leaped and so did Missouri’s Republicans. But Missouri isn’t Texas and the state has a robust petition initiative process that allows voters to veto laws they don’t agree with. In the states history they have done it 27 times and repealed the laws 25 of them. Now they are fighting it again. Fred Wellman sits down Richard von Glahn the Executive Director of People NOT Politicians to discuss his organizations efforts to repeal this illegal redistricting and offer perspective on how we are fighting back in a deeply red state. Richard started his career as a labor organizer in 2004 with SEIU since 2012 he has worked at MO Jobs With Justice as an organizing director and political director. He has worked on 10 ballot initiatives in Missouri including playing leading roles in the right to work initiative, three increases in minimum wage, expansion of Medicaid and an anti-gerrymandering initiative. In his time as an organizer in Missouri, he's knocked on tens of thousands of doors, gathering signatures to ensure Missourians voices are heard.

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Donald Trump continues to fight paying SNAP benefits as the shutdown continues. Not only are average Americans in the crosshairs but as we go into Veterans Day weekend over 1 million veterans are going without food aid and millions of government employees are unpaid or being illegally fired. This is what the Republican Doormat Congress has allowed. Fred Wellman sits down with American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley to discuss it all and how they are fighting back. Everett Kelley is the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest union representing federal and D.C. government employees. He began his first term of service as national president in February 2020, was elected to another term during the 42nd National Convention in June 2022, and was reelected during the 43rd National Convention in August 2024.

Everett Kelley has been a member of AFGE since 1981. He worked at Anniston Army Depot and retired from there after 30 years of service.

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Are Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump ordering our military to murder innocent people? It's a simple question that seems increasingly true. As of this week the U.S. has conducted 14 known strikes on boats in international waters killing 63 people and leaving 3 survivors. We don't know publicly if any of them were actually the supposed "narco-terrorists" they have been labeled by the Trump Administration. Congress has been all but silent and refuses to hold hearings. Fred was able to link up with the former Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, Major General (Retired) Steven Lepper to discuss the legal frameworks and concerns of he and his fellow former JAG's about these attacks and more of Hegseth's attacks on the JAG Corps. We are in a very dangerous place and we have to know if our service members are conducting extra-judicial murders in our name. 

We are deep into the government shutdown with no end in sight. Republicans refuse to even negotiate in good faith with Democrats who are demanding a simple thing….restore the healthcare tax subsidies that have been instrumental in controlling spiraling health insurance. It was the Republicans that destroyed that system in their Big Billionaire Bill. Now they are smearing Americans who will be protesting against it all this weekend. Fred sits down with two remarkable guests to discuss it all. First, Rohit Chopra the former CFPB Director and FTC Commissioner fired by Trump in February on the insane Argentinian bailout and shutdown games. Then he managed to get time with Delaware Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester on the Senate Democrats battle for average working Americans. It’s a full size show this week so tune in for it all!

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Mother’s are being arrested in school drop off lines who are legal immigrants but have brown skin. James Comey and Letitia James were indicted afer Trump installed his inexperienced personal attorney as the Assistant Attorney General for Northern Virginia to prosecute his enemies. Mike Johnson is calling the ‘No Kings’ protests a planned terrorist event supporting Hamas. The outrageious actions are building and destroying the very soul of this nation. We cannot look away. Joining me this week is Mike Nellis a Chicago-based leading political strategist, social impact entrepreneur, and investor reshaping the future of American politics. Mike has an unprecedented election win rate for his clients, a billion-dollar fundraising track record, and zero tolerance for performative politics, he builds campaigns and companies that don’t just compete—they win. Fred and Mike dive deep into the events this week and what it means for our fight for the nation.

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This week has seen one assault on average Americans after another from actual assaults in Chicago to the government shutdown driven by the White House and Republican Congress. Amidst it all the Democratic caucus has held strong to dig in their heels and demand healthcare support and more for millions. Republicans are betting that Americans will blame Democrats for it all but that’s not what is happening. The Democratic caucuses are holding the line and Republicans are struggling. Rep. Jason Crow has been on the front line of the fight now and for years in and out of uniform. Congressman Jason Crow represents Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District. Former Army Ranger and Bronze Star recipient. After graduating college, Jason joined the active duty Army and served in the Army’s storied 82nd Airborne Division and in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan. When he returned home, he looked for ways to continue to give back. Jason struggled to get his veterans benefits and knew others were having similar challenges transitioning from service to civilian life so he went to work helping veterans across Colorado. He carried that focus to Congress and now he serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Armed Services Committee, on which he is the Ranking Democrat of the Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee.

You can learn more about his work at: https://crow.house.gov/

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It's been one assault on our rights and freedoms after another this week. From more attacks on the media to this outlandish Executive Order to go after ‘left wing terrorism.’ But, yesterday was a shocking turn when it was revealed that the National Archvies illegally released the unredacted military records of Representative, and New Jersey Gubernatorial candidate, Mikie Sherrill. Rep. Sherrill is a decorated Navy veteran who graduated from U.S. Naval Academy and flew helicopters.  Mikie Sherrill proudly represents New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1994, Sherrill spent almost 10 years on active duty. She flew missions throughout Europe and the Middle East as a Sea King helicopter pilot, worked on the Battle Watch Floor in the European Theater during the Iraq invasion, and served as a Flag Aide to the Deputy Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Congresswoman Sherrill attended law school after leaving the Navy in 2003, earning a degree from Georgetown University. She worked as a lawyer and eventually joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. As an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mikie worked to keep our communities safe, prosecuting federal cases and advising law enforcement on investigations.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy, a Master’s degree in Global History from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Law degree from Georgetown University.Sign up for our Substack at fpwellman.substack.com to the big announcement first on October 1st.   
You can learn more about her campaign for governor at: https://www.mikiesherrill.com/

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The horrifying murder of Charlie Kirk has unleashed a flood of chaos like nothing many of us have seen in our lifetimes. Recriminations have flown in all directions from his supporters and the targets are nearly anyone who doesn’t praise Kirk. Even the lightest criticism including quoting his own words from his voluminous record of speaking and writing has caused anyone from teachers, to pilots, to now TV show hosts to lose their jobs. Talking heads on the right are justifying the unfolding assault on free speech as necessary to protect the public. Even more chilling, Donald Trump has declared the amorphous movement “ANTIFA” as a domestic terrorist organization. Fred speaks longtime political commentator and journalist Greg Sargent about the unfolding chaos and attacks on our rights. Greg is a staff writer at The New Republic and the host of the podcast The Daily Blast. A seasoned political commentator with over two decades of experience, he was a prominent columnist and blogger at The Washington Post from 2010 to 2023 and has worked at Talking Points Memo, New York magazine, and the New York Observer. Greg is also the author of the critically acclaimed book An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics. 

While culture war issues and crime are blowing up the news cycle, average Americans are facing a reckoning in their lives. The economy is swiftly moving into to two-tiers. One for the rich and one for everyone else. Multiple stories have been coming out in the last week about the plunge of consumer confidence and shocking indicators of an economic collapse coming. Fred speaks with Michael A. McCarthy about a piece he had published this week in the new magazing, Hope and Hammer, arguing that Democrats can pursue populist policies without giving up their loyalty to the key factions of their coalition. That you can be populist and fight identitity politics at the same time. McCarthy is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Community Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research is on class, capitalism, and democracy. His first book, Dismantling Solidarity: Capitalist Politics and American Pensions, was published with Cornell University Press in 2017 and was awarded the Paul Sweezy Book Award as well as an honorable mention for the Labor and Labor Movements Book Award. His most recent book is The Master’s Tools: How Finance Wrecked Democracy (and a Radical Plan to Rebuild It). His work has been featured in Hammer & Hope, Boston Review, The Guardian, Jacobin, The New York Times, The New Left Review, and The Washington Post.

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Make no mistake but we are in the midst of a surge of political violence from the horrific killings of the former Speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband to increasing clashes with ICE agents. Trump wants this violence to excuse him to impose even more authoritarian control over his enemies. We dive deep into it this week as he threatens to send thousands of Federal agents and the military to Chicago. A city that is literally over three times larger than his practice exercise in Washington D.C. Fred speaks with Dr. Robert Pape from the University of Chicago and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (CPOST) as well as Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth a combat veteran of the National Guard herself. We must act now to stop this illegal deployment that will undoubtedly lead to more violence, stripping of our rights, and damage to our military’s reputation for decades to come.