The Bill Walton Show

In a riveting conversation with Peter Mcilvenna of the UK’s Hearts of Oak, we describe what may be the most aggressive US domestic surveillance program since the Patriot Act – and its disturbing connection to a global censorship agenda. The story that emerges isn't just about US regulation; it's about the systematic and coordinated dismantling of economic and expressive freedoms on both sides of the Atlantic.

The New American Surveillance State

Remember Reagan's famous warning that the nine most terrifying words were "I'm from the government and I'm here to help"? Today's version might be: "I'm from the federal government, give up your personal data, and as long as you don't step out of line, we will keep you safe."

The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) represents an unprecedented federal power grab:

• Massive Scope: 33 million small businesses, employing 61.7 million Americans, must submit to federal surveillance

• Selective Targeting: Only businesses under $5 million revenue and fewer than 20 employees are affected

• Draconian Penalties: $591 daily fines and up to 2 years in prison for non-compliance

• Strategic Exemptions: Giants like BlackRock, Amazon, and Big Tech escape scrutiny

• Global Data Sharing: Your information gets shared with 170 countries through the shadowy Egmont Group.

The Historical Echo

We've seen this movie before. Remember the IRS targeting scandal, where conservative groups with words like "tea party" and "patriot" faced extra scrutiny? The CTA creates a similar vulnerability for small businesses. As Mcilvennapoints out, it paves the way for an anti-second amendment bureaucrat to search the database for businesses with "gun," "firearm," or "freedom" in their names?

A Digital Iron Curtain

While the CTA surveils American businesses, the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) creates a parallel threat to free speech, with the power to levy fines of up to 6% of a company's global revenue – including revenue from unrelated businesses. This means Elon Musk's SpaceX could be penalized for X's content moderation policies, a clear attempt at financial coercion.

"It is ridiculous and chilling," Mcilvenna notes "Musk's other companies have nothing to do with the platform policies of X. It is simply an unhinged coercive measure designed to break Musk."

Mcilvenna describes how UK political operatives, through organizations like the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), are actively working to "Kill Musk's Twitter" while strengthening ties with various political campaigns. This isn't just UK domestic policy – it's part of a coordinated international effort to control both commerce and communication.

Why This Matters Now

The January 1, 2025 deadline for CTA compliance is approaching, while the DSA's censorship machinery is already in motion. This combination creates an unprecedented threat and the window for action is narrowing, but resistance is building:

- Multiple states have challenged the CTA's constitutionality

- Business associations are filing lawsuits

- Popular movements across Europe are pushing back against censorship

- Independent platforms are fighting for survival

As Peter Mcilvenna warns, "This needs to be a front and center issue to protect over 33 million small businesses from an egregious overreach by the Federal government."

Timelines:

• 00:03 - Introduction: Peter Mcilvenna's connection to Lord Thatcher's administration and Brexit

• 01:28 - Corporate Transparency Act introduction: Trump's veto and subsequent revival

• 05:19 - Federal overreach: Small businesses must register by January 1st deadline

• 08:56 - FinCEN's expanded role beyond traditional financial crimes enforcement

• 10:55 - BlackRock & large corporations exempt from CTA requirements 

• 14:31 - Egmont Group: International sharing of business data across 170 countries

• 18:06 - Digital Services Act targeting speech censorship in UK

• 21:38 - Labour Party operatives working with US political campaigns

• 23:17 - CCDH attacks on free speech platforms

• 26:07 - EU threatening 6% global revenue fines against Musk's companies

• 29:20 - Rise of populist resistance movements across Europe

• 37:30 - Push for CTA to become central campaign issue for 2024

In this compelling and wide ranging episode of The Bill Walton Show, host Bill Walton engages with the great economic, technology and futurist thinker George Gilder to talk about his provocative book, The Israel Test.

In The Israel Test George provides much needed context for today’s war in the Middle East. His theory about the root causes of the conflict dramatically reframes the issues and makes it clear why we need to support Israel in this defining moment in History.

Despite comprising only 4% of the Middle East's land area, Israel has cultivated a preeminent high-tech economy, functioning as a liberal democracy with free elections, a critical press, and robust human rights protections—including for its 2 million Arab citizens, who enjoy the same civil liberties as Jewish citizens.

The Israel Test posits that one's reaction to others' success—whether through admiration and emulation or envy and hostility—reflects broader attitudes toward capitalism and free enterprise. Historical and contemporary instances of antisemitism, can be attributed in part to envy over Jewish excellence in so many fields and Israel’s extraordinary achievements and its pivotal role in global innovation.

George explains “the heart of the Israel Test is how you react to people who excel you in intellect, creativity, wealth, accomplishment. Do you admire them, and emulate them, and learn from them or do you envy, and hate them, and try to tear them down? And this is really the test of capitalism or test of free enterprise, is whether you regard your competitors as expanding opportunities for you and exploring the frontiers of creation for you in the image of your creator, or whether you regard them as somehow a menace to your future.”

Smart people are society’s most valuable resource, yet the modern egalitarian movements relentlessly undermines recognition of individual talent and achievement.

George reminds that “we are all dependent on a small minority of geniuses really, who opened the horizons of the future for the rest of the world. And in recent history, a disproportionate number of them have been Jewish.”

It won’t be news to anyone that this upcoming election is fraught with many potential problems. 

Based on a new study by Just Facts, 10% to 27% of “non-citizen” adults in the U.S. are estimated to be illegally registered to vote. Aggressive attempts to debunk the study have completely failed.

With roughly 20 million adult non-citizens living in the United States, about two to five million of who used to be called illegal aliens are now illegally registered to vote. This means that there are enough votes to overturn the votes of the American citizens in the upcoming congressional and presidential elections.

Here’s another big issue to consider: 2020 was the first time an election was conducted by mass vote-by-mail. It was a train wreck. According to federal data, election officials do not know what happened to nearly 15 million mail ballots in 2020. Biden's victory margin was smaller than the number of missing and undeliverable ballots. Vote-by-mail is the worst way to run an election, yet we’re plowing ahead with this once again. 

To dig into these, and many other voting issues, Bill Walton is again joined by 

          Cleta Mitchell, Senior Legal Fellow at the Conservatives Partnership Institute and one of the leading election integrity experts in America, and

          James D. Agresti, the president and cofounder of Just Facts, a research institute dedicated to publishing extensively researched and documented facts about public policies.

Here’s some of we talked about to ensure free and fair legitimate elections: 

• 03:30-05:14 Demand proof of citizenship for every voter registration—no proof, no vote.Without citizenship verification, the integrity of the entire election is at risk.

   

   

   

• 07:30-08:15 Purge voter rolls of ineligible non-citizens—it's not suppression, it's fairness. Dirty voter rolls lead to dirty elections. Clean them up or lose democracy.

• 05:14-06:44 Ban driver’s licenses for non-citizens if used for voter registration—enough loopholes! Driver’s licenses should never be a backdoor for illegal voting.

• 06:30-07:00 Expose left-wing groups enabling illegal voting—they’re undermining your vote. Billions of your tax dollars fund left-wing groups assisting non-citizens to vote.

• 12:21-12:56 Enforce strict penalties for non-citizens caught voting—deportation and prison. Voting is a sacred right; illegal participation should have real consequences.

• 17:10-17:39 End the Democrats’ reliance on non-citizen votes—stop the “great replacement.” Changing the electorate to maintain power? That’s the real threat to democracy.

• 33:21-33:30 Make Election Day a national holiday—end the endless election season madness. Voting must be a one day event, not a season. Stop the manipulation of election outcomes through extended voting

   

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• 35:30-37:13 Challenge media and big tech bias—Google is rigging elections through search results. Big Tech is controlling what you see, steering elections. Push back or be silenced.

• 28:30-28:49 Block all mail-in voting unless citizenship and identity are verified—no excuses. Voting by mail without checks is an invitation to fraud. Time to stop it.

• 18:00-18:51 Stop treating non-citizens as political pawns—vote manipulation is the real voter suppression. Non-citizens dilute the votes of legitimate citizens. That’s the ultimate suppression.

• 18:00-18:51 Every illegal vote nullifies a legitimate citizen vote—don’t let them cancel you out. Your vote should not be diluted by an illegal vote cast by someone who is not a citizen

• 12:00-12:21 Push for criminal prosecutions for anyone facilitating illegal voting—no more leniency. It’s time to hold people accountable for undermining elections—starting with those enabling the fraud.

These are the bullet points. For a fuller understanding, listen in.

In this easy to listen to, charming, and informative episode of "The Bill Walton Show," host Bill Walton engages with Mercedes Schlapp and Matt Schlapp in a dynamic discussion about the pressing issues facing America today. Together, and with humor, they dig into the upcoming elections, economic priorities, and the shifting political landscape. Of course, as Trump supporters, the trio delves into critiques of Biden/Harris’ leadership, the importance of economic growth, and why minority communities are increasingly supporting conservative policies. They also highlight the work that CPAC has been doing with the worldwide movements for freedom and liberty. With optimism, they address concerns about election integrity and the power of respectful discourse. This conversation offers valuable insights into topics shaping the nation's future—it's a discussion you won't want to miss. 

Key Takeaways: 

• (00:25) The episode kicks off with Bill Walton likening the show to "Seinfeld," but instead of "nothing," it's a "show about everything," signaling a deep dive into pressing global issues.

• (02:10) Mercedes Schlapp addresses the palpable political exhaustion among Americans but rallies for renewed focus and energy with critical elections just weeks away.

• (02:45) A sharp critique is leveled at Kamala Harris, questioning her competence in articulating economic plans and her ability to connect with everyday Americans.

• (03:17) Doubt is cast on polls showing Harris with nearly 50% support, suggesting inaccuracies and highlighting concerns over early voting and election integrity.

• (04:23) Matt Schlapp observes a notable shift of racial minorities, especially those who fled communism, moving toward Trump due to his stances on immigration and economic freedom.

• (05:31) Bill Walton argues that the Biden-Harris administration has neglected economic growth in favor of social agendas like climate change and diversity, impacting Americans' prosperity.

• (07:14) The panel criticizes Harris's economic speech in Pittsburgh for lacking substance, emphasizing that "inspirational" rhetoric doesn't address real economic issues.

• (13:44) A stark contrast is drawn between Republicans adhering to election laws and Democrats allegedly exploiting legal loopholes to gain advantages.

• (15:58) Mercedes Schlapp raises alarms about potential foreign interference from China and Iran, suggesting they favor Harris to weaken the United States.

• (16:39) Concerns are voiced about the safety of political figures, noting that Donald Trump has faced serious threats, and calling out the media for insufficient coverage.

• (19:11) Criticism is directed at Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo for saying they need to "extinguish Trump for good," warning that such rhetoric is dangerous and divisive.

• (21:08) Bill Walton connects the U.S. election to a global freedom movement, mentioning Argentina's Javier Milei and highlighting CPAC's international efforts to promote democracy.

• (27:33) The discussion highlights growing support for Trump among Hispanic and Black voters, attributing it to dissatisfaction with economic conditions under current policies.

• (42:22) Matt Schlapp reflects on Trump's resilience through past challenges, suggesting it indicates a significant role he is yet to play in shaping America's future.

• (46:41) The conversation concludes with optimism about Trump's unique leadership, expressing confidence that he aligns with crucial issues that will positively impact the nation's direction.

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Public K12 education in the United States has become the largest government-controlled monopoly in the world, (other than the CCP controlled monopolies in China), spending nearing $1 trillion per year.  And for all the money spent, it’s been a failure. In international tests, American eighth graders score 9th in reading, 16th in science, and 34th in math. 

With few other options granted other than attending their residentially assigned district public school most Americans cannot conceive that there are other alternatives to educate their children. School reform efforts are ferociously resisted by the education monopoly. 

It’s not just teachers unions and school boards. It’s the curriculum developers, the textbook publishers, consultants, the teachers colleges. The list goes on and on. Schools and school administration are also the largest source of patronage for big city, mayors, and governors in every state. They are not going to give up control of this. 

But the dynamics may be changing. 

What happened during COVID, and the prolonged school closures, was a great parent awakening.  Parents had a front row seat into their child's classroom and they were able to see what was being taught as well as what wasn't being taught. They didn’t like what they saw, and now millions are beginning to explore and create other ways to educate their kids.

The person to talk with about this movement is Dr. Keri D. Ingraham Director of the Discovery Institute’s American Center for Transforming Education.  She is also a Senior Fellow at Independent Women’s Forum.

Here is what we agree on. 

We need to create new types of schools from the ground up. There are new, more effective ways to teach our kids. Let the old institutions atrophy and die out.

Some Key Takeaways:

• The fastest, most effective way to reform K12 public education is to allow families to exit the system. 03:24

• Public school education’s roots are in the progressive era in the 19th Century. 6:29

• On the world stage US students are not competitive. 09:07

• Critical race theory is embedded in the curriculum 10:09

• Progressive bias dominates textbook publishing, college schools of education, and teacher certifications 12:05

• The bar is low to enter teacher college programs. It's typically the easiest field to go into within the university. 15:50

• Teacher college curriculums ignore subject matter expertise. 16:23

• Don Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post and a history major at Harvard, couldn’t teach in DC public schools because he didn't have a teaching certificate. 18:12 

• Is there any examples of a government monopoly or any big bureaucracy that has successfully reformed itself? 20:46

• Big cities’ schools are among their mayor's largest form of patronage. 12;10

• When schools say “We're underfunded. We need more money.” It means the want to hire more non-teaching administrative staff. 24:19

• Great books classical education has exploded. 28:26

• Do we really need to have kids go to school and sit there for eight hours a day? 29:46

• What do you do about the inner city kids that don't have parents that are that involved? 35:29

• How do we change the teacher certification rules? 38:42

• From the beginning of the progressive era over a hundred years ago, schools were designed to get kids off the streets and under the control of what they then called the “education trust” 40:44

• In 1919, the “education trust” advocated taking children from the family into the hands of the custody of “community experts.” 41:37

• California’s Gavin Newsom recently signed a law saying that schools are not required to tell a parent of their child's gender ideology unless that child gives permission. 42:51

• In 1934, the president of the National Education Association, wrote, “we expect to accomplish by education what dictators in Europe are seeking to do by compulsion and force.” 46:02

• We're not going to be able to reform the existing public government owned K12 schools. What we can do is to create effective alternatives that are better, cheaper, more humane, and teach good values. And if we create these alternatives, this ends the K12 monopoly. 48:22

"He who tries to defend everything defends nothing."

    ~  Frederick the Great of Prussia

This episode examines the three explosive national security crises the United States and world are embroiled in today, any one of which could escalate into igniting a World War III.

Ukraine/Russia, Israel/Hamas and Taiwan/China. 

Disturbingly, there’s a lot of sabre rattling with far too many politicians in both Europe and the United States engaged in reckless rhetoric. 

To provide cogent analysis and a healthy dose of sobering realism at a time when we face dire risks, Bill is joined by national Security experts and returning guests Stephen Bryen and Brandon Weichert.

Dr. Stephen Bryen, a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, has over 50 years national security experience including many stints in the Pentagon where he became one of the world’s leading experts on the arms trade.

Brandon J. Weichert, author of The Shadow War: Iran's Quest for Supremacy is publisher of the Weichert Report and author of the soon to be published A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine.

Some excerpts: 

 “The neoconservative, neoliberal cabal running Washington believe fully that they have to fight everywhere all the time to preserve America's unipolar standing and our hegemony in the world. But this quest for hegemony has led to the absolute destruction of America's post-Cold War primacy,” warns Weichert. “And if we are not careful, in the next six months, we will not only lose that primacy., but we may become like the declining Ottoman Empire or Austro-Hungarian Empire on our way out. We’ve overcommitted and overextended, and we’re paying the price.”

“NATO is flirting with war and extinction,” worries Bryen. “France is now "officially" sending troops to Ukraine and NATO countries are demanding strikes deep inside Russia.  Meanwhile the US has secretly made a "policy shift" that somewhat falls short of what Zelensky wanted, but opens the door to deep strikes by the US on Russian territory.”

“It’s very hard to see how NATO could defend Poland or the Czech Republic or Estonia. These are not easy countries to defend, and NATO doesn't have today the core countries of NATO, the French, the Germans, the British, it doesn't have the wherewithal to do it. It doesn't have the army or armed forces. It doesn't have the air defenses. It doesn't have the air forces, it doesn't have the tanks. It doesn't have anything sizable enough, and the ability to actually logistically move it to the battlefield.”

“So the notion of NATO fighting a war, which is what French President Macron and all these clowns are essentially taunting the Russians with, is a very dangerous thing because it means that Europe could be enveloped in a war can't win.”

“Russians have developed a pretty sizable air defense capability,” explains Bryen. “They have very good artillery capability. They have increasingly shown their capability with drones and drone warfare, none of which we’re prepared for, and our best tank, the Abrams, which our only tank, we’ve put all our eggs in this one tank. The Abrams is a disaster.”

“The think tank community and the Biden Administration have a plan to contain Russia by rolling it back to its medieval borders, so that it's never again a threat to Europe and the West,” marvels Wiechert. “This is utterly fantastical thinking, this is childish thinking. Russia is not going to let it happen without a fight.”

“Well, their plan not going to happen,” agrees Bryen. “The underlying error, and I think it was a huge error, was that we should confront a nuclear power, a significant nuclear power with the dismemberment. We were going to break up the Soviet Union, now Russia. We're going to dismember it, and we're going to sponsor the opposition in Russia, and somehow create this great transformation. But we're messing around with a nuclear power.”

“We’ve essentially forced the Russians into the arms of the Chinese through our policies, which was complete stupidity,” says Bryen.

The neocons are very explicit the US must be the unchallenged superpower. In every place in the world, in every region, we must dominate. 

This is the thinking that got us into the Middle East. This is the exact thinking that led us down the wrong path in Iraq and then the Arab spring.

“They believed the notion that there was going to be only one superpower and it was going to be the United States,”reminds Bryen. “And since we were to be the only superpower we had to take on these responsibilities. Well, we weren't the only one superpower, and today, we’re just one of three, and increasingly the weaker of the three.”

For the last 200 years, innovation and technology have produced dramatic increases in living standards and our quality of life. 

Yet today there is a widespread and growing belief that technology has become the root of all evils with all sorts of claims being made that it destroys privacy, spreads misinformation, undermines trust, and democracy, eliminates jobs, discriminates by race, and gender, increases inequality, rips off the consumer, harms children, and even threatens the human race.

This is quite a bill of indictment! But is any of this true? 

Bill’s guests on this show, Rob Atkinson and David Moschella, believe this is mostly agenda driven bunk and have written a persuasive book to prove it.

“Technology Fears and Scapegoats: 40 Myths About Privacy, Jobs, AI, and Today’s Innovation Economy”

Robert D. Atkinson is the founder and president of ITIF, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, and author of many books including  “Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage” 

David Moschella is a nonresident senior fellow at ITIF and previously was head of worldwide research for IDC, the largest market analysis firm in the information technology industry.

“America's always flourished more than anybody else in the world,” declares Atkinson, “because we have had this underlying faith in innovation, in the future, in taking risks, in going forward into the unknown. And now, that's really at risk. People are saying things like, ‘Wait a minute, we shouldn't deploy facial recognition because it's racially biased’ or that ‘technology innovation has not improved the average worker's living standards.’”

“Well, both those statements are wrong. They are 100% myth.”

“As someone who grew up in the Boston area in the 60s and 70s,” says Moschella, “Massachusetts was considered a dead economy with no future. And then, this thing called the minicomputer was designed out of MIT, and created companies like Digital Equipment, and Prime, and Wang and all the others. And all of a sudden you had the so-called Massachusetts Miracle. People are forgetting these realities.”

Some of the most damaging myths stem from a deep-seated rejection of the Western capitalist system. But to gain traction for this agenda, anti-capitalists must first convince voters that the current system is failing, and a top target is technology driven innovation. 

“Also, what’s happened is that some of the legitimate criticism of globalization has morphed into criticism of automation,” says Moschella.

“People didn't like globalization, but then said, ’Well, automation is really more the cause than globalization, and of course technology drives automation, so we can blame technology automation for the problems globalization has created.’’”

“I’ve actually heard members of Congress say, ‘The pace of change is so rapid and we have to slow it down,’ worries Rob.

“Now think about that. When has America ever said that? That the average person can't handle change. That it's too fast. We've got to slow things down.”

In this episode we also take on the myth that the pace of technological change is accelerating.

Compare current era to the early 20th century, which saw the introduction of transformative technologies like electricity, radio, automobiles, and airplanes. The perception of rapid change today is often skewed by the digital revolution's visibility, but in reality, the physical and infrastructural advancements of the past were probably more transformative.

America has shifted its focus from delivering technological wonders to preventing “harmful” change. Once widely seen as a savior of humanity, technology is increasingly used as a scapegoat for just about every societal ill.

But if we see innovation as a necessary force for good, with government’s role as a constructive enabler, there will be thoughtful innovation policies and more innovation 

But if the dominant narrative is that technology is an out-of-control force for harm, there will be destructive policies and a stultifying future.

Agree or disagree, this conversation wanders into some interesting waters and challenges a lot of today’s conventional wisdom about technology.

Former Navy U.S. Seal and founder of the private military company Blackwater Erik Prince says that “We are fighting wars the wrong way.” Stephen Bryen is known as the “Yoda” of the Arms Trade. Time Magazine comments, “He knows every sinkhole in the regulatory swamp. Ignore him at your peril." He is also a former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense and founder of the Defense Technology Security Administration. This week, we are discussing Erik’s new paper “Too Big to Win: How the Military and Industrial Complex and the Neocons Keep America Losing.” One of the central questions posed by Prince – How has America transitioned from a post-Cold War era of dominance to its current state of disarray?

Follow us:

Website: https://www.thebillwaltonshow.com 

In this episode of The Bill Walton Show, Bill wades into the murky waters of the Left’s “dark money” manipulation of American politics with Scott Walter and Kristen Eastlick with the Capital Research Center. 

We often use the phrase follow the money. Scott and Kristen are among the best at doing just that. 

Centerpiece of the discussion is Scott’s new book Arabella: The Dark Money Network of Leftist Billionaires Secretly Transforming America.  

In it, he reveals the vast influence that the Arabella Network - by deploying billions of dollars - plays in American politics under the guise of progressive philanthropy. 

To name just a few issues, Arabella has played a major role in battles over Supreme Court nominations, abortion, men in women’s sports, school discipline, Medicare for All, environmental policies, fake local news outlets, and the “Zuck Bucks” used to manipulate elections. Many believe that most of the attacks on American institutions by the Left are financed and organized in part by Arabella.

This episode’s conversation gets into revealing detail about how this network operates as a "dark money” brain trust with a for-profit manager (of course) at its epicenter, commanding several billion dollar nonprofit action groups.

These funds in turn create hundreds of “pop-up” entities that appear suddenly, giving the appearance of huge popular groundswells, when in fact they’re the creations of Arabella and other similarly deeply disguised operations on the Left. 

Rather than being innocent grassroots outfits, they are the creation of their secretive dark money operations.

The sheer quantity of money that has flowed through Arabella’s channels is staggering.  In the 2020 election cycle, Arabella’s nonprofits took in $2.4 billion, more than the fundraising of the Democratic and Republican National Committees combined.  In the 2022 election cycle, Arabella’s fundraising rose to $3 billion.

Arabella is a big part of the reason for the Left’s stunning advantage in money and sophisticated political machinery that shapes our lives and elections.

Scott and Kristen describe the “three rivers of money” flowing into politics.

“With the first river of hard dollars, traditional political giving, the Left has an advantage, but it's slight,” explains Scott. “In the second river, the independent expenditures, dark money and super PACs, the left has a little advantage, but it’s also slight. But in the third river,” and here Scott grows animated, “where the Left’s charitable public policy groups operate, it's not even close. It's over a 10 to one in the Left’s favor and totals to over a $35 billion advantage. This is really the death star for the lefties.”

It’s shocking to learn how Arabella has covertly developed the darkest of “dark money” networks. It’s also shocking to learn who has been by far the largest single individual contributor to the abortion industry to the tune of $6+ billion.  (Revealed at the 18:36 minute mark) 

In fact, the further you go in this episode, the more disturbing the political swamp and the people behind it reveal themselves to be. 

If you really want to follow the money, start here.

In this lively episode of the Bill Walton Show, Bill talks with Jim Pinkerton in a thought-provoking discussion about investing in the turbulent waters of today's toxic political climate. With a focus on the stark Red-Blue divide in America, Jim offers a contrarian view that it’s fertile ground for what he terms "directional investing." 

Drawing from his upcoming book, "The Secret of Directional Investing: Making Money Amidst the Red-Blue Divide," Pinkerton—a veteran of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and a long-time Fox News contributor—unpacks the intriguing idea that political polarization, while daunting, can be a goldmine for the astute investor and entrepreneur.

The conversation digs into a deeper exploration of Federalism and the concept of states as laboratories, not just of democracy, but also micro-economic innovation hubs. Pinkerton paints a picture of a "United States of Arbitrage," where individuals and businesses pick states for their cultural climates and regulatory frameworks, much like how businesses today scout for tax havens.

Bill and Jim weave through topics with ease, touching on the explosive potential of AI and its voracious energy demands, the dynamics of state-driven economic incentives, and the possible futures shaped by these forces. They muse on how states compete to attract burgeoning industries by aligning social policies with corporate needs, imagining a nation where your address might reflect your ideology as much as your lifestyle.

“If a red state were really on its game, thinking for itself,” says Jim, “it would announce to the world that any student who got an 800 on his or her math SAT would get a free ride.”

The episode doesn't just dissect current trends; it offers a visionary look at how today's divisions could be tomorrow's opportunities, making it a must-listen for anyone intrigued by the intersection of politics, economics, and the future of innovation in America.

Also, you’ll learn which state seems to think its idea of economic development is transgender surgery, hoping to become to transgenderism what the Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins are to cancer.