The Bob Zadek Show

Though some use it disparagingly, the label of “Bleeding Heart” is worn by others as a badge of honor. This apparent contradiction only starts to make sense when you contrast the frequently damaging results of government policy motivated by the undeniably noble sentiment behind caring for the poor. Matt Zwolinski, Professor of Philosophy at University of San Diego, is out to reframe the debate through what he calls Bleeding Heart Libertarianism. On this show, you’ll find out what this means and how it applies to recurring policy debates about welfare and more. In a nutshell, Zwolinski and his co-bloggers at BleedingHeartLibertarians.com seek to validate the concepts of social justice and responsibility to the poor within the framework of free-market advocacy. Can the union of these ideas translate into a viable political agenda? Later, Bob looks at President Obama’s expansion of executive power, with the release of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for U.S. solider Bowe Bergdahl. Bob also examines a new EPA rule to curb carbon dioxide emissions across the 50 states, and he looks at the effects it is likely to have on the cost of energy. Just who would these new regulations burden the most? You guessed it – the poor! Tune in to sharpen your thinking on how government can best help (or at least do the least harm) to the worst off among us.

One year ago, actor and director David Marcus wrote a piece for Narrative.ly on what it’s like to be openly conservative in the hyper-liberal realm of the arts. Having never been “blacklisted” himself, Marcus encouraged other conservative artists to follow his lead. Within six months of the article’s publication, news emerged about an actress who was pressured into resigning from a San Francisco theater production for vocalizing her conservative views. During the same period, the IRS was revealed to have targeted an association of Hollywood conservatives for special investigation. Meanwhile, the Federal government skews arts funding in favor of progressive interests – satisfying elite preferences at the expense of taxpayers who often can’t even afford the final product. Marcus wants to ensure that individual artists can promote their unique values on a level playing field, and is now seeking answers from the incoming chair of the National Endowment for the Arts, Jane Chu. Marcus joined Bob to discuss how fellow artists/entrepreneurs can take back the arts. Where to begin? How about offering quality entertainment at an affordable price?

In most sectors of the economy, regulation is an inevitable hurdle to doing business. Certain Internet-based businesses, however, have been left alone for long enough to flourish in the hands of enterprising individuals. Jim Epstein is a producer at Reason TV who has been tracking the emergence of the so-called “sharing economy."  Epstein joins Bob to discuss, among other things, his new video series telling the stories of people whose personal businesses are thriving with the help of new peer-to-peer information technology. Tech companies like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb are facilitating leaps and bounds in private value creation. Regulators are having a hard time catching up. Epstein notes that even progressives are finding reasons to oppose regulation in this burgeoning field. Could this be the beginning of a  liberal/libertarian alliance? Either way, don’t expect regulators to sit on the sidelines for long!

Elsewhere, in the food industry, regulation is nothing new – but some citizens are starting to demand their freedoms back. Bob discusses the controversy over raw milk, and two proposed bills that could impact its sale in the U.S.

Why do cities and states fall all over each other to force billions of dollars of subsidies into the pockets of billionaire professional sports team owners? Is it merely that they want to qualify as “major league cities?” Does it make economic sense (answer – of course not) or is it just to enhance the egos of local politicians and enrich local real estate interests? And aren’t the professional sports teams a monopoly, subject to anti-trust regulation? You’d think so. Imagine a retailer having to obtain the permission of Macy’s before opening a store near a Macy’s? In America professional sports leagues have been exempt from anti-trust laws since a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court case held that baseball was not “interstate commerce.” Robbing from the poor (and middle class) to give to the rich. Robin Hood, where are you when we need you? Skip Sauer, Professor of Economics and Chair of The John E. Walker Department of Economics at Clemson University has studied this issue extensively and joins Bob to discuss the subsidizing of professional sports teams by local governments. The politics, the economics, the insanity. It ain’t pretty.

Later, Bob is joined by Mitch Jeserich, host of Pacifica Radio’s Letters & Politics (KPFA in the Bay Area), to discuss the contentious (to say the least) issue of gun control. Are libertarians closer to progressives or to conservatives on this complex issue? The 2nd amendment is only 27 words long, and its three commas have been parsed and parsed for 200 years. What does the Amendment mean? Does it matter? Bob and Mitch will try to sort it out.

No one can deny the plight of Third World sweatshop workers, who endure long, uncomfortable shifts in exchange for meager pay by American standards. In response, some onlookers promote economic sanctions on countries with lax workplace regulations, while others stir up boycotts against multinational enterprises that utilize sweatshop labor. According to Professor Benjamin Powell, such activism may actually harm the very workers who need sweatshops the most. Bob is joined by Professor Powell, who is the Director of the Free Market Institute, a Senior Fellow with the Oakland-based Independent Institute, and the author of a new book, “Out of Poverty: Sweatshops in the Global Economy.” Don’t miss their conversation on the unintended consequences of anti-sweatshop activism, and the real recipe for escaping poverty.

In the last half hour, Bob turns his attention to other forms of so-called “economic exploitation” such as price gouging and the minimum wage.

We all insist on choice when it comes to what kind of car we drive, where we buy our groceries, and who cuts our hair. Yet Americans have long abided by restrictions on how their children are educated, with one-size-fits-all public school districts limiting parents’ choices in one of the most fundamental areas. Jeff Reed, Communications Director for The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, believes it is time to break up the government’s monopoly on education. After decades of controversy over school choice, The Friedman Foundation claims it now has the empirical evidence to finally put the standard objections to rest. Bob and Jeff break down the new findings, including several real world examples of how increased choice is creating new opportunities, reducing costs, and even improving existing public schools.

Later, Bob looks at recent foreign policy debates over Russia’s interventions in Ukraine, which some perceive as a threat to liberty worldwide. Public opinion, however, suggests the United States has lost its appetite for foreign intervention. What should libertarians make of it all?
Bob also examines a controversial new Tennessee law that enacts criminal penalties for women who take drugs during pregnancy and have children with birth defects or addictions as a result.

The Republican Party is in the midst of an identity crisis as establishment leaders, social conservatives, and libertarians all vie for center stage. Will the Party fracture due to these internal divisions, or can it still produce a coherent enough vision to stop the growth of government in every area of our lives? In  “The Republican Party’s Civil War: Will Freedom Win?”, author and editor Edward Hudgins (Director of Advocacy for The Atlas Society) argues for a revival of the principles of self-governance as the moral foundation of the GOP. This rebirth, write Hudgins and his co-authors, may offer the last best chance to rescue the struggling Party, and complete the American Revolution. Hudgins  joins Bob to tell the story of how this unfinished moral revolution began — in the hearts and minds of the Founders — and explains how it can proceed in today’s polarized political environment.

Bob also stakes out the libertarian positions on hot-button social issues – abortion, gay marriage, and immigration – dispelling  the misconceptions that commonly steer popular opinion in the wrong direction. The show concludes with a report on New Jersey’s denial of an application for the license plate “8theist”. What’s at stake from a first amendment perspective?

Links and Notes:

Amazon: “The Republican Party’s Civil War: Will Freedom Win?” by Ed Hudgins

License Plate News Report: GeoBeat News [Video]

Welcome to America, where federal law enforcement rewards local police departments for ignoring the issues such as assault, robbery, murder and public safety in general. The government’s efforts would be better spent on the causes Washington considers important, such as drug enforcement, illegal immigration and “terrorism.” By taking advantage of civil asset forfeiture, local law enforcement agents are permitted (if not encouraged) to confiscate personal property without proving that the owner committed or intended to commit any crime. Cops are getting filthy rich in the process… and it’s legal! Sarah Stillman has written an expose entitled “Taken” which was recently published in the New Yorker and in this episode, she joins Bob to explain the role reversal of cops becoming robbers. Don’t miss it.

Bob is joined by former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos. Mayor Agnos is a progressive to the core, and a sincere advocate for the middle class. He makes a passionate case for rent control, and subsidized, affordable housing for lower and middle-class residents of urban areas (especially, of course, San Francisco). Mayor Agnos truly speaks from the heart, as well as the mind, making it difficult for Bob to rebut his distinctly non-libertarian views, although he tries. Of particular interest is Mayor Agnos’ successful battle against the Golden State Warriors’ attempted land grab on the San Francisco waterfront. You’ll learn how professional sports franchises often function as little more than mall developers in disguise.

In the last half hour Bob addresses the issue of endangered species with investigative reporter Tawanda Kanhema of the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Kanhema has been documenting the fight to save the black rhinoceros – including efforts to crack down on ivory sales – on rhino-er.org. Bob examines whether the free markets have a role to play in bringing endangered species back from the brink.

It’s 90 minutes of Bob and the progressives!

During the Constitution’s ratification process from September 1787 through mid-1788, each and every federalist (the supporters of ratification) promised America a federal government of limited (i.e. “enumerated”) powers. For about 120 years we were provided with maximum freedom to pursue our lives as we see fit. Promise kept. Then what happened?

The America we live in today is by no means the America that we were supposed to have. Were we given a flawed Constitution? One that mandated an all-controlling, all-seeing, liberty-denying Big Brother that was determined to make all of our personal decisions for us? Clark M. Neily III knows how we got from the government we were promised to the government we now have and he explains it in “Terms of Engagement; How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government.” Clark joined Bob to discuss all this and more. You need to know how we got in this mess in order to know how to get out. A must-hear show.