Donald Trump inherited a booming economy from Barack Obama in 2017. It took him three years and one botched pandemic response to send it spiraling towards recession. He’s learned from his first-term mistakes. This time, he inherited an economy the Economist magazine called the envy of the world and has managed to tank it in a matter of just weeks. This time, in between rounds of golf and incessant posting on social media, Donald Trump has managed to take down Wall Street and Main Street by declaring financial war on countries who thought we were allies.

The political repercussions have begun with Trump’s polling numbers tanking, and a majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the economy. The vast majority also oppose most of the Musk-led chainsaw massacre of federal employees. 

The end game? Trump and Musk appear to be setting the stage for privatizing things like the Weather Bureau, FAA, K-12 education and the long-sought GOP dream: privatizing Social Security so they and their billionaire buddies can wet their beaks dipping into literally trillions of spending over the coming decades.

In Michigan, 20 months before the election polling shows Jocelyn Benson with a sizable lead in the Democratic gubernatorial race, and Pete Buttigieg the strongest candidate for U.S. Senate – but he’s announced he’s not running for either the Senate or Governor. We do, however, have another entrant into the Democratic race for Governor: Lt. Governor Garland Gilchrist. The challenge for Gilchrist: can the tallest candidate (6’9″) in the mix overcome the longstanding Michigan history that has doomed the gubernatorial aspirations of Lt. Governors for the last 30 years?

The list of would-be Lt. Governors seeking the top job is long, distinguished … and uniformly unsuccessful:

The last Lt. Governor to advance via election was John Swainson in 1960. Lt. Governor William Milliken inherited the job when George Romney resigned in 1969 to join the Nixon cabinet, and went on to serve 14 years as perhaps the best Governor in Michigan’s modern history.

20 months before the election, polling shows Jocelyn Benson with a sizable lead in the Democratic gubernatorial race, and Pete Buttigieg the strongest candidate for U.S. Senate.

This week’s guest is an early entrant into the race to flip. Michigan’s 10th district. Onetime military helicopter pilot John James has run for office, losing twice for U.S. Senate and winning two terms in Congress. In each case, the elections were extremely close. But as every politician knows, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Our guest this week can offer first-hand testimony on the latter – hand grenades. He’s an expert in the subject.

Joining the podcast is political newcomer Alex Hawkins. He served in the Middle East as a U.S. Army “Explosive Ordnance Disposal” Officer. He continues as an Active Duty Veteran and Oakland County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy. His resume includes working on the staffs of both then-Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and Senator Gary Peters. Hawkins, 30, is a 2021 graduate of Central Michigan University. He and his wife Amanda live in Rochester Hills.

This episode is sponsored in part by