Trey talks with constitutional law professor Maxwell Stearns about his new book Parliamentary America which argues the U.S. needs to adapt the U.S. House to include proportional representation. 

Topics Trey and Max Cover Include

- how the median voter theory is inaccurate

- why American parties are tending in extreme directions

- proposals to double the size of the House of Representatives

- proposals to transform the selection of president and vice president

- proposals to change how to remove a president

- the historic necessity of convincing relevant actors to agree to these changes. 

Follow Max on X, and check out Parliamentary America

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Mike and Jay open the preview of this midweek supporters’ episode with a discussion of Texas’ SB 4, which allows state judges to deport migrants. Mike argues that it’s plainly unconstitutional and Jay largely agrees, though he makes the case that legislation should be given a presumption of constitutionality. They also discuss how this has moved through the federal court system and the slowdown at the Fifth Circuit.

Following that they take a look at the latest presidential fundraising numbers (one area where Biden is beating Trump), consider Washington State’s new alternative to the bar exam, and address some listener questions.

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Mike and Jay open with a discussion of bipartisan agreement on a budget that averted a partial government shutdown. Jay thinks it’s good politics, emphasizing once again that Republicans don’t win government shutdowns, and pointing out that Speaker Johnson has a tiny majority to work with. Mike notes that Republicans got a number of things they should like, though he expects that we’ll be in a similar place in just over six months, when the deadline for passing next year’s budget comes up.

Next, they discuss the lawsuit against Apple filed by the Department of Justice and 15 states. Neither Mike nor Jay thinks the government has a particularly strong case, but Mike argues that government pressure on big companies like Apple can serve as a useful check on corporate power.

They close with what starts as a discussion of the Ohio Republican Senate primary, and ends up as a much broader discussion of Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and the media.

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Mike talks with George Laws Garcia, a former acting director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration and Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Statehood Council.

Topics Mike and George Cover Include:

- how Puerto Ricans aresecond-class US citizens

- Puerto Rico and federal income taxes

- independence as opposed to statehood

- how Puerto Ricans feel about statehood

- US domestic political considerations

- what making Puerto Rico a state might cost

- short and medium-term prospects for statehood

Follow George on X, and check out Puerto Rico 51st

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Trey & Ken continue through the U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights by diving into the 3rd and 4th Amendments. 

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Trey & Ken start the episode with a deep dive into Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s Senate speech on Israel, Hamas, and Benjamin Netanyahu. This includes a discussion of the norm breaking nature of calling for a vote on a democratically elected leader, if the Biden administration is giving in to more leftist voices, and the extent to which the U.S. may change its behavior in relationship to Israel.

Next is a conversation on a series of orders from Judge McAfee on Trump’s cases, including throwing out six charges, and the requirement that Nathan Wade step down (which is now official).

Finally the pair close the show with a discussion of the recent firings and memos out of the RNC. Ken believes the restructure will take money away from Republican candidates and help Democrats, Trey thinks it is unwise to underestimate Trump’s ability to effectively campaign.

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Kimberly talks with Mary Chung Hayashi, national healthcare advocate, former California State Assembly member, Principal of Public Policy & Advocacy Solutions, and author of Women in Politics: Breaking Down the Barriers to Achieve True Representation.

Topics Kimberly & Mary discuss include:

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Mike and Jay open the preview of this supporters’ midweek episode with a discussion of Speech First, Inc. v Sands, a Supreme Court case in which Jay submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Court. They get into whether the Court was right to dismiss the case as moot (Mike says yes while Jay has his doubts) as well as the underlying issue of whether bias response teams on college campuses necessarily chill speech (Jay says yes while Mike thinks possibly, but not necessarily).

After that, they respond to a bunch of listener questions: politicians in the opposite party they respect, the politician they’d most like to have a beer with and what they’d ask them, Jay’s best argument to Republicans for Biden and Mike’s best argument to Democrats for Trump.

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