The Scott Horton Show from The Libertarian Institute

Jeff Deist discusses the political responses to the coronavirus, varying on a state-by-state level from complete lockdown to nearly complete normalcy. Deist says this is an example of federalism actually working, since beyond issuing recommendations and printing money, there isn't all that much the federal government can do to enforce policies across the entire country. Deist fears the negative economic ramifications of both the way the virus has shut down major parts of the economy and the government's response to the supposed crisis in the form of trillions of dollars in loans and bailouts, most of which is going to big business and special interests rather than into the pockets of the taxpayers. All of the recent stimulus threatens to cause severe inflation, distortions in the interest rate, and even worse asset bubbles than we've seen until now. Overall the economic consequences could end up being worse than those of the virus itself.

Discussed on the show:

"What Governors Can Do" (Mises Institute)

Jeff Deist is president of the Mises Institute, where he serves as a writer, public speaker, and advocate for property, markets, and civil society. He previously worked as a longtime advisor and chief of staff to Congressman Ron Paul, for whom he wrote hundreds of articles and speeches. Follow him on Twitter @jeffdeist.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKzAAkXmxQU

Daniel Lazare talks about the grave danger facing the U.S. military of coronavirus sweeping through environments like infantry barracks, submarines, and aircraft carries with almost no possibility for social distancing and quarantine. Already the spread of the virus has clustered around military bases in the U.S. The same could happen at our bases in the Middle East, which is already one of the hardest hit regions in the world. Scott hopes that a silver lining of the virus will be a widespread move toward world peace, as countries realize both how cruel and how wasteful of much-needed resources war is.

Discussed on the show:

"Mad Man Modly: The Secretary of the Navy Gets the Boot" (Antiwar.com)

"3/20/20 William Arkin on the Military’s Top Secret Coronavirus Plans" (The Libertarian Institute)

Daniel Lazare is the author of The Frozen Republic: How the constitution is Paralyzing Democracy and a regular contributor at Consortium News. Find all of his work at his website and follow him on Twitter @dhlazare.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGORZJ5XSfs

Scott interviews Tommy Salmons about what life is like for truck drivers these days. Salmons describes dealing with longer hours, different routes and products, deserted truck stops and empty roads. Scott reminds everyone just how important it is that people like Salmons are still out there doing their jobs so that most of us can stay home in relative safety.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4sNllkQfS8

Christine Ahn talks about U.S. relations with North Korea in light of the global coronavirus outbreak. President Trump made what in Ahn's mind was a very good move when he offered to help North Korea in any way he can a few weeks ago. Some members of his administration, however, have continued to support a maximum pressure sanctions policy, which already hurts North Korean civilians and is bound to make things even worse during a serious public health crisis. The good news is that both North and South Korea support reunification, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in is an especially strong proponent of peace. With his administration's capable handling of the outbreak in South Korea, he will be in an even stronger position to proceed with negotiations, so long as America simply gets out of the way.

Discussed on the show:

"US Response to Coronavirus in North Korea Can Save Lives and Lead to Peace" (Common Dreams)

Christine Ahn is the international coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, a global movement of women mobilizing for peace on the Korean Peninsula. Follow her at Truthout and on Twitter @christineahn.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lilAt46a114

David Stockman pulls back the curtain on congress' recent multi-trillion dollar bailout package, which, although billed as emergency aid for individuals actually allocates most of the money to various special interests on both sides of the aisle, including millions for the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Center, Public Broadcasting and the Department of Education. Beyond the bailout, Stockman says this shutdown of almost the entire economy is a disastrous overreaction, given what he thinks is a hugely overblown level of danger from the virus itself. In New York State, the mortality rate is 70 times higher among the elderly and infirm, and poses very little risk of death or hospitalization to young people in good health. He advocates isolating the elderly but letting most people go back to work before it's too late to save the economy at all.

Discussed on the show:

"Contra Corner Republicans Are Now Good For Exactly........Nothing!" (David Stockman's Contra Corner)

David Stockman is the ultimate Washington insider turned iconoclast. He began his career in Washington as a young man and quickly rose through the ranks of the Republican Party to become the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan. After leaving the White House, Stockman had a 20-year career on Wall Street. He is the author of Trumped!, The Triumph of Politics, and his history of the financial crisis, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZo_1nIRu64

Jason Ditz talks about escalating tensions in Iraq, the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and the murmurings of another attempt by the U.S. to put Juan Guaido in power in Venezuela. Scott and Ditz are stunned that America keeps making the same foreign policy mistakes over and over again. Scott sees a real opportunity for a politician like Bernie Sanders to make these topics a leading issue, given that nobody else talks about them and that the American people, when asked, are mostly on the right side. Voters simply do not want to be spending tax money to kill foreigners and prop up murderous regimes while they have plenty of their own problems at home.

Discussed on the show:

"US, Iran Prepare for New Escalation in Iraq, With Coronavirus Likely to Play a Role" (Antiwar.com)

"Karl Rove’s Prophecy: “We're an Empire Now, and When We Act, We Create our Own Reality"" (Centre for Research on Globalization)

"How To Lose An Army" (The American Conservative)

"David Petraeus and Vance Serchuk: Can America Trust the Taliban to Prevent Another 9/11?" (Foreign Affairs)

Jason Ditz is the news editor of Antiwar.com. Read all of his work at news.antiwar.com and follow him on Twitter @jasonditz.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3dsxd5q9IQ

Scott interviews Doug Bandow about his recent article for the National Interest, which discusses the effects of the coronavirus on U.S. relations with North Korea. Bandow explains how after years of hand-wringing over the imminent threat posed by Kim Jong-un's aggressive nuclear posturing, and the need for America to respond strongly, everyone forgets all about it as soon as an actual emergency like the current pandemic emerges. If North Korea really posed an existential threat to the United States, we would probably still be concerned. Scott and Bandow also discuss America's role in the world's worst humanitarian crisis, the war in Yemen. The onset of the rainy season there threatens to bring another outbreak of cholera, an easily preventable disease that thousands have already died from thanks to intentional targeting of critical civilian infrastructure. Saudi Arabia would not be able to wage this war without explicit U.S. approval.

Discussed on the show:

"How the Coronavirus Shows North Korea Doesn’t Matter That Much to America" (The National Interest)

"Yemen Is Shattered and the U.S. Helped the Saudis Break It" (Cato Institute)

"3/20/20 Scott Paul on Yemen’s Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis" (The Libertarian Institute)

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a regular contributor at Forbes Magazine, the National Interest, and elsewhere. He’s on Twitter @Doug_Bandow.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXk2SNtZC2A

Hassan El-Tayyab talks to Scott about the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, where the U.S. continues to help Saudi Arabia wage an aggressive war against the Middle East's poorest country. Scott reminds us that President Trump could end the war with a single phone call, but is too concerned with the arms contracts with the Saudi government to risk jeopardizing the relationship. Things are already desperate for the Yemeni people, who have a hard time getting food, medicine, and clean water. These problems have led to the world's worst outbreaks of cholera, a disease that only needs basic sanitation and nutrition to treat. It would be an utter disaster if the coronavirus spreads there on top of the problems they face already.

Discussed on the show:

"After 5 years of war in Yemen, American complicity must end" (The Hill)

Stockholm Agreement

"Senate Passes Sanders' War Powers Resolution on Yemen" (Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont)

"3/20/20 Scott Paul on Yemen’s Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis" (The Libertarian Institute)

Hassan El-Tayyab is a musician and peace activist based in Chicago. Find his work at justforeignpolicy.org.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArsJ2Ui4KHA

Scott talks to Andrew Bacevich about the ways U.S. military spending over the last few decades has indebted our country and will continue to impoverish future generations. The mistakes go back to America's squandering of its Cold War peace dividend in the early 1990s, drastically expanding its empire in Europe and Asia instead of shrinking the military and focusing on prosperity at home. This problem escalated under Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama with more spending, more wars in more countries, and more dead American soldiers. All of this has cost the American people trillions of dollars and is likely to lead to worse problems than the ones we initially tried to solve. Bacevich hopes that a crisis like coronavirus, which exposes the fragility of our economy and our society, might finally force people to recognize how untenable the entire empire project is.

Discussed on the show:

"Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, America Terrorized" (TomDispatch)

1993 World Trade Center bombing

U.S. embassies in East Africa bombed

Khobar Towers bombing

BringOurTroopsHome.us

Andrew Bacevich is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University. He is the author of a number of books including America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History and The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory. He is a regular contributor at The American Conservative and TomDispatch.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vdagWW2NH4

Ted Carpenter discusses the possible ramifications of the coronavirus on both the economy and our personal liberties. He first reminds us that this is not a question of sacrificing economic productivity for the sake of saving lives, as some would have us believe—shutting down huge sectors of the economy itself threatens human lives through increased risk to the most vulnerable, ruined careers, and increased deaths related to stress and despair. Carpenter also worries that it will be difficult to roll back the increased powers that the federal government is deploying, supposedly to combat the spread of the virus, like tracking our cell phones and enforcing shelter in place orders. In both these cases, the cure could be worse than the proverbial disease.

Discussed on the show:

"Liberty And The Coronavirus: Not An Either/Or Proposition" (The American Conservative)

Ted Galen Carpenter is a senior fellow for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. Carpenter has written 10 books including America’s Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan and most recently NATO: Dangerous Dinosaur. He is a contributing editor at The American Conservative Magazine and the National Interest.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods' Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.

Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UHx6deFJes