Top Priority | Ideas for Human Flourishing

Show: 016 Top Priority Podcast | Occupational Licensing  

Date Recorded: December 16, 2019

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Erica Jedynak, Director of Employment Initiatives, Stand Together 

Austen Bannan Senior Policy Analyst of Employment Policy, Americans for Prosperity

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What is Occupational Licensing and why is it an issue on which our Stand Together Community engages? min [4:15]
• How some occupational licenses actually prop-up special interests and create a two-tired society. min [9:08]
• How our Community views Occupational Licensing through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [17:20]
• What are viable alternatives to Occupational Licenses to keep people safe? min [23:25]
• How our Community views Occupational Licensing through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [29:20]
• How Occupational Licensing props up cronyism and what is cronyism? min [41:47] 
• How our Community views Occupational Licensing through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [42:27]
• Certificate of Need keeping people from accessing quality, affordable health care. min [48:08]
• How Government uses Occupational Licensing against people—including doing math without a license. min [49:50]
• How our Community views Occupational Licensing through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [53:20]

**Additional Resource**

• Reclaiming the American Dream: The Role of Private Individuals and Voluntary Associations by Richard Cornuelle
• “There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs.” —Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles
• District Works is a coalition of small business owners, nonprofits, and community members striving to make it cheaper, faster, and simpler to start a business in D.C.

Show: 015 Top Priority Podcast | Right to Work & Economic Opportunity Priority Initiative  

Date Recorded: January 29, 2020

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Erica Jedynak, Director of Employment Initiatives, Stand Together 

Austen Bannan, Senior Policy Analyst of Employment Policy, Americans for Prosperity

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What does Right to Work mean? min [1:24]
• Which states are Right to Work States? min [1:50]
• Is someone forced to join a union if they don’t live in a Right to Work state? min [4:22] 
• What is our Stand Together community position on Right to Work? min [7:49]
• What is our Community’s principled response to the “free rider” argument? min [8:28]
• Is there a libertarian case against Right to Work? min [11:17]
• How our Community views Right to Work through the lens of our Vision—to break barriers. min [14:50] 
• How our Community views Right to Work through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [21:12]

**The violation of Equal Rights is Unions somehow get a “super status” making them more important than others under the law.**

• How our Community views Right to Work through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [22:34]

**For win-win to be possible, all parties have to voluntarily enter into the relationship.**

• What about the people who say Right to Work is just about union busting? min[24:48] 
• How our Community views Right to Work through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [28:52]
• How does Right to Work impact innovation in the workplace? min [31:09]
• How our Community views Right to Work through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [31:55]
• Looking into the future, what could be the role of unions? min [38:25]

Show: 014 Top Priority Podcast | *JUST IN TIME* Telemedicine and COVID-19
Date Recorded: March 25, 2020
Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy
Guests: Charlie Katebi, Healthcare Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity
Tom Romeo, Program Officer of Technology & Innovation, Stand Together

• What is the impact of telemedicine in combating the pandemic of COVID-19? min [2:05]

The biggest barriers to access of care are in Medicare and Medicaid: If you live outside of a major metropolitan area, that the government deems “not a shortage area” you do not have access to telemedicine because of government regulations and prohibitions.

In a pandemic social distancing is imperative for the health of patients and providers alike, lifting these barriers allows for ill people to consult with a healthcare practitioner while keeping everyone safe.

• What is meant by the term “telemedicine”? min [6:05]

1. A video conferencing consultation between patient and care provider
2. Using outpatient devices to allow a doctor to monitor patient health progress in real time
3. Allowing a general practitioner to share patient conditions with a specialist in real time

• In this pandemic, we are finally seeing the lifting of prohibitions so policy can catch up to the technology. min [11:09]
• How are we tracking the results of a societal Openness when it comes to lifting prohibitions on healthcare technology? min [13:35]
• What are the opportunity costs of these barriers in our healthcare system? min [21:57]

**Additional Resource**
• The latest work from Mercatus Center in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the novel coronavirus causing it.
• Increasing Access to Care in the State by Mercatus Center 

Show: 013 Top Priority Podcast | Healthcare Priority Initiative  

Date Recorded: December 17, 2019

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Charlie Katebi, Health Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity

Elliott Fox, Director of Healthcare Initiatives, Stand Together

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What is our Stand Together Community doing in the Healthcare space? min [3:45]
• What external barriers keep people from accessing quality, affordable Health Care? min [7:20]

** What is Certificate of Need? How is it a barrier to accessing quality, affordable Health Care? min [7:35]

** What is Scope of Practice and how are Scope of Practice revisions removing barriers? min [14:07] 

** What are the barriers to Telemedicine  that need to be removed? min [21:40]

• What internal barriers keep people from accessing affordable Health Care? min [24:44] 
• How our Community views Health Care through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [36:45]

**The violation of Equal Rights is forcing practitioners to beg for permission from the government to care for patients who want the service.**

• How our Community views Healthcare through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [38:48]

**We value win-win solutions for patients and doctors.**

• How our Community views Healthcare through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [41:22]
• How our Community views Healthcare through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [42:50]
• How to think about Healthcare solutions through the lens of “What if government didn’t do that?” min [44:17] 

**Additional Resource**

• Pessimists Archive Podcast hosted by Jason Feifer
• EconTalk Podcast hosted by Russ Roberts with Dr. Keith Smith on Free Market Health Care
• Dr. Keith Smith’s blog at Surgery Center of Oklahoma
• The Free Market Medical Association
• From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890-1967 by David Beito

Show: 012 Top Priority Podcast | **Just in Time** COVID-19 & Criminal Justice Reform
Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy
Guests: Greg Glod, Criminal Justice Policy Fellow, Americans for Prosperity
Tyler Koteskey, Criminal Justice Reform Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity 

• What is happening in the Criminal Justice Reform arena during the COVID-19 pandemic? min [2:02] 
• What action is happening across the country in the Criminal Justice system during COVID-19? What’s going right and what is going wrong? min [4:33]
• What isn’t being done during COVID-19 that should be done? min [20:20]
• What is the issue with court proceedings? min [26:50]

Show: 011 Top Priority Podcast | The Prison and Reentry Reform Process // Criminal Justice Reform 

Date Recorded: June 11, 2020 

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Rachel Reese, CJR Program Officer, Stand Together 

Tyler Koteskey, CJR Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity 

• What is the Stand Together Community VISION for the prison and reentry process? min [2:08] 
• What is a technical violation v. a new crime in the reentry process? min [5:05] 
• Tough on crime v. smart on crime? min [7:06] 
• How do we apply the Stand Together Community VISION— to break barriers that stand in the way of people realizing their potential—to the prison and reentry process? min [10:26] 
• State run prisons v. private prisons. min [18:26] 
• min [10:26] 
• How our Community views the prison and reentry process through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [22:55]  
• How our Community views the prison and reentry process through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [31:05]  
• Empowering non-profit social change entrepreneurs through the Catalyst Program.  min [32:32] 
• How our Community views the prison and reentry process through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [36:30] 
• How our Community views the prison and reentry process through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [39:00] 

Additional Resources  

• Ep 002 Top Priority | Overcriminalization & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Larry Lawton on YouTube 
• The Stand Together Foundation Catalyst Partners: Hudson Link | Café Momentum | The Last Mile 
• The Stand Together Community 

Show: 010 Top Priority Podcast | Technology & Innovation Priority Initiative  

Date Recorded: December 17, 2019

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Billy Easley Senior Policy Analyst of Tech & Innovation Americans for Prosperity 

Jim Fellinger, Communications Lead on Tech & Innovation, Stand Together 

Show Notes

• Why is the Stand Together Community involved in Tech & Innovation? min [3:28]

**We recognize the historical trend that technology improves people’s lives and America has been at the forefront of that trend.**

• America continues to be the world leader in making people’s lives better by: min [7:41]

1. Driving public policy that encourages innovation

2. Fostering a cultural willingness to embrace new technology 

• Our Community wants to empower free people to innovate and create whatever they can dream up, which includes: min [11:49] 

1. Permissionless Innovation—free people are best positioned to drive solutions when barriers are removed

2. Regulatory Humility—the appreciation that free people innovate better than government 

• What are the external barriers we need to break in the realm of Tech & Innovation? min [13:08]
• How dangerous is the internal barrier of technophobia—fear of the unknown? min [17:10] 
• How our Community views Tech & Innovation through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [30:10]
• How our Community views Tech & Innovation through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [38:04]
• How our Community views Tech & Innovation through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [41:30]
• How our Community views Tech & Innovation through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [45:17]

**Additional Resource**

• Trust Ventures—Guiding startups through uncharted territory. The team at Trust Ventures helps tech startups overcome regulatory barriers. 
• Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case for Comprehensive Technological Freedom by Adam Thierer, Senior Research Fellow at Mercatus Center
• Check out PermissionlessInnovation.org
• Listen to the Pessimists Archive Podcast | A history of why we resist new things
• David French writes about his conversation with civil rights leader, Reverend Walter Fauntroy. where French asks Rev. Fauntroy how the the civil rights movement made such rapid gains in the early 1960s; Rev. Fauntroy’s response was, “Almighty God and the First Amendment."

Show: 009 Top Priority Podcast | The Sentencing Process & Criminal Justice Reform 

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Tyler Koteskey, Policy Analyst, Americans for Prosperity 

• What is the Stand Together Community VISION for the Sentencing Process? min [1:08] 
• What is role of the Key Institution of Government in making society safer?  min [5:24] 
• What are mandatory minimums? min [9:30] 
• How do we apply the Stand Together Community VISION— to break barriers that stand in the way of people realizing their potential—to barriers in the Sentencing process? min [14:35] 
• How our Community views Sentencing through the lens of the first mutually-reinforcing principle—Equal Rights. min [20:39]  
• How our Community views Sentencing through the lens of the second mutually-reinforcing principle—Mutual Benefit. min [26:55]  
• How our Community views Sentencing through the lens of the third mutually-reinforcing principle—Openness. min [28:50] 
• How our Community views Section 230 through the lens of the fourth mutually-reinforcing principle—Self-Actualization. min [31:55] 

Additional Resources  

• Larry Lawton on YouTube 
• Ep 006 Top Priority | The Trial Process & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 004 Top Priority | *Just in Time* Qualified Immunity & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 003 Top Priority | Policing & Criminal Justice Reform 
• Ep 002 Top Priority | Overcriminalization & Criminal Justice Reform 

Show: 008 Top Priority Podcast | Immigration Priority Initiative  

Date Recorded: January 28, 2020

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Jorge Lima, Senior Vice President of Policy, Americans for Prosperity

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What does our Community believe about Immigration? min [1:52]

We Stand Together to help every person rise—and we believe that every person has the ability to contribute.

• How are governmental restrictions on immigration barriers for Americans too? min [9:12]
• Our Community wants an immigration system that is open to those who want to contribute and add value to America and keeps out those who seek to do American harm. min [10:48]

The proper role of government is to protect the rights of the individual—thus the proper role of the government on the border is to protect America from those who seek to do us harm.

• Our Community advocates for a secure border and a streamlined system of vetting immigration because a convoluted, complicated legal immigration system, inadvertently incentivizes illegal immigration and diverts resources away from protecting the country from those who seek to do us harm. min [13:10] 
• How does our Community approach Immigration through the framework of our Vision—transforming society by breaking barriers? min [21:03]

**Our border shouldn’t be a barrier to human flourishing, Our border should be a barrier only to those who want to harm Americans. The boarder exists to provide protection and safety for Americans and an orderly place of entry into the American experiment.**

The Stand Together Community 

Show: 007 Top Priority Podcast | History of DACA

Date Recorded: January 28, 2020

Host: Duane Lester, Manager of Issue Education, Grassroots Leadership Academy 

Guests: Kevin Hernandez, Director of Policy, The Libre Initiative

Show Notes & Timestamps

• What is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)? min [1:08]
• How does DACA differ from the term DREAMers? min [2:25]
• What is the origin story of the term DREAMers? min [4:15]
• There is a misunderstanding that our Stand Together Community, as a whole, supports DACA outright, but what is the truth? min [7:27] 

DACA was never a permanent solution; it was an Executive Order, never passed into law, that leaves people in an unstable, precarious situation and does not give people a clear path to get right with the law.  

• What is the reason DACA recipients can’t “get in line” to become legal citizens? min [12:25] 
• What are the barriers that keep the US from achieving a permanent, legislative solution for individuals affected by DACA? min [20:04] 
• How is the Trump Administration addressing the issue of DACA? min [23:33]

**Additional Resources**

• Why 'Just Becoming a Citizen' isn't an Option for DREAMERS | DREAMERS Have No Pathway to Permanent Legal Status 
• DREAMERS are Helping America Overcome Coronavirus