August 14, 2025

Up is Down, Down is Up (Guest: Former Michigan GOP Chair Rusty Hills)

49 minutes

This week’s show is sponsored in part by

EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research

MIRS News

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This week marks the 90th anniversary of FDR signing the Social Security Act. In the background, #10 is Michigan Representative John Dingell Sr., a key force in enactment of Social Security. His legacy continued years later through his son, Representative John Dingell Jr., who worked tirelessly to enact Medicare and Medicaid.

On the podcast this week…

Donald Trump’s drive to dictatorship continued in a week where he

Appointed himself the overlord of Washington D.C., inventing a crime emergency despite FBI statistics showing violent crime plummeting in D.C. and the nation

Named an ideological zealot to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Told Goldman Sachs they should fire their top economist because their man didn’t agree with Trump’s economic policies.

Told anyone who would listen that the economy under Biden was a disaster, and now we’re the world’s economic hottie…while the economy actually begins to stall under the weight of his tariffs and budget policies.

Continued to falsely claim his “Big Beautiful Bill” ended taxation of Social Security benefits and overtime.

Ordered a rewrite of exhibits at the Smithsonian to ensure they align with Trump’s view of history.

Personally picked the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, then appointed himself as the host for the event.

Encouraged the war of words over rigging 2026 congressional elections continued to escalate, much to the relief of a person who is happy when people aren’t talking about his onetime BFF Jeffrey Epstein.

Also on our political radar this week:

Mayors across America are assessing the threats to their cities with Trump’s stated intention to impose L.A. and D.C. style federal occupations to deal with his imagined crime wave. The cities he named share three commonalities: they are run by Democrats, crime is going down in their cities, and the mayors are black.

Governor Whitmer is quietly continuing her shuttle diplomacy, telling Trump in private that his policies are a major threat to the American auto industry.

Ford Motor Company has gone all-in on EVs, announcing creation of a new electric vehicle production system and a new EV platform that will allow the automaker to more efficiently bring several lower-cost EVs to market.

And in another “you’ve gotta be kidding me” moment, Trump openly considers awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to “Big Balls” for the teenager’s courage in fighting two other teenagers who tried to hijack his car.

We look at the revolutionary remake of the Republican Party over the last two decades in this week’s guest segment. Jeff and Mark are joined by one of the best practitioners of the political arts, former Republican State Chairman Rusty Hills. Hills is a walking Wikipedia of Michigan Republican politics over the last half-century. He and Jeff Timmer worked side-by-side on multiple campaigns; Rusty and Mark were friendly rivals during his two terms as chair of the Michigan Republican Party. He was twice elected unanimously to serve in that job, spending every day trying to make Mark’s life as Democratic Party chair miserable! Before that, Rusty served ten years as one of Governor John Engler’s chief lieutenants following Engler’s electoral ouster of two-term incumbent James Blanchard in November 1990.

Hills now is a teaching professor in public policy at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy of the University of Michigan, and serves as Chancellor and Founder of Holy Spirits Institute, a non-profit educational venture. His goal is to establish a quality, four-year liberal arts Catholic college, located in the Greater Lansing area.

AnnTelnaes.com

This episode is sponsored in part by

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EPIC ▪ MRA

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• Public Opinion Surveys

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• On-Line and Automated Surveys

• Focus Group Research

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• Political Campaigns & Consulting

• Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research

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