You Don't Have to Yell

As America's two political parties have grown further apart ideologically, House moderates - members most likely to cross party lines - have become an endangered species.

In this episode, Dan explores the root causes behind their disappearance and the reforms that can bring them back.

You can find a full write-up here: https://middleweightpolitics.substack.com/publish

Here are two links to reform organizations referenced in this episode:

- The Institute for Political Innovation, which promotes final-five voting: https://political-innovation.org/

- Rank the Vote, which promotes ranked-choice voting: www.rankthevote.us

Josh Lewis was a longtime conservative who began to question the GOP after their embrace of Trump and his brand of populist nationalism. In an attempt to find a solution, Josh studied conservative thinkers going back decades and began Saving Elephants, a blog and podcast dedicated to defining the conservative movement for the next generation.

Josh talks about his journey and the difficulty of balancing restraint in government with the need for action.

Josh's blog and podcast can be found at www.savingelephantsblog.com

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments challenging Section 230, which gives tech companies immunity from content posted on their platforms. At the core of the debate is whether the government should take a more active role in policing how tech platforms moderate content.

In the 1920s, America was in the midst of a similar debate as the radio gained rapid adoption and gave Americans access to an unprecedented variety of information over the airwaves.

In this episode, Paul Matzko, historian and research fellow at the Cato Institute discusses the parallels between the current debate over tech regulation and attempts to regulate content over the radio, and how government oversight often led to content moderation that, at best, amplified the prejudices of those in power and, at worst, was used for outright political gain.

Matzko's book, Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Radio-Right-Broadcasters-Government-Conservative/dp/0190073225

You can find Matzko on Twitter @PMatzko

Or on TikTok by searching him by name (he's the only Paul Matzko there).

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In the 19th century, Great Britain found itself saddled with debt after funding the Napoleonic Wars in continental Europe. In this episode, Ben Studebaker and Dan revisit how austerity measures taken by the British government ultimately led to its decline as a world power, how falling into the trap of "sensible spending" often forgoes investments for the future, and how the United States could fall into the same trap.

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Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced the federal government would hit the debt ceiling limit sooner than expected, and "extraordinary measures" would need to be taken to keep the government functioning.

In this episode, Marc Goldwein of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget discusses how a lack of congressional oversight has led to unchecked spending, the financial crisis that would follow a default, and the slow-motion catastrophe that will come if we don't tackle the issue of deficit spending now.

You can reach Marc on Twitter @MarcGoldwein

You can play God and try to fix the debt yourself here https://www.crfb.org/debtfixer

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CORRECTION: If you happened to download this episode and find the prior week's episode instead, apologies. This is the correct file.

Nathan Lockwood of Rank the Vote discusses his journey from volunteer to Executive Director of a nationwide grassroots organization promoting ranked-choice voting nationwide and the growing momentum the electoral reform movement has seen in recent years.

You can learn more about Rank the Vote at www.rankthevote.us

For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's email list at www.ydhty.com

Nathan Lockwood of Rank the Vote discusses his journey from volunteer to Executive Director of a nationwide grassroots organization promoting ranked-choice voting nationwide and the growing momentum the electoral reform movement has seen in recent years.

You can learn more about Rank the Vote at www.rankthevote.us

For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's email list at www.ydhty.com

Gordon Hanson of the Harvard Kennedy School discusses how increasing the number of work visas issued for skilled and unskilled labor could help curb the short-term problem of inflation while ensuring the US economy remains competitive over the long-term.

America Needs More Immigration to Defeat Inflation, an article Gordon co-authored with Matthew J. Slaughter of Dartmouth, can be found here: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/america-needs-more-immigration-defeat-inflation

For additional commentary on this episode and other issues of the day, sign up for YDHTY's email newsletter here: www.ydhty.com/news

With Kevin McCarthy's victory as Speaker of the House secured after 15 tries and a series of concessions, Data Mike joins Dan to discuss the implications this could have on regulation and the global economy as we continue to grapple with the nation's debt.

Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, a party once based on free markets and multilateralism pivoted to a more nationalistic approach to immigration, trade, and military alliances. In this episode, Leonie Huddy discusses how - despite the fact nationalist sentiment has declined in the US over the last 20 years - a mix of political opportunism and economic conditions have led to the adoption of nationalist policies by the GOP.

Leonie's paper, The Rise of Populism in the USA: Nationalism, race, and American Party Politics,  can be found here: https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/you.stonybrook.edu/dist/f/1052/files/2021/05/Huddy-and-Del-Ponte-The-rise-of-populism.pdf

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