Putting Pundits in Context & Learning From Labour’s Loss

9 May 2016 – This week on Hopping Mad we had two guests for an extended interview which we dubbed our Pundit Primer. Greg Dworkin (DemFromCT at dKos and Twitter) and Driftglass ( his own blog and Mr_Electrico on Twitter). Greg starts most weekday mornings on the popular Netroots Radio show and podcast, Kagro in the Morning with David Waldman. Driftglass joins Bluegal on the podcast The Professional Left, which also airs on Netroots Radio. These are both shows I can honestly say I never miss and I encourage you to give them a listen if you have not done so in the past. Both Greg and Driftglass are long-time pundit watchers and they both put various pundits into context and make us laugh. Just perfect.

[Note: at the bottom of this blog post we have included some links Greg sent us which evidence the work of some of those pundits we discuss.]

Will took a look at the Scottish election results which show what might happen to the Democratic Party if we decide to slide to the right. Scottish Labour is in trouble because they aren’t fighting for the things the Scottish people actually care about. Scotland was once a country run by Labour with its largest city, Glasgow, called the “Citadel of Socialism” by pundits. But the red and gold “Vote Labour” signs have been replaced with the SNP’s black on yellow Clootie Dumpling symbol. Glasgow’s constituencies are held almost entirely by the SNP. Labour has fallen into third place as the battle in Scotland becomes one between the SNP and the Tories.

Meanwhile, the SNP won a historic third term as the government of Scotland but lost their overall majority despite their vote share increasing. That’s because the D’hondt method of vote counting is intentionally designed to prevent any one party from having an overall majority. However, the SNP were also the victims of inflated expectations and that’s where another lesson applies to our own country. The Democratic Party looks as if it will sail to victory in November. But can similar inflated expectations hurt us here?

Carrots! – Arliss

Pundit Links:

William Spriggs, Scots & Saudis

2 May 2016 – Even more than in the past there is this nexus between the progressive movement and the labor movement in the US. This week we were joined for the interview by the Chief Economist of the AFL-CIO, the deeply knowledgable Dr. William Spriggs. Dr. Spriggs kindly gave us an unusually long and detailed interview and we highly recommend visiting some of the pages, to which I refer during our talk. They are on the excellent website of the AFL-CIO here, here, here and here.

At the top of the show Will fills us in on what is going on with the protestors who have just taken the Iraqi Parliament. Later in the show he gives us the promised update on the Scottish elections which will take place on 5 May.

I start out on the newly released anti-austerity budget which has just been announced by the Trudeau government in Canada. I come back a bit later to give a lot of detail about the very aggressive Vision 2030 economic plan aimed at weaning Saudi Arabia off of its dependence on oil. Headed by favorite son Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MbS as he is called in Saudi), the plan is interesting and hopeful but will have to overcome significant resistance from Wahhabi fundamentalists in order to succeed. We’ll see….

I also learned that Netroots Radio has moved all of the old shows to which we had links from this site. Of course, all those links are now dead. I’ll have to figure out where they went and fix that. On a more cheerful note, the archive section for Hopping Mad has been updated and an index has been added making it easier to find specific subject – Carrots! Arliss

Download here.

WOW! Frances Coppola on Brexit

14 March 2016 – I follow many media sources on economics but none more closely than I do Frances Coppola. Frances’ insight on banking fraud, regulation and on the Greek crisis has contributed significantly to my thinking on these subjects. Having her on the show to talk about Brexit is especially exciting for me and I know you will be bowled over by her as well. Her blog, Coppola Comment and other writings, at The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes and her appearances on the BBC provide an accessible clarity rare among financial industry wonks.

Will is breaking news today on the Agent Orange crisis on the San Carlos Apache reservation lands in Arizona. The Environmental Protection Agency is apparently stepping up to finally (thirty years after the fact) mitigate extreme adverse impact. At the top of the show Will talks about working to focus on the big issues, the real issues in the campaign and not getting lost in the weeds of a single comment.

I finish my financial instrument backgrounders by talking about mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. Whew! I also update on the Finnish economy which, sadly, is not being held aloft by Angry Birds. Is the Finnish economy “Finnished?”

Once again, our interstitial music is by the wonderful Irish American band, Bua. Buy their album. You won’t be sorry. – Carrots! Arliss

Download MP3

Charles Gaba & Elections!

29 February 2016 – This week, we talked Iranian, Irish, and Scottish elections. I discussed Labour’s demise in Scotland, and talked about how they’ve never recovered from the death of Donald Dewar. It looks as if Labour is heading for yet another defeat in the upcoming Holyrood elections.

Arliss went over some banking terms (I know! What could possibly be more exciting?) because the jargon of the financial industry is a language of obfuscation. In order for us to understand what the heck these people are talking about, we need to learn what is essentially a separate language. That’s by design. If nobody can understand the words Banksters use to describe what they’re doing, then nobody can legislate against them. This is the first of a multi-part series which will get deeply into the weeds of banking reform.

Following that, we had a fantastic conversation with Charles Gaba (aka Brainwrap) of acasignups.net, who talked about the massive entity that is the US healthcare system and some of the options available for healthcare reform. He explained to us how even minor changes in theory become sweeping changes in practice, and we discussed in detail how Marco Rubio and the GOP killed even the modest Co-Op non-profit options that we sought to create when the Public Option was blocked.

Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time!

–Will

Download Here

2016 Politics with Jesse LaGreca

8 February 2016 – I love political detail. The nitty gritty, pixel level parts that combine to render something one can only see fully by stepping back. Jesse LaGreca (@JesseLaGreca on Twitter and MinistryOfTruth on Daily Kos) gave us some excellent, granular information on the seats most likely to help Democrats to flip the Senate. He also got into gerrymandering, the GOP Presidential nominees and why running away from Obama and the word “liberal” doesn’t fly with the Democratic Party base.

Will reminded us that Trayvon Martin would have turned 21 this week. Will also gave a nod to the Sanders campaign for policing their Reddit and banning attacks on Hillary. Will then goes on to compare the Scottish YES campaign to the current Sanders campaign. (“You say you want a revolution….”)

I start out the show with an update on the rapid changes coming for the Iranian economy and the real challenges faced by Iranian banks. Later in the show I try to answer listener Peter’s questions about how to talk about deficits and taxes.

We love hearing from you here and via Twitter @IMHoppingMad. You can always catch our podcasts on Stitcher and iTunes or download there here. – Carrots! Arliss

[Note: if you are interested in the behind the lettuce leaf scoop about why we have not been on the air consistently since mid-December, check out the previous blog post. We should be much more steady for the foreseeable future.]

Download Here.

ISIS, Taxes & Strategy

23 November 2015 – The news just doesn’t ever seem to get any easier to watch, does it? With the horror of terrorism and the insanity of our nation quaking in fear at the prospect of extending our hearts to the very people who have fled the terrorists we so despise, it has been a long week. So much for that whole “…home of the brave…” thing, right! Maybe it’s just me but I do find it helps me to be able to cope when I can put it all into political, historical, economic and religious context. Middle East expert Landon Shroder (@LandonShroder on Twitter) is back again this week to help us with that. The on-air interview is just the beginning. There is more than an hour of additional insight in the Extra Mad (extended) podcast version. Having lived in Iraq for a number of years, Landon has lived with this war and his personal experience and expertise is exceptional.

This week, as promised, I am talking about taxes – how they work, what they can do and what they really, truly, factually do not do. I should provide a warning however. If you are into drinking games, please do not take a drink every time I say “drive” or some version thereof. I’ve had alcohol poisoning and the combination of the hospital bill and embarrassment are absolutely not worth it.

This week Will talked about how our enemies strategize to exploit our weaknesses and failures to hurt us. He began by highlighting the history of the British Empire’s maneuvering over slavery, first banning it, then later providing the Confederacy with warships. Will evidenced this as an example of long-game diplomacy. Then he compared that to how DAESH/ISIS/ISIL is doing the same thing when it comes to exploiting the poverty and racism which have harmed working class Muslims in France for decades.

At the top of the show I touch on the recently released Global Terrorism Index and Will covers the latest from…wait for it…Scotland. I know. Just when you thought you were out he pulled you back in – or something like that. (LOL.) We all know that Will’s heart is in Scotland and he watches developments there very closely but, frankly, the politics in Scotland and the UK really have been fascinating, especially these past two years, and I’m glad to have Will to keep me up to date on all the goings-on.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday we will not be recording a show next week. We will be back bright eyed and fluffy tailed on Monday, 7 December. Carrots & Yams! – Arliss