Join Jim and Greg as they cheer the World Athletics Council for declaring that only biological women will be eligible for the Olympics and other elite track and field events. They also recoil at a new poll showing a sharp decline in Americans greatly valuing things like patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement. Finally, they further expose the grifting frauds who claim to think President Trump is an existential threat to democracy itself but are doing everything they can to bury Ron DeSantis and make Trump the GOP nominee.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome a new Associated Press poll showing Americans can clearly see President Biden’s weak performance on the economy and his overall job performance. They also groan as the CEO of TikTok tries to dodge questions about whether the app is spying on users and TikTok’s connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Plus, they hammer the Democrats for glibly opposing the effort to crack down on TikTok after agreeing to ban it on government devices last year. Finally, they break down Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s strategy of cozying up to the right in advance of a likely 2024 re-election bid.

Ricochet Editor-in-Chief Jon Gabriel is in for Jim today. Jon and Greg think Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is playing it smart by laughing off the regular insults from Donald Trump instead of trying to respond in kind. They also groan as a police detective who was on scene at last year’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, says law enforcement took more than an hour to confront the shooter in part because he had a more powerful weapon than that first thought. Finally, they walk through the absurd reparations proposals under serious consideration by officials in San Francisco.

Joe Selvaggi talks with financial market and monetary policy expert Dr. Norbert J. Michel about the causes for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and what its demise portends for depositors, the banking sector, and the regulatory regime that governs it.

Guest:

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome the House GOP effort to reinvigorate the American energy sector. But they know getting it into law is going to be very difficult. They also react to the Politico report alleging Marianne Williamson is a terror as a boss and routinely flew off the handle and berated staff during her 2020 campaign. Does this matter much in a Democratic primary that’s expected to be a blowout? And did this story arise organically or the Biden team decide to nuke Williamson before she even gets started? Finally, Jim explains how former Rep. Barney Frank would be the villain of the recent bank collapse scandal if he were a Republican. But he’s a Democrat so the media flogging will probably never come.

What Were We Thinking Allowing Government Workers to Unionize?

 

It’s not exactly breaking news that America’s public schools are failing academically.

There have been encouraging stories of charter schools and other schools of choice successfully raising achievement levels for underprivileged students previously deemed uneducable.

But our schools are still producing a generation of students lacking basic computational or literacy skills, much less an understanding of government, culture, or science. That is, unless you count gender ideology and slanted anti-American interpretations of history.

Member Post

 

The three failed banks, Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature, had weaknesses that made them especially vulnerable to failure in stressful economic times. Silvergate and Signature had large exposures to cryptocurrency lending and SVB had bought long-term Treasuries that were high-yielding just a year ago but have now become relatively low-yielding in the new inflationary […]

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Join Jim and Greg as they welcome stronger ties among the U.S., UK, and Australia, as the U.S. promises to deliver nuclear-powered submarines to the Aussies made with Rolls Royce engines from Great Britain. How much of a check might it be on Chinese ambitions in the region. They also recoil as Moody’s downgrades confidence in our banking system from “stable” to “negative” while the Democrats try to blame the SVB collapse on GOP policies with a very weak argument. Finally, they shake their heads as President Trump asserts that Florida was already great before Gov. Ron DeSantis took office. But it’s his praise of Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist that is raising the most eyebrows. We’ll examine the progress made by multiple Republican governors there and why DeSantis deserves plenty of credit for his time in office.

Joe Selvaggi talks with Pioneer Institute’s Senior Fellow in Economic Opportunity Eileen McAnneny about the contours of Governor Healey’s $55.5 billion budget and tax relief plan, and whether they serve to make Massachusetts more livable and economically competitive.

Guest:

Some Random Musings on a Bank Failure

 

I’m not an expert on banking but I came across an interesting post on Substack written by Marc Rubenstein.

The problem at Silicon Valley Bank is compounded by its relatively concentrated customer base. In its niche, its customers all know each other. And Silicon Valley Bank doesn’t have that many of them. As at the end of 2022, it had 37,466 deposit customers, each holding in excess of $250,000 per account. Great for referrals when business is booming, such concentration can magnify a feedback loop when conditions reverse.

Join Jim and Greg as they break down the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and how the financial institution bankrolling many of the nation’s top venture capital-backed firms went into crisis. They also throw a flag on President Biden’s contention that U.S. taxpayers will not be on the hook for bailing out the bank’s depositors. Finally, they shudder at the news of China brokering a restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Why is the restoring of relations a bad thing? In this case, there’s lots of reasons.

Member Post

 

Anybody else noticed that the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in the last couple of days?  This reminds me of past collapses in this country.  I think Biden’s changes are about to SHTF.  I think life is about to get interesting.  I suspect more bank and business failures and bunch of government bailouts. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-how-it-happened.html Preview Open

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You might need something stronger than a martini as Jim and Greg dig into three big stories today. First, they respond to the congressional testimony of former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, who said our top officials knew from the start that COVID likely came from a lab leak and then knowingly pushed a false narrative that the virus naturally occurred. And the maddening truth doesn’t stop there. Then they tackle the gut-wrenching testimony of a U.S. Marine Corps sniper stationed at Abbey Gate on the day of the terrorist attack during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews says he and others had the bomber spotted and were ready to take him out but they never had permission to fire. And his frustration grew even more when no one in our government wanted to hear his story. Finally, Jim dissects California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s condemnation of Walgreen’s for refusing to sell abortion-inducing drugs in states where the retailer might get sued. Jim explains how Newsom frequently ignores the most basic responsibilities of governing and how he tries to distract his constituents from his terrible record.

The immigration system in the United States is complex, to say the least. Visa categories for nearly every letter of the alphabet, exemptions, restrictions, rule changes with every new federal administration. We need more workers, innovators and entrepreneurs in an increasingly competitive world and amid an historic worker shortage and cash-strapped social safety systems due to a greying workforce. Does the United States’ immigration system work in its favor? For Erick Widman, immigration lawyer and founder of Passage Immigration Law in Portland, Oregon, it does not. 

Erick grew up in northern California and now lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and three kids. He attended UCLA and the University of California, Davis for law school. Prior to starting his own law practice in 2007, Erick was in-house counsel at Philips corporation in California for over three years where he handled various international and immigration legal issues. He spent a year teaching international law at the Budapest College of Economics and interned with a Superior Court judge. Erick has practiced law since 2004 and is a member of both the Oregon and California state bars. Because immigration law is a federal practice area, Erick is able to serve clients in any state in the U.S. and around the world. Erick is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

Join Jim and Greg as they serve up three crazy martinis! First, they note New York City Mayor Eric Adams demanding that people remove their masks before entering stores. It’s an effort to identify shoplifters and looters, which is good, but it wasn’t long ago that that you couldn’t do much of anything in the Big Apple unless you were masked up. They also shake their heads as China makes another overt threat towards Taiwan, mentioning a blacklist of Taiwanese figures to kill during the coming invasion. Finally, there’s less than thrilled that the Republican who lost the Pennsylvania governor’s race last year is thinking about running for U.S. Senate next year.

Joe Selvaggi talks with constitutional scholar Ilya Somin about the merits and likely success of the two Supreme Court cases Nebraska v. Biden and Department of Education v. Brown, which challenge the President’s constitutional right to cancel more than $400 billion in student debt.

Guest:

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision not to run for the GOP presidential nomination. They also cheer Lee Zeldin for imploring Republicans to go fight for every vote by going into every precinct (even the deep blue ones) and sharing conservative ideas on crime, education, economic growth and more. Finally, they enjoy watching Sen. Bernie Sanders sit dumbfounded as Bill Maher asks him to explain the difference between equality and equity. It’s a revealing moment because they are very different ideas that the left tries to use interchangeably to confuse people.

Join Jim and Greg as they get three or even four pieces of good news over President Biden deciding to sign legislation to reverse new, softer crime laws in Washington, D.C., if the Senate passes it. They also wince as Portland’s rampant looting problems force Nike to demand security from off-duty police officers and Walmart announces it is closing every store in the city. Finally, they get kick out of Sen. Joe Manchin trying to get back in the good graces of West Virginia voters by pretending he’s not sure if he would support President Biden for another term.

REPOSTED FROM OCTOBER: With the Supreme Court finally discussing President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, it’s a great time for anyone who missed it to check out our previous episode on the economics of student loan forgiveness!

Dr. Beth Akers, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in higher education finance, discusses the economics of student debt, and what the Biden relief plan will and will not achieve.