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Abbott’s Re-Open Plan , Politico’s Shame, Bernie Team Still Bitter

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Listen to “Abbott’s Re-Open Plan , Politico’s Shame, Bernie Team Still Bitter” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they walk through the Texas plan to re-open the economy that’s drawing rave reviews, but they also discuss whether re-opening should be statewide policy or based on local conditions and why Democratic governors are getting far less grief for re-opening than Republicans. They also walk through Politico’s cringe-inducing apology on how badly it mangled its story on debts President Trump allegedly owed to China. And they react to the fury of the Bernie Sanders campaign over New York’s decision to cancel its presidential primary.  Is this a case of Sanders focusing on politics over the health crisis in New York or is it imperative for states to find ways to hold elections regardless of the conditions?

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What Coronavirus Modeling Tells Us About the Climate Debate

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Listen to “What Coronavirus Modeling Tells Us About the Climate Debate” on Spreaker.

Many different models of coronavirus infections and deaths are constantly in the news, and one promiment voice in the debate says the speed with which the models change gives us a very good look at the flaws in climate modeling and the “extreme” solutions being offered by advocates of the Green New Deal and other proposals.

Christopher C. Horner served on President Trump’s landing team at the Environmental Protection Agency during the presidential transition in late 2016 and early 2017.  Hormer also spent 20 years at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and is now an attorney and board member at Government Accountability and Oversight.

Horner says models have two areas ripe for intentional or unintentional manipulation – the assumptions built into the models and the quality of the data fed into them.

“If you want carbon dioxide to be a control knob, then you build that into your model.  That’s an assumption.  And you can have other assumptions about the impact of clouds as you believe it to be or sun.

“Even the UN says, ‘Well, we don’t quite know the sun’s impact on climate.’  So, maybe come back to me when you do.  That seems like a big one,” said Horner.

Horner says the rapidly fluctuating coronavirus infection and death projections even while consistently assuming social distancing and other mitigation efforts shows climate models are anything but predictive for decades or centuries from now.

In this podcast interview with Radio America’s Greg Corombos, Horner explains how the coronavirus response is a red flag for those considering dramatic economic action on the climate but he also explains how the two issues are different in very significant ways – and that climate models even admit their sweeping proposals wouldn’t accomplish anything.

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Kurtz vs. TV Doctors, Siding with China on Speech? Pelosi’s Bizarre Lie

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Listen to “Kurtz vs. TV Doctors, Siding with China on Speech? Pelosi’s Bizarre Lie” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they examine media critic Howard Kurtz’s call for TV hosts to rely on infectious disease experts to assess the coronavirus instead of more familiar faces. They also hammer “The Atlantic” and two law professors for concluding that China’s crackdown on internet speech is a better way to go than America’s default towards free speech. And they unload on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for lying about opposing Trump’s China travel ban and for suggesting Trump was wrong even to allow American citizens and green card holders to return from China.

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Promising COVID Drug Flops, Looming Meat Problem, Trump & Disinfectants

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Listen to “Promising COVID Drug Flops, Looming Meat Problem, Trump & Disinfectants” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg for the Friday martinis! After a quick discussion on Michigan Democrats censuring one of their state representatives who recovered from COVID and thanked President Trump for mentioning hydroxychloroquine, they turn to three bad martinis. First, they’re bummed to hear Chinese trials of remdesivir were apparently a bust. They also grimace as the virus is significantly limiting production at meat processing plants. And they hammer Trump and the media over Thursday’s disinfectant dust-up.

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What Will Be the Economic Toll from COVID-19?

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Listen to “What Will Be the Economic Toll from COVID-19?” on Spreaker.

On Thursday, the Department of Labor reported more than 4.4 million jobs lost in the past week.  Over the past five weeks, 26.4 million people have filed first-time jobless claims.

What are the short-term and long-term economic impacts of this hemorrhaging of jobs, productivity, and revenue?  How much has the Paycheck Protection Program helped? And how aggressively can our economy re-engage when we’re already hearing some schools may not be opening in the fall and the Centers for Disease Control believes the coronavirus could be worse in the coming winter than it is now?

Brian Wesbury is chief economist at First Trust Advisors in Wheaton, Illinois, and formerly served as chief economist for the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.  He walks us through these difficult questions, explains the indicators for and against a rise in inflation, and sizes up the recent volatility in the oil markets.

Don’t miss this critical conversation on the state of our economy.

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American Heroes, 26 Million Jobs Lost, Ugly Virus Models, Draft Day

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Listen to “American Heroes, 26 Million Jobs Lost, Ugly Virus Models, Draft Day” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they salute the stunning dedication of employees at a polypropylene plant in Pennsylvania. They’re also staggered by more than 26 million jobs lost and discuss how to re-engage the economy responsibly. And they assess data suggesting there were tens of thousands of coronavirus cases in American cities by March 1. Finally, they forecast tonight’s NFL Draft and Greg has fun imagining how National Review drafted Jim Geraghty back in the day.

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Chang Talks Korean Kim Confusion, Chinese Coronavirus Tactics

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Listen to “Chang Talks Korean Kim Confusion, Chinese Coronavirus Tactics” on Spreaker.

Earlier this week, CNN and NBC News both reported that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un was in grave condition and possibly even brain dead.  That reporting was soon denied by China and South Korea and the world largely accepted that this was a false alarm.

China and North Korea expert Gordon G. Chang is not so sure.  In a conversation with Radio America’s Greg Corombos, Chang says Kim’s absence at major events last week raises serious red flags and explains why it might take awhile before North Korea would ever confirm Kim’s death or incapacitation.

China’s veracity is clearly under a lot of scrutiny these days, but most foreign policy experts see no reason to doubt the South Korean denials of Kim’s dire health.  Chang disagrees and tells us why South Korea’s aggressive public relations efforts actually raise more doubts in his mind.

Chang and Corombos then discuss what succession looks like in North Korea, how the U.S. would approach a change at the head of a nuclear nation and more.  They also discuss ways China is seeking to exploit the worldwide concerns over the coronavirus.

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More Small Biz Relief, Freedom to Go Outside? Earlier Virus Deaths

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Listen to “More Small Biz Relief, Freedom to Go Outside? Earlier Virus Deaths” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome more help from Congress to help small businesses stay afloat. They also shudder at a new poll showing 75 percent of seniors don’t even want non-essential workers to be allowed outside.  And they discuss the significance of learning coronavirus was here and killing people earlier than we thought.

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AOC’s Awful Oil Response, Kim Dead & Not Dead, Media Cheerleading for Abrams

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Listen to “AOC’s Awful Oil Response, Kim Dead & Not Dead, Media Cheerleading for Abrams” on Spreaker.

Join Jim and Greg as they slam AOC’s economic lunacy and callously partisan response to Monday’s plummeting oil futures. They also shake their heads as CNN says Kim Jong Un is in grave condition and NBC has him brain dead, while Reuters has him fine just hours later. And they gag as Gayle King of CBS gushes that “everyone know” Stacey Abrams is “extremely qualified” to be Joe Biden’s running mate.

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Supremes Demand Unanimous Verdicts for Convictions

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Listen to “Supremes Demand Unanimous Verdicts for Convictions” on Spreaker.

The U.S. Supreme Court Monday ruled that criminal jury verdicts must be unanimous to result in convictions, a decision addressing laws in Oregon and Louisiana that allowed convictions even with two jurors voting to acquit.

“Wherever we might look to determine what the term ‘trial by an impartial jury trial’ meant at the time of the Sixth Amendment’s adoption—whether it’s the common law, state practices in the founding era, or opinions and treatises written soon afterward—the answer is unmistakable,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in an opinion. “A jury must reach a unanimous verdict in order to convict.”

So how did Louisiana and Oregon wind up with laws not requiring unanimous verdicts for convictions and why did three justices rule in favor of the existing laws?

We ask Andrew C. McCarthy, former chief assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. We also discuss the push to release prisoners in many parts of the country to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and the inexplicable surprise by some local officials when the freed inmates commit more crimes.

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