LOA-Today

Freedom News Hour - 04/24/14

Walt Thiessen and Bill Westmiller get into a spitting match over net neutrality, the hazards of computer bugs, and the motives of Supreme Court justices.

 

The Clive Bundy standoff in Nevada gets some scrutiny ("Mr. President: Waco II"), along with the USSC case on racial preferences. The co-hosts quibble over the details of Net Neutrality Rules proposed by the FCC.

 

NSA and CIA spying is still in the news, with evidence that housewives using Google do 30% better than the CIA when it comes to intelligence forecasts. Nothing new from Snowden, but his media handler, Glenn Greenwald, musters up the courage to actually visit New York City to receive his journalism award. A new FBI program to store millions of facial profiles from private and public cameras is a new, growing form of surveillance.

Freedom News Hour - 04/17/14

After the tax filing deadline (April 15th), Walt Thiessen and Bill Westmiller review news on tax policy, discuss legal challenges to non-profit rules, and new taxes built into ObamaCare.

 

Regulatory policy and procedures get some intense scrutiny, with a new record high of bureaucratic rules being issued in 2013. Bill and Walt discuss the fact that most laws (rules) are issued by bureaucrats, who have been delegated vague responsibilities by Congress, resulting in 79 thousand pages of new regulations (laws) each year.

 

White House talking points on the Affordable Care Act get scrutiny from the co-hosts, who review some of the provisions and likely consequences of the program. Bill dives into the numbers to explain why medical insurance rates will take a big hike in August, even though the government will be saving money by cutting reimbursements to physicians and hospitals.

Freedom News Hour - 04/10/14

Walt Thiessen and Bill Westmiller discuss early election  surveys, 
government audits reporting billions of "lost" dollars, how  corporations evade 
taxes by strictly following the law, and NSA  incompetence.

The hosts review new surveys indicating that 70% of voters  believe most 
politicians can be bought, using their power to benefit friends and  hurt 
enemies. Looking ahead to the 2016 Presidential race, its a contest between  
Hillary and Rand Paul. Bill suggests they simply cancel the primaries and start 
campaigning now.

Banks don't have enough money in their vaults to cover  their loan risks, 
so they'll have to find $68 billion to avoid being "to big to  fail." The FED 
is Yellen at them. Congress is worried about corporations who  have figured 
out how to legally avoid $2.1 trillion in taxes: they just leave  their 
profits overseas. 

NSA spying has transformed into active  propaganda on social networks, 
particularly in foreign countries. Hundreds of  Homeland Security staff spend 
their time on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube,  spreading false stories and 
deception. Just in case they're still reading  emails, former President Jimmy 
Carter has decided not to use email to talk with  foreign leaders: he writes 
letters and mails them.  

Freedom News Hour - 04/03/14

Walt Thiessen and Bill Westmiller discuss the "rigged" stock market of Flash Trading, the Ryan budget, pending NSA proposals and new revelations on surveillance and torture.

 

The hosts consider the impact and propriety of Flash Trading - computerized millisecond transactions - in the stock market. The continuing hazard of speculative 10-year federal "budgets" that have no meaning after an election.

 

Several different proposals for reform of the NSA domestic spying programs are reviewed, with little optimism about whether the surveillance will ever been constrained by the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. The Intelligence Budget and revelations about the hypocritical "cyberwarfare" against China are contrasted with the total ineffectiveness of the government's attempts to enhance "national security".