Beyond Politics

The Wikipedia entry for Ted Strickland notes that “As of 2023, he is the last Democrat to serve as Governor of Ohio.” But when Ohio voters soundly rejected a cynical Republican ballot initiative a few weeks ago, it made us wonder, is that about to change? What happened to this onetime bellwether state, and have Democrats begun to figure out how to win it back, and other states like it? So we thought we would ask him. Ted Strickland served in the US House of Representatives for 12 years and as the Governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. He’s also been president of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and he is an is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

Mike and I discuss the various labels you should be paying attention to in the stock market. For instance, a popular value index fund, the iShares S&P 500 Value ETF (ticker IVE) includes Microsoft which is typically a growth company. Here is where knowing the ingredients of the fund is crucial.

Two expert pollsters wanted to know what swing voters thought of the Republican candidates in the Presidential debate -- so they tested them with dials as they watched. The results should make the entire Republican Party nervous.

The first debate may be other Republican candidates' best chance to make up some ground on Donald Trump -- who isn't even showing up -- but it seems like the other candidates are going to defend him rather than try to beat him. Can that work? Or are these candidates just cementing his place as the eventual nominee?

As part of our financial life planning series, financial planner Mike Morton and Matt Robison explore why it is liberating to embrace the idea that individual lives may not hold significant meaning in the grand scheme of things. In fact, embracing that notion can help you do things that are more fulfilling, spend your time more wisely, and make better decisions.

What if the laws that allow billions of dollars of dark money to drive American politics are based on...a mistake? One of America’s most prominent legal scholars thinks that’s exactly what’s happened, and he’s going to give someone $50,000 to help him prove it. Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and the founder of Equal Citizens, an advocacy group whose mission is to fix democracy by establishing truly equal citizenship. On Labor Day, September 4, 2023, Equal Citizens will launch a video competition with (at least one) $50,000 prize for whoever can help clearly and concisely explain the legal argument for why SuperPACs can be regulated. To find out more about the contest and enter, go to the contest page: https://equalcitizens.us/crowdfund-video/ And to watch a longer explanation of Professor Lessig's argument, see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPTY327iRJA&feature=youtu.be

Even before he became NPR's Kabul-based reporter on the war in Afghanistan, Sean Carberry had traveled the globe telling the on-the-ground stories from conflict zones that shaped our understanding of the world. Now out with his new book "Passport Stamps: Searching the World for a War to Call Home," the current Managing Editor of National Defense Magazine shares stories and lessons learned from over a decade in some of the most difficult and dangerous places on Earth.

The fourth Trump indictment in Georgia is being driven by the RICO statute, which has serious implications for what Trump and his conspirators can be charged with and found guilty of. Also, why haven't Republicans found a political way out of their Trump mess, and have two conservative legal scholars found a constitutional way out for all of us?

So many myths and lies come out of political mouths these days (especially, let's face it, from the leader of a party whose name rhymes with "Bepublican") it's hard to keep track. Then, they get reported by willing journalists who act as stenographers. The result is a doom-scroll narrative that hurts Democrats' ability to win and Republicans who want to defeat Donald Trump. Veteran radio host Matt McNeil has Matt Robison on to talk about some of the biggest ones going right now, and how to debunk them. MORE MATT MCNEIL: https://www.am950radio.com/events/the-matt-mcneil-show/

***Corrected to remove radio ad at the beginning*** More and more, we see elected officials in the Republican Party ignoring courts, ignoring votes, and setting up self-reinforcing rules to get what they want -- which usually includes keeping themselves in power. So what do we do when a major political party simply ignores our system of law and government?