InfluenceWatch Podcast

As the nation awaits the final results in a few dozen House races, the subject of gerrymandering has once again reared its head. This little understood – and often misunderstood – process of drawing congressional maps has been a subject of discussion in state legislatures and activist enclaves since the practice began in the early 1800s. Both right and left routinely accuse each other of manipulating the process even while both sides openly try to make it work in their interest. Now, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a dispute in Louisiana over the question of racial gerrymandering and a citizen-led gerrymandering proposal fails in Ohio, the question of gerrymandering is once again in the news. Here to shed light on this most confusing American political process – or tactic, depending on your perspective -- are my colleagues Mike Watson and Ken Braun.Links: Supreme Court takes up Louisiana racial gerrymandering disputeThe Myth of Non-Partisan Districts: An Experiment in Redistricting ReformIssue 1 fails big in Ohio despite massive money advantageMichigan’s Racist Redistricting “Reform”Chesapeake Bay BridgeFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As political parties, candidates, and the increasingly relevant party-aligned but technically independent activist groups that have come to dominate the post-McCain-Feingold world work to draw Americans out to the polls, new innovations have raised the hackles of observers and left citizens asking, “Can they actually do that?” Joining us to make sense of some of the more prominent innovations is Brad Smith, former Chair of the Federal Election Commission, professor of law at Ohio’s Capital University, and chairman of the Institute for Free Speech.Links: Institute for Free SpeechThe new dark money: How influencers get paid big bucks to court your voteElon Musk case over $1 million voter giveaway moved to federal courtFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Will the 2024 election be administered more effectively and more fairly than the 2020 election? There’s reason to believe in many states that it might be, and advocates have made election integrity—making it easy for citizens to vote and hard for politicians to cheat—a key focus of their efforts. Joining us to discuss efforts to protect election integrity in the upcoming and in future elections is Fred Lucas, a reporter for the Daily Signal.Links: Election Integrity Wins: SAVE ActElection Integrity Wins: 2024 vs. 2020 ElectionsElection Integrity Wins: Noncitizen VotingElection Integrity Wins: Winning in CourtElection Integrity Wins: Texas vs. Big TechFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

This week marked the first anniversary of the October 7th, 2023 attacks against Israel by Iranian-backed terrorist groups, most prominently Hamas. Unfortunately, in addition to solemn remembrance, the anniversary was marked by more demonstrations by the activists some might call Hamas-glampers who have come to support irredentist Palestinian nationalism. Our colleague Ryan Mauro, an expert on political extremism, has released a report detailing the pro-terrorist connections and allegiances of over 150 of the groups upholding these demonstrations, and he joins us today to discuss his findings. Link: Marching Toward Violence: The Domestic Anti-Israeli Protest MovementFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

As the country moves through a contentious election season, where the state of the economy and worries over inflation have been a major talking point, a new economic hazard has appeared on the horizon threatening to hammer the American consumer just as Hurricane Helene threatened – and then did – hammer the Southeast: the International Longshoreman Association, a union of dockworkers who manage the transport, loading, unloading, and all other things associated with shipping containers at the nation’s ports, threatened – and then did – go on strike over wages and automation of their jobs. Here to explain what’s happening, what it could mean for the American consumer right before a busy holiday shopping season, and if any deal or government action may be forthcoming are my colleague and usual podcast host Mike Watson, who also happens to be our labor expert, and Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute here in Washington, DC specializing in labor and employment issues. Links: Sean Higginshttps://cei.org/blog/white-house-has-serval-option-in-dockworkers-strike-none-of-them-good/The real issue in the port strike: AutomationPRO Act Just Gives Unions More PowerFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Anybody who has scoffed at the proliferation of t-shirts bearing the image of Che Guevara, the famous associate of Fidel Castro who among other things oversaw purges of political opponents following Castro’s seizure of power, on college campuses knows that sectors of “elite” American society have an unhealthy appreciation for the repressive Communist dictatorship that has ruled Cuba since 1959. But for the subjects of today’s program, the Venceremos Brigades, backed by infrastructure support from the radical-left wing of Big Philanthropy, their unhealthy appreciation becomes outright support, as members travel to the Communist-ruled island to offer labor in exchange for ideological formation. Joining me to discuss the Venceremos Brigades’ history, their influence, and what they tell us about America’s radical left are my colleagues Robert Stilson and Ken Braun.Links: Venceremos BrigadeThe Venceremos BrigadeThe People’s ForumA Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech MogulFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

Immigration policy is an absolute mess—such a mess, that it can be hard for non-specialists to know even what is going on. And that’s where I for one sit regarding the so-called “CHNV parole” program, a Biden administration initiative to admit half a million or so people from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua on so-called “parole authority” to temporary informal legal status in the United States. Is this legal? Are there appropriate security protections? Which groups support this program? What, in fact, is going on? We invite Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s border security and immigration center, to help get to the bottom of these questions.Links: Biden’s Precarious Parole Programs for Illegal Immigrants: The BorderLineTo Stop Administrative Abuse, Congress Must Narrow Scope of Immigration ParoleChairman Green on DHS Temporarily Halting Unlawful CHNV Mass-Parole Program: “Vindicates Every Warning We Have Issued”Nearly 530,000 migrants came to US 'legally,' paroled into US under controversial Biden program: CBPCommentary Fraud Permeates Biden-Harris’ Illegal Alien ‘Sponsorship’ Program: The BorderLineFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

We’ve covered “megaphone philanthropy”—the emphasis some left-wing activist groups and their multi-million or even billion-dollar funders place on street-protest imagery, often featuring people yelling through bullhorns—and the Ford Foundation, one of the Left’s multiple billion-dollar funders. Our colleague Ken Braun joins us today to link them, as he has just concluded a deep investigation of the Ford Foundation’s grantmaking. Links:Hoovering Up Henry Money: Free Money Versus Free EnterpriseHoovering Up Henry Money: Revolutions and BullhornsHoovering Up Henry Money: Crime and DemocracyHoovering Up Henry Money: Shaping the NewsHow the Ford Foundation Changed Entertainment: The Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation’s Ugly, Warped View of America: Megaphones and Militancyhttps://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/ford-foundation/Follow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

The Internal Revenue Service rule regarding charities in voter registration is explicit: “voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.” Now questions are being raised about whether the Voter Participation Center, a charitable organization that is part of the left’s “voting machine,” is giving “evidence of bias” after the Washington Free Beacon revealed through Meta Platforms’ advertising disclosure tools that VPC was excluding fans of “NASCAR, golf, Jeeps, or other interests and hobbies typically associated with Republican men” from seeing its voter-registration advertisements. Here to discuss this and other stories from the world of dubiously nonpartisan nonpartisan civic engagement are CRC president Scott Walter and Parker Thayer, author of CRC’s special report on “How Charities Secretly Help Win Elections.”Links: Do You Like NASCAR? This 'Non-partisan' Voter Registration Group Doesn’t Want To Help YouVoter Participation Center (VPC)How Charities Secretly Help Win ElectionsThe Voter Participation Center: A Tax-Exempt Turnout Machine for DemocratsFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter

BlackRock, Inc., a multinational investment company and one of the world’s largest asset managers with a $10 trillion portfolio, has been deeply involved in pushing the politically aligned environmental, social, and governance – or ESG – agenda for the last several years. Now secretaries of state in Mississippi and Indiana have hit the company with summary cease-and-desist orders accusing them of fraud for making “false and misleading statements” to investors related to their ESG push. Joining us today to explain what BlackRock’s been up to and what states can do to push back is Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales.Links: Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales Reports Cease & Desist Order Issued Against BlackRock for Alleged Securities Fraud Related to ESG Investment StrategyBlackRock: Nonprofit Allies“Progressive” ESG Shareholder Activism: Understanding ESG ActivismFollow us on our socials: Twitter: @capitalresearchInstagram: @capitalresearchcenterFacebook: www.facebook.com/capitalresearchcenterYouTube: @capitalresearchcenter