The Heartland POD
By Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker, Jess Piper, Sean Diller, Mid Map Media
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The Heartland POD | The Fragile Ego Of The Modern American White Dude & Missouri GOP's Attack On The Ballot Initiative
00:22:52
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Blog: https://rturner229.blogspot.com/2023/03/ben-baker-on-kzrg-its-tough-to-be-white.html Article 8, Sec. 2 MO Const: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=VIII++++2&bid=32009&constit=y “Ballot Candy” Summary of History https://ballotpedia.org/History_of_Initiative_%26_Referendum_in_Missouri |
Mar 21, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | March 20, 2023: The FTC cracking down on social media ads?; Marriane Williamson Is Back, And Yikes; It's The Economy, Stupid; Trump Indictment and our most interesting 2024 Mt. Rushmore of names
01:19:56
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Yeah yeah… Mo dem party has leadership again, Russ Carnahan elected chair, Yvonne Reeves probably not the favorite for progressives generally but hard to say not a legit name at a time when a brand name could be a very useful thing. True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One: Trump’s Pending Arrest, 2024 Impact, and Adam’s 2024 Mt. Rushmore Where Rachel Gets to go first
Last Call: Iraq War Invasion…20 Years On From Rachel: Bush broke the fucking world and is still an idiot. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bush-didnt-know-there-wer_n_26528 Once again, Democracy Now just crushes it with the coverage of the conflict. Excellent.
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/3/17/neta_crawford_iraq Fox News was the war’s most important mouthpiece; war on terror came at a time when the nascent network needed to galvanize Bush’s narrow support. |
Mar 20, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View | March 17, 2023: Heartland News and Views
00:18:37
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation”
HEADLINE 1: Kansas Special Education Held Hostage -
HEADLINE 2: Three Texas women are sued for wrongful death after allegedly helping friend obtain abortion medication - https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/10/texas-abortion-lawsuit/?utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_content=1678478308&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
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Mar 17, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | Close The Books, Open The Cheap Labor Market
00:26:53
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” Jess Piper dives into the troubling connection between states pushing voucher scams to defund public schools and their simultaneous push to roll back child labor laws. Notes From Jess, Further Reading *SHS rolling back child labor laws: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/10/1162531885/arkansas-child-labor-law-under-16-years-old-sarah-huckabee-sanders *DeVos and child labor: https://dianeravitch.net/2016/11/26/peter-greene-betsy-devos-and-the-value-of-child-labor/ *Acton Institute Blog: https://rlo.acton.org/archives/89837-bring-back-child-labor-work-is-a-gift-our-kids-can-handle.html *Parson pushed back school start date: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/in-bid-to-help-tourism-missouri-lawmakers-approve-later-school-start-date/article_05e2169b-3f52-53d6-b4f1-4346ac0425be.html
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Mar 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E44 - Moving On...
00:39:51
When do you stop throwing glasses of water on a burning house and find a new home? Nicholas (former science teacher, education outreach) is joined by longtime friend, Andrew, to discuss the choices we make based on the choices that are made for us. Moving on from the places that raised us may give us more than a vacation. As millennials move into late 30s and early 40s, the new mid-life crisis is very different from our previous generations. It may be that the advice that guided us may have already been for a world that would not exist. Balancing gratitude for our parents against the "cold feet" embedded in us to pursue our potential not dictated what we call "home." Source Article: NYT Opinion: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/14/opinion/middle-age-millennials.html |
Mar 15, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | A Deep Dive 2024 Primer! plus the "Yeah...yeah!" of the week; Tucker Spit Shines Hawley; Idaho "Pro-Life" Zealots Hate Needle Point; "Rick" DeSantis Trying To Sell Florida For All
01:29:12
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Yeah…Yeah…Yeah… Adam: I’m nominating the Missouri Senate Dems for using an extreme minority of seats to bully the fractured GOP to leave for spring break early Rachel: Rep. Cori Bush: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/cori-bush-transportation/ Sean: True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One
2024 – Blowout or Close? |
Mar 14, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Heartland POD | Adam's Open and Catching Up
00:47:47
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” |
Mar 13, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, March 10, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:16:17
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND
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Mar 10, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | Understanding Collective Action & The Value Of Labor Unions
00:31:55
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” Host, Jess Piper, is joined for a discussion Glenn Kage, a true expert in union history. |
Mar 09, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country Politics - March 8, 2023 - Government and Elections News from Colorado, Arizona and the West
00:12:21
Arizona AG Kris Mayes refocuses Election Integrity Unit on protecting election officials and voting rights | CO Gov. Jared Polis and Democrats introduce bills to lower healthcare costs | Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples commission sets field hearings for AZ, CA, MT, NM | Department of Defense provides process for service members to obtain abortions when stationed in states where abortion is banned | Ani DiFranco does a western swing with shows in CO, MT, and ID. Song plays Intro by host Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Support this show and all the work in the Heartland POD universe by going to heartlandpod.com and clicking the link for Patreon, or go to Patreon.com/HeartlandPod to sign up. Membership starts at $1/month, with even more extra shows and special access at the higher levels. No matter the level you choose, your membership helps us create these independent shows as we work together to change the conversation. Alright! Let’s get into it: ARIZONA MIRROR: ARIZONA AG INVESTIGATES FAKE ELECTORS Kris Mayes is investigating Trump’s ‘fake electors,’ focusing on threats to election workers BY: JEROD MACDONALD-EVOY - MARCH 3, 2023 7:12 AM While her predecessor used a dedicated election crimes division to investigate hundreds of bogus election fraud claims, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says she will redirect the unit’s focus to prosecute election-related threats and protect voting rights. “We are almost at a crisis situation in our state, in the sense that we now have a third of our counties experiencing the resignation of high-level election officialS due to death threats and harassment. That is unacceptable,” Former AG Mark Brnovich, the Republican who Mayes replaced this year, persuaded the state legislature to create the Election Integrity Unit so his office could have a dedicated team to investigate election fraud claims. But Brnovich buried what was arguably its most important work, a 10,000-hour investigation debunking hundreds of fraud claims related to the 2020 election. AG Mayes released the results of that investigation earlier this month. And the Election Integrity Unit is also investigating a much larger effort to undermine the will of the voters — The Trump / Eastman / Perry plot to send fraudulent slates of electors for former President Donald Trump to Congress on Jan. 6 - using the state’s seal. While she was secretary of state, Gov. Katie Hobbs requested Brnovich investigate the criminal use of the state seal on false documents, but Brnovich did nothing. There were actually multiple “fake elector” schemes in Arizona. One was tied to the Arizona Republican Party and allegedly done at the request of the Trump campaign. It involved officials including former AZ GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward, state Sen. Jake Hoffman, state Sen. Anthony Kern and Turning Points USA CEO Tyler Bowyer. That fake electors scheme is also the subject of a federal investigation. Another group, the Sovereign Citizens of the Great State of Arizona, also created an alternate slate of electors for Trump, independent of the former President’s desperate and nihilistic attempts to steal the 2020 election for himself. Since the 2020 election, threats to election officials nationwide have been increasing. Arizona has been at the forefront of those threats, with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice getting involved in multiple cases. Most recently, veteran Cochise County Election Director Lisa Marra resigned. In her departure letter, she described a workplace that was hostile due to a monthslong saga in which Marra stood up to election conspiracists’ insane demands and threats. Last year, the director of elections in Yavapai County resigned due to more than 18 months of threats she received. GOP-dominated Yavapai County has been a hotbed of hostile activity, with the white supremacist Oath Keepers intimidating voters before federal law enforcement got involved. AG Mayes said the images of armed men watching drop boxes “disturbed” her and set her on a path to begin speaking to police and sheriff’s departments across the state. Making sure voters feel safe and secure when using a drop box will be a major priority, Mayes said, and if that means making sure that agents with the Attorney General’s Office are present alongside law enforcement, then that might be the case. Currently, Mayes has 60 agents working directly with her in the office. Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies had to be dispatched in riot gear to deal with angry and armed crowds of butt-hurt snowflake losers (my term) during the 2020 election, when they descended upon the Maricopa County tabulation center. Deputies have had to dedicate security to election officials who faced threats as well. During the midterms, Maricopa County spent approximately $675,000 on security for the elections, a number the Sheriff expects to be “substantially” higher for the next election as he and his deputies are already preparing for the next wave of threats to election officials, as well as illegal activities around drop boxes. But for AG Mayes, the Arizona Election Integrity Unit can be a force that actually protects voting rights in the state. “We really want to repurpose the Election Integrity Unit to be an arm of the Attorney General’s Office that is focused on protecting democracy in Arizona, protecting election officials against the rise of death threats and intimidation against them, and to protect the voting rights of every legally registered Arizonan. COLORADO NEWSLINE: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and a group of Democratic lawmakers have introduced a slate of new bills that are meant to reduce health care costs in the state. BY: SARA WILSON - MARCH 3, 2023 2:04 PM The bills would reduce premiums for Colorado Option health insurance plans, lower prescription drug costs and work to increase transparency around the huge profits being made by hospitals. “Saving people money on healthcare has been a top priority for me since Day One, and it’s a big challenge,” said Gov. Polis. “We want to pound away on it every year, to find every cost driver and address it, to make sure Coloradans stop having to overpay for prescription drugs, insurance, and the health care that they need.” House Bill 23-1224 would work to improve the Colorado Option, the state-regulated plan offered by private insurers that passed just last year. The bill would make it easier for consumers to compare prices on standardized plans, and empower the state’s insurance commissioner to hold carriers accountable for the cost reduction requirements in Colorado Option standardized plans. Another bill, House Bill 23-1225, addresses the state’s prescription drug affordability board. It would allow the board to review any number of expensive prescription drugs instead of only a dozen as outlined in the legislation that created the board. The board, which has not yet reviewed the costs of any drugs so far, has the authority to set an upper payment limit if it determines a drug is unaffordable for Coloradans. House Bill 23-1227, would give more oversight power to the state’s Division of Insurance over pharmacy benefit managers. “In some cases, PBMs are coming between consumers, health insurance plans, pharmacies and manufacturers while making very, very large profits. PBMs can be a part of the plan to save Coloradans money on prescription drugs, but they have to follow the rules,” Jodeh, one of the bill sponsors, said. Lawmakers highlighted other pieces of health care cost saving legislation: HB23-1226 would enhance current hospital financial transparency reporting in an effort to highlight what is driving up hospital costs in the state. COLORADO SUN: And, Almost four years after becoming the first state to cap insulin copayments, Colorado may limit what consumers pay for epinephrine autoinjectors, also known as EpiPens, which treat serious allergic reactions. In 2007, the wholesale price of a single EpiPen was about $47. Today, two brand-name autoinjectors cost just under $636 at a Walgreens in Denver, according to GoodRx. A proposed state law would cap out-of-pocket copays at $60 for a two-pack of Epi Pens. The bill is part of a nationwide push by states to address the soaring prices of lifesaving drugs. New Hampshire passed a law in 2020 requiring insurance to cover the autoinjectors, and Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a similar measure this year. No state has capped what consumers pay for EpiPens, though the New Jersey Senate passed a bill in June to do so; that measure is pending in the legislature’s lower house. state Rep. Iman Jodeh, a bill sponsor, said “The need for EpiPens doesn’t discriminate based on who you are. This unfortunate trend we’re seeing of lifesaving medication being out of reach for so many people is something we need to end.” In 2019, Colorado became the first state to enact a law that set a $100 limit on monthly copays for insulin, a hormone that regulates the blood sugar of people with diabetes. Since then, 21 other states, plus Washington, D.C., have implemented laws limiting insulin costs. Congress imposed a $35 insulin copay cap for seniors on Medicare, and, in his recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden called for expanding this cap to every American. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. Tagged: Colorado legislature, Colorado politics, EpiPen, Iman Jodeh, insulin, Kaiser Health News, KHN, prescription drug costs Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples field hearing comes to AZ in May BY: SHONDIIN SILVERSMITH - MARCH 3, 2023 12:27 PM
As part of the U.S. departments of the Interior and Justice’s work to combat the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis, the Not Invisible Act Commission will be hosting its first round of field hearing sessions this spring. “In partnership with the Justice Department and with extensive engagement with Tribes and other stakeholders, the Interior Department is marshaling our resources to finally address the crisis of violence against Indigenous peoples,” she added. FROM WORC: Missing and Murdered Indigenous People is an epidemic stemming from over 500 years of colonization that has harmed Indigenous communities across the globe. For Indigenous women in the United States, this means being amongst the population that is murdered at 10 times the national average. According to the Indian Law Resource Center, more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence, and more than half have experienced sexual violence. There is no official statistic regarding how many Indigenous women go missing within the United States, and many families report the same experiences where law enforcement will dismiss a missing loved one’s case. In a Montana Public Radio article from 2019, people who had missing loved ones reported that law enforcement officers had told them “that their daughters were drunk or had run away.” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said “This work requires each of us to face our own trauma, to relive unimaginable pain, and visualize a future in which our loved ones are safe, and our communities have closure. We’re here for our children, grandchildren, and relatives we have yet to meet.” The Not Invisible Act was signed into law in October 2020. It is the first bill in history to be introduced and passed by four U.S. congressional members who are enrolled in federally recognized tribes. Then- Representative Haaland, one of those four, spearheaded the bill during her time in Congress. At that time she said “A lack of urgency, transparency, and coordination has hampered our country’s efforts to combat violence against American Indian and Alaska Native people” The commission established by the Not Invisible Act is a cross-jurisdictional advisory committee including law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, service providers, family members of missing and murdered individuals, and survivors. In April, the commission will hold field hearings in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Anchorage, Alaska. In June, more hearings are scheduled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, northern California and Albuquerque, New Mexico. In July, a hearing will be held in Billings, Montana. A national, virtual field hearing is also planned for later in the summer. These field hearings will feature panel discussions and a public comment period. For more information, go to https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu COLORADO NEWSLINE: Land of the free. BY: LINDSEY TOOMER - MARCH 4, 2023 11:05 AM U.S. Rep. Jason Crow D-Colorado praised the Department of Defense’s decision to ensure service members have access to reproductive health care including abortion after he proposed a bill that would have done the same last fall. “After the Supreme Court’s extreme and dangerous decision to take away a woman’s fundamental right to an abortion, servicemembers struggled to access basic reproductive health care,” Crow said. “I applaud the Department of Defense for moving to protect our servicemembers and mitigate challenges of recruitment, readiness, and retention in the ranks. The servicemembers who fight for us should not have to fight for their own basic health care.” One of Crow’s goals was to ensure that service members stationed in states that enacted abortion bans were allowed to travel to states, such as Colorado, where abortion is still legal. A Department of Defense news release said “Our Service members and their families do not control where they are stationed, and due to the nature of military service, are frequently required to travel or move to meet operational requirements. The efforts taken by the Department today will not only ensure that Service members and their families retain the fundamental right to make their own health care decisions, as well as ensuring they’re afforded the time and flexibility needed to do so. In response, Rep. Lauren Boebert and fellow Republicans said they plan to maintain their laser focus on the REAL truth behind Hunter Biden’s laptop. CONCERT PICK OF THE WEEK: Ani DiFranco! It’s the 25th anniversary of the excellent album, Little Plastic Castle, originally released in 1998. Ani is doing a run of shows starting March 15 hitting Boulder, Fort Collins, Breckenridge, Salt Lake City, Boise, Bozeman, Missoula and finishing in New Orleans at the FREE French Quarter Music Festival, April 13. Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Arizona Mirror, Colorado Newsline, Kaiser Health News, Colorado Sun, and the Western Organization of Resource Councils at worc.org. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
Mar 08, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | "Get Out There And Lose!" with Randi McCallian, a leader in the MO-8th
00:43:28
Randi McCallian joins Adam Sommer to talk about the state of rebuilding in the 8th and how the combination of participation and realistic expectations can unlock the future of progress in Missouri. Learn more about Randi: https://www.randimccallian.com/
Host JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” |
Mar 07, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | March 6, 2023: Rupert Murdoch Tells The Truth; Bannon's Legal Woes; Cheney & Kinzinger Try To Stay Alive; SCOTUS School Dress Code Case; Demographics Favor Dems For 2024, Can They Take Advantage?
01:20:33
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Yeah/YAY! Again hard to get better news than: https://www.rawstory.com/bannon-trial-2659475037/
True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One
No Last Call This Week. :-) |
Mar 06, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, March 3, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:13:45
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND
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Mar 03, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | School Vouchers Are An Assault On Education
00:27:54
Episode NotesHeartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” Host, Jess Piper the Dirt Road Democrat digs into the direct assault on public education coming from the private voucher system. |
Mar 02, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E43 - 1. Secure Student Rights. 2. Recover from COVID.
00:46:57
COVID still reminds us what we could lose with defunding education: the rights of our students. Kristina (Educational ASL Interpreter) and Nicholas (former science teacher turned education outreach ) discuss their most recent infection with the lingering pandemic. The largest concern for educators of all kinds is never personal recovery, but instead concern about the education of our students. |
Mar 01, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talk About The Money: Moving Past Culture Debates To Break Through
00:25:37
Adam Sommer talks about breaking through in a political conversation by avoiding the culture war wedges and focusing on the one thing that impacts all of us: Money. Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” |
Feb 28, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | Feb. 27, 2023
01:21:10
Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Start With Some Good News From Wisconsin: Democrat Janet Protasiewicz nearly won the seat outright in the first-round, with 44.6 percent of the vote. She is now the favorite to win the runoff. The leading Republican, Daniel Kelly, made the runoff with only 24.2 percent. All told, in the multi-candidate primary election, Democrats won about 54 percent of the votes. True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One
Last Call - Preview (Full Eps. Available On Patreon) National GOP Cracks In The Foundation Are Growing Rep Perry trying to use the “speech and debate” privilege - it didnt’ work Pence not going to C-Pac, DeSantis also not going https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mike-pence-declines-invitation-cpac-events-leader-fire/story?id=97451851 |
Feb 27, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, February 24, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:18:25
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES:
LIGHTNING ROUND:
Missouri
Lastly,
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Feb 24, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | Ryan Busse, author of "Gun Fight" a former executive in the firearms industry turned common sense gun law advocate
00:30:29
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” Host, Jess Piper, is joined by Ryan Busse author of the book "Gun Fight" for a discussion from someone with the perspective of working inside the firearms industry and the knowing indifference to harm from the proliferation of guns after the expiration of the assault weapons ban. Ryan Busse Website & Book: https://ryanbusseauthor.com/
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Feb 23, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | Amy Easterling, Harry Harris, and Douglas Ziegemeier. A Grounded Trio of Candidates for the Francis Howell School Board
00:44:38
HOST: Kevin Smith - https://twitter.com/KevINmidMO GUEST HOSTS: Amy Easterling - https://easterling4fhsd.com Harry Harris - http://www.harryforhowell.com Douglas Ziegemeier - https://www.douglas4howell.com/ |
Feb 22, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Ray Reed & The Gen Z Political Movement
00:23:33
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post) Guest: Ray Reed https://twitter.com/RayReedMO JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” |
Feb 21, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | Feb. 20, 2023 - Health Care Consumerism; On Wisconsin's Supreme Court; Missouri and Kansas GOP Need Abortion To Be More Illegal; Power To The Workers?; Health Care Deep Dive Analysis
01:20:56
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” LifeFlight Eagle: https://www.lifeflighteagle.org/
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Feb 20, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, February 17, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:19:07
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND
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Feb 17, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | Run Randi Run! Randi McCallian joins Jess Piper to talk about running for Congress in the MO-8th and the realities of working on democratic infrastructure in rural areas
00:43:21
Jess Piper is joined by kindred spirit and fellow dirt road democrat, Randi McCallian, for a discussion about running for office in hard red areas and the challenges of building infrastructure in areas where the Democratic Party has atrophied.
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” |
Feb 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country Politics - February 15, 2023 - Government and Elections News from the American West
00:12:06
Republicans sue to ban abortion pill in entire U.S. | Arizona legislators narrowly avoid school funding crisis | Adam Frisch, who nearly beat Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022, is running for Congress again in 2024 | Colorado and 10 other states consider Right to Repair legislation, and the Farm Bureau is not going to be on board Song plays Intro by host Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Support this show and all the work in the Heartland POD universe by going to heartlandpod.com and clicking the link for Patreon, or go to Patreon.com/HeartlandPod to sign up. Membership starts at $1/month, with even more extra shows and special access at the higher levels. No matter the level you choose, your membership helps us create these independent shows as we work together to change the conversation. Alright! Let’s get into it: DENVER (AP) COLORADO NEWSLINE: REPUBLICAN AG’S WANT TO BAN THE ABORTION PILL WASHINGTON — Attorneys general representing nearly two dozen Republican states are backing a lawsuit that would remove the abortion pill from the United States after more than two decades, eliminating the option even in states where abortion access remains legal. The lawsuit argues, on behalf of four anti-abortion medical organizations and four anti-abortion physicians, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration exceeded its authority when it approved mifepristone to end pregnancies in the year 2000. The prescription medication is used as part of a two-drug regimen that includes misoprostol as the second pharmaceutical. It’s approved to terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks. The abortion pill is legal at the federal level, though several GOP-led states have laws in place that restrict abortion earlier than 10 weeks, setting up a dispute between state laws banning abortions and the federal government’s jurisdiction to approve pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Justice Department argued the anti-abortion groups’ “have pointed to no case, and the government has been unable to locate any example, where a court has second-guessed FDA’s safety and efficacy determination, and ordered a widely available FDA-approved drug to be removed from the market. It certainly hasn’t happened with a drug that’s been approved for over 20 years.” Dr. Jamila Perritt, president & CEO for Physicians for Reproductive Health, said abortion medication is safe and effective, and that “when abortion is more difficult to access, we know this means abortion gets pushed later and later into pregnancy as folks try to navigate these barriers.” Dr. Iffath Abbasi Hoskins, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said “restricting access to mifepristone interferes with the ability of obstetrician–gynecologists and other clinicians to deliver the highest-quality evidence-based care for their patients.” The judge in the lawsuit, Trump appointee Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk, could rule on whether to pull mifepristone from the market as soon as this month. Any ruling is likely to be appealed and could eventually come before the U.S. Supreme Court. AZMIRROR: az legislature averts massive school funding cuts Advocates, teachers call on lawmakers to fix school spending limit BY: GLORIA REBECCA GOMEZ - FEBRUARY 14, 2023 3:31 PM Last week, the Republican majority reluctantly approved a one-year exemption from a spending cap, called the aggregate expenditure limit - or AEL - placed in the state constitution by voters in 1980. Without that waiver, schools would have been forced to cut $1.4 billion from their budgets immediately, resulting in mass layoffs and closures. Now that the crisis has been temporarily averted, public school advocates are turning their attention to a more lasting fix as the issue is likely to resurface next year. Stand for Children Arizona’s executive director, Rebecca Gau, called on lawmakers to move bills that would give voters the option to repeal the cap entirely, or recalculate it to current spending levels. But none of them have been put up for a vote. Gau warned that refusing to act would only worsen the strain on public schools. They face enough difficulties, without adding a recurring annual threat onto the pile. She cited the results of a public opinion survey conducted by Stand for Children Arizona, which found that 62% of voters in the state might say yes to a ballot measure to permanently raise the AEL. High school teacher Jacquelyn Larios said the ongoing uncertainty presented by the spending limit has prompted her to reconsider teaching in Arizona. Her school district warned that faculty would be facing a 26% salary cut if lawmakers weren’t able to lift the cap by March. “I explained to my daughters that, even though I love teaching so much, I just don’t know if I can continue,” Larios said. “We can’t afford this.” For Yazmin Castro, a senior at Apollo High School, that means her classes are overcrowded — despite being a part of advanced courses that are meant to include more one-on-one interactions. She said the continued unwillingness from Republican lawmakers to resolve the AEL sends a message to students like her, that they’d rather hold onto outdated policies than support reforms that could make things better. “It tells us we’re not valued,” she said. “That our education is not a priority and that our future does not matter.” Republican lawmakers, who hold a one-vote majority in each legislative chamber, have repeatedly called for accountability and transparency measures in exchange for school funding. This year, that resulted in several GOP members voting against lifting the cap, citing concerns about what’s being taught in schools. Gau said while that argument might appeal to an extreme and vocal minority of constituents, the majority of voters support and trust their public schools. “Voters are watching,” she warned. “And organizations like mine will be here to make sure that voters in 2024 know who had the backs of kids, and who didn’t.” COLORADO SUN: Not his first rodeo. Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman who narrowly lost his bid in November to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, will run again to represent the 3rd Congressional District in 2024. “November’s election results show us that Boebert is weak and she will be defeated, which is why I have decided to launch my 2024 congressional campaign,” Frisch said. Frisch filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run against Boebert just days after her win was finalized. His formal campaign announcement kicks off what’s likely to be one of the nation’s most closely watched congressional contests. Frisch lost to Boebert by 546 votes, or 0.07 percentage points, in 2022. The margin was so narrow that it triggered a mandatory recount under Colorado law. Boebert’s near-loss was shocking given the electorate in the 3rd District, which spans the Western Slope into Pueblo and southeast Colorado. The 3rd Congressional District leans 9 percentage points in the GOP’s favor, according to an analysis by nonpartisan Colorado redistricting staff. Republicans have a voter registration advantage in the district, which has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. House since 2008. Frisch will hold his first 2024 campaign event in Pueblo on Wednesday. He ran in a crowded primary in 2022, and it’s likely he will face Democratic primary opponents in 2022 as well. Boebert has started fundraising for her 2024 reelection bid. “I won my last race by a razor-thin margin,” she wrote in a fundraising email sent out last month. “As you can imagine, left-wingers are going to rally around (Frisch) big time after they came so close this past election.” Riiiight. The left-wingers in your R+9 District. So you perform 9 points worse than a generic Republican. That’s not a left-winger problem, Congresswoman, that’s a you problem. AMERICAN PROSPECT and ASSOCIATED PRESS: Colorado and 10 other states consider right to repair legislation. On Colorado’s northeastern plains, where the pencil-straight horizon divides golden fields and blue sky, a farmer named Danny Wood scrambles to raise millet, corn and winter wheat in short, seasonal windows. That is until his high-tech Steiger 370 tractor conks out. The tractor’s manufacturer doesn’t allow Wood to make certain fixes himself, and last spring his fertilizing operations were stalled for three days before the servicer arrived to add a few lines of missing computer code - at a cost of $950. “That’s where they have us over the barrel, it’s more like we are renting it than buying it,” said Wood, who spent $300,000 to buy the used tractor. Wood’s plight, echoed by farmers across the country, has pushed lawmakers in Colorado and 10 other states to introduce Right to Repair bills that would force manufacturers to provide the tools, software, parts and manuals needed for farmers to do their own repairs — avoiding the steep labor costs and delays that erode their profits. Rep. Brianna Titone, a Denver metro Democrat and one of the bill’s sponsors said “The manufacturers and the dealers have a monopoly on that repair market because it’s lucrative for them, but farmers just want to get back to work.” In Colorado, the legislation is largely being pushed by Democrats while their Republican colleagues find themselves in a tough spot: torn between right-leaning farming constituents who want the change, and the multinational corporations who bankroll GOP campaigns. The manufacturers argue Right to Repair legislation would force companies to expose trade secrets. They also say it would make it easier for farmers to tinker with the software and illegally crank up the horsepower and bypass the emissions controller — risking operators’ safety and the environment. In 2011, Congress passed a law ensuring that car owners and independent mechanics — not just authorized dealerships — had access to the necessary tools and information to fix problems. Ten years later, the Federal Trade Commission pledged to beef up its right to repair enforcement at the direction of President Joe Biden. And just last year, Rep. Titone sponsored and passed Colorado’s first right to repair law, empowering people who use wheelchairs with the tools and information to fix them. For the right to repair farm equipment — from thin tractors used between grape vines to behemoth combines for harvesting grain that can cost over half a million dollars — Colorado is joined by 10 states including Florida, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas and Vermont. Many of the bills are finding bipartisan support, but in Colorado’s House committee on agriculture, Democrats pushed the bill forward in a party line vote with every Republican opposed. “That was really surprising, and upset me,” said the farmer Danny Wood, who votes Republican. Wood’s tractor, which flies an American flag reading “Farmers First,” isn’t his only machine to break down. His combine was dropping into idle, and the servicer took five days to arrive on Wood’s farm — a setback that could mean a hail storm decimates your wheat field, or the soil temperature moves out of the optimal zone for planting. Wood said “Our crop is ready to harvest and we can’t wait five days, but there was nothing else to do. When it’s broke down you just sit there and wait, and that’s not acceptable. You can be losing $85,000 a day.” Rep. Richard Holtorf, the Republican who represents Wood’s district and is a farmer himself, said he’s being pulled between his constituents and the dealerships in his district. He voted against the measure, siding with the dealers. “I do sympathize with my farmers,” said Holtorf, but he added, “I don’t think it’s the role of government to be forcing the sale of their intellectual property.” This January, the Farm Bureau and the farm equipment manufacturer John Deere did sign a memorandum of understanding — a right to repair agreement made without government intervention. Though light on details, Deere’s new memorandum would make it somewhat easier for farmers to get repair service independent from the company. It would ease restrictions on machine parts from manufacturers and open up other fix-it tools, such as the software or handbooks that Deere technicians rely on. This olive branch, however, is predicated on a major concession from the Farm Bureau - which is one of the nation’s most powerful lobbying forces advocating on behalf of farmers. The Farm Bureau has agreed not to support any Right to Repair legislation, or any other provisions at all that would go beyond what’s outlined in the agreement. But Nathan Proctor of the Public Interest Research Group, who is tracking 20 right to repair proposals in a number of industries across the country, said the memorandum of understanding has fallen far short. One major problem with agreements like this is that there’s no enforcement mechanism. If John Deere doesn’t live up to the memorandum, farmers have no path for recourse. “The slippery language gives the company enormous discretion to just set policy as it goes,” said Kevin O’Reilly, the director of the Right to Repair campaign at U.S. PIRG. Deere’s track record on this issue isn’t great. In 2018, John Deere issued a “statement of principles” that foreshadowed the provisions in the new memorandum. But farmers never received access to the machine parts and software they’d been promised. “Farmers are saying no,” said Nathan Proctor. “We want the real thing.” Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. CONCERT PICK OF THE WEEK: The RZA with the Colorado Symphony - 36 Chambers of Shaolin and A Ballet Through Mud - From the mind of the RZA comes a symphonic double-feature that bridges the gap between classical and contemporary music. With spoken word, live ballet, and rich orchestration with the Colorado Symphony. Friday and Saturday Feb 17 and 18 at Boettcher Concert Hall. Tickets at ColoradoSymphony.org Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from Colorado Newsline, Associated Press, Colorado Sun, American Prospect, Arizona Mirror, and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
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MO House Dems Development Director, Erik Richardson joins Adam Sommer for a Chat
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Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Guest: Erik Richardson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImaginarySelf Freelance writer and political consultant; President of Audrain Co. Dems; Development director for Missouri House Democrats; Candidate for City Council of Mexico, Missouri Help Mo House Dems: https://www.mohousedems.com/ Help Erik Run: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/richardson-for-mexico-1?fbclid=IwAR0IKJ7au1I8ViT5-DLCKN_m7_HbopDgUvY9ugASFrb0wjpgPLWO8rUyVGU |
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Talkin' Politics | Feb. 13, 2023 - Opening Statement on Free Exercise; Satanic Panic Part 2 - Electric Boogaloo; A Missouri State reps want people to move; How Culture War Reactions Impact Politics; Pennsylvania Has Flipped Blue
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Opening Statement: Free Exercise Is Not Forced Belief Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter and Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE - AND JOIN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK! “Change The Conversation” Opening Statement: Free Exercise Is Not Forced Belief True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One |
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The Flyover View, February 10, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:14:49
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND Montana
Arizona
Kansas
Missouri
Oklahoma
Iowa
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Dirt Road Democrat | The Gun Violence Epidemic with guest Stu Durando, author of "Under the Gun: A children's hospital on the front line of an American crisis"
00:28:52
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” Guest: Stu Durando (Twitter) Stu Durando Book: https://www.amazon.com/Under-Gun-childrens-hospital-American-ebook/dp/B07L24YPSK
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The Delta, E42 - M&M Wrappers: Why Did We Skip the Critical Thinking Questions?
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Children ask "why" constantly to discover the reasons we have certain rules but also the motivations behind decisions that have been made in the past. And even though public education encourages critical thinking, students celebrate when teachers skip it in the Review Questions at the end of the chapter. Kristina (educational ASL interpreter) and Nicholas (former science teacher & education advocate) discuss how our public education approach to critical thinking has produced an opportunity for companies and candidates to give us ideology without substance. From the retired M&M wrapper and Eminem the rapper to textbooks with bolded definitions and handbooks about dress codes, they answer why they regret skipping the critical thinking questions. |
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"You have to protect them from their legislature." Rabbi Daniel Bogard speaks as a parent of a trans child in Missouri.
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Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post) “Change The Conversation” Guest: Rabbi Danie Bogard Web: https://www.centralreform.org/rabbi-daniel/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/RavBogard Bills: House Bill 170, 183, and 337 PROMO: https://promoonline.org/ Rabbi Daniel Bogard a native of St. Louis who has spent time across the heartland in various capacities from St. Paul to Peoria, Illinois to Cincinnati and now back home in St. Louis. He serves on the Board of Directors for Interfaith Coalition of Latin America (STL-IFCLA) in order to advocate for undocumented individuals in St. Louis. He has also worked with the Fight for Fifteen, an effort to make the minimum wage a living wage in the state of Missouri. He is one of the proud founders of Camp Indigo Point, a week-long sleep-away camp for trans, gender-expansive and LGBTQ+ youth. Recently he has been very active in the ongoing legislative attacks here in Missouri - among many states - against LGBTQ+ children, and the hyper targeting of trans children by christian nationalists of the Republican party. MO Jewish Leaders step up: https://www.jta.org/2023/02/03/united-states/missouri-jewish-leaders-advocate-for-trans-rights-at-state-legislature?utm_campaign=sprout&utm_medium=social&utm_source=JTA_Twitter ACLU sounds the alarm: https://www.aclu-mo.org/en/legislation/call-action Tweet: https://twitter.com/LauraAnnSTL/status/1622085581776855042?s=20&t=HL6HUjBC_SWPNXQXNwwKsg |
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Talkin' Politics | Feb. 6th, 2023 - Adam's Open; Gov. Kelly Killing It; Chinese Surveillance Balloon; MO GOP Taking Away Voters Voice; Big Oil Climate Suits
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Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” Not a segment but… George Santos. The fun never stops! https://www.semafor.com/article/02/02/2023/george-santos-weve-been-secretly-recorded True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
https://twitter.com/trishformo/status/1621889852416335872?s=46&t=SjL8DWkTYeHskbvcl8d6GA The Big One
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The Flyover View, February 3, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:17:20
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND Oklahoma
Idaho
Colorado
Kansas
Tennessee
Texas
Nebraska
Missouri
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Dirt Road Democrat | Dismantling Public Schools & The Money Behind The Movement with Jennifer Berkshire, co-author of "A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School "
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Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri on Twitter Guest: Jennifer Berkshire @BisforBerkshire on Twitter
"A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School" A trenchant analysis of how public education is being destroyed in overt and deceptive ways--and how to fight back Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) “Change The Conversation” |
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High Country Politics - Feb 1, 2023 - Government News from the American West
00:19:04
Anti-Abortion Groups vs. the FDA | Colorado legislators seek big boost in Special Education funding | Catholic hospitals no longer performing tubal ligations after Dobbs decision | Cannabis legalization seems to be okay | RJD2 is the Concert Pick of the Week Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Support this show and all the work in the Heartland POD universe by going to heartlandpod.com and clicking the link for Patreon, or go to Patreon.com/HeartlandPod to sign up. Membership starts at $1/month, with even more extra shows and special access at the higher levels. No matter the level you choose, your membership helps us create these independent shows as we work together to change the conversation. Alright! Let’s get into it: DENVER (AP) COLORADO NEWSLINE: Anti-Abortion Groups vs. the FDA BY: LINDSEY TOOMER - JANUARY 31, 2023 3:45 AM Reproductive rights advocates in Colorado were feeling optimistic following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to expand access to the abortion pill mifepristone in early January — but a federal lawsuit filed just 10 days later has made the future of medication abortions uncertain. On Jan. 3 the FDA issued a decision that allows the abortion drug mifepristone to be picked up at a pharmacy if the patient has a prescription, eliminating a previous requirement that the drug be given directly from a health care provider. Dr. Kristina Tocce, medical director at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the FDA’s decision is a “really big breakthrough” that should increase access across the country. América Ramirez, program director for the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights, said it’s exciting to see expanded access and agreed it could be beneficial for people across the state, especially the Latina community. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat who co-chairs the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, said during a recent press conference with news reporters that the caucus is working with the Biden administration to ensure the U.S. Postal Service will be able to deliver abortion medications when prescribed by an out-of-state doctor. Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt, a Colorado-based reproductive rights advocacy organization, said the FDA’s decision will be particularly beneficial for Coloradans outside of the Denver metro area, so long as their pharmacies are willing to participate. But, she said while this is a positive step forward, there are still too many “bureaucratic and cost barriers” for those seeking abortion care. “We’ve known for years that medication abortion care is overwhelmingly safe and effective,” Middleton said in an email. “We hope that Colorado pharmacies, especially in rural areas, will make it available to patients as soon as possible and without bureaucratic delay.” But anti-abortion groups have sued to stop pharmacies from filling prescriptions for mifepristone, and the case will likely go all the way to the Supreme Court. The lawsuit argues the FDA “exceeded its regulatory authority” in approving the use of mifepristone and misoprostol to end a pregnancy, and seeks a preliminary and a permanent injunction that would remove the FDA’s approval. That would imply that Congress should decide, which is of course, dumb. Attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department said there are no examples in history where a court has second-guessed a determination from the FDA that a drug is safe and effective. Karen Middleton said the lawsuit was the anti-abortion groups’ only choice, as they “know that they’ll lose at the ballot box” since purple and red state voters repeatedly voted to protect abortion rights in 2022. “That’s why these radicals are bringing legal challenges in Federal District Courts with conservative judges — to weaponize the legal system to end legal abortion access,” Middleton said. Fawn Bolak, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, called the lawsuit a “politically-motivated attack” that has “no basis in science,” as the drug has been used safely and legally since it was approved by the FDA more than 20 years ago. This lawsuit is designed to push abortion care further out of reach for the most vulnerable. “Exploiting the legal system in an attempt to prevent people from accessing safe, essential health care is unconscionably cruel. Rest assured PPRM will continue to provide safe and legal abortion care to our patients — no matter the outcome in this case.” CHALKBEAT COLORADO: Education Committee backs big boost in Special Ed Spending Colorado would fund special education at the levels lawmakers promised back in 2006, under legislation recommended unanimously Friday by a special committee on school finance. The special education bill would reimburse districts $6,000 for each student with what’s known as a Tier B disability, and who requires more intensive support for students to be successful in school. These include dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, developmental delays, deafness, blindness, emotional disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries, among others. The bill also calls for Tier B funding to increase every year by the rate of inflation. Both the federal and state governments require school districts to provide a “free and appropriate” education to all students, including those with disabilities, but they pay just a fraction of the cost. That won’t change with this bill. School districts would still bear about two-thirds of the additional cost of providing special education services, but a few years ago, the state was paying less than half of what it had promised. The new bill would add $40.2 million in special education funding to next year’s budget, bringing the total to at least $340 million, a 13% increase. The amount could be more, depending on how lawmakers handle requirements to respond to inflation. The bill could also get scaled back, in future budget committee negotiations. The special education bill, sponsored by state Sens. Rachel Zenzinger (D-Arvada) and Barbara Kirkmeyer, a Brighton Republican, along with state Reps. Kipp and Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican, will be the only bill to come out of the Interim Committee on School Finance this session. Sen Zenzinger, who also chairs the Joint Budget Committee and serves on the interim committee on school finance, sounded a note of caution even as she signed on as a prime sponsor of the funding increase bill. “We’ll put it out there as what we’d like to see, and we’ll see what’s available to us in the budget,” she said. Bureau Chief Erica Meltzer covers education policy and politics and oversees Chalkbeat Colorado’s education coverage. Contact Erica at emeltzer@chalkbeat.org. COLORADO SUN: Catholic hospitals crack down on contraception Jennifer Brown 4:00 AM MST on Jan 31, 2023 Colorado has one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country, but health care advocates say women in rural and mountain towns often lack reproductive health care access When the only hospital in Durango with a maternity ward decided that it would no longer let women get their tubes tied, there was no public announcement. Mercy Hospital’s website doesn’t spell it out, either. Instead, a read-between-the-lines statement added to the Centura Health hospital’s website in September noted that Mercy is “responsible for conducting itself in a manner consistent with the ethical principles of the Catholic church ministry.” The hospital had recently completed a “re-education” of hospital staff and board members regarding the church’s ethical and religious directives, it said, adding that “patients are fully informed of all treatment options.” Doctors who deliver babies at Mercy said they were told that beginning April 15, they can no longer provide post-cesarean-section tubal ligations - a sterilization procedure in which the fallopian tubes are cut. Women who have decided not to have more children often have their tubes tied immediately after a C-section, when they are already under spinal anesthesia, sparing them from the risk, cost, and hassle of scheduling a separate second procedure. The hospital already prohibited tubal ligations after vaginal births, but had been allowing them after C-sections because of the undue burden it placed on patients. It’s been up to obstetricians to tell their pregnant patients that they will have to go elsewhere for permanent birth control. Dr. Kimberly Priebe, who delivers 90-100 babies a year and has been an obstetrician-gynecologist in Durango for 20 years said “Patients are furious. This decision undermines our patients’ trust in Centura.” Mercy’s prohibition of sterilization comes as health care advocates across the country are concerned about diminishing reproductive rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Even in Colorado, a state with statutory protection for abortion and one of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country, women are losing access to reproductive health care, particularly in rural and mountain areas where there is only one hospital in town. Mergers that have joined Catholic health systems with secular or protestant systems have created a confusing health landscape for patients seeking abortions or birth control. Centura Health, formed in 1996 by the merger of Catholic Health Initiatives and Adventist Health System, has 16 hospitals in Colorado and three in Kansas. The Catholic hospitals, including Mercy, follow the Catholic directives, while the Adventist hospitals do not. In Denver, doctors affiliated with Centura Health can steer patients who want their tubes tied to nearby hospitals. But in Durango - and other towns with just one hospital - that’s not an option. Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, senior organizing strategist with ACLU of Colorado said “We really are seeing a trend with hospitals, insurance companies, pharmacies, other health care entities, discriminating against people by denying basic care … all in the name of religion. The main target is reproductive access, including birth control, emergency contraception, sterilization and abortions. “We can’t really consider access to reproductive health care in Colorado universally protected until everybody in every corner of our state has access. There’s often this perception that everybody in Colorado has access to abortion and to reproductive health care and that is just fundamentally untrue, especially in the rural parts of the state where you just don’t have additional options.” It’s unclear why Mercy Hospital had been allowing tubal ligations after C-sections and what led to the change. CommonSpirit Health, the Catholic owner of Mercy and other Catholic hospitals, said they had no updates to provide. The Diocese of Pueblo, which includes all of southern Colorado, referred questions to Centura Health. Centura Health officials would not give an interview about the change at Mercy, or explain why it’s happening now, considering that Mercy has been Catholic since it was founded. The only exception is for women predisposed to cancer After the latest “reeducation” of the Catholic directives, Mercy said it would allow tubal ligations post C-section for only one reason — if the woman has a genetic predisposition to ovarian or breast cancer. — Dr. Kimberly Priebe, Four Corners Obstetrics and Gynecology said “This is a very small number of women, and what an arbitrary exception.” “What about women with hypertension, diabetes, blood clotting disorders, uterine abnormalities, and the many other risk factors that can make pregnancy deadly? It seems the Catholic church does not want a woman dying of cancer but during pregnancy is OK?” With the new Mercy policy prohibiting tubal ligations after C-section, doctors will send those patients to the local surgical hospital, though they are concerned about overwhelming the center. And, doctors say, forcing women to schedule the procedure separate from their hospital delivery puts them at unnecessary risk, disrupts their lives with more time away from work, and costs the health system more money. The Medicaid billing rate for a doctor performing a tubal ligation post C-section is a $90 add-on and takes about 10 minutes, doctors said, not including anesthesia and facility fees. Patients who go to Animas Surgical Hospital for a standalone tubal ligation would likely have to pay thousands of dollars for the procedure. The hospital’s cash-pay price for the procedure for people without insurance is $9,900. “Patients do not understand how a health care option can be refused when our hospital gets public money and purports to put patient care first,” Dr Priebe said. Pregnant patients in Summit County also face tough choices. Like in Durango, the only hospital is Catholic. St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco, part of Centura Health, does not provide tubal ligations. Dr. Amy Tomlinson, an OB-GYN in Summit County, has had to explain to hundreds of patients that they cannot get their tubes tied at the hospital where they plan to give birth. “Usually, honestly, it was a huff and a sigh and an eye roll,” she said. “Sometimes it was a jaw drop and a shake of the head. But I think women are so used to being second-class citizens in this society that I don’t think it was ever terribly surprising to people.” Summit County women have the choice of delivering at St. Anthony and then getting their tubes tied later at another hospital, or driving more than an hour to Denver to deliver their baby so they can have the procedure at the same time. And for women who already have a C-section scar on their uterus, it’s especially dangerous to ask them to drive that far in labor, Tomlinson said. “The Catholic position is, ‘If you don’t like it, you can go somewhere else,’” she said. “Well, it’s not like you can go across town when your hospital is the only one in a tri-county radius. We essentially become an island during snowstorms up here. Even if a patient wants to go elsewhere, she may not be able to get there. And then you are asking women to drive an hour or more while they are laboring. Why would we put women at risk for rupturing their uterus or for giving birth on the side of the road?” Tomlinson, who is opening her own practice but in the past worked at High Country Healthcare, recalled that while removing severe scar tissue from the uterus of a patient at St. Anthony Summit, she had to ask permission from the bishop to place an IUD in the woman’s uterus in order to keep it open and prevent pain. The woman had in the past had a tubal ligation so she was already sterile, but the Catholic hospital still required her to get permission to place the birth-control method, called an intrauterine device. And in 2010, Tomlinson gave a presentation to the St. Anthony Summit board to persuade them not to prohibit treatment of ectopic pregnancies. In the post-Roe v. Wade era, doctors across the nation have reported confusion about whether treating an ectopic pregnancy — which is when a fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus — is considered an abortion. In another large hospital system - SCL Health - Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver and St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction — operate under the ethical and religious directives, meaning they do not provide sterilizations. Two of SCL’s secular hospitals — Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette — also operate under the same compliance with Catholic directives, said Gregg Moss, spokesman for SCL Health. Moss referred The Colorado Sun to an SCL Health webpage that explains the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services - they were first published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1948. The hospital system’s webpage does not specifically mention birth control, tubal ligations or abortions, but says that in today’s society, Catholic hospitals are “pressured to provide medical procedures that are contrary to Catholic teaching.” “And by refusing to provide or permit such medical procedures, Catholic health care affirms what defines it: a commitment to the sacredness and dignity of human life from conception until death,” it says. Mannat Singh, executive director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative, excoriated the choices being made by Catholic hospitals. “It is a basic human right to seek, or refuse, reproductive health care, and we will continue to work to ensure there are no barriers to seeking that care,” she said. COLORADO SUN: Well, it ain’t a gateway drug. John Ingold 3:55 AM MST on Jan 31, 2023 Last year, a study came out showing that marijuana legalization in Colorado likely increased cannabis use among adults in the state. Because of the novel methods the researchers used to examine the question, the study was perhaps the best answer to date on one of legalization’s biggest impacts. But it also left an even bigger question unanswered: If adults are consuming more cannabis and more frequently, is that bad? Now, in a follow-up study by the same team, the researchers have come to an answer: it doesn’t seem to be. Stephanie Zellers, one of the researchers, said “At least from the psychological point of view, we really didn’t find that legalized cannabis has had a lot of negative influence, which I think is important.” Zellers recently graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Minnesota, but she began her doctoral work at the University of Colorado before transferring when her thesis adviser changed jobs. She had originally been interested in neuroscience research, but the necessity of using live lab animals for the work was off-putting. And, in the Colorado-to-Minnesota connection, she found a trove of data that could be used in never-before-tried ways. The data are from longitudinal studies of twins in Colorado or Minnesota. Researchers in both states followed the twins over long periods of time, collecting information about their behaviors, including their cannabis use. The survey information, then, creates an ideal scenario for study: It is thorough, it has built-in controls for variables like socioeconomic status, and it helps account for genetic differences. “That twin component really allows us to rule out what could be noisy variables — cultural differences, family differences, things like that,” Zellers said. On top of that, because Colorado has legalized marijuana and Minnesota hasn’t (at least so far) — and because some twins born in Minnesota moved to Colorado and vice versa — the data provide an ideal opportunity to study the way legalization in Colorado a decade ago has influenced people’s behavior ever since. The original study, published last fall, simply asked whether twins living in legal-marijuana states use marijuana more than twins living in prohibition states. And the answer is yes — about 20% more, according to the research. That answer was interesting, but “Really what people care about is: Is legalization harmful,” she said. To answer that question, the team came up with 23 measures of what they call “psychological dysfunction.” This includes things like substance-use disorders, but also financial woes, mental health distress, community disengagement, and relationship issues. The team looked at data on more than 4,000 people — 40% of whom live in a legal-marijuana state. Zellers said what the researchers found was unexpected: They basically found nothing. “Obviously the cannabis use increases, but we didn’t see an increase in cannabis-use disorder, which is a little surprising,” she said. “We didn’t really see changes in how much people were drinking or using tobacco. No large personality, or workplace, or IQ differences, or anything like that.” People in legal states did not report using illegal drugs at higher rates. Researchers also didn’t find a link between marijuana legalization and psychotic behavior. They did find one difference, though. People living in a state where recreational marijuana use is prohibited reported higher rates of alcohol-use disorder and more specifically one symptom of the condition: They were more likely to report using alcohol in situations that were dangerous or harmful, such as driving drunk. To Zellers and other researchers, the study provides valuable information for the ongoing debate over whether cannabis legalization is a good idea. But it’s not the final word. CU psychology and neuroscience professor John Hewitt, one of the study’s co-authors, said in a statement that “Our study suggests we should not be overly concerned about everyday adult use in a legalized environment, but no drug is risk-free. It would be a mistake to dismiss the risks from higher doses of a drug that is relatively safe in small amounts.” This highlights one of the study’s big limitations. Zellers said most of the people included in the twins data are relatively light cannabis users. The sample size for heavy users is small. “Our sample is an adult community sample broadly characterized by low levels of substance use and psychosocial dysfunction,” the researchers write. This limits our ability to generalize relationships between legalization, outcomes and risk factors for the individuals at greatest risk.” Zellers said she and her colleagues are hoping to publish another study based on their data — but this one will be less concerned about the impacts of marijuana legalization as a policy. Instead, it will try to look at how much cannabis people have used over their lifetimes and then score that against the same measures of psychological dysfunction “to see if, not the policy, but the actual substance itself has an effect” And if YOU want to see about substances and their effects, don’t miss the unsolicited concert of the week CONCERT PICK OF THE WEEK: RJD2 with just 2 upcoming dates - Friday Feb 3 at the Music Box in San Diego, and Saturday Feb 4th at the Gothic Theatre in Denver. There should also be lots of fun stuff in lots of fun places this weekend for Bob Marley’s birthday, February 6. Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Colorado Newsline, Colorado Sun, Chalkbeat Colorado, and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
Feb 01, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Extremism In Legislation In A Red State: A 30,000 Foot View From Missouri
00:24:42
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) “Change The Conversation” https://www.jstor.org/stable/65083 https://legiscan.com/MO/bill/SB137/2023 - teacher training Teachers are 75% female https://www.zippia.com/teacher-jobs/demographics/ What if we changed a few words? Part of Speech by A. HItler, 1935: Today women’s battalions were being formed in Marxist countries, and to that one could only reply, “That will never happen here! There are things a man does, and he alone is responsible for them. I would be ashamed to be a (American) man if ever, in the event of war, but a single woman were made to go to the front.” The woman had her own battlefield. With every child to which she gave birth for the nation, she was waging her battle for the nation. The man stands up for the (people) just as woman stands up for the family. A woman’s equal rights lie in the fact that she is treated with the high regard she deserves in those areas of life assigned to her by nature. |
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Talkin' Politics | January 30, 2023 - George Santos Reaches New Levels of "Wait... what?"; The Autocratic People's Republic Of Missouri; Caucus Season In Congress; Trump Is Back On Facebook, Kind Of
01:22:48
This week on The Heartland POD Opening Statement: Indoctrination Nation Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” True or False: George Santos is a symptom not a cause
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One
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Jan 30, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, January 27, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:16:25
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND
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Jan 27, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | School Voucher Scams w/ Prof. of Education Josh Cowen
00:34:37
Guest: Prof. Joshua Cowen @joshcowenMSU on Twitter Heartland POD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok - @TheHeartlandPOD #DirtRoadDemocrat Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri on Twitter, and Facebook “Change The Conversation” Produced by Adam Sommer. The "Dirt Road Democrat" is a Mid Map Media, LLC production https://joshuacowen.academia.edu/ Joshua Cowen is a Professor of Education Policy. He also was the founding director and co-director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) from 2016 to 2020. His current research focuses on teacher quality, student and teacher mobility, and evaluations of state and local education programs. His work has been published in multiple scholarly journals and policy briefs, has appeared in numerous national media outlets, and has been funded by a diverse array of philanthropies as well as state and federal grants. From 2015-2018, he served as co-editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, the flagship peer-reviewed education policy journal in the United States. He was previously Associate Editor of Education Finance and Policy, and remains on the editorial boards of both journals. |
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The Delta, E41 - CRT: The Difference is Clear
00:38:33
Kristina (elementary ASL interpreter) & Nicholas (former science teacher) discuss the unclear language around Critical Race Theory legislation that uses diversity to further defund education. From snow days to Ben Stein, they consider the repercussions of removing diversity and creativity from education both as parents and educators. |
Jan 25, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | Stephen Weber (D - MO) An Eagle Scout, A Marine, A Lawyer, and a former State Rep., Running For MO State Senate in Boone Co. 19th District
00:32:59
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 (Twitter) @adam_sommer85 (Post) Guest: Stephen Weber @s_weber (Twitter) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation”
Articles on Weber's launch https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/stephen-webber-launches-campaign-for-missouri-senate-seat-in-boone-county/ https://www.kbia.org/2023-01-09/stephen-webber-announces-2024-bid-to-flip-missouri-senate-seat Older article: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/como_you_know/como-you-know-stephen-webber/article_daf6971e-b0b8-525a-aefd-63b190b7cb0c.html |
Jan 24, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | 1/2323 - "Woke" The New Four Letter Word; Moderate Republican Myth?; Wisconsin GOP Brings Back Conversion Therapy; Americans United Sues Missouri For Violation of First Amendment With Abortion Law; Culture War Deep Dive
01:18:36
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) “Change The Conversation” Adam's Open: WOKE - the new four letter word What should have been: The 50th Aniv. of Roe Good primer on “Culture War” transition of GOP - if general economic policies are the same or similar to Dems, then how to differentiate https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/republicans-democrats-forever-culture-war/621184/ True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One
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Jan 23, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, January 20, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:13:48
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND Missouri
Arkansas
Pennsylvania
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Iowa
Wisconsin
Indiana
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Dirt Road Democrat | Ep. 3 "Being A Woman In A Red State"
00:32:54
Jess Piper discusses life as a Woman in a red state from the judgment and control of basic daily choices to the treatment of without respect and the way purity culture causes trauma in young women. Heartland POD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok - @TheHeartlandPOD #DirtRoadDemocrat Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation” Produced by Adam Sommer. The "Dirt Road Democrat" is a Mid Map Media, LLC production. |
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High Country Politics - January 18, 2023 - Government News from the American West
00:29:25
Colorado Gov Jared Polis delivers State of the State address to legislators | First bills filed in Colorado General Assembly | Interview w Democratic State Rep Matt Martinez, sponsor of a bill that would reduce prison sentences for nonviolent inmates who earn accredited degrees while incarcerated | Free Universal Pre-K application opens in Colorado | Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs calls for $40 Million DREAMER scholarship fund Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Support this show and all the work in the Heartland POD universe by going to heartlandpod.com and clicking the link for Patreon, or go to Patreon.com/HeartlandPod to sign up. Membership starts at $1/month, with even more extra shows and special access at the higher levels. No matter the level you choose, your membership helps us create these independent shows as we work together to change the conversation. Alright! Let’s get into it: DENVER (AP) — In yesterday’s state of the state speech to lawmakers, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis laid out his vision to tackle the state's sky-high housing prices - including proposals to roll back building regulations, open public land to affordable housing development, and support innovations such as pre-built units. Polis, a Democrat re-elected in November, also touched on efforts to combat climate change, lower the state income tax, measures to reduce crime, and expanded education funding. Polis, the first openly gay governor in the U.S., starts his second term after a shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub in November left five dead and has renewed calls by Democrats to enact stricter gun regulations. Looking down from the gallery were Richard Fierro and Thomas James, two patrons who tackled the shooter inside the club, as Polis read the names of those killed, asked for a moment of silence and nodded towards concerns around “spiraling hate speech.” Polis addressed gun violence but largely skirted Democrat proposals that included raising the minimum age to buy guns and potentially banning assault weapons. Polis told reporters after his address. “We are happy to discuss other ideas about how we can improve gun safety in Colorado and honor our Second Amendment rights," Polis lauded government intervention on housing, citing a ballot measure that Coloradans passed in November that dedicates an estimated $300 million annually to affordable housing. Polis said he also plans to “aggressively” free up parcels of state-owned land for low-income units. Polis gave his speech — which referenced everything from electric vehicle tax credits to "The Lord of the Rings” character Gandalf the Grey — after securing almost 60% of the vote in a state where Independent voters are one-third of the electorate. Polis’s appeal has stirred rumors of a future presidential run. “Our state might be shaped like a square but the political pundits can’t put us in a box,” Polis said. “We are a state that just this year voted to once again cut income taxes, while legalizing magic mushrooms.” Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. COLORADO NEWSLINE: Colorado legislature’s first bills Soon after the Colorado General Assembly convened for the 2023 legislative session on Monday, members introduced the first bills of the year, offering a hint of Democratic priorities. Democrats enjoy large majorities in both legislative chambers. House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Democrat from Dillon, said “This session, we’ll pass legislation to protect our water and air, invest in our schools, improve public safety, and make our state more affordable. Our first five bills are just the beginning, and we’re excited to get to work building a Colorado where everyone can thrive,” In the House, the first five bills center on education investments, health care costs, mental health, language accessibility and water efficiency. House Bill 23-1001 would expand the eligibility for financial assistance and loan forgiveness for educators to address the state’s teacher shortage. It is sponsored by Democratic Reps. Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins and Barbara McLachlan of Durango and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger of Arvada. House Bill 23-1002 would create an EpiPen affordability program for people who do not have health insurance. It would cap the cost of a two-pack of EpiPens, often used to treat severe allergic reactions, at $60. It is sponsored by Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat, and Sen. Dylan Roberts, an Avon Democrat. House Bill 23-1003 would form a mental health assessment program for Colorado youth in order to identify student mental health concerns and direct them to resources. It would be available in public schools for students in sixth through 12th grades. It is sponsored by Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, an Aurora Democrat, and Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Littleton Democrat. In the Senate, the first five bills introduced involve housing, health care costs, education and workforce development for mental health and forestry professionals. Three of them have bipartisan sponsorship. Senate Bill 23-1 would provide $13 million to the Public-Private Partnership Office to encourage affordable workforce housing on state-owned land. The bill is sponsored by Roberts, Zenzinger, Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, and Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Steamboat Springs Democrat. Senate Bill 23-2 would direct the state to seek federal authorization for Medicaid reimbursement for community health worker services. Community health care workers serve as a liaison between providers and community members and can often have a personal experience with a health condition and a cultural background they share with the community they serve. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by McCluskie, Sen. Kyle Mullica, a Federal Heights Democrat, Sen. Cleave Simpson, an Alamosa Republican, and Rep. Mary Bradfield, a Colorado Springs Republican. Senate Bill 23-3 would create the Colorado Adult High School Program for adults to earn a high school diploma at no cost and enter the workforce. The program would include transportation support and child care. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Janet Buckner, an Aurora Democrat, Sen. Bob Gardner, a Colorado Springs Republican, and Rep. Mike Weissman, an Aurora Democrat. Two bills focus on the workforce shortage in our schools and in our forests. SB-4 would authorize schools to hire mental health professionals who are not licensed by the state Department of Education but hold a Colorado license for their profession. It is sponsored by Sen. Janice Marchman, a Loveland Democrat, Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Longmont Democrat, and Michaelson Jenet. SB-5 involves wildfire mitigation and forestry professionals. It would direct the Colorado State Forest Service to create educational materials on the industry and create a new forestry program at Colorado Mountain College, among other provisions. REP MATT MARTINEZ INTERVIEW HB23-1037 Department Of Corrections Earned Time For College Program Completion Concerning awarding earned time to nonviolent offenders who complete an accredited higher education program. SESSION: 2023 Regular Session SUBJECT: Crimes, Corrections, & Enforcement BILL SUMMARY Under existing law, an inmate in the custody of the department of corrections (department) may have earned time deducted from the inmate's sentence for meeting certain statutory requirements. The bill permits an inmate sentenced for a nonviolent felony offense to have earned time deducted from the inmate's sentence for each accredited degree or other credential awarded by an accredited institution of higher education to the inmate while the inmate is incarcerated, in the following amounts: One year of earned time for receiving an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree; and 6 months of earned time for receiving a certificate or other credential. The bill requires the general assembly to annually appropriate the savings incurred during the prior state fiscal year as a result of the release of inmates from correctional facilities because of earned time granted for completion of a higher education degree or credential, as follows: 50% of the savings to the department of corrections to facilitate inmates enrolling in and completing accredited higher education programs; and 50% of the savings to the department of higher education for allocation to institutions of higher education that offer accredited programs in correctional facilities. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read Less Colorado’s free preschool application is open. Here’s what you need to know. The parent application for Colorado’s new free preschool program opened yesterday— a major milestone in the march toward the program’s launch next summer. The program, funded in part by a voter-approved nicotine tax, will offer 10 to 15 hours a week of tuition-free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide, with some eligible for 30 hours a week. In addition, some 3-year-olds will be eligible for 10 hours a week early childhood education. Families who fill out the application by Feb. 14, will find out what preschool their child matched with on March 10. State officials expect about 30,000 children to opt into the universal preschool program in its first year. That’s about half the number that will be eligible. SO: Who gets free preschool and what age do they have to be? Three groups of children qualify: all 4-year-olds, some 3-year-olds who need extra help, and a small number of 5-year-olds who are too young for kindergarten. The goal is for kids to be more prepared for kindergarten. Some 4-year-olds will get 30 hours of free preschool a week, including those from lower-income families, kids who speak a language besides English at home, are homeless, in foster care, or have disabilities. The new preschool program will also cover 10 hours a week of preschool for 3-year-olds in these same groups. What’s involved in the application? Are there income requirements? Many families will need about 15 minutes and not much else. The application is offered in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and parents should be able to complete the application on a cell phone or computer. Families that earn up to 270% of the federal poverty limit — about $81,000 a year for a family of four —will need to upload documents that prove their income. Can I pick my child’s preschool? Yes. Families will be asked to pick up to five preschools they’d like their child to attend and will be able to rank their choices. Options include school-based preschools, church-based preschools, preschool programs inside child care centers, and state-licensed home-based preschools. Children will be prioritized for a spot in a preschool if they’re already enrolled there, if a sibling is enrolled there, or if a parent works there. When does free preschool start in Colorado? August or September of this fall, depending on the specific preschool. For more information check out upk.colorado.gov or you can also contact the state’s help desk at 303-866-5223
Do you have a question you don’t see answered here or can’t find the answer to elsewhere? Let us know at co.tips@chalkbeat.org and we’ll do our best to find an answer. Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org. ARIZONA MIRROR: Governor Hobbs wants a scholarship for DREAMERS. More than 3,000 undocumented students in Arizona could see their dreams of a college degree come true under a new scholarship proposed by Gov. Katie Hobbs. Dubbed the Promise for Dreamers Scholarship Program, the $40 million dollar investment is aimed at supporting undocumented students who’ve attended an Arizona high school for at least two years. Scholarships from the program help fund four years at one of the state’s three public universities The new scholarship program debuted in Hobbs’ State of the State speech last week, where she billed it as an extension of Proposition 308 which allows DREAMERS to pay in-state tuition and access state-funded financial help. Reyna Montoya, who was part of the effort to pass Prop. 308 said that even though it improves access to higher education, but it doesn’t resolve the inequality undocumented students face at the federal level. To fill out the FAFSA, which determines a student’s eligibility for low-income loans and scholarships like the Pell Grant, citizenship is a requirement. If you’re a low-income student, typically you have other supports, like the Pell Grant,” Montoya said. If you’re a Dreamer, and you’re getting ready to graduate from high school, you’re not eligible. Even paying in-state tuition is going to be a steep challenge if you’re trying to pay for school completely out of your own pocket. “Seeing the same heartache time after time — I get the chills to think that we can have different conversations with our students looking ahead. We don’t have to tell them, ‘You’re limited to these extremelydifficult pathways if you want to obtain an education,’” she said. Montoya is also hopeful that the scholarship will benefit the state’s future by creating a more educated workforce and helping to mitigate labor shortages. Arizona is currently grappling with teacher vacancies and faces a projected nursing shortage by 2030. “This would really help us close a lot of the workforce gaps that we have in the state,” she said, adding: “It’s in our benefit to see education as an investment rather than an expense.” Potential future benefits are a significant argument in favor of the scholarship, said Tyler Montague, chairman of the Yes on 308 campaign. “It’s a big payback. Everybody that we get through college — as compared to just high school — makes $650,000 to $1 million more over their lifetime, and they’re putting that money back into the economy. And they pay, on average, $380,000 more over their lifetime in taxes, which is a massive financial return,” he said, citing national studies. Also important to consider are the social returns that college grads provide, Montague added. People who earn a college degree are less likely to incur social costs, and are more involved in their communities. Montague hopes that the Republican-majority legislature gives the scholarship fund a fair shot, and keeps in mind the support that voters gave Prop. 308 as an indicator for the consensus around aiding undocumented youth in the state. “I would hope that the legislature takes their cue from (308) and acts accordingly,” he said. The proposition passed with a narrow 51% majority, but the approval across party lines was widespread, with as many as 27% of Republicans and 54% of Independents voting yes. Still, while Arizona voters agreed to level the playing field in university tuition rates, some Republican leaders in the legislature are balking at opening up access to state-funded scholarships. “Gov. KATIE HOBBS in her State of State stated that she would like to invest $40 million to help pay for illegal immigrants to attend college in Arizona,” tweeted House Majority Leader Leo Biasiucci. “What about LEGAL citizens of Arizona or any other state?” Hobbs’ budget proposal also includes an equivalent $40 million increase to the state’s existing Arizona Promise Program, which she estimated on Monday could benefit as many as 10,000 more students. Last year, 4,000 students benefited. While the underlying legislation of Prop. 308 found bipartisan support, and was proposed by a Republican state senator, Hobbs’ initiative may face an uphill battle in a statehouse with a more conservative bent to it. Enacting it through legislative channels isn’t her only option; she could resort to issuing an executive order or negotiate with the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s universities. It’s unclear, however, what path the governor’s office will take; they did not respond to questions about what strategies it might consider to create the new scholarship fund. Billy Strings has 3 sold out shows February 2, 3, and 4 at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield. At just 30 years old, Billy Strings is one of the most celebrated bluegrass musicians in America. He is known as an electric performer, keeping the improvisational tradition of bluegrass alive while incorporating a diverse variety of other genres into his music as well. Tickets and tour info at BillyStrings.com Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Colorado Newsline, Arizona Mirror, Chalkbeat Colorado, Indian Country Times and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
Jan 18, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | Mica Soellner of The Washington Times, In The Room Where It Happened
00:21:45
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) “Change The Conversation” |
Jan 17, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics 1/16/23 | Kati Porter For Senate; Missouri Makes National News For The Right To Bare Arms; Non-Compete Clause FTC Rule Proposal; Interpreting National Media Prediction BS; Last Call Preview "The Dog Caught The Car"
00:55:41
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” True or False
Yeah…No, Yeah
Buy or Sell
The Big One
LAST CALL — THE DOG CAUGHT THE CAR
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Jan 16, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, January 13, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:13:44
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND
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Dirt Road Democrat | Being A Blue Dot & The Abandoned Rural Voter
00:27:43
Heartland POD on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok - @TheHeartlandPOD #DirtRoadDemocrat Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation”
Produced by Adam Sommer. The "Dirt Road Democrat" is a Mid Map Media, LLC production. |
Jan 12, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E40 - Our Strange World of Resolutions
00:35:03
Kristina (educational ASL interpreter) and Nicholas (educational coordinator) refocus the Delta on this new year in this strange world. From the new Disney movie Strange World to mansplaining veganism, they revisit the lingering shadows of 2022 and their personal resolutions for 2023. All to share a transparent real reel of a progressive heartland family life. For more on us visit: family projects: glassroomhive.com socials: @nicholasalinke |
Jan 11, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | The Year Of The Mega Rich Self-Own; Missouri State Legislature Session Begins and Steven Weber(D) Announces 2024 Run; Trump Grand Jury In Georgia Completes Work
00:42:26
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) “Change The Conversation”
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Jan 10, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | January 6th Anniversary and Brazil's Own Insurrection; CPAC Organizer Alleged Sexual Abuse; Lucas Kunce Calls Out Josh Hawley; Kevin McCarthy (Eventually) Became Speaker, So Now What?
01:09:44
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Post) “Change The Conversation” TRUE OR FALSE
YEAH, NO... YEAH
BUY OR SELL
THE BIG ONE
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Jan 09, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat | What Does It Mean To Be A Dirt Road Democrat? Special BONUS Episode
00:14:15
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts for Dirt Road Democrat Ep. 2 Bonus Jess Piper @piper4missouri (Twitter and Facebook) “Change The Conversation” |
Jan 07, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, January 06, 2023 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:16:24
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland HEADLINES
LIGHTNING ROUND:
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Jan 06, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dirt Road Democrat |The GOP Attack On Public Education & The Grifter Economy
00:28:33
Jess Piper's first installment of "Dirt Road Democrat" is an eye opening look at the realities of the GOP attack on public education, and the grift surrounding school vouchers, a system born in the darkness of segregation policy. #DirtRoadDemocrat Host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri “Change The Conversation”
Produced by Adam Sommer. The "Dirt Road Democrat" is a Mid Map Media, LLC production. |
Jan 04, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country Politics - Government and Elections News from the American West - January 4, 2023
00:11:34
Song plays Intro by host Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Support this show and all the work in the Heartland POD universe by going to heartlandpod.com and clicking the link for Patreon, or go to Patreon.com/HeartlandPod to sign up. Membership starts at $1/month, with even more extra shows and special access at the higher levels. No matter the level you choose, your membership helps us create these independent shows as we work together to change the conversation. Alright! Let’s get into it: Get insurance while the gettin’ is good Open enrollment for health insurance plans offered under the Affordable Care Act in Nevada, and nationwide for that matter, ends on Jan 15. It’s anticipated to be the largest enrollment in the state’s history. Across the U.S. nearly three in four people enrolled through the marketplace receive health care coverage that’s subsidized — the highest rate since the ACA was implemented. A Biden administration spokesperson said “Nevada Health Link had a record-setting enrollment last year and with the expanded help of the Inflation Reduction Act, and we look forward to even more Nevadans finding quality, affordable health care for 2023,” In 2022, enrollment hit record highs nationally and in Nevada, when 101,411 people signed up for coverage during open enrollment in the state, aided by subsidy enhancements in the American Rescue Plan Act. Those savings amount to an average of $4,494 for a middle-class family of four in Nevada. “The more enrolled we see, the healthier Nevada is,” said Katie Charleson, the communications officer at Silver State Health Insurance Exchange. But while more people are getting access to health care than ever before, systemic barriers are still making it harder for some populations to get coverage. Americans who have a high school education or less, are Hispanic, live in rural areas, or lack internet access at home are disproportionately underrepresented in the subsidized marketplace plans despite being eligible, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. For individuals who get enrolled in January, your coverage will begin February 1st, go to healthcare.gov to get insured. Congress green-lights NM plan to further tap the land grant fund for public education A few lines in the 4,000-page budget bill recently signed by President Biden will mean hundreds of millions more in funding for New Mexico’s public school students each year. Last year, voters in N.M. overwhelmingly approved pulling an additional 1.25% from the state’s multi-billion dollar Land Grant Permanent Fund, for education, each year. But because the fund was initially set up by Congress back when New Mexico first became a state, the shift in funds required Congress to sign off. In the next fiscal year in New Mexico, over $200 million will be disbursed out of a pool of money that’s fed by revenue from oil, gas and mineral extraction on state-owned lands. Over half of the funds are destined for the state’s early childhood education system, as it hires more staff and works to reach all corners of the state, providing free or low-cost child care and pre-kindergarten schooling. U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich said “When we improve our education and child care system, we also make our state a better place to raise a family, to start or expand a business, to find a good-paying job, and to hire the best and brightest employees,” The rest of the fresh funding will go to K-12 public education, beefing up instruction for students who are at-risk, making the school year longer and paying teachers better. Advocates say infusing public education with much-needed resources will go a long way toward putting New Mexico into compliance with a court order to provide equitable education to all of the state’s students, including those who are Indigenous, come from families with low incomes, have disabilities, or who are learning English. according to the judge’s ruling in the Yazzie-Martinez case, Those students have historically not received the quality of education they have a right to under the New Mexico Constitution The effort to further tap the oil and gas funds for public schools in New Mexico has spanned years. With President Biden’s approval, it will finally cross the finish line. Trump attorney Jenna Ellis of Colorado under investigation for alleged misconduct. Jenna Ellis, the Colorado attorney who represented former President Donald Trump as he tried to overturn the 2020 election, is under investigation by the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel. Ellis has been the target of formal complaints regarding what critics characterized as her professional misconduct connected to Trump’s effort to reverse the results of a free and fair election. In May a complaint from the States United Democracy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, asked Colorado Attorney Regulation Counsel Jessica Yates to investigate Ellis for multiple alleged violations of professional rules and impose possible “substantial professional discipline.” In the final report of the U.S. House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, Ellis is described as the deputy to Trump campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani, The complaint says “Ellis made numerous public misrepresentations alleging fraud in the election — even as federal and state election officials repeatedly found that no fraud had occurred that could have altered the outcome and even as Mr. Trump and his allies brought and lost over 60 lawsuits claiming election fraud or illegality.” Among the many alleged instances of misconduct the complaint cites, it notes that Ellis urged lawmakers in various swing states to intervene on Trump’s behalf and even certify false electors for Trump, and it says she drafted dishonest memos purporting to give legal rationale for then-Vice President Mike Pence to block the congressional electoral count on Jan. 6, 2021. In a deposition Ellis gave to the Jan. 6 committee in March, a transcript of which the committee released this week, she indicates that Colorado is the only state where she has bar membership. During the deposition a questioner referred to a $22,500 invoice Ellis submitted to Trump for work she performed in December 2020 and January 2021. Ellis invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to answer whether she received payment. How to fund Colorado schools in ways that reflect student needs. How to open college opportunities to more students. How to narrow pandemic learning gaps, especially in math. When Colorado lawmakers convene Jan. 9, they’ll have pressing education issues to address, competing needs to balance, and a tricky budget to navigate. Expect bills that seek to address youth mental health, school safety, and teacher shortages. Lawmakers could find bipartisan agreement on efforts to improve math instruction and better connect higher education and job opportunities. But debates over rewriting the school finance formula and overhauling the school accountability system could divide Democrats. For a fifth session, Democrats will control both chambers and the governor’s office. They grew their majorities in November’s election. The Colorado General Assembly will be full of new members, many from the progressive wing of the party, potentially introducing new political dynamics. At the same time, lawmakers with a long history of engagement on education issues have moved into leadership positions. Members of a special committee on school finance, for example, now lead the House Democrats, the Senate Republicans, and the powerful Joint Budget Committee. The House Education Committee has at least four former teachers, a former school board member, and members with experience in mental health and higher education administration. Colorado economists expect the state to have more money in its 2023-24 budget, but inflation will play an outsize role controlling spending. And the risk of a recession could diminish revenue. Questions of short-term uncertainty and long-term sustainability will affect K-12 and higher education. Here are seven issues we’ll be watching in the 2023 legislative session: Is this the year? The interim committee on school finance has been trying for five years to rewrite a decades-old school finance formula that nearly everyone agrees is unfair. The current formula sometimes sends more money to well-off districts than to ones serving more students in poverty, and no school district wants to get less than they get now. Bret Miles, head of the Colorado Association of School Executives, said his members would object to a formula rewrite that “takes from one school district to give it to another.” State Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, chair of the Joint Budget Committee, said one of her priorities will be developing a “hold-harmless” provision for the new formula. Fewer students and higher local property tax revenues take some pressure off state education funding obligations. Lawmakers could use that cushion, she said, then phase in a new formula to ensure no district gets less than it does now. Brenda Dickhoner, president and CEO of the conservative education advocacy group Ready Colorado, expects Republicans to push their own priorities for school finance, which means more focus on money following students and less concern for the impact on district budgets. Dickhoner said she hopes all sides are “at the table thinking about how we can more equitably fund our students and really get to a student-focused formula.” State and national test data show that students’ math skills took a bigger hit from pandemic learning disruptions than did reading. Right now, Colorado doesn’t have the tools to address it. House Education Chair Barbara McLachlan said she’s working with Gov. Jared Polis’ office on legislation that would better train teachers on best practices in math instruction and make training available to parents so they can better support their children. In his November budget letter, Polis called on lawmakers to ensure that every school district adopts high-quality instructional materials and training and gets all students back on track in math. How to improve math skills also remains a priority for conservatives. Dickhoner said her organization is looking to higher-performing states for ideas. The push comes after years of intense focus on improving reading scores. Expect the debate over the math bills to mirror ones about reading instruction, including how much the state should be involved in setting curriculum. Last year Colorado flirted with fully funding its K-12 system after years of holding back money for other budget priorities. But a last-minute deal to reduce property tax increases would have reduced state revenues, and Democrat lawmakers held back. Getting more funding for schools is always a top priority for the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, but wiping out the withholding known as the budget stabilization factor and fully funding Colorado schools are unlikely to happen this year. Colorado will have less money overall after voters approved two ballot measures — one lowering the income tax rate and the other setting aside money for affordable housing. That shouldn’t cut into budgetary spending, but will reduce the buffer the state has in case of an emergency. Zenzinger said it’s important to increase K-12 spending and that lawmakers hope to do better than the $9.1 billion proposed by Polis in his budget recommendation. But budget writers also have their eye on long-term sustainability and any future recession. The picture is different for higher education, which has to fight for scraps. Polis wants to increase university budgets and financial aid by 6.8%. Schools are expected to make a case for more funding, especially to keep tuition low and because inflation exceeds that. Metropolitan State University of Denver President Janine Davidson said the school will seek more investment from lawmakers. Programs to help students from low-income backgrounds or who are the first to go to college in their family are costly, she said. And the state funds schools with a lower share than it did 30 years ago. Lawmakers also may address how to ensure students can get to and stay in college. Elaine Berman, Colorado Trustees Network chair, said college board members want more support for students who need skills or credentials for in-demand jobs. School trustees want more funds to build partnerships with businesses and communities to better connect college degrees to jobs, she said. Lawmakers also may explore how to make it easier for students to get college and workforce skills earlier, including extending opportunities in college and vocational schools. The Colorado Community College System also wants more college options for incarcerated people. The federal government will begin to allow those students access to federal grants, and the system wants the state to prepare for the changes. It’s also a priority for Representative-elect Matthew Martinez, D-Monte Vista, who led Adams State University’s prison education program. “I think it’s time that we really boost up education for this population,” Martinez said. Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Higher Education has a small agenda starting with removing military draft questions from college enrollment applications, which colleges report stops some students from enrolling. Advocacy groups plan to ask lawmakers to make filling out the FAFSA a requirement to graduate. That’s the federal application for financial aid, and each year Colorado students who don’t finish the form leave behind almost $30 million in federal grants. Plus students who fill out the FAFSA are more likely to go to college, according to research. “We want to make sure that we get it right,” said Kyra DeGruy Kennedy, Rocky Mountain region director for the advocacy group Young Invincibles. “And so if that means we have to wait another year, we’ll totally wait another year, but we are hopeful that this is a year that we’ll be able to make some progress on it.” The top priority of CASE, the school executives group, is convening a task force to consider changes to the school accountability system. They will press this even though a recent audit found that the system is largely “reasonable and appropriate” and that most schools receiving state intervention improve. Miles said the system still hurts school districts that receive low ratings called turnaround and priority improvement, even if the intentions are good. “It’s terrific that they make a difference,” he said of the state teams that work with schools with low test scores. “It doesn’t change the fact that it’s harder to hire in a turnaround school than a performance school” — the schools that meet state academic goals. Jen Walmer, state director of Democrats for Education Reform, said she expects any reform to be contentious, with debate about the makeup of the task force and the scope of its work — as well as whether Colorado needs a change at all. Katie Hobbs officially became Arizona’s governor on Monday, ushering in a new set of priorities and vision for the state and setting the stage for contentious battles with the GOP-controlled legislature. She was administered the oath of office by Roopali Desai, a friend and former attorney who became a federal judge in 2022. Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel administered the oaths of office for Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes The ascension of Hobbs to governor and the victories of Fontes and Mayes marks the first time since 1975 that Democrats have controlled the top three statewide posts. With it comes a new approach to governing that was immediately on display. Just hours after taking the oath of office, Hobbs issued an executive order prohibiting employment discrimination in state agencies and requiring them to adopt anti-discrimination policies. By contrast, when Ducey assumed office in 2015, his first action was an executive order aimed at making it more difficult for state agencies to create regulations. Hobbs campaigned on protecting abortion rights, funding public schools and making permanent programs like a child tax credit that would disproportionately benefit low- and middle-income families. “Today marks a new era in Arizona, where my Administration will work to build an Arizona for everyone,” Hobbs said in a written statement after being sworn in. “It’s time for bold action and I feel ready as ever to get the job done. Let’s get to work.” A public inauguration ceremony will be held at the state Capitol on Jan. 5. Colter Wall, playing the Mission Ballroom in Denver, two nights, Thursday and Friday January 19th and 20th. Colter Wall and his music are from the prairies of southern Saskatchewan, where he lives and raises cattle. He sings traditionals known to most, historic reverie, and poignant originals, sure to be raising both goosebumps and beers throughout the evening. His tour kicks off a month-long tour with 3 dates in Ft Worth and New Braunfels Texas next week, then Denver, Tulsa, OKC, St Louis, Memphis, Fayetteville AR, back to Dallas and finishing in Houston on Friday February 18. Colterwall.com Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Nevada Current, Colorado Newsline, Source NM, Chalkbeat Colorado, Arizona Mirror and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
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Attitude Reflects Leadership: A Chat With Michael Butler, Chair of the Missouri Democratic Party
00:53:51
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” |
Jan 03, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Welcome to 2023: GOP Base Made Sen. Blunt's Job Too Hard; Right Wingers Walk Back 2020; Kevin McCarthy's Weak and Feckless Position; Ranked Choice Voting On The Table?; Last Call preview, The One About George Santos.
01:11:28
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @msraitchetp (Post) Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO (Twitter) JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation”
THE LAST CALL https://dnyuz.com/2022/12/28/george-santos-faces-federal-and-local-investigations/ |
Jan 02, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, December 23, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:07:32
Host Kevin Smith @KevINmidMO brings a quick season ending recap of some of the happier stories from 2022 and well wishes for the year to come. |
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High Country - December 21, 2022 - Government and Politics News from the American West
00:10:22
Song plays Intro by host Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Go to heartlandpod.com for information on all our political podcasts, and a link to support our work on Patreon. Sign up as an Official PODhead for just $5 per month to access all our premium podcast segments and political writing. To join the conversation on Twitter, find us at THE Heartland POD. Alright! Let’s get into it: NEVADA CURRENT: BY JENIFFER SOLIS - MONDAY DECEMBER 19, 2022 5:25 AM Water authorities in the Western U.S. don’t have a crystal ball, but rapidly receding reservoirs uncovering sunken boats and other debris lost in their depths decades ago give a clear view of the hard choices ahead. If western states do not agree on a plan to safeguard the Colorado River — the source of the region’s vitality — there won’t be enough water for anyone. Water managers, researchers, agricultural producers and others from across the drought-stricken river basin met in Las Vegas last week for the Colorado River Water Users Association annual convention to face hard truths about the state of the river and historically-low levels of its biggest reservoirs. Two decades of drought and poor planning have caused the river’s biggest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — to drop to their lowest collective volume since they were filled. Rebecca Mitchell, director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board said “Time is not on our side. Hydrology is not on our side. That’s the frightening reality Every day that passes this problem gets harder and harder to solve.” The water could drop below what’s needed to generate power as soon as next year, according to water experts. If nothing is done there is a real possibility water levels in both reservoirs will drop so low in the next two years that water will no longer flow downstream to the 40 million people in the West who rely on the Colorado River. To put it in perspective, this winter both reservoirs were about a quarter full - 25%. In December 1999, Lake Powell was at 88% capacity, and Lake Mead was at 96% capacity. In 2021, Lower basin states faced their first-ever federally declared water shortage, which directs how much water states can draw from the Colorado River. Deeper cuts were declared this year. Ted Cooke, the general manager for the Central Arizona Project. In June, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton issued an ultimatum to states: Develop a plan to save 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water by next year — roughly one-fifth of their currently allocations—or the federal government will step in. During a panel discussion at last week’s convention in Las Vegas, representatives for the seven western states who rely on the Colorado River said reaching a compromise will be their collective priority for the next six months. They agree that the longer it takes to stabilize the river and conserve the water needed to keep the river functional, the more likely reservoir levels will continue to plummet, leaving states with fewer and fewer options. Just last week, all of Southern California was declared to be in a drought emergency by the Metropolitan Water District, the main water supplier for Los Angeles county. Officials for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation warned that aridification, the long-term shift to a drier climate, means even less snow runoff is making it to the river each year. Currently, there is nearly $4 billion set aside for the Colorado River that would allow the Bureau of Reclamation to use some funds to pay users to voluntarily forgo water use. “We have to accept that we can not cling to our entitlements or allocations. If they are not there none of it matters,” Mitchell continued. “Folks in the room have to be willing to let us make hard decisions, because this is going to be painful.” Becky Mitchell Colorado Water Conservation Board New Mexico’s HSD proposes medication-assisted treatment for incarcerated people BY: AUSTIN FISHER - DECEMBER 19, 2022 4:35 AM Beginning in 2024, New Mexico’s Medicaid program could start providing medication-assisted treatment to incarcerated people 30 days before they are released, along with a 30-day supply of medication when they leave. The hope is that this will be a step toward reducing the harms of criminalizing substance use disorder, and producing better outcomes. In a 275-page application to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services by the New Mexico Human Services Department published Friday, HSD says it hopes to ensure formerly incarcerated people stay on their medication after release, and don’t commit more crimes, end up in an emergency room or unhoused. At any given time in New Mexico, more than 14,000 people are held in state, local or youth correctional facilities, and nearly 50,000 people churn through local jails in the state each year. according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by ACLU-NM and Disability Rights New Mexico, New Mexico’s prison system forces people who are on medication for opioid use disorder, to withdraw from it when they enter prison. The lawsuit cites research showing that someone leaving incarceration is nearly 13 times more likely than the general population to die of an overdose in the first two weeks after their release. HSD wants to get people who are being held in jail before a trial, or who are imprisoned post-conviction, on Medicaid so they can get medication-assisted treatment while inside state prisons, local jails, youth correctional facilities, tribal holding facilities, tribal jails and at the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute. The department plans to focus on incarcerated people with serious mental health conditions, severe emotional disturbance, substance use disorder, or an intellectual or developmental disability. It estimates 7,500 people per year could benefit. The biggest election 2022 spender in Colorado? Jared Polis — by a long shot. Sandra Fish 3:41 AM MST on Dec 15, 2022 Democratic Gov. Jared Polis spent $12.6 million of his own money on his successful reelection bid this year, more than any other state-level candidate. May sound like a lot, Polis’ 2022 spending, however, didn’t come close to the more than $23 million of his own wealth spent in 2018 to win his first gubernatorial campaign. After Gov Polis, the No. 2 state-level political spender in Colorado this year was Total Wine & More at $12 million. That money went toward supporting Proposition 124, an unsuccessful ballot measure that would have let the retail giant open more liquor stores in Colorado. A few more highlights from the final campaign finance reports: Democratic candidates dominated spending on state-level statewide contests The Polis campaign spent more than three times the $3.7 million spent by his Republican opponent, who lost by more than 19 percentage points. Polis spent $9 per vote cast in his favor in the general election, less than the $9.72 per vote he spent in the 2018 general election and far less than the nearly $40 per vote he spent winning a four-way primary that year. The Democratic Attorneys General Association’s state super PAC spent $2.9 million supporting Phil Weiser against his GOP challenger, John Kellner. In the costliest state Senate contest, Jefferson County-based Senate District 20, Republican developer Tim Walsh loaned his campaign more than $1 million in his loss to Democratic state Rep. Lisa Cutter, who spent just $262,000. Democratic super PACs also outspent their Republican counterparts on state legislative races: All Together Colorado spent more than $11 million helping elect Democratic state Senate candidates, compared with the $8.5 million spent by Senate Majority Fund, which supported Republicans. Natural Medicine Colorado spent $4.46 per vote on Proposition 122, which legalized psilocybin mushrooms and was approved by nearly 54% of voters. Nearly $4.4 million of the total $5.8 million that was spent came from the national nonprofit New Approach and its federal PAC. Healthy School Meals For All Colorado Students spent $1.32 per vote in successfully passing Proposition GG, which eliminated a tax break for wealthy Coloradans so that schools can provide free meals to all students. Numerous nonprofits accounted for the committee’s $1.8 million in spending. COLORADO NEWSLINE: Mayor Hancock works to address influx of migrants BY: LINDSEY TOOMER - DECEMBER 15, 2022 3:37 PM Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has issued an emergency declaration so the city can more easily free up resources to support the ongoing influx of migrants into the city - having already spent upwards of $800,000 in city funds on the efforts. At a news conference at the city’s Emergency Operations Center Thursday, Hancock said about 700 unhoused migrants had arrived in recent weeks. And he isn’t sure how many more the city can expect. The original emergency shelter the city set up at a recreation center hit capacity with 275 people, leading to two more recreation centers being pulled into the effort. Hancock said at the news conference. “This influx of migrants, the unanticipated nature of their arrival, and our current space and staffing challenges have put an immense strain on city resources, to the level where they’re on the verge of reaching a breaking point. What I don’t want to see is a local humanitarian crisis of unsheltered migrants on our hands because of the lack of resources.” Mayor Hancock noted that most of the people seem to be coming through El Paso, Texas, and while the city has seen groups of migrants arriving for several months, only recently have they started arriving at the current volume and without notice. City officials say the migrants come from Central and South America, including Venezuela. Employees from multiple city agencies are being pulled from their regular duties and “working around the clock” to support them as they arrive, Hancock said. The city is most desperate for support when it comes to shelter space and staffing. Hancock asked that anyone who might have space that can serve as a shelter, or who can volunteer to help, reach out to the city’s Emergency Operations Center at donations@denvergov.org. He thanked the many city staff, volunteers, nonprofit and faith organizations that have already stepped up to support the city’s sheltering and reunification efforts. Hancock also thanked the hundreds of Denver residents who have donated clothing and supplies and asked for their continued patience as the city works through the situation. He said he has been in direct contact with Gov. Jared Polis as well as members of Colorado’s federal Congressional delegation to help identify additional resources to help. Mayor Hancock also said, “We are committed to doing what we can for the migrants and the asylum seekers who have come here. But here in Denver and cities all over this country are once again having to respond because of the failure of our Congress and federal government to address a very critical situation … I’m not trying to sound political, but I’m trying to sound pragmatic and practical. This is going to continue to happen, continue to overwhelm cities all over this country until Congress works on fixing the situation.” Denver first opened an emergency shelter at an undisclosed recreation center on Dec. 6. There’s an ongoing need for donations and local faith-based groups and nonprofits are continuing to assist the city with its efforts to support the migrants. The city has established a drop-off location for physical donations at Iglesia Ciudad de Dios located at 5255 W Warren Ave. in Denver. Donations are being accepted on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The city released a list of needed items, and noted that the list could change based on supply and demand: Coats (men’s S and M, women’s M) Pants (waist 30-33) Socks Underwear Winter apparel (hats, gloves, scarves, boots) Children’s clothing for ages 10 and younger Overall, the city said there is a high demand for new clothing for adults sizes small through large, with a special need for medium-sized clothing and winter weather clothing. The city is also asking local faith-based groups, non-profits and private sector partners to reach out if they are able to support its efforts by contacting the Emergency Operations Center at donations@denvergov.org. CONCERT PICK OF THE WEEK: The Roots, with support from Big KRIT: Tuesday December 27 at Denver’s Mission Ballroom. GA tickets are $60 and available at axs.com. The Roots then play San Francisco on Thursday December 29, and Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. In 2023, their only U.S. show is in Chicago, March 18. Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Colorado Sun, 9NEWS Denver, Nevada Current, Colorado Newsline, Source NM, and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
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Our Favorite Things: A 2022 Year End Review with special guest host - Jess Piper - PLUS a Last Call preview!
01:19:47
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO “Change The Conversation” FULL SHOW Plus a preview of the Last Call that's ALL about the Donald Trump NFT collection. Not to be missed! Yeah No… Oklahoma bill that would make every conversation a teacher has with a student potentially illegal Bonus yeah no: child abuser concerned he might not get to be around kids any more Our Favorite Things, The 2022 Year In Review Mt. Rushmore Of Politics End Of The Year Extravaganza Clearance Blowout Sale
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The Flyover View - December 16, 2022 - Government and Politics News from the Heartland
00:16:34
Host Kevin Smith dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
LIGHTNING ROUND
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Dec 16, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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It's A Wonderful Life: WTF is the deal with the Crypto run anyway?
01:03:08
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” Start here: https://prospect.org/videos/the-crypto-2008-speedrun/
Additional Required Reading:
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Dec 15, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E39 - Abandoning Santa and Switching to Switches
00:43:16
Can you abandon Santa to get rid of toxic screen time? Nicholas (former educator) and Kristina (Educational ASL Interpreter) unwrap the holidays with their three kids from disagreements about Santa, Puzzle-based Christmas Traditions, and a possible solution after a tough reckoning with too much unsupervised screen time. (Warning to Parents: This episode contains the Santa Spoiler.) |
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Harry Truman, BBQ, and Politics with MO Rep. Robert Sauls
00:27:50
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Guest: Robert Sauls, MO State Rep - WEBSITE Host “Change The Conversation”
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Dec 13, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics Dec. 12, 2022 | Mid-Term Victory Laps!; Book Bans For Freedom; Vicky's Crocodile Tears; Kyrsten's Playing 14 Dimensional Chess; Democratic Party Structure Atrophy In Heartland
01:10:15
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” MIDTERM PREDICTIONS VICTORY LAP! True or False
Yeah…No
Buy or Sell
The Big One MoDem twitter meltdown and what it says about the current relationship of the larger BIG D Democratic party to the heartland states
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Dirt Road Democrat | Trailer Episode
00:02:27
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD #DirtRoadDemocrat with host: Jess Piper @piper4missouri on all forms of social media! JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” Producer: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 |
Dec 11, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, December 9, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:17:45
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
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Dec 09, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The One Where Rachel Talks To Sean
00:40:34
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” |
Dec 08, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - Government and Politics News from the American West - 12.7.2022
00:16:43
Song plays Intro by host Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Go to heartlandpod.com for information on all our political podcasts, and a link to support our work on Patreon. Sign up as an Official PODhead for just $5 per month to access all our premium podcast segments and political writing. To join the conversation on Twitter, find us at THE Heartland POD. Alright! Let’s get into it: Tribes in six states awarded $73MM in new high-speed internet grants. Three Nevada tribes will receive $11.6 million for high-speed internet, in the latest round of “internet for all” grants, federal officials announced Wednesday. The funding will directly connect more than 800 homes on tribal lands in Nevada to high-speed internet, improving access to education, jobs, and healthcare on tribal lands. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said “The Biden administration is committed to fostering meaningful partnerships with Tribal Nations, which have been vital to our goal of connecting everyone in America, with affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service,” So far, about $1.6 billion has been awarded to 121 tribal nations with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed last year. Those funds have connected more than 3,100 unserved Native American households that previously had no connectivity to high-speed Internet, as well as businesses and community institutions. These awards are part of a series of commitments the Biden administration announced Wednesday to strengthen nation-to-nation engagement between the federal government and Tribal Nations. The Walker River Paiute Tribe in Mineral County will receive more than $6 million to install fiber internet directly to more than 400 households, 22 community institutions, and 10 tribal businesses. The Duckwater Shoshone Tribe in Nye County is set to receive more than $3 million to install fiber internet to nearly 80 homes and 11 tribal institutions. The Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe in Churchill County will be awarded nearly $2 million to directly connect more than 300 households. Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who has pushed for more broadband funding on tribal lands, praised the announcement Wednesday. “Throughout my time in the Senate, I’ve worked to make sure Tribes in Nevada have access to critical broadband,” she said. “I made sure these funds would get to Tribes in Nevada in a timely and efficient fashion, and I’m committed to helping Nevadans in every community access the critical educational, business, health care, and cultural resources that the internet provides.” Additionally, the national Affordable Connectivity Program - ACP - provides a discount of $30 per month toward Internet service for eligible households, and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying tribal lands. You’re eligible for the benefit If you currently receive SNAP benefits, are on Medicaid, or earn less than 200% of the federal poverty line. That’s about $27K for a single person household, or $55K for a family of four. To Apply, visit AffordableConnectivity.gov COLORADO SUN: Colorado Democrats ready to move on gun safety laws. A host of changes to Colorado’s gun laws, from a ban on assault weapons to tweaks to the existing red flag law, are already being considered by Democrats at the state Capitol in response to the shooting last month at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. “Pretty much everything is on the table,” according to Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat. “The question now is: What is the highest priority?” Democrats will return to the Colorado Capitol in early January with expanded majorities in both the House and Senate, and facing pressure to act after the state’s latest mass shooting. Five people were killed and more than a dozen others wounded in a Nov. 19 attack on Club Q, allegedly carried out by a 22-year-old shooter armed with a semi-automatic, AR-15-style rifle. “Tay” Anderson, a Denver School board member, posted on Twitter that Democrats should immediately use their majority at the Capitol to pass an assault weapons ban. Saying “If folks refuse to act, vote them out,” Senate President Fenberg, who said gun control conversations were underway even before the Club Q shootings, said a ban on assault weapons is certainly a possibility. The challenge is figuring out how to write the law - how to define what an assault weapon is, what should happen to weapons already in the possession of Colorado residents, and how to address people traveling through Colorado to neighboring states where the weapons are permitted. It’s more likely that Democrats pursue other changes to Colorado’s gun laws first, such as raising the minimum age to purchase a rifle or shotgun to 21 from 18. The minimum age to purchase handguns in Colorado is already 21. Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Centennial Democrat, is working on changing the minimum age to purchase a gun. He initially wanted to raise the age only for so-called assault weapons, but thinks a broader change would be easier. “That will save us having to come up with a definition of what assault weapons are,” said Sullivan, whose son, Alex, was murdered in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting. “And that seems to be the consensus that we’re hearing from the rest of the Democratic caucus.” There are also discussions about enacting a waiting period that looks like those passed in California and Hawaii, which have 10- and 14-day waiting periods, respectively. Illinois has a 72-hour waiting period after purchases a firearm, before they can access it. Colorado already requires universal background checks on all gun purchases, and has laws limiting gun magazines to 15 rounds, and requiring the safe storage of firearms. People whose guns are lost or stolen must make a report with law enforcement, as well, and there is a statute temporarily barring people convicted of certain violent misdemeanors from purchasing firearms. Colorado counties and municipalities are also now allowed to enact gun regulations that are more stringent than the state’s policies after the legislature in 2021 repealed a preemption law. When it comes to Colorado’s red flag law, a 2019 policy that lets judges order the temporary seizure of firearms from people deemed a significant risk to themselves or others - legislators might expand the list of who can petition a judge to initiate a red flag proceeding. Right now, law enforcement and family members are effectively the only groups allowed to petition a judge to order a seizure. Gov. Jared Polis has expressed support for adding district attorneys to the list, and others have suggested the attorney general’s office, and teachers should be allowed to request seizures as well. The Colorado legislature reconvenes on Jan. 9. COLORADO NEWSLINE: $35 insulin price cap coming to Medicare in January. A recent U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report showed drug companies increased prices for several drugs by more than 500% since 2016. But starting next month, a $35 cap on insulin prices will go into effect for millions of Medicare recipients. The lower pricing is one of the first of several policy measures Americans will see under the Inflation Reduction Act, passed without a single Republican vote and signed into law in August. The insulin cap benefits Medicare Part D recipients, who also no longer have to meet a deductible on their insulin. A $35 cap on insulin pumps for Medicare Part B recipients goes into effect July 1, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicare patients spent $1 billion on insulin in 2020, and an estimated 16.5% of people with diabetes rationed their insulin in the past year, which can be extremely harmful to their health or even fatal. According to an analysis of the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act from the Center for American Progress, an elderly middle class couple could save as much as $2,400 per year on insulin. ARIZONA MIRROR: AZ SOS Katie Hobbs recommends criminal prosecutions for Cochise County supervisors who refused to certify their election results. Hobbs wrote to Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre, that without repercussions, the decision of supervisors Tom Crosby and Peggy Judd not to certify their results could encourage future violations, further eroding election integrity in the state, and stomping on the will of Arizona voters. “Supervisors Crosby and Judd’s actions not only demonstrate a complete disregard for the law but also jeopardize Arizona’s democracy,” she wrote. “Had a court not intervened, the failure of these two Supervisors to uphold their duty would have disenfranchised thousands of Cochise County voters. This blatant act of defying Arizona’s election laws risks establishing a dangerous precedent that we must discourage.” Crosby and Judd threw the Arizona state certification process into disarray last month, when they delayed their official canvassing of the midterm election results in Cochise County, citing bogus claims that electronic tabulators didn’t meet required standards. It was only after a court ordered them to complete their statutorily mandated duties that they did so on Dec. 1, days after the Nov. 28 deadline. Their actions put the official statewide canvass in jeopardy, as Hobbs must meet a Dec. 5 deadline to certify the results. She can only push that deadline as far as Dec. 8. If she decided to go ahead with the process without the results from Cochise County, a heavily Republican region, more than 47,000 voters could have seen their ballots ignored and a number of races would have flipped in favor of Democratic candidates. The responsibilities of county supervisors are clearly laid out in state law and the state’s Election Procedures Manual, Hobbs said, and they are non-negotiable. And, Crosby and Judd were given ample notification of the consequences. “Supervisors Crosby and Judd knew they had a statutory requirement to canvass the election by November 28, but instead chose to act in violation of the law, putting false election narratives ahead of Cochise County’s voters,” Hobbs wrote. Hobbs, who was elected governor in the election, wrote that the two Republicans violated several state laws, with penalties ranging from a class 3 misdemeanor to a class 6 felony. If Crosby and Judd were convicted of a felony, their right to vote would be revoked. They also stand to lose their elected office: State law deems an elected office vacant if the officeholder is convicted of a felony or any “offense involving a violation of the person’s official duties”. This is the second call for an investigation into the Supervisors possibly criminal acts - Earlier this week, former Attorney General Terry Goddard and Maricopa County Attorney Richard Romley wrote to outgoing AG Brnovich requesting he hold Crosby and Judd accountable. It’s likely that Attorney General-elect Kris Mayes will make the final decision on whether to prosecute, once she takes office in January. In a statement, she said she agrees with the request from Hobbs’ office to begin an investigation, and said that it is through that process that a decision on what further response, if any, is appropriate. COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE: Didn’t we do this a Justices signal support for web designer who won’t help gay couples with weddings The conservative majority appeared ready to answer a question the high court dodged four years ago: Must creative businesses put aside their religious beliefs to accommodate the beliefs of protected groups? WASHINGTON (CN) — A six-year crusade came to a head at the Supreme Court on Monday, pitting Colorado's nondiscrimination law against a Christian website designer who refuses to create wedding websites for same-sex couples. It was unsurprising that the narrow question at the center of the case perplexed many of the justices, since the high court passed up on answering it only four years ago. In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the court ruled in favor of a cakemaker refusing his services to a same-sex couple, but declined to expand the ruling much beyond the case in front of them. Lorie Smith's case brings that topic to a head. Stating that her Christian beliefs confine marriage only to heterosexual couples, Smith argues that Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws - protecting LGBTQ+ Coloradans as well as others - violate her free speech rights. Smith’s attorney argued that “Colorado is declaring her speech a public accommodation, and insists that she create and speak messages that violate her conscience.” After two and a half hours of arguments, the conservative majority appeared inclined to agree. The liberal wing of the court expressed concern that a ruling for Smith could snowball into a free speech loophole allowing discrimination. Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned where the court would draw the line, on what kind of discrimination would be permitted - noting that the same arguments could be made for interracial marriage or even for excluding people with disabilities. The hypothetical-heavy arguments included almost every culture-wars issue on the books including discrimination on race, religion, sexual orientation and political preference. These scenarios conveyed a worry by some justices about how far even a narrow ruling in the case could extend. Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson said Smith’s request for a free-speech exemption clause to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act would equate to a “license to discriminate.” “The free speech protection the company seeks here is sweeping, because it would apply not just to sincerely held religious beliefs as in this case, but also to all sorts of racist, sexist and bigoted views,” Olson said. “This rule would allow another web design company to say no to interracial couples, an ad agency could refuse to run ads for women-led businesses, and a tech consulting company could refuse to serve the web designer here, because it disagreed with her views on marriage. Where exactly to draw the line between free speech and anti-discrimination laws eluded many of the justices. This was partly because Smith brought the justices a preenforcement suit - she filed her suit against the state of Colorado before any same-sex couple actually requested her services. This creates difficulties for the justices in deciding a ruling. Justice Elena Kagan said the reason for the multitude of hypotheticals during oral argument was due to the lack of facts in the case - which make the justices’ ruling all the more difficult. Kagan said “It really depends on the facts, and on what exactly Ms. Smith is being asked or compelled to do.” I could definitely be wrong, but as far as I can tell, the actual free speech claim isn’t really justiciable without a real action from the state against the business owner. Seems like it’s not ripe, as they say. But the court, in its infinite power, could rule on whether the 1st Amendment Free Speech clause of the Constitution provides an out for companies looking to discriminate against certain customers. You might be thinking, doesn’t the U.S. Constitution protect all Americans from discrimination based on sex? It does - but that protection only applies to discriminatory actions by the state. So the state can’t deny you a marriage license because of your sex or your partner’s sex. The state can’t deny you employment or throw you in jail, either - anymore. Here, it’s a business that wants the right to turn away same-sex couples, and the state is looking to enforce a state anti-discrimination law - which may or may not conflict with the business owner’s protected free speech. It’s not a slam dunk that the conservative Supreme Court will rule for the anti-gay web designer, though. No small number of right-wing attorneys have made their entire careers using anti-discrimination laws on behalf of white people, to unravel protections for marginalized groups. If college admissions boards, for example, decide that admitting too many white students is not the ‘statement’ they want to make - the ruling against the gay couple might undermine its own rulings on affirmative action practices. The Supreme Court has a highly interesting - and highly secretive - process of passing opinions back and forth to each other. Picking apart each other’s arguments, and putting their heads together before the actual ruling comes out. We won’t get much of a picture into that, but you can bet this year’s Supreme Court clerks are going to be busy. CONCERT PICK OF THE WEEK: Allman Family Revival - featuring Duane Betts, Cody and Luther Dickinson, Samantha Fish, Jimmy Hall, Maggie Rose, Larry McCray, Orbi Orbison, Donovan Frankenreiter, and the River Kittens. And whether you go to the concert or not - Check out the River Kittens. St. Louis' homegrown duo of Soulful, Harmonious, Folk music. They’re awesome. Upcoming shows in Nashville, St. Louis, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and the tour closes out at the Fillmore in San Francisco next Saturday Dec 17th. Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from Courthouse News Service, Colorado Sun, Nevada Current, Arizona Mirror, Colorado Newsline, and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
Dec 07, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | Maggie Garrett from American's United For Separation of Church and State
00:30:13
Host: Adam Sommer JOIN ON PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” Guest: Maggie Garrett Twitter: https://twitter.com/maggiefgarrett Americans United: https://www.au.org/about-au/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/americansunited Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americansunited Americans United (AU) is the only organization dedicated solely to defending the separation of church and state. We are the shield protecting the foundational American principle of freedom of religion — including the right to believe or not believe — for all. |
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Talkin' Politics December 5, 2022 | BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!; Georgia's Runoff; Jay's Letter and JoRsh's Vote on the Respect For Marriage Act; Yellen Says Crypto Needs Regulations; Dems Make Primary Changes; Newt Gingrich Is Concerned
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Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO JOIN PATREON FOR MORE! “Change The Conversation” True or False
Ya Don’t F***in’ say…
Buy or Sell
The Big One
LAST CALL - HUNTER BIDEN’S HOG 
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The Flyover View, December 2, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:19:56
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland.
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Let's Have A Chat | "Getting To Know You" Rachel Turns The Mic Around For A Chat With Adam
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Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP “Change The Conversation” |
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The Delta, E38 - Unforgivable: The Pursuit of TEPSLF
00:33:41
Nicholas (former science teacher) and Kristina (educational ASL Interpreter) tell the story of his fight for TEPSLF and eventual denial of forgiveness of student loans despite 11 years of teaching in public schools. Through laughs they consider the impact removing this incentive for an overwhelmed and exhausted teacher workforce will have on keeping schools open while political interests continue to.defunding education. |
Nov 30, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | Energy, Renewables, and The Decentralized Grid with James Owen of Renew Missouri
00:33:22
Host: Adam Sommer “Change The Conversation” Guest: James Owen with Renew Missouri Twitter: @RenewMO Clean Air Moms https://www.cleanairmomsaction.org/ https://twitter.com/momsaction Find Their Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-renew-gurus/id1418737016 Renew Missouri was founded in 2006 to advance renewable energy and energy efficiency in the state of Missouri. In that time, Renew Missouri has advanced legislation, passed statewide ballot initiatives, crafted local ordinances, and represented these interests before state regulators on hundreds of cases. Renew Missouri works through lobbying efforts as well as public advocacy to change the conversation around renewable energy in rural areas. |
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Talkin' Politics Nov. 28, 2022 | What's Next? Moving On From The 2022 Midterms
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Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO “Change The Conversation” |
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Thanksgiving 2022 Family Feast: "Eating Is A Spectrum"
01:05:40
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Kevin Smith @KevInMidMO “Change The Conversation” Our entire podcast family comes together to talk about some Thanksgiving related topics including: Favorite Wednesday night before activity Early meal or late meal One item you have to have or it isn’t Thanksgiving Something you’re thankful for this past year Bonus: The “but why” dish |
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Talkin' Politics | November 21, 2022
01:00:08
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO “Change The Conversation”
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The Flyover View, November 18, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:18:27
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
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Talkin' Politics/Flyover View Crossover | Kevin Smith, regular host of "The Flyover View" on Fridays, joins Rachel Parker for a crossover session of Talkin' Politics
00:46:18
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Nov 17, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Government and Politics News from the American West - November 16, 2022
00:10:51
Song plays Intro by host Welcome to High Country - politics in the American West. My name is Sean Diller; regular listeners might know me from Heartland Pod’s Talking Politics, every Monday. Go to heartlandpod.com for information on all our political podcasts, and a link to support our work on Patreon. Sign up as an Official PODhead for just $5 per month to access all our premium podcast segments and political writing. To join the conversation on Twitter, find us at THE Heartland POD. Alright! Let’s get into it: NEVADA CURRENT: The Cowardly Lombardo. In his first public event since being elected governor of Nevada, Joe Lombardo refused to allow the Nevada Current and the Las Vegas Sun to cover what was billed as a victory speech. Shutting the Current out of his celebratory event was an extension of the Lombardo team’s practice throughout the campaign – along with multiple Republican candidates nationwide – to refuse to provide campaign statements, notices of events, or other information to the press. The campaign told the Current Monday morning that they couldn’t be allowed to cover the event because it was “at capacity for press right now.” Subsequent photographs of the event showed that statement from the campaign was patently false - with row upon row of empty seats in the sparsely populated high school auditorium where Lombardo gave his victory speech. Such mendacity from Lombardo and his team comes as no surprise. But most concerning going forward, is the prospect that as governor, Lombardo, his office, and publicly financed executive branch government offices under his purview, will refuse to provide independent journalists and other media organizations with public information. Lombardo’s campaign presented its candidate to the public as an upright lawman of character, honesty, integrity and strength. But subverting the people’s right to transparent and accountable government, and hiding from the press is just cowardly. COLORADO NEWSLINE: With Lauren Boebert slightly ahead in Colorado, the race to cure ballots is on. The extremely tight race between MAGA darling U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and moderate Democrat Adam Frisch became a contest of cured ballots this week, as the two candidates worked to rally their voters and ensure every one of their ballots is counted. On Tuesday afternoon, the difference between the candidates’ totals remained at over 1,000 votes: a narrow spread for sure, but still above the threshold that would trigger an automatic, state-funded recount. At the current numbers, if Frisch comes within about 830 votes, then a recount would be triggered. Vote tallies will change through the end of Wednesday as ballots continue to arrive from military and overseas voters, and as flawed ballots are “cured'' by voters. When tabulators reject a ballot, often due to a discrepancy between the voter’s signature on the ballot and the official state voter registration records, the voter has an opportunity to resolve, or cure, the problem and have their vote count. The Frisch team is trying to win cured ballots this week by getting the word out to voters about the curing process, encouraging use of the state’s TXT2Cure mobile phone-based curing system, and on-the-ground voter engagement. A Frisch campaign spokesperson said “A lot of the curable ballots tend to skew a lot younger, and others who don’t have as much experience voting. We think that we probably will perform better among younger voters, so we think that probably there’s more curable ballots for us than for Lauren Boebert.” The Frisch campaign also believes cured ballots from unaffiliated voters, not just registered Democrats, will skew their way. That sentiment was seconded by Matt Crane, a Republican who heads the Colorado County Clerks Association. Crane said. “Unaffiliated voters wanted to punish the hell out of the Republican Party in Colorado this year. And they sure did. It’s probably a better pool for Democrats to go and try to cure unaffiliated ballots than it is for Republicans, just based on the way the election went.” A spokesperson for Boebert did not reply to a message seeking comment. Ballot curing must be completed by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, and updated results are expected to be available Thursday. Colorado law requires an automatic recount, also known as a statutory recount, if the apparent winner is ahead by 0.5% or less. During such a recount, the secretary of state’s office would delay certification of the race and neither candidate would be declared representative-elect until resolution of the recount, which must be completed by Dec. 13. COLORADO NEWSLINE: Congresswoman Caraveo focused on healthcare and climate change. Yadira Caraveo, a Colorado state representative, stood at a lectern Thursday in the backyard of her childhood home in Adams County north of Denver. Her parents, who immigrated from Mexico and moved to the Denver-area home when Caraveo was in second grade, watched from a balcony as their daughter addressed reporters for the first time as the Democratic U.S. representative-elect from Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. And the first Latina to represent Colorado in Congress. Dr Caraveo said “This hill behind me is where my siblings and I used to slide down and make mud piles, and the house behind us is where I spent many, many hours studying to get through high school, through college and through medical school,” Dr. Caraveo is a pediatrician in the community. She went on to say she was able to do this because of the hard work of her parents. The new 8th District was the state’s most competitive based on previous elections, and unofficial results show Caraveo won by a margin of less than one percentage point. The district also has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents, at 39%, and includes the northern Denver suburbs, extending into parts of Weld County and Greeley. Caraveo said her top priorities in Congress include health care and climate change. She cited the obstacles she faced as a doctor trying to treat young patients. “The medical training that I had was not enough to beat the system that we had,” she said. “And so a lot of my effort is going to go into that system to make sure that it’s not about insurance companies or drug companies.” Caraveo alluded to striking a balance on her environmental agenda. The 8th District includes parts of Weld County, which produces the most oil and gas in the state, by far . “We have a very important oil and gas industry that gives people like the families at my clinic great jobs, but I also see kids struggling to breathe every single day and I’ve had to send them to the hospital to be put on oxygen.” she said The Colorado delegation from Colorado that will join Congress in January will also include Democrats Diana DeGette from the 1st District, Joe Neguse from the 2nd District, Jason Crow from the 6th District and Brittany Pettersen from the 7th District; and Republicans Ken Buck from the 4th District and Doug Lamborn from the 5th District. The race for the 3rd District between Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert and Democratic challenger Adam Frisch is still too close to call. Republicans in Arizona and elsewhere have insisted that the days-long tabulation of early ballots, particularly in Maricopa County, is a sign the election might be being stolen. They’re flat wrong about the history, however: Final election results have never been available on Election Night in any Arizona county. What’s changed isn’t anything about the vote-counting, but that Arizona has gone from a ruby red state where Republicans dominated most elections — to a deep purple state where races up and down the ballot have been extremely close. Those close races mean candidates, voters, pundits and the national media are focusing intently on Arizona’s post-Election Day tallies. For example: in the Nov. 2, 2004 presidential election, the final results came on November 15, 13 days later. In the Nov. 7, 2006 midterm election Final results: Nov. 19 Lag time: 12 days Nov. 4, 2008 presidential election Final results: Nov. 21 Lag time: 17 days Nov. 2, 2010 midterm election Final results: Nov. 17 Lag time: 15 days Nov. 6, 2012 presidential election Final results: Nov. 20 Lag time: 14 days Nov. 4, 2014 midterm election Final results: Nov. 18 Lag time: 14 days Nov. 8, 2016 presidential election Final results: Nov. 18 Lag time: 10 days Nov. 6, 2018 midterm election Final results: Nov. 20 Lag time: 14 days Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election Final results: Nov. 13 Lag time: 10 days None of that has stopped Arizona GOP candidates and their allies across the country from crying foul about the process that has existed in the Grand Canyon State since the early 1990s, when Republicans here pioneered no-excuse early mail-in voting. Kari Lake, the GOP nominee for governor, has insisted that Arizonans knew the Maricopa County results and the overall result of their elections on Election Night - until 2020. Records from Maricopa County elections over the past 22 years show that has never been the case. Media outlets, like the Associated Press, might have called races in the past when election night returns showed that one candidate would clearly win, but the fastest the county has released final results in a midterm election since 2000 was six days, in 2002. In Maricopa County, a record 290,000 people dropped off their early ballots on Election Day this year. Elections workers didn’t even begin to start counting those ballots until Wednesday morning. Before those ballots are tabulated, their barcodes are scanned to ensure that they came from a registered voter who hasn’t cast another ballot in this election. Then elections workers check the signature on the envelope against past signatures from the voter. After that, a bipartisan team separates the ballot from the envelope and checks that the voter received the correct ballot. Once all those steps are completed, the county can tabulate the ballot. All the ballots have never been counted in one day. ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS: Colorado legalizes psychedelic mushrooms. Ten years after leading the nation in legalizing the sale of cannabis, Colorado became the second state in the U.S. to permit psilocybin, or "magic," mushrooms. Oregon was the first state to do so. As of 2 p.m. on Nov. 10, data from the Colorado Secretary of State's Office showed the Natural Medicine Health Act — voted on as Proposition 122 — was on the path to a slim approval, with 51.6% of voters supporting the measure. The measure will allow people 21 and older to grow and share psilocybin mushrooms, as well as create state-regulated centers where people could make appointments to consume the fungi. The proposition will also create “healing centers” to give clients mushrooms in a supervised setting, but will not create "mushroom dispensaries," in the same way cannabis is sold and purchased. Proponents of the ballot measure claim mushroom consumption has helped address their mental health issues in ways traditional pharmaceuticals did not, particularly when the mushrooms were taken in small doses, a method called microdosing. Gov. Jared Polis has until Jan. 31 to appoint 15 members to the Natural Medicine Advisory Board, which will report to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Nevada Current, Arizona Mirror, Colorado Newsline, Rocky Mountain PBS, and Denver’s Westword Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
Nov 16, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Wisconsin, Missouri, and Midterm Lessons & Outcomes | Ada m Sommer has a chatwith Anders Hanhan of "Our Wisconsin Revolution
00:37:13
Show Info & Link For Patreon: Heartlandpod.com "Change The Conversation" Adam Sommer - @Adam_Sommer85 Anders Hanhan is a college student living in Appleton. He is currently majoring in Political Science and Environmental Studies at Lawrence University. Originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota, after being activated by Bernie Sanders' run for president, Anders became involved with the Sunrise Movement and advocating for a Green New Deal in Wisconsin. He is particularly passionate about climate change issues as well as Medicare for All, and labor rights. Anders is excited to help Our Wisconsin Revolution's endorsed candidates and particularly interested in building the organizations power by getting more strong voices into local elected offices. Our Wisconsin Revolution is about making Wisconsin a true democracy — with a government & economy that are of, by and for the people.Shake up the system. Challenge the establishment. Stand for progressive principles. Work for fundamental change. Fight for the working class. Join us.Our Wisconsin Revolution is a homegrown movement started here in our state by people living here. OWR’s formation was inspired by Bernie Sanders’ run for president in 2016 and his call for a political revolution, and is part of a national movement. Our name connects us to that national movement of people all over the country supporting a new generation of progressive leaders and empowering millions to fight for progressive change and transforming our political and economic systems to once again be responsive to the needs of working families. Our Wisconsin Revolution is about countering money power with people power. It’s about revolutionizing our politics by mobilizing the power of organized people against the reckless abuse of power by rich elites. We’re sick of what’s happening in this country and this state, where public life has been coarsened and corrupted by a swarm of greedy, rules-rigging, billionaire takers. We believe our state and nation can be set right by organized citizen action. Our goal is to do everything we can to make Wisconsin a democracy—with a government and an economy that are of, by, and for the people. |
Nov 15, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | Post Midterm 2022: The Purple Drank, Our Main Takeaways From 2022 Midterms, Our Victory Laps, MAGA Death Rattle, JoRsh Hawley Runs Scared (AGAIN) and more!
01:35:29
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO “Change The Conversation” True or False:
Yeah… NO:
Buy or Sell:
LAST CALL: Way too early look at 2024 |
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The Flyover View, November 11, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:17:52
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
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Nov 11, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E37 - Blue Dots in a Red State
00:29:47
Following the midterm maps, Nicholas (educator) and Kristina (educational ASL interpreter) reflect on how their family is reframing views on being "blue dots in red states." From drawing a comparison to squid skin, they ask: Are we defeating ourselves because being unique requires loneliness? |
Nov 10, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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2022 Midterms LIVE (Audio Replay POD)
02:13:21
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO “Change The Conversation”
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Nov 09, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Adam's Final Midterm Message for 2022
00:14:20
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Nov 08, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | Lawyers, Guns, and Money & Our Midterm 2022 Best Bet Predictions & Last Call Preview!
01:47:02
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO “Change The Conversation”
LAST CALL: HOLY SHIT, DOING A POLITICAL PODCAST IN CYCLE - WHAT WE LEARNED |
Nov 07, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, November 4, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:19:37
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland with a Special Midterm Election Report
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Nov 04, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MO Votes! | Missouri Ballot Initiatives for 2022 Midterm Ballot Explained
00:50:31
Co-Hosts: Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker Guest: Reece Ellis Sign Up at Heartland POD Patreon For Extras! “”Change The Conversation.” All Ballot Measures: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/petitions/2022BallotMeasures\ Amendment 1: This one comes to us FROM the Missouri general assembly, in other words Republicans wanted to put this on in order to add it to the constitution. The question: Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
This basically shifts greater discretion to the State Treasurer to make decisions on how to invest money. It COULD have a monetary benefit to the state of a couple million dollars, but that is not a guarantee. The reality here is that there is a huge push by the GOP to end what they call “woke” investments - basically divest all public money from anything that looks like green energy or touches a company that might be friendly to equity and equal rights. This one is an EASY NO for me, we don’t need this change. It’s a political move - not a public benefit move. Just another way for the GOP to fight a culture war that they have invented. Current Text of Constitution in question: https://ballotpedia.org/Article_IV,_Missouri_Constitution#:~:text=Section%2015,-Text%20of%20Section&text=The%20state%20treasurer%20shall%20be,by%20the%20department%20of%20revenue. Proposed Change: https://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills211/hlrbillspdf/0587H.03T.pdf Amendment 4: this one is really simple - yet again we have the missouri GOP majority trying to take over local control wherever they can to keep democrats from having any say in policy - Amendment 4 would change a current provision of law that requires the city of Kansas City to provide 20% of its city budget to the city policy department by requiring that be a 25% allocation. Why? Because the KC City counsel, a local government body made up of locally elected official took money from the budget and that made people made. It’s really that simple. Republicans from hours away want to tell the folks in KC how to spend their money. Another very easy NO vote for me. Amendment 5: This amendment moves the control of the national guard into amore direct line from the Governor’s office. I’ve seen democrats opposed to this one, I’ve also talked to folks involved with the national guard and overall this amendment seems to make Missouri’s set up similar to nearly every other state - I understand the argument from some Democrats that this is just a political power move here, I’m not so sure that argument holds water. That being said, I’m also not sure I see the point of this amendment OTHER than to give the Governor more power. And for that reason alone, Im a NO vote on amendment 5, but I’m not sure in the end it truly matters which way this goes. Constitutional Convention: Missouri law requires that every 20 years the voters have a chance to vote to have a constitutional convention. The law provides for procedures and, in reality, would be quite a show. It would be interesting, but unlikely to be worth much. Even IF the convention came up with proposals, all of those proposals would then have to go to the voters for ratification. I’ve seen a handful of Dems pushing this issue as a chance to use the ballot box for issues - in a reliance that MO voters continue our streak of supporting more progressive measures when they are not tied to a political party - but I think that is a drastic miscalculation of how the parties will interact with proposed amendments. I’m a NO on this one. Amendment 3: Perfect or good? https://empowermissouri.org/amendment-3/  Reece Ellis very smart thread on twitter: https://twitter.com/TheReeceEllis/status/1587421773624229892
Emerson college pollWhen it comes to Missouri Amendment 3, legalizing the recreatiooters-back-marijuana-legalization-ballot-initiative-in-new-poll-but-support-is-tightening-a-week-before-election-day/nal use of marijuana, 47% of the respondents plan to support the measure. Meanwhile, 39% plan to oppose it, and 14% are still unsure. Summary Articles: |
Nov 03, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - Politics, Government and Elections News from the American West - November 2, 2022
00:10:29
Follow the money in Colorado's U.S. Senate race | Sen. Michael Bennet smacks down dishonest attack repeated by GOP challenger Joe O'Dea | Arizona cannabis sales set to top $1 Billion for 2nd year in a row - monthly tax revenue is about $20 Million | Flagstaff Arizona bond issue would provide $20 Million for affordable housing | Smashing Pumpkins and Jane's Addiction tour wraps in L.A. on November 19
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Nov 02, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Let's Have A Chat | The Kids Are Alright - Truman State Students Discuss Their Political Science Projects Looking at Missouri Elections
00:35:32
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 “Change The Conversation”
Adam Sommer is joined for a chat by Truman State students, Jack Eichholz, Megan Nesbitt, Emily O'Leary, and Colleen O'Reilly. The group are all part of a class project looking at Missouri political races in the midterms for 2022 including fact checking both Republicans and Democrats along with a project aimed at blogging in favor of Trudy Busch Valentine, for Senate. |
Nov 01, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Talkin' Politics | Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics; Record Oil Profits During Crisis; 2022 Early Voting Advantage for Dems?; Paul Pelosi Attack and Ratcheted Up Political Rhetoric
01:29:56
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPODCo-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
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Oct 31, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, October 28, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:18:57
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
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Oct 28, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Disinformation, Propaganda, and Dark Brandon | With Guest Julie Hotard, PHD and Disinformation Expert
00:27:24
Adam on Twitter: @Adam_Sommer85 Julie on Twitter: @upine
Click/Tap here: Sing up for Patreon for exclusive access to extras! "Change the conversation." |
Oct 27, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E36: Voting for Vacuums
00:29:46
Are they really gonna make us vote for these vacuums? Nicholas (educator) & Kristina (educational ASL interpreter) tie polls about the general election to predictions in science classes and door-to-door vacuum cleaner sales. |
Oct 26, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Trish Gunby Is Back For a Chat About Her Run For Congress In The MO-2nd District
00:28:48
Adam on Twitter: @Adam_Sommer85 Trish on Twitter: @TrishForMO
Click/Tap here: Sing up for Patreon for exclusive access to extras! |
Oct 25, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Competent State Leadership Is A Luxury | Bannon Sentenced, Trump Did Crimes With His Lawyer | Increased Abortion Education | Bold Midterm 2022 Predictions | Last Call Preview
01:25:52
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP “Change The Conversation”
LAST CALL The Media Trump Darling Complex “Trump has been laying the groundwork”...is a drinking game now? Tulsi is back The great Taylor Branch gets it: https://twitter.com/taylorbranch/status/1583807655067324418 |
Oct 24, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View, October 21, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:17:26
HEADLINE 1: Contamination in Springfield’s groundwater, and Missouri knew for Decades - STLPR An investigation by the Midwest Newsroom and St. Louis Public Radio has found that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the company Litton Systems, a former defense contractor that had employed thousands of people in Springfield to make circuit boards for the Navy and telecommunications industry, knew as early as 1993 that contamination beyond the company’s property into the surrounding community “had undoubtedly occurred,”. Litton used a toxic solvent called trichloroethylene (TCE) to wash the circuit boards and for years improperly disposed of it. The pollutant leached into the groundwater and into aquifers deep below the ground. It then spread to nearby properties, where it made its way into wells that supplied water to those who lived and worked near Litton. A review of thousands of pages of government records and interviews found that DNR employees raised concerns about the contamination and implored the agency to force Litton to investigate further. But in the years that followed, neither the company nor DNR sought to determine the extent of the problem or alert the public about the potential risks, our examination found. Instead, both relied on a remediation system to remove the TCE, a measure that the government later determined did not work to effectively contain the contamination. The problem was not broadly known in Springfield until TCE was detected and publicized in 2018 at Fantastic Caverns, a tourist destination about five miles north of the former Litton site. As a result, some people bought property without knowing that they would be exposed to a chemical linked to cancer and other medical conditions. Others are left wondering how long they’ve been drinking and bathing in water tainted with TCE. And people are upset that an agency tasked with protecting the environment did not do more to warn the public about the risks of contamination. When you hear a story like this there’s a lot of anger and frustration to be had. The carelessness of Litton cannot be overstated, but we have come to expect a company to hide in the shadows on issues like this. The thing that hits me hard is the fact that the DNR failed to adequately do its job, and there should be consequences. It may be tempting to point to the failure of the DNR as an example of how government doesn’t work, but take a step back and realize without that governmental body, this would have NEVER come to light. Yes, it functioned poorly, but that can be fixed and hopefully better handled in the future. Leave it to private enterprise and we never find out. HEADLINE 2: Joplin, MO woman left helpless with non-viable pregnancy - Springfield News-Leader At 6:30 a.m. on August 2, nearly 18 weeks into her pregnancy, Mylissa Farmer experienced what doctors call a preterm premature rupture of membranes — her water broke before labor, followed by vaginal bleeding, abdominal pressure and cramping. She went to Freeman Hospital in Joplin, where she'd been just the day before. Everything had been normal then. She and her boyfriend, Matthew McNeill, had already picked out a name for their daughter: Maeve. But the doctors had devastating news for them on Aug. 2. If Maeve was delivered right then, chances of survival at 17 weeks and 5 days were zero, according to the assessment and plan section of Farmer's medical records outlining the visit. And the outcome wasn't much better if they tried to hold off on delivery. The doctors recommended terminating the pregnancy, but 39 days after the state of Missouri banned abortions, that wasn't an option, at least not in Missouri. A year ago, the hospital could have offered a chance for the couple to say goodbye and hold their daughter, even though they knew she wouldn't survive outside the womb. Instead, Farmer and McNeill were left to make a series of trips across three states and countless phone calls. The couple wanted to be able to grieve the loss of their daughter, not sit at home or in a hospital "with a baby dying inside me," Farmer said. "I know it sounds horrible, but we just wanted to finish the process," she said. In the end, Farmer didn't just lose Maeve; she lost her friends and her trust that Missouri would allow medical professionals to do their jobs. "It was hard. You could tell the doctors were trying to tell us what we needed to do, but at the same time, trying to protect themselves. We’re not angry with them," Farmer said. If her vitals plummeted or infection set in, or the fetus' cardiac activity stopped, the doctors could intervene, but not before then. At 41, Farmer worried that by the time there was an emergency, it would be too late for both her and Maeve. And even if Farmer did live through it, she worried about what her recovery would be like. She was already at "risks of maternal thrombosis given her history of (deep vein thrombosis during a COVID-19 infection), infection/sepsis, severe blood loss, hysterotomy, hysterectomy and even mortality," according to the medical record. Farmer then did something she, who describes herself as "pretty pro-life" and Christian, never thought she would do: She began to look for abortion clinics. Farmer and McNeill set out for Granite City, Illinois. Early in the morning on Aug. 5, Farmer began to have back pain while on their way to the place just 15 minutes outside of St. Louis. When she got to HOPE Clinic, she was in labor. After the fact, Farmer said it was almost reassuring that the labor came on. Friends in Joplin who knew of the situation had been telling her that she "could give birth at 17 weeks, that they knew people who have done it, that I was killing my child." "It did my heart good to know I was doing the right thing," she said, as if her body was telling her that it was OK. But still, the experience was harrowing. Protesters in front of the clinic echoed the things her friends had told her, "saying we were killing our baby and that we were evil." "It was awful, you know? We were just going through so much. We didn’t want this ... but at the same time, we had no choice," Farmer said. Since their ordeal, Farmer has lost trust. While she still feels her obstetrician at Freeman Hospital in Joplin is a good doctor, she's worried about whether medical professionals in Missouri will be able to offer patients necessary care. Despite reaching out to various legislators, she has yet to receive an answer that satisfies her: Why is this law written this way? If it's to protect women, why did she have to be in danger before she could get care in-state? Why is it such a binary law? "The world is too nuanced to put such strict rules in place," Farmer said. HEADLINE 3: Supreme Court Considers Pork Producers’ Plea - The Intercept On Tuesday, oral arguments will begin in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, a case in which the pork industry is challenging the constitutionality of a California law regulating the worst cruelties of mass meat and egg production. The pork producers are arguing that California’s law ends up forcing them to change their procedures outside California’s borders at significant cost. If the justices rule on the side of the pork producers, it will be only the latest case to expose the illusion of so-called states’ rights that conservative legal forces have spent 200 years pushing on the public. There would also be widespread implications: Ruling in favor of industry would set yet another grim precedent, potentially curtailing the ability of states to enforce progressive industry regulations and protections. Everything from state laws on workers’ rights to environmental standards to further animal welfare issues could be challenged. Meanwhile, there could be another layer of irony: With the court’s provenselective federalism, we can be sure that any such precedent would be no barrier to conservative states enacting laws with economic consequences far beyond their state lines in future. THE LAW IN question at the Supreme Court this week is California’s Prop 12, passed through a resounding 2018 ballot victory. The law bans the sale in California of meat and eggs from animals raised in extreme and brutal confinement, including in gestation crates where pregnant pigs are held, barely able to move, for most of their lives. Such confinement has been condemned by all major animal welfare and veterinary organizations, and has been deemed a “profound danger to food and public health,” given the rife spread of disease, according to a brief written by the American Public Health Association and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, among others, for the case. The pork producers contend that the law creates unconstitutional constraint on their business, as farmers in other states must change their practices to abide by Prop 12’s standards if they hope to sell pork in the nation’s most populous state and since most of the pork consumed in California is indeed produced out of state, and that the state is a market too big for major producers to forego, there’s little doubt that the Californian regulations would indeed affect interstate practices. It’s not a foregone conclusion that a majority of justices will side with the National Pork Producers Council. Both conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have, from an originalist stance, previously criticized the dormant commerce clause. And, of course, all six of the court’s right-wing justices have ruled in favor of state laws that have significant economic effects on the lives of those outside those states — such is the nature of living in an entangled national body politic. Just ask the abortion clinics now overwhelmed by out-of-state travel. Yet we should never underestimate the conservative majority’s pro-business bent, and its unabashed desire to quash any and all liberation struggles — be they for human or nonhuman lives. If the pork producers succeed in overthrowing Prop 12, many millions of animals will continue to live and die in the most appalling suffering. The message will be sent too that when big business wants to challenge democratically passed state laws, they have several right-wing Supreme Court justices — those storied defenders of states’ rights — on their side. This situation on the Federal scale reminds me immediately of Missouri’s own quashing of local politics. The Missouri GOP claims to be the protector of local politics but when CAFOs in Missouri began polluting groundwater the State told counties they couldn’t enact regulations locally to hinder big business. It’s certainly evident the Right favors big government when it serves them.
LIGHTNING ROUND: LR 1 - Lone Candidate shows up for Missouri’s 3rd - News Tribune Only one candidate was present for the News Tribune's election forum Tuesday night, but two issues emerged to dominate the discussion: the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and federal student loan forgiveness. Bethany Mann, agricultural scientist and the Democratic challenger for Missouri's 3rd Congressional District, said the pandemic is ongoing and that student loan forgiveness isn't the ultimate solution to skyrocketing higher education costs, but a good policy nonetheless. Mann states that The country's student loan system is predatory, because it traps financially inexperienced young people into accumulating mass amounts of debt they don't know they can repay. The real issue is a lack of regulation on the banking industry, she said. Mann said more corporate regulations can insulate consumers from market shocks. "We need to fix the root cause and not penalize people for trying to make a better life for themselves," she said. As far as Blaine Luetktemeyer, he couldn’t be bothered to show up to the conversation. LR 2 - Kansas ranks among the worst in the country on both mental illness and its treatment - NPR A new report by Mental Health America tracking mental illness and the ease of accessing care found high rates of addiction among young people and mental illness and suicidal thoughts among adults put Kansas in last place. The report, based largely on data from 2019 and 2020, found 9% of Kansas youth had a substance use disorder, more than any other state. Over a quarter of adults had a mental illness and over 6% had serious thoughts of suicide, both well above national averages. In part, that’s because the state doesn’t have enough psychiatrists, therapists and other mental health care workers to go around. Compared with a national rate of one provider for every 350 people, Kansas only had one for every 470 people — and experts say the shortfall is particularly dire in rural areas. Kansas also got low marks on insurance rates and the ability to afford mental health care. Around 18% of adults with mental illness in Kansas had no insurance, compared with 11% nationwide. And only around 7% of youths with severe depression received consistent treatment for it, compared to 28% nationwide. LR 3 - Commission recommends salary increases to address Missouri teacher shortage - Missouri Independent A state commission Tuesday laid out its recommendations to improve teacher recruitment and retention in Missouri, including a push to raise starting salaries that currently rank among the lowest in the nation. The State Board of Education approved the commission’s nine recommendations and pledged to bring the findings to the public and lawmakers. Nearly 8% of available full-time teaching positions in the school year 2020-2021 were vacant or filled by not fully qualified individuals, according to the report. One of the commission’s immediate recommendations was for the legislature to amend the state’s base teacher salary, which is currently set by state law at $25,000 for a beginning teacher, to “at least $38,000” and to conduct annual reviews of the starting salary level. According to the National Education Association’s review from earlier this year, Missouri’s average teacher starting salary ranks second-to-last in the nation, at $33,234, higher only than Montana. At a public hearing in August, educators recounted taking on second jobs to get by. Per the Report, the legislature should also establish a state fund to help local school districts pay more competitive salaries overall, the report recommended. The average teachers salary in Missouri ranks 47th in the nation, at $51,557, according to the National Education Association. It’s good to see that last bit tacked on, the focus on teacher pay in Missouri almost always centers on starting pay, which… is admittedly terrible, but we want to retain teachers too. A pay bump for every teacher in Missouri is way overdue. LR 4 - Will the next Farm Bill be climate friendly? Depends on the Midterms - Mother Jones This year’s midterm elections will decide the direction of a massive legislative package meant to tackle the nation’s agricultural problems. Ahead of the November elections, House Republicans have already released insight into their priorities for this upcoming legislation. The Republican Study Committee, whose members make up 80 percent of all Republican members of Congress, released its draft budget in July. This draft document outlines a plan that completely defunds federal programs that support conservation efforts, as well as slashes federal food stamp and crop insurance programs. As Farm Bill debates continue, a group of over 150 progressive, agriculture, and environmental groups, from the nation’s largest federation of labor unions to the Sierra Club environmental group, have urged President Joe Biden to add climate reforms in the upcoming legislative package. In a letter to Biden, organizations urged the President to pass a Farm Bill that would help mend economic and racial divides in the industry, increase access to nutrition, support fair labor conditions in farming communities labor conditions, as well as tackle the climate crisis with a focus on agriculture. LR 5 - Kansas Republicans downplay abortion in legislative races. Some change campaign sites - Kansas City Star Mike Pence recently tweeted out “I’ve got news for President Biden. Come January 22nd, we will have Pro-Life majorities in the House and Senate and we’ll be taking the cause of the right to Life to every state house in America!” Which sounds a little funny when hearing reports of Multiple Kansas House GOP candidates removing anti-abortion material from their campaign sites in the wake of voters’ rejection of the constitutional amendment in August. We keep seeing this play out, the Republicans, the proverbial dog in this idiom, have caught the car on Abortion and frankly don’t know exactly how to move forward. Hopefully a full blown referendum is coming down the pipe in November! |
Oct 21, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Deb Lavender for Representative | Mo 98th State House District
00:20:07
Deb Lavender Website: https://www.upballot.com/deb-lavender
While serving in the legislature, Deb found her place working on the Budget Committee to find and distribute hidden money to the areas throughout our state that needed it the most. She was able to work across the aisle to increase funding for people living at home with disabilities, mental health needs, utility assistance, and was able to amend the budget to include 15 million for broadband expansion. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to assure our tax dollars are working for Missourians, and Deb is widely recognized as the best person to get this done. Deb takes an active part in the community, working as a health care professional and local businesswoman. As a physical therapist and sole owner of an outpatient physical therapy clinic, Deb has built her professional reputation based on results. She is recognized as a leader in her field, receiving referrals from around the region. Born and raised in New England, Deb put herself through college at Marquette University in Milwaukee, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy. Soon after graduation, Deb moved to St. Louis and now has deep roots in our community. Deb's interest in politics was first sparked as a teenager when she participated in Girls State, a program sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. There, she learned the importance and value of democratic government. In the following years, she put her energy and enthusiasm for politics to work by becoming involved in local and state issues. As an active leader and consistent volunteer in community service and community improvement endeavors, Deb participates in the following organizations:
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Oct 20, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - Politics and Government News from the American West
00:16:17
Alright! Let’s get into it: COLORADO NEWSLINE: RINO hunters looking for a bloodbath As county clerks across Colorado prepared to send out mail ballots to voters on Monday, former President Donald Trump weighed in on one of the state’s most-watched 2022 races. Trump blasted Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea, a Denver construction CEO, as a “RINO,” or Republican in name only, over comments O’Dea made about a potential 2024 Trump presidential campaign. In a Sunday appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, O’Dea was asked whether the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol should disqualify Trump from running again. O’Dea called the events of Jan. 6 “a black eye for our country,” though he has previously said he doesn’t believe Trump deserves blame for the Capitol attack. “I don’t think Donald Trump should run again,” O’Dea said Sunday. “I’m going to actively campaign against Donald Trump and make sure that we’ve got four or five really great Republicans right now — Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott. They can run and serve for eight years.” Trump responded in a post on his Truth Social website: “MAGA doesn’t Vote for stupid people with big mouths” O’Dea faces an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat who is seeking his third full Senate term, in a state that has trended increasingly blue in recent elections. Bennet has led O’Dea in recent polling by an average of eight percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight. A first-time candidate who has pitched himself as a moderate on social issues, O’Dea has walked a tightrope throughout his campaign as he seeks to win over moderate voters without alienating the conservative Republican base. He did not publicly state his opposition to a Trump 2024 bid until after the June GOP primary, when he defeated far-right state Rep. Ron Hanks with 55% of the vote. His campaign clarified that O’Dea would still support Trump in the general election if the former president wins the GOP nomination, but O’Dea has since backed off of that position in interviews. GOP state Rep. Dave Williams, a far-right election denier who mounted an unsuccessful primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn earlier this year, reacted to Trump’s comments in a Twitter post. “Ouch,” Williams wrote. “Maybe Joe’s campaign shouldn’t alienate the base 3 weeks before an election.” Trump’s criticism follows Ron Hanks’ endorsement of the Libertarian in the Senate race, Bryan Peotter, who has put election denial and total opposition to abortion at the center of his campaign. The Libertarian wrote on Twitter that Trump’s attack on O’Dea “reads like an endorsement for my campaign pretty clearly.” In an Oct. 7 appearance on the conservative “Chuck and Julie Show,” Ron Hanks, who received just under 45% of the vote in the GOP’s June primary, said neither Peotter nor O’Dea have a chance of beating Bennet - and that Republican voters should vote for Peotter to send a message to party leaders. “It’s our time now as grassroots Colorado conservatives to step in. We have a big battle ahead to try to reform this leadership,” said Hanks. “It’s got to be a bloodbath.” COLORADO NEWSLINE: Will Colorado legalize psychedelic mushrooms? Ten years after Colorado voters made history by approving the ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana, this November’s Proposition 122 would allow licensed ‘healing centers’ and decriminalize personal use of some hallucinogens. The Natural Medicine Health Act would establish a regulated market for psilocybin and psilocyn, the psychoactive compounds found in psychedelic mushrooms. Placed on the 2022 ballot by a citizen initiative, it will become law if a majority of Colorado voters give their approval. The measure would allow licensed “healing centers” to provide access to psilocybin and psilocyn for therapeutic purposes. It would also decriminalize the “personal use” of the substances, allowing people to possess and grow psychedelic mushrooms in their own homes. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Natural Medicine Colorado, the group backing the effort says “Natural psychedelic medicines are non-addictive, and can have profound benefits for people struggling with mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, opioid use disorder, and those struggling to find peace at the end of their lives.” Proposition 122 qualified for the ballot in July after organizers submitted more than the required 124,632 valid signatures to the secretary of state’s office. An issue committee backing the measure has reported more than $2.8 million in contributions, according to campaign finance disclosures. Nearly all of that funding came from New Approach PAC, a Washington, D.C.-based PAC that advocates for drug policy reform. Top donors to the group include the van Ameringen Foundation, Scotts Miracle-Gro and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. New Approach PAC supported successful mushroom decriminalization measures in Oregon and Washington, D.C., in 2020. If voters approve Proposition 122, Colorado would become the third jurisdiction in the country to legalize psilocybin. Denver voters took a more limited step towards the decriminalization of psychedelic mushrooms in 2019, approving a measure that directed police to make possession of psychedelics the city’s ”lowest law-enforcement priority.” Legalization advocates point to a vast body of existing research showing that psychedelics can be effective in treating depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions. The federal Food and Drug Administration has designated psilocybin as a “breakthrough therapy” for the treatment of major depressive disorder. Luke Gruber, an initiative backer and a Marine veteran who suffered from PTSD and depression after serving in Afghanistan, says psilocybin therapy “changed his life.” He said, “I can’t really describe the experience, but I can describe what it was like after my first treatment with natural medicine. It was like being reminded of what hope felt like.” If passed, Proposition 122 would establish a 15-member Natural Medicine Advisory Board to oversee the regulation of psychedelic substances. The first licenses for regulated providers would be issued beginning in September 2024. Pending recommendations from the advisory board, other substances, including DMT and mescaline, could be added to the program in 2026. I WILL BE VOTING YES. COLORADO NEWSLINE: SHE’S JUST BLOWING SMOKE Kirkmeyer repeats false Colorado oil and gas claims in 8th District debate against Caraveo In a recent debate in the race for Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District, right-wing GOP State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer took the opportunity to repeat a series of false claims about the oil and gas industry, and the impacts of a 2019 law sponsored by her Democratic opponent, state Rep. Dr. Yadira Caraveo. Kirkmeyer called the package of new health, safety and environmental reforms a “de facto ban on oil and gas. We went from 5,100 permits approved in 2018 down to about, I think, 22 — 22 permits this year, something approximately in that area,” she claimed. So, it’s not 22. It’s actually 842 new drilling permits that have been approved this year. Nearly 40 times higher than what Kirkmeyer claimed. In total, there are 1,314 active drilling permits held by Colorado oil and gas producers as of last week. She made a similar false claim in March, asserting that only four permits had been issued at that point in the year. The true figure was 125. Colorado’s oil production levels have dipped slightly from their 2019 peak, but remain near historic highs. Producers within the state are on pace to pump more than 156 million barrels of crude oil out of Colorado this year. That’s higher than every other year prior to 2018, and it’s more than five times the volume being pumped in Colorado ten years ago. Drillers have reduced growth plans and capital budgets in large part due to the demands of Wall Street investors, who flooded the industry with cheap credit amid the 2010s fracking boom, but have since sought to prioritize more profitable streams of revenue. Kirkmeyer claimed that SB-181 “killed thousands of jobs” in the 8th District, which encompasses an area in north metro Denver and Weld County that is home to the vast majority of Colorado’s oil production. Asked why the same trends were observed in drilling-friendly states like Texas and Wyoming recently, Kirkmeyer said, “I have no idea what other laws, or what other kinds of regulations, or what else was going on in those states.” Kirkmeyer also denied the scientific consensus on fossil fuels and climate change. Dr. Caraveo, the Democratic candidate, is a pediatrician who has seen the impacts of drilling and refinery operations in the lungs of the innocent kids who come into her clinic. The Suncor refinery, one of Colorado’s largest sources of air pollution, is located within the new district. Dr. Caraveo said 2019’s oil and gas reform bill was moderate, and incorporated industry input. The 8th District, the boundaries of which were drawn last year by Colorado’s first-ever Independent Redistricting Commission, is the state’s most competitive. According to the commission’s analysis, former President Donald Trump would have won the district by 1.7 percentage points in the 2016 election, while Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper would have carried the district by the same margin in his defeat of former GOP Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020. Nonpartisan elections analysts rate the race as a toss-up. ARIZONA MIRROR: Oath Keepers are planning to watch drop boxes in Arizona, spurred by conspiracy theories. The groups’ violent rhetoric has advocates worried, and some local politicians are stirring the pot. The increased attention to ballot drop boxes comes in the wake of the debunked film “2000 Mules” about a completely made up ballot stuffing operation supposedly benefitting Democratic candidates.
Now, groups are organizing events to keep an eye on drop boxes in Arizona. One of those groups is connected directly to the Arizona chapter of the Oath Keepers, a known white supremacist group. They’re calling their midterm voter intimidation efforts “Operation Drop Box.” On its website the group members describe themselves as “conservative patriots” who say the country has been hijacked global elites, communists, leftists, deep state bureaucrats, and fake news.” Jim Arroyo, the leader of the Arizona Oath Keepers said the group sent emails to everyone in the group’s roster, about 1,000 people. In an Oath Keeprs meeting, Arroyo said “For the November election we would like to post people at drop boxes to have eyes on target to be able to notify law enforcement. We have already coordinated with Sheriff Rhodes and he told us that if we see somebody stuffing a ballot box and we get a license plate number, that deputies would make an arrest and there will be a prosecution.” County Sheriff David Rhodes has spoken to the Arizona chapter of the Oath Keepers on two separate occasions. In an August 2021 meeting, he said “I’ve got to tell you, this is one of my favorite groups. It is great to be with friends” When asked about coordination between the Sheriff, Lions of Liberty and the Oath Keepers. County spokesperson Kristin Greene said “Sheriff Rhodes has zero to do with their effort to watch the drop boxes.” Rhodes also spoke to the group in late September, a meeting which the Sheriff’s Office said was to educate the group on what was legal and what was not legal for the group to do. The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office told the group members that as long as they stay 75 feet away from the drop boxes, they are within their legal rights, but any closer and they could be violating the law. The county is also at the center of another effort led by former Graham County Sheriff Richard Mack, who leads the so-called Constitutional Sheriffs Association, an extremist anti-government group. CSPOA and the Oath Keepers have long had close ties. State Sen. Kelly Townsend, a Republican, called on “vigilantes” to camp out on drop boxes. At a legislative hearing all about indulging wild conspiracy theories, she said, “I have been so pleased to hear about all you vigilantes out there that want to camp out at these drop boxes. We’re going to have hidden trail cameras, we are going to have people parked out there watching you and they are going to follow you to your car and get your license plate, so don’t try it. Don’t try it anymore.” Lake Havasu Republican Sonny Borrelli has also made similar calls while at an election security forum. “We need to be force multipliers,” Borrelli told the crowd in Tempe. “We need to have people camped on unmanned drop boxes and camp on those and keep an eye on them and take down that data, license plates, pictures and so on and so forth.” Concerned voter advocates are advising that .ocal law enforcement may not be the best option for a voter to turn to, if you end up feeling intimidated at the polls - instead suggesting contacting local election officials, the election protection hotline, or federal law enforcement. Voter intimidation is a federal crime, one that is enforced by the FBI and Department of Justice. When asked for comment about the situation with white supremacists camping out at ballot drop boxes, United States Attorney for Arizona Gary Restaino said “Enough with the election deniers and fear-mongers, who only seek to undermine our democratic process. I’m proud to live in a state that endeavors to remove barriers to voting, and that has long believed in vote-by-mail. Working in partnership with our state and local election officials, the Department of Justice will do its very best to ensure that every eligible voter who chooses to vote can do so easily and efficiently, without interference or discrimination.” Most importantly, voters shouldn’t let wackos like the Oath Keepers and so-called Constitutional Sheriffs keep you from participating in American democracy. ON THAT NOTE: Arizona’s General Election has officially begun, with ballots being sent out across the state to voters who have signed up to receive them by mail, and with polling places opening up for early voting. Voters who have registered for mail-in ballots will begin receiving their ballots soon, and can check the status of their ballot at my.arizona.vote Those who have not yet requested a mail-in ballot have until Oct. 28 to do so. NEVADA CURRENT: Nevada launches opioid task force as fentanyl overdoses increase The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Attorney General Aaron Ford and Gov. Steve Sisolak have launched an opioid task force designed to provide technical assistance, guidance and resources to local and state jurisdictions amid the rise of opioid overdoses. The increase in overdoses is associated with fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine. Fentanyl is often found in other drugs like cocaine and pills and is not detectable without a chemical test. Between July and August in Nevada, emergency department visits from suspected opioid-related deaths increased by 66% - and emergency department visits from suspected stimulant-related overdoses increased by 50%. For those looking for help, visit: behavioralhealthnv.org in Nevada, or can call the free, confidential, national treatment and referral hotline at 1-800-662-4357. 1-800-662-help To find free naloxone or learn about using fentanyl test strips in Nevada, visit nvopioidresponse.org Last year, 107,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. Concert pick of the Week: Todd Snider at Washington’s FOCO Todd Snider is an American singer/songwriter who is 1000x more fucking badass than implied by that term. He’s got a new Live album called Return of the Storyteller, with extra resonance in our post-pandemic era. Snider says laughingly, “This was really only my second tour – because I went out on the road in ’94 and never went home until the pandemic. And I’m so glad I recorded those shows for this album. Because that was the sound of the country getting to see live music again. Everyone just hugs at the start of a concert-you can tell folks are glad to see each other, and then they get more excited than they used to be about just being out and seeing music. I’m sure that it will go back to normal, but it hasn’t yet.” So go to the show! Todd Snider is playing next Wednesday Washington’s Fort Collins - tickets at washingtonsfoco.com. Next Friday - October 28 he’ll be at Knuckleheads in Kansas City - on Saturday November 19th he’ll be play the Sheldon Concert Hall in St Louis, and in between he has near daily shows in Des Moines, Eau Claire, Omaha, Iowa City, Chicago, Madison, Grand Rapids, Ohio, Illinois, Raleigh, Knoxville. Closes out the tour in December with 5 dates in Texas, last of which being Luckenback, on December 10. If you can’t tell - I’m definitely hoping to catch a couple of this extraordinary storyteller’s shows. God willing. Welp, that’s it for me! From Denver I’m Sean Diller. Original reporting for the stories in today’s show comes from the Nevada Current, Arizona Mirror, Colorado Newsline, Source New Mexico, and Denver’s Westword. Thank you for listening! See you next time. |
Oct 19, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Natalie Davis with United States of Care
00:29:45
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 https://unitedstatesofcare.org/
From 2010-2016, Natalie served at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, with the final two years as Senior Advisor to former CMS Administrator, Andy Slavitt. At CMS, she was deeply engaged in the implementation of one of the country’s largest expansions of health care in modern history. Natalie provided strategic and tactical support during the development of the agency’s internal and external priorities, and served as a liaison between CMS and stakeholders across the country. In 2017, Natalie served as the Director of Strategic Engagement at the Bipartisan Policy Center. There she worked to launch the Future of Health Reform initiative which serves as a resource to policymakers by developing effective and politically viable solutions to our nation’s health care challenges. This effort is led by former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, as well as by Andy Slavitt, Gail Wilensky, and other leaders. Natalie knows firsthand that it is possible to bring the smartest minds together to innovate and get things done — regardless of political party. A social entrepreneur, Natalie also helped found Town Hall Ventures and The Medicaid Transformation Project, both of which focus on bringing the best of innovation and care delivery to diverse communities. An advocate and a mother, Natalie currently serves on the board of directors of the Preeclampsia Foundation. Natalie believes that it has never been more important to make our health care system work better for everyone. She is dedicated to bringing together leaders and advocates from across the country who can help create meaningful change in our nation’s inequitable health care system. She brings all her personal and professional experiences to the fight for better health care, working to expand access to quality, affordable health care to help people right now, while working towards durable federal policies centered on the needs of people to provide real and lasting solutions for everybody. Natalie holds an M.A. in Social Policy from George Washington University and is an alumna of Salisbury University schools of Sociology and Art History. Natalie lives in Washington, DC with her amazing husband and four children. |
Oct 18, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Climate Activists Embrace Soup Season; Eric May Need To Wipe Trump's Schmitt Off His Nose; Midterm Decision Desk Check In - Ticket Splitting Coming?; PLUS Adam does an Alex Jones Impression For Five Seconds
01:19:34
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
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Oct 17, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View - October 14, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views
00:12:24
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85
LIGHTNING ROUND
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 14, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Rep. Sarah Unsicker Talks Agape and the record of Missouri Attorney General, Eric Schmitt
00:34:19
Host: Kevin Smith @KevINmidMO Gust: Rep. Sarah Unsicker @SarahUnsicker Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 13, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E35 - On Cannabis with Rachel
00:21:33
Does pot change your DNA? Rachel Parker (main POD co-host) joins Nicholas (former science educator) to clarify her comments from Monday's show that cannabis does not change your DNA. Could your parents be right about weed for the wrong reasons? Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 12, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dr. Alan Green (D) for Missouri Auditor, 2022
00:35:12
Host: Rachel Parker Guest; Dr. Alan Green, Democratic campaign for Missouri Auditor Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 11, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse Is Retiring; Elon Musk Is A Smart Dumb Dumb; Do Missourians Want A Constitutional Convention?; Biden's Big Pot Pardon & Missouri Amendment 3
01:14:24
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
Last call preview. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 10, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - October 7, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News and Views
00:16:58
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 07, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Kristen Radaker Sheafer MO-07 For Congress "Investing In My Community"
00:35:17
Host: Adam Sommer, twitter: https://twitter.com/Adam_Sommer85?s=20&t=nVpK5tX8idvZNlQAIVMkjg Guest: Kristen Radaker Sheafer, twitter: https://twitter.com/KristenRSheafer?s=20&t=nVpK5tX8idvZNlQAIVMkjg Kristen For Congress https://www.kristenforcongress.com/ Kristen Radaker Sheafer was raised in rural northeast Oklahoma, where she used to watch cows grazing in the pasture behind her backyard from the kitchen table. In 2006, she graduated from her small public high school and headed to a small town in Arkansas for college. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic and Web Design from John Brown University and returned to Oklahoma for a few years. In 2013, Kristen married her husband Luke and moved to Joplin, MO. After spending more than 7 years working in graphic design and marketing, she quit her web design job to pursue her dream of starting a bakery specializing in custom cakes for weddings and other events. Over the past six and a half years, she has grown the bakery has grown into a strong and successful small business. For the last decade, Kristen and her husband, along with their two giant dogs, Eleanor "Nori" Roosevelt and Ira Glass have established deep roots in Southwest Missouri. She decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives to use her creativity, problem solving skills, collaborative attitude, and ability to find common ground to help the people of Missouri's 7th district. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 06, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - October 5, 2022 - Government and Politics News in the American West
00:13:29
Democratic Secs of State spending big on ads in battleground states | Nevada GOP Governor candidate Lombardo struggles with abortion in debate with incumbent Gov Steve Sisolak | ACLU of Arizona and Arizona Medical Association sue the state over unclear abortion bans and penalties | Marist poll has U.S. Sen Mark Kelly 10 points up on Trump endorsed Blake Masters - Mark Kelly up by 20 points with women voters | AZ Governor candidates Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs in a dead heat | New Mexico has its first unionized Starbucks location, the 34th state now to have at least one | Denver concert pick of the week Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 05, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Pat Garafalo with American Economic Liberties Project, Author: "The Billionaire Boondoggle" and Boondoggle newsletter, joins Rachel Parker for a chat
00:57:20
Host: Rachel Parker @RaitchetP Guest: Pat Garafalo @Pat_Garofalo https://www.economicliberties.us/ Pat's substack: https://boondoggle.substack.com/
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 04, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MO GOP "tax cut" Midterm Theater | Italy Elects A Fascist While Some GOP Celebrate | Abortion Continues To Move The Needle | Senate Electoral Count Act Set To Pass
01:12:44
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Guest Host: Ray Reed @RayReedMO DONATE TO RETT SYNDROME ST. LOUIS RETT STROLLATHON IN HONOR OF CLARA'S CRUSADE
MORE READING - CURRENT STORIES
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Oct 03, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - September 30, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, and Views with host, Kevin Smith
00:16:31
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 30, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Missouri Prison Reform, Founder and Executive Director, Lori Curry Joins Rachel Parker For A Chat
00:39:43
Host: Rachel Parker @RaitchetP Guest: Lori Curry @MissouriPrison Website - https://moprisonreform.org/about-us/ Missouri Prison Reform: Advocating for those incarcerated in Missouri’s Department of Corrections by elevating their voices, advocating for their needs, and exposing harmful policies that undermine our overall goal of harm reduction, healing, and rehabilitation. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 29, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E34 - Pride & Embarrassment
00:31:33
Nicholas (educator) and Kristina (educational ASL interpreter) talk about their experiences with PrideFest, the perspectives of their children and how they are raising them with open minds and hearts, as well as their utter disdain for the “dum-dum” known as Jorsh Hawley. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 28, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Bethany Mann for Congress, MO-3rd: Let's Send a Chemist To Congress
00:39:44
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85
Bethany's Website: About Bethany Bethany Mann grew up in Foristell, MO, and currently lives in Brentwood, MO. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois in Springfield, IL, and started her career working as an intern at the Environmental Protection Agency. Today, Bethany is a technology specialist who provides instruments, research and development, and education for agriculture, food and beverage, energy, oil and gas, nuclear, and pharma labs for research or regulatory compliance. Bethany is passionate about education, science, and bringing people together. Her goal is to make the 3rd District and Missouri a state leader when it comes to important issues that build the middle class and strengthen Missouri families. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 27, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MO Midterms 2022; Josh Hawley Is F***ING EMBARRASSING; Independent Voters Turn The Tide?; Trump Had A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
01:13:29
OCTOBER IS RETT SYNDROME AWARENESS MONTH To Sign Up & Join Us For The St. Louis Rett syndrome Strollathon on October 8th: https://give.rettsyndrome.org/event/st-louis-strollathon/e419979 Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 26, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - September 23, 2022 | Heartland Politics, News, & Views
00:21:08
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 23, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Michelle Smith with Missourians For Alternatives To The Death Penalty
00:39:45
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: Michelle Smith with Missourians For Alternatives To The Death Penalty @MADPMO on TwitterMissourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (MADP) is a statewide organization working to repeal the death penalty in Missouri by educating citizens and legislators regarding the costs and consequences of capital punishment. We seek to empower murder victim family members, exonerees, communities, racial justice advocates, various faith and conscience traditions, as well as individuals, to collaborate in creating new opportunities for abolition. With coalition partners, we address root causes of capital punishment by soliciting direct advocacy to oppose individual executions and the systemic conditions which permit them. Through alerts to our members, media placements, and educational events, we work to stop executions and to make lasting change to the criminal legal system. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 22, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - September 21, 2022 - Politics, Government and Elections News from the American West
00:16:16
ADL reveals public officials who have paid dues to the Oath Keepers | Blake Masters slammed by veterans group in Tucson | Tribal leaders applaud federal climate change funding | Asian American Pacific Islander advocates keep momentum from soaring 2020 voter turnout | Arizona law banning recording of police is blocked by judge on First Amendment grounds | US Sec of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visits Denver, announces millions in federal funding projects Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 21, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Increasingly Anti-Democratic Push Against Ballot Initiatives in America, with Jenna Spinelle from Penn St McCourtney institute for democracy
00:46:27
Jenna Spinelle is a podcast producer based in State College, Pennsylvania and recently released a series called When the People Decide (http://thepeopledecide.show) that looks at how ballot initiatives and the people who organize them are changing American politics. She has talked with Benjamin Singer of Show Me Integrity for one episode and several others feature the heartland in some way (Nebraska, Cincinnati, and South Dakota just to name a few). Jenna joins Adam Sommer and Rachel Parker to talk about the power that the initiative offers everyday citizens — especially at a time when it feels like the courts and the legislature are not going to save us. Plus, the threats to the initiative process and how grassroots organizations like Show Me Integrity and Reclaim Idaho are pushing back against them. Website: https://thepeopledecide.show/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 20, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Missouri's (Not So) Special Session w/ Rep. Peter Merideth; Kansas Gets Help From Feds With Criminal Officer; Patagonia owner's altruistic ends?; What's Your Tipping Point Race in 2022?
01:31:08
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
https://twitter.com/PeterforMO/status/1570391147138138112?s=20&t=xDkLgvO8TBBZhl8KBpqLqA
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 19, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - September 16, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:19:31
Agape boarding school still open | Lindsey Graham wants a 15-week abortion ban | President Joe Biden announces tentative deal to avoid railroad strike | Idaho high school senior beats right-winger in school board race | Teen who killed her alleged rapist is ordered to pay $150K to his family | Missouri Amazon workers walk out over low pay and punishing work conditions | SIU-Carbondale aviation program partners with United Airlines for pilot training | Nebraska public employees rally for better pay | Texas sized power outages Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 16, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mo House Dem Candidate Chats: Jessie Shepherd (MO 114) - Kyle Kerns (MO-94) - Ginger Witty (MO-156)
00:37:31
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guests Jessie Shepherd @ShepherdForMO Kyle Kerns @KernsForMO Ginger Witty @wittyfor156 Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 15, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E33 - Zombies: Inclusion and Activism
00:26:43
Nicholas (educator) and Kristina (ASL interpreter) unpack the conversations they have with their children about inclusion, activism, and entertainment after watching the Z-O-M-B-I-E-S trilogy on Disney+. Glassroom Hive: glassroomhive.com Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 14, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Running For MO State House with Jenna Roberson (MO-63) and Eric Nowicki (MO-65)
00:20:37
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guests: Jenna Roberson @JennaForMo https://www.upballot.com/jenna-roberson Eric Nowicki @ericpnowicki Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 13, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Donald Looney Guest Co-Host: Ranked Choice Voting; Agape Boarding School "Ordered To Shut Down" (Not Really); A Magic Message On Abortion for 2022?; 2022 Mid-Term Desk Check In
01:04:04
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Special guest host: Donald Looney @donlooney FOR LAST CALL BONUS - SUBSCRIBE ON PATREON AT $5/MONTH LEVEL OR UP
Ranked choice voting is a scam to rig elections
There is a “magic message” on abortion that Dems can use to win in November
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 12, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - September 9, 2022 - Government, Politics and Elections News from the American heartland
00:17:43
Agape Heat gets to MO Gov Mike Parson and AG Eric Schmitt in developing story about abuse at Agape boarding school in rural Missouri | Eric Schmitt uses office to attack free press | Oath Keepers among us | Insurrectionist removed from office | MO Sec of State Jay Ashcroft wants to to undermine federal elections | Communities against Big Pork | Chris Mann for Kansas AG | Texas sized bill to taxpayers for Gov Greg Abbott busing stunt Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 09, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Rachel Parker, A Live Mic, & A Few Thoughts About Our Current State
00:25:49
Host: Rachel Parker @RaitchetP Rachel Parker takes a turn solo for this episode where she dives into the current state of the GOP, in her own words. Long time listeners know that Rachel delivers a blazing critique, and this is no exception. Join her as she traces the evolution to the way things are now, and connects that to our fellow voters, right here in the heartland. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 08, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - September 7, 2022 - Government and Politics News from the American West
00:16:50
Latinos in NV overwhelmingly support right to choose | Open primaries and ranked choice voting on the Nevada ballot | Democrats Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Gov. Steve Sisolak lead GOP challengers in AARP poll | New citizens could be swinging Arizona's elections | AZ Senate candidate Blake Masters pays two fake electors for campaign consulting | Arizona vouchers for wealthy kids who have always gone to private school | Colorado Governor Jared Polis launches $3.4 Million in TV and streaming video ad campaigns Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 07, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dan Schaefer , host of "Democracy On The Move" a podcast out of Missouri, joins Adam Sommer for a Chat
00:39:28
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Democracy on the Move is a podcast dedicated to the people and organizations building a better democracy. We interview people who take action and get their perspectives. https://democracyonthemove.org/about Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 06, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Rural America's True Crime & Real Tragedy: The Story of Vicky, Chris, & a Determined Sister's Unanswered Questions
00:45:14
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 REPLAY - Catch part of this interview on the Netflix show "I Am A Killer" Sn. 3, Ep. 1 which features a small excerpt from this very interview. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 05, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - September 2, 2022 - Heartland Politics and Government News
00:14:09
Agape Updates | Red States Taxing Student Loan Forgiveness | Columbus OH Police shoot unarmed black man in bed | MO Gov Mike Parson rolling back sunshine provisions | Drinking water crisis in Jackson MS | Sports Betting in Now Legal in Kansas | Win for Voting Rights in Wisconsin | Kentucky loses $4 Million in Fed Housing Funds | Alaska sends first Alaska Native to U.S. Congress, handing a Sarah Palin another election loss Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 02, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Laboratories Of Autocracy - A Chat With David Pepper About The Importance Of State Gov. To Secure The Future By Cleaning Up Our Own Back Yard
00:54:10
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: David Pepper @DavidPepper http://davidpepper.com/ - to buy David's book and learn more about him Book: Laboratories of Autocracy - A Wake-Up Call From Behind The Lines Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Sep 01, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E32 - Cruisin' for a Bruisin'
00:28:30
Nicholas (educator) and Kristina (educational ASL interpreter) push back on Sith Lord Ben Shapiro and his extremism against the Left. Instead, they argue, diversity is not only the goal for progress and inclusion but the main ingredient in breeding creativity. Ben Shapiro Video: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/ben-shapiro-responds-to-podcast-movement-says-the-left-is-cruisin-for-a-bruisin-im-a-dangerous-person-to-the-left/ Our Family Projects: www.glassroomhive.com Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 31, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Illusion Of Safety, The Promise Of Choice
00:19:43
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Adam Sommer breaks down the safety we feel in the illusion of choice, and how the Dobbs decision has caused a major ripple because for once, in a long time, the choice impacted is more than merely superficial. It is fundamental. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 30, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Galen Bacharier Covered Mike Lindell's Traveling Circus In Springfield | St. Louis "Politician" Transphobic Mishmash Of Words | Kansas Close Up for 2022 | Democrats Trending Up?
01:38:54
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO POD Pal - Galen Bacharier from Springfield News Leader @galenbacharier Adam's Open: The Why Behind The What
Sharice Davids in a competitive race, talking Medicaid expansion https://twitter.com/RepDavids/status/1562530183361478656?s=20&t=IMkg3DKhdZ5opAtLkgNzcA Kris Kobach is trying to become AG of Kansas - yeah, that Kris Kobach
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 29, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - August 26, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:18:12
Biden Administration announces $10K student loan forgiveness | OK Teacher resigns in protest over book bans | Advocates sue to block Missouri voter photo ID law | TN Republican Former House Speaker Indicted | Teacher Strike in Ohio | Dry Pastures in TX | Iowa school letting staff carry firearms to prevent school shootings | Psychedelics to help alcoholics | MO Gov. Mike Parson sticks it to hungry kids Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 26, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mo House Dems pt. 3 | Jessica Slisz (MO-49th) around Calloway County || Amy Freeland (MO - 140th) Christian County, around Ozark, MO || Jessica DeVoto (MO 69th) Southern St. Charle's Co. area
00:40:18
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guests: Jessica Slisz - MO House 49th - @SliszHd49 https://www.upballot.com/jessica-slisz Amy Freeland - MO House 140th - https://www.facebook.com/electAmyFreeland https://www.upballot.com/Amy-Freeland/ Jessica DeVoto - MO House 69th - 94 down to the river @DeVotoForMO Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 25, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - Politics in the American West - August 24, 2022
00:43:09
DOJ indicts Trump supporter who threatened Maricopa County Recorder over Big Lie | AZ hauls in $177 Million from cannabis excise tax so far in 2022 | DSCC running ads in Arizona for Mark Kelly, attacking Blake Masters | Teacher pay gap is worst in Colorado | CO State Sen Kevin Priola switches from Republican to Democrat over Big Lie and climate change | GOP Sen nominee Joe O'Dea wants to have it both ways on abortion | Denver Fair Elections Fund disburses $1 million to grassroots candidates | Nevada polls show Democrats Catherine Cortez Masto and Steve Sisolak in far batter position than before | Rachel Parker talks with Dave Raithel about running for State House as a Democrat in rural Missouri Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 24, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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MO Amendment 3 | Legalize Marijuana: Yes, or No? Some say the devil is in the details, even those who are in support of legalization in general
01:06:49
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Adam is a lawyer in west-central Missouri and long time political commentator Guest: Eapen Thampy @eapenthampy Eapen is a lobbyist working in the Marijuana and Hemp industries. https://www.sos.mo.gov/default.aspx?PageID=10056 Not all are for it: https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/some-cannabis-advocates-not-on-board-with-amendment-3-legal-missouri-2022 Mo Independent basics: https://missouriindependent.com/2022/08/09/missouri-voters-will-decide-whether-to-legalize-marijuana-this-november-election/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 23, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dr. Oz Is A Cruditidiot | Eric Schmitt's Duplicitous Statements | Trump Tower Tumbling Down | Liz Cheney's Next Act
01:09:55
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 22, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View Aug. 18, 2022 | News & Views From The Heartland
00:24:07
Host: Kevin Smith (@KevINmidMO) Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Guest: Colin Lovett
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 19, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mo Dem House Candidates Special, Ep. 2 | Leslie Derrington in MO 96th - Douglas Mann in MO 50th - Bernadette Holzer in MO 143rd
00:34:32
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Donate To the Mighty MO Funding Project to help fund EVERY candidate running: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/showmeblue Guests 1. Leslie Derrington in MO 96th 2. Douglas Mann in MO 50th @MannForMo50 Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 18, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E31 - Back to School
00:33:45
Nicholas (former science teacher) and Kristina (Educational ASL Interpreter) return with a casual comical talk on the trip back to MO from DC, his new career beyond the classroom, and their kids going back to school with packages glue sticks and markers because we have underfunded public schools. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 17, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Mo Dem House Candidates Special, Ep. 1 - Andy Leighton, Adrian Plank, Ann Zimpfer
00:31:44
Host: Adam Sommer - @Adam_Sommer85 Donate To the Mighty MO Funding Project: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/showmeblue
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 16, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Heartland POD Aug 15, 2022 | MO Marijuana MO Problems? - Gov. Goldfish Is Back In The Bowl - A New Middle Ground In Politics & John Wood in MO - Trump's Bad Week & Biden's Positive Momentum
01:39:20
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 15, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - Aug 12, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:26:12
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Inflation Reduction Act and What it means to you | Getting by with a little help from the feds on Medicaid backlog | CAFO Deregulation | Tracy Grundy, Democrat for MO State House | Facebook Privacy and Women's Health in Nebraska | Climate Change Raising the Cost | Billions into Bioplastics | Wisconsin Dems Rally for Mandela Barnes | Three Down one to go in the Agape Boarding School battle Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 12, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Servant Leader w/ Rev. Susan Shumway, Candidate for MO-105 House District
00:21:46
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Rev. Shumway is running for office for her second time. Not content to allow a seat to be uncontested she ran in 2020 against Justin Hill (the insurrection guy who resigned) and is back again, but this time simply being in the race might just be the start. Rev. Shumway chats with Adam Sommer about her view and experience that pushes her to public service, as a true servant leader. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 11, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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2022 Isn't About Trump... Let's Focus Up
00:13:46
Host Adam Sommer - @Adam_Sommer85 Adam Sommer takes the mic solo to remind us all that in 2022, Trump isn't on the ballot. But progress is. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 10, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Reap What You Sow: Kiki Hubbard of Organic Seed Alliance joins Kevin Smith for a chat
00:28:48
Host Kevin Smith: @KevINmidMO Guest Kiki Hubbar: @KristinaHubbard Organic Seed Alliance: @Seed_Alliance Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 09, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Democrats Did Something Good; C.W. Gardner and his 2,038 Votes; Reece Ellis & Social Media Presence v. Voter Turnout Realities; Kansas's High Turnout v. MO Underwhelming Showing
01:33:07
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD NOTE - THERE IS NO LAST CALL THIS WEEK IGNORE ADAM ABOUT THAT! Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Guest Hosts Reece Ellis @TheReeceEllis CW Gardner (Gardner 4 Missourah) @cwg18
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 08, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - August 5, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:18:09
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Kansas Pro-Choice Referendum | MO Senate Primary Results | Cori Bush wins decidedly | Farm Bill | No Justice in Kansas | Embryonic Dependents in GA | Wisconsin Secretary of State race is high stakes | 13,000 acre Nebraska blaze | Resist STL Infiltrates Pro-Life event Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 05, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Country Music & Congressional Races - Heidi Campbell of Nashville is ready for Congress
00:29:30
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Host Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Heidi Campbell @Campbell4TN https://www.voteheidicampbell.com/ Senator Heidi Campbell is a Nashville native, a Mom, a former music industry executive and was the first female Mayor of the city of Oak Hill. As a child she attended St. Bernard, University School of Nashville and Hume-Fogg High School. She’s a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and earned her MBA at Vanderbilt University. As a songwriter and musician, she toured and recorded with her band, The Keep, for several years shortly after college. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 04, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The origin story of The Heartland POD - an oral history with Sean Diller and Adam Sommer
00:36:28
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Patreon sign up: https://www.patreon.com/heartlandpod Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 03, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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ERIC...
00:30:16
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 02, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Forward Party Looks Back; Trudy Busch Valentine Gaffes Catching Up?; #MOSEN Primary Pics!; Post Primary Thoughts
01:33:29
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO Midterm Prediction Special Missouri Greitens sinking ship?
15 min
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Aug 01, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View: July 29, 2022 - Heartland News & Views
00:17:27
@KevInMidMo brings stories of the week. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 29, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Deep Dive In Missouri's 1st District Democratic Primary with Akela Lacy & Rachel Parker
00:38:13
Host: Rachel Parker @RaitchetP Guest: Akela Lacy (The Intercept) @akela_lacy Akela Lacy, journalist with The Intercept, helps break down the realities in the MO1st District Democratic primary and the forces behind the Steve Roberts candidacy. https://theintercept.com/staff/akelalacy/ https://theintercept.com/2022/07/21/cori-bush-primary-yachad-pac-steven-roberts/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 28, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E30 - Teaching Kids to Rebel
00:24:35
Kristina (Educational ASL Interpreter) and Nicholas (former teacher) reflect on how teaching their kids to rebel against authority has led to conflict and compromise. They stratal avoiding "because I said so" and enduring rebellious tantrums. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 27, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Kentucky Blue In 2022 Grass, A Chat with Conor Halbleib, (D-KY5th)
00:26:04
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: Conor Halbleib @conor_halbleib Picture for me a candidate for US Congress in south-eastern Kentucky. https://conor4kentucky.com/events/ https://secure.actblue.com/donate/conorhalbleibforcongress This part of the state is miles from what you likely know of Kentucky, hours from Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington. Sandwiched between West Virginia to the North east and Virginia to the direct East, touching Northern Tennessee. It’s coal country. No major towns, little access to national highways, with the Cumberland plateau and Cumberland mountains as major features. If you’re a Jason Isbell fan you’ve heard of this area - and my guest for this chat could be a protagonist in an Isbell song himself. Do you have that candidate in your mind? Good. Now here is my chat with Conor Halbleib - a Progressive Democrat running in the Kentucky 5th District Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 26, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Sean's Birthday, Hawley's Hawlinass, Harvard study on Jan6th, Biden has COVID, Dems working with GOP to attack Cori Bush in MO, Blake Masters Wikipedia dive, Adam's wife got kicked out of a Hartzler event, & a Last Call preview
01:42:09
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO A WEEK OF YEAH…NO! We still have another week until the end of midterm season, which means we can circle back to all of the impactful election analysis Unpack a week just FILLED to the brim, like a brief case filled with copies of the lawsuits Eric Schmitt has lost, bursting at the seams But first - a special Birthday Present for Sean - a new mini segment YOU DON’T FUCKIN’ SAY?!?!?!? A HARVARD study was conducted to figure out the prime motivator of the January 6th attackers - turns out… It was Trump Yeah NO… Mo Dem party organizes the Iosh Josh Hawley 5k as a joke without processing why it’s not an excellent look https://twitter.com/modemparty/status/1550495470274887681?s=21&t=fsgD-LmLkcbiIJdPLeLiag Colorado man votes for missing wife - not in support of her, in place of her https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1550566386371551233?s=21&t=B4H35anX6BZWp7Stfkv_bg Biden’s “look at me I’m working” photo op https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-teachable-moment-a3013aa63e6efa4d8130881f0f1b2329 Clay backed PAC attacking Cori Bush https://theintercept.com/2022/07/21/cori-bush-primary-yachad-pac-steven-roberts/?utm_campaign=theintercept&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&scrollnorefresh=1 Blake Masters (AZ senate candidate) wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Masters_(political_candidate) Amanda got kicked out of a Hartzler event LAST CALL Unpack Rachel’s blog about TBV Rachel's Blog: https://www.imadeyoulook.net/look Other reading: Friday article https://news.yahoo.com/final-days-of-missouri-senate-primaries-feature-controversial-debutante-ball-tight-gop-race-171443329.html https://theintercept.com/2022/07/20/missouri-trudy-busch-valentine-republican-fundraisers/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 25, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View - July 22, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:23:28
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Oklahoma Politics chase away Business | MO Gov Mike Parson ignores his own expert | Layover with MO 3 Candidate Bethany Mann | GOP-aligned Dark Money groups attack Rep Cori Bush | Biden announces new actions on climate change | Republicans keep gerrymandered maps Arkansas and Nebraska refuse critical Federal Rental Assistance | U.S. death toll from drug overdoses is rising fast among Black and Indigenous people | Betsy DeVos says the Department of Education 'should not exist' Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 22, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Big Corporate Impact On Small Everyday Life: A Chat with Pat Garofalo of American Economic Liberties Project with Rachel Parker, host.
00:46:38
Host: Rachel Parker @RaichetP Pat Garofalo is the Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. Pat is the author of The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs. Prior to joining Economic Liberties, Pat served as managing editor for Talk Poverty at the Center for American Progress. Previously, Pat was assistant managing editor for opinion at U.S. News & World Report and economic policy editor at ThinkProgress, and his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, The Guardian, and The Week, among others. You can reach Pat at pgarofalo@economicliberties.us. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 21, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - July 20, 2022 - Politics and Government News from the American West
00:12:59
AZ GOP Governor primary a dead heat as early voting starts | Home care workers call for Bill of Rights at the Colorado State Capitol | Biden Administration advances plan for oil transport trains through Glenwood Canyon | Extreme gun rights group sues town of Superior over common sense reforms | Rents out of reach for huge numbers of working-class Nevada residents | US Sen Catherine Cortez Masto blasts GOP for criminalizing reproductive health care Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 20, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High School Musi...er... Activist! - Arthi Kondapaneni, a high school student & community activist, has a chat with Kevin Smith
00:25:56
Host: Kevin Smith @KevinMidMO
Producer: Adam Sommer Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 19, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Manchin kills Climate bill - Polling Shows Abortion Animating Issue - Tim Ryan (OH-D) courting the right? - Midterms 2022 Checkin, The House - BONUS too early 2024 talk
01:25:27
Heartland POD on Twitter - @TheHeartlandPOD Co-Hosts Rachel Parker @RaichetP Sean Diller @SeanDillerCO
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 18, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View - July 15, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:33:03
Host: Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Biden gets Mexico to Pay for the Wall | Toder and Bucklin vs. Agape | Houston Houses Homeless | Jon Karlen for Congress in MO-3 | Gun rights group challenges local reforms | Criminalizing the vote | Schmitt fails again | MO Senate primary rundown | Anti-abortion group wants 10-year-old girl to try and deliver | Invasive worms | MAGA Crisis Actor Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 15, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Ray Reed, GenZ Leader and Congressional Candidate
00:33:07
Host; Rachel Parker @RaichetP on Twitter Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 14, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E29 - Why I Left Teaching
00:38:26
Nicholas (former science teacher) talks with Kristina (Educational ASL Interpreter) about the real reason he left the public education. The struggle with what school became, the strain on their family, & how we change the system to save the world. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 13, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Missouri Draws Attention - A Chat With Mica Soellner of The Washington Times
00:36:26
Host: Adam Sommer - @Adam_Sommer85 Mica Soellner, journalist for The Washington Times, has been paying attention to Missouri. A Mizzou J-School Graduate, Mica's connections to the region and the current rise of progressive candidates have drawn more of her attention to the often overlooked State of "Ol' Missouri, Fair Missouri" - Mica's coverage of Josh Hawley (R - Senate) pulled Adam Sommer's attention and this episode is a chat stemming from that article, and talk about dynamics in modern Missouri politics with the rise of Gen Z progressives like Ray Reed, the "populist" appeal of Lucas Kunce, and all the way to Mica's preferred pizza in Columbia, MO. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/jul/8/josh-hawleys-national-political-ambitions-irk-fell/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 12, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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2 YEAR POD ANNIVERSARY! Climate Change; Missouri Is b-a-n-a-n-a-s; 2022 Senate Races; Last Call preview
01:42:51
Hosts Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker, and Sean Diller bring their particular analysis and "middle out approach" to issues from and impacting the heartland of America and politics. Get full last call by joining our Patreon Family
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 11, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - July 8, 2022 - Heartland Politics News and Views
00:16:29
Host Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Supreme Court halts EPA regulation of carbon emissions | Domestic homicides in Wisconsin are higher than ever | Iowa carbon capture pipeline stalled by grassroots resistance | Abortion rights rallies in Missouri | Huge surge in voter registration on the day Roe v Wade was overturned | DCCC is backing Monica Vallejo in Texas 15th Congressional District | Suboxone and harm reduction activism in Kentucky | Oklahoma executions continue at an alarming rate | STL Mayor Tishaura Jones announces funding for violence prevention initiatives | Rudy Giuliani and Senator Lindsey Graham subpoenaed by Georgia criminal grand jury Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 08, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Rep. Crystal Quade, The State of Abortion Rights In Missouri
00:33:36
HOST: Adam Sommer Twitter: @Adam_Sommer85 GUEST: Crystal Quade Twitter: @crystal_quade To help: ABORTION IN MISSOURI Confusion across the board What can we do What can we expect What about federal level v. State level? What’s the most realistic solution you see for Missourians? Why is a bottom up rebuild so important? Missouri statute for “Right To Life” of an unborn child https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=188.017&bid=47548&hl=abortion%u2044 Abortion Definitions https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=188.015&bid=47547 Abortion by Physician ONLY https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=188.020&bid=9355 Mifepristone with physician only https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=188.021&bid=34832
Rape Report Requirement https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=188.023&bid=9357 https://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills191/hlrbillspdf/0461H.01I.pdf Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 07, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - July 6, 2022 - Politics and Government News from the American West
00:07:23
Arizona Attorney General intends to enforce Civil War-era abortion ban with a 2 year minimum prison sentence | Colorado Gov Jared Polis faces questions about his opposition to Rent Stabilization | $135 Million in annual federal funding accompanies approval of new Colorado Option health insurance plan | Nevada Gov Steve Sisolak and Culinary Union Local 226 backing bold action on Rent Stabilization in Nevada Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 06, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Highland Park Reaction, Weekend Review, & best movie draft
00:45:27
Adam Sommer Adam Sommer gives a reaction to the July 4th shooting in Highland Park, IL - and reflection on the status of things after nearly 2 years of shows. Plus a reply of our 2021 "Most patriotic movie" draft. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 05, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Abortion Right Rally in Rural, Ruby Red America
00:47:32
Hosts: Adam Sommer & Rachel Parker Rachel & Adam attend an abortion rights rally in rural Missouri, and Jessica Piper stops by to help galvanize the crowd. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 04, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - July 1, 2022 - Politics News and Views
00:28:43
Host Kevin Smith Dives into the weekly news most impactful to the Heartland Kansas ballot initiative on abortion heats up - Missouri maternal mortality rates among worst in the nation, as legislature fails to claim federal funds for postpartum care - GOP considering restricting pregnant women from crossing state lines for abortion care - Democratic candidate Michael Sinclair on his campaign for MO Senate District 2 - New states where abortion has been effectively banned - Where providing abortion care will be a criminal offense Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jul 01, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Dawnavyn James has a chat, with Kristina Linke
00:48:25
Host: Kristina Linke Guest: Dawnavyn James Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 30, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E28 - Abortion, Salvation, & Hope
00:25:45
Kristina (host/mother) shares with Nicholas (co-host/husband) her views on how the removal of the right to abortion begins with intense emotions and hopelessness. It reminds her of her privileges growing up and the work to be done for the future generations of the country. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 29, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Rachel's Story: A journey through trauma, abuse, and choice.
00:49:32
Host: Adam Sommer Guest: Rachel Parker Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 28, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SCOTUS Rulings from New York, Maine, and the Dobbs case on Abortion
01:34:21
Co-Hosts: Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker, Sean Diller SUPREME COURT TERM ENDING DOBBS V. JACKSON - STATES CAN MAKE ABORTION ILLEGAL Missouri is first in the nation: https://www.newsweek.com/missouri-bans-all-abortions-minutes-after-scotus-ruling-overturning-roe-1718967 Josh Hawley Wants You To Move Out: https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article262849238.html What is a “D&C” Missouri statute Sec. 1.205: Life Begins At Conception, unborn have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being, natural parents have protectable interest in the life, health and well being of unborn child - those are real actual words in missouri law
MO Stat, Sec. 188.015 defines abortion, 188.017 makes them illegal, updated June 24, 2022 "Conception", the fertilization of the ovum of a female by a sperm of a male; Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no abortion shall be performed or induced upon a woman, except in cases of medical emergency. Any person who knowingly performs or induces an abortion of an unborn child in violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a class B felony, as well as subject to suspension or revocation of his or her professional license by his or her professional licensing board. A woman upon whom an abortion is performed or induced in violation of this subsection shall not be prosecuted for a conspiracy to violate the provisions of this subsection. 3. It shall be an affirmative defense for any person alleged to have violated the provisions of subsection 2 of this section that the person performed or induced an abortion because of a medical emergency. The defendant shall have the burden of persuasion that the defense is more probably true than not. "Medical emergency", a condition which, based on reasonable medical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert the death of the pregnant woman or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman; THOMAS’S CONCURRANCE: “For that reason, in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including: Lawrence - right to engage in private sexual acts (same sex) Obergefell - marriage equality https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization/ MAINE - PUBLIC MONEY TO RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/carson-v-makin/ Holding: Maine’s “nonsectarian” requirement for otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments to parents who live in school districts that do not operate a secondary school of their own violates the free exercise clause of the First Amendment. Actual opinion: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1088_dbfi.pdf
NEW YORK - STATES CANNOT REGULATE GUNS https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/new-york-state-rifle-pistol-association-inc-v-bruen/ NEW YORK LAW required permit for conceal and carry Ruling is that BASED ON THE 14TH AMENDMENT (YEAH THAT SAME ONE) it is an individual liberty interest protected by the 14th (that’s not a joke) Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 27, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Flyover View - June 23rd, 2022: Heartland News & Views (guest: Josh Becker for ST. Charles Co.)
00:27:56
Host: Kevin Smith @KevINmidMO Guest: Josh Becker for ST. Charles County Council @jbeckerforscc5 White parents run black educator out of town over CRT Concerns Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 24, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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John Woodman (D) for the Missouri 7th Primary, for Congress
00:51:30
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: John Woodman @JohnMWoodman John M. Woodman was a member of the Republican party for 35 years until he flipped the question around and let the information lead to the conclusion, rather than the other way around. Now he's running for Congress and he has a detailed plan on how to fix things. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 23, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - June 22, 2022 - Politics and Government News from the American West
00:14:44
Colorado primary elections - Hanks vs O'Dea in GOP Senate contest to take on Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet - Lauren Boebert v State Sen Don Coram in contested 3rd Congressional District GOP primary - Dr. Yadira Caraveo in 8th Congressional District and State Sen. Brittany Pettersen in the 7th are set to win Democratic nominations - AZ GOP works to dismantle popular mail-in voting in use since 1991 Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 22, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Randi McCallian for Congress (D) MO 8th District
00:42:54
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: Randi McCallian @RandiMcCallian Randi is running for congress in the Missouri 8th District - the south east portion. The Missouri 8th has been represented by Jason Smith for many years. During that time hospitals have closed, jobs are fleeing, and the opioid epidemic has worsened. Randi brings a breadth of experience in organizing and a passion for the work that comes through in her push for the seat. https://www.randimccallian.com/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 21, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Progressive Movement Stalling?; Schumer Blocks Anti-Trust Bills; 2024 Third Party Ticket; January 6th Hearings
01:13:25
Hosts: Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker, Sean Diller
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 20, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View - June 17, 2022: Heartland News & Views w/ guest John Kiehne
00:29:32
Host: Kevin Smith - @KevINmidMO Guest: John Kiehne - @JohnKiehneForMO Stories: 2) Farmers Seek Fairness In Fields 3) Kansas & Missouri Both Fail On Medical Debts 4) Interview With John Kiehne - (D) for MOLEG 5) Schools Close Due To Gun Threat 6) Judge Blocks Texas Inquisitor Squads 7) Water Crisis In Colorado 8) Ohio Is For Bettors 9) Hemlock Blooming In Illinois This week’s episode featured reporting and information from KSHB, KCUR, The Hill, ABC, The Kansas City Star, Texas Tribune, Axios, Legal Sports Report, LEO Weekly, WGN9 Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 17, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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We Before Me - A Chat With Jutice Horn (D) Jackson County Legislator Candidate
00:27:39
Host: Adam Sommer - @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: Justice Horn - @JusticeHorn_ Justice Horn chats with Adam Sommer about Justice's run for the Jackson County MO Legislator - in an at large position. Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 16, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Delta, E27 - Merp: Run Like a Tortoise
00:25:04
Nicholas (science teacher) & Kristina (Educational ASL Interpreter) discuss how feeling Merp is a call to run... Run like a tortoise in the race for the long haul. Revisiting the news of gun violence and abortion in the new light of the guest panel from the weekend POD Live show. Learn More: Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 15, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Jenna Roberson - Running for Reason - MO House Dist. 63
00:49:01
Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: Jenna Roberson @JennaForMO Jenna Roberson is back! She's running for State Rep in the Missouri 63rd House District and she's asking for something very simple: Be reasonable. https://www.upballot.com/Jenna-Roberson Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 14, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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THE LIVE SHOW! Audio from June 11, 2022, live in Columbia, MO
01:00:22
Hosts: Adam Sommer, Rachel Parker, Sean Diller LIVE from the amphitheater in Stephen's Lake Park in Columbia, MO the regular Monday gang brings you a Talkin' Politics. 1. Will January 6th Hearings Change Minds? Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 13, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Flyover View - June 10, 2022 - Heartland Politics News & Views
00:25:19
Host: Kevin Smith @KevINmidMO 1. January 6th Hearings and Fox News Cowards 2. MO Sunshine Law Allows For Active Destruction Of Documents By Elected Officials 3. The Real Border Crisis: Red State Guns 4. Texas Attacks On Trans Kids Continue, Lambda Legal Fights Back 5. Michigan GOV candidate Ryan Kelly (R) charged in insurrection 6. Toxic Emissions In Cancer Alley 7. LGBTQ+ In Missouri Means Less Medical Care 8. STL City Gov. Rocked With Federal Bribery Charges and Resignations of Lewis Reed 9. Climate flooding impacts drinking water 10. Dr. Bob Onder Can't Hack It, Quits Race In St. Charles County Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 10, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Charles West for Congress - The Missouri 6th District Dem. Primary Candidate
00:42:03
JOIN US IN COLUMBIA, MO ON JUNE 11TH AT 4PM AT STEPHENS LAKE PARK FOR A LIVE SHOW!!!! COMPLETELY FREE!!!!!!! Host: Adam Sommer @Adam_Sommer85 Guest: Charles West @CharlesWestfor1 https://www.charleswestforcongress.org/ Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 09, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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High Country - June 8, 2022 - Politics and Government News from the American West
00:13:37
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signs $200 Million homelessness bill into law | ARPA funds go to rail projects in 32 states | Housing Sec Marcia Fudge and US Rep Steven Horsford say corporate investors are pushing up housing costs | Interior Sec Deb Haaland announces BLM is cutting fees for solar and wind projects on public lands | Montana issues fentanyl warning as opioid overdose deaths spike | Democrats battle in Denver state house primary Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 08, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Jean Evans: A Chat About School Funding
00:53:30
Host: Adam Sommer Guest: Jean Evans with "American Federation For Children" "School Choice" can be traced back to 1955 in pre-civil rights southern states. After the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) many white southerners were unhappy that white and black children would be made to attend school together after the policy of "separate but equal" was found to violate the 14th Amendment. While the overall tenor of the movement has changed the base level idea remains the same. Take money designated for traditional public schools and move that money, through a combination of vouchers and scholarship savings accounts, to charter and private schools. While some contend this will help students in impoverished areas gain access to quality education and foster a marketplace of innovation among school competing for students - others argue that the reality of "school choice" leads only to worse conditions for schools overall and is no more than a cleverly disguised scheme to defund public education entirely.
Twitter: @TheHeartlandPOD "Change The Conversation" |
Jun 07, 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Guns & Mental Health; Midterm Checkin;
01:10:06
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