InfluenceWatch Podcast

Episode 178: Chaos in Cuba (with guest John Suarez)

July 16th, 2021  |  32 mins 28 secs

blm, castro, communism, conservative, cuba, democrat, demonstrations, freedom, john suarez, left, liberal, libertarian, liberty, politics, progressive, protests, republican, right, riot, society

In this episode: Since last Sunday, Cubans have publicly demonstrated against the Communist regime that has inflicted tyranny on their homeland for over sixty years. Joining us to discuss the background behind the demonstrations and the prospects for a freer Cuba is John Suarez, the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba.

Episode 161: What Would H.R. 1 Mean? (with guest Steve Marshall)

March 18th, 2021  |  12 mins 13 secs

alabama, american, attorney general, california, congress, conservative, culture, democrat, labor, left, legislation, liberal, libertarian, politics, progressive, republican, right, society, steve marshall, stimulus, unions

In this episode: H.R. 1: It might be the most consequential piece of legislation before the Congress this year—and that’s saying something in year when Congressional Democrats have already spent $1.9 trillion and advanced a fundamental restructuring of American labor relations. But what does this partisan-Democratic proposal to turn all American elections into copies of California’s often-criticized system mean? Joining us is Steve Marshall, the Attorney General of Alabama and one of twenty state attorneys general who signed a letter to Congressional leaders (that we will include in today’s show notes) opposing large sections of H.R. 1.

Episode 160: The Worst Bill in Congress: The PRO Act (with guest Edwin Egee)

March 12th, 2021  |  30 mins 11 secs

biden administration, big labor, congress, conservative, culture, democrat, ed egee, filibuster, house of representatives, left, legislation, liberal, libertarian, national retail federation, pro act, progressive, republican, right, senate, society, unions, workers

In this episode: This week, the U.S. House of Representatives again advanced the odious catalog of Big Labor favors known as the “PRO Act” on a nearly party-line vote. While the legislation will likely stall in the Senate as long as the legislative filibuster remains in effect, the proposal remains a priority of the Biden administration, leaving Big Labor’s Sword of Damocles hanging over American workers and American businesses for at least the remainder of this Congress. Joining us to discuss the threat posed by the legislation is Ed Egee, vice president for workforce development at the National Retail Federation.

Episode 159: Standing Up to Woke Capital (with guest Stephen Soukup)

March 5th, 2021  |  26 mins 48 secs

book, business, conservative, culture, democrat, dictatorship, esg, investing, left, liberal, libertarian, money, political correctness, politics, progressive, republican, right, society, stephen soukup, wall street, woke

In this episode: We welcome Stephen Soukup, author of The Dictatorship of Woke Capital: How Political Correctness Captured Big Business to discuss…well, woke capital and how political correctness captured big business. (Isn’t it helpful when a book does exactly what it says on the cover?) Soukup is publisher and vice president of the Political Forum, an independent research provider.

Episode 158: Power and Influence of Teachers Unions (with guest Lisa Turkeltaub)

February 25th, 2021  |  34 mins 35 secs

children, conservative, democrat, distance learning, education, fairfax, fea, leadership, left, liberal, libertarian, lisa turkeltaub, parents, progressive, public schools, reopening, republican, right, school boards, schools, special interests, teachers, unions

In this episode: Across the country, bold political leadership from both parties has eased or overridden special interest groups’ resistance to reopening public schools, but linguini-spined leaders of both parties have permitted teachers unions to force children to endure nearly a full year of isolation and virtual learning. Fighting the battle at Ground Zero in the DC suburbs have been the parents of Fairfax County Public Schools, who stand opposed by the Fairfax Education Association—which back last summer set a medically impossible standard to return to work. Excuse me, to classrooms, the union has insisted to me that the schools are open for virtual learning. I regret the error.

Joining us is one of those parents, Lisa Turkeltaub, to discuss the efforts and organizing of OpenFCPS, a campaign group pushing to reopen the schools for real.

Episode 157: The Politically Incorrect Guide (with guest Jake Klein)

February 19th, 2021  |  19 mins 20 secs

american, authors, culture, democrat, documentaries, left, libertarian, michael malice, pc, pig, podcasters, politically incorrect, politics, progressive, regnery publishing, republican, right, school, series, society, tom woods, universities, web-series

In this week’s episode: We switch gears slightly and invite Capital Research Center’s Jake Klein, head of our in-house Dangerous Documentaries video production brand, to discuss its latest project: The Politically Incorrect Guides, an animated web-series featuring notable podcasters and authors Tom Woods and Michael Malice based on Regnery Publishing’s book series of the same name that educates viewers beyond the politically correct rhetoric increasingly infecting American universities and society at large.

Episode 156: Defending the Freedom of Association (with guest Jennifer Braceras)

February 12th, 2021  |  22 mins 49 secs

civil rights, conservative, constitution, culture, dark money, democrat, disclosure, donors, freedom, information, iwlc, jennifer braceras, left, liberal, libertarian, philanthropy, politics, privacy, progressive, republican, right, supreme court

In this episode: We discuss an issue that is well known to those involved in politics and to donors, but perhaps not as well known to the average voter. So we’re hoping to shed some light on it. The issue is donor disclosure, and we have as a special guest Jennifer Braceras, director of Independent Women’s Law Center, project of independent women’s forum, and a former member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, who wrote a very sharp op-ed on the subject recently, "Freedom Of Association Is Under Attack. Will The Supreme Court Protect It?" We discuss a few cases surrounding donor disclosure that could be heard by the Supreme Court in the coming months.

Episode 151: This Business Will Get Out of Control

January 7th, 2021  |  15 mins 11 secs

conservative, culture, democrat, demonstration, evil, florida, joe biden, left, liberal, libertarian, mob, politics, president, progressive, protest, republican, right, riot, speech, united states, violence

In this episode: We’re doing something different this week, because we're recording this on Thursday January 7, 2021. Yesterday, a riotous mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and attempted to prevent the certification of the votes of the Electoral College that make Democrat Joe Biden President-elect of the United States. There is no excuse for demonstrators, whatever their beliefs and goals, to overrun police barricades and attempt to prevent the people’s elected representatives from carrying out their duties. Violence is not speech—and storming the Capitol is violence. At Capital Research Center, we do have a specific point of view: We believe in free markets, Constitutional government, and individual liberty—violent disruption of the legislature is not that.

Episode 150: The "Rising American Electorate"

December 31st, 2020  |  18 mins 23 secs

2020, blue, conservative, democrat, democratic, election, florida, hispanics, jobs, latino, latinx, left, liberal, libertarian, president, progressive, red, republican, right, texas, year end

In this episode: A strange thing happened on the road to the Emerging Democratic Majority. Even as Joe Biden won a roughly four-and-a-half percentage point national lead in total ballots cast, the “Rising American Electorate” demographics that were supposed to deliver “blue Texas” actually kept the Lone Star State and Florida in the Republican column while swinging to the right—even in deep-blue areas—as the country tilted to the left relative to 2016. The swings were most notable in two areas: The Mexican border region of Texas (known as the Rio Grande Valley or RGV) and South Florida—in both places, Hispanic constituencies Democrats assumed would be permanently in their camp swung hard to the right, helping keep those states in the Republican column. Joining us to discuss this unexpected development is Alfredo Ortiz, President and CEO of the Job Creators Network.

Episode 133: The MSNBC “Cheesecake” Republicans

August 21st, 2020  |  27 mins 14 secs

american, conservative, culture, democrat, democratic, left, liberal, libertarian, lincoln project, political parties, politics, progressive, republican, right, russia, russia hoax, russia investigation, society, state, super pac, trump

This week I’m joined by my colleague Sarah Lee to discuss how recent developments in the investigation of the Trump-Russia investigators illustrates the problems with the administrative state, ask how American political parties might work to improve the quality of their nominees and what they stand to gain from doing so, and investigate the Lincoln Project, a Democratic SuperPAC with pretentions of being more than that.