InfluenceWatch Podcast

Episode 169: A Democrat Takeover of Election Law? (with guest J. Christian Adams)

May 14th, 2021  |  13 mins 8 secs

bills, congress, conservative, elections, ideas, independent, law, left, libertarian, politics, progressive, right, senate, society, unions

In this episode: In this Congress, bad ideas don’t die—they get marked up by the Senate Rules Committee. And this week it was the turn of S 1, the Senate companion to HR 1, the Democrats’ federal-election-takeover legislation. Joining us today to discuss the potential consequences of HR1/S1 should they pass is J. Christian Adams, right-leaning elections lawyer extraordinaire.

Episode 167: Understanding China's University Influence

April 29th, 2021  |  18 mins 37 secs

america, ccp, china, confucius institutes, conservative, culture, education, foreign influence, funding, left, liberal, libertarian, nonprofits, politics, progressive, propaganda, rachelle peterson, radicalism, right, sarah lee, society, universities

In this episode: CRC’s Communications and External Relations Director Sarah Lee interviews National Association of Scholars Senior Research Fellow Rachelle Peterson about her work related to the Confucius Institutes, ostensible Chinese cultural education centers that function as propaganda arms of the Chinese Communist Party. NAS has been following the Confucius Institutes for years, observing how their funding by organizations and individuals tied to the CCP, and how they’re possibly beginning to rebrand themselves in light of recent criticism. The subject of American radicalism, donor privacy, and the role of nonprofits in national security all discussed. Check out both NAS’ and CRC’s work on the subject of Confucius Institutes and foreign funding of American nonprofits.

Episode 166: Foreign Billionaire Influences American Policy

April 23rd, 2021  |  16 mins 37 secs

billionaire, charity, conservative, environmental, foreign, left, liberal, libertarian, media, news, nonprofits, philanthropy, politics, progressive, right, swiss

In this episode: Federal law prohibits foreign nationals, except holders of permanent resident (or “green card”) status, from making political contributions in federal elections. But foreign billionaires are free to spend whatever they like on news organizations and advocacy groups that otherwise influence American public policy, and that brings us to Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss, the major environmentalist donor who just dropped a bid to buy the Chicago Tribune and turn the paper into a clone of the Washington Post, another national-level liberal propaganda outlet. But a funny thing happened on the way to a Midwestern #Resistance media outlet: the New York Times exposed Wyss’s agenda and he dropped his bid for the Tribune. Joining us to discuss Wyss, the brouhaha, and Wyss’s other projects is my colleague Hayden Ludwig.

Episode 165: Is the PTA a Teachers Union Stooge?

April 16th, 2021  |  24 mins 38 secs

closures, conservative, covid, covid-19, left, liberal, libertarian, nea, pandemic, parents, progressive, pta, public school, right, school, teachers, unions

In this episode: We have covered extensively the prolonged and unprecedented closures of schools ostensibly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which continue to see teachers unions insist, even when their members receive vaccination priority or when school districts conduct extensively disruptive “pandemic theater” like closing for deep cleaning that even the teachers-union, er, “stakeholder” compromised CDC has concluded is unnecessary, that in-person schooling is “unsafe,” without evidence. Parents seeking to raise pressure with school officials to reopen schools might have considered turning to the “Parent-Teacher Associations”—PTAs—the largest organizations supposedly representative of parents’ interests, but as our guest Luke Rosiak of the Daily Wire has documented, the PTAs are in fact deeply intertwined with the teachers unions and often function as little more than appendages for the far-left advocacy of Big Labor.

Episode 163: Responding to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

April 5th, 2021  |  20 mins 18 secs

conservative, constitution, culture, donor, hr 1, left, liberal, libertarian, media, politics, privacy, progressive, right, rights, senate, whitehouse

In this episode: We’ve discussed H.R. 1 before, see episode 161 with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshal, and it is important enough to discuss it again. Joining us today is Capital Research Center president Scott Walter to discuss donor disclosure and his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights.

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.