Watchdog.org Podcast

In the aftermath of the EPA-caused catastrophe in Colorado, the Environmental Protection Agency's top officials said they took "full responsibility" for the spill. On this edition of the the Watchdog Podcast, hosts Eric Boehm and Steve Greenhut ask an obvious question: what does that mean? When private sector companies mess up and harm the environment, the government swoops in to issue fines and mandate apologies. But when the government messes up, who is being held to account? In this case, it seems like no one. Then, Moriah Costa sits down with Neal McCluskey, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom, to discuss the results of a new poll that shows where Americans stand on major issues in public education and school choice. Our Big Dog interview of the week is with Jason Hart, who takes a look at the spiraling debt at the U.S. Postal Service and what can be done about it. Do we even need the USPS in a world where Amazon will soon be making deliveries by drone? All that, plus a look at

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog Radio On this edition of the Watchdog Podcast, Eric Boehm and Steve Greenhut play a little game called "Who Said It?" featuring comments from Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont. You might think the two presidential candidates are complete opposites, but can you tell them apart based on their positions on illegal immigration or single-payer health care? Then, Hilary Clinton wants to talk about student loan debt. But is she being serious or is she just pandering to millenials who are saddled with more than $1 trillion in debt for their degrees. Moriah Costa joins the program to explain why colleges are salivating at the idea of more federal aid for students - which doesn't really help students, of course, but only pads the schools' bottom lines. All that, plus a look at the top Watchdog stories in our Picks of the Liter and our Nanny State of the Week, on this edition of the Watchdog Podcast.

The first Republican primary debate is in the books — or, perhaps, we should call it the first episode of the Republican presidential reality show? Will Swaim and Eric Boehm try to make some sense of Thursday's debate on this week's edition of the Watchdog Podcast. Did Trump show that he deserves to be the frontrunner?  Can any of these candidates really deliver on the promise of smaller government and controlled spending in Washington? Later, Boehm sits down with Maurice McTigue of the Mercatus Center to discuss a major bit of news that was lost in the media's frothing over the presidential debate: the debt crisis in Puerto Rico. The American territory defaulted on a debt payment this week, but McTigue explains that the situation has been brewing for a long time — the result of poor choices made by politicians more interested in getting elected than actually dealing with the island's unsustainable levels of debt (sound familiar?) Bankruptcy could be part of the solution for Puerto Rico,

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog Radio Governors - current and former - seem to have something of a built-in advantage when it comes to running for president. Four of the last six men to sit in the Oval Office had served as the chief executive of their state. Several of the candidates in the Republican primary field for 2016 are hoping to capitalize on that advantage. But there's more to being a president than simply being a successful governor. In this week's episode, host Eric Boehm is joined by a roundtable of Watchdog reporters who have spent time covering four of the governors who are now running for the White House.  Matt Kittle, Mark Lisheron, Mark Lagerkvist and Jason Hart share their perspectives on, respectively, Gov. Scott Walker, of Wisconsin; former Gov. Rick Perry, of Texas; Gov. Chris Christie, of New Jersey; and Gov. John Kasich, of Ohio. Then, in our weekly Picks of the Liter segment: a look at odd beer laws in Pennsylvania and the explanation of why taxpayers are paying for a useless overhaul o

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog Radio A crazy - or maybe brilliant - plan to break California into six different states won't be on the ballot in 2016. The proposal, pushed by venture capitalist ?? ??, would have allowed voters to decide if they wanted to divide California into a half-dozen smaller states (the largest of which would still be one of the seven biggest states, by population in the United States), but it won't be on the ballot after supporters failed to get the required amount of signatures in favor of the initiative. California resident Steve Greenhut joins Eric Boehm to discuss the idea. Breaking up the state has some advantages, Greenhut says, like giving a voice to conservative Californians who are largely drowned out by the huge number of liberal voters in the state's big cities.  It would also give the state more influence in the U.S. Senate by essentially creating 10 new seats for a state that currently has as much representation as North Dakota and Vermont. Then, we take a look at the surpr

The Wisconsin Supreme Court brought an end to the three-year John Doe saga - a politically-motivated witch hunt in the Badger State targeting conservative individuals and groups that backed Gov. Scott Walker during his recall campaign in 2012. But, as hosts Eric Boehm and Will Swaim discuss, this was about more than just the John Doe investigation. It was about the First Amendment, the right to speak freely in political discourse and the trouble with restrictive campaign finance laws.  Though it might be well-intentioned to try to get money out of politics, the practical results of such efforts involve police officers busting through your front door in the middle of the night - as they did in Wisconsin - in an effort to prove violations of such laws. Matt Kittle joins us to talk about the ramifications of the Supreme Court ruling this week, and how it might affect Walker's newly-announced presidential campaign. Also, we take a look at a major loophole in Vermont's law that gives drivers licenses to illeg

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog Radio On this week's Watchdog Podcast, a tragic event in San Francisco has started a national conversation about so-called "sanctuary cities" where federal immigration laws are effectively voided. And Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (yes, those words still seem odd to put together) has stepped into the spotlight by voicing some strong opinions on how to address the immigration problem. Perhaps because of that, he's now leading in some national polls of the Republican primary (and those words are even more odd). Matt Kittle and Eric Boehm sit down for a conversation about those big issues this week. Then, we'll hear from education reporter Moriah Costa, who sits down with Jonathan Butcher, the education director at Arizona's Goldwater Institute, to talk about the record-breaking support for school choice in that state. Our Picks of the Liter include check-ins with reporters in Vermont, Mississippi and Wisconsin. Steve Wilson tells us about the problems at a new power pla

On this week's Watchdog Podcast, Greece is in crisis after decades of over-spending finally caught up to it. What lessons does the mess in Greece offer for American cities and states that have piled up debts in the public pension system? Eric Boehm and Steve Greenhut discuss the political problems that have caused — and largely prevent the fixing of — those problems. The Supreme Court has been in the news a lot in the last two weeks, as the justices issued their rulings and concluded this year's session.  But now it's time to look ahead to next year.  We'll hear from education reporter Moriah Costa, who sits down with Michael Bindas, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, to talk about a school choice lawsuit that will end up before the Supreme Court in 2016. Our Picks of the Liter include check-ins with reporters in North Dakota and Pennsylvania. Rob Port tells us how the EPA might get what it wants, no matter what the Supreme Court has to say. Andrew Staub explains the budget

On this week's podcast: a busy week at the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled on Thursday in favor of upholding the federal health insurance exchange and on Friday in favor of same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, the media and the Internet are in a tizzy over the Confederate flag, which has become a lightning rod for criticism after the tragic shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, last week.  Is the flag legitimately to blame for the actions of crazy racists, or is it a scapegoat for a terrible tragedy that has no obvious explanation? Hosts Eric Boehm and Will Swaim tackle the big issues of the week. Then, Robert Grayboys of the Mercatus Center sits down for an interview about the future of health care reform in the United States, now that it seems like the Affordable Care Act is here to stay.  The good news? Politics doesn't have to be a factor in fixing some of the major problems with how we provide health care, he says. All that, plus a check-in with the California lawsuit where students are suing their

This is The Fraudcast, a special Watchdog.org podcast in partnership with our friends at Lexus Nexus and their Fraud Of The Day project. Host Ben Yount sits down with Larry Benson from Fraud of the Day to talk about the origins of their project and how much public fraud there really is. At Fraud of the Day, Benson and his staff track local and national news from around the country to expose governmental waste, fraud and abuse. Fraud in government is often an invisible crime, but in reality it is something that hurts everyone. Whether it's the theft of taxpayer dollars or the exposure of personal information in government databases to identity thieves, fraud in government is a serious problem that could affect just about everyone. Why is there fraud in government? The same reason that criminal used to rob banks, says Benson: because that's where the money is. This week's top three "frauds of the week" include $1 million in bogus tax refunds going to the Ukraine, massive Medicaid fraud in Louisiana and Social S

Code Blue is Watchdog Radio’s weekly look at heath issues, ranging from the latest public health debates to small government views on health-care reform. Medicaid and Medicare are breaking the budgets of states and the federal government, but there are other options out there. Is Obamacare the best we can do? On this week's episode, hosts Jason Hart and Ben Yount discuss the upcoming Supreme Court ruling in the King v. Burwell case, which could effectively neuter a huge part of the Affordable Care Act by eliminating health insurance subsidies handed out through the federal exchange. It could be a very big deal. There are 34 states that rely on the federal exchange to provide health insurance subsidies to their residents, and many of them have passed laws that would block state-level exchanges.  States that have already formed state-level exchanges would be fine, but many of them are facing their own problems (like Hawaii, which recently ditched its own exchange after blowing millions on dollars on

By Ben Yount | Watchdog Radio In this episode, guest host Ben Yount sits down with John Berlau from the Competitive Enterprise Institute to talk about how the Obama administration is planning to change how Americans plan for retirement. And how are they planning to do that? By having the government take a larger role in retirement planning, of course. Are individuals unable to handle their own money? The U.S. Department of Labor seems to think so, arguing in a recent report that most individual investors don't understand how to manage their money or plan for their own retirements. The paternalism is worrying enough, says Berlau, but its almost comical for the federal government to assume it is more responsible with money than the average American. After all, this is the same government that has bankrupted social security, blown millions on boondoggles like Solyndra, and on and on.

This is Behind the Headlines, Watchdog.org’s podcast that takes a deeper look at the political news of the day. In this week’s episode, hosts Eric Boehm and Ben Yount sit down with Watchdog reporter Art Kane to talk about the federal government losing as much as $1 billion by backing bad loans to luxury businesses like two Lamborghini dealerships. But that's not all: the Small Business Administration has lost millions of taxpayer dollars on bad loans to country clubs, boat dealers and wineries. In short, it seems like the SBA is doing more to help support the lifestyles of the wealthy than it is doing to support actual small businesses. Watchdog.org found former executives of companies that the database shows failed to make good on the loans still running businesses and in one case apparently living a lavish lifestyle. And even '90s rap star Missy Elliott has a role to play in this story before it's finished.

Breaking the Bank is Watchdog.org’s weekly look at the national public pension crisis, how it’s affecting state and city budgets and what can be done — if anything — to fix it. In this week’s episode, hosts Eric Boehm and Steve Greenhut take a look at the budgetary conundrum facing New York City, which is considering a $10 million cut in funding for its iconic libraries because of increasing pension costs. As Stephen Eide, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, put it in an article published this week: "New York City devoted $8.1 billion to pensions—a 152 percent increase over the prior decade. If pension costs had kept pace with the overall budget, which grew 42 percent between 2005 and 2014, the city would have had an additional $3.6 billion to spend on services." But it's not just libraries that are facing a hit and it's not just New York City making tough choices. As pension costs eat away at a larger share of government budgets, money that could have been spent on

This is “Sit Down, Shut Up,” Watchdog.org’s podcast examining education issues at the national, state and local levels. Hosts Eric Boehm and Moriah Costa take a critical look at the education establishment, the growth of school choice and the ways free markets can be a part of fixing America’s broken school system. In this week's episode, we take a look at Lee Siegel's insulting New York Times op-ed in which the writer congratulated himself for defaulting on his student loans and advised other college graduates to do the same (while acknowledging that if everyone followed his advice, the entire higher education system would come crashing down on itself).  Siegel's was roundly trounced on the Internet (from both the left and the right) for his endorsement of personal irresponsibility, and rightfully so. Then, Costa sits down with Nina Rees, CEO of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools, to reflect on the past school year and look at where charter schools have seen growth -

This is “In Our Backyards,” Watchdog.org’s podcast that examines local government — because the government that’s closest to you often can be the most important, even if you don’t hear much about it. We look at city councils, school boards and even water treatment authorities, because local officials can waste your tax dollars as easily as Congress can waste them. Government is real when it’s close by, in schools and local police forces. In this week's episode, host Eric Boehm sits down with Watchdog reporter Rachel Martin to talk about the strange, sad tale of Elise Truchan and her tree house. After Elise spent three months planning and then building an elaborate tree house for a school project, her family came home to find a note on their front door from the local building inspector telling them it had to come down Now, in order to keep the tree house from being torn down, the family has to pay $500 just for a chance at an official permission slip fro

Code Blue is Watchdog Radio’s weekly look at heath issues, ranging from the latest public health debates to small government views on health-care reform. Medicaid and Medicare are breaking the budgets of states and the federal government, but there are other options out there. Is Obamacare the best we can do? This week, hosts Eric Boehm and Jason Hart take a look at the Medicaid expansion in Ohio, which is running off the rails after less than a year and a half. As Hart reported this week, after just 17 months, Gov. John Kasich’s Obamacare expansion has cost federal taxpayers $3.7 billion. That’s over $1 billion more than the Kasich administration projected for the expansion’s first 18 months. For now, the higher-than-expected costs are being picked up by federal taxpayers, but that will change in a few years and state taxpayers will have to pay as much as $30 million per month to cover the increased costs brought by the expansion. Then, with the Supreme Court getting re

This is Behind the Headlines, Watchdog.org’s podcast that takes a deeper look at the political news of the day. In this week's episode, host Eric Boehm sits down with Rob Port, Watchdog.org's North Dakota bureau chief, to discuss the end of the oil boom and the consequences of lower oil prices. Sure, lower oil prices might be great news for consumers who have to fill their tanks at the pump, but in states like North Dakota that depend on oil and tax revenue for a significant portion of their tax base, there are serious concerns. And some companies are facing difficult choices as the lower prices force them to find ways to save money. But as Port explains, that's not all bad news.  The state government in North Dakota has been stashing money away for years and finds itself in an odd position (at least odd when compared to most other states in the country) because it's got more money than it knows how to spend.  Lower prices can be good for business too, as it forces competition and weeds out le

This is “In Our Backyards,” Watchdog.org’s podcast that examines local government — because the government that’s closest to you often can be the most important, even if you don’t hear much about it. We look at city councils, school boards and even water treatment authorities, because local officials can waste your tax dollars as easily as Congress can waste them. Government is real when it’s close by, in schools and local police forces. In this week's episode, host Eric Boehm sits down with Watchdog.org's national energy reporter Rob Nikolewski to talk about the potential for upstate New York to secede from the rest of the state. People in the Southern Tier are upset about a ban on hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking" - that prevents them from tapping into the rich natural gas deposits of the Marcellus Shale formation. Yes, it's unlikely.  But the fact that people are talking about it as a possibility shows just how upset some people are over the frack

This is At the Races, Watchdog.org’s podcast that focuses on elections and political campaigns. In this episode, hosts Eric Boehm and Ben Yount take a look at two of the worst candidates in the ever-growing presidential field: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Martin O'Malley, the former Democratic governor of Maryland. First up: a game called "Real quote from Lindsey Graham or passage from dystopian fiction?"  In this game, Yount has to decide if a Constitution-shredding, anti-free-speech, pro-militarism comment is something that actually was uttered by the senator from South Carolina or whether it comes from the pages of books like 1984 and V for Vendetta. Then, we take a look at the five most insane tax increases supported by O'Malley.  From the rain tax to the toilet tax, there were plenty to choose from - Maryland increased taxes on 44 separate occasions during the eight years that O'Malley was running the state.