A Midwest Conversation

Back into it! Welcome to the first ep of 2022! If you have already watched the video posted on the Midwest Conversation Youtube page, skip ahead in this episode about 7 minutes! A Midwest Conversation Podcast In this episode, we talk about all things Ohio politics. Two bills surrounding gun ownership and the right to protest passed the statehouse this week. We discuss what they are all about and what they mean for the future if they pass. Rob Portman is set to retire this year, which means there will be a seat open in the US Senate representing the state of Ohio. This week there was a debate between Josh Mandel and Morgan Harper. Morgan is an AOC-style lefty, and Josh is a classic Trump MAGA warrior. Needless to say, it was entertaining. Another US Senate hopeful, GOP candidate J.D Vance held a town hall with voters in Toledo, Ohio. We speak about what he stands for and our interaction after the debate. Before you go, Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation.Your subscription supports the show and allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Before we start;Who do you know would enjoy the show? Word of mouth is the best way for the show to grow. Share A Midwest Conversation with someone in your life who is sick of the mainstream media, or someone who is politically homeless, or someone who just doesn’t care about any political or governmental processes at all. Giving GenZ and Millennials a better avenue and a more straightforward explanation of what’s going on is the way to get them back into the political system. How do we do that? Independent media. A Midwest Conversation Podcast Big Pharma is selling covid medician at 40X cost! The pharmaceutical company Merck is selling a Covid-19 therapeutic drug for 40x the cost to make. This is not uncommon in pharmaceuticals, but the difference here is that the drug in question, molnupiravir, was created by US tax dollars! Workers strike across the country! As I wrote earlier in the week, Kellogg’s workers are on strike to protect future workers. The four plants are not the only plants standing up for workers. John Deer workers, 10,000 of them are also on strike. Kellogg’s company is trying to force workers to work crazy hours and forced overtime. Kellogg’s is also trying to take away pension plans, health care, and a fair wage from their new employees. John Deer is making it nearly impossible for its workers to earn the pay they are entitled to, along with forced overtime. In this segment, we talk about the future of work in America at large. CNN has lost the plot! Andrew Yang went on CNN to talk to Jim Acosta about Andrew’s new book “Forward” and Andrew’s starting of a new political party, The Forward party. During this hard-to-watch-out-of-touch interview, Acosta can not grapple with the fact that everyday Americans are fed up with the political system and baffled by the fact that Andrew would actually talk to someone who disagrees with the manufactured narrative of CNN and other liberal outlets. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Before we start; Who do you know would enjoy the show? Word of mouth is the best way for the show to grow. Share A Midwest Conversation with someone in your life who is sick of the mainstream media, or someone who is politically homeless, or someone who just doesn’t care about any political or governmental processes at all. Giving GenZ and Millennials a better avenue and a more straightforward explanation of what’s going on is the way to get them back into the political system. How do we do that? Independent media. A Midwest Conversation Podcast Mike DeWine is in Texas for some reason. This week Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was in Texas at the border wall. He posted a series of laggy Facebook videos and live streams showing his support for the wall. With the Governor’s primary race only 7months away, this is apparent political posturing to the base of the republican party, upset at him for distancing himself from Trump. How Much is 3.5 Trillion dollars exactly? The Intercept put together a great video explaining the numbers behind the 3.5 trillion spending plan and how they stack up compared to the 2017 Trump tax cuts and the national defense budget. Remember, the plans are all over ten years. 3.5 trillion is not as much as mainstream media will have you believe. We are moving closer to a reconciliation bill. This week in Congress, talks ramped up as holdout Joe Manchin finally came around and began telling the public and his colleges what he is against and what he is for in the spending plan. Manchin also gave us a closer look at his top-line number. He would like to see the final bill. Kyrsten Sinema, on the other hand, is still silent, at least in public. She refuses to tell the people where she stands on the reconciliation plan. All we know is Sinema is not for a bill that large (3.5T). She disagrees with the tax increases, and she has sided with big Pharma on Medicare being able to negotiate drug costs. The United States faces a debt crisis. The United States came dangerously close to defaulting on the national debt. If that were to happen, that would mean a complete global economic collapse. Thankfully leaders in Washington were able to agree (after rumors of wall street intervention) on adding 480 billion dollars to the debt limit to keep the United States from defaulting until December 3rd. Republicans and Democrats agreed to put a number on the debt limit into the reconciliation plan. Let’s hope they can get their shit together in December, or this Christmas will be ugly! Before you go, Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full audio and video version of the Podcast one day in advance! Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

A Midwest Conversation Podcast In today's show; Josh Mandel is still a tool There was a new poll published recently showing Josh Mandel with a 24 point lead in the Senate race for the state of Ohio. This poll is highly misleading for several reasons, further proving the point I have made time and time again, Josh Mandel is a Tool. The Deep State’s plot to kidnap and kill Thanks to a new report by Yahoo news, there was a plot to kidnap and kill WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. In the information, according to 30 former intelligence officials, former CIA director Mike Pompeo was “obsessed with revenge.” There were sketches and plans on how the CIA would attack Assange. Including blocking a plane on a BRITISH runway and engaging in a shootout! The fact that there were talks among the highest intelligence officials to kidnap and kill a journalist in AMERICA, a country claiming to protect press freedom, is shocking and stomach-turning. The two-track plan is falling apart fast. The Build Back Better plan is the Biden administration’s entire economic agenda. That plan is falling apart faster than the Senate can write the language. With a mix of corporate goons in the house, a coal baron in the Senate, and a week and unfit President, the two-bill infrastructure plan is slipping away. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Before we start; Who do you know would enjoy the show? Word of mouth is the best way for the show to grow. Share A Midwest Conversation with someone in your life who is sick of the mainstream media, or someone who is politically homeless, or someone who just doesn’t care about any political or governmental processes at all. Giving GenZ and Millennials a better avenue and a more straightforward explanation of what’s going on is the way to get them back into the political system. How do we do that? Independent media. A Midwest Conversation Podcast Child Tax Credit New details have come out surrounding the child tax credit. Democrats are aiming to extend the tax credit until 2024. The credit will still be on an income scale. Singles making $200,000 and less will receive the credit of $300 per month for each child under the age of 6 and 250 per month for children aged 7-17. Couples whose income is at 400,000 and below will receive the same credit. There are fights in congress as we speak about means testing the credit and whether or not to make it permanent. Joe Manchin on CNN West Virginia Senator and corporate sellout Joe Manchin was on CNN for an interview surrounding the 3.5T reconciliation package. Manchin was pressed about the “pay fors,” means testing the child tax credit and the provisions on climate. This should come as no surprise; his answers were less than favorable for your average working American. Federal Voting Rights Bill We have new information about the federal voting rights bill. This bill would make it easier to vote, register to vote, target Gerrymandering, and place more ballot boxes in communities. The bill would also expand ways to verify identity and include same-day voter registration at all polling locations. This bill does need 60 votes in the Senate to pass, so we will see changes and compromises in the coming weeks. Before you go, Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full audio and video version of the Podcast one day in advance! Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Before we start; Who do you know would enjoy the show? Word of mouth is the best way for the show to grow. Share A Midwest Conversation with someone in your life who is sick of the mainstream media, or someone who is politically homeless, or someone who just doesn’t care about any political or governmental processes at all. Giving GenZ and Millennials a better avenue and a more straightforward explanation of what’s going on is the way to get them back into the political system. How do we do that? Independent media. Josh Mandel is a tool. Standing in front of a Trump sign in the middle of a cornfield at 9:45 pm on Thursday, Senate candidate Josh Mandel posted a video on Twitter expressing his “boiling blood” over the announcement from the White House regarding the nationwide vaccine mandate. Jimmy Kimmel’s terrible take. In a recent monologue on his late-night show, Kimmel took the take that American hospitals should deny unvaccinated people health care. A truly disgusting take that is making its way through elite media circles. Kimmel might have been joking, but the fact still remains that there are upper-class liberals that unironically share his take in this situation. That, is no laughing matter. Morgan Harper for US Senate. Progressive candidate Morgan Harper is running for US Senate in the state of Ohio. We take a look at her online Ad and her website. We talk about the issues she is running on, her background, and what she needs to focus on to gain the support of people on the fence to win. Everyone VS. Manchin. Following the oped Joe Manchin wrote in the Wall Street Journal, Congressional leadership is coming out against him. Leaders like Chuck Schumer say that the Democrat’s plan of the 3.5T top-line number on the spending bill will go forward. Along with Congressional leadership fighting back, Joe Manchin’s approval rating in his home state has been down significantly since October of last year. Medicare to negotiate drug prices. The White House accounted Thursday a blueprint plan for medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices. The plan also calls on Congress to allow drug importation from Canada, allowing generic and biosimilar drugs to be available more quickly.Be ready for a fight; Big Pharma is not going to let this go unchecked. I expect the propaganda machine to ramp up quickly against this plan. I will continue to track and point it out when I see it. International Press Freedom act. This week Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) announced a bill to protect journalists working overseas or in dangerous areas. The bill calls for a new State Department office and an annual 30M in funding for the protection of journalists. That sounds like good news, and for the most part, it is, except if you’re Ed Snowden or Julian Assange. Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation.Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full audio and video version of the Podcast one day in advance!Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

A Midwest Conversation Podcast The eviction ban is over! This week, the supreme court has ruled that the CDC cannot dictate the housing law in the United States, forcing Congress to act. However, it might be too little too late. The Washington Post reports 6.7 Million people are behind on rent. The federal government completely failed to get the 46 billion dollars set aside in JUNE for this very crisis. Now members are scrambling to craft legislation set to be released on the 13th of September to help renters and landlords get some assistance. Climate Change is to blame for hurricane Ida. As we know, hurricanes are prevalent in the American south, but as climate change runs wild, the severity of the storms is only going to increase. The climate can now hold more water in the air giving the storms more strength as they make landfall. Hurricane Ida is a prime example of this. This storm grew at a rate of 65mph over just 12 hours because of the warmer air and the increased moisture level in the atmosphere. Joe Manchin is a shill for Big Oil. It is no shock that I am not the biggest fan of Joe Manchin. This week he proves the point again that he is not working to better the lives of Americans. He is working in congress to better his bank account. The majority of Manchin’s wealth comes from big oil and his family's coal company. So, when Manchin says we should “hit the pause” button on the 3.5T spending bill because of “runaway inflation,” just know that his interests are not the ones of the American people but of the company he founded in the 1980s. A large portion of the spending in the 3.5T plan would go towards changing America’s energy sector away from coal and fossil fuel, something Joe Manchin desperately does not want to happen. Do Progressives have the stones to stop the moderates? Recently a group of 9 moderate democrats in the House said they would block the 3.5T spending plan if the smaller 1T corporate handout bill is not passed first. The Biden administration has said from the beginning that they want both bills to pass simultaneously. So far, it seems like Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is keeping to that agenda. She has granted the moderates a deal that the vote would take place on September 27th. Hopefully, giving the Senate enough time to craft the 3.5T plan. Here is where the progressives come in. Progressives have said that there will be no 1T roads and bridges bill without a 3.5T spending plan that includes the progressive agenda. Given the record in the past and a not-so-good interview from Ilhan Omar to Ryan Grim at the intercept, I do not see the progressives standing up to the moderates and Manchin when the time comes. Progressives need to stand strong and draw a clear red line saying, “No climate, no deal.” Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation.Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full audio and video version of the Podcast one day in advance!Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

A Midwest Conversation Podcast Infrastructure. Over the last week, a lot has changed with the talks on infrastructure on Capitol Hill. There is now a group of nine corporate-backed democrats in the house threatening to block the 3.5T budget plan if the smaller 1T roads and bridges plan does not pass the House first. This will make progressives in the House nervous because they have said they would block the 1T plan if the 3.5T plan does not meet the standards of the progressive agenda. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has all the power here. She has said that the bills will pass together. There will not be a vote on the 1T plan in the House until the Senate finishes and passes the larger 3.5T plan. It is looking like Pelosi is —for once— on the side of the progressives. I would not hold your breath. There is a lot of outside cash riding on this game of chicken in the house. There has been a deadline to “consider a vote” on the 1T plan on September 27th. Remember, Pelosi has all the power. The September deadline is not set in stone at all. Joe Biden must pardon Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale blew the whistle on the Obama administration’s drone warfare. Hale is wrongly convicted and sentenced to 45 months in prison under the espionage act. The law written to combat spies has been abused for years under Obama and Trump. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is the only member of congress currently calling for Biden to pardon Hale for leaking drone strike data to Journalists. Hale did not give any national security secrets to any foreign governments or enemies of the USA. He blew the whistle on the malpractice of the Obama administration and the military-industrial complex. The only crime Hale committed was damaging the legacy and harming the ego of former President Barack Obama. Your iCloud accounts are under attack. Thanks to a wonderful piece on Substack by Ed Snowden, we have a new look into IOS 15. The software update set to roll out in September includes a provision for Apple to look into your iCloud storage account and scan for photos “that contain potentially sensitive material.” Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full audio and video version of the Podcast one day in advance.Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

This episode of A Midwest Conversation Podcast: Infrastructure is moving…slowly This week the Senate passed the 1.2T dollar infrastructure approving 550B in new spending for roads, bridges, broadband, and water infrastructure. That bill now moves to the House, where House moderates are pushing Nancy Pelosi to rush to a vote before the upcoming recess. Pelosi has signaled there will not be a vote on the 1.2T first bill until the Senate also passes the larger 3.5T budget bill. The Senate has approved the 3.5T bill to be debated and reconciled in the Senate and an eventual vote. There are some moderate Dems in the Senate like Joe Manchin who have expressed some concerns about the scope of the larger budget bill. At the same time, House Progressives like AOC and the Squad have made a public statement of “no climate no deal.” If the Senate passes the 3.5T budget plan without the climate change provisions, Progressives will vote NO on the 1.2T roads and bridges bill. Effectively tanking the entire infrastructure plan altogether. Finally, the Progressives are using their leverage in the House to move Washington toward their agenda, starting with the climate crisis. We have a very long process ahead. The House is playing a game of chicken with the Senate waiting for the passing of the larger budget bill and the Progressives threatening to hold their vote until climate initiatives are placed in the budget plan. All of that before the 1.2T plan is voted on and passed through the House. Then the budget plan will move into the House and be voted on and passed before both bills can move to Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law. I predict, best-case scenario, we will not have infrastructure until October. Worst case, December. Obama turned 60…whoopty fuckin do Former President Obama had his 60th birthday party last week, which received a lot of press coverage. The press coverage was nothing more than covering for the overall hypocrisy of the elite liberal establishment. The New York Times White House correspondent went on CNN to defend the over 100+ person party and why they could be indoors even without masks despite what they tell normal people. The answer “This was a sophisticated vaccinated crowd.” Nan’s plan for Ohio jobs Nan Whaley, a democratic hopeful running for governor in Ohio, announced her jobs plan this week. There are some good things about this plan. Investing in R&D to combat automation in the trucking industry is, in my view, the most important. There are also some great union actions in this plan as well. Companies that aggressively fight against unions will not receive state assistance like tax incentives at all. Also, companies whose wage pay is below living to where their employees qualify for Medicaid will not qualify for state assistance. Nan’s plan also includes a “buy Ohio” plan. This means anything the state purchases from the private sector will be from an Ohio business. Some things in the plan will be tough to do or not work at all. In this plan, there are job retraining programs for people being pushed out of the workforce. Government retraining programs do not work. 45-60-year-old truckers are not going to listen to governmental agencies that tell them they will learn a new technological skill for another job. Nan also wants to raise Ohio’s minimum wage to 15 per hour. While I support this, getting this done in Ohio will be next to impossible with the state assembly being so conservative. However, Nan has called for a ballot initiative if the 15 dollar wage can not be passed through regular order. Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full video and audio version of the Podcast one day in advance.Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other...

This week on A Midwest Conversation Vaccine Madness The Biden administration has set an example for the rest of the country, mandating public workers to be vaccinated. This has prompted NYC to be the first of what I believe to be many cities and states following suit. The “The Key to NYC Pass” program will force city residents to get and prove vaccination before getting back to normal life. In my view, this is very dangerous to force upon people both culturally and politically. The vaccine has already become a polarising issue among the American public. Now to have upper-class white liberals gripping to the power of restricting others from the private sector over a vaccine is only going to further the divide. Additionally, the legality of this is still in a grey area. The Covid-19 mRNA vaccine is not fully approved by the FDA yet. While, at the time of writing this, the supreme court has not said anything, I feel like something or someone will challenge this in the courts. Eviction Crisis Over the last few days, we have seen a complete failure by the federal government. The CDC eviction ban was allowed to expire, potentially forcing 15 million Americans onto the street. Congressional leaders assumed the Biden administration and the CDC would do something to extend the ban, but the Supreme court stepped in and ruled Congress must act to extend the ban. After all, the leaders and bureaucrats in the CDC are not elected officials and do not get to decide US housing law. This fell on deaf ears in Congress as a majority of House members left town for vacation. Except for one member of the Squad, Cori Bush (D-MO). Bush has been homeless herself, and she slept on the front steps of the capitol building for days to raise awareness and give the 15 million Americans a voice. Her actions caused other members of congress like AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, members of the public, and other members of Congress to join her on the steps of the capital. The public outrage and media pressure began to grow. Joe Biden with the CDC announced that the CDC would extend the eviction ban until October 3rd and only apply it to areas with high Covid-19 Delta cases. After all, the original ban on evictions was to stop the spread of Covid-19. There is no telling yet what the Supreme Court will do, but Congress needs to act fast in October when the ban is over. In December, Congress appropriated 25 billion dollars for aid to those facing eviction. Congress added another 21.5 billion dollars to that pool in March, totaling 46.5 billion dollars. As of writing this, only 3 billion has been distributed. So in October, when Congress is back to work fresh off their vacation and Hamptons fundraiser events, maybe they get that money out to the people who need it most. Ohio’s 11th congressional district race Tuesday was the vote in Ohio’s 11th congressional district between Nina Turner and Shontel Brown. Brown, who was backed by millions of dollars in dark super Pac money, the Hillary Clinton machine, and a slew of big pharma money, ultimately won. That is very disappointing if you’re a progressive in the state. The most telling thing about the race was the amount of mainstream corporate moderate democrats who saw this victory as a legit victory. Hakeem Jeffries and other establishment democrats bosted to the media how the democratic base and the majority of the country still stand with the establishment. This could not be further from the truth. According to the House Democratic campaign chief Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), democrats in the house are behind in the polls by at least 6 points! Infrastructure is a mess There have been over 281 proposed amendments to the bipartisan infrastructure plan. The Senate plans to have a vote this weekend, but I do not see that happening with the amount of work it will take to sort through the proposed changes. Senate Democrats also said they plan to move into the budget reconciliation plan as soon...

This week on A Midwest Conversation Podcast, we get into a lot of topics. First, on the agenda, there is word that the Biden administration will be requiring federal employees and contractors to be fully vaccinated. There are more developments in the FirstEnergy bribery scam in the state of Ohio. We now have confirmation that FirstEnergy did, in fact, shell out millions of dollars in bribes for legislators to look the other way. A new question arises; did Governor Mike DeWine know of the corruption? Was Governor DeWine involved? There was a dinner on December 18th with Mike DeWine, the CEO of FirstEnergy and FirstEnegry’s vice president. Governor DeWine said that he could not remember the dinner details and is still trying to locate a calendar to see if the dates are correct. We briefly touch on a boring and complete theatrical speech President Joe Biden gave in Pennslyvania. Daniel Hale was an air force intelligence analyst sentenced to 45 months in prison for leaking a trove of secrets about the American Drone Wars overseas. According to Daniel, between 9,000 and 17,000 people have been killed in drone warfare, including 2,500 children. Daniel also told a court in Virginia that 9/10 people killed in drone strikes are innocent civilians. In Ohio’s 11th congressional district, there is a upcoming primary that has a lot of eyes on it. Progressive candidate Nina Turner is fighting against Dark Money groups, Hillary Clinton, GOP super PACs, and Jim Clyburn’s Big Pharma money. It truly says something about the establishment’s obsession with power and controlling the working class. Finally, we move into infrastructure. A group of negotiators has agreed upon the 1.2T bipartisan deal. The 3.5T reconciliation plan is expected to be next on the agenda, that is, with the hope that some Democrats go along. Before you go, Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full video version of the Podcast one day in advance!Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Before we start, I want to remind you that I am looking to talk to people receiving the child tax credit. So, who do you know that is receiving the credit? Are you yourself receiving it? If so, please get in touch with me by DM on Twitter, Instagram, or shoot me an email @ Midwestconversation@gmail.com. This week on A Midwest Conversation Podcast, we have a lot to talk about!There are new developments in the case against Larry Householder. He is a former Ohio assemblyman who was expelled due to allegations of taking bribes from FirstEnergy. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine sent 14 highway state troopers and 115 National Guard members to the southern border. He has also committed to sending another 185 National Guard members down there later this year. One problem was that journalists went to the border to talk to the Ohio servicemen and women, but they were nowhere to be found. The Toledo Mayoral race is heating up with the candidate and former Mayor Carty Finkbeiner announcing his 10 point plan to stop violent crime in toledo, including introducing federal agents to help with neighborhood patrols. We are hearing rumors out of the elite media and public health establishment about more lockdowns and mask mandates if the delta variant of Covid-19 keeps slipping out of control. The director of the CDC has said, “it is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Will Ohio implement these rumors? Some wild shit is happening with China and Japan! China is threatening to NUKE Japan if they “send one soldier to Taiwan.” China believes it owns Taiwan and wants to “liberate” the country. Infrastructure talks are beginning to stall again. We have a framework for the bipartisan 1.2Trillion plan, but republicans and democrats still can not agree on crucial funding amounts for things involving public transit. The democratic reconciliation plan is set at 3.5Trillion dollars and seems to have all democrats on board. Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says that plan will be voted on in the Senate later in the fall after the bipartisan bill passes. There are more climate provisions in the reconciliation plan, extending the child tax credit until 2025, and the ProAct. Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full video version of the Podcast one day in advance! Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. Who do you know would enjoy the show? Word of mouth is the best way for the show to grow. Share A Midwest Conversation with someone sick and tired of the establishment media carrying water for one political party. Fox MSNBC and CNN are poison, and people are tuning out. Independent media is now and only going to get stronger! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

If you or someone you know will be receiving the child tax credit payment and would be willing to speak to me, please reach out. I want to talk to families and individuals about what this payment will mean for them and their families. People can reach out via Twitter or shoot me an email @ Midwestconversation@gmail.com. This week on A Midwest Conversation Podcast is a little different. There will be no video version of the show this week due to technical issues. :( This week, we discuss a culture war fight between Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) and Taylor Swift. Then we move into some extraordinary corruption by a Michigan mayor. There has been a lot of movement on infrastructure this week. We break down the events day by day. GOP senators are trying to peg the democratic reconciliation plan as too expensive, sighting some BS inflation numbers. Finally, and what I am most excited about is the child tax credit. This is the closest thing we have ( besides social security ) to a UBI in America. This will give families up to $3600 per year per child! The benefit will be good for this year, and if the reconciliation infrastructure plan passes, the child tax credit will be extended until 2025. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Before we start, I want to thank you for being a member of A Midwest Conversation. If you can, please consider becoming a paid member of the show. Your contribution will help the show remain independent. Word of mouth is the best way for the show to grow. Please share the show with someone who is sick of the smoke show the mainstream media has become. Share A Midwest Conversation with someone who does not like seeing media figures and “journalists” carry water for “their team.”Thanks!Enjoy the show! This week on A Midwest Conversation Podcast, we look at some fascinating and scary topics. Ohio has two races I am keeping a close eye on, one in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives. JD Vance is running to replace Rob Portman in the Senate, and Nina Turner is looking to win the special election in the 11th house district. Both of these races are interesting. We have the venture capitalist, author, Iraq war vet who claims to be a champion of the middle class while getting major campaign funding from billionaire venture capitalist Peter Theil - JD Vance. In the house, we have a true progressive voice in Nina Turner, who loudly supports Medicare for All and The Green New Deal and does not care what you think. ExxonMobil is in some boiling water after a video leaked showing a lobbyist outright admit he fought against early climate science to benefit Exon’s bottom line. This lobbyist also name drops 11 senators who are “crucial” to his work — egregious political corruption out there in the open for all to see. That same lobbyist bosted how Exon uses “whipping boys” and shadow groups to avoid scrutiny from Congress. Remember when I mentioned talking about “scary topics”? Here it comes. David Sirota at The Daily Poster is out with a new piece highlighting how private equity groups and hedge funds are using public pension funds to profit to the tune of millions of dollars. This piece is also tied to the pending infrastructure plans moving in Congress as we speak. There is a “pay for” called asset recycling in the plan, which basically means the federal government will sell old and unused public infrastructure to the private sector. Opening the door for the private equity and hedge fund billionaires to use the money they make from public pensions to purchase public infrastructure and profit even more. Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full video version of the Podcast on Fridays. That is two days before the audio hits Spotify and other platforms and one day before the audio hits your inbox as a free subscriber. Paid members also get full and advance access to all video content produced by A Midwest Conversation. Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s episode of A Midwest Conversation podcast talks about a few different bills Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed. One of those bills is the new two-year budget. After that, we move into details about a bill introduced in the House of Representatives giving insurance companies and banks a shield from the law if they decide to work with state-legal marijuana companies. There is a major stall in the infrastructure talks in DC. Democrats are beginning to buck the idea of a budget reconciliation bill because they can not agree on a price tag. Republicans in the senate are signaling they will vote no on the bipartisan bill over comments Joe Biden made about wanting to pass both bills. Finally, I rant about the new committee passed in the House of Representatives surrounding the January 6th riot. In my view, the need for a committee to investigate the events on January 6th is unnecessary and will only lead to more government overreach and spying on private Americans. Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full video version of the Podcast on Fridays.That is two days before the audio hits Spotify and other platforms and one day before the audio hits your inbox as a free subscriber. Paid members also get full and advance access to all video content produced by A Midwest Conversation. Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

This week we start with drama at the Ohio State House. Reporters from Athens try and speak with Jay Edwards about his personal relationship with expelled member Larry Householder. Reporters also attempted to get his statement on why Edwards voted no to expel. Speaking of Larry Householder, among the dozens of applicants for his open seat is his own son Derek. Will we see another Householder in the Ohio General Assembly? Interviews started this week. Tiffin, Ohio, is a quiet small town. This week there is some drama at the school district. The superintendent, Van McWreath, is facing allegations of locking his wife and stepdaughter in a basement. Joe Manchin makes the show again, this time about a bill in his Senate committee. The bill is all about energy and boosting funds for nuclear and hydrogen energy. President Joe Biden gave a speech Wednesday evening all about gun violence in America. This is for sure. The President is not on the side of the “defund the police” progressives. “Now is not the time to turn our backs on law enforcement,” he said during that speech, outlining a plan to address gun violence. Five strike forces will be assembled, and cities can use COVID relief funds to hire more police officers. We have a deal on infrastructure! Kinda.President Joe Biden voiced his public support for a bipartisan infrastructure package announced Thursday. The 1.2T bill will allow for roads, bridges, airports, broadband, and water infrastructure. Before you go,Please consider becoming a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Five dollars per month, and you will receive the full video version of the Podcast on Fridays.That is two days before the audio hits Spotify and other platforms and one day before the audio hits your inbox as a free subscriber. Paid members also get full and advance access to all video content produced by A Midwest Conversation. Your subscription not only supports the show but allows A Midwest Conversation to remain independent. Thank you for your contribution. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Thanks for being a member of A Midwest Conversation. If you can please consider becoming a paid member of the show, your contribution not only supports me, it will also help the show remain independent. I want to apologize for the show being late this week. I have had a bit of a sinus infection this past week, so I have been moving a little slower. Today we are going over Ohio assemblyman Larry Householder expelled from his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives on allegations of taking a bribe and selling legislation. Householder’s case has been in court for over a year now. The opponents of the resolution to expel householder spoke before the House voted to expel 75-21. All of the bill's opponents echoed the same points; expelling an assembly member can only be done on the grounds of “disorderly conduct.” Disorderly conduct, as they described it, is “physical conduct.” Opponents also argued that because this case is not completed yet, and is still making its way through the court system, it is unfair and too soon to make such a big decision. On the show, we talk about infrastructure and the new issues arising in DC. More democratic senators are coming out with issues they have with the bipartisan version of the bill. Democrats are worried that this will be the only bill to pass that addresses climate change. Democrats want a promise from Republicans that there will be a stand-alone bill addressing climate change in the future. There is also conflict with how to pay for the bill, and progressives are worried that the way we are planning on paying for the bill will be insufficient and want to reverse the tax cuts enacted by former President Donald Trump. Joe Manchin is a big topic this week. He is involved in a very interesting way in regards to infrastructure. Democrats are saying that they will move forward with the bill through budget reconciliation if they can’t agree with the GOP in 7-10 days. Manchin is standing in the way of reconciliation because he is saying it is unfair to move forward without bipartisan support. Funny enough, the day before, he said he was unsure he would support reconciliation. He had a private meeting with donors from the No Labels lobbying group. A group responsible for funneling dark money into the campaigns for moderate republicans and conservative democrats. The final topic today is sad to learn about. There have been local news stations running propaganda for the private school lobby without knowing it. Ed Newsfeed .com has been giving local stations free access to a video archive of news-style clips made specifically by the private school lobby. Ed Newsfeed is an arm of Betsey Devos-funded foundation American Federation for Children. Before you go;Who do you know that would like to listen or watch the show? Sharing A Midwest Conversation is the best and most direct way the show can grow. Best -Grant This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you for subscribing to A Midwest Conversation. Enjoy this week’s podcast, and before you go, please consider becoming a paid member. You will gain access to the exclusive video podcast and other “paid subscriber-only” written pieces I have put together for five dollars a month. Links for today’s show; Google a public utility https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/ohio-attorney-general-files-nations-first-ever-lawsuit-to-declare-google-a-public-utility/530-327dd1d7-982e-41be-a6a1-721be6bf59ec Bezos in Space https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/jeff-bezos-join-winner-seat-blue-origin-space-flight-2021-06-07/ https://theintercept.com/2021/05/25/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-senate-bailout/ Jan 6 report https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/08/politics/report-investigating-capitol-attack/index.html Infrastructure https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/557816-romney-tentative-deal-on-key-elements-of-bipartisan-infrastructure-package ProPublica tax leak https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

This is a full audio-only version of the show. If you would like to watch the full show on video, please subscribe and become a paid member of A Midwest Conversation. Your membership helps keep the show going and stay independent. Stay tuned for video highlights throughout the coming week! Thanks so much. I hope you enjoy the show! I would love to hear your feedback, so feel free to leave a comment, reply to this email, or tweet me! Best,-Grant This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe

This week I talk with Tiernen Rice. Tiernen and I graduated one year apart at the same video production school. Tiernen is the founder and CEO of the production company Moonlight Creatives. In this episode, we talk about the Covid-19 crisis and how shutdowns have affected not only their business but all contract and gig workers. We also talk about cameras and how the technology in this industry has changed so much in just the last 5 years alone. Later in the show, we talk about Tiernen's struggle with self-identity, their involvement in the dragqueen community, and what influences their decision to change their preferred pronouns to they/them. If you enjoy the show and would like to see the video version of the show, head over to a midwest conversation on youtube. Make sure to follow Tiernen on social media and check out Moonlight Creatives. https://www.moonlightcreatives.com/ https://www.instagram.com/tiernenbruce/ https://www.instagram.com/moonlightcreatives/ Follow me to stay up to date on the Pod https://twitter.com/grntckhrt https://www.instagram.com/grant_eckhart/ https://www.instagram.com/grant.eckhart.photo/ This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit midwestconversation.substack.com/subscribe