Fraud in Minnesota, The War on Drugs, "Domestic Terror," and More!
Main Discussion Topics
Minnesota COVID Fraud Scheme
Documentary by YouTuber Nick Shirley exposes massive welfare fraud
Billions of dollars in COVID-era resources meant for feeding the hungry and medical care diverted
Several million dollars traced to luxury cars, vacations, exotic places, and real estate
Childcare facilities set up to receive federal aid are completely unoccupied
Ilhan Omar potentially profited millions from the scheme
FBI now investigating with multiple indictments
Michael challenged the focus on fraud versus the underlying system: "Let's just imagine there's no fraud, that it's all going where it's designated to go. How's that not a scandal? Like that's the scandal is that people are being taxed to people who are unfortunate enough to make enough money to be taxed who'd be better off broke."
He continued: "How much money goes to these programs? That's called legitimate. But how much tax dollars are used on it? How many thefts are, are committed in order to finance this stuff? And by thefts I mean the stealing from taxpayers in the form of taxation."
JD Vance's Response to Minnesota Fraud
Vance stated the resources are "for Americans" and "not for the Somalis"
Michael rejected the nationalist framing of the issue
Michael responded: "So then you have no problem JD with them stealing from people. As long as those people meet your requirement of being an American. Screw him."
Mark added: "American citizens don't have the right to steal your money anymore than a foreign citizen does. And the fact that they were born here doesn't give them that privilege."
The War on Drugs and Prohibition
Trump administration labeling fentanyl transporters as terrorists
Fentanyl being called a weapon of mass destruction
Military action in the Caribbean without due process
Discussion of how prohibition creates violence and market distortions
Michael explained the fundamental problem: "First and foremost, it's a massive initiation of fors and rights violation. In this specific case, there's a demand for a product. You outlaw it, which makes it extremely lucrative to provide it."
He outlined the cascade of consequences: "The type of people that are gonna get involved in that are gonna be people who have no aversion to breaking the law. But also, if you come and rob me for my drug stash, I either take the loss or I retaliate. I have no cover, I have no protection, which leads to massive amounts of violence that innocent people end up getting caught in the crossfire."
Michael addressed the addiction economics: "It makes drugs prohibitively expensive, which means that people who are hooked on them, it's not like you can go work nine to five and afford your heroin habit the way you can your alcohol habit. So addicts end up committing crimes to fund their drug habits."
The Iron Law of Prohibition
Referenced Jeffrey Singer's concept that Michael has interviewed multiple times
When drugs are outlawed, it leads to higher potency
Smaller amounts must contain more potency for smuggling efficiency
Results in dangerous substances like fentanyl
Michael noted the policy failure: "When they restricted the ability of doctors to prescribe opiates, synthetic opiates, usually people don't say oh, they've outlawed my addiction now, so I'm just gonna quit. They go buy it, which just bumps up the price on the street. It's very, very dumb. It's inefficient. It violates rights."
ICE Raids and Domestic Terrorism Charges
Department of Homeland Security threatening to charge people as domestic terrorists for filming ICE raids
Constitutional concerns about First Amendment violations
Discussion of federal government going "absolutely and totally rogue"
Michael summarized: "You've got a guy that doesn't care about the constitution. He's got an abundance of blind followers. He's got done away with all the checks to him, and then this is what you get."
Trump Naming Everything After Himself
Trump renamed the Kennedy Center to "Trump Kennedy Center"
Pattern of naming things after himself discussed
Mark compared it to a dog marking territory
Mark stated: "It's sort of like a dog pissing on its territory every time. I used to say that about him ages ago, that he seems like he has a need like an animal that marks its territory with its own urine."
Trump and Political Tribalism
Discussion of Trump supporters who see him as enemy of their enemy
Critique of willingness to overlook constitutional violations
Analysis of people who defend Trump despite his actions
Michael addressed the frustration: "I get grifters that I understand. I was one. I understand what it's like to want something for nothing. I understand what it's like to not care about the truth, to not care about getting over on people that I get. What I do not understand is the people that actually believe it."
He continued: "The guy talked about his daughter in a sexual way. He brags about sneaking into women's dressing rooms so he could take a look. He's cheated on his wives. I mean, it's just so, there's just so much there. Even aside from his dumb politics. But they can't see it."
Trump's Economic Interference
Article by Jason Sorens about economic uncertainty
Trump adding and removing tariffs at random
Buying private property with government money
Threatening CEOs and pressuring companies
Pressuring Federal Reserve to lower interest rates
Creates uncertainty that paralyzes economic planning
Mark explained the problem: "Economists and people who are trying to run businesses don't like uncertainty. They need to be able to plan beyond the next election cycle. They need to be able to plan 10, 15, 20 years ahead of time, and they can't not understand what the rules are."
He continued: "Since Trump seems to change the rules every other day so that even the custom house folks are confused about what the rules are from week to week, he just keeps people on their heels in such a way that they can't innovate, they can't change, they can't progress, they can't anticipate the markets if they don't understand what the rules are. So he's paralyzing the economy by keeping everybody off balance."
Robert in the comments noted: "In the Trump first, the uncertainty is a feature, not a bug. Power includes keeping the opposition, and in the Trump first everybody is the opposition, uncertain, unsteady, and that's how you win."
Mike Pence's New Think Tank
Pence started "Advancing American Freedom" organization
Poaching people from Heritage Foundation
Claims to promote "traditional conservatism" away from MAGA sphere
Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens as examples of what he's opposing
Michael's critique: "He lost me bigly is when he said it's gonna be based on the ideas of the first Trump administration because the first Trump administration was not about constitutionalism. It was not about limited government. It was not about freedom. It drove up the debt massively. It banned bump stocks."
He continued listing failures: "Anemic economic growth. Trump just running his mouth kissing Putin's ass. That is not conservatism."
Trump on Putin and Ukraine
Trump claimed "Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed"
Trump: "President Putin was very generous in his feeling toward Ukraine succeeding, including supplying energy, electricity, and other things at very low prices"
Michael compared it to Chamberlain saying Hitler wants peace
Michael responded: "Is he that dumb? It's like Chamberlain, look, Hitler wants peace, he said so. He did, he said it. And if Hitler says he wants peace, he wants it. If Putin says he's gonna help Ukraine, he's gonna do it. 'cause Putin would never lie to Trump. Remember last time when Trump said, I don't know why he'd lie."
Iran War Declaration
Iranian president says his country is in "full fledged war" with US, Europe, and Israel
Discussion of whether this constitutes actual war
Analysis of Iran's role since 1979 revolution
Reference to Leonard Peikoff identifying Iran as the real enemy during War on Terror
Mark noted the history: "The first person that I heard point this out in the public sphere was really Peikoff when we started our War Against Terror and we started attacking Afghanistan and Iraq. Peikoff was the only one out there in the public sector saying, really the source of all of this terrorism is Iran. And it's Iran that's the real enemy of America and Iran is the country that we should take out."
Michael challenged the terminology: "It's obviously not true that they're in a full fledged war with Europe, America, and whoever else they said, Israel, because if it was a full fledged war, Iran would be no more. In the United States of America, we require a declaration of war to actually be at war, according to Article one, section eight, which we do not have."
He concluded: "It may be correct to say that Iran has declared war on us. If that be the case, then we ought to actually fight the war and not just occasionally bomb or do some other nonsense. You go to war to win it, not to make a public show of things."
Referenced Media/Interviews
Nick Shirley's documentary exposing Minnesota fraud
Eric Bom from Reason Magazine on the Minnesota story
Jason Soren's article in The Daily Economy on economic uncertainty
Jeffrey Singer on the Iron Law of Prohibition
Michael's interviews with Jeffrey Singer on drug policy
Notable Quotes
Michael on Government Programs: "How much money goes to these programs? That's called legitimate. But how much tax dollars are used on it? How many thefts are committed in order to finance this stuff? And by thefts, I mean the stealing from taxpayers in the form of taxation."
Michael on Prohibition: "First and foremost, it's a massive initiation of force and rights violation. In this specific case, there's a demand for a product. You outlaw it, which makes it extremely lucrative to provide it."
Mark on Economic Uncertainty: "Economists and people who are trying to run businesses don't like uncertainty. They need to be able to plan beyond the next election cycle. They need to be able to plan 10, 15, 20 years ahead of time."
Michael on Trump Supporters: "I get grifters that I understand. I was one. What I do not understand is the people that actually believe it. The guy talked about his daughter in a sexual way. He brags about sneaking into women's dressing rooms. There's just so much there. Even aside from his dumb politics. But they can't see it."
Capitalist Thought of the Day
"The good thing about a capitalist society is that I could go out probably today and get myself a new computer for very little money, not so in socialist controlled, centralized economies, folks. So we want a free world and a free country in the United States. That means banning force from interpersonal relationships, which exactly is exactly what capitalism is. It is a force free zone where people can trade freely with each other across all areas. That's in ideas, that's in products and goods and services, all of which you can freely exchange with somebody else without interference from the political class. That's the world that we think is a benevolent one and the world that we strive for." - Mark