The Jason Stapleton Program

Ted Cruz got anther tepid endorsement, this time from Indiana Governor Mike Pence. It seems Ted has had a lot of trouble getting anyone to support his candidacy unequivocally. It clear something is amiss. He would like you to believe that it's because he's an outsider and anti-establishment candidate. But that's not really the case. Cruz is very much a Washington insider and he's not all that different philosophically from his piers on capital hill. It's certainly no Thomas Massie. So why does everyone from both sides of the isle hate him so much? Frankly I don't have an answer, but it calls into question the image many all have of Cruz being a faith-based, Reagan conservative. From there we'll move over to the economy. In the JSP private FB group, we have someone who regularly posts financial commentary, and I happen to enjoy his point of view. Last night I read an intersting post he made that adds another layer to the current economic climate. I think you'll get a kick out of it. Plus, I know a lot of you would love to see the Fed abolished and America move back to sound money, but most of you know this is probably just wishful thinking, well today there's hope. The states are starting to fight back in a way you'd probably not considered. Great show to end the week. Share it with a friend! Jason

Yeah, I'm not ly'in. It's the creepiest moment of the campaign so far. Carly Fiorina stood on stage during her vice presidential announcement event and sang what can only be described as a "disturbing." children's song. Had she been singing it to her grandchildren I don't think anyone would think twice about it but when you sing it to a group of adults...you're wrong. In other news, Venezuela now doesn't have the money to pay for its money. It sounds stupid I know, but it's entirely accurate. Venezuela is now defaulting on the debt it owes to the companies it hires to print its money. With inflation now projected to top 500% this year, we are witnessing the destruction of another socialist nation as it clings desperately to power. Nothing can stop it's destruction now. The only question is how long will it take. Happy Listening!

We've had some very intelligent people come out in recent years to talk about AI (artificial intelligence) and warn us of the dangers. Steven Hawkins being among the most notable. But are the fears justifiable? Are robots going to put all of us out of work? The short answer is no; they are not. But with all the hype around this topic I thought it was time we talked a little about the economics of technology so today I'm going to drop some knowledge on you. It's a great episode that debunks the fears of artificial intelligence and presents a compelling and bright future that is only possible if we allow technology to expand and improve our lives. From there we move to the UK where I'll discuss the doctor strike and some of the damaging effects of socialized medicine. No matter what politicians tell you, rationing will take place. There's no way around it. Finally, I'll share a story about a man who made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year while outsourcing his entire business. It's a perfect example of how technology can be used by anyone to improve their own condition. Don't forget to Share!

With another round of elections coming up today, Donald Trump is projected to win a majority of the 172 delegates up for grabs. As we discussed yesterday, Cruz and Kasich have decided to join forces in an attempt to deny Trump the outright nomination. What's frustrating is listening to John Kasich talk about the decision. His relentless spin not only makes no sense, but it's also insulting to anyone who's watching. In an interview, this morning on Good Morning America Kasich again made a fool of himself and insulted the audience when he refused to tell even his own voters to vote for him. I'll play you the conversation on the show today but let's just say Kasich personifies why we distrust politicians. They play us for stupid and expect us to buy into the lie, then get mad when we challenge them. From there I'll talk about a couple of stories related to the economy. I've said many times, "Journalism is dead" and it's apparent now more than ever that what passes as news is nothing more than commentary framed from a specific ideological perspective. Thanks for listening and sharing the show!

Yes I know it's a crazy title, but Obama was speaking in the UK this weekend, and he had some interesting comments about the Black Lives Matter Movement, and I think we as libertarians can learn something from him. But before we get to that we've got a full show. Ted Cruz has now joined forces with John Kasich to try and prevent Donald Trump from hitting the magic 1,237 number. As I said, this has never been about Cruz or Kasich winning. It's always been about preventing Trump from wining. Their only hope now is to win the nomination at the convention and to do that they need to deny Trump the delegates he needs to secure a victory. From there we'll talk about Bernie Sanders and his difficulty in holding a principled position. On the one hand, he doesn't believe in a tax on soda, yet he questions the legality of cigarettes. It's tough for me to understand where progressives draw the line. It's a problem that arises from a political and social philosophy rooted in emotion and is not grounded in principle. Listen and Subscribe!

I've seen a few people posting their public support for Donald Trump inside our FB group, and while I understand the draw and certainly believe you can support whomever you want, I cannot understand how someone could trust anything Donald Trump says. Rather than try to explain my position in the show notes, just listen to the show and it will all make sense. But before we talk about Trump we're going to talk about Obama. The big "O" was in the UK today throwing his support behind those that want to remain part of the EU. What I found funny was how open the reporters in Great Britan were in voicing their displeasure in our president weighing in on the debate. More on that in the show. Then we'll finish up talking about the LGBT controversy in North Carolina. Now it looks like the NBA is threating to move the all-star game if the state does not change its recent law requiring people to use the bathroom of their own sex. I've got my feelings on this, and I'm pretty open about it in today's show but what I found really hard to swallow is how hypocritical the NBA is being in making this threat. It's a lighthearted show today. Don't forget to subscribe and share!

This may be the first day that I legitimately lost my stuff (well almost). It all centers around an article a listener sent to me about a young girl in Colorado who decided she wanted to hold a protest to bring awareness to what she saw as an injustice that was causing teachers to leave her school district. Once it became clear, she was serious she was contacted by two school board members who, without the consent of this young girls parents, put her in a room and questioned her for over an hour. Had the questioning been designed to come to an amicable resolution one might be willing to overlook the blatant disregard for parental rights, and had this young girl not recorded the entire conversation we might not know what was said in that room. But she did, so we do! I'm gong to play a portion of the conversation on the show but if you want to hear the entire recording you can do so here: From there we'll move over to China and talk about their recent decision to create a gold fixing market denominated in Yuan. Now I know most of you don't understand what that means and truth be told not a lot of financial folks understand it. I'm going to tell you what I know and what I think it all means. All that plus a story of price fixing, today on the JSP!

I'll admit the headline for today's show would suggest the news is all over the place, and a lesser host might have trouble tieing in all of the different stories into something coherent. I, however, am NOT your typical host. Listening to the Pundits talk about Trumps win in New York, and you'd think he already won the nomination. But Cruz isn't finished. It is true that he's not going to secure the delegates needed to win the nomination, but it was never about getting the 1,237 for Cruz. It was always about keeping Trump from getting there. This has been the most exciting presidential election of my life, and yet I am already growing weary of the commentary. I'm ready to get to the convention and see what happens. The rest of the show is dedicated to the current oil glut and the financial problems it's creating for welfare states like Saudi Arabia. All signs point to lower oil prices for the foreseeable future, and that's good for consumers. Finally, I wanted to at least discuss the 12k layoffs at Intel. There are a lot of people waking up today and realizing they don't have a way to feed their families. If you're not sure how you would survive if you lost your job, it's time to start preparing for that potential outcome. The next recession will come whether you like it or not. Don't become a statistic.

Who will pay for the roads is perhaps a better question than "Who will build the roads?" since it is the financing, not the actual construction that causes the most amount of anger and division in political discourse today. Over the past several years we've seen large corporations make large investments to purchase naming rights to ballparks and arenas in an effort to expand their brand. Here in Kansas City, we have the Sprint Center, and the old Sandstone Amphitheater is now the Providence Medical Center Amphitheater. No doubt this has caused some citizens to lament the corporate takeover of some old and well-known landmarks, but the truth is, some of these places still exist BECAUSE of these companies. So, what if we did the same thing with our roads? In Missouri alone the cost to maintain public roads is about 2.2 billion a year. It's estimated that Missouri drivers spend and additional 4.5 billion a year in maintenance on their vehicles due to substandard streets and highways. What if we sold off sections of highways to corporations? What if you could shoot across town on the Hilton Highway or the Overstock.com overpass? What if companies were willing to accept some if not all of the costs currently paid by taxpayers in exchange for naming rights to our roads? It's an interesting idea. For there we're going to move to healthcare. UnitedHealth has announced it's pulling out of most of the ACA exchanges due to the estimated billion dollar loss they will have to cover. The system was never going to work. I would argue it was destined to fail from the beginning. But that's not going to stop Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders from touting it as a success and arguing for more of the same. It's sad and the truth needs to be exposed.

Many of you saw Bernie Sanders tax returns that were released a few days ago. Now, let me just be clear about a couple of things. First, I think everyone should maximize their tax deductions. I don't think you should pay one red cent more in taxes than you should. Second, I think what you give to charity is between you and you. If you want to keep 100% of what you make and say screw everybody else that's your business. With that said Here are the highlights from Bernie Sanders Return: 205,000 in income 13% in taxes 4% to charity Here's the problem I have with Bernie. This is a guy who says you don't pay enough. He says you deserve, (heck you have a right) to all kinds of free stuff that other more successful and prosperous people should be paying for it. But when it comes to his own pocketbook he isn't charitable. He isn't paying extra money into the system. Instead, we find he maximizes his own deductions to pay as little in taxes as he possibly can and then gives very little of his own income away to the very people he claims deserve it. In truth, he's just like every other progressive liberal you meet. He's extremely generous with other people's money but stingy with his own. From there we'll move on the threats coming from the Saudi government to dump billions in U.S. bonds onto the market if we release the 28 pages of documents that may implicate them in the 9/11 attack. Also in the stack today is a machine being developed by the evil corporate giant GE that can turn C02 into energy. Yep, you got that right, we may be moving into an era where C02 is powering every home in America. Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to buy into all the global warming fears. It's a great show today. Thanks so much for listening and don't forget to subscribe. Jason

Darren got an interesting mailer a couple of days ago. It was from the RNC, and it advised the recipient that they had been selected to represent their district in a census. Darren immediately recognized it for what it was, and he brought it into the studio so we could talk about it. It's incredible that for all their shortcomings, for all their failures, politicians do one thing really well. They're great marketers. Being a student of marketing for many years, I can appreciate the amount of time and thought that goes into a great marketing piece. But I thought it was important to walk you thought the mailer and share with you a little about what they're doing. There's a lot of mental ninjitsu going on under the surface. We're also going to talk about a recent article from VOX that I think you'll find interesting. It turns out Bernie Sanders voters lover free stuff, but most of them don't want to spend what's necessary to get it. Now I know how ridiculous that last statement was. You might be asking, "If it's free, why do people have to pay anything for it?" Try to remember these are Sanders supports. Traditional, rational thought is not something they do well. Finally, there a new Alabama law that just got out of committee that would essentially nullify all federal gun laws. It's a powerful piece of legislation that has the potential to start a title wave of similar laws across America. It's exactly what we need to win the fight for liberty!

Paul Ryan is angry people are calling the plan to provide relieve to Puerto Rico a "bailout." According to him, it's a campaign from big Wall Street investors who don't want legislation passed that would allow Puerto Rico to write down a great deal of its debt. The claim is that "The American Taxpayer" shouldn't be on the hook for the 72 billion worth of debt Puerto Rico owes and legislation allowing them to file a form of Chapter 9 bankruptcy is the only option. What he won't tell you is the taxpayer will be on the hook anyhow since many of the investors in this type of debt are pension and mutual funds. What we need to do is force Puerto Rico to make some very hard decisions about its finances. It will likely have to cut all of its social welfare programs, cut salaries, lay off government workers, heck it might have to reduce its regulations and become a more attractive place for businesses to start and grow. If the reconstruction is done correctly, Puerto Rico could return to a truly limited government where wealth could flourish. But for right now it's just one more example of out of control government spending and the realization that YOU, the average Joe, are ultimately the one responsible for government's recklessness. From there we move to some talk on the recent stir caused by Russian SU-24's doing high speed runs across U.S. ships in the Baltic Sea. Lots of stuff to cover today. Listen now and don't forget to subscribe!

Today we're going to have a critical discussion about something you won't hear about in the news. I've been tracking several issues that will likely have a direct impact on your life over the coming months and years. We start in Japan. It's no secret that the Japanese government has been doing everything it can to create inflation. They now have a debt to GDP of nearly 250% and an aging population that won't be buying up bonds much longer. I addition they also made the decision to reduce interest rates into the negative causing trillions of Yen to be pulled from banks and stored in homes across Japan. All of this is the result of following the flawed Keynesian idea of stimulating growth by increasing government spending during times of recession. In theory, it works great, but the reality has been anything but optimal. Instead, Japan now faces an economic crisis that could rip through world financial markets sparking another global recession. This is not a feel-good show, but it's one you need to hear. It's one your family and friends need to hear. If you've been holding off sharing the show for just the right episode, this is it.

You guys know I don't do guests very often but after hearing a recent interview with Austin Petersen on Dave Smith's "Part of the Problem" podcast I knew he was the right guy to join me for a little post-debate coverage. On the show today, we're going to break down the second half of the libertarian debate and give your our take on who won, who lost and who might do the best job of promoting our ideas in the general election. Dave is a great guy, and you can check out his show and visit his website by clicking below. Make sure you check out his podcast. Dave Smith's Part of the Problem Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/part-of-the-problem/id833706616?mt=2 Dave Smith Website http://comicdavesmith.com/ Dave Smith Twitter https://twitter.com/ComicDaveSmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Congressman Thomas Massie said every year he is extorted by his own party who require him to pay a "tax" to keep his chairmanships. Apparently the Republican leadership calls them "assessments" but either way Massie says he's not going to pay them. Massie says he's tired of being extorted and hasn't paid any of his "assessments" despite what he calls the "Wall of Shame" which attempts to publically ridicule congressmen by posting what people owe and what they have paid. Could Washinton be any more corrupt? Not only do they steal from us every chance they get but they also extort money from each other. Even from those in their own party! I do have a great story today about liberty, though. In Norway, a new town is forming based on anarco principles and the founders hope it will be an example for how free people can come together and live without government and heavy regulation. I really like this because it will bring to light some the challenges that undoubtedly arise when theory meets practice. I should give us some good practical insights into what works and what doesn't and hopefully we learn and grow in our knowledge about liberty.