The Jason Stapleton Program

If you don't know the answer to the question posed in today's title, then you most likely have not been listening to this show for very long. An article in the Financial Times this week sparked some anger deep down in my belly when it supposed that part of the reason we have such a low labor participation rate may have to do with the fact that we don't offer paid maternity leave for woman. That is quite possibly the dumbest reason I've ever heard to advocate for mandatory paid leave. In today's show, I break down the truth behind the numbers, and I give you some great ammo for anyone who suggests mandating such benefits might be a good idea. We also talk Russia and the rising cost of health care. Don't miss the show today. It's a must listen! Jason

There was huge news out of D.C. just after we finished the broadcast yesterday. Apparently Maccarthy is stepping down and withdrawing his name from consideration as speaker of the house. Rumors are flying that Maccarthy had an affair with a congresswoman from North Carolina. Whether it's that or he just simply didn't have the vote, he's out. That leaves John Boehner left to fill the void of speaker until a replacement can be found. All of this is a direct result of the Tea Party, who's roughly 40 congressmen have successfully made being an establishment Republican difficult if not impossible. WELL DONE! What is the takeaway from this? What can we as libertarians learn from the success of the Tea Party? We'll discuss it today. I've also found an interesting story on a gay, black, yoga class that excludes whites. I thought we'd talk a little about that, and I think you might find my perspective interesting. Jason

I'm going to get a little heat for this episode. That's okay, it needed to be said.  Ben Carson recently came out with some statements about what he would do if confronted with a mass shooter. He said he would charge the gunman. That's easy to do while wearing a suit and talking to reporters. But charging the machine gun nest is a lot harder to do when you've got bullets cracking over your head.  It brings up an important point about human nature. As much as we would all like to believe we're John Rambo, must men are cowards. Most men when placed in the situation of the Oregon students would have reacted the same way. Duck, hide and prey you don't end up a statistic.  As much as Dr. Carson might like to believe he's a hero, it really is impossible to know how you would react until the bullets start flying.  I'm also going to talk to day about the difference between agreement on the "issues" and agreement on "principle".  Many times as libertarians we will find ourselves in agreement on an issue with those we would otherwise oppose. It's critical we don't fall into the belief that our ideas and interests are aligned. Knowing the principle behind your position on an issue helps you keep your mind right about why you choose to align yourself with. Jason 

I'm going to start off by telling you this is not my best episode. It's frustrating to know you haven't produced your best work but with over 200 episodes to date I can't expect to blow the roof off every single time.  With that said I think we had a great discussion in the first segment on eminent domain based around Trumps comments on Fox's "Special Report".   In other news you might also be surprised to learn that a NY state prison debate team defeated the national champion Harvard debate team. It's shows us that not only are those we lock up capable of greatness, but those we hold up to be our "best and brightest" are not always so. Finally we'll talk about Hillary and her new scandal. Apparently, they found emails between her and one of her secretaries showing the State Department colluded with 60 minutes to plant questions in one of their shows in an attempt to portray state in a more favorable light.  All that on the show today, don’t miss out.  Jason  

News out today is creating some drama in the currency market. U.S. exports continue to grow adding to the risk that America may be joining the currency wars. If you're a regular listener to this show that should come as no shock to you. We've been talking about the rather precarious situation the U.S. is in right now and the very real risk that we might see additional action by the Fed to keep America's strengthening dollar in check. I also spend some time today talking about the Oregon shooting. If you remember I spent a lot of time a couple days ago talking it there from the perspective of protecting individual sovereignty but today I want to approach it from the perspective of desired outcome. Would reducing gun ownership reduce crime? Not, would it reduce gun crime. If you took away all the guns you would most definitely see a reduction in gun crime. But would it stop the mass killings and violence we've seen in recent years from active shooters in schools and on college campuses?  All that and a brief discussion on the labor unions in California who are trying to get an exemption for the $15/hr minimum wage hike that advocated for. It truly is criminal. Jason

This morning it was announced that an agreement had been reached between the 12 countries negotiation the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. I've spoken out against this plan many times in previous episodes but this agreement means the U.S. congress will now have 30 days before an up or down vote will need to be taken to approve the deal. If you remember back a few months I explained to you the TPA or "Trade Promotion Authority" congress passed that allows the president to simply receive an up or down vote on any trade deals rather than congress being able to offer amendments or changes.  I hate to say it but I think it's a virtual certainty that the deal gets passed. There are just to many big dollar donors who have influence in Washington these days.  But even if they didn't we've got a whole other list of problems coming out of the U.N. which recently announced they would be starting the new Strong Cities Initiative aimed at getting cities to adopt new international standards for combating a variety of extremists.  If that sounds scary to you it should. If not, just give today's show a listen. Jason

Sorry gang, not much time to write today. I've got to hop on a call in just a couple of minutes. With the shooting in Ohio I felt today was as good a time as any to discuss the benefits of gun ownership in a free society. (There's more of them than you think.) We also found out today that the government will run out of money sooner than expected. That means raising the debt ceiling...again. In typical progressive fashion Nancy Pelosi was seen sprinting to a microphone to begin crafting the message in her favor. All that and more today! Jason

I want to talk to libertarians for a moment. More specifically I want to talk to those of you who have potentially been blinded by hardliners or are hardliners yourself. Now before I start, let me just say that I am quite sure I’m going to upset some people with what I’m about to say. I don’t care; it needs to be said. So get your feelings hurt if you want. But I need to clarify a few things. I’ve received a couple of emails, a private message on FB and even a post to the private FB group chastising me for my discussion on taxation. The first one came from someone who ridiculed me for saying I had not found a way to provide for a common defense without taxation. (something I lamented by the way) I also got a very hate filled FB post on the same issue where the author incorrectly made the assumption that I was advocating for and supporting such a tax. Then I got a private FB message from a self-described Tom Woods Fan. I know many of you are fans of Tom, as am I. this fan was ridiculing my discussion this week about the different tax plans offered by the candidates. Let me try to explain this for those of you who are too hard headed to see beyond the rhetoric you’ve been fed.I don’t like taxes. I think taxes are theft. I think you have a right to the fruit of your labor. That nobody has any claim to it. No one should be allowed to compel you against your will to provide for good or another or the common good of a group. Is that clear enough? good. Now let’s talk about reality. The reality is that taxation is a way of life here in America. And although I’d love to see all taxation illuminated that option is not on the table. Not only is it not on the table, but it's also never going to be on the table. In the last 500 years can anyone point to a society that operated without some form of community contribution? So other than stating for the record that taxes are theft, and we shouldn’t steal, what good does it do to simply refuse to discuss any option that limit or reduce the injustice being perpetrated by our government? Libertarians have for years chosen to disengage from government, from activism and from politics itself. Just this week Tom had his 500th episode in which he invited on Lew Rockwell who worked with Ron Paul. And Lew, God love him, poo-pooed the idea of libertarians getting into politics. While at the same time admitting Ron as done more to advance the ideas of libertarianism than virtually anyone else in modern America. I love Lew, but I just think he’s wrong. You talk about men like Mises, like Rothbard, and what they’ve done for the advancement of libertarian ideas but let me ask you a question. Who outside of a diehard libertarian knows who Murray Rothbard is? Who, other than your committed libertarian has read Man, Economy and State? Nobody! What I'm trying to do here is take the libertarian ideal and move it mainstream. To take the ideas and principles of liberty and deliver it to an audience that is hungry to hear it. And that means being willing to discuss how we get from where we are now to where we want to be. You’ve got a lot of libertarians out there right now who are living in a fantasy world. Worse yet their living in a nightmare waiting for our entire political and economic system to come crashing down. Some of them are even hoping for it to happen. That ain't me. And I’m not suggesting that you need to go out and run for office. What I am saying is that if you have the option of a progressive tax or a flat tax, the flat tax is better. It’s better for economic reasons, and it’s better for libertarian reasons. There are plenty of places you can go to hear the standard libertarian line and listen to someone bash government, call our troops “Stupid animals” and paint grand visions of how perfect life would be if we all lived in a libertarian society. (if people weren’t all so stupid.) That is not this show. It’s not ever going to be this show. This is a show about hope about principles and about creating a roadmap for getting from where we are now to a free’er more peaceful society.

I think the second half of today's show is maybe the best segment we've ever done. We've been talking for the last few days about global markets, central banks and the mounting standoff in the middle east between Russia and the U.S. I know a lot of you are trying to piece together what all this means to you and how it affects your daily life. So in today's show I explain exactly how your life is, and is going to be affected by the changing tides around the world. It's coming to a head and each day I grow more concerned about the future of our liberty here at home and the prospect for peace around the world. Give the show a listen and leave me a comment. Jason Links of interest: Carl Icahn: http://carlicahn.com/  

Yesterday Trump unveiled his tax plan for the U.S. I've been doing a lot of bashing of Trump and his lack of any defined plan, so it's important I give some time to his first real policy proposal in this election.  The plan itself closely mimics Jeb Bush's plan. It's a graduated progressive tax that reduces taxes for just about everyone.  The problem with his plan is he gives no clear indication of what he will cut. This is typical of politicians.  You see if you're going to dramatically reduce revenue it tyically has to be associated with some form of spending reduction.  This isn't always true (as I explain on today's show) but politicians LOVE to talk about all the tax cut's they're going to provide and all the Government Waste, Fraud and Abuse they're going to trim.  But an issue always arises when it comes time for them to get clear about exactly WHAT they intend to trim.  That's because despite what most Americans will tell you they don't really want to cut spending.  Sure they want to cut spending in general but it always needs to be someone else's handout, not theirs.  We then move on to an incredible article from Mark Jones, who's a member of the private FB group where he shares his view on what's happing in the world. It's incredibly insightful, and it sets the stage beautifully for what we're going to spend the balance of the show discussing. Get ready for a whirlwind show! Jason  

I feel like I don’t understand the Republican party anymore. More to the point I feel like I no longer understand the Republican voter. Sure I understand what they claim to stand for, but I find their current support for the leading Republican candidates to be mind boggling. Think back to 2008 and President Obama’s campaign. He was running on Hope and Change. Two ambiguous terms that held no real meaning save what someone applied to them. I remember listening to talk show hosts, and broadcasters complain about the Democrat voter suggesting they were mindless robots who were voting not based on the “issues” but simply on emotion. Now fast forward to 2015. You’ve got the leader of the Republican presidential race running on a platform of “making America great again.” What does this mean? Who knows. How is he going to do it? He apparently has no real plan. When pressed on the issue he simply says, “I’m just going to do it.” And Republican voters LOVE him for it. Explain the difference to me. What’s the difference between the Obama ’08 campaign and the Trump ’16 campaign? Fundamentally, nothing. Today on the show I’ll try to extrapolate from our discussion Friday how we create a more consistent coherent message and how we begin the process of creating political influence in America again. I also spend some time covering the middle east conflict. News out today suggests China is now joining Russia in the fight to end ISIS and support Assad. Russia recently struck a deal with Iraq to share intelligence making Russia now a key player in the fight against this tyrannical Muslim group. It’s a jam-packed show. Don’t miss a minute!

If you're thinking, "That must be some nice furniture!" you're absolutely right. The EPA ended up spending an average of $6,000 per employee buying some of the most expensive furniture in America.  It just goes to show you the government has no respect for the money it confiscates from you.  The progressive and the liberal would agree with you. But what they think we need are more government agencies to create more accountability. (Those agencies would no doubt need to furnish their offices with "quality" furniture as well.) Human nature is not that hard to understand. People act in their own self-interest. When they are spending their money on themselves, they tend to be very cautious and prudent, seeking out the best value and highest quality for what they can afford. But when they are spending someone else's money on them, well, no expense can be spared. And it gets even worse when the they spend someone else's money on someone else.  We've got a lot more than just that today, but I'm in a bit of a hurry so I'll have to sign off early.  See you Monday! Jason

A couple of days ago I took an entire day to combat the idea of a guaranteed minimum income.  It's hard to imagine anyone who understands even a little about liberty, economics and human nature advocating for a Baic Income Guarantee or BIG.   Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened.  Even more disturbing is where I read it. Libertarianism.org recently put out an article explaining why Frederick Hayek supported a BIG. The rational being, if Hayek advocated for it, then it must be good. Rember, Keynes BAD, Hayek GOOD.   In the elementary rational for these two economic giants, it's easy to get sucked into trying to rationalize an idea by Hayek that clearly was not is best. And when this kind of thing is advocated for on a site like Libertarianism.org, it's not something I can simply let go.  So the first part of our show today will be refuting what Matt Zwolinski wrote about this interesting subject.  From there it's on to radical Islam and finally an update on the currency war.  Lots to talk about today.  Let's get started! Jason  

The title of today's episode comes from a recent article by Porter Stansberry. In it he lays out a compelling example of why jobs continue to become more scarce in America. I don't read much of what Porter writes, but this little article was so well written I decided I had to share it with you on the show.  If you want the full article to share you can find it here:https://rickrule.liberty.me/this-is-why-there-are-no-jobs-in-america/ I spend some time today talking about politics and how the libertarian philosophy fits in. I think we're losing this war and even though it seems like our message of liberty is gaining traction I don't think it's for the reason a lot of libertarians think it is.  I think we need a clear simple message that resonates with the ever growing group of disenfranchised voters here in America. I think we as libertarians should be willing to stand with anyone who stands with liberty. That's why I created the 5 principals of liberty and that's why I do this show every day.  Also on the agenda today is Hillary Clinton and her plan to "fix" the high cost of health care and prescription drugs in America. Yesterday on the show we talked a lot about this issue and that's going to feed our discussion today as we combat the ridiculous plans put forward by both Hillary and Bernie Sanders. May the force be with you, Jason P.S. I also promised to share the Forbes article bashing Robert Reich.  Here you go! http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/

I mentioned this story briefly yesterday. It's about a couple of special forces guys who got into some trouble when the beat up an Afghan police commander who who chained a young boy to his bed and raped him repeatedly. This is apparently a quite common occurrence in Afghanistan and it comes a no surprise to those of us who spent time there. The U.S. military now wants to punish these soldiers for their actions and it raises some serious concerns. This isn't the first time it's happened. It turns out many soldiers and Marines had raised concerns with their command about the sexual abuse of young boys. Even abuse that was happen on base. But the military leaders told their troops to ignore the issue suggesting it was "their culture". It's a terrible tragedy and one that needs to be brought to light. We'll also talk today about the drug company that recently increased the price of one of it's drugs by 5,000%. Is this a case of a drug company seeking "excessive profits" or is there some deeper problem with the system? All that on todays show. Listen now! Jason