The Jason Stapleton Program

With premium increased rising by 50-100% in some States there are a lot of Americans who are going to be looking for alternatives. I was sitting at dinner with my mother, wife, and kids the other night and we were discussing the massive premium increases and deductibles. As I started running the numbers in my head, I realized there was almost no reason even to carry insurance anymore. With the high out of pocket cost and the low likely hood of massive injury or illness, one is far better off simply paying the penalty and then coming out of pocket for any major illness year one. In year two you can always get a policy that protects you against the hundred or two hundred thousand dollar expenses. I can't be the only one who's doing the math. This could be the straw that breaks Obamacare's back. Or it could be the tide that takes us to single payer. I'll talk about all of this along with Russia and heroin addition today on the show. Jason

In an election year where rhetoric is at an all-time high, the Washington Post just blew the roof off. The article by Matthew Sheffield asserts that "paleolibertarianism" is responsible for Trumps racist, truther driven rise. Why, because that's what libertarians are, a bunch of racist, anti-government, 9-11 conspiracy's theory loons. According to Sheffield, the Ron Paul fans have shifted to Trump in the absence of a more Paulinian candidate. Sheffield went so far as to say, "There had always been some sympathy for racism and anti-Semitism among libertarians" and then sights, as evidence, an article in Reason magazine from 1976. Fortunately, Sheffield was forced to edit his piece after it became apparent he was not entirely honest about the 1976 articles. So are we a bunch of nasty bigoted racists? I think you know the answer, but I'll give you my thoughts today. *** We'll also cover the NATO build up on the Russian border and the fledgling government in Afghanistan. So much to discuss that's outside the mainstream media's narrow election coverage. Don't forget to Subscribe and Share! Jason

I'm seeing stories and social media posts coming out of Texas talking about voter machines changing votes from Trump to Hillary. My initial reaction was, "Of course they are!" but the skeptic in me says to be wary of these types of stories. I don't think it's a coincidence that Trump started talking about the idea of voter fraud last week and now we see stories of people on social media claiming it happened to them. I'm not saying it's a lie; I'm just saying I'm suspect. We're also going to discuss the recent article that exposed AT&T's spying program. It turns out AT&T has been selling information to the government. No warrant, no oversight, just a company collecting information on its customers and then giving it to anyone who wants to pay for it. That and so much more today on the show. Jason

In another sign that nobody in government cares about you, nearly 10,000 National Guard Vets have been ordered to repay enlistment bonuses of 15,000 dollars or more after the Pentagon screwed up. That's right folks, to keep National Guard service members in the military during our decade and a half of war, the Pentagon offered sizable bonuses for reenlistment. Unfortunately, many of the troops that received these bonuses are being told, "Our bad." by the Pentagon who now what their money back. *** We're also going to talk a little about the AT&T merger with Time Warner. What do you think about the government telling companies who they can and cannot do business with? Does the government really protect us from monopolies? *** Finally, I'm going to hit the latest headlines on the Wikileaks emails and the new evidence the polls in America are rigged. It's an awesome show today. Don't miss it! Jason

I love AMA Fridays! The questions are getting better and better. We've got questions on foreign policy, personal responsibility and much, much more. Don't miss one of the most popular shows of the week!

Maybe politicians have always been brazen in their willingness to like through their teeth. I've really only been following politics closely for the last 15 years or so. But it seems to me the level of excrement on the floor after these debates should require knee-high waders. The confidence these candidates have to lie and deceive the public is breathtaking, so I thought I'd take some time on today's show and point out just how devious politicians can be when speaking to millions of Americans. We'll also look at a clip of Gary Johnson's interview with Vice News before the debate. Let's just say Gary hit a new high in crazy last night. It's a shame, and I'm embarrassed for him and everyone who's trying to support him. Jason

Someone hit me on twitter yesterday with the link to an article talking about the current glut of Milk we have here in the U.S. Apparently this listener has been getting emails suggesting this is an example of a market failure. I chuckle at the notion. Certainly, we can point to examples in Russia and Germany where central authority produced far too much of a good and failed to provide enough of another. How does this example in Milk differ from those? That's what I'm going to focus on today. I hope to give you some insight into why these things happen in a free market and how it's different from the overproduction in communist or socialist countries. Enjoy! Jason

I tried to find a good way to title this episode without it seeming like click bait. Russia is, in fact, moving a fleet of some 14 ships including a nuclear submarine from a port in Severomorsk to its Mediterranean base in Tartus, Syria. While in transit the ships will pass through the English Channel. The move has got the Royal Navy on Alert. It doesn't look like anyone is worried about a standoff, but it is the latest in a growing list of powerplays all sides are engaged in.

For those of you looking for a concrete example of the staggering cost of regulation, I've got one for you today. It turns out the trucking industry is about to be hit with new regulations requiring all companies to digitize the logs they use to track driver miles. The U.S. trucking industry, already suffering from a shortage of around 30,000 drivers, is highly fragmented. Many of those who transport our goods around the U.S. are independent operators or work for small trucking firms. This means many small, independent drivers and companies will unable to comply with the new regulations and will either be purchased by larger companies or will simply go out of business. It's just one of the ways companies use government and its power to regulate to protect themselves from competition and limit the number of companies in the market. This particular regulation has some added consequences as well like reducing driver productivity. This requires trucking companies to hire additional drivers (drivers they can't find) to transport the same amount of goods. All of the extra cost that comes from decreased productivity and increased regulatory burden will eventually be passed on to you, the consumer. Higher prices on the goods you buy and less money in your pocket. All so the government can save an estimated 26 lives per year. All that and much much more today on the show. Jason

A full hour of your questions today and we start with the threat from Russia. Is it something that should cause us concern? Is it time to start building bomb shelters in your back yard or is it all just a publicity stunt? It's an important question, and if anything it should raise your awareness about your own preparedness in the event we do find ourselves engaged in another world war. After that, we've got a variety of question from the roll of police to vaccinations. Great show, great questions and plenty of humor as usual. Enjoy! Jason

After a second failed attempt by "someone" (we don't exactly know for sure) the U.S. fired on Houthi installations destroying radar locations to both protect our ships and aid the Saudis in their fight to stabilize the country. If you need a list that makes Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and now Yemen. I'm glad we've got a Nobel Peace Prize winner at the stick. I'd hate to see how a warmongering imperialist president would handle things. All joking aside this is not a good thing. In addition to these five locations, we are also beefing up troop levels along the border with Russia in Ukraine. Iran has also dispatched two warships to the Gulf after our asset on Yemen. We're on the cusp of a third world war and all CNN can talk about is the Trump kissing scandal! We've also got a great piece on ObamaCare. The question I ask is, "Where do we go from here?" Unfortunately, neither presidential candidate is running on a platform of real change. Whoever is elected, it looks as though the American people will end up being the real loser. Jason

Student debt has skyrocketed to 1.4 trillion dollars over the last several years, but students coming out of college are finding the promise of a job harder to obtain. With job prospects grim and student debt repayment starting shortly after graduation, recent grads have been defaulting at an alarming rate. To combat this, the government has come up with an ingenious plan to reduce defaults while fleecing students out of tens of thousands of dollars and have even managed to convince them that it's all for their benefit. Today I'll expose this plan for what it is. A bad solution to a problem the U.S. government created in the first place. From there we'll talk Canada cap-in-trade and a shocking admission by Congress that they created an unconstitutional agency and have no way of reigning in their reckless actions. Killer show today. Don't forget to share! Jason

When was the last time a progressive met you halfway on reducing taxes? You say, "I want no taxes." and then the progressive says, "Well I want you to pay 20% more but let's settle on a reduction of 30%." If you're laughing, it's because you know that conversation would never happen. The conversation is always about how much MORE liberty we will lose, how much HIGHER taxes need to be. Any negotiation requires we move toward them. Progressives rarely lose ground. They often take less than they originally wanted but they almost never take a step backward. Part of their strategy is to perpetuate the lie that we must "compromise" if we want to be seen as reasonable. "No one will work with you if you're not willing to compromise," they say. But the compromise always works in their favor. When I talk about a game of inches, I think some people mistake me for being in favor of progressive compromise. I am more than willing to take less than the total elimination of all taxation in America, but it will always be a discussion of tax reduction. I will never compromise my way to a tax increase. The same goes for our principles. We don't have to change our beliefs or sacrifice what makes us libertarian to win over converts. We simply need to share the message of individualism and free markets with love and a sincere desire to affect those around us in a positive way. Today I'll talk a little about this subject and give you what I hope is some inspiration to help you reach out to your own community.

I was ready for another dry, mind-numbingly painful debate last night. What I got was entertaining if not informational as it relates to one area. Foreign Policy. How America interacts with the world has been a hot topic for libertarians with Johnson's recent gaff about Aleppo and even Ron Paul suggested progressives consider voting for Socialist Green Party Nominee Jill Stein simply for her non-interventionist foreign policy position. Last night Donald Trump was back to his old self. Starting out reserved he quickly went after Clinton on a variety of personal and professional failures. Clinton didn't take it lying down. She hit back at Trump, and it became apparent both of these candidates have some much dirt on the other they could spend the entire night focused exclusively on how terrible the other is. What's unfortunate is neither of them needs to lie or inflate the truth. It, the truth that is, is far ugly enough without embellishment. The one area where we did break into substance was on the middle east. Specifically what each candidate would do about Russia and Syria. Today I'll spend some time breaking down that part of the debate, and I'll showcase how easy it is for these candidates to lie without anyone in the media calling them on it. I've also got some new intel on the banking crisis in Italy, the risk of another bail-in and the IMF's warning to China. It's another full show. Listen NOW! Jason

In a shocking report by the Government Accountability Office (oxymoron I know), the Obama administration has spent more than 500 MILLION dollars a year on PR specialists (propaganda experts) to, in the words of Press Secretary Josh Earnest "tell the public of the president's achievements." It is another disgusting lack shame from a government that is still claiming to be one of the most transparent administrations in history. I hate to break it to you Joshy-boy but a government that has honorably served the interests of liberty and upheld the constitution does not need a propaganda arm to tell us all the wonderful things our leaders are doing and how lucky we are to have them working for us. The report comes the same day we get a beautiful piece of propaganda from Obama's PR machine posted on economist.com. I'm sure by now you'd be shocked to know that he has done an incredible job as leader over these past eight years, but there's still much that needs to be done. I'll tear this little gem apart on today's show and expose Obama for the talentless failure and economic illiterate that he is. It's also AMA Friday, so I'm taking your questions! Talk to you next week, Jason