Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - January 17, 2016

Brian Gongol


Podcast: Updated weekly in the wee hours of Sunday night/Monday morning. Subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or iHeartRadio


Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.

Capitalist Solutions

Here's something I believe rather strongly: Every public problem has a capitalist solution. That doesn't mean it's exclusive, but if we're not looking for the capitalist solution, then we're leaving some possibilities unexamined.

What makes this important is that I think a lot of people who are in elected office and elsewhere in influential places are missing the opportunity to explain how we could be using capitalist solutions to make people's lives better. And if we don't take credit for those solutions, don't look for them in hidden places, and don't turn to them first before we turn to big government interventions, then we can't be surprised when we see an avowed socialist making big waves as a candidate for President of the United States.

The next president needs to be a governor

Past or present; it doesn't matter. The experience is what matters. Governors have to execute legislation approved by others and reflecting the will of the majority. Senators are members of a vast debating society. Being a governor is no guarantee that one will become a good President, nor is being a Senator a sentence to failure. But taking a look at the shortcomings of some of the Senators-turned-President, it looks pretty clear that some time spent in the executive branch at the state level may have served as good training for the Oval Office. The road to the White House doesn't come with a simulator (though that would be an awesome idea), so the closest substitute we have is putting people through the same job at the next-lower level.

Democratic debate tonight

Not a great deal to add to the analysis quite yet, since the debate is in progress as we're on the air.

Listen on-demand