I'm Not Allowed To Watch The News

The dogs and I are starting a GoFundMe campaign to raise five billion dollars. We have a pretty big purchase in mind.   We’re going to buy the Congress of the United States.   Get your credit cards out and start making your legislative wish lists, as the dogs and I plan to purchase one of America’s three branches of government on this episode of I’m Not Allowed To Watch The News.

Our political leaders always give us choices when it comes to solving the nation's problems.  Two of them: All or nothing.  Mass shooting? What we need are more guns. Or none. Too many abortions? Ban them. Or put no restrictions on them. Cop killing? We need more police. Or less. Healthcare too expensive? The government should pay for all of it. Or none of it. Gas prices too high? Drill for oil everywhere. Or quit using fossil fuels.  When your only choices are all or nothing, there's a good chance you'll get nothing.  The dogs and I dig into why these are the only answers we're ever given, and why the solutions to America's problems are so diametrically opposed on this episode of I'm Not Allowed To Watch The News. 

Is the American healthcare system scarier than Bigfoot? What is the cash price for an MRI? Healthcare is tremendously expensive, and America never has figured out a good way to pay for it so that every citizen has access to decent medical care.  The dogs (who are way more scared of Bigfoot) and I dig into the problem, and see if there's a cure on this episode of I'm Not Allowed To Watch The News.   

No one is writing laws for me.  I'm not rich enough for one party or poor enough for another. I'm not old enough or young enough or sick enough or healthy enough for either major political party to take any interest in my problems. They'll make sure I can have a gun or an electric car, but my real priorities, like effective and affordable healthcare or the conquest of Belgium are always somehow out of the question.   They will, however, take my tax money.  The dogs and I try to figure out exactly what we're good for on this episode of I'm Not Allowed To Watch The News. 

How does this end? It's a strange question for the first episode, but hang in there. My story gets better.  The political system of the United States of America in the 21 st century is a lot like Thanksgiving Day at my mother's house--dysfunctional, expensive, and makes you a little nauseous. It will end, but it’s not going to end well. The dogs and I get into politics and the history of empires, on the first ever episode of I'm Not Allowed To Watch The News. 

The podcast hasn't officially released yet, but the first episode is available in preview on the Open Highway. If you can't wait for the official launch, click here and get a sneak preview.  The Open Highway

I’m not allowed to watch the news anymore. You can probably guess at the many many reasons, but the main one is that my wife won’t let me. I’ve always held unpopular opinions about history, government, gardening, pet care, child rearing, fiscal responsibility, and foreign policy. When the news is up there on the screen I tend to rant my questions out loud, howling to an empty sky. It scares the dogs, and I never get a good answer anyway. Congress can't pass a meaningful law. The president can't govern by executive order, even though he'd really like to. The national debt is skyrocketing. Prices are going up. Purchasing power is going down. Getting sick for too long means bankruptcy. Secure retirement is a pipe dream. The representatives that we send to make our laws are owned by somebody, and we’re always trying to figure out who. Every time an election rolls around, we are told by candidates chosen by someone else what the stakes are. Immigration, abortion, guns, climate c...