Episode 305- They've Got To Control The Narrative

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Now that the 2024 presidential race is set between Trump v Biden, what is the Democrats play? It looks like Trump is ahead in all of the important places for now. What does that mean for the Dems in the House and the Senate? Will Biden even make it to the general election? Is Harris the heir apparent? Is it time for them to look to 2026 legislative elections, and just skip it this year?

The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with the nations of the world to create a set of protocols to future pandemic response. This isn't meant for coordination between nations. This is to give the WHO sweeping powers to declare a worldwide pandemic and control the behaviors of billions of individuals around the world.

This is a war against "disinformation", "misinformation", and "malinformation". This is what the World Economic Forum said was the greatest threat (including climate change) at Davos this year. They've got to shut us up so they can control the narrative. This agreement is an official treaty, which gives it unique authority. This treaty would give them authority over passports, treatments, and alternate remedies. Biden may sign this by May, but it looks like the senate will not give them the 2/3 vote that they would need to pass this, but we need to keep an eye on it and let our elected officials know what we think. There's a bill to push back, but lawmakers need our help.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Another state primary down, and another state primary solidly in the "W"column for President Trump. Nevertheless, Nikky Haley is staying in the race with no path to the nomination. It's certainly her right to do so, but at what point is she helping Joe Biden and the Democrats?

We declare the inauigural "Conspiracy Week", where we discuss our favorites from JFK, to AI, and the crazy things we see happening with the Biden administration.

Lastly, we discuss the previous purpose of NATO and what it has become. It was devised to stop the advance of communism in post war Europe, but after the fall of the U.S.S.R., there was really no need for NATO anymore. Don't worry, outdated government doesn't ever go away, it just gets repurposed. The scope of NATO has expanded, the number of countries have grown, and has us head to head against Russia once again. Are we on the brink of war with Russia? Will Ukraine be admitted?

NATO has a budget that's over $1 trillion annually (largely funded by the U.S.A.). It keeps adding countries (31), having just added Finland and Sweden most likely coming on soon. Are we getting our money's worth? Should we still be involved in it? We have an important discussion as to America's role in this organization that seems to be pushing the world ever closer to another world war.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- The Robert Hur report came out, not clearing President Biden of wrongdoing, but rather claiming that he is incompetant to stand trial, so no charges. So if he's too bad off to stand trial, how is he well enough to be the president of the United States? Which is it? Are you comfortable with that? ...or are they trying to expose him to get rid of him? We discuss, but would love to hear what you think.

There has been a ton of discussion around the recent "Border Bill", it's defeat in the House, and the new Senate Foreign Aid Bill... just not in the mainstram news. Speaker Mike Johnson promised that the Border Bill was DOA. There was quite a bit of accusation floating around, that the Republicans were anti-border, but there was no honesty around the details of this bill. There was a small sliver of money going to the border, but half of the money in the bill was going to Ukraine. There's money going to Israel, but also to Gaza. There's money going to our military in these various areas where there are skirmishes.

The bill also didn't close to the border, just directed migrant to ports of entry after so many have crossed... oh, and President Biden can suspend that at any time. What kind of border bill is this anyway? So the Senate figured they'd fix it by taking out all of the border stuff and passing the Foreign Aid Bill with the help of Republicans. You're dead to us.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- This last week, Ilhan Omar made a speech that was smilar to a Donald Trump speech... except that it was about Somalia. It called for a Somalia-first policy, including a secure Somalian border. If the Squad didn't have hypocrisy, it wouldn't have any political strategy at all. Never mind that she took an oath to put our country and our constitution before all others and to defend it against all enemies, she was elected to represent everyone in MNCD5,  not just one group within it. Of course no one else's interpretation of the Somali language was accurate and the local news media either ignored it or ran cover for her. The Democrats seem to be ok with it too, as any challengers have been soundly put down. Their own undemocratic primary process is designed to keep people out that the party doesn't want.

We can't keep our own border secure, because there is no political will in the Executive Branch to do it. We've seen people on the terrorist watch list come across. We've seen all kinds of crime in our big cities. Much of it is done by American citizens, but enough is being done by people that have crossed the border illegally that we're hearing about it on a regular basis.

Not to mention, the wide open border is exacerbating child trafficking, drug traffing, labor trafficking, and organ trafficking. The cartels seem to be able to do as they please and the Democratic Party policies seem to facilitate the conditions for these horrific crimes to flourish. You'd think that they would want to stop those things.

What rights do states have to protect themselves from this onslaught? Do counties, cities, or school districts have a right to do the same if their governor won't do the right thing? Join the discussion below! Check out the Community Solutions Podcast on your mobile device's podcast app or click on the button for other options.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- Well... It's January, and with that, we have new city council and school board members in select locations. St Paul has set a record. No, not for the most females on an elected body, but for possibly the most juvenile and uninformed public meeting in history. They sat around and cheered that there were no elected men on the council, had a guy run around the room with a bubble machine, and praised Hamas... minus one council woman.

The Iowa caucuses just happened, and President Trump cleaned house. It's early in the process, but things look like he's the one to beat. We give you our expert analysis on Iowa and the contests that lay beyond.

We also address the recent attacks on our free speech. Where does free speech go too far? Misinformation/malinformation on social media? Petitioning our government for grievences? Violent rhetoric? Burning down buildings?  The elites and world leaders are pushing to shout down any dissenting voices. People are called conspiracy theorists, just for standing in opposition to the official story and no evidence is needeed.

How do we stand against the Facebooks, CNNs, and the World Economic Forums? Local city councils, county boards, and school boards are also shutting down the voices of residents and parents. We preserve our right to speak by continuing to speak out in our daily lives, no matter what the cost. They can only silence us if we let them.

Check out the Community Solutions Podcast on your mobile device's podcast app or click on the button for other options.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- We’re back with season 8, and we’re off to a raging start. We’re going after an issue that seems like a national issue, but it really doesn’t get more local than what’s in your wallet. The Federal Reserve has been talking about issuing a new currency… a progammmable digital-based currency.

This isn’t the first time a new US currency has been implemented. Most times the American consumer got the short end of the stick on the conversion. This new currency will no longer have physical money, but will be completely digital and run through the Federal Reserve system. This will have huge implications for you, because the Fed will be able to track and trace every dollar you earn, invest, and spend.

This currency will be programmable, which means that they can control how you use your money. All they have to do is program the restrictions on your account to allow you buy certain things or not, spend your money somewhere or not, or donate to a certain organization or not. The Chinese are already putting parts of this in place with their social credit system. The World Economic Forum has already lauded China as the gold standard.

President Biden has already tasked the government with designing this currency, creating the programmable technology, and laying uot a plan for implementation. It’s all ready to go, now we’re just waiting for an economic emergency. At some point, things will crash and they will step in with this ready-made solution.

Check out the Community Solutions Podcast on your mobile device’s podcast app or click on the button for other options.

www.commsolutionsmn.com- We have recorded 299 episodes over seven seasons. That's a bunch more than most podcasts. We have stood the test of time, and taught many in Minnesota (and elsewhere) all about the ins and outs of local government. We've done shows on budgets, government handouts, local elections, transit, property taxes, and bike lanes. You can only tear apart so many Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports before it sounds like we're doing the same show over and over.

We're not going anywhere... after all we still face the same old problems. But we're facing a whole lot of new problems as well. We want to make sure that we look at any issue that affects us locally and continue to provide solutions that might actually change the game that's being played. We're looking for people of courage and innovation to stand up against the corruption and growing shadow of autocracy in our world. Join us as we tease what's to come; the future of the Community Solutions Podcast.

Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? At the beginning of each episode, Jason quotes some song lyrics that have to do with the subject matter of the podcast. Andrew never knows what they are, but now he can… and so can you! We’ve launched the Spotify playlist: “Community Solutions Music From the Podcast!” You can listen to Roundabout from Yes after listing to Episode 30 on Roundabouts… or kick back and enjoy a rocking playlist just for the thrill of it. We add a new song every week. Subscribe and enjoy!

Don’t forget that you can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!

www.commsolutionsmn.com- It's no secret, we hate odd year elections. Very few people come out, and the majority of those are activists, union members, and the uber political. Should 3,500 people decide who makes policy for a city of 50,000? Why don't we just make it easy for people to vote? We hear so much about making it as easy as possible for everyone to have their voice heard, and then so many places have these odd year elections. They are done solely so one side can control the election results. This is the wrong way to go about it.

You will find odd year elections in small cities like Appleton and in big cities like Minneapolis and St Paul. Some races have competition and some are completely uncontested. How do races even go uncontested, let alone an entire slate of races in a single city or school district? There were numerous referendums and sales tax implementations on the ballot, which passed more in the metro than outstate. Minneapolis also has a number of races where candidates are either on the Democratic Socialist ticket and the Socialist Workers' Party ticket. Ilhan Omar hand-picked the new mayor of St Louis Park. Have fun with all that. We have to stop with the odd year elections. They do nothing, but secure the DFL's hold on local elections.

We also discussed the recent death of Matthew Perry and those that went too soon that have left an impact on us. It prompts a discussion on the search for meaning, and I think we may have figured it out.

Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? At the beginning of each episode, Jason quotes some song lyrics that have to do with the subject matter of the podcast. Andrew never knows what they are, but now he can… and so can you! We’ve launched the Spotify playlist: “Community Solutions Music From the Podcast!” You can listen to Roundabout from Yes after listing to Episode 30 on Roundabouts… or kick back and enjoy a rocking playlist just for the thrill of it. We add a new song every week. Subscribe and enjoy!

Don’t forget that you can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!

www.commsolutionsmn.com- The war in Israel is front and center on the world stage, and there are a number of things that are starting to surface, that we didn't think that we would ever see again. When Hamas blindsided Israeli families and concertgoers on not only their Sabbath, but also on a huge religious holiday, it proved its cowardice and barbarism. At least everyone is condemning it.

Well... not everyone. We are seeing universities engaging in professor-led protests, where hordes of rabid demonstrators shout slogans that are code language for killing the Jews. This is totally unacceptable on every level. The Democratic Socialists of America have been squarely on the side of Hamas. We've seen the pure hate coming from people like Ilhan Omar and Rashide Tlaib, but the DSA in Minnesota has been hard at work spreading discrimination. This was on full display at the protest they were involved in at Bryant Square in Minneapolis. DSA has Minnesota chapters in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Red River Valley, and they all use the same antisemitic language. It's time to choose a side. Who are you standing with?

We also discuss new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Who is he? Will he do anything different than McCarthy? Is there hope for the future yet? Also, MN Rep Dean Phillips (CD3) is officially in the presidential race. Look out, America!

Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? At the beginning of each episode, Jason quotes some song lyrics that have to do with the subject matter of the podcast. Andrew never knows what they are, but now he can… and so can you! We’ve launched the Spotify playlist: “Community Solutions Music From the Podcast!” You can listen to Roundabout from Yes after listing to Episode 30 on Roundabouts… or kick back and enjoy a rocking playlist just for the thrill of it. We add a new song every week. Subscribe and enjoy!

Don’t forget that you can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!

www.commsolutionsmn.com- If we want to change the direction of our government, it takes us getting serious about our local elections. Top-down government never works, but yet we almost completely ignore the offices that are closest to us. The real problem is that we are playing a game that progressives created and wrote the rules to. Almost every city in Minnesota (and really, in the nation) are either a weak mayor/council or manager/council form of government. The progressives created this so that administrators could run the day-to-day operations of the government.

Our government was set up to have separation of powers to limit the strength and function of each branch. We need to have some elected representation to provide oversight of the city employees. That should be the function of the mayor. The mayor should decide the direction of the administration, have veto power, propose a budget, etc. Stong mayors have traditionally had a full-time position, and in smaller cities, that's just not feasible. We lay out a case for a new approach to all local government bodies, starting with the history, methodology, and our ideas for necessary reforms in order to strengthen the local government against the state and federal government, but make it more responsible to the people.

We give our early take on the horrific attack of Hamas upon Israel. We lay out the ten-cent history of the area to give you insight into the events that led up to this war. It's a take you won't get in too many other places. We also discuss our thoughts about how 2024 is shaping up.

Have you checked out our Spotify playlist? At the beginning of each episode, Jason quotes some song lyrics that have to do with the subject matter of the podcast. Andrew never knows what they are, but now he can… and so can you! We’ve launched the Spotify playlist: “Community Solutions Music From the Podcast!” You can listen to Roundabout from Yes after listing to Episode 30 on Roundabouts… or kick back and enjoy a rocking playlist just for the thrill of it. We add a new song every week. Subscribe and enjoy!

Don’t forget that you can also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and Spotify!