We covered a lot of ground in the first 100 episodes - the Constitution, economics, abortion, social issues, healthcare, socialism and Christian apologetics to name a few. In this episode, I take a brief look at some of the myths we busted and review lessons learned.

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Despite the fact that April 2020 was dominated by the Coronavirus - shelter-in-place orders, social distancing, mask-wearing, economy-killing, stimulus spending and daily news conferences with the White House Coronavirus task force, there were a number of other noteworthy news items.

Show Notes

Drug Overdose, Head Trauma Deaths Added to Coronavirus Death Toll 

Fauci Admits U.S. was Given Incorrect Information 

Real COVID-19 Mortality Rate 25-60x Less

Over 30 Million Americans Have Lost Their Jobs in the Last Six Weeks 

Fed's Balance Sheet Skyrockets

Biden Sexual Assault Accuser Files Criminal Complaint Report

Biden Accuser Tara Reade's Mother Called Larry King CNN Program to Discuss Allegations

CNN Clip of Biden's Accuser's Mother Calling Larry King Vanishes from GooglePlay Catalog

Tara Reade's Former Neighbor Says They Discussed Alleged Biden Sex Assault in the Mid-1990's

Top Female Democrats Calling Biden Accuser a Liar

Fed Can't Print Gold BofA Calls Gold Ultimate Store of Value, Raises Price Target to $3,000

The World Health Organization's Swedish Flip Flop

Full Explanation Behind Oil's Unprecendented Negative Price

Two Weeks Later Most Small Businesses Still Haven't Gotten PPP Bailout Money

Small Business Owners Sue Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Over Virus Loan Debacle

Stimulus Intended to Help Coronavirus Ravaged Small Business Instead Rewarding Hedge Funds and Brokerages

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Jerry Nadler Want Four Billion Coronavirus Funding for Museums

Trump Suspends Immigration

Inject Disinfectant: Trump's Medical Claims Baffle National Experts

Don't Close Razor: Flynn FBI Setup Continue to Unravel

Something Seems Rotten in Flynn's Case

Small Business Bailout Demand So High SBA Portal Crashes Four Minutes After Second Round

Truth Quest Podcast

• Episode #62 – The Truth About Gold and Sound Money
• Episode #92 – The Truth About Price Gouging
• Episode #96 – The Truth About Socialism in America

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In America, we do not have definitional socialism where the government owns the means of production BUT we sure as hell have a bunch of socialistic tendencies, leanings, agencies and programs. In this episode, we examine the question, "Just how far toward socialism does America currently lean?"

Show Notes

The Future of Freedom Foundation

• The Big Con of Social Security and Medicare
• Only One Way Out of the Coronavirus Crisis
• Fear of Healthcare Freedom and Free Markets
• Is it Time for a New Direction

Mises.org

• Bernie's Socialism vs. Trump's Socialism
• Central Banking is Socialism
• Will the Fed Buy Stocks? Here's What It Would Take to Do It

Truth Quest Podcast Episodes

• Episode #8 - The Truth About Social Security
• Episode #9 - The Truth About Healthcare in America
• Episode #27 - The Truth About the Federal Reserve – An Intro
• Episode #28 - The Truth About the Federal Reserve – The Results
• Episode #31 - The Truth About Socialism – Part I
• Episode #32 – The Truth About Socialism – Part II
• Episode #57 - The Truth About Free Stuff
• Episode #62 - The Truth About the Gold Standard and Sound Money
• Episode #80 - The Truth About Democracies
• Episode #83 - The Truth About Capitalism

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In the last episode, we covered some of the lighter side issues like the importance of slowing down, enjoying our families, nature and the simple things in life. We also discussed the impact the crisis will have on future attendance at traditional four-year colleges and the continued failings of socialized medical systems.

Today we are going to look at this topic more from a public policy and economics’ perspective. We examine why the United States' federal government and all centralized political bodies are too big to succeed. In the shadow of the Coronavirus crisis, we look at the dramatic need for deregulation at all levels of government.

We end the episode with an examination of the crisis from a constitutional and economic angle: fiat currency, the importance of savings, and the stock market bubble pricked by the Coronavirus.

Show Notes:

Timeline: The Regulations—and Regulators—That Delayed Coronavirus Testing 

U.S. Needs Billions of New Masks to Combat Coronavirus. Feds Say It'll Take Up To 90 Days to Approve New Mask-Making Facilities. 

Critical Medical Supply Shortage: The Moment US Woke Up To Disaster Of Always Outsourcing To China 

The 4 Key Reasons the U.S. Is So Behind on Coronavirus Testing 

Small Regulatory Reforms That Can Help People During the COVID Pandemic 

COVID-19 Exposes Americans' Financial Irresponsibility 

Only One Way Out of the Coronavirus Crisis 

Republicans Want You to Be Terrified of Ebola—So You'll Vote for Them

Daniel J. Mitchell:

• Coronavirus and Big Government 
• Coronavirus and Big Government - Part II 
• Coronavirus and Big Government - Part III 
• Coronavirus Lessons from Europe 

 Truth Quest Podcast

• Episode #3 - The Truth About the Constitution - Where in the Constitution
• Episode #62 – The Truth About Gold and Sound Money

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In this episode we begin by examining some of the the lighthearted lessons learned from the Coronavirus crisis. We then speculate/observe some of the booms spawned by the crisis. Next we turn our attention to some of the more serious implications and lessons learned including the impact on the future of four-year university attendance, the threat that China poses to the world and the impotence and incompetence of socialized medical systems.

Show Notes

Truth Quest Podcast Episodes:

• Episode #9 – The Truth About Healthcare in America
• Episode #12 – The Truth About Socialized Medicine
• Episode #17 – The Truth About Healthcare Reform 
• Episode #38 – The Truth About the Democratic Party
• Episode #39 - The Truth About Student Loans and the Cost of College

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Bernie Sanders has been leading the charge toward socialism his entire life. Within a few weeks of this podcast's publication (at the most a few months), Bernie will be a two-time loser of the Democratic Party's nomination to be President. Despite his failure to secure the nomination, he has laid the foundation for more radical candidates in the future. In this episode, we examine the life of Sanders and the foundation on which he has built his movement.

Show Notes:

Britannica.com - Bernie Sanders

Former Prisoner Recalls Sanders Saying I Don't Know What's So Wrong with Cuba

Bernie Sanders Praised Communist Cuba and the Soviet Union in the 1980s.

60 Minutes Interview with Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders Praising Bread Lines and Food Rationing

Why Bernie Sanders' Communist Misadventures Still Matter

Truth Quest Podcast Episodes:

• Episode #4 - The Truth About Minimum Wage
• Episode #8 – The Truth About Social Security
• Episode #9 - The Truth About Healthcare in America
• Episode #12 - The Truth About Socialized Medicine
• Episode #14 - The Truth About Obamacare
• Episode #17 - The Truth About Healthcare Reform
• Episode #31 - The Truth About Socialism - Part I
• Episode #32 - The Truth About Socialism - Part II
• Episode #39 - The Truth About the Student Loans and the Cost of College
• Episode #57 - The Truth About Free Stuff
• Episode #80 - The Truth About Democracies
• Episode #83 – The Truth About Capitalism

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The “S” word - secession - seems to be brought up with more and more frequency lately. Most recently we have seen counties in rural Virginia exploring the possibility of seceding from the state and joining West Virginia. We are seeing similar movements in Northern California and rural counties in Oregon. While those are wonderful developments, the larger question regarding secession is the idea of entire states seceding from the United States and essentially establish their own nation.

The idea of state secession picks up steam with every passing year as the federal government - the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches AND the federal bureaucracy - continues to enlarge its power base well beyond its enumerated powers in the Constitution.

In this episode, I will introduce you to the concept of secession, discuss some of the current and past secession movements and walk you through three reasons why secession is not only desirable but necessary. In Episode #88 we will discuss how secession is justified and rebut most of the arguments against it.

Show Notes:

American Secession: The Looming Threat of a National Breakup, F.H. Buckley

Mises Institute:

• Secession in Virginia Would Defuse State's Conflict Over Guns
• Why Governments Hate Secession
• Three Reason Why More Secession Means More Freedom
• Why Rothbard Wanted Radical Decentralization

Tom Woods Podcast:

• Ep. 52 - Secede!
• Ep. 82 - Walter Williams on Nullification, Secession, and More
• Ep. 196 - Secession, the South, and the Modern State Donald Livingstone
• Ep. 261 – Progressive Case for Secession
• Ep. 326 – What Tom Told the Washington Post about Secession
• Ep. 796 – Secession is moronic
• Ep. 1332 – Should Libertarians Support Secession?
  
• Ep. 1565 – Decentralization and Secession: Jeff Deist on the Only Way Forward
  
• Ep. 1575 – American Secession: Potential of National Breakup?

The Brion McClanhan Show:

• Episode 169 – Secession and Reconciliation
  
• Episode 293 – How Would Secession Work?

Secession is for Morons

Secession is a Solution for Deep Political Division

Ron Paul: Thoughts on Secession

Credit Suisse: The Success of Small Countries

Greater Idaho Conservatives Oregon want 22 Rural Counties Secede and Become Part Idaho

Truth Quest Podcast:

• Episode #19 - The Truth About Elections and Washington, D.C.
• Episode #23 - The Truth About Nullification
• Episode #88 - The Truth About Secession - Part II

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I don't know about you but sometimes I get tired of discussing all the areas where we disagree politically or on public policy issues. In this episode I attempt to focus on things that most of us agree on such as government spending, right-to-try laws, the surveillance state, sound money, war, tort reform, term limits, the War on Drugs and the War on Poverty.

Does it not make sense to first focus on the few things in which we agree and then circle back to the numerous head-butting issues that divide us?

Show Notes:

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It bothers me immensely when politicians and talking heads propose intellectually lazy and dishonest policies that they know will do more harm than good. Then your friends, family and the faceless, and often nameless, folks on social media jump on the bandwagon. Their prescriptions are not based on principles (or so I thought) rather, they appear to be based on party (or group think).

I am no longer willing to cut these folks any slack because they can easily spend a few minutes on an Internet search and read multiple sides of any argument or policy. They can easily spend a few minutes trying to determine what the truth is.

Why then does this phenomonon exist? Why do those who subscribe to this form of public policy advocacy resort to low-ball tactics when it comes to the treatment of their ideological foes? You know: name-calling, violence, vilification, shutting down the speech of dissenters, mocking, de-platforming, boycotting, and censorship!

After much reflection and study, I believe these people are, indeed, principle-driven. That principle is winning - - - winning at all costs. Nothing else explains this behavior.

Show Notes:

William Watkins – The New Absolutes

Pritical Thinking - Amazon

Pritical Thinking - eBooks

Michael Malice - The New Right

Truth Quest Podcast Episodes:

• Episode #4 - The Truth About Minimum Wage
• Episode #7 -The Truth About Climate Change
• Episode #31 - The Truth About Socialism - Part I
• Episode #32 - The Truth About Socialism - Part II
• Episode  #33 - The Truth About Abortion - Mental Gymnastics

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In this episode we examine the historical record of the national Democratic Party and then fast-forward to present day and uncover the real motivations behind their radical agenda.

Why do they take such hard line positions on policies like abortion, illegal immigration, welfare, gay marriage, socialized medicine, guns control, climate change, minimum wage and higher taxes? Why do they advocate for socialism? None of these policies have the support of the majority of Americans yet they are all a prominent fixture in the platform that the national Democratic Party.

Show Notes:

PragerU – The Inconvenient Truth About the Democratic Party

Truth Quest Podcast Episodes:

• Episode #31 – The Truth About Socialism – Part I
  
• Episode #32 – The Truth About Socialism – Part II
• Episode #2 – The Truth About Abortion – What About the Baby?
• Episode #33 – The Truth About Abortion – Mental Gymnastics
• Episode #34 – The Truth About the Electoral College
• Episode #26 – The Truth About the Judeo-Christian Tradition
• Episode #4 – The Truth About Minimum Wage
• Episode #18 – The Truth About Gun Control
• Episode #7 – The Truth About Climate Change – Part I
• Episdoe #9 – The Truth About Healthcare in America
• Episode #12 – The Truth About Socialized Medicine
• Episode #14 – The Truth About Obamacare
• Episode #17 – The Truth About Healthcare Reform
• Episode #3 – The Truth About the Constitution
• Episode #37 – The Truth About the Bill of Rights
• Episode #16 – The Truth About the Supreme Court

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With the current state of the Democratic Party and their push for socialism, I felt compelled to record this episode knowing this is going to be a long road between now and the 2020 election. This information needs to be available to counter their message of disdain for the wealthy, free stuff, greed, and resentment.

In this episode we discuss the lack of socialist society success stories, the immorality of socialism, Democratic Socialism, socialistic incrementalism in America, and we examine how socialism violates both economic and natural laws.

Show Notes:

Daniel J. Mitchell

• The Endless Failure (but Bizarre Allure) of Socialism
• Socialism: A Dreary Failure, Malignantly Evil, or Both?
• An Amusing Examination of Socialism
• Young People and the Socialist Delusion
• Can Bernie Make Socialism Great Again?
• A Primer of the Folly (and Evil) of Socialism
• Venezuela Accelerating Descent to Socialist Misery
• The Horrifying Death Throes of Venezuelan Socialism, Captured in 28 Headlines

PragerU

• Socialism Makes People Selfish
• What's Wrong with Socialism

Venezuela's Maduro Admits Socialism Has Failed

Frozen in Time Havana Looks to Put a Modern Stamp on Its 500-Year History

Soho Forum: Socialism vs. Capitalism: A Debate with Jacobin Magazine

Why Socialism Failed

Mises.org

• Four Reasons Why Socialism Fails
• Still Fighting the Last War Against Socialism
• Why Socialism Must Fail

John Stossel - Venezuela is Socialism

Tom Wood's Episodes

• Episode 696 The Problem With Socialism: Tom DiLorenzo Educates Socialist Millennials (Tom DiLorenzo)
• Episode 586 Why Capitalism Is Morally Superior to Socialism (Jason Brennan)
• Episode 408 The Main Reason Socialism Can’t Work (Mateusz Machaj)
• Episode 337 The Fatal Errors of Socialism (James Otteson)
• Episode 1404 The Failed Idea That Never Dies

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Order a copy of Shawn's books - Pritical Thinking, The Proverbs Project, The Termite Effect.

The video of this episode is available at YouTube, Thinkspot, BitChute.com and Brighteon.com.

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The reason the American healthcare system is in such a mess is because of decades of government intervention and the third-party payer system. If we reduce government involvement and bring back capitalistic, free market principles, conditions will improve; it’s almost guaranteed. In a nutshell, real healthcare reform can be accomplished by encouraging a patient-centered, market-based system that eliminates or, at least, minimizes government involvement in the system.

True to the title of this episode, I will walk you through some concrete examples of how the American healthcare system can be reformed.

Show Notes:

How to Reform Health Care in America

When Health Insurance Works: A Look Inside Switzerland's Healthcare System

Repealing Obamacare Won't Fix the Healthcare Mess

The Evil-Mongering of the American Medical Association

Fee.org

• Healthcare Sharing Ministries
• Three Ways Regulations Make Healthcare More Expensive
• Why Doctors Should be Certified Like Airline Pilots

Mises.org

• Stop Hating High Deductible Health Plans
• The Problem with Government Licensing Schemes
• Not Every Health Condition is Insurable
• How to Rollback Bad Health Care Laws

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There are a lot of things wrong with the Obamacare law passed in 2010. Besides the fact that the law is unconstitutional, I outline four other things that are wrong with it:

#1 - The way the law was drafted

#2 - The way the law was passed

#3 - The way the law was upheld by the Supreme Court

#4 - The consequences of the law

Show Notes:

• If Obamacare Is Constitutional, then Why Did the Founding Fathers Bother with a List of Enumerated Powers?
• Healthcare is Not a Federal Power
• Would You Prefer Privatization or a Death Panel?
• Obamacare and the Odious Anti-Constitutionalism of Chief Justice John Roberts
• Good Morning Liberty Podcast - Obamacare Back in Court: What's Happening and What Needs to be Done?

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Order a copy of Shawn's books, Pritical Thinking,The Proverbs Project, The Termite Effect.

The video of this episode is available on Thinkspot, YouTube and on BitChute.com.

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This is the second of four healthcare-related episodes. In Episode #9, I discussed the truth about healthcare in America as a way to lay the groundwork for the other three – the truth about socialized medicine, the truth about Obamacare, and the truth about real healthcare reform. 

The truth about socialized medicine or government-run medical systems is wherever it has been implemented, the results have been people suffering from shortages, rationing of care, long wait times, a lower level of care, there is no incentive to shop for better prices (or better service), and the denial of experimental drugs, innovative procedures, and new technologies.

Why would we willingly endorse and enroll in a healthcare system that has proven to be inferior to the one we currently have?

Why would we willingly put our health in the hands of a bunch of faceless bureaucrats who could care less about us personally?

What is it about other nations' socialized medicine programs that is worthy of emulation?

Show Notes:

• Daily Mail - Nearly 1,200 People Starved to Death in NHS Hospitals
• The Guardian - NHS Budget Squeeze to Blame for Longer Wait Times
• Basic Errors Killing 1,000 NHS Patients a Month Study Shows
• Another Great Moment in the Annals of Government Run Healthcare
• Does Britain Have the Best Health System? Only If You Ignore Outcomes
• Who Was Charlie Gard
• BBC - NHS Rationing Leaves Patients in Pain
• BBC - Long Waits for Surgery Have Tripled in Four Years
• Parents of U.K. Boy With Tumor to Fight Extradition
• PragerU - What's Wrong with Government-Run Healthcare?
• The False Promise of Canada's Health Care System

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I have several healthcare-related episodes in the works including one on Obamacare, one on socialized medicine, and one on healthcare reform. In order to lay the groundwork for those future episodes, I thought it was important to discuss healthcare in America in general and dispel some myths or lies or propaganda (depending on your perspective). If you listen to the the mainstream media, liberal think tanks, or national Democrats, you are left believing that the American healthcare system is no better than some third world countries.

While the bashing of the American healthcare system has been relentless, is it the truth? Listen and find out!

Show Notes:

• Cato - Why Healthcare Costs too Much
• Ten Surprising Facts About American Healthcare
• National Center for Policy Analysis
• Mises - Lecture of American Healthcare
• Pritical Thinking Healthcare Chapter Citations

The Truth Quest Podcast Patron Page

Join the conversation at The Truth Quest Facebook Fan Page

Order a copy of Shawn's books - Pritical Thinking, The Proverbs Project, The Termite Effect.

The video of this episode is also available on Thinkspot, YouTube and on BitChute.com.

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