A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Wednesday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
Listen to the new episode here:
Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:
The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.
Starting in five four three two one.
Hello, I am Adam Dick, a Ron Paul Institute senior fellow.
Let’s start.
Issue one.
On Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James B. Comey announced that the FBI recommends no charges against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton related to Clinton’s mishandling of confidential government information as secretary of state. Clinton’s Republican election opponent Donald Trump posted in response on Twitter what many Americans were thinking: “The system is rigged.”
Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board Member Andrew Napolitano has long argued the evidence is overwhelming that Clinton committed the crime of espionage via her reckless handling of confidential information.
Comey’s thinking seems in line with Napolitano’s when Comey says in the announcement that it is “a felony to mismanage classified information either intentionally or in a grossly negligent way” and that “there is evidence” that Clinton and her colleagues “were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”
Nevertheless, Comey concluded his announcement by not recommending criminal charges.
Issue two.
Police kill about three people a day in America. But, people are not the only casualties. Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead writes in his Wednesday editorial that the United States Department of Justice estimates police kill at least 25 dogs each day, while other estimates go as high as nearly 500.
Some of these killings are justified. Many are not.
Whitehead says the response to the unjustified killings of people and pets should include “better — and constant — training in nonviolent tactics, serious consequences for those who engage in excessive force, and a seismic shift in how the law enforcement agencies and the courts deal with those who transgress.”
Issue three.
In 2012, the US government emptied dairy farmer Randy Sowers’ bank account because a series of deposits had been made in amounts under the $10,000 amount banks automatically report to the government. The US government considered this a crime called “structuring.” Some of Sowers’ money was returned. But, the government has kept nearly $30,000, which Sowers has been working with lawyers to recover. Last week, the US government agreed to return that money.
This is good news for Sowers. But what of the many other people deprived of their money through such seizures?
Here is what Sowers says:
I hope they give other people’s money back. And beyond that I just hope they quit taking people’s money.
Issue four.
Last month, US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan presented in a press conference some big talk about defending the US Constitution. Said Ryan:
We will lose our freedoms in this country, including all of the Bill of Rights, if we don’t robustly defend the separation of powers.
Ryan is talking the talk here. But, he is not walking the walk.
One clear separation of powers in the Constitution is that only Congress can declare war. Yet, Ryan, for the over eight months he has been speaker, has refused to allow a House floor debate and vote on any restrictions on President Barack Obama’s ongoing war in Iraq and Syria.
Issue five.
The potential of a military draft is in the news, with the US Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) including a requirement that women, like men, register with Selective Service.
Supposing a draft is announced, what can be done to oppose it? In 1814, US Rep. Daniel Webster presented in the House a speech in opposition to conscription. In his speech, Webster made many powerful arguments. He also said something that would sound odd to many Americans in this era after the US government has amassed such great power at the expense of the states and the people. Declares Webster:
It will be the solemn duty of the State Governments to protect their own authority over their own Militia, and to interpose between their citizens and arbitrary power.
Imagine that: state governments protecting their residents from a tyrannical US government instead of aiding in the abuse.
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That’s a wrap.
Transcripts of Five Minutes Five Issues episodes, including links to related information, are at the Ron Paul Institute blog.
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