The Founders Show Podcast Por News Talk 99.5 WRNO (WRNO-FM) arte de portada

The Founders Show

The Founders Show

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A look at Louisiana politics from Chaplain Hy McEnery and Christopher TidmoreCopyright News Talk 99.5 WRNO (WRNO-FM) Política y Gobierno
Episodios
  • Rescission Bill Blues at Public TV & Radio, NOLA Mayor Fundraising

    Rescission Bill Blues at Public TV & Radio, NOLA Mayor Fundraising
    Jul 18 2025
    Hy and Christopher discuss fundraising in the Mayor’s race and the rising danger of inflation later in the program, but our main issue are the cuts in the PBS budget.

    WWOZ management called in all of its senior staff and stakeholders for strategy session to deal with the danger of the recession bill on Wednesday, July 17, when it became clear that Donald Trump’s $9 Billion cut in the foreign aid public media budgets would pass the US Senate in the coming hours.

    The “Guardians of the Groove” at 90.7 FM realized the devastating impact of the loss that their portion of the $1.1 billion public TV and radio funding soon to be chopped away by the Republican Congress at the behest of President Trump. The monies underwrote a considerable portion of the funds necessary to keep broadcast signals on the air. Like so many critical resources for many public stations around the country, from ice warnings in Alaska to farm reports in the Midwest, the Crescent City’s radio archive of culture may have been dealt a catastrophic cut.

    In the 1990s, Newt Gingrich and the GOP Revolutionaries declared their jihad against PBS with a joke. “Whenever two or more socialists are gathered together, national public radio is with them.” It took 30 years, but Republican campaign to defund the public broadcasting system of federal monies succeeded with a 51 to 48 party-line vote in the US Senate on July 17, 2025, with only Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski fully opposed in the GOP caucus. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting stands to lose $1.1 billion meant to fund it through the next two years, while the bill also cuts $7.9 billion in other programs. CPB acts as a conduit for federal money to NPR, PBS, and their TV and radio member stations.

    The irony is that the news operations of National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Systems receive less than one percent of their funding from the federal government. By corollary, the Republican campaign to defund liberal media sources will likely fail, as large urban public news radio stations should be able to make up the gap in funding. Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and PBS News Hour will likely endure. High-quality children's programming, such as Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood as well as cultural programs on history, music, and underserved communities might not.

    In particular, specialty music stations like WWOZ as well as rural and small market television stations which received 8 to 15 percent of their funding from the federal treasury find themselves in mortal danger. Federal grants for unique, cultural programming make up the line share of their budgets. Local news, including emergency alerts, could be hit worst of all as small market stations face going dark.

    In one of the late proposed amendments, Murkowski sought to restore CPB funding while barring any federal money from going to NPR. She mentioned a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island on Wednesday. The Senator had received her alert from a public radio station KUCB in Unalaska, in the Aleutian Islands. “I'm looking at a text that I received from the station manager there," she declared in the Senate floor. The text said the local community was instructed to listen to the local public radio station, she added.

    “I have an amendment that protects public media, their independence, their ability to provide local news, weather reports and, yes, emergency alerts," Murkowski continued. "We're reminded today this stuff matters, so I would hope my colleagues would recognize what is at stake and vote for my amendment." The GOP majority voted ‘nay’ in reply.

    South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds on Tuesday announced that he had struck a deal for the White House to divert Green New Deal money to funding 28 stations serving Native American listeners in nine states, yet the agreement does little to serve the nearly 1000 more rural stations facing catastrophic cuts. A Harris Poll conducted last week on behalf of NPR found that overall 66 percent of Americans support federal funding for public radio, with an equal proportion agreeing that such funding stands as a good value for taxpayers. Fifty-eight percent of Republicans and more than seventy-seven percent Democrats said they support public radio funding. The online poll served 2,089 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
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    54 m
  • If Only Nixon Could Go To China, Could Only Trump Bring Amnesty To Illegal Immigrants?

    If Only Nixon Could Go To China, Could Only Trump Bring Amnesty To Illegal Immigrants?
    Jul 11 2025
    Hy and Christopher begin the show with a spirited dive into New Orleans’s bohemian past where the funerary tradition is honored by a drink comprised of absence, gin, and vermouth. Chronicling this history, author Sue Strachan joins us on the Founders Show, talking about her new book The Obituary Cocktail, and it’s premier at the Garden District Book Shop on Friday, July 18. More information at gardendistrictbookshop.comWe then ask the question if only Nixon could go to China, can Trump be the only person who brings about amnesty for illegal immigrants?Could an amnesty deal be possible, allowing millions of illegal migrants to stay legally in the United States?Through the intervention of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Mandonna Kashanian, a 64-year-old Iranian-born resident of Louisiana, was released from ICE detention on Tuesday, July 8. She was arrested last month while picking figs in her Lakeview yard while her American-born husband and daughter sat inside unaware.Kashanian entered the U.S. legally in 1978. She overstayed her visa; though, she was granted a stay of deportation more than 20 years ago. Her family noted that she applied for asylum multiple times, consistently reporting to immigration officials since. Until this year, she had never been arrested for any criminal or immigration-related offense.Despite the recent postulations of pundits, MAGA world has not begun to rip itself apart over the Epstein list, Ukrainian weaponry, Russian sanctions, fiscal prolificacy, or bombing Iran. It’s this, a battle between those who wish to deport anyone with questionable legal status, and those who wish for a pathway to legalization. Lately, the latter group has included the president of the United States.The GOP stands on the precipice of Civil War over Donald Trump’s proposal of amnesty for illegal immigrants in key industries (such as agriculture) who have not been arrested for other crimes. The irony is shocking, yet Democrats may have been provided with an unexpected opportunity to finally give a pathway to legal status to migrants. Otherwise, stories like Mandonna Kashanian’s might become all too common. The only question that remains is how much in penalties will progressives concede to conservative congressmen to get amnesty legislation passed.It seems impossible, but that’s what the president has been telegraphing over the last two weeks, much to the chagrin of some of his senior advisors. He would agree to amnesty for the right price. Trump’s proposed pathway will likely include cash payments in exchange for the right to stay in the United States, if the president’s “Gold Card” proposal proves any indication. Yet with strong opposition on the MAGA right of the GOP, Democrats will have to put forward a deal, however much they might dislike Trump personally, to avoid as many as 11 million deportations.A window of opportunity exists. Trump does not like to be thwarted, even by his allies. Especially by his allies – just ask Elon Musk. MAGA theorists have condemned his $5 million cash payment to come into the United States. Moreover, the federal courts will likely strike it down, absent any congressional action. However, the simple idea that a cash payment could render a green card has some deportation purists in the MAGA movement unnerved.In recent weeks, Trump has flummoxed deportation advocates, like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, “Border Czar” Tom Homan, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who have rushed to “clarify” Trump’s comments that migrants employed in farming and industrial activities without a criminal record should not face expulsion from the country. In point of fact, as Trump tries to thread the proverbial needle, thousands of (otherwise) law abiding illegal immigrants face round up from ICE agents. With a greater boost in funding thanks to the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill, which will provide Immigration & Customs Enforcement with more money than the FBI and all other federal security agencies put together, the round ups will probably skyrocket. The otherwise innocent will be the victims.That is bad news for agri-business interests who are disproportionately powerful in key pro-Trump electoral constituencies in rural America – and corporate ambassadors from Archer-Daniels-Midland, Tyson and Smithfield have been letting the president know of their displeasure.Realists around Donald Trump, and quite a few senior GOP members, have been trying to find a solution that their base would accept. An economic paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on Tuesday, July 8, found that “high interior deportation,” with removals gradually rising to 437,500 a year, would cut economic growth by 0.83 percentage point this year and 0.84 in 2027.Trump fears recession above all else; however, deportation advocates, like the MAGA-allied Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), estimates the annual net cost of ...
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    54 m
  • Royce Duplessis' Late Entry Into NOLA Mayor's Race

    Royce Duplessis' Late Entry Into NOLA Mayor's Race
    Jul 8 2025
    The Founders Show comes to you from Colonial Williamsburg this week as Hy and Christopher discuss the importance of the 4th of July as the show begins They go on to examine the “Big Beautiful Bill”, its impacts, benefits like a $1000 deduction for nonprofits (even if you claim the standard deduction), and the likelihood that a Louisiana legislative special session will be called to make up for the loss of Medicaid dollars. Could you see another penny in sales tax here in the Pelican State to make up for the healthcare cuts?Hy’s and Christopher’s main subject of the show, though, is the New Orleans Mayor’s race and the entrance of Royce Duplessis. That leads us to ask the question… Will Royce Duplessis ‘Mandy-Landry’ Moreno?He has to make it to the runoff first, but if the standing room only crowd at Central City’s Ashe Powerhouse Theatre provides any indication, Royce Duplessis might have a chance to both break into the 2025 mayoral runoff and outflank the likely liberal Caucasian candidate – as he did get elected to the state Senate.In order to win, Duplessis must replicate the coalition that allowed him to best Democratic Rep. Mandy Landry in 2022. He must build a biracial coalition of African-American Democrats as well as white Republicans and Independents to outflank a prominent Caucasian challenger. His Senate district, which has more than 75,000 registered voters in Orleans Parish, is a good microcosm of the city – 48 percent are Black, 40 percent are Caucasian, and nine percent other. In fact, it’s a bit worse than the City of New Orleans for an African-American contender, which is 55 and 34 percent Black and white respectively. That Duplessis could carry a gentrified district, which under traditional political rules should have given a preference to a liberal white contender, speaks well of his chances in a citywide runoff.Of course, the state senator first has to best Councilman Oliver Thomas and Judge Arthur Hunter in order to end up in a likely runoff with frontrunner Councilmember At-Large Helena Moreno. His announcement speech hinted exactly at Duplessis’ strategy to achieve that goal when he said, “The journey to tonight, to this very moment, started about 37 years ago on Press Drive in Pontchartrain Park.” The senator went on to recount a lesson which he learned as a 6-year-old football player, yet the subtle message that he grew up in the first desegregated neighborhood that was the home of so many subsequent civil rights leaders was not lost on the crowd. They cheered. The Creole candidate had arrived.Duplessis appealed to the city’s wider working class base as well, noting that his opponents should have been more concerned about the 20,000 people who left Orleans rather than “where the mayor sleeps.” Then he doubled down on an obvious attack on Oliver Thomas (as well as Helena Moreno) with the words, “The next mayor of New Orleans cannot be someone who knows the system, but be willing to change the system.”Reacting to the cost of living crisis, Duplessis pledged to build 40,000 affordable apartments and new homes just before he pledged an economic development mission to make the Port of New Orleans the largest in the world. It is a package uniquely suited to uniting the right and the left on the ideological spectrum."This city is being asked to settle,” he said of his opponents. “New Orleans will never become its greatest if we accept complacency,” he said, explaining that his impetus to jump into the contest came from the electorate’s general lack of excitement about the contenders. Duplessis freely admitted that he did not have the money his opponents have, the original reason he demurred from running six months ago. Nevertheless, he’s counting on the public’s desire for change to propel him into the runoff and into the mayor’s office.Moreno is also expected to work across racial lines to secure 15 to 20 percent of the Black vote to emerge victorious, a task well underway with some highly visible endorsements from African-American leaders. Duplessis enjoys high name recognition in his 5th La. Senatorial District but lacks that same level of positive ID across the city as she or her fellow councilman. A survey conducted September 4-5, 2024, by JMC Analytics pegged Duplessis' backing at nine percent, behind both Moreno and Thomas.Councilman Thomas would stand as the prohibitive favorite under normal circumstances, thanks to his tenure in office and general public likability, yet his past felony conviction has given many potential citywide voters pause.Even if Duplessis transcends Thomas’ position in the polls, the senator must contend with Judge Arthur Hunter, who had his official kick-off on the day before Duplessis – Monday, June 30. Moreover, Hunter has already sought to build upon his high profile in the African-American community by actively courting Caucasian leaders. Caroline Fayard, Dickie Brennan and consultant ...
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    55 m
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