Part 1
We interview Scott Braddock, of the Quorum Report.
We discussed the rise of Bernie Sanders in Texas. He is at 26%, with Warren at 13%. Texas will likely vote for Trump in the presidential election however. This is a red state, and has been for quite a long time. However, things are changing. At the state level, new, Democratic candidates have entered the fields, and the Texas House races are becoming more competitive, and many could be flipped. The suburbs of the larger cities are moving in that direction. Michael Bloomberg has been touring the state in his bus, and has garnered a respectable audience. He has also gotten the endorsement of Beto O’Rourke. Bloomberg has also committed a lot of money to beating Trump.
John Cornyn is entering his reelection campaign with a war chest of $ 2.8 M, and his most likely Democratic opponent has $ 1 M, a respectable amount, although the Democratic primary has not yet been held.
Part 2
We have a conversation with Luke Reader, to discuss the effects of Brexit, which will take place today, January 31.
The impetus for Brexit comes from deep seated feelings by many Britons that they feared the loss of sovereignty to the European Union, which has been growing over time. After WWI, the influx of mainland Europeans was felt as a kind of invasion and displacement of British workers, and resented. Another factor in the Brexit vote was that the anti-Brexit votes were divided among multiple parties in the UK, while there was only one pro-Brexit choice: Boris Johnson. The discussion we had centered around the choices that the British will now have because of Brexit. They will all have to renegotiate all trade deals. They will be rule takers rather than rule makers when dealing with EU countries. Other problems will be what the status of Scotland and Northern Ireland will be regarding trade with the EU countries. Especially in Ireland, the status of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will have different rules. Currently, no hard border has been established.
