Summary: Politicians love to get elected; they just hate having to turn to voters to do it. And on this week’s show we look at how politicians use procedures and rules to subvert the will of the people, whether you’re talking about a Republican Presidential brokered convention or something like removing the dams on the Klamath River.

When, where, and how to listen – all stations stream live!

Air Dates: Apr. 09 & 10, 2016 | Lawrence Kogan & Greg Leo

We have a split show for you this weekend, although in some ways they’re tied together because both halves deal with procedures and rules. Let’s flashback to 2010. Obamacare was stalled in Congress because despite a special election where voters in Massachusetts elected a Republican to replace Ted Kennedy, who had passed away, the Democrats put their heads together and came up with a procedural gimmick to “deem it passed”.

It is these types of insider tricks that so many people find distasteful. The voters of Massachusetts, had spoken yet the politicians believed they knew better and found a way to override the voters.  Right now, there are two similar issues happening.

First the environmentalists’ effort to take out the Klamath Basin dams is once again rearing its ugly head. The earlier agreements to remove the dams had expired because Congress refused to fund them — the voters had elected a Republican Congress and that should have been the end of it.

But the environmentalists and far left politicians are back. Not only were two new agreements once again hashed out behind closed doors and out of the public’s eyes, they’ve already been signed. We’ll talk about the new agreements with Lawrence Kogan, the attorney representing the Klamath Irrigation District. Tune in to hear some of the underhanded gimmicks used to put them together, and who was involved — including a certain, well-known billionaire.

Brokered Convention

The other issue is the Republican presidential race, where, if one of the candidates does not have 1,237 candidates it will go to a “brokered convention.”  To people outside the process, this is the unseemly side of politics, the proverbial peek behind the curtain. But people who have chosen to get involved rather than sit on the sidelines understand that these are the rules of engagement — so if you’re a candidate, you better learn to navigate them.

We talk with Greg Leo on the hot topic of navigating the uncertain waters of a brokered convention. Tune in to hear why both of the leading candidates, Cruz and Trump, may not want to head into the great unknown — and some solutions open to them.

Links Mentioned

• Klamath dams once again on the chopping block via backdoor deals
• Read an article by Lawrence Kogan on Hydro agreement changes made without using the rule of law
• See the  current standings plus a handy slider tool to see how the rest of the delegates could unfold via the New York Times
• 2016 delegate count and primary results.
• Politico’s Republican delegate count spreadsheet with remaining contests & explanations
• Compare to RNC’s current delegate count – why the difference?
• Read the rules yourself: current RNC Convention Rules (link downloads a pdf)

Related links

• Oregon’s standing rules (pdf) for delegates/convention
• ORP Updated Bylaws (pdf) – See Article XVIII National Convention (Section B – Page 17)