FISA Surveillance Abuse, Iran’s Attack on Israel, and America’s Second Civil War

On April 15, 2024, Wade Miller, Jeffrey Paul, and Roger Mangan joined the show. Miller exposes how FISA has been abused to spy on Americans over 278,000 times and criticizes Speaker Mike Johnson’s failure to support warrant reforms Paul traces progressivism’s roots to German-trained academics who rejected natural rights, and proposes a 1% universal sales tax to replace all income taxes Mangan explains Colorado’s.

FISA Surveillance Abuse and Congressional Dysfunction

Start listening at 31:35 – Hour 1

Wade Miller, Executive Director of the Center for Renewing America, discusses the dangerous expansion of government surveillance powers. Miller explains how the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, originally designed to monitor foreign terrorists, has been weaponized against American citizens. The government has abused these powers over 278,000 times in a single year, spying on Americans without proper warrants.

Miller details how Congress has systematically avoided meaningful reforms to FISA despite widespread abuse. He notes that Speaker Mike Johnson, who previously co-sponsored warrant requirements for FISA, cast the deciding vote against such protections when it mattered most. Miller draws a direct connection between FISA abuse and the DOJ’s domestic terrorism investigations of parents protesting at school board meetings.

“The government has basically abused this in spite on American citizens illegally over 278,000 times that we know of in one year span of time. So it’s likely been far more Americans that have been spied on.”

– Wade Miller, Executive Director, Center for Renewing America

The conversation shifts to Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend. Miller provides strategic analysis, explaining that Iran’s strike appeared largely symbolic, with most drones and missiles intercepted well before reaching Israel. He urges restraint from escalation while supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. Miller also criticizes Congress for potentially using the attack as justification to pass massive foreign aid packages while ignoring America’s own border security.

The Progressive Threat to Constitutional Liberty

Start listening at 70:20 – Hour 2

Professor Jeffrey Paul, author of “Winning America’s Second Civil War,” traces the intellectual origins of modern progressivism. Paul reveals a largely unknown history: how American universities in the late 19th century sent scholars to Germany for doctoral training, and how these scholars returned with anti-American, statist ideologies that directly contradicted the founding principles of natural rights and limited government.

Paul explains that these German-trained academics held the same philosophical views that later animated National Socialism. They rejected natural rights, viewing the state as an organism to which individuals owed complete obedience. Unable to call themselves “state socialists” in America, they adopted the term “progressives” to disguise their authoritarian agenda. Through control of faculty hiring, these ideas came to dominate American universities and eventually corrupted the Democratic Party.

“The founding of the United States was based on principles which hadn’t been invoked before and haven’t been invoked since. And those principles were that nature confers upon all members of the human species a right of self-ownership and therefore a right of liberty.”

– Jeffrey Paul, Author, “America’s Second Civil War”

Paul offers a concrete solution: comprehensive tax reform eliminating income taxes, payroll taxes, and capital gains taxes, replacing them with a universal 1% sales tax on all transactions. His economic analysis shows this would generate more revenue while dramatically reducing the tax burden on working families. A family earning $50,000 would save over $10,000 annually under this system.

Colorado Legislative Update and Insurance Insights

Start listening at 63:05 – Hour 2

Kim discusses pressing Colorado legislative issues including Senate Bill 24-200 on equity, diversity, and inclusion in child welfare, and House Bill 1175 giving local governments right of first refusal on apartment complexes. Roger Mangan of State Farm Insurance explains homeowner protections against Colorado’s frequent hailstorms, including the new undamaged roof surfacing endorsement that ensures mismatched roof repairs are fully covered.