CD207: State of Corporatism

It's 2020 and the government was actually funded before the new year! However, as always, dozens of bills hitched a ride into law attached to the government funding. In this episode, learn about some of the dingleberry laws that could effect your retirement savings, cable bills, and our partners in war.

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Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes

CD156: Sanctions – Russia, North Korea & Iran

CD186: National Endowment for Democracy

CD190: A Coup for Capitalism

CD191: The “Democracies” Of Elliott Abrams

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Bills

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Articles/Documents

• Article: Turkey, Russia launch Turkish Stream pipeline carrying gas to Europe By Euractiv, January 9, 2020
• Article: SECURE Act - Can It Help or Hurt Your Retirement? by Richard Barrington, MoneyRates.com, January 8, 2020
• Article: Assessing How The SECURE Act May Impact Investing For Your Retirement Seeking Alpha, January 7, 2020
• Article: Energean, DEPA sign EastMed pipeline gas purchase deal By Kostis Geropoulos, New Europe, January 6, 2020
• Article: Secure Act includes one critical tax change ‘that will send estate planners reeling’ By Bill Bischoff, MarketWatch, January 6, 2020
• Article: Greece, Israel, Cyprus Sign Deal for EastMed Gas Pipeline By Hadjicostis, Associated Press, January 6, 2020
• Article: No, your IRA was never intended to be a vehicle to pass along your wealth By Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post, January 6, 2020
• Article: Grubbs: Secure Act good and not so good for retirement savings By Tyler Grubbs, The Journal Record, January 3, 2020
• Article: The East Med agreement opens a new chapter of cooperation By George Tzogopoulos, Jerusalem Press, January 2, 2020
• Article: Greece, Israel, Cyprus, move to build East Med gas pipeline By John Psaropoulos, Aljazeera News, January 2, 2020
• Article: EastMed gas pipeline flowing full of troubling questions By Jannis Papadimitriou, DW, January 2, 2020
• Article: 6 Key Retirement Changes of the SECURE Act By Carol Schmidlin, FedSmith, January 2, 2020
• Article: How the SECURE Act changes saving for retirement By Samantha Fields, MarketPlace, January 1, 2020
• Article: No more hidden fees: New law requires cable and satellite TV companies to disclose full costs By Ron Hurtibise, Wire Services, Dallas News, January 1, 2020
• Article: Pros, Cons and Possible Disasters after SECURE Act By Jamie P. Hopkins, Kiplinger, December 31, 2019
• Article: The EastMed Act is praised by the American Chambers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus By GCT, Greek City Times, December 30, 2019
• Article: The SECURE Act Is a Reality in 2020 By Amanda Umpierrez, PlanSponsor, December 26, 2019
• Article: Trump Admin Fights Bill Punishing Turkey for Its Russian Deal By Betsy Swan, Daily Beast, December 23, 2019
• Article: U.S. Upgrades Mediterranean Energy Policy Hamodia, December 22, 2019
• Article: U.S. Senator hails East Med Act as ‘new day’ in relations with Greece Ahval, December 20, 2019
• Article: Turkey warns of 'escalation' if US ends Cyprus arms embargo Aljazeera, December 18, 2019
• Article: Four reasons why your 401(k) may be a giant rip-off by Darla Mercado, CNBC, December 13, 2019
• Article: Croatia to receive Bradley M2A2 Infantry Fighting Vehicles from U.S. government Army Recognition, December 13, 2019
• Article: U.S. Senate committee approves Turkey sanctions bill by Patricia Zengerle, Reuters, December 11, 2019
• Article: Watch: IAF, Special Ops complete joint 'Game of Thrones' drill in Cyprus By Idan Zonshine, Jerusalem Press, December 7, 2019
• Article: Israel-Hamas undersea gas spat in full swing By Jo Harper, DW, December 7, 2019
• Article: Greece and Turkey closer to armed conflict, say experts By John Psaropoulos, Aljazeera News, December 5, 2019
• Article: Hellinikon casino license tender at a standstill, US contenders could sue Yogonet Gaming News, December 4, 2019
• Article: Why Americans Need the SECURE Act By John Carter, PlanSponsor, November 19, 2019
• Article: Mohegan unveils its project for an IR in Athens Yogonet Gaming News, October 10, 2019
• Article: Oil boss: Stop drilling if Turkish warships arrive Navy Times, October 10, 2019
• Article: Turkish ship to begin drilling off Cyprus: minister By Ali Kucukgocmen, Reuters, October 10, 2019
• Article: The Hellinikon Project: Greece’s Modern Tale of Agony and Ambition by Nick Kampouris, Greek Reporter, September 15, 2019
• Article: 7 months after quitting the Trump administration, Jim Mattis has a new job By Bryan Pietsch, Reuters, Business Insider, August 7, 2019
• Article: Greece's new Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis vows growth DW, July 21, 2019
• Article: Turkey Gets Shipment of Russian Missile System, Defying U.S. by Carlotta Gall, The New York Times, July 12, 2019
• Article: The Levels of Commission Agents Earn on Annuities by Stan Garrison Haithcock, the balance, June 25, 2019
• Article: European defense industry could come to regret new US weapons fund Aaron Mehta and Sebastian Sprenger, Defense News, May 30, 2019
• Article: Inside America’s multimillion-dollar plan to get allies off Russian equipment by Aaron Mehta, Defense News, May 29, 2019
• Article: US: We’ll Pay Countries to Ditch Russian, Chinese Arms By Marcus Weisbgerber, Defense One, May 16, 2019
• Article: US: We’ll Pay Countries to Ditch Russian, Chinese Arms By Marcus Weisbgerber, Defense One, May 16, 2019
• Article: The Mitsotakis Plan: Cut Taxes, Push Privatizations, Lure Investors By TNH Staff, The National Herald, April 24, 2019
• Article: In Greece, an Economic Revival Fueled by ‘Golden Visas’ and Tourism By Liz Alderman, The New York Times, March 20, 2019
• Article: 15 Things You Need to Know Now About Annuities By Coryanne Hicks and Philip Moeller, U.S. News, February 25, 2019
• Article: THREATS “FROM THE SOUTH” PROMPT U.S. TO BASE DRONES IN GREECE FOR THE FIRST TIME By Nick Turse, The Intercept, May 24, 2018
• Article: Greek opposition leader: ‘I don’t think this government coalition will last’ By Lally Weymouth, The Washington Post, April 13, 2016

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Additional Resources

• Atlantic Council: Board of Directors
• Board Profile: Michael Chertoff Bae Systems
• Client Profile: New York Life Insurance: Bills Lobbied By New York Life Insurance, OpenSecrets.org
• Contributions Profile for 2020 Election Cycle: Metlife Inc, OpenSecrets.org
• Fundraising Stats: Michael McCaul, OpenSecrets.org
• Prudential Financial: Lobbying Totals, 1998-2019, OpenSecrets.org
• Profile: Kyriakos Mitsotakis LinkedIn
• Raytheon: Board Members and Advisors, cruchbase
• Trans Adriatic Pipeline at a glance
• Trans Adriatic Pipeline route
• USAA: Lobbying Totals, 1998-2019, OpenSecrets.org
• Vanguard Group: Lobbying Totals, 1998-2019, OpenSecrets.org

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Sound Clip Sources

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Town Hall Conversation: A Town Hall Conversation with Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Atlantic Council, January 7, 2020

Speakers:

• Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Transcript:

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Companies such as Cisco and Pfizer are already looking to set up research centers in Greece.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: There's always this advice that other heads of state and government gave me when I was in the position. They told me, make sure you do the reforms very quickly. And then when you look at how other governments have performed, usually that is not the case. We are going against the trends. And we've also said that for 2020, we will continue with this aggressive reform agenda.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: We're really looking to strengthen our ability to import LNG. We've expanded the LNG capacity of our main LNG terminal in Revithoussa outside Athens. But we're also looking to complete a floating storage and regasification unit and FSR EU outside the port of Alexandroupoli. I consider this port, this project absolutely critical for Greece. I've given it my full personal support. It will be an additional, source, entry point for LNG, also American LNG into the European market. And of course, as you pointed out, we have also signed the East Med pipeline, which is an ambitious longterm projects that will bring gas from the Eastern Mediterranean into the European markets. This is an important project for Europe, not just for Greece. Eastern Mediterranean is the only proven source of natural gas, new proven source of natural gas, that Europe has access to. For the next 30 years, at least, natural gas is going to be the transition fuel that will allow us to move towards a carbon neutral Europe. This is also important for Greece and our energy transition. And I think the countries of the region have taken the important geopolitical decision that the best way to get this gas out of the region is for a pipeline that will go through Cyprus, Greece and end up in Italy. So this is an important statement of intent. And we're very, very happy that we signed the project in Athens a few days ago.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: You're all aware of the fact that we are trying to unblock the old airport project, the Hellinikon project. And we've really worked very, very hard with our ministers to make sure that we remove all the unnecessary bureaucratic impediments in order for this investment to take place. We have two American companies bidding for the casino license. It's important that for the first time, some serious money is going to be invested in this project by American companies.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Started lowering our taxes, lower taxes on real estate, lowered taxes on corporation starting January 1st of this year. And I think there's a general sense in Greece that we are open for business. We're looking to aggressively attract foreign direct investment. And it's already beginning to happen.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: We will start the discussions to explore the possibility of Greece joining the F35 program. This is an important priority for me and the government. Once the F16 program is completed in 2024, we feel we will have the fiscal space.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: It is unacceptable within the context of an alliance to have one ally and member clearly provoke another ally, clearly referring to Turkey and the activities by President Erdogan. And that this is something which within the context of an alliance should not be brushed aside because the general approach of NATO has always been, Oh, okay, we have two ally members. They have their issues, let them sort it out, but I think we have a clear case to make that now the situation is rather different.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: We want to use the additional fiscal space in order to further cut taxes and use only 20% of the additional fiscal space. So 80% will be directed towards further cutting taxes, and 20% will be used towards targeted social spending to address extreme inequality and extreme poverty in Greece.

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Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations

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Music Presented in This Episode

Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)