By working people. For working people. Welcome to The Rick Smith Show.
Working Americans are tired of listening to think tank approved corporate news and commentary. They want a direct, honest approach to the issues that matter, so this is what The Rick Smith Show provides.
No puppets. No focus groups. No talking points.
Rick got his second COVID shot today, so in his honor, we’re doing a “Best of” episode today. In this hour, we’re replaying interviews with some of our favorite voice in Union Leadership. Today we’re joined by Jimmy Williams of IUPAT (4/29), Sara Nelson of AFA-CWA (4/2) and Greg Hynes of SMART (2/25).
Rick got his second COVID shot today, so in his honor, we’re doing a “Best of” episode today. In this hour, we’re replaying interviews with some of our favorite comedians. Today we’re joined by Trae Crowder (4/13), Steve Hofstetter (3/3) and Pete Dominick (4/26).
Mary K. Fletcher is the Safety & Health Specialist at the national AFL-CIO. For more information visit www.aflcio.org
Rick begins with commentary on Biden’s $28.6 billion restaurant relief program, and how Republicans all over America are claiming credit for it even though they voted against it. Then Mary Fletcher of the AFL-CIO joins to discuss a new report on deaths in the workplace and the first hour ends with commentary on gig work and all the ways workers are exploited by companies that are allowed to mislabel employees as independent contractors.
Thomas Ultican from the Badass Teachers Association stops by to talk about public schools and how we should change the way we fund them, and then we welcome back longtime friend of the show and former congressman Bob Ney, who will help us decipher some of the coded and uncoded language of the GOP as it spirals into cultism, Trumpism, and Q-adjacent irrelevance.
Kelly Senholz, MD talks about vaccine hesitancy and how it could potentially halt our progress in the fight against COVID.
Rick begins with commentary on an opinion piece that suggests that the “valorization of wealth” is a necessary American value. We disagree. Then Maritza Silva-Farrell joins to discuss the New York Hero Act and how it can help our workplaces recover after Covid and prepare us for the next pandemic, and the first hour ends with Scott Paul of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, who will discuss the need for a resurgence of American manufacturing, and why it not only makes economic sense, but national security sense as well.
Foreign Policy expert Emily de la Bruyere starts the second hour with a discussion on China’s continued expansion and what we need to do to compete with them, and then Kelly Senholz, MD talks about vaccine hesitancy and how it could potentially halt our progress in the fight against COVID.
Bill Scher, Contributing Editor at Politico closes the first hour with his thoughts on the filibuster and why it still exists, and why that should worry us.
@billscher @POLITICOMag
@jjabbott @Comms2PA
Rick starts the night answering some listener mail and contemplating the ridiculousness of the term “vaccine hesitancy.” Then Jeff Hauser of The Revolving Door Project explains a bit about how Biden’s policies are a needed reset, are not remotely radical by historical standards. Bill Scher, Contributing Editor at Politico closes the first hour with his thoughts on the filibuster and why it still exists, and why that should worry us.
J.J. Abbott of Commonwealth Communications joins us to discuss a number of local policy issues that look very much like the policies being proposed all over the country at the same time and then we close the show with Political Analyst and former Ohio congressman Bob Ney, who will help us understand the inner workings of Washington DC and just how broken our system has become.
Travis Waldron of The Huffington Post stops by to talk labor, organizing, and the impact of a strike taking place at this year’s Kentucky Derby.
This week’s panel covers the spiraling descent of the Republican Party, including all the impending indictments, raids, warrants, and the general grossness of Matt Gaetz. This week’s panel includes Scott Dworkin from the Democratic Coalition, Teacher and Activist Kristin Mink, and Rich Ojeda, National Spokesman for No Dem Left Behind.
