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Ralph does a deep dive into the real purpose of the Federal Reserve and other aspects of the American economy with progressive economist, Michael Hudson. Plus, our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to talk about the elected official from New Mexico,\xa0who got removed from office because of his role in the Jan. 6th\xa0insurrection and what that possibly could mean for Donald\u2019s Trump eligibility for office. And he also discusses a letter from retired Secretaries of Defense and Joint Chiefs about military leaders rejecting illegal presidential orders.

Michael Hudson\xa0is President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends, a Wall Street Financial Analyst, and Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He is the author of\xa0Super-Imperialism: The Economic Strategy\xa0of American\xa0Empire,\xa0\u2026and forgive them their debts \u2013 Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption from Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year, and\xa0Finance Capitalism and its Discontents.

The Federal Reserve was created to stop social purpose spending by the government, by essentially cutting the Treasury out of the monetary management process. And that\u2019s true, not only of the Federal Reserve in America, but of central banks all over the world.

Michael Hudson

The economy has never really recovered from Obama\u2019s bailout of the banks in 2008. And government and the Federal Reserve have been keeping the financial markets afloat by quantitative easing, but they really haven\u2019t helped the population at large.

Michael Hudson

If money should be a public utility, just like the dollar bills in your pocket, the credit cards and the electronic payments should be a public utility. But instead, it\u2019s privatized. It\u2019s turned into a monopoly, and it\u2019s a source of monopoly rents for the banks that really is unnecessary.

Michael Hudson

The important thing about gambling is the casino always wins, and the second important thing is that there\u2019s always a loser for every winner. And if you\u2019re gambling on the stock market or on derivatives, the insiders\u2014 especially the crooks\u2014 always end up the winners. And the honest people\u2026 end up the losers.

Michael Hudson

The drive is to get people not to use cash, check, or money order, and to do everything by credit card, debit card, and other multiplying payment systems. It impresses me as being a major controlling process. Once they suck you into the credit card gulag, they can penalize you, overcharge you, ruin your credit score\u2026 In effect, they strip you of control over your own money.

Ralph Nader

Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law.\xa0 Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of\xa0Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and\xa0American Empire: Before the Fall.

[The decision to disqualify Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin from holding office] demonstrates that when [Trump], if he does try to run for the presidency in 2024, that he will confront a hurdle of having provided material assistance to the insurrection of January 6th\u2014 irrespective of whether he\u2019s committed a crime or not.

Bruce Fein