DSA’s Wisconsin Governor Loss and Inflation, Big Pharma’s Drug Pricing Fight, Putin Threatens the West | Your News Talk America
Your News Talk America
Monday, August 17, 2026 · Jake Smith · 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET
9:00 AM · Show Open
Jake opens the show with Paul Davis, Vice President at the Institute of World Politics. Davis was the lead analyst for MNA 3 Syria and Lebanon and coordinated with the intelligence community on military and political issues affecting the tasked countries. From 2003 to 2005 he served as lead intelligence analyst with the DIA's Iraq Division, responsible for military and political intelligence production supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Guest: Paul Davis, Vice President, Institute of World Politics · Bio
9:35 AM · Prescription Drug Prices
A new report from the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance lays out how Americans pay the world's highest prescription drug prices while the pharmaceutical industry fights to make President Trump's Most Favored Nation pricing policy permanent. Former Congressman Joe Cunningham (D SC), a PRA spokesperson, joins Jake to discuss what the report means for patients and why drug affordability is cutting across party lines heading into the midterms.
The facts:
- Americans pay nearly three times more than patients in other wealthy countries for the same drugs.
- Nearly 40 percent of Americans are cutting pills, skipping doses, or not filling prescriptions because of cost.
- The pharmaceutical industry's lobbying spending to protect the status quo has run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
- The report makes the case for making Most Favored Nation drug pricing permanent.
Guest: Former Congressman Joe Cunningham (D SC), Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance · Source
10:00 AM · National Security Outlook
Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer, US Army (ret), joins Jake for the national security outlook. Shaffer is a Senior Fellow at both the London Center for Policy Research and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies.
Guest: Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, US Army (ret) · Senior Fellow, London Center for Policy Research and Center for Advanced Defense Studies
10:30 AM · The DSA's Wisconsin Loss and July Inflation
A busy week in politics and economics. Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong's bid for Wisconsin governor came up short after polls had her leading by a wide margin, and the July Consumer Price Index came in at 3.4 percent. Kent Strang, Managing Director of Americans for Prosperity, joins Jake to unpack both stories.
DSA in Wisconsin:
- Why the DSA endorsed candidate in the Wisconsin governor race lost momentum and came up short.
- Strang, who lives in neighboring Illinois, watched even Wisconsin's left grow leery of Francesca Hong.
- The DSA's rise is setting up a broader political battle between government control and freedom.
Inflation:
- The July 2026 Consumer Price Index, released this past Wednesday, came in at 3.4 percent.
- That points to the Federal Reserve likely holding rates steady at its September meeting.
- Strang contrasts today's numbers with the Biden years, when July 2022 CPI hit 8.5 percent amid reckless spending and restrictive energy policy.
11:00 AM · China with Gordon G. Chang
Gatestone Institute Senior Fellow Gordon G. Chang joins Jake to talk China. Chang is the author of Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America. Follow him on X at @GordonGChang.
Guest: Gordon G. Chang, Senior Fellow, Gatestone Institute · author, Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America · @GordonGChang
11:30 AM · Putin Threatens the West
Russia's Vladimir Putin is threatening retaliation following western seizures of Russian commercial vessels. Author Richard C. Lyons joins Jake to discuss what it means for the West. Lyons is the author of The DNA of Democracy and Shadows of the Acropolis.
Lyons argues the country feels politically divided because citizens increasingly feel unrepresented, because the media speaks in competing "truths," and because politics has become a matter of name calling and closed door maneuvering rather than respectful debate between parties of mutual respect and good intent.
Guest: Richard C. Lyons, author, The DNA of Democracy and Shadows of the Acropolis · Bio
11:50 AM · Salute the Troops
Today's Salute the Troops honors Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead. Thank you for your service.
11:53 AM · Dangerous Intellectuals Preview
Brigadier General Blaine Holt reviews the latest episode of his podcast, Dangerous Intellectuals (Episode 49), featuring special guest John Leake. The conversation asks whether Americans are being pushed into a state of hyper vigilance.
Featured: Brig. Gen. (ret) Blaine Holt · Dangerous Intellectuals
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