August 8, 2025 • 9 mins
Rob Walgate of American Policy Roundtable joined Todd to discuss various political issues.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We welcome now Rob Walgate from American Policy Roundtable to
talk politics. Of course, Rob, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey, good morning, Tom. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Well, good to have you back, and a lot of
things to discuss on the political front. You had texted
me a couple of weeks ago with the concerns about
how things are going with the Intel development. They've been
backing off their timeline and laying off people across their
company and other places. Obviously, is this starting to become
(00:32):
a bit worrisome?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, I just think it raises the question of when
you hand out hundreds of millions, if not when you
tie in the federal money billions of dollars to a company,
what obligation do they have to see the project hit
timelines hit an adequate fashion, as well as deliver on
everything that was promised. Because I just know there was
so much screaming. And again this isn't to take sides
(00:57):
on the issue of the Browns and the six one
hundred million dollars, but you know, there was so much
concern and talk about that, and I was like, well,
we have an Intel plant one that's dealing with billions
of dollars. Much of that money won't ever be paid back.
But yet there wasn't the same amount of screaming that
took place over that, at least from a state perspective.
(01:18):
So I think we got to watch what's going on there.
See there's been a lot of development there, without a doubt.
But I know now we have our United States Center
is involved in a President trump'scott his eye on it.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens in
regards to Intel and Ohio over the next couple of years.
And are they going to deliver what they promised in
a timely fashion.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, that remains to be seen. Rob Walgate is with
us with American Policy Roundtable. Of course, recently in Cincinnati
a street brawl melee ambush went viral and it's become
very much a political issue as you would imagine. And
Ohio gubernatorial candidate for viak Ramaswami from Cincinnati waghed in
(02:00):
and went to his hometown and had a town hall
of sorts, and US Senator Bernie Moreno has been in
there to talk about what happened. And you know, some
people say you shouldn't politicize things, and I agree, there's
a certain tact that needs to be involved at times,
but really everything is political and this was an opportunity
(02:22):
to hopefully make things better in Cincinnati. What was your
read on the politics of this?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah? Yeah, How does it become a political issue when
people were getting I guess lack of just beaten up
in the middle of the street in Cincinnati, And how
can there be folks on either side that justified behavior
like that, Because if we allow for one, we're going
to have to allow for everybody, are we not. So
the fact that this is happening should be of concern,
no matter what letter's next to your name, no matter
(02:49):
where you live, things like that should not happen. And
when they do happen, I think we need to have
a method in place to where right the punishment fits
the crime. And in many cases across the country, we're
seeing and I'm not saying in this specific case in Cincinnati,
but in other cases, we're seeing some of these assailants
(03:12):
be younger and younger and younger, and that's unfortunate. We
have to do something about it. Everyone wants to see
the city's bustling, Everyone wants to see the cities thriving.
But when videos like that get out and in the
social media world. Let's face it, they're going to get
out faster than ever. That keeps people from going downtown
and spending dollars where they need to be spent.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, I'm always dismayed by all the people recording the
incident rather than trying to.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Help goodness, right, Yes, I mean yes, can we put
our phones down for ten seconds and love on our neighbor.
We've really done a poor job in this country, in
my opinion, at times, of loving our neighbor. And I
think that's an example of it of helping the least
of these and no matter what situation you're in.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
No doubt, Rob the politics of Cincinnati, I think growing
up and even in recent times, it seemed that Cincinnati
in general was a more conservative area. But the city
of has gotten kind of left leaning or left wing
in total, hasn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, I think that's safe to say. Downtown, around the
campus areas, different parts of Cincinnati for sure have gotten
in Again, like you mentioned earlier, you would think that
there would be a way for people we live in
the same communities, for people to come together. Everything does
not have to be a political issue, but it seems
today that that's the angle. It's made and that's what
(04:40):
fills our text messages that we get in and emails
in regards to fundraising. Often how many emails politicians have
sent out emails fundraising off this on both sides of
the off.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, that's a great point, Rob Waalgate. The American Policy
Roundtable is with us and we have not heard from
Shared Brown for a while, but you and I have
both opined that he ain't done. Is he going to
take on Vavak or is he going to take on
John Housted and try to get back to Washington as
a senator.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well that's the million dollar question, right because we know
the meetings are taking place. We know that discussions are happening.
So is it happening or people saying, hey, Shared, I
will support your campaign if you run for this office
or that office, or what's he going to do? What's
he feel he has the best chance of winning. Let's
face it, Sharret Brown was in DC for a long time.
(05:31):
He knows the lay of the land. To go to
the United States Senate, the Club of one hundred, that
would be some point something that obviously interests him. To
go back to being the governor of the state of
being the governor some work. I'm not saying he doesn't
want to do the work now, but there's not many
folks that go from DC back to the state and
(05:52):
get it done. You see it vice versa the other
way around. So I think the meetings are taking place,
and I think he's going to do one or the other.
And I think Tim Ryan waiting in the wings, and
you'll probably see his name bounce up wherever shared Brown
decides not to go.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, that's a good point to rob. And you know,
you talk about going from federal government back to state government.
You don't see it very often, especially voluntarily, but not
in our state. But a couple of state south in Tennessee.
I saw their sitting senators decided she wants to run
for governor. That's quite unusual, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
It is quite unusual. But the bureaucracy that is Washington
d C. Some people get there and say, you know what,
I don't want to do it. I'm not going to
deal with it. I mean, we think in Ohio Jim
or Acy came back. You know, I had no desire.
Doesn't seem to go back to Washington. Now. Some may say,
well he ran for the United States Senate. Well, he did,
but that was in a race that let's face it,
(06:47):
the odds were stacked against him from the beginning. It's
going to be a difficult race to win. So yeah,
some folks just get down there and say, hey, this
isn't for me. I can't be one of thirty five,
or I can't be one of one hundred will to
do it. I actually want to roll up the sleeves
and get to work at the state level where some
stuff gets done.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Rob a lot of a big kerfuffle down in Texas
about redistricting. We are again forced to pretend that this
has never happened before and it is the biggest affront
to democracy ever. But in Ohio, of course, we had
our own kerfuffle since we insisted on installing this new system.
It came back to bite the Republicans, as the court
(07:26):
said their map was unconstitutional, but we ended up using
it anyway. Et cetera, et cetera. What's the next step
here in the Buckeye State with the congressional map? Are
we going to have another blow up here?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Oh? I'm sure we are. We have to redraw it
according to the Constitution. You so you're going to see
that happen. You're going to see that take place. Everyone's
going to scream about maps at all times. It's happened
since the beginning, right since jerrymandering. Look up the reason
we call it jmandering. It's a little homework assignment. I
guess for the listeners, I know we're not supposed to give,
(08:00):
but we will say it's a Friday, we'll give a
little homework assignment. But yeah, it's been happening forever and
it's going to happen. Do I like it?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
No?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
But you know, we can talk about California, we can
talk about New York, we can talk about Texas. Some
people talk about Ohio. Whoever is in the minority in
each of those states talks about how the districts are
drawn and not favorable towards them. The difficult part comes
is when they talk about Ohio and how it should
be drawn. I'd love to see some people draw some
maps that they think fit the demographic of the state
(08:31):
of Ohio, because what ends up happening is the fact
that you know, you have some communities that may vote
seventy five twenty five one way, and then you go
to other communities and it's fifty four forty six the
other way, but there's more of those communities. So how
do you pull from the seventy five to twenty five
community to kind of dilute it around the state so
(08:52):
that there's that representation they're asking for. But then are
you getting into a point when you do it that
way where the folks that are presenting them don't actually
live in those communities or represent those people. And again
we're doing this in a radio segment. There's college courses
taught of redistricting and gerrymandering and how deep it goes
(09:14):
and how difficult it can be in dissecting the numbers
and what's gotten into all this. Who draws the maps?
Computer programs draw the maps, and they draw people in
and out of different districts based on where they live,
whether they're donors or something. The Republicans did create this
problem in Ohio by drawing some of these maps back
in the day. That made zero zero sense.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's Rob aalgabled American Policy Roundtable. Rob appreciate you joining.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Us, Thanks for having me. Todd
We welcome now Rob Walgate from American Policy Roundtable to
talk politics. Of course, Rob, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey, good morning, Tom. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Well, good to have you back, and a lot of
things to discuss on the political front. You had texted
me a couple of weeks ago with the concerns about
how things are going with the Intel development. They've been
backing off their timeline and laying off people across their
company and other places. Obviously, is this starting to become
(00:32):
a bit worrisome?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Well, I just think it raises the question of when
you hand out hundreds of millions, if not when you
tie in the federal money billions of dollars to a company,
what obligation do they have to see the project hit
timelines hit an adequate fashion, as well as deliver on
everything that was promised. Because I just know there was
so much screaming. And again this isn't to take sides
(00:57):
on the issue of the Browns and the six one
hundred million dollars, but you know, there was so much
concern and talk about that, and I was like, well,
we have an Intel plant one that's dealing with billions
of dollars. Much of that money won't ever be paid back.
But yet there wasn't the same amount of screaming that
took place over that, at least from a state perspective.
(01:18):
So I think we got to watch what's going on there.
See there's been a lot of development there, without a doubt.
But I know now we have our United States Center
is involved in a President trump'scott his eye on it.
It's going to be interesting to see what happens in
regards to Intel and Ohio over the next couple of years.
And are they going to deliver what they promised in
a timely fashion.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, that remains to be seen. Rob Walgate is with
us with American Policy Roundtable. Of course, recently in Cincinnati
a street brawl melee ambush went viral and it's become
very much a political issue as you would imagine. And
Ohio gubernatorial candidate for viak Ramaswami from Cincinnati waghed in
(02:00):
and went to his hometown and had a town hall
of sorts, and US Senator Bernie Moreno has been in
there to talk about what happened. And you know, some
people say you shouldn't politicize things, and I agree, there's
a certain tact that needs to be involved at times,
but really everything is political and this was an opportunity
(02:22):
to hopefully make things better in Cincinnati. What was your
read on the politics of this?
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah? Yeah, How does it become a political issue when
people were getting I guess lack of just beaten up
in the middle of the street in Cincinnati, And how
can there be folks on either side that justified behavior
like that, Because if we allow for one, we're going
to have to allow for everybody, are we not. So
the fact that this is happening should be of concern,
no matter what letter's next to your name, no matter
(02:49):
where you live, things like that should not happen. And
when they do happen, I think we need to have
a method in place to where right the punishment fits
the crime. And in many cases across the country, we're
seeing and I'm not saying in this specific case in Cincinnati,
but in other cases, we're seeing some of these assailants
(03:12):
be younger and younger and younger, and that's unfortunate. We
have to do something about it. Everyone wants to see
the city's bustling, Everyone wants to see the cities thriving.
But when videos like that get out and in the
social media world. Let's face it, they're going to get
out faster than ever. That keeps people from going downtown
and spending dollars where they need to be spent.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, I'm always dismayed by all the people recording the
incident rather than trying to.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Help goodness, right, Yes, I mean yes, can we put
our phones down for ten seconds and love on our neighbor.
We've really done a poor job in this country, in
my opinion, at times, of loving our neighbor. And I
think that's an example of it of helping the least
of these and no matter what situation you're in.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
No doubt, Rob the politics of Cincinnati, I think growing
up and even in recent times, it seemed that Cincinnati
in general was a more conservative area. But the city
of has gotten kind of left leaning or left wing
in total, hasn't it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, I think that's safe to say. Downtown, around the
campus areas, different parts of Cincinnati for sure have gotten
in Again, like you mentioned earlier, you would think that
there would be a way for people we live in
the same communities, for people to come together. Everything does
not have to be a political issue, but it seems
today that that's the angle. It's made and that's what
(04:40):
fills our text messages that we get in and emails
in regards to fundraising. Often how many emails politicians have
sent out emails fundraising off this on both sides of
the off.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, that's a great point, Rob Waalgate. The American Policy
Roundtable is with us and we have not heard from
Shared Brown for a while, but you and I have
both opined that he ain't done. Is he going to
take on Vavak or is he going to take on
John Housted and try to get back to Washington as
a senator.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Well that's the million dollar question, right because we know
the meetings are taking place. We know that discussions are happening.
So is it happening or people saying, hey, Shared, I
will support your campaign if you run for this office
or that office, or what's he going to do? What's
he feel he has the best chance of winning. Let's
face it, Sharret Brown was in DC for a long time.
(05:31):
He knows the lay of the land. To go to
the United States Senate, the Club of one hundred, that
would be some point something that obviously interests him. To
go back to being the governor of the state of
being the governor some work. I'm not saying he doesn't
want to do the work now, but there's not many
folks that go from DC back to the state and
(05:52):
get it done. You see it vice versa the other
way around. So I think the meetings are taking place,
and I think he's going to do one or the other.
And I think Tim Ryan waiting in the wings, and
you'll probably see his name bounce up wherever shared Brown
decides not to go.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, that's a good point to rob. And you know,
you talk about going from federal government back to state government.
You don't see it very often, especially voluntarily, but not
in our state. But a couple of state south in Tennessee.
I saw their sitting senators decided she wants to run
for governor. That's quite unusual, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
It is quite unusual. But the bureaucracy that is Washington
d C. Some people get there and say, you know what,
I don't want to do it. I'm not going to
deal with it. I mean, we think in Ohio Jim
or Acy came back. You know, I had no desire.
Doesn't seem to go back to Washington. Now. Some may say,
well he ran for the United States Senate. Well, he did,
but that was in a race that let's face it,
(06:47):
the odds were stacked against him from the beginning. It's
going to be a difficult race to win. So yeah,
some folks just get down there and say, hey, this
isn't for me. I can't be one of thirty five,
or I can't be one of one hundred will to
do it. I actually want to roll up the sleeves
and get to work at the state level where some
stuff gets done.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Rob a lot of a big kerfuffle down in Texas
about redistricting. We are again forced to pretend that this
has never happened before and it is the biggest affront
to democracy ever. But in Ohio, of course, we had
our own kerfuffle since we insisted on installing this new system.
It came back to bite the Republicans, as the court
(07:26):
said their map was unconstitutional, but we ended up using
it anyway. Et cetera, et cetera. What's the next step
here in the Buckeye State with the congressional map? Are
we going to have another blow up here?
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Oh? I'm sure we are. We have to redraw it
according to the Constitution. You so you're going to see
that happen. You're going to see that take place. Everyone's
going to scream about maps at all times. It's happened
since the beginning, right since jerrymandering. Look up the reason
we call it jmandering. It's a little homework assignment. I
guess for the listeners, I know we're not supposed to give,
(08:00):
but we will say it's a Friday, we'll give a
little homework assignment. But yeah, it's been happening forever and
it's going to happen. Do I like it?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
No?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
But you know, we can talk about California, we can
talk about New York, we can talk about Texas. Some
people talk about Ohio. Whoever is in the minority in
each of those states talks about how the districts are
drawn and not favorable towards them. The difficult part comes
is when they talk about Ohio and how it should
be drawn. I'd love to see some people draw some
maps that they think fit the demographic of the state
(08:31):
of Ohio, because what ends up happening is the fact
that you know, you have some communities that may vote
seventy five twenty five one way, and then you go
to other communities and it's fifty four forty six the
other way, but there's more of those communities. So how
do you pull from the seventy five to twenty five
community to kind of dilute it around the state so
(08:52):
that there's that representation they're asking for. But then are
you getting into a point when you do it that
way where the folks that are presenting them don't actually
live in those communities or represent those people. And again
we're doing this in a radio segment. There's college courses
taught of redistricting and gerrymandering and how deep it goes
(09:14):
and how difficult it can be in dissecting the numbers
and what's gotten into all this. Who draws the maps?
Computer programs draw the maps, and they draw people in
and out of different districts based on where they live,
whether they're donors or something. The Republicans did create this
problem in Ohio by drawing some of these maps back
in the day. That made zero zero sense.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
That's Rob aalgabled American Policy Roundtable. Rob appreciate you joining.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Us, Thanks for having me. Todd
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