Jim welcomes Stephen Sikes to the podcast to cover a wide variety of topics from investing to talking about the debt ceiling agreement that was made recently.Topics covered in this episode include: A shout out to Rachel who helped in bringing Stephen onto the show! Stephen talks about who he is and the company Public where he is the COO. How Public makes money. Where the 10% of not invested money goes and where does all the cash go? The FDIC program and sweeping The Treasury account that Public offers and what it is. How Public is trying new and innovative ways in a regulatory environment The founding of Public. Why Public exists. Where the idea of Public came from What alternative type of investing includes. Angel Investing Crypto Investing Culture Investing Regulatory issues for crypto and investing Watching closely to the courts to help give customers what they want/demand The European model Societal risks while creating regulations How to track what is going on with regulatory issues Stephen's thoughts on the debt ceiling deal that was made and how it impacts the investing business. What the next 6 months look like. What Public can offer Just launched Investment Plans Re-balancing is coming soon for the plan. What part of the army Stephen was in and how it shaped him for future careers. Stephen Sikes is currently the COO of Public, the multi-asset investing app, and he serves as the CEO of Public's broker-dealer and leads the brokerage, crypto, international, and alternatives business lines. He is also responsible for operations, customer, support, legal, compliance and risk functions. In addition to his work at Public, Stephen co-leads a fintech community and early stage investing fund called Socially Financed, where he focuses on supporting early stage consumer fintech businesses. Before joining Public, Stephen was on the founding team and became the Business Lead of SoFi Invest. Previously, he was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, and served as a Cavalry Officer in the U.S. Army, where he did one deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Rich Gold returns to the podcast to talk with Jim about the looming debt limit in Washington D.C, why this issue of coming to an agreement is so important, and what could happen if no agreement is made. Topics covered in this episode include: How things are going at Holland & Knight. An update on the debt limit negotiations. What makes this different than the last time it happened? A recap of where the negotiating started and where it is now. What the Republicans want What the Democrats are trying to do to compromise with the Republicans What would need to happen for the Republicans to get everything they want and why it's not realistic? Why the current options won't get enough votes to go through? Balancing the right amount of budget cuts. Will they eventually come to a comprise at the end of the day? What happens if they don't? Why it's not a good idea to cut a deal right before the deadline and what happened last time a deal was cut before the deadline. The real-world impacts that occurred. Can a divided government happen with a Republican president and Democrats controlling Congress? The shift of the Republican party. What could happen if a Republican votes and Donald Trump doesn't approve of it. Work requirements. The significance of agreeing to freeze the limit. Is the military budget increase normal or for something specific? What makes up the budget deficit? Who Rich will have as his special guest when he hosts the podcast! Rich Gold is the leader of Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group and focuses his practice at the intersection of complex policy and political issues involving Congress, the executive branch and the media. Rich Gold is the leader of the firm's Public Policy & Regulation Group and focuses his practice at the intersection of complex policy and political issues involving Congress, the executive branch and the media. The Public Policy & Regulation Group has been ranked among the top law and lobbying firms in Washington by publications including American Lawyer's Influence Magazine, Legal 500 United States guide, Financial Times and U.S. News - Best Lawyers guide. Mr. Gold has been recognized as a top lobbyist in Washington by The Hill, The National Journal, Washington SmartCEO, Super Lawyers and The Washington Business Journal, as well as one of Washingtonian Magazine's 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy for the past two years. In addition, Chambers USA – America's Leading Business Lawyers guide has recognized Mr. Gold since 2007. He is one of only three practitioners ranked as Band 1 in Chambers USA Nationwide Government Relations category, the highest ranking one can receive in Chambers. Mr. Gold served in the U.S. Senate for Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) as his advisor on environmental affairs where he worked on issues related to environmental side agreements of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). During the Clinton administration, he was a special assistant to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol Browner, with whom he helped develop the EPA's Superfund reform proposal and its administrative improvements package. Mr. Gold also served as a career lawyer in the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance and Office of General Counsel, working on major rule makings as well as significant Superfund cases. Mr. Gold approaches political and policy problems from the perspective of campaign-style advocacy – forming, developing and executing issue-advocacy campaigns that incorporate lobbying, regulatory lawyering, traditional and social media, and grassroots engagement to break through the noise in Washington and achieve client goals. Mr. Gold has engaged for individual companies, trade associations and coalitions on the issues of the day ranging from climate change legislation and regulations and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform to trade legislation, corporate tax reform, as well as major U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reform legislation and financial services legislation.   Help us grow! Leave us a rating and review - it's the best way to bring new listeners to the show. Don't forget to subscribe! Have a suggestion, or want to chat with Jim? Email him at [email protected]  Follow The Political Life on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter for weekly updates.

Today Jim welcome Brian Joseph to the podcast to chat about his experience in the gig economy as well as the idea of portable benefits for freelance workers. Brian Joseph is a freelance journalist who is currently finishing up work on his first book. He's worked as a newspaper reporter and investigative journalist for about 20 years, writing for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Orange County Register, and the Sacramento Bee, among other publications. In 2013-14, he was an investigative reporting fellow at the University of California-Berkeley, where he investigated privatized foster care for Mother Jones magazine. Brian is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and the recipient of several journalism honors, including a George Polk Award. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife and daughter and their talkative orange tabby Nemo! Help us grow! Leave us a rating and review - it's the best way to bring new listeners to the show. Don't forget to subscribe! Have a suggestion, or want to chat with Jim? Email him at [email protected] Follow The Political Life on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter for weekly updates.

Jim welcomes Mike Kiely to the podcast to talk about everything that goes into working for UPS in his new position within the company. They talk about how Mike manages his team, spending time abroad, how things are going in DC, and so much more!Topics discussed in this episode: The amount of responsibility that are on Mike and his team. How many union members and employees there in the UPS both in the United States and around the globe. Mike's new position and how it differs from his old position How Mike manages a team from so many diverse locations. Is it beneficial for people specfically college students to spend time abroad? Are things getting back to normal in markets around the world post-COVID? How UPS navigated the COVID shut down The backlogs of items coming into America. UPS negotiating with the union members of Teamsters in the US. How UPS takes care of their empoyees How social media causes unneeded panic about the state of UPS Headlines that give panic without diving into the facts of the matter at hand. Where Mike is spending most of his time. Educating public officials on what is going on in their negotiations with unions. Creating a channel for people to be able to use to know what's going on and not going off of what news articles are saying. FAA re-authorization bill How things are in DC and some changes that Mike has seen. America's relationship with China as the two leading countries of the world. Michael Kiely is the President, U.S. Government Affairs at UPS, a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including the transportation of packages and freight, the facilitation of international trade, and the deployment of advanced technology to manage the world of business more efficiently. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. Michael has spent his entire career at UPS. He started out in UPS' training program driving a truck, then spent 8 years working on financial issues for the company, including a stint as the Finance Director for UPS North Europe. Upon returning to the U.S., he took a position in 2004 as VP of Government Affairs for the company, and has remained in that sector ever since. Michael now oversees federal, state, and local government affairs for the company.   Help us grow! Leave us a rating and review - it's the best way to bring new listeners to the show.   Don't forget to subscribe! Have a suggestion, or want to chat with Jim? Email him at [email protected] Follow The Political Life on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter for weekly updates.

Rich Gold returns to the podcast to talk with Jim about everything going on in Washington D.C. They talk about the looming debt limit, environmental regulation, and what is happening at his firm, Holland & Knight. Topics covered in this episode include: Rich's thoughts on the debt limit and everything that is currently going on with it. The ways that Rich believes the Republicans have put themselves into a corner. How many of the Republicans in the house that want significant cuts to the spending bill and why they seem to be pushing for it. The priority of reform when it comes to natural power sources. The work happening to continue to work towards the use of natural resources. Rich's thoughts on the Biden Administration gearing up on the regulatory front. The state of the regulatory environment in America versus other countries. Rich's opinion on if it seems anyone is talking about this or if it isn't something people are too concerned about. When things need to be finalized to keep a new president from meddling with it. The approval rating of the government. Senator Feinstein being asked to step down and how it is being received in Washington. What's happening at Holland & Knight currently? Rich Gold is the leader of Holland & Knight's Public Policy & Regulation Group and focuses his practice at the intersection of complex policy and political issues involving Congress, the executive branch and the media. The Public Policy & Regulation Group has been ranked among the top law and lobbying firms in Washington by publications including American Lawyer's Influence Magazine, Legal 500 United States guide, Financial Times and U.S. News - Best Lawyers guide. Mr. Gold has been recognized as a top lobbyist in Washington by The Hill, The National Journal, Washington SmartCEO, Super Lawyers, Washingtonian and The Washington Business Journal. In addition, Chambers USA – America's Leading Business Lawyers guide has recognized Mr. Gold since 2007. Rich grew up in New York and New Hampshire He attended The University of Vermont for a B.S. in Business and obtained his J.D. from George Washington University. He served as a Staff Attorney, and later Special Assistant to Carol Browner at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Rich served as a Special Assistant for Environmental Affairs to US Senator Lloyd Bentsen. He has worked at Holland & Knight for the last 25 years. “It’s really important in current times to understand that the process that we are involved in, advocating for public policy, is sacred, and something that most around the world don’t get to do.”