What does political courage look like in action? What does it mean to stand up to special interests? And what are the fights we must take on — and win — to keep America free and prosperous? I recently interviewed Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt at the Cicero Institute's 2024 Courage Awards, where we recognized him and other bold leaders from across the country for taking on cronyism and corruption in the face of great opposition. Stitt considers himself a businessman governor: he started Gateway Mortgage with $1,000 and a computer before scaling it into a national company. He never sought public office before running for governor, and since he's taken charge, he's run it like a business: balancing budget shortfalls, streamlining permitting, and slashing regulations. More impressively, he's demonstrated real courage in standing up to powerful special interests, like the homelessness industrial complex, and others you might not expect, like the police union. Learn how he succeeded in getting real help to the homeless and mentally ill, and why he vetoed a pension increase for police officers. Stitt also explains how woke nonsense and cronyism manifest even in a deep red state — and how to fight it; why politics shouldn't be a career profession; and how he succeeded in passing one of the boldest school choice programs in the nation. Oklahoma has become one of the nation's fastest-growing states under his leadership, and you'll see why. 00:00 Episode Intro01:58 Entrepreneur to governor05:29 Passing school choice8:33 Taking on the homeless industrial complex12:20 Vetoing police pension increase15:45 Slashing regulations19:05 Fixing the nursing shortfall / workforce readiness22:13 Limiting the growth of government This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.joelonsdale.com

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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