Rural voters keep hearing about scandal in Washington, but most of it never gets past the surface. Tim Miller, host of the Bulwark Podcast, joins Heidi to dig into what's actually driving political corruption right now, from foreign money shaping U.S. policy to the insider trading scandals barely making headlines.
Tim traces how political corruption has evolved, from straightforward kickbacks to the foreign money now quietly steering decisions on war and energy. He and Heidi also get into what's happening back home in North Dakota, where data centers are reshaping local economies and testing what rural communities are willing to trade for growth.
In this episode:
- How decades of scandal have made it normal for politicians to profit off their power
- How foreign money, especially from the Gulf states, shapes U.S. decisions on war and energy
- Insider trading and bribery in how political campaigns get funded
- What the lawsuits against Trump show about deeper corruption
- The midterm outlook in Iowa and North Dakota, and why low voter enthusiasm could hurt incumbents
- How data centers are changing rural economies and who actually benefits
- Why Democrats keep losing the messaging fight, and what could turn that around