This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Chuck Warren and Sam Stone welcome Chuck Flint, Henry Olsen, and Jon Riches to discuss the 2026 midterms, government fraud, IRS accountability, Democratic Socialists of America spending proposals, constitutional rights, and government overreach. Plus B’s Crime Corner examines Colleen Slemmer’s murder by Christa Pike and the controversy surrounding Pike’s death sentence.
Chuck Flint, President and CEO of the Alliance for IRS Accountability, former Senate Chief of Staff, and prosecutor, joins Chuck and Sam to expose the staggering cost of government fraud. They discuss estimates of up to $521 billion in annual federal losses, fraud involving COVID relief, Medicare, Medicaid, and hospice programs, and proposals for mandatory minimum sentences and personal accountability for public officials who intentionally or recklessly ignore fraud. Flint also examines unpaid taxes among federal employees, the Democratic Socialists of America’s multitrillion-dollar agenda, the growing national debt, and solutions including zero-based budgeting and a balanced budget amendment.
Website: irsaccountability.org
Substack: strikingflintdc
X: @ChuckAFlint Instagram: @chuckflintdc
Facebook & LinkedIn: Chuck Flint
B’s Crime Corner shifts the spotlight away from headlines about Christa Pike’s failed execution and back to the horrific crime that put her on death row. B revisits the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Tennessee, the jealousy-fueled killing, chilling trial evidence, Pike’s actions afterward, and the decades-long legal battle, reminding listeners of the horrific crime at the center of the controversy.
Henry Olsen, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and host of Beyond the Polls and Conservative Crossroads, analyzes the battle for control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. Olsen examines Republicans’ chances of retaining the Senate, whether polls underestimate conservative voters, and key Senate races in Ohio, Texas, Maine, Michigan, and Minnesota. He also explores political shifts in Spain and France, Europe’s populist right, and what early election-night results could reveal about a possible Republican upset.
X: @henryolsenEPPC
Jon Riches, Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, examines government overreach and constitutional rights. Riches challenges Pima County’s data center moratorium, discusses government restrictions on private property rights, and explains the Goldwater Institute’s fight over mandatory DEI training at Arizona State University. He also addresses zoning, HOAs, taxpayer-funded film incentives, and how litigation can hold government agencies accountable when they overstep.
X: @GoldwaterInst
Website: goldwaterinstitute.org
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