Newsom's PAC Buys His Book, Soros DA Goes After ICE, and Britain is Broke

Monday, April 20, 2026

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You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for April 17, 2026. 

We open with a story that is equal parts political scandal and perfect metaphor — Gavin Newsom's political PAC spent $1.5 million buying 67,000 copies of his own memoir and handing them out to donors, manufacturing a bestseller label out of thin air. We break down what the FEC rules actually say, why this may or may not be legal, and why it doesn't matter — because the real story is that Gavin Newsom is exactly as artificial as this stunt suggests. A plastic politician buying his own book to build a presidential resume is not a campaign strategy. It's a confession.

In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, Iran has announced it is reopening the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping — and oil prices dropped 10% worldwide within hours. We give you our honest read on whether Iran's sudden cooperation is genuine or a strategic ruse, why Trump's blockade of Iranian ports remains in place as leverage over the nuclear program, and what it means that the first ship through the newly reopened strait was a cruise ship. Then we dig into the House blocking a FISA extension — the same surveillance law the Obama administration used to spy on the Trump campaign — and why the Democrats who used it are now suddenly against it. Plus, a Soros-backed Minneapolis district attorney has issued an arrest warrant for an ICE officer who drew his weapon during a confrontation on the highway, while refusing to prosecute a single activist for weeks of violent attacks against ICE officers in that city.

Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson tackle one of the most personal and emotionally complex questions families face — what do you do when one sibling carries the entire burden of caring for an aging parent while the others aren't showing up? We get into the difference between checking in and actually showing up, why resentment is a trap even when it's completely justified, how childhood dynamics resurface when parents need care, and why open communication may be the only thing that keeps a family from fracturing under the weight of it all.

Then we dig into a stat that should stop every American who's been told we should be more like Europe dead in their tracks. According to a study by the Institute of Economic Affairs, if Britain became the 51st state, most Brits think they'd rank seventh in GDP per capita. The reality — they'd be dead last. Below Mississippi. We walk through where Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and most of Europe actually fall on the list, explain why open borders, green energy mandates, and free speech regulations have quietly gutted European living standards, and make the case that Europe should be trying to be more like America — not the other way around.

We also cover the Artemis II mission's spiritual aftermath — Commander Reed Wiseman, who describes himself as not a particularly religious man, immediately sought out the Navy chaplain on the rescue ship when they splashed down in the Pacific. When the chaplain walked in wearing a cross on his collar, Wiseman broke down in tears. We talk about what it means when the farthest journey from Earth any human crew has ever taken ends with a man weeping before a chaplain he'd never met.

We discuss Elon Musk's proposal for universal high-income checks funded by AI and robotics — and why, even if the robots are doing the work, universal government income is still communism. Scripture is clear. Genesis places man in the garden not to sit idle, but to tend it.

And we close out with Fairfax County, Virginia — right next to Arlington National Cemetery, 50 miles from the Pentagon — canceling Veterans Day as a school holiday while keeping Indigenous Peoples Day. We call it what it is.

And a 91-year-old woman in Westlake, Ohio didn't answer her daily wellness check call, didn't answer her family, and didn't answer the door when police knocked. Officers used the garage code to get in. They found her alive and well in her bedroom, chasing her all-time high score on a video game. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!

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