Podcast
The Government Mechanic
Hosted by Dr. Lynn S. Kahn · EN
The Government Mechanic encourages everyone to look under the hood of government, diagnose the real problems and decide what actions will fix what problems. In each episode, discussion reveals the mechanics of fixing broken government agencies, including broken missions, broken goals, and broken measures of success. Our audience includes new agency leaders, change agents already working with agency leaders, or anyone wondering how to change a damaged, dysfunctional agency.
10episodes
Episodes
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Three Reasons 90 Million Americans Hate the Democrats The Government Mechanic
Apr 4, 202500:13:37Tap to summarizeEpisode 26 concludes Season 3, which focused on the failures of family law, familycourt, foster care, medical kidnapping and parental alienation. The host, Dr. LynnSandra Kahn, had three final points, found in the title of this episode, 3 reasons why 90million Americans hate the Democrats. Doctor Kahn aimed her comment at herDemocrat friends, Democrat leadership and progressive podcasters.First, Dr. Kahn pointed to the 3 million children taken from their homes by child welfaresystems over the past ten years, not because of abuse, but for “neglect” which is oftenanother word for poverty. So 3 million children, 3 million parents and 3 million significantothers – that’s ten million Americans all traumatized by family law and foster care.Second, Dr. Kahn points to the 60 million citizens who live in rural America. In 1970 wehad over 648,000 US dairy farms. In 2024 we had 24,470, down 95%. Since the 1970s,USDA farm policy – formal and informal -- destroyed 600,000 dairy farms. And thathollowed out 600,000 farming towns for $1 of farm income, farmers spend $0.44 in thelocal community buying supplies.The nail in the coffin came from the Obama administration who decided in 2012 thatwhole milk contributed to childhood obesity, and it would be illegal to serve whole milk inschools. Science recognizes that it takes fat to burn fat, that whole milk is 97% fat freeanyway and that it's in the fat there we have the vitamins, minerals, probiotics andamino acids that children especially need to grow healthy bodies and healthy brains andhealthy bones literally. And that's what Democrats decided would be illegal to serve. Dr.Kahn calls out the Democrats to Support the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act.Third, Dr. Kahn points to 20 million veterans, their families and survivors who need theservices of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Kahn points to one example of badsystems and bad policy: in 2013, it took a veteran an average of 347 days to receive adetermination of benefits. By 2024, that was reduced to 149 days. Dr. Kahn asks, “Howlong would it take Elon Musk to figure out how to transition the Department of Defensemedical records into the VA medical records instantaneously?”Dr. Kahn concludes: I don't like the direction our country is going in. I wish theDemocrats would get their act together. They can start by paying more attention tofamilies, farmers and veterans and delivering specific improvements to policies andsystems.Dr. Lynn S KahnYouTube Channel: The Government MechanicPodcast: The Government Mechanic, wherever you get your podcastsWebsite: http://GovMechanic.comArticles: https://govmechanic.com/category/articles/LinkedIn: Lynn Sandra Kahn
Transcribe →Summary of Failed Farm and Food Policies and SOLUTIONS E 25 | The Government Mechanic
Mar 13, 202500:10:02Tap to summarizeEpisode 25 summarizes problems and solutions for farming, ranching, fishing andAmerica’s food supply in Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. The first lesson is that USDA -- theUS Department of Agriculture -- policies are consistently horrible, with destructiveimpacts on family-owned farms, ranches, fisheries and their small communities.For example, the USDA sets the price of milk below what it costs the dairy farmer toproduce that milk. The numbers are clear: In the 1970s, we had 770,000 dairy farms; in2024 we had 36,184. Our founding fathers were farmers, food producers and fooddistributors. Today, corruption and bias toward industrial farming, ranching and fishinghas changed the character of our heartland, of our nation, of America. The USDepartment of Agriculture, created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Heconsidered USDA the People’s Department, that would follow and support the interestsof farmers and farming communities.The episode started with two clips from Brenda Cochran talking about how farmers areleft out of farm policymaking and how policies favor big corporations, so small farmers,ranchers and fishers get really hurt. Dr. Kahn reminded listeners and viewers that USDAsets the price of milk below what costs the farmer to produce that milk, then takesmoney out of the famer’s milk check through mandated “check offs” to support researchon non-dairy beverages! The next clip from Marty Irby described the loss of family-owned ranches leading to the rise of a few, powerful food corporations, which is calledmarket concentration. The good news is non-profits are learning how to lobbyCongress for change. In the final clip, Niaz Dorry describes bringing the views of hands-on food producers to the policy and decision-making table and building alliances acrossorganizations.Dr. Kahn spent the rest of the episode talking about SOLUIONS and what consumerscan do, such as: Don't take food for granted. Buy local, be knowledgeable about local foods. Be aware, read labels. Find out what is served in schools, go to local school board meetings. Be policy aware. Make your voice count: Know who your state and Washington DCrepresentatives are. Go see them, call congress, send letters, call the WhiteHouse 202-224-3121, send emails. Systems change needed – should we re-institute parity laws? How do we invitesmall farmers, ranchers and fishers at legislative and administrative law level?How do USDA and Land Grant Universities stop defining success only aseconomies of scale.
Transcribe →Episode 24 Summary: America’s forgotten children | The Government Mechanic
Mar 11, 202500:12:14Tap to summarizeEpisode 24 summarizes the 7 episodes posted about America's children lost in fostercare and through family court. I warn you, my listeners and viewers, this isheartbreaking stuff. Please find your support network if you are triggered by these clips.Start with the list of resources below.Dr. Kahn showed some clips from these episodes: Episode 17 spotlights Rachel Bruno, who had her own children taken in 2015, thensued Los Angeles County and the State of California. She won. She has the livedexperience and after 10 years the perspective to shed light on the abuses ofAmerica’s child welfare system. She emphasizes the financial incentives for states toremove children from homes: states get $2000 – $8000 per month, more for specialneeds children, to place a child in foster care. LA County receives about $2B peryear from federal funding. Money only kicks in when a child is removed. Episode 18 features Baily Templeton, mother and advocate for family rights andchild welfare reform, whose child with cancer was taken from her and treated withouther knowledge or consent. Her son was returned after they had amputated thebottom part of his leg. Bailey argues for parents to be in charge of their children’smedical, educational and religious decisions. She supports the legislation calling forParent Advocates in family courtrooms. She questions the role of the GuardianAdministrator in each state, that makes medical decisions for children in foster care. In Episode 19, Terri LaPoint describes patterns of Medical Kidnapping, wherechildren are taken from their parents, sometimes babies taken from their mother’sarms, placed in foster care. Then as wards of the state, these babies and childrenare vaccinated and enrolled in medical tests without parents’ knowledge or consent. Episode 20 features Connie Reguli, a family rights lawyer, who describes thepolicies and laws that allow 350,000 children to be taken from their families everyyear. And 87% are not taken for abuse, they are taken for neglect, mostly related topoverty. The outcomes for foster care children are dreadful on many measures. Overthe past ten years, about 3.5 million children and their families have beentraumatized by the US government. Yet billions of dollars flow from the federalgovernment to the states to remove children from their homes. Directly helpingfamilies in crisis is not allowed – only taking children from homes. E 21 and 22: Under the Hood Part 1 and 2. Rachel Bruno, Bailey Templeton,Connie Reguli, Kathleen Monahan and Dr. Kahn talked about the agenciesresponsible for family policy, foster care, and family court. One observation was thatthe primary agency, the Administration for Children and Families, ACF, somewhatrecognizes the importance of family support and reunification, though clearly notenough. To her surprise, Dr. Kahn concluded that truly helping families in crisismeans first of all changing the legislation that delivers tens of billions of dollars tostates for removing children from their homes. In Episode 23, David Shubert describes parental alienation, in his case starting withhis spouse kidnapping his children, taking them to another country, and lying to thechildren to alienate them from the other parent.RESOURCESConnie ReguliFacebook Group Family Forward Project https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697223540511940YouTube channel - Connie Regulihttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94YouTube - Family Forward Training and Newshttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94Instagram https://www.instagram.com/conniereguli/LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/connie-reguli/X https://x.com/conniereguliTikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@familyforwardRachel BrunoWebsite, blog and book: https://rachelbruno.comNon-profit: https://thegiveroflight.orgFacebook and Instagram: @rachelbrunospeaksTerri LaPointWebsite: https://realnewsspark.com.Facebook: @TerriLaPointBook: Voices That Will Not Be Silenced - Amazon or realnewsspark.com forautographed copyDavid ShubertYouTube Channel - A Parenting Affairhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ5-3o9GJi-4AVdBt34D7PALinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parentalalienationactivist/Dr. Lynn S KahnYouTube Channel: The Government MechanicPodcast: The Government Mechanic, wherever you get your podcastsWebsite: http://GovMechanic.comArticles: https://govmechanic.com/category/articles/LinkedIn: Lynn Sandra Kahn
Transcribe →Parental Alienation
Feb 25, 202500:20:29Tap to summarizeDavid R. ShubertAuthor, Speaker, and Family Rights AdvocateShubert’s work stems from his own painful experience of international parental abduction, parental alienation and struggles through family courts. He authored Parental Alienation Unmasked, a guide to the emotional aspects of parental alienation and navigating the legal system; Stolen Memories, about his journey after the international parental abduction of his own children; and Parental Alienation is Abuse! which raises awareness of a failed family court system. Shubert wants people to know that they are not alone. His works can be found on LInkedIn, Amazon, and his YouTube channel — A Parenting Affair. More Information: ShubertLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/parentalalienationactivist/YouTube A Parenting Affairhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ5-3o9GJi-4AVdBt34D7PABooksParental Alienation: UnmaskedStolen MemoriesParental Alienation is Abuse!https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Shubert/author/B07396S57Q?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
Transcribe →The Lies behind Child Protective Services, Part 2 | The Government Mechanic
Feb 21, 202500:20:58Tap to summarizeThe episodes bring back guests Connie Reguli, lawyer and child welfare reform advocate; Rachel Bruno and Bailey Templeton, parents whose children were taken by child protective services and returned many months later; Terri LaPoint, investigative journalist researching medical kidnapping for 15 years; and Dr. Lynn Sandra Kahn, organizational psychologist and YouTube and podcast host.More Information: KahnWebsite: https://govmechanic.com/More Information: ReguliYouTube channel - Connie Regulihttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94YouTube - Family Forward Training and Newshttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94Facebook group Family Forward Project https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697223540511940Facebook personal profile https://www.facebook.com/connie.reguliTikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@familyforwardInstagram https://www.instagram.com/conniereguli/LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/connie-reguli/X https://x.com/conniereguliMore Information: LaPointWebsite: https://realnewsspark.com. Facebook @TerriLaPointBook: Voices that will Not be Silencedhttps://Realnewsspark.com /bookOrder from amazon or from realnewsspark.com for autographed copy
Transcribe →The Lies behind Child Protective Services, Part 1
Feb 18, 202500:23:22Tap to summarizeThe episodes bring back guests Connie Reguli, lawyer and child welfare reform advocate; Rachel Bruno and Bailey Templeton, parents whose children were taken by child protective services and returned many months later; Terri LaPoint, investigative journalist researching medical kidnapping for 15 years; and Dr. Lynn Sandra Kahn, organizational psychologist and YouTube and podcast host.More Information: KahnWebsite: https://govmechanic.com/More Information: ReguliYouTube channel - Connie Regulihttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94YouTube - Family Forward Training and Newshttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94Facebook group Family Forward Project https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697223540511940Facebook personal profile https://www.facebook.com/connie.reguliTikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@familyforwardInstagram https://www.instagram.com/conniereguli/LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/connie-reguli/X https://x.com/conniereguliMore Information: LaPointWebsite: https://realnewsspark.com. Facebook @TerriLaPointBook: Voices that will Not be Silencedhttps://Realnewsspark.com /bookOrder from amazon or from realnewsspark.com for autographed copy
Transcribe →America’s Forgotten Children: Lost in Foster Care
Feb 14, 202500:22:59Tap to summarizeOn Season 3 Episode 20, Dr. Kahn’s special guest is Connie Reguli -- a family lawyer and advocate for child welfare reform who has spent 30 years defending families in our family court systems. More than that, Reguli has built a support network for parents threatened by child protective services and brought together resources, guidelines and training videos for parents who suddenly find themselves in family court. See links below in Show Notes. Episode 20 opens with Dr. Kahn describing a photo of her and Reguli in Des Moines at the Iowa State Capitol on October 20, 2017, talking almost 8 years ago about these very same issues. Dr. Kahn asked what motivated Reguli to turn her attention to the broken child welfare system, especially foster care. Conversation then turned to foster care as a for-profit industry and a US Marshall’s report that 33,000 children go missing from foster care every year. The conversation concluded with comments about lobbying for change in Washington DC and current legislation that would help parents keep their kids out of foster care. For more information, see:YouTube channel - Connie Regulihttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94YouTube - Family Forward Training and Newshttps://youtube.com/@connieregulifamilyforward?si=39HQPmm4_pN0EC94TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@familyforwardInstagramhttps://www.instagram.com/conniereguli/Facebook personal profilehttps://www.facebook.com/connie.reguliFacebook group Family Forward Project https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697223540511940LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/connie-reguli/Xhttps://x.com/conniereguli Pronounces name KAH-nee REG-yuh-lee
Transcribe →Medical Kidnapping with Terri La Point
Feb 11, 202500:18:29Tap to summarizeTerri La PointInvestigative Journalist, Speaker and AuthorEpisode 19 is the third in a series about the failures of family law, family court and foster care. The topic is medical kidnapping with investigative journalist, speaker and author Terri LaPoint. Terri started investigating the child welfare system by looking at medical kidnapping. She had no bias going in, she just wanted to know what was going on. She found the same kind of stories everywhere - innocent parents losing their kids or going to jail. This included losing custody of ill or hospitalized children. In every children’s hospital, child abuse pediatricians, who are not experts in anything, sign off on the state taking custody of the hospitalized child. Once a ward of the state, pediatricians may use opioids, psychotropic drugs or experimental medicines. Further damage happens to this child, who is now a ward of the state, getting placed in a foster care system with where foster parents are not vetted adequately and there are no national standards. David Frodsham in Arizona ran child trafficking out of his home with foster children and children he had adopted out of foster care. https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-business-arizona-army-sierra-vista-2dd2790f0b68117f561a46a474421358Terri closed by describing helpful national and state legislation, such as a Texas law that limits child abuse pediatricians and gives parents the right to a second opinion. SHOW NOTESWebsite: https://realnewsspark.com. Facebook @TerriLaPointBook: Voices that will Not be Silencedhttps://Realnewsspark.com /bookOrder from amazon or from realnewsspark.com for autographed copy
Transcribe →Our Government Took My Child
Feb 7, 202500:26:19Tap to summarizeThe theme for Episodes 17 to 22 is the failure of the child welfare system in the United States, including the failures of foster care, family law, family court and government policies to take custody of your child. My special guest today for Episode 18 is Baily Templeton -- mother and advocate for family rights and child welfare reform. ATTENTION: I warn you, my listeners and viewers, this is heartbreaking stuff and yo may be triggered by this conversation. If you are chaught up in the child welfare and family court system, find your support group – you are not alone - the entire child welfare system is broken and abusive. Find your support group, Start Connie Reguli’s Facebook page Family Forward Project and Rachel Bruno’s website rachelbruno.com
Transcribe →Fighting for Parent's Rights with Rachel Bruno
Feb 4, 202500:23:38Tap to summarizeSeason 3 opens with Episode 17 and Dr. Lynn Sandra Kahn introducing Rachel Bruno, a courageous mother, author and advocate for parents falsely accused in the child welfare system. The Episode begins with a warning from Dr. Kahn: this interview may trigger emotions related to foster care and family court or images of violence and children separated from their parents. Viewer discretion advised. Please see resources below. Rachel tells a powerful story about the abuses and violations of family law, foster care and family court when her son was illegally seized in 2015. She concludes with descriptions of 2025 legislative efforts to support parents caught up in child services and family court. Resources from Rachel Bruno:Website with resources, her blog and book: https://rachelbruno.comNon-profit: https://thegiveroflight.orgFacebook and Instagram: @rachelbrunospeaks Kahn’s Articles: More Information:Podcast: The Government Mechanic, wherever you get your podcastsWebsite: http://GovMechanic.comLinkedIn: Lynn Sandra KahnYouTube Channel: The Government Mechanic
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