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Join us for an engaging episode of “Rush to Reason” as host John Rush dives deep into the complexities of the Federal Reserve with guest Mitch Francis. Explore the intricate dance of interest rates, national debt, and the strategies of the current administration. Mitch Francis, an experienced entrepreneur, shares his perspective on the Fed’s impact on small businesses and the wider economy. We also discuss why elections have consequences that affect the economic landscape, and unfold the controversial actions and policies stemming from the Federal Reserve. Adding a layer of complexity, the administration aims to work around traditional monetary
SPEAKER 12 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 14 :
You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes.
SPEAKER 05 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 10 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 14 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush. Presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, hour number two, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Mitch Francis joining us now. And Mitch has been on with us before, founder of Francis Development, Inc. Mitch, welcome. How are you? I’m great, John. How are you? I’m good. Always a joy having you. I appreciate it. And I, like you, am fed up with the Fed.
SPEAKER 11 :
You know, that should be like the phrase of the whole country. I’m fed up with the Fed. I love that.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, because it, as you know, it is doing nothing but hindering whatever growth this administration is trying to have happen in the economy. All the Fed is doing is putting a funnel on it.
SPEAKER 11 :
You know, and it makes us all crazy. You know, what’s the Fed doing today? What are they going to do next week? Why didn’t they do this? You know, and it messes with the stock market every day, like 10 times a day.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s…
SPEAKER 12 :
it’s a tail wagging dog really it really is and and i get it there’s not really much you know you and i can do about it the trump administration to their credit is working really hard to work around the fed even in regards mitch to you know mortgage rates and so on they’ve done some things in you know loosening up some mortgage-backed securities through fannie mae freddie mac which is already you know that cash is already there they’re not even printing or doing anything new with money it’s already money that’s sitting on their balance sheet But, you know, Trump is doing everything in a sense, doing everything they possibly can to work around the Fed. And maybe I’m wrong in this. And you correct me if I am. I think that’s the first time that I can think of where the administration is trying to do more to get things in gear than the Fed is.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, that’s a really good point. You know, he’s so frustrated. And, you know, it’s beyond issues like specific issues like housing issues. You know, Trump has had a real thing against Powell for a while now because our interest payments on the debt are four times bigger than they were before they started raising interest rates. So we were paying, just four years ago, we were paying a little over 1% on our debt. Now we’re paying 4%. So our interest payments on the U.S. debt has gone from roughly $300 billion to over a trillion dollars. And it’s incredible. That is actually 20%. of the entire U.S. budget.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s right. And for those of you that maybe don’t understand what Mitch is talking about, we pay interest on the debt that we have as a country. That debt continues to be refinanced on a routine basis. The higher the rates, the higher we pay. Money is fungible, Mitch, as you know. So the reality is the more we’re paying for interest, the less we have to go around and fund other programs. And or meaning we have to borrow more to even fund that, which means it’s now a perpetual cycle. Meaning, as I keep saying, the Fed contributes to inflation.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, yeah, absolutely. But that is I think that’s why Trump is has been so angry. at Powell because he just doesn’t seem to care that the country is going down along with the rest of the economy.
SPEAKER 12 :
Let me throw something at you, Mitch, because frankly, I think Jerome Powell does care. The problem is Jerome Powell cares for the wrong things. In other words, he’s a political operative. I’ve said this a million times on this program. I’ll keep saying it. He is a political operative who He is doing everything he possibly can to stifle growth because he doesn’t want to see success in the midterms. That’s my opinion.
SPEAKER 11 :
I can’t argue. But I tell you, I wrote a book that’s called Badass Solutions. And it addresses 20 of the biggest problems that we have in our country and offers really doable solutions for those problems. And one of the problems that I address is the Federal Reserve. And regardless of who’s in the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve, the biggest problem I see is that the Federal Reserve, which was created in 1913, has only two tools to to use in dealing with our economy. And now, as opposed to 1913, we have an incredibly complex economy. So the only two tools that the Federal Reserve was granted were to manipulate interest rates, which is its main tool. And the other thing it can do is buy and sell securities, which is mostly the US government securities. And that’s a much lesser impactful tool that it has. So whenever we get the slightest hiccup in inflation, we get a response from the Federal Reserve of raising interest rates on the entire economy. Now, over the last 40 years or so, most inflation periods were really kicked off by increases in oil. And by raising interest rates, in other words, killing or slowing down the entire U.S. economy, It’s hard to say, well, how does that lower energy costs?
SPEAKER 12 :
My opinion, Mitch, it adds to. It doesn’t take away from. That’s my opinion. I’m a small business owner and have done a few things like you have on the commercial end of things in real estate and so on. And the reality is, in my opinion, they actually make it worse, not better when they do that. Now, eventually the economy rolls back around and because of other factors outside of the Fed starts to right itself, but it’s not because of the Fed.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, I couldn’t agree more. That’s one of my biggest contentions, is that the inflation that we had from 2022 was basically all… kicked off by COVID. So we had Russia invading Ukraine, which caused an overall panic on oil throughout the world. And the price of oil went from $65 to $130 a barrel virtually overnight. And then we had the supply chain issues because people were, you know, we had COVID. People didn’t know if they were going to die. So you had longshoremen who didn’t want to unload ships. You had truck drivers who didn’t want to deliver truckloads.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and really quick, Mitch, on top of that, we also had the federal government putting money in people’s hands, giving them more money to spend, meaning demand went up, supply couldn’t keep up. So not only is everything you’re talking about, but then compound it with what I just said.
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, totally. It added to the pressure of inflation. So here’s my issue with this. You had all these different and unusual causes of inflation, and the response from the Federal Reserve, oh, well, let’s use our one tool and increase interest rates. So that’s what they did. They increased interest rates, what was it, 12 times? And got us to the point where the economy would be very, very negatively impacted. But guess what? How can interest rates solve the problems that we just enumerated? How does raising interest rates get longshoremen back to work or truckers back to work or lower oil prices, as we just said? And the truth is, it didn’t. It unnecessarily hurt the economy and really has hurt the United States and its interest payments like we were just talking about. But like you mentioned a little earlier, these causes of inflation actually righted themselves.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yep. And really quick for all of you listening, and Mitch, you know this, but for those listening, the reason it rights itself is because in the case of this scenario where we had COVID, we’ve got an oversupply of money, we’ve got a supply chain then that gets constrained because of other factors and so on. Eventually what happens, as you know, Mitch, is the capitalistic world collapses. that we live in the United States of America and even outside because of America, they become capitalistic as well. They increase supply. They figure out a way to get around things. They start getting things shipped out in a more timely fashion. As people spend money, of course, that money then starts to get depleted. Things start to kind of right themselves on their own. And the reality is if the Fed would have just literally left things alone, it would have righted itself no matter what.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s exactly correct. And then it points up the fact that they are incorrect in their tool. So their tool of using interest rates only, we’ve just examined why that does not address these causes of inflation. But what would? If you have, now in this case, like oil, as I said, the price doubled from $65 to $130 a barrel almost overnight. Well, we’re back at $65 a barrel now.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and I want to remind everybody the reason why that price went up is the way it did was not because of the Fed, but because of the policies of the Biden administration at that point in time. The minute he took over office on Inauguration Day, he closed down the Keystone pipeline. Not that it was completed. Right. it really had a huge effect, but it did have an effect because the attitude of that administration came out loud and clear to the oil guys that were out there, and they immediately seized R&D. They stopped doing the things that they were doing prior. In other words, supply doesn’t continue to increase, Mitch, meaning price goes up.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right, exactly. And that leads to where I was going with this, is if the Federal Reserve had many more powers to surgically address the actual specific causes of inflation, like in this case, the price of oil. So let’s say the Federal Reserve actually had the power to go to U.S. producers of oil and force them to supply more. that would bring the price of oil down and that major cause of inflation be addressed without, John, without hurting the entire economy. Right. Well, and this goes back to… We have to give them more precise tools.
SPEAKER 12 :
I agree. And then on top of that, as I always say, elections have consequences. And unfortunately, the American public voted for the wrong person at that time. That particular administration had as much to do with the increase in oil prices as probably anybody did. To your point, Mitch, they’re now back down. We’re hovering, you know, 60 bucks a barrel or under. And Frankly, I don’t see that changing anytime soon. You’re seeing overnight what that’s doing when it comes to, you know, the cost of energy and goods and so on. You know, but lastly, too, one thing I need to remind everybody of, and you’ll get this as well because you’re in my space. What the Fed does when they increase interest rates, which means everybody’s lines of credit, credit cards and so on increases. Well, the reality, Mitch, is as owners. We don’t absorb anything. And this is something that, by the way, one particular party doesn’t seem to understand. Owners, you know, companies don’t absorb anything. They might to a little degree, but in the end, they don’t absorb. They pass on because if they don’t, they don’t stay in business. So if the interest rates on your line of credit goes up, guess what your prices do?
SPEAKER 1 :
Of course.
SPEAKER 12 :
It’s easy. And it’s something that I’ve said this for years now, Mitch. This is something that the guys at the Fed don’t understand because they live on Wall Street, not Main Street.
SPEAKER 11 :
And we have to put an end to that. We have the Federal Reserve. Nobody voted for these people.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s exactly right. They’re all appointed.
SPEAKER 11 :
You’re 100% correct. And one of my solutions about the Federal Reserve is to create an entirely new Fed board. And the requirement of both the Federal Reserve chairman and the entire board is that they have to have had at least half of their entire time in their career in the private sector.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, you and me both, thank you. I want them writing payroll checks so they know how this works.
SPEAKER 11 :
Exactly, because if they don’t, we’re all screwed. That’s exactly right. There’s so much evidence of that, that these people really just don’t get the real world.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. Mitch, we think alike, as you can tell. How do folks get the book? Where do they go to do that?
SPEAKER 11 :
Oh, thanks for that. It’s called Badass Solutions. It’s available wherever books are sold. I guess the easiest is Amazon. And it’s badass with or without a hyphen. And I have a website, bad-ass-solutions.com.
SPEAKER 12 :
Awesome. Mitch, I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thanks for joining me. Thank you, John. You bet. Have a great night. I appreciate it very much. Veteran Windows and Doors coming up next. Save money. Cut the middleman out of Windows and Doors today. Go to Dave Bancroft directly. Just find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 05 :
putting reason into your afternoon drive. This is John Rush.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, we are back. Thanks for tuning in. We appreciate it very much. And, yeah, that last segment we just had with Mitch, and I know I talk about that and harp about that constantly, and you guys know my feelings on just the whole financial end of things. I talk to Scott Garlis every Wednesday and what the Fed does and doesn’t do and how off they are in their whole process and all of that. It’s just – it’s maddening. I’ll be straight up. It’s maddening. And – The only solution is to, as Mitch was saying, is revamp the Fed. Now, I don’t know that there’s any way to change that directly. I know Donald Trump’s going to do the very best he can, even with a new Fed chair. But the structure of the Fed is the structure of the Fed. And these are individuals, to Mitch’s point, that are appointed. They’re not elected. They are in a lot of ways, as we’re learning right now, even in regards to all this budgetary stuff that’s happening with the redo of the Fed building and so on. I mean, in a way… Are they above the law? Frankly, probably as close to it as you can get. There is not, as you’re learning and reading in the news and so on, there’s not a lot of accountability in regards to the Fed and what they do. And I get it. They’re supposed to be this autonomy. They’re not supposed to be political and this, that, and the other. Frankly, they are. Jerome Powell is about as political as it gets. I keep saying, and I’ll say this until I go to the grave, he is a political operative of the left big time. He is doing every single thing he possibly can to slow down the economy and make sure that it doesn’t do what it can be doing right now, because he knows that if it takes off, that’s a feather in the cap of Donald Trump and conservatives, and he does not want that heading into the midterm. Period. Period, period, period. And he will do whatever he possibly can to not have that happen. Literally. And so we will see how things go here when it comes to the Fed and what they’re doing and so on. And, you know, here’s my take on the Fed. And Scott Garlis and I talk about that a lot. At the end of the day, it’s really going to come down to, how should I say this? It’s going to come down to who does he pick and when is that change made? It’s really that simple. I don’t see things changing anytime soon. Hopefully it will change sooner than later. But again, it’s really going to come down to Donald Trump and what does he do in regards to the next Fed chair and all of that. So at the end of the day, we’ll see what happens next. I’m not… I’m not confident much is going to change until Donald Trump does his thing in regards to the Fed chair, because Jerome Powell, again, as I said, he is going to do every single thing that he possibly can to stifle the economy. And he is, by the way, he is stifling it as much as he possibly can, and he will continue to do so. That’s my take on things. I know there’s a lot more things in the news today. Iran. I’ll mention this really quick. I might come back and talk about this in the five o’clock hour, but they are now accused of killing. I believe the number is up to 16,500 people. Now, what is the real number? I interviewed some folks last week where I don’t think we know the number. It’s literally being described as people that are there, an utter slaughter. There’s accounts of gunfire, executions, hangings, and so on. And it’s really a regime that’s right now out of control. How long can that continue without intervention from us? I would venture to guess that these are conversations that the Trump administration is having as we speak, trying to figure out what is our best plan of attack. How do we address this the best way possible? How do we curtail what’s going on? Basically, innocent people losing their lives all because they are having a revolution and disagree with what the government is doing. And it’s not good. By the way, there’s been, according to this news article coming out of Fox News, 16,500 injured, or sorry, killed, and more than 330,000 injured. That’s a lot, folks. I mean, that’s an absolute slaughter by this particular regime and how anybody on the left, and this goes to show you, by the way, where the folks on the left are and stand. There should be no reason why anybody on the left should be standing with Iran right now, yet there is. Because they have Trump derangement syndrome, they will be against Trump at all costs, even when he wants to intervene and put a stop to this genocide that’s happening in Iran right now. That’s how demented, that’s how mentally ill individuals on the left are. They will allow 16,000 plus individuals to be killed, 330,000 injured, and yet they will be against Donald Trump when it comes to this. They will be on the side of the Ayatollah. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that. That’s how mentally ill those that are on the left are. I mean, keep in mind, as I talked about during the first hour, We’ve got mentally ill individuals entering churches claiming that it’s free speech all because they think the pastor has something to do with ICE. And by the way, even if they did, even if this pastor did, did, didn’t, doesn’t make any—I haven’t even talked about that. It doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant. That pastor has the right to lead the church, do what they want to. It’s private property. They have no rights to enter and do what they did. But this is the mentally—this is the mental illness, I should say, of those that are on the left. Literally, it’s mental illness. They don’t have any kind of sense at all. I don’t want to go here, but I’m going to. If you look at the pictures and the images of the individuals that are involved in these things, you can tell by looking at them they’ve got a screw loose. Folks, it doesn’t take much to figure out who’s there and who’s not. These are demented, off-their-rocker individuals. You can tell by looking at them that they’re this. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to stereotype people, but take a picture of the images of these individuals that are, in some cases, still wearing masks. I mean, how demented can they be? Outside, they’re wearing masks. I mean, what a bunch of utter knuckleheads. And yet these are the individuals that are, you know, leading this unrest. In this particular case, you know, entering into a church, accusing the pastor of somehow being with ICE, which, again, whether he is or isn’t, isn’t even the point. They don’t have the right to do what they did, but their mental illness says that it’s okay for them to do so. Golden Eagle Financial coming up next. Al Smith, make sure you’re dialed in with your financial future. Talk to Al today. Find him at klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 05 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive. This is John Rush.
SPEAKER 12 :
And we are back, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Mr. Richard should be joining me momentarily. We’ll talk a little bit about sports and what’s going on in regards to the NFL and the Broncos and the injuries and everything else. But we’ll get to that here in just one moment. And again, there’s lots of scuttlebutt going on. I guess Richard’s joining me now. Lots of scuttlebutt going on around some of those things. Richard, are you there? Oh, that I am. Was it a catch or not a catch?
SPEAKER 15 :
It wasn’t a catch. Well, it was a catch for the Broncos.
SPEAKER 12 :
See, I’ve looked at it several different ways, read everybody’s commentary. I know there’s a lot of people out there that say one way or the other. Here’s the way I look at it, bottom line. There was a definite hold in the end zone that would have been a safety on the part of the Broncos to the Bills, meaning the game would have been over at that point anyways. Had that actually happened, none of this would actually be a conversation anyway. So if you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty, we can go that direction as well. So you know what? It’s a game. There’s calls made. New York was involved. No, the game wasn’t fixed. It is what it is at the end of the day.
SPEAKER 15 :
You are correct. I think it was a catch because, again, he jumped up. You know, Cooks kind of got first hands on it, yes, but as he goes to the ground, he doesn’t maintain possession of it, which is part of the act of the catch.
SPEAKER 12 :
Catching it, yes.
SPEAKER 15 :
And then, yeah, they roll over and McMillan ends up having possession. I also look at this, that Cooks, the receiver, did not really act like he was supposed to be having the ball. And what I mean by that is if you look at his reaction after the play, you know, if the receiver thinks he caught it.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, it was sort of like, oh, crap, you got the ball, I didn’t.
SPEAKER 15 :
exactly it was now that wasn’t you know i though man bummer so i mean he had a lot of things happen josh allen also missed um a a tight end earlier in that i guess in that same you know or i don’t know if it was the same driver or what it was kind of all a a mixed match of everything that he overthrew him and i know they say you know that interference penalties and You know, it’s funny. I think the biggest interference penalty, the first one, right, that on Sutton where he gave us a first down, I actually think there’s an argument because a similar play happened the previous drive with Riley Moss and the Broncos, and it didn’t get called. However, people forget, Buffalo Bills fans mainly, that on the same play they called the interference, the Bills roughed the passer, which would have been 15 yards and an automatic first down, but we declined that penalty because I think the pass interference call was better by a few yards. So either way, it would have been first down for the Broncos. We would have had a ball on the bill side of the field and, again, a new set of downs, and we would have kept driving. So I’m going to, I guess, kind of fast forward or rewind real quick, Dad, for I have never been inside of a wave of emotion as crazy as that basically last hour, right, because you had – The Broncos drove down, scored. The Bills, I kind of knew it was going to be too much time, and there was also a missed holding on that drive, too, for document penalties. For the drive, they actually tied the game up. But they go down, and they kick the field goal and score. Then the Broncos kick it, and we pin them down. Best kick we could have, but then they get it, and they’re driving, and then the interception happens. Honestly, I thought they were driving to kick it, because I think if he doesn’t throw that pass, who knows what happens. And then the Broncos go down, have the interference calls, whatever it is, the Broncos made the plays because they at least put the guys in the position. And then you have the emotion of, okay, you’re hosting the AFC championship game, let’s get ready sort of thing. I honestly thought it was one of those things that happens with the – honestly, I thought it was one of those things that happens with the parody Twitter accounts, right? and I saw an alert come across from Adam Schefter with ESPN that Bo Nix has broken his ankle and is out for the playoffs. What just happened? He didn’t even come out of the game. There was no anything. He just had an interview with the Broncos sideline reporter the entire time, and nothing happened. It was just a wild, wild and crazy situation. Again, I just don’t know if I’ve ever had that wave of, emotions go on of the delation of Broncos holding an AFC championship game. I don’t know if it’s been a while since we’ve lost an AFC championship game that we’ve hosted. Got to go back to the 2005 season when we hosted the Steelers. But yeah, it was just a lot going on, and it’s a bummer. But at this point, Dad, we’ll see with the Broncos. Can they put together a maybe one of the greatest two-game stretches in the history of the NFL.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, and given the fact that, you know, Bo is now at, we’ve got our backup, and I reminded even, you know, my wife of this over the weekend, because, you know, that conversation always comes up as, okay, what do they do next? And one of the first things I told her is, well, first thing they’re going to do, trust me, I mean, A, they’re going to have This guy will be ready to go. But on top of that, they’ll go out and hire another quarterback over the weekend, which as of this morning, they did just that, which is exactly what you would do and I would do if I were them because you’ve got to have a backup to the backup, if you would. So you can’t go without that. So that had to happen right away, which they did. So that was taken care of, I believe, probably over the weekend, but it was announced early this morning. Yep. And then on top of that, you know, you got to look at and maybe I’m a little bit pie in the sky here, but our backup is a really solid backup. In fact, I think you could take our backup and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you take our backup and go put him into a lot of teams right now that maybe are struggling with their quarterback and probably have a better quarterback than that team has. But we keep him because, frankly, we need him, i.e. right now. Am I wrong?
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, that’s at least what’s coming out of the Broncos facility is that this guy was really good. His last game that he started was actually for the Raiders when Josh McDaniels was their head coach. And he was, I think he threw 350 yards and five touchdowns or four touchdowns and interceptions. I mean, he lit it up. I mean, and he was a hot commodity that offseason. The Broncos brought him in to kind of, you know, back up, I think, Russ at that point in time. And then he maintained when we drafted Bo. And then we actually signed him this last year and all sorts of things. And so, ultimately, you know, it was a situation out of, yeah, you’re probably right in that he definitely could be a, I guess, a starter for another team. Now, I think he’s probably a low-end starter. for another team, especially when you compare him to Bo. And I know you and I had the conversation with Walt over the weekend, and Walt’s just not been as high on Bo as forever. As far as physical tools, Dad, you are correct. I don’t think that there’s a massive drop-off from Bo to Jarrett Stidham like you maybe would see with another team in the league. Now, in saying that, There is a drop-off. And the biggest thing that we don’t know, that one of the things that we had happen with the Broncos this past year is Bo kind of has that clutch gene. You know, like when it comes down to the fourth quarter and it happened again over the weekend, obviously, and over time, he just plays really well.
SPEAKER 12 :
He’s kind of the opposite of some, some guys kind of fall apart when that pressure gets on and, and they tend to make bigger mistakes and so on. He, he doesn’t do that. You’re right. He’s one of those players that when things get really, you know, get tough, the tough get going. I mean, he’s really the, the example of that or textbook of that. I guess you could say now, All that being said, if Sean Payton and the Broncos will just have the right game plan to where we’re not in that position and Stidham just has to keep doing what he does all game long and we run the ball well and our defense is solid, I mean, honestly, if we do those things, I don’t think that becomes a factor.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, and you and I talked about this over the weekend a little bit, and there’s two things at play here. Number one, we actually have the possibility, it’s not for sure yet, of getting our starting running back, who was our starter earlier in the year, J.K. Dobbins, back for this game. He’s going to return to practice this week. He’s going to practice, see how his foot feels. He had a Liz Frank injury earlier in the season. And if we end up getting him back, I think it massively changes the trajectory of this game in that he’s just a much more patient runner. He fits our style of play. And he’s a more veteran runner, right? You know, I think R.J. Harvey, our coach, Our rookie running back has done a really good job over the year. But there’s just something about experience, right, from anything in life. But especially as a rookie in the NFL and especially as a rookie running back, Dad, it’s really tough to play the position, to be patient, to see those holes open up. And you see that with J.K. Dobbins. So that’s thing number one. And you hit on number two, which is I have a feeling that the Broncos are going to probably play a little bit more of a conservative game plan. They will want to try to grind out the clock. A lot of play action. I do think that Stidham, depending on how the game goes, he may have a chance to push the ball down the field. He actually may push the ball down the field a little bit more than Bowe ever does. And a lot of reasons, just because that’s the type of player he is. He’s maybe a little bit more risky, risk-taking than Bowe is. Bowe’s a little bit more risk-averse. with how he plays the game, not saying it’s bad, but it’s also why you see Bo not take a lot of sacks and why you potentially may see Jarrett take a few sacks that Bo wouldn’t take. So it’s going to be similar to that. I will say this. I think, like you said earlier, I think Stidham is a very competent backup. I think that… he probably may view this as an opportunity to sort of audition for another team. Because if he plays well, and let’s say the best of the best happens, Dad, right? He plays tremendously to go to the Super Bowl, and then the Super Bowl, he plays tremendous. Well, then he’s probably set himself up for either another team to trade for him.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good point.
SPEAKER 15 :
Because he’s not a free agent next year. But, you know, so everything is before this guy, right? He can play himself into a multi-millions of dollars contract. Not that he doesn’t have that at this point in time.
SPEAKER 03 :
True.
SPEAKER 15 :
But he could. And so… I’m with you. And honestly, as a Broncos fan, Dad, to me, this is a win-win. You made the AFC championship game in Bo Nix’s second season, Sean Payton’s third. It doesn’t happen very often. Yes, Drake May is a second-year quarterback for the Patriots. That’s who we’re playing. Jaden McDaniels did it last year for the Commanders. And so do I think that it’s – I think the Broncos are ahead of schedule. And so – What I think is this is a win-win. If you win this game and you go to the Super Bowl, well, great. You win the Super Bowl, you’re one of the two last remaining teams, and whatever happens in the Super Bowl happens. And honestly, if you go to the Super Bowl, Dad, and maybe the worst case for Broncos fans is you play the Seahawks again and then you get blown out again, well, you got blown out with your backup quarterback. I think that there’s all just, to be honest, the excuses sort of write themselves in a lot of cases. But at the same time, if you’re the Broncos, if you lose this weekend, well, again, you probably weren’t supposed to get here with your backup quarterback anyway. But I think as Broncos fans, we probably hold some of the same hope as you do, which, folks, by the way, I will say this having grown up with him. Dad, you tend to not be the most optimistic of people for Broncos fans. This was the same guy where when the Broncos weren’t doing well, you would have to go out and work in the garage because you couldn’t stand it. I would call you negative Nancy.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I’m not as negative on this one. In fact, I’m probably a little more positive than most. And I think part of that’s because, you know, maybe being at some of those live games and watching Stidham with some of the preseason stuff and, you know, his sort of on-field leadership ability and so on. I mean, this is not some mealy-mouthed backup that… that typically just walks in because they have to. I mean, I feel like most people would realize this, of course, but it’s not like he hasn’t thrown the ball. He’s in practices all the time. He’s running the backup squad, if you would, or the practice squad. So the reality is he’s there. He knows the plays. It’s not a huge transition. And the reality is going to be is if the rest of the team will follow him and do what he directs them to do, yeah, I think we still have a good chance.
SPEAKER 15 :
And I don’t think that you’re wrong. Again, I have tepid enthusiasm. That’s probably the best way of putting it for me. I think that Sidham will come in. I think he’s going to play better than most Patriots fans think. I think that the four and a half spread, which I think it’s already at five and a half or six and a half, is too much. I think that Stidham is a better quarterback than most we’ll see. And ultimately, Dad, I guess this is a game for Sean Payton to prove how good he thinks he is, right? How smart he thinks he is because if he can come in and have Jarrett Stidham take the Broncos to a Super Bowl, well, Dad, we’ve talked about this before, right? The NFL playoffs are great because it’s one game, right? You win or you lose, you’re out.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 15 :
And in the case of the Broncos, you lose and you’re gone. And I should say the Patriots, you got everything to go. And the last thing I’ll say is this. The defense that the Broncos are capable of playing, which is what they played at the start of the season, if they bring that same defense to this game and these next two games, they will be Super Bowl champions. If it’s the same defense that was kind of at the end of the season, then I think obviously they’ll lose one of the next two games, and it’ll kind of be what could have happened with both. But you know what, Dad? At this point in time, we’re Broncos fans. It’s been 10 years since we’ve been to this point in time.
SPEAKER 12 :
I know. It’s awesome. We’ll take it. We’ll take it. All right. We’ll come right back. Ridgeline Auto Brokers coming up next. You can shop online, RidgelineAutoBrokers.com.
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SPEAKER 12 :
All right, that time of the week where we do car reviews, this is for Rush to Reason, and we replay this on Drive Radio on Saturdays as well. And, Richard, you recently drove a 2026 Lexus TX 550H. That’s a PHEV all-wheel drive vehicle.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, quite the mouthful, numbers, symbols, all of the above. Basically, this is the TX. platform dad that lexus introduced i believe it was last year right as far as their their model goes and it is and i’ll just say it’s a lexus highlander right so the highlander that is the an amazing suv it’s super high just a really great car vehicle lexus i thought you know what we sell a gazillion of those we might as well you know do it in a lexus kind of brand of thing so that’s what they did right they they turned into that this specific model like you said the 550 plus PHEV, which is plug-in hybrid, and folks, what this means is you get about 33 miles of plug-in, or I should say of electric-only range, which is really good, Dad, because I think we’ve done it, and especially even here in Colorado, I believe the average number of miles driven on a commute is, I want to say about 20, is it 25 or 50? You probably know that a little better than I do.
SPEAKER 12 :
As far as miles driven for what, sorry?
SPEAKER 15 :
For a commute, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
About 50. It depends, but 50 is probably about right.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, and so basically on this, Dad, you can plug in at home. If you have a level 2 charger, you’re going to actually be able to get about, well, like I said, I think this thing will charge in about two or three hours just based on the charger. But even if you don’t, if you’re just plugging into a normal 110, 120-volt outlet in your house, you have the ability to charge this thing overnight. And so if you come home after your commute, plug this vehicle in, it’s going to charge up to that 33 miles range overnight. And mind you, Dad, I’m getting 33 miles in cars in the garage, but obviously we are in winter here in Colorado, and so maybe the battery performance Isn’t quite what it would be, but I feel pretty confident that it would be in that 33 to 35 range. Outside of that, this car has got seating for six or seven, depending on the configuration. This one’s got captain’s chairs, so it fits six. And for my family of six, we were actually able to get everyone in this vehicle. Now, with that up, with the third row up, do you have a ton of room in the third row? Or behind the third row, I should say? No. Do you have a ton of room in the third row? No. I’ve got an eight-year-old that some people confuse for a nine-year-old. Or 10-year-old at times, he’s pretty tall and lanky. Sitting in that third row, he was a little bit crammed, but nothing that’s crazy. Is this something that you could drive around town and, you know, be able to fit him in there without issues absolutely my four-year-old with the booster you know my seven-year-old with absolutely right there’s also the configurations on this car dad and how they’ve designed it fits any family really well i think the biggest knock on this vehicle and maybe the only knock that i have that is simply the price tag this vehicle with everything on it every bell and whistle and i’m not going to go through everything is about eighty five thousand dollars Yes, 85. Wow. Now, when you look at it with everything that you can get on this vehicle, it truly is luxury, right? There’s some suede, some soft touch material throughout the interior of the vehicle. It does a phenomenal job at having really nice luxury apportionments, heated and ventilated seats, front seats, tri-zone climate control. It’s got heated steering wheel, the infotainment, all of the safety aids that you could possibly need. It’s pretty much got everything you want, but it does come at a premium, and you’re paying for the Lexus badge on the front. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, Dad. I just think that if you are looking for other vehicles in this segment, yes, there is some competition that way. However, I will say this. I really enjoyed this car, and from the plug-in hybrid piece of it, Dad, which I know you and I will kind of talk about a little bit more, well, this segment, but then also, you know, later on this year, I think this is a category that is sort of prime for explosion. And what I mean by that is it’s really, it works really well for a lot of people to know that they don’t have to necessarily install a higher level charger in order to charge up their fully electric SUV. And in this case, when you combine the electric with the gas, you’re, you know, I think you potentially, I think 350, maybe 400 miles, just depending on, you know, all the different factors that are out there. I would, I just think that this segment and that plug in hybrid piece of it’s really nice. And in this case, dad, You don’t even have to buy a separate charger. Lexus actually includes one with the vehicle that you have the ability to, again, either use that 240 or 120-volt plug-in, depending on what you want to do. And like I said, I’ve got the level 2 or the higher charging output at my house. And so, again, you come in three hours. And in some cases, Dad, this means you can come home in the afternoon. Maybe you have an event in the evening. You can plug in, and you actually have a full battery to go to that event on battery tower alone. you know, within, I guess I within two or three hours. So that is one of the features that I really like about it, but it does come at a, again, at a, at a high price point. Actually, I’m getting ready to plug this vehicle in now outside of that dad. I really like the looks of this vehicle. Folks can check it out online and see what I mean. It looks really nice. It looks bigger than it feels on the inside, Dad, and I mean that in a good way. It doesn’t feel like you’re driving a really large SUV, and I think for a lot of people, when they get into the larger SUVs, they sometimes get intimidated by that. Well, Lexus has done a phenomenal job of making this vehicle… nice and big so it feels safe to me but it also doesn’t feel so big that you don’t feel like you can park this thing anywhere but the you know the nosebleeds right the sports reference you can actually kind of park this out you know park it close and do those things Outside of that, Dad, it’s got all of the other stuff that we’ve come to expect from Lexus as far as features go and the infotainment system and the lane keep assist and adaptive cruise and all those different things, ambient lighting, all of that good jazz. I was really impressed with this car. Well, you’ve seen this vehicle on the road, and I think you and I have kind of talked about it, that this is a really competitive market for this class of vehicle. It is.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, very, and it’s becoming one of the larger segments, I guess you could say, so that luxury SUV, which is essentially what this is, and you said it right, this is just, really, it’s the fancy version of the Highlander, which… Nothing against that. That has been a staple on the Lexus side for quite some time. So I’m not knocking that. And really quick, back to the third row end of things. You have to get into a really large car to have a comfortable for adults third row seat. None of them. I mean, even Suburbans. Yeah, you can sit back there, but they’ve never in their entire lifetime been made for full-size adults. It’s always meant to shove the kids or the smaller, you know, teenagers, whatever, back in that back area, Richard. That’s true, has been true, and will stay that way. But, no, this is a good-looking car. Nothing wrong with it at all. Works fabulous, as you said. At the end of the day, you know, highly recommend it. And, you know, bottom line, go test drive it and check it out.
SPEAKER 15 :
Absolutely. And I’ll just kind of piggyback on what you said on that third row. Yeah, that’s not a knock at all. For folks, if you’ve got a family of four or five, six, you may use that for transporting other kids that aren’t your kids. It is functional. And on some of these SUVs, Dad, that advertise a third row, you really don’t have a third row.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s true. Good point.
SPEAKER 15 :
because it was able to fit our family of six. And as you know, that’s not an easy thing to do. Now, again, do you have as much row behind the third row as some of the other larger ones? No, but that’s the case for every vehicle in this class. It’s how it’s designed, right? That third row is designed to be used as you’re either people hauling or cargo hauling. But last thing I’ll say is this, there is still enough behind there to fit you know some groceries or do whatever you need to do in the back are you going to make a full costco run every single weekend probably not but could you go to the grocery store and do all the some athletic activities that you need to as a family absolutely so highly encourage people to check this vehicle out dad again 2026 lexus tx 550h plug-in hybrid heads your local lexus dealer when you do that let them know that john and richard rush from drive radio and rush to reason sent you
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, one last question, and then I’ll let you go because a texter actually asked this and asked, did my kids, you being one of them, did my kids, were they ever allowed to park in the garage so they didn’t have to wipe their car off of the snow and the ice and the frost the following morning? You can answer this one, Richard.
SPEAKER 15 :
This would be absolutely, positively no. That was reserved for mom and dad’s car, and that was where it was. And I guess if at one point in time we had a third stall, then it still wasn’t there because then they would be fighting over it and whatever it is. So no, absolutely not. That was reserved for the creme de la creme.
SPEAKER 12 :
There you go. So good answer. All right, Richard, I’ll let you go. We’ll see how this weekend goes. Have a great night. Yep. No, there’s Richard’s answer. So whoever texted that in, you got the answer right from the horse’s mouth. Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning coming up next. And they will take care of any furnace need you have where things might not be working like they should. Give them a call. Find them at klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, I got a great text message, and I know this is sort of tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not. Somebody says, in all seriousness, can we talk about how do you line up an orthopedic surgeon in 15 minutes? Talking about Bo Nix. Did they have him on retainer? How does that work? By the time Sean Payton got back out front of the media, they had surgery lined up. Yeah, they actually not only have them on retainer, they’re probably on payroll to a certain extent. So yeah, every one of these NFL teams, they have got their… lead people, surgeons, if you would, to perform certain things that they need done for players. And yes, they will come to the front of the line and that particular doctor will drop everything they are doing to take care of that particular patient because it’s not, by the way, under your normal health care policy, let’s just say that. So it’s big bucks for these guys. All right, that’s it for this hour. We’ll come back another hour coming your way. Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
I’m a rich guy.
