Dive deep into a comparison between Poland and Venezuela as our hosts explore the contrasting economic landscapes of both countries. Discover how Poland has managed to transcend its past struggles under socialism to become one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe. Our experts discuss the Polish approach to immigration, which significantly contributed to their flourishing economic state, while drawing parallels with Venezuela’s economic decline under socialist policies. Join the conversation to understand the vital role merit and personal motivation play in shaping successful societies.
SPEAKER 09 :
This is Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 06 :
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 09 :
With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 06 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did.
SPEAKER 16 :
Get a job, sir. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 11 :
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 03 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 18 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 08 :
Actually, it’s Andy Pate, party of choice. And welcome to hour number two here on Rush to Reason. I’m Andy Pate filling in for John Rush for one day. He’ll be back tomorrow, so never fear. On the line right now, we’ve got Jersey Joe. Joe, how are you this week? John, since I’m half Irish, I’ve been doing fantastic. How about yourself? I’m doing fantastic. Half Irish. What’s the other half? Polish, of course.
SPEAKER 07 :
Oh, really? Like Tansky on my father’s side and Barry on my mother’s side. I did not know that. And I can trace, in fact, my middle name is Barry. And I can go back five generations. My great, great, great grandfather was the fifth governor of County Cork, Ireland.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, let me look at the other side here really quick here, the Polish side. Do you take any pride in the way that Poland is run today? Because I think it’s pretty impressive.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, actually, believe it or not, I actually have a piece on Poland and how Poland and Venezuela have swapped. And I’ve actually got a piece, and I’ll get to that in a few minutes, on how far Poland has come since they threw off the bounds of socialism because they were part of the Soviet Union. And after that collapsed, Poland embraced Well, in fact, as long as we’re talking about it – now, let me see if I can find my story on Poland. I was going to talk about this later, but we’ll talk about it right now.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, I’ve seen this, that Poland and Venezuela have roughly the same population, don’t they? They’re pretty close? Pretty close. Yeah.
SPEAKER 07 :
But let’s talk about – so 30 years ago, Venezuela was the third richest country in the Western Hemisphere. And I remember going to Aruba 34 years ago. And Aruba is only like 25 miles off the coast of Venezuela. And you could take a ferry and you’d go shopping. And Caracas was a great place to visit. And they had theaters and shops. And it was a tourist mecca.
SPEAKER 08 :
And by the way, for those who don’t know, really quick here, Joe, that is what it should be in Venezuela. Because just for natural resources, for the mile, for the square mile, Venezuela probably is the most loaded in the world, certainly in our side of the world. Oil, minerals, lumber, you name it.
SPEAKER 07 :
They had everything, and they were the third richest country. And then Hugo Chavez came in, and that started the downhill slide, and then he died, and Maduro took over. So now, you know, by the way, at one point, the Venezuelan Bolivar was worth roughly the equivalent of one U.S. dollar. Yeah. The last time I checked, a Bolivar was worth one-tenth of one U.S. cent. And I’m not making this up. It was literally cheaper. If you had bolivars, it was literally cheaper to wipe your butt with bolivars than to use it to try to buy toilet paper. That is a fact. Just worthless. So let’s talk about Poland. So Venezuela went from being an affluent, wealthy country where everybody was prospering to Poland, which was struggling. You know, a generation ago, Polish people, Poland had to ration sugar and flour everywhere. while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans were making. Today, the economy of the country has edged past Switzerland to become the world’s 20th largest economy with $1 trillion of GDP. They’re now going to become part of the G20. And going further… Their GDP per person has now edged past that of Japan. Can you believe that? Poland has edged past Japan.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, it’s absolutely incredible. And really quick here, Joe, what has Poland done totally differently from the rest of Europe?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, a couple things. One, they’ve severely restricted immigration. Severely.
SPEAKER 08 :
And explain for people how. Because, folks, if you’re listening out there, if you right now, you know people who are upset at Trump and what he’s doing with immigration. and it’s too draconian, and it’s not, and by the way, this doesn’t affect us. Having these people removed, it doesn’t make any difference to your economy, to your lifestyle, to crime, to anything else. This is all overblown. If you think that, I want you to listen to what Joe’s about to tell you about Poland. Go.
SPEAKER 07 :
They, you know, other countries like Sweden and the UK, hey, we don’t care who you are, if you’re criminal background, you know, come on in, we will welcome you with open arms. And of course, that is created in country after country, rising crime, no-go zones where the police won’t even respond to crimes because it’s… Poland said, hey, no, we don’t have open borders. If you want to come in, you apply. Now, if you’re a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, we’ll consider letting you come into your country, but only if you can show that you can support yourself and add to our economy.
SPEAKER 08 :
And how do they treat the idea of Muslim immigration?
SPEAKER 07 :
They’re not big supporters of it. Again, they will… Again, if you can show that you’re a doctor, lawyer, engineer, they’ll let you in. But even then, they have severe limits on the number of people because they want to maintain their own culture. As you know, Poland is primarily Catholic and Jewish. And by the way, a little bit of trivia for you. If your name ends in S-K-I, it typically denotes that you’re Polish Catholic. And if your name ends in S-K-Y, it typically denotes Jewish. That’s the only real difference, by the way. But, I mean, that’s how you would tell somebody’s Polish Catholic or Polish Jew. But still, it’s based on a Judeo-Christian ethic and principles.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, they’ve made it very clear, too. Their leader has made it very clear that Muslims, if you come in, you will fully assimilate, period. End of story. Done. Okay? And if you do not, you’re out.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, and no go zones. You’re going to learn our language. We’re not going to print things in Arabic for you. You learn to read and write our language.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, now this all sounds very draconian, but what are the results? Set Poland aside from Europe. How has it gone?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, again, their GDP, by the way, they’ve been averaging… Oh, it’s soaring. 3.8% per year, while the rest of the EU as a whole has been averaging 1.8% GDP.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, so folks, listen to this. The biggest difference between Poland and the rest of Europe is their treatment of immigration. There are other differences as well, as you’ve already pointed out, but immigration’s the biggie. And their GDP has been growing at over twice the average of Europe.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right, to the point where their GDP per person is now ahead of Japan, which is stunning given how much Japan exports, and their total GDP is greater than that of Switzerland. And all they did was throw off. They threw off socialism and embraced capitalism, whereas Venezuela did the exact opposite, which kind of leads me, though. Yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER 08 :
There’s a guy, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard him. One second. Before you run on to that, you didn’t mention crime. The difference in crime for Poland, violent crimes especially, and rape versus the rest of Europe.
SPEAKER 07 :
You know, I don’t have the stats, but I’ve read it. It’s off the charts. By the way, even places like Sweden where they’ve got rape and they’ve got bombings and gang rapes. By the way, London has now, there’s a proposal now in London, you know, first they outlawed guns, then they outlawed knives, but that didn’t work. There’s now a proposal to put deep wound stab kits on every bus in London, as well as to have him on every bus station in London.
SPEAKER 08 :
Meanwhile, in Poland, the level of rape is running at, I don’t know, what is it, 1% or 2% the rest of Europe? It’s crazy. I mean, there’s virtually none. This is why, folks, when you think that Donald Trump is being draconian, too harsh, he is not. He is being a mama bear. He’s trying to protect you. OK, he looks at these numbers. He sees them, too. He looks at Poland and then he looks at London and that’s all he’s got to look at. And he looks back at America and says, I don’t want that for you. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
And he’s 100 percent correct. Now, I’ve got an op ed by Dr. Bill Brindley. He’s part of he’s a member of the World Economic Forum. But it’s about a three minute. Do I have three minutes before the break? Yeah, go ahead. All right. So here’s Dr. Bill Brindley on why socialism has always failed in the past. and why it will inevitably continue to fail in the future. So here we go. And by the way, he talks about the voluntary exchange. When you agree to go to work for somebody, say, for $20 an hour, that’s a voluntary exchange. Okay, I’ll give you my labor for $20 an hour. That’s voluntary. You want to sell me that pair of sunglasses for $40? Okay, I think that’s a voluntary exchange. So here’s Dr. Bill Brimley. He said, Karl Marx gave humanity its most murderous idea, that human suffering stems not from the scarcity and the human condition, but from private property itself. This bearded parasite who never worked a day in his life and lived off Engels’ textile fortune convinced generations that the voluntary exchange was exploitation while violent redistribution of wealth was justice. The body count speaks for itself. Stalin’s forced collectivism murdered 6 million Ukrainians through engineered famine. Mao’s great leap forward killed 45 million through sheer economic illiteracy. Pol Pot slaughtered a quarter of Cambodia’s population, and every single time the intellectuals proclaimed it wasn’t real socialism. The pattern is identical across continents and centuries. Seize private property, centrally plan production, and watch millions starve. But the intellectual foundation was always rotten. Marx’s labor theory of value, the notion that labor alone creates value, was already debunked by Austrian economists before the ink was even dry on his book Das Kapital. Value is subjective, determined by individual preferences in a voluntary exchange. Marx simply couldn’t grasp that capitalists perform the crucial function of time preference, sacrificing present consumption for uncertain future returns. And what he meant by that, capitalists invest their money today, money they could be spending in hopes of building something that will pay back in the future. Last paragraph. Even democratic socialism in Western Europe required massive wealth transfers from productive individuals to bureaucratic parasites, creating permanent dependency classes and stagnating growth. Venezuela had the world’s largest reserves and still managed to create toilet paper shortages. Cuba turned a Caribbean paradise into a floating prison where doctors flee on rafts. Every socialist experiment ends the same way. Empty shelves, secret police, and intellectuals explaining why the next attempt will be different. Andy, what do you think? Did he nail it?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think he nailed it 100%. He really did. You know, as you know, I grew up on the left. I grew up being able to defend the ideals. of the left, of communism, right? And I would actually tell people it’s a fair redistribution of things, and by the fairness of it, that’s going to motivate people towards success. In other words, eliminate merit, merit is unfair, okay? And I came to realize that was a complete lie and I was lying to people. It was absolutely, the problem is the system, okay? And why is that? Because mankind is the constant. People are sinful. They are selfish by nature. They are self-motivated, okay? And if you put self-motivated people into a system that is not driven by merit, it’s gonna fall apart.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep. And I can relate, you know, growing up, my grandparents had a cattle ranch in upstate New York, and it was a rural community. And, you know, and we would work and it was, you know, we would help each, we would help out some of the neighboring farmers, like if their tractor broke down, we’d loan them a tractor. The people who ran these farms, you know, dairy farmers and had to get crops in, they would work ridiculous hours, like if there was a rainstorm coming, and they had hay in the field, that was going to get ruined or they had hay bales in the field that was going to get ruined if they didn’t get it in the barn, they would be out there at 10 o’clock at night loading hay bales on a flatbed to get in the barn before the rain came because it was in their own best interest to do so. Do you think if you were simply farming the government’s hay and the government was going to take 90% of the hay you produced, do you think you’d be out there at 10 o’clock at night loading hay bales in the dark on a wagon for the government? No, of course not. Why would you? Why would you? And so the fact that your cows get sick, they’re not producing milk, you only get to keep a little bit of the milk. So if you’re producing 1,000 gallons of milk a day and the government says you get to keep six, why do you care if your production falls off from 1,000 down to 500? You have no vested interest in keeping the productivity of your dairy herd up because you’re still going to get the same six gallons a day. you know, if the herd produces 500 or a thousand.
SPEAKER 08 :
Joe, it’s very simple. It’s very simple. Weak bricks make a weak house. Okay. And people are bricks in a society. If people are not driven by merit, if they’re not driven by a system that works with the human nature, with human nature properly, they will be weak. They will not make good decisions that are based on merit. They will not make good decisions that produce more. Why would they? And therefore, if you create a bunch of weaker bricks throughout society, you’re going to fall apart. You’re going to have Venezuela.
SPEAKER 07 :
There’s no motivation to improve your own condition. Right. If you work on a scale of 1 to 10, if you work at a 10 or you work at a 5, you’re still going to wind up with the same reward at the end of the day. Why would you bust your butt, you know, putting in extra effort?
SPEAKER 08 :
Especially, and here’s the thing, you’ll have people who will at first, okay? They will at first until they see people who don’t, who get just as much as them.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right, getting the same reward as they got.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right, and then they’re going to get angry. They’re going to get angry. They’re going to get bitter. They’re going to be, why am I having, you know, and I’ll be Andy or Joe, right? And I’ll be like, why am I having to carry Joe’s load? Okay, why am I having to do more than Joe and Joe makes just as much as me?
SPEAKER 07 :
This is ridiculous. Not makes, but gets just, whether it be flour or milk.
SPEAKER 08 :
Gets just as much as me. Why would I work harder than Joe? Okay, so then Joe may look at me and he may think, now here I’m working the same as Joe, but maybe he doesn’t see it as much. He only sees his own efforts, right? You only see your own efforts. So Joe thinks that Andy’s working less than Joe. Now Joe’s going to work even less. And what’s Andy going to do now? He’s going to work even less. Yep. You see, without merit and reward… And consequence, without choice leading to either reward or great consequence, you’re not going to have motivated people and you’re going to crush the society. And let me tell you something, Joe, and we’ll go to break after this. Poland doesn’t have anywhere near the natural resources of Venezuela. I mean, not even in the same universe of oil, minerals, and so forth. I mean, they’ve got some, but nothing like Venezuela. Okay? And yet here they succeed, and Venezuela falls apart. Go.
SPEAKER 07 :
By the way, and I’ve said this before, and also you take away the incentive. A couple years ago, and I’ve talked about this with John, there was a list of the 100 greatest inventions or the most important inventions of the 20th century. And Barack Obama used to talk derisively about life’s lottery winners like Steve Jobs. Well, if you look back at these lottery winners like Willis Carrier, he borrowed money, mortgaged his house to invent air conditioning, became a millionaire. Jobs and Wozniak, they maxed out their credit card working until midnight in Wozniak’s garage to invent the first Apple computer. And Michael Dell building computers in his college dorm room. example after example after example, people gambling, taking insane risks.
SPEAKER 08 :
Risking great failure, by the way, because there were a lot of people who did that and failed.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, for every one that succeeded, 50 failed. Walt Disney, if you look at the people who built, Walt Disney actually sold his car to pay for studio time for the first musical cartoon. These people took insane risks. Why? Because of the opportunity to to become, quote, one of life’s lottery winners without that incentive. By the way, and the only invention that influenced the 20th century that wasn’t invented in the capitalist country was the AK-47. It didn’t have to say most beneficial, but the AK-47 was invented in Russia. But the other 99, every single one came out of a capitalist country, whether it be the wheat combine, the steam locomotive, air conditioning, the Apple computer. Every single one came out of, by the way, the tractor, the motorized tractor, every single one came out of a capitalist economy because the potential for the reward was there. You don’t have that potential. If you invented an Apple computer and Soviet Union, they would say, here’s a plaque. Thank you for inventing the computer. We own it now.
SPEAKER 08 :
Joe, if forced redistribution worked, people would be fleeing America to go to everywhere else in the world. Why is that the opposite? Because it doesn’t work. Because it’ll never work. Because it never has worked. It can’t work. It goes directly against human nature. And the only people who want to support it are all the people who don’t want to believe in human nature. They don’t want to admit that people are self-motivated. That is what it really comes down to. They don’t want to admit sin.
SPEAKER 07 :
When we get back from break, I’ve got a quote from the president of Argentina.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, let’s do a break here first. Here’s a guy who has none of those problems, Paul Leuenberger. Now, John Rush, just so you know, is a generous guy. You know why? Because he doesn’t waste his money on insurance. Paul Leuenberger is John’s insurance agent. He can be yours, too. Call Paul at 303-662-0789.
SPEAKER 01 :
Even in the age of AI, looking for the right insurance can be a huge hassle. Paul Leuenberger has you covered without the hassle. He works with the best in the business. Hartford, Travelers, Safeco, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Allstate, AIG, Chubb, Pure, Berkeley, Grundy, Hagerty, and more. He’s local, independent, and licensed in Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. and he’s expanding into more states soon. Paul’s mission is simple, to find the right coverage at the best value and to treat every client like family. So whether you’re shopping for home, auto, or something more unique, don’t shop online. Call Paul at 303-662-0789 today. That’s 303-662-0789. Paul Leuenberger, insurance made easy.
SPEAKER 18 :
No other window company can match the value for your money you get with veteran windows and doors. In fact, they’re so confident they can’t be beat that they actually encourage you to do your homework first. Get other quotes and compare window ratings, warranties, and installation methods. When you do, you’ll see the difference. Veteran will only sell you windows guaranteed to meet the new Colorado energy codes and built to last a lifetime. And their guarantee doesn’t stop there. Veterans exceptional installation process is backed by a five-year installation warranty. Something virtual When it comes to cost versus value, no one comes close to our partner, Veteran Windows and Doors. Connect with Veteran today by going to klzradio.com. When it comes to heating and cooling projects for your home, the smartest investment you can make is making sure you call Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning. Whether you need a repair or a replacement, Cub Creek Heating and Air will work with you so that you get what you need without breaking your budget. Cub Creek offers simple financing options on any heating and cooling projects over $500. And with two years of 0% interest with good credit, repairing or upgrading your HVAC system doesn’t have to wreck your finances. Putting a big home repair on a credit card or paying crazy high interest or paying everything up front can wipe out your savings or emergency funds. That’s why smart homeowners choose Cub Creek. With their super easy prequal process and no penalties for early payoff, you don’t have to sacrifice getting the work done now. To learn more about affordable options for your home heating or cooling project, contact Cub Creek today at klzradio.com slash HVAC.
SPEAKER 02 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 08 :
And welcome back for Rush to Reason. Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Andy Pate filling in for John Rush online right now. We’ve got Jersey Joe. Joe, what do you got next?
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, sticking with this focus on socialism, and I’m a big fan of Sonny Kutcher, Young Americans Against Socialism. Oh, yeah. We’re going to talk a lot tonight about socialism. You know, John Rush always says, you know, socialism or liberalism is a mental illness. Well, and I was always agreeing with that. But then I read this quote by Javier Millay, the president of Argentina, who’s really turned the country around. All right. And here’s his quote. He’s got a different take. And actually, you know, I read this twice. You know, he’s got a point. And here’s his. He said, at one point, I thought that being a leftist was a mental illness, something that prevented them from seeing the evidence. Then I realized that it was a disease of the soul built on envy, hatred and resentment. And I thought about that. I’ve said I spend some time every morning, about 20 minutes, on some of these liberal websites. And they’re all angry and jealous of people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. We need to tax them at 90% and give that money to us so we can have free school, free daycare.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Joe, really quick here before you run on. This is something I have taught for years at seminars is that the left is politically driven. And this is both in just getting votes, turning out votes, activism, all of it. They’re driven by rage. That is the one main driving emotion of the left. Rage at the rich. Rage at the white. Rage at the Christian. Rage at God. You see where I’m going with this? They have to be enraged. This is why, unfortunately, and even though I love him, Trump has been a godsend for them in a lot of ways. When it’s not his election, a lot of the times he’s a turnout machine for the left. They run on rage against Trump. That’s where TDS comes from.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep. And let me repeat the last sentence of Millay’s quote again. Oh, go. He said, then I realized that it was a disease of the soul built on envy, hatred, and resentment. Yeah. And you’ve seen it, Andy. I see it every day. You just go on a liberal website. You go on one of these sites like Being Liberal or Americans for Tax Fairness, and they’re envious. They’re hatred, and they resent people who are better off than them.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. Or people who have anything that they don’t have and they just live and burn with resentment against that. How dare you? Well, but wait a minute. I earned this. I worked this many hours. I went through all this. I, you know, and it doesn’t matter. Merit doesn’t even enter into their thinking.
SPEAKER 07 :
Nope. They’re the Karl Marx, you know, from… each according to his ability to those, each according to their needs. In other words, you got it, I need it, it’s mine.
SPEAKER 08 :
And you’ve got to keep in mind, why is this so big of a problem? Here’s why, Joe. Because merit is probably the one big thing, that in character, that can’t be controlled by the government. Your merit, you are in total control over your merit. Total control. Nobody controls that, and that’s why they don’t want you to get based on your merit. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, it can’t be controlled in this country, but in many countries, like Venezuela, the government did begin to control merit, and that led to the collapse of Venezuela, because they started to nationalize everything.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, but the only way you control merit is to crush it.
SPEAKER 07 :
Is to crush it, right. You know, through the force of government. It’s control at the point of a gun, and if you don’t do what we say, we’re going to shoot you. We’re going to send you, or take you to jail at the point of a gun. Along those lines, you know, we have a… a neighbor to the north that’s been going deeper and deeper into socialism and we’ve got a clip here of a uh there’s a guy that’s he’s he’s about a mile from the canadian he’s about to cross into canada and he’s posted a tiktok video saying here i am i’m leaving the united states blah blah you know for all these reasons and then it cuts to a canadian who just left canada and moved to florida and he’s telling this canadian what he’s in for so can we play this little clip of The U.S. citizen moving to Canada and the Canadian who has moved to the U.S.? You bet. Here we go. Wait, what?
SPEAKER 10 :
You flee the United States for Canada? Well, from a Canadian who just moved out of Canada to America, Florida, let me show you what you’re in for. First things first, you’re going into a terrible economy. See, we just lost 84,000 jobs last month, the worst in years. And our unemployment rate just went up to 6.7%. Yours is at 4.4, historically low. Our housing prices compared to disposable income is off the charts. And the average house, average city costs almost a million dollars. And it looks like this. In your country, disposable income is actually more than house prices. Our GDP per capita is the worst in the G7. Yours is the best. Oh, and as of this month, we have the highest food inflation in the G7. But let’s put that aside because I bet you love our prime minister, right? Yeah, the elitist investment banker that hasn’t even lived in Canada for the past 10 years. Yeah, he’s going to fix your problems. Don’t worry about it. Ugh. I know, I know. You’re here for the free healthcare, right? But here’s the thing about the free healthcare. It doesn’t really work. You won’t be able to find a doctor. You’re probably going to die in the emergency room. And they’re going to take 54% of your income to taxes. Look, you’re fleeing the strongest economy on earth. But hey, no problem. We traded spots. See, I had a business in Canada renovating properties. I bought and sold over 150 properties, had 13 employees. I shut the whole thing down and restarted it in the US and got my visa for my entire family legally to live in the US. Now we pay way lower taxes, make way more money because the economy is 100 times bigger. And instead of gray skies for eight months a year and snowy weather, it’s 300 plus days of amazing sunshine. But don’t worry about it. You, yeah, you, you’re going to love Canada. You’ll see.
SPEAKER 08 :
I love it. I love it. Canada, by the way, really is falling apart.
SPEAKER 07 :
It really is. And those stats prove it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. I cannot believe they were stupid enough to vote for Carney. All because of their rage at Donald Trump saying 51st state.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. And by the way, you know, he quoted that thing about a job, 84,000 job loss last month. Now, that may not seem like a lot when you talk about, you know, the U.S., but Canada has a population the same as Texas. Can you imagine if Texas lost 84? Oh, I know.
SPEAKER 08 :
I know. It’s incredible. They have been falling apart up there. And, you know, we laugh and we chuckle. But when you think about it, the human population. condition in canada is becoming desperate and i really really really hope that carney wises up and comes to trump and says man we gotta have a deal any deal make a deal please because we’re falling apart here and all these canadians who voted for carney to punish trump only punished themselves yep and the health care uh there were a story about people uh
SPEAKER 07 :
I mean, if you get diagnosed, if the doctor says, well, I think you might need cancer, we’ve got to schedule for an MRI. Do you know how long it takes to get an MRI? How long? Four months. Four months to get an MRI. Oh, that thing you need to live. And if the MRI detects cancer, you know how long it’s going to take to get you on a surgical table to get the cancer cut out? Oh, right away, I’m sure. No, no. That’s why you have Canadians who get free health care in Canada. How long will it take? For another four months. Anyway, that’s why you have people leaving Canada, coming to the U.S. to pay out-of-pocket for medical care in the United States, even though they could, quote, get it for free in Canada. Yeah. Just Google people coming to the U.S., people from Canada coming to the U.S. for health care. You’ll find story after story after story about people paying out-of-pocket for something they theoretically could be getting for free
SPEAKER 08 :
Joe, this is why I get so angry at Republicans that cannot sell free market health care. See, we should be going to every American and saying these very simple words. I don’t want you paying for any health coverage that you don’t want. OK, that you don’t choose. If you don’t choose it, you shouldn’t have to pay for it. OK. And I tell you what, a lot of Americans, they hear that and say, well, yeah, that’s reasonable. Yeah. But Obamacare is totally based on you paying for, you know, 30 things when the only when you only want eight in your coverage and you’re having to pay for all 30 to make sure everybody has everything.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s it. You mean that’s why nuns have to pay for abortion and birth coverage? Yeah, that’s why.
SPEAKER 08 :
OK, I mean, that’s it’s just crazy. Obamacare is a disaster. And I can’t believe how poorly Republicans are selling this. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
And no, it just it disappoints me. And I shake my head at all the missed opportunities the Republican Party doesn’t take advantage of. You know, maybe they should listen to this show, Andy, from time to time.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I think John would steer them straight. Okay, let’s take a quick break. We’ll come back with Jersey Joe. Up next is Dr. Scott Faulkner. Hey, get a doctor who listens only to you, not big pharma, not big insurance, just you. For You First Healthcare, call Dr. Scott at 303-663-6990.
SPEAKER 13 :
What if you could get over 110 lab biomarkers tested, just like Dr. Mark Hyman advertises, but for a fraction of the cost and with a doctor who actually explains the results? At Castle Rock Regenerative Health, Dr. Scott Faulkner has recreated this powerful biomarker test panel at a substantial savings. We have a special price for both men and women today. Just $689. That’s a savings of over $2,500 over the standard price. And here’s the difference. With Hyman, you get numbers on a page. With Castle Rock Regenerative Health, you get Dr. Faulkner and his team walking you through every result, showing what’s off and creating a personalized plan to fix it. What’s even better, you don’t even have to be a concierge patient to get this pricing. This is open to everyone. Think about it. Most people’s deductible is higher than this special price. And your regular doctor, if he could get approved by your insurance, would never order this many tests, let alone know what to do with them. Call 303-663-6990 today or visit CastleRockRegenerativeHealth.com. Take control of your health at Castle Rock Regenerative Health.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, we got Al Smith back with us on KLZ Radio. Al, I heard on a radio show the other day that people could replace their poor-performing annuities with new ones that earn 10% to 12% annually. Is that real?
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it’s an enormous exaggeration. I think there are some occasions where it might be in people’s best interest to replace an older annuity with a newer one, but to promise 10% or 12% returns, there’s only a very small percentage of annuities that have actually earned 10% or 12%. And sometimes unscrupulous returns People in the financial industry will use illustrations that are projected in the future but have no clear examples of how it has actually occurred in the past.
SPEAKER 05 :
That’s probably a big red flag when people give those guarantees, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, they don’t usually say it with guarantees, but they make it sound like, oh, for sure, if you have a poor-performing financial product, we can get you one that’s going to pay 10% or 12%, and it’s guaranteed against loss. Well, the guarantee against loss is true, but the 10% to 12% performance, there’s about, I would estimate, maybe a 5% chance of that actually occurring in the future.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow. So you heard it here, guys. If you really want to know the answer, give Al a call here. And Al, how do folks get in touch with you?
SPEAKER 03 :
You can reach me at my office at 303-744-1128. And I’m having an event on the 19th. And it will be about essential tax strategies for retirement at the Belmar Library in the evening.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. You can also find him on klzradio.com slash money. Al, thanks for coming in today.
SPEAKER 17 :
You’re welcome. Investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management, LLC. A registered investment advisor. BCM and Golden Eagle Financial Limited are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.
SPEAKER 09 :
Call in to the KLZ studio line, 303-477-5600. Now, back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 08 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. We’re on the line right now with Jersey Joe. Joe, how can people hear more of your stuff?
SPEAKER 07 :
We do a weekly podcast, and you can search for it on speaker or any of the podcast platforms. Just search for Jersey Joe, J-E-R as in Robert, Z as in zebra, E-E, jerseyjoe.com. Again, just an R as in two E’s. If you’d like to get on my distribution list so you don’t have to hunt for it, Just send me an email to Joe at Jersey Joe dot com and say, can you put me on your distribution list? And once a week we will send you the podcast to your inbox and you’ll find it there. So, again, Joe at Jersey Joe dot com or just search for Jersey Joe podcast on any on your favorite podcast platform, including Spreaker and Apple Apple podcast role there.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. What else you got?
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. Staying with socialism. Now, New York City is in this $5 billion budget shortfall. All the things, Mondami, you know, we’re going to have free buses, we’re going to have free health care.
SPEAKER 08 :
And he’s blaming all this on what he inherited.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, he’s blaming it on his prior. And by the way, before I get into all the list of new taxes, he announced yesterday that he’s creating a new office, and I had to look this up, a new office of LGBTQIA+. of equality and it’s not just a person it is an office with the staff now you’ve got a five billion dollar budget shortfall and of course the person is going to head this up i’m sure they’re going to be making around 200 000 a year and they’re going to have a staff and they’re going to have a budget and you know advertising and so is spending at least a half a million dollars a year on a lgbtqi do you know what lgbtqia plus stands for well basically yeah go ahead Well, do you know, though, every single one of those letters? Not every one, not the end ones. It stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexually asexual communities. And the plus signifies additional identities like pansexual or non-binary.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, so asexual communities includes one-celled creatures? One-celled creatures. Well, that’s good that everybody is represented. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
So anyway, so he’s going to spend at least a half million dollars a year on a LGBT. So and this is an office. Now, by the way, of all his solutions, cutting spending has never been mentioned. It’s only we’re going to tax more. So and we’ve got a clip we’re going to play in a second. But let me just tell you, I’ve got a lot. I’m not going to read them all. But there’s a list of nine proposed tax increases. Like if you make more than a million dollars a year, he wants to New York City has its own city income tax. He wants to increase that by 50 percent.
SPEAKER 08 :
Whoa. Whoa. Yeah. So you mean like it’s say 8% now he wants to make a 12, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yep. Exactly. Um, and that’s on top of New York, New York state’s, uh, 10% tax by the way. All right. Um, so he wants to increase the, he wants to move exemptions for the sale of precious metal bullion. Um, he wants to create new tax brackets, uh, for people with, uh, upper incomes. Um, He wants to add a surcharge on capital gains. But here’s one. Oh, they’re all going to leave. I mean, a lot of them are going to leave.
SPEAKER 08 :
Go ahead.
SPEAKER 07 :
Now, by the way, do you know what a low-end condo costs in New York City? No. You know, they start at a half million dollars. Like, you want a one-bedroom condo? It’s a half million dollars for a one-bedroom condo. So here’s this big one. Increase estate taxes by lowering the exemption tax. from uh this is again when you die inheritance tax federally it’s 7.1 million dollars if you have an estate less than 7.1 million it passes to your heirs with no estate tax he wants to lower that in new york city to 750 000 okay but i thought he only wanted to tax the very rich Well, it depends what your definition of rich is. Oh, I see. Okay. We have a clip of a guy that does a little commentary on Mondami’s plan to keep people from leaving New York by raising taxes.
SPEAKER 14 :
Okay, here we go. New York City’s Zoran Mamdani has officially announced his strategy to stop the people from leaving New York. He says that this ingenious plan will reverse all of the people who have left and stop the tens of thousands of others who are planning to leave. And what is this strategy, you might ask? Well, it’s raising taxes again.
SPEAKER 16 :
Amidst being in the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, we already see an exodus of working and middle class New Yorkers. So I don’t have a hesitation in asking those who make the most amount of money in the city or the most profits in the city to pay a little bit more so that everyone can actually stay in the city. It’s also something not just about justice or or the ability for working class people to live here. It is also actually about ensuring that corporations can continue to attract the top talent to the city. Because in a city where child care costs more than $20,000 a year, I’ve heard from corporate leaders about how difficult it is for them to attract individuals who would work at their companies but want to raise a family. Because you could be making $300,000 a year and you will feel that $20,000 a year because of the fact that we have allowed for the absence of affordable child care to become reality here in the city.
SPEAKER 08 :
What an idiot. Oh, yeah, that’s going to attract the top talent. I got news for you, man. The top talent is being taken out. It’s going to Texas.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, there’s been an interview with Florida Realtors at Jupiter Beach, by the way. Oh, yeah. Where the wealthiest are down there shopping for homes. And in Jupiter Beach, the homes start at $5 million and up in Jupiter Beach. Right. And the $5 million home in Jupiter Beach, Florida, is five times larger than the $5 million home. condo apartment in New York City, by the way.
SPEAKER 08 :
Joe, it’s the oldest truth that I always try to teach to young people. I ask them very simply this. If I take more of what you have, won’t you cling to what you have left? And, and they always say yes. And I say, okay, okay. Now do you think that the rich people are all perfect, sinless creatures? Okay. They’re all beautiful, sinless creatures, no selfishness at all. No, they’re rich. They’re oh, okay. So you’re saying they’re just like you. Okay. If we take more of what they have, won’t they cling to what they have left? And that means they move away from cities that do what Mondati does.
SPEAKER 07 :
They’re going to move. And States I covered about two weeks ago with John. The long list of billionaires have already relocated their residents outside of California. Oh, yeah. Including Mark Zuckerberg, one of the richest people in the world. He is now a resident of Nevada.
SPEAKER 08 :
And these are lefties, man. These are big-time lefties, and they’re running away from it. I mean, come on.
SPEAKER 07 :
Zuckerberg still works at Facebook, at Meta, and his income is still going to be taxed. But because he’s now a resident of Nevada, they can’t tax his wealth. And Howard Schultz, the head of Starbucks, he just moved to Florida. Right. I saw that. And In-N-Out Burger moved to Nashville. I mean, we could talk for 10 minutes about the people who are fleeing those states.
SPEAKER 08 :
Joe, quick question here, really quick here before you run on. California, do you see, with all this big money leaving California, do you see over the next five years a real political upheaval there?
SPEAKER 07 :
You would hope so. And not just the people, but gas, you know, the refineries. Exactly. I forget it was Exxon or Chevron. I think it was Chevron. The chairman sent an open letter to Governor Newsom saying, basically, we’re pulling out and I predict this is what’s going to happen to gas prices in your state. And prior to his letter, two other refineries have already said we’re shutting down in the first half of 2026. Yeah, April and May. April and May. And California, by the way, has its own mandated special blend of gasoline that’s not used anywhere else in the country. Well, when these refineries all leave, they’re going to have to start asking other refineries from outside the state to produce it. If you’re an out-of-state refinery and you’re already running at max capacity and California says, hey, we’d like you to pause your regular production to produce this special blend that you can’t sell anywhere else, What do you think the cost of that special blend is going to be? Oh, it’s going to skyrocket. Of course. You know, even if gas was, I think right now it’s $3.50. I know it’s $3.50, $3.60 national average right now. California is $5.50. It wouldn’t surprise me when those refineries shut down to see gas at $7.50, $8 a gallon.
SPEAKER 08 :
Joe, this is why I say so often to conservatives, folks, you’ve got to be willing to leave. You’ve got to be willing to leave a town, a city, a state or whatever. You’ve got to be. If nobody leaves, you won’t send a message and it’ll only get worse. They have to feel the pain of your absence. If they don’t. Forget it. I remember when the NFL had all these players who were kneeling to protest. They were going to keep doing it and doing it and doing it. It was only getting worse. And what happened? Fans said no more. Fans churned off the TV. They stopped going to the games. The numbers dropped. Revenue dropped big time for advertisers. Until they felt the pain, the players were going to keep kneeling. Until Californians feel the pain, they’re going to keep voting for leftists.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, and I think the pain is coming as they start cutting social services. Oh, yeah. And having to raise taxes and raise sales taxes. By the way, I think in L.A. the sales tax right now is over 10% in L.A., Wow. Yeah, over a 10% sales tax.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, hey, let’s take a quick break. We’ll be right back with Jersey Joe, and maybe he can fix California. Up next is Genoves Auto. Hey, don’t take your car to a place your friend likes. Take your car to a place everyone likes with great reviews at Genoves Auto. Call Genoves at 303-794-6700.
SPEAKER 12 :
Take advantage of Geno’s Alignment and Tire Rotation Special. Save $30 on a four-wheel alignment with tire rotation through the end of the month. Have you ever noticed how your tires have a way of finding holes in the pavement? Now is a great time to get your car aligned and your tires rotated. With constant alignments every 10,000 to 12,000 miles, you will experience better handling and improved tire wear. Geno’s is celebrating 43 years in business, serving Littleton, Colorado families and local communities. At Geno’s, we back up our work with Napa’s nationwide 36-month, 36,000 miles peace of mind warranty. We invite you to check out all our Google reviews to get a true snapshot of our business. We offer loaner vehicles so you can drop your car off and pick up when ready. Save $30 on an alignment and tire rotation. Give us a call or go online to schedule an appointment. Geno’s is AAA approved and located at Bowles and Platt Canyon. Stop in or visit us online at genosautoservice.com.
SPEAKER 17 :
With material prices still high and supply chains stretched, homeowners are looking for smarter ways to protect their biggest investment, their home. Replacing a roof can be costly, but a roof restoration offers you a better budget-friendly option. At Roof Savers of Colorado, we treat aging roofs with RoofMax, a bio-friendly formula that restores flexibility, extends life, and saves homeowners thousands. And if a roof does need to be replaced… We handle the full job, from new roofs and storm damage to siding and gutters. This winter, make smart spending part of your home’s protection plan. Call 303-710-6916 or visit RoofSavers.com for your free winter roof assessment. Roof Savers of Colorado. Value, protection, and peace of mind for Colorado homeowners.
SPEAKER 09 :
Listen online, klzradio.com. Back to Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 08 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Jersey Joe is on the line. Joe, what do you got next?
SPEAKER 07 :
I want to try to squeeze this in. Last week we played a clip of Whoopi Goldberg making the ridiculous claim that it’s easier to be a woman in Iran than to be a black man in the United States. And of course we had a rebuttal from Wesley Hunt, the black congressman from Texas. But Bill Maher this week takes that on Point by point, and he describes what it’s like to be a woman in a Muslim country. Can we play that clip?
SPEAKER 15 :
Here we go. This is happening right now, right under your nose rings. And it’s not just the clothes. Fifteen countries in the Middle East, including Gaza, have laws that require women to obey their husbands. Laws. Not just Harrison Butker’s opinion. And those societies also have guardianship laws, which means a woman needs permission from her husband to work, to travel, to leave the house, to go to school, to get medical attention. Nothing? Honor killings, where women are murdered by their own fathers and or brothers, happen so frequently they can’t even have an accurate account of how many. In 59 countries, there are no laws against sexual harassment in the workplace and many have no laws against domestic violence or spousal rape. Twenty countries have marry-your-rapist laws. Multiple societies have laws about what jobs women can and can’t do. Make a Barbie movie about that. 30 countries practice female genital mutilation. And 650 million women alive today were married as children. Kids, if you really want to change the world and not just tie up Monday morning traffic, this is the apartheid that desperately needs your attention. Gender apartheid. This is what should be the social justice issue of your time. How about from the river to the sea, every woman shall be free. But in…
SPEAKER 07 :
I love it. I love it. And I’m convinced that the pod people have replaced Bill Maher with a conservative.
SPEAKER 08 :
At times, yes. At times, yes. I mean, you know why? I think he just became exasperated with his own side. He really did. He became exasperated because he was surrounded by so much lunacy and idiocy that was so opposite of the facts. And he’s a very, very intellectual guy. That’s hard for him to reconcile.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I think he wants the Democrat Party to be successful. Oh, yeah. He’s basically so frustrated at how they’re going about it. They’re shooting themselves in the foot. You know, we talk about Trump shooting himself in the foot. Well, the Democrats were their idiot. And what he was, that whole thing was, if you want to protest something, this is what you should be protesting. And he said, rather than stopping, he showed a picture of protesters blocking traffic on the 101 in Los Angeles. He’s saying, this is what you should be protesting. You know, pick your battles. because the things you’re protesting against make you look foolish and aren’t really worth protesting.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and also you’re protesting the nation on earth that has the most freedom for women. Certainly as much as anywhere else. I mean, it’s ridiculous.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah. So, you know, that’s his… So, again, I find it strange that almost every week I have a clip from Bill Maher taking shot at liberals and Democrats, but they deserve it. And when your own kind… is pointing out that, hey, you know, you’re not doing the party any favors. And if you want to be successful, you know, you need to stop doing X and start doing more of Y. And that’s the message he’s been trying to sell to them. How much time we got, Andy? We got a minute and a half. Go. Do we have time to play this clip from Trish Regan about the soft bigotry of low expectations? Charlie, do we? No, we do not.
SPEAKER 08 :
He said, I’m sorry.
SPEAKER 07 :
We don’t. What did she say? Well, what it is, you know, we played this before, you know, about, uh, you know, people a couple of weeks ago about interviewing white people. Why is the voter? Why is the save act racist? And well, black people don’t know how to get, you know, IDs and they don’t have IDs and don’t know how to get them. And we call that the soft bigotry of low expectations. Well, Trish Regan, there’s a clip and I can, if anybody wants it, I can send it to him. Just email me, Joe at Jersey, joe.com. Um, on the Trish Reagan show, she’s got a panel of like 12 people, and two of the people in the panel are black women. And there’s a young white guy, and he’s saying, well, you know, what are you opposed to say back? Well, it’s racist because many black people don’t have IDs, and they don’t know how to get IDs. And you see these black women shaking their head back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And meanwhile, so then Trish goes to one of the black women and says, It looks like you didn’t agree with what he just had to say. Is that true? And she lays into this guy. I have an ID. Everybody I know has an ID. If I lost my ID, here’s how I go about getting a new one. And again, it’s called the soft bigotry of low expectations. As soon as you assume that somebody lacks the skills and ability to that either they don’t possess an ID or don’t know how to get an ID. What does that say about your opinion?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Joe, let’s be more honest. Even more than that, what it really says is they’re lying. They’re lying. That’s not the reason. The only reason they don’t want ID is because they want to cheat. They want to have people who aren’t here legally vote for them. And dead people. And dead people. And dead people, too. And people who are here illegally who are dead people to vote for them. Okay. Jersey Joe, thanks once again for joining us. I hope you had a good time. Folks, that’s it for hour number two and hour three. I’m joined by Eli Bremer. And guys, I want to ask you something. What happens next for the Colorado Republican Party? Also, we’re going to be joined by Olympic athlete Kaylee Humphries, who awarded her Order of Icas medal to Donald Trump. Until then, keep it right here on Rush to Reason, KLZ 560.
