In this fiery episode of Rush to Reason, John Rush and author Richard Battle dig into the theme of “Principles Over Power, Honor Over Ambition.” Together they unpack how moral integrity and servant leadership have faded in today’s politics, business, and culture — replaced by situational ethics and self-interest. They talk truth, humility, and why a man’s word used to mean something.
John then pivots to current events, using Russell Wilson’s post-game meltdown as a perfect example of ego over integrity, before joining Sonny Kutcher from Young Americans Against Socialism to expose the dangerous rise of Marxist ideology in America
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind?
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, hour number two, Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560. Richard Battle joining us now. Richard, welcome. How are you today, sir?
SPEAKER 06 :
Good afternoon, John. We’re doing great. Thanks for having us back with you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Always a joy. Principles over power, honor over ambition. That is our topic for today.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, yes, and to me that’s a principle that I try to live by, and I think one that we all should attempt to live by. And between the Congress having the government shut down and the Ukrainian-Russian war and the Israel-Hamas disagreements, I think that there’s plenty of examples of people on one side and the other side.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. All right. So, and by the way, I agree with everything you just said. Absolutely. And we’ve got examples that we’ll get into today for some of you listening where we can actually show where some do really well at this, Richard, and others not so well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s exactly correct. And some try to do well and may fall short, and others never try to do well.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. All right. Where do you want to start?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, the first thing is we talk about truth. And we used to have in the court swearing-in ceremony where you’d say, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. And now that’s morphed in today into people swearing. who go for power only, trying to define their own truth. And if everybody defines their own truth, then there is no truth, and people can do what they want, which means we have total chaos.
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. And, as in my notes, too, these aren’t limited, these principles, I should say. They’re not limited to race, religion, political party. They are things that, frankly, are just, I guess… Can I go as far as to say, Richard, they’re laws of life?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, absolutely, because as… believers, we believe Jesus is the truth, but also it’s so important it happens in families, business, any kind of relationships. The truth and trust is, in my opinion, the coin of the realm.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right. So we are talking about what I consider to be, you know, laws of life. And in some of these, you know, there’s a lot more, by the way, than what we’ve even got here. Richard, this is a topic that I’m not exaggerating. You and I could cover for several segments in a row and probably still not uncover everything. But let’s talk about the principled side for a moment. Give us some examples of what the principled things that we should be doing are.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, honorable behaviors. And example, when I first went into the business world out of college, I was able to contract with companies to buy my offerings by word of mouth. They would tell me, I want to buy this. I’d handwrite an order, ship to them, bill them. They’d pay it. There was never any questions. By the time I left the corporate world. Every transaction had a contract that was gone over by attorneys. There was no trust on either side of transactions like there was before. And, of course, we go back to the 19th century, and a person’s word was their bond, and handshake agreements were how business was conducted.
SPEAKER 11 :
And by the way, I grew up in that same time and even doing business that same way, and I can remember my grandfather especially, my dad as well, but my grandfather especially talking about how, you know what, a man’s handshake means everything. If you shake on it, it’s a done deal. You don’t need anything else.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, absolutely, and I think we’ve all learned over that time that sometimes we gave trust out, and then people, because of that truth, self-defining truth, thought that they could change transactions, if you will, and not have to stand on their word. And so that was one of the ways that society degraded from people defining their own truth.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, and you’ve got it in my notes, and this is one’s word, and that’s what we’re really talking about when it comes to a handshake. Your word is your bond. In other words, if you say you’re going to do it, that’s really all that was needed, and you don’t need all this other stuff in paper. Those days, unfortunately, especially in the business world, well, really all across the board, it’s why, Richard, you go look at a contract for most anything, buying a car, real estate, and so on, that just every time you go to buy something, You know, every time you do it, there’s more and more things, more and more pages that have been added because of the simple fact the word doesn’t mean anything anymore.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s a great example. And one, when I was younger and rented apartments, there might be a one or two page lease. And I know today when people go rent apartments, there’s 40 or 50 pages of documentations that cover all kinds of items within renting an apartment.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s exactly right. Okay. What about the, you know, talking about honorable behavior, word is your bond. Let’s talk about the ethics for a moment. What do you mean by ethics based on social standard? Or societal standard?
SPEAKER 06 :
Social or societal, same thing. Telling the truth, being honest, your word, some of the things that we’ve already talked about, certain standards that you live up to ethically versus situational ethics. There are some people that believe, based on the situation, they may go one side or the other. And we see this, especially in politics. And it’s amazing. If someone’s on the majority side, they may believe one way on an issue. And then when they’re on the minority side, they take the exact opposite view because it will hurt their party, if you will, versus having a consistent viewpoint regardless of. where they’re at in the power structure.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. And as we move through a few more of these on the principled side, humility, to me, that’s a big one, Richard. And you can still be strong and yet have humility at the same time. In other words, you can know what you believe in. You can know that you believe in your product. You can know, by the way, that you’ve got the best product on the planet, but yet still have some humbleness about you and all of that.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, yes, and I think sports are one of the most obvious places today that have changed for the worse over several years, and it all started with Billy White Shoes Johnson and his touchdown dance. But as Daryl Royal, who coached the Texas Longhorns back in the 60s and 70s, said, act like you’ve been there before. Be humble and appreciative of when you do well versus – We have people now they’re on the losing side of a game and they may make a sack and they jump up and down like they just got elected to the Hall of Fame. Yeah.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah. Yeah. As a side note, those are the ones where it’s like, OK, I get it. You’re excited. You’re trying to get the team pumped up and all of that. And it’s a great accomplishment. And they’re not hard to come by or they’re hard to come by. I should say they’re not easy to come by. So I understand all of that on the same token, Richard. It’s your job. It’s what you’re getting paid for.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s exactly true. And I’ve seen and been involved in sports games where one team would jump up and down and do all of that physical display, and then they would get trounced. And so sometimes that quiet confidence that you show being quiet and less demonstrative is can be more intimidating than all the physical displays.
SPEAKER 11 :
Okay. And again, I think humbleness is a big deal across the board, especially. But, you know, it’s not even in the sports world, Richard. It is in the business world. It’s in the church world. It’s in the nonprofit world. I think it goes across the—it’s one of those—it’s a principled thing we’re talking about. It goes across, you know, breaks all barriers, I guess you could say. It goes across all lines, and it’s got to be there.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, absolutely. I just thought the sports was the most obvious one for an illustration.
SPEAKER 11 :
It is. No, it absolutely is. And you see it in certain players and how they are even after the game and who are they thanking and what are they doing and so on. And I’ve got an example for all of you listening. It’ll come up here maybe a little bit later in the program. Okay, let’s finish up the principled side. Talk to us about the servant leadership and the steward management sides of things as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, servant leadership basically is leading to make sure that all of the constituents and all the parties are served, if you will, versus yourself. And Zig Ziglar, the late Zig Ziglar, said it so well. He said, you can get anything you want out of life if you help enough other people get what they want. And when you’re taking care of customers and stockholders and employees and helping them attain their goals, you will be rewarded in your goals as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. You know, that old saying, I’ve always told my people this, you make me money, I’ll make you money. It’s that simple.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yes, and the steward side, for example, I’ve got a small piece of property that I inherited, and I’m the sixth generation from my family owner in that, and I feel a responsibility to my ancestors with that piece of property because of that, and that’s being a steward. It’s not something I did or something that’s only mine. It’s my ancestors as well as I have to think about descendants.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great point. Great point. Okay. Let’s talk about the power side. This one we can run through a few of these because even though that list is long as well, talk to us about the power side.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, generally it’s self-interest. It’s serving self first. And if you help somebody else, it’s incidental. But you always look out for yourself and you always look out for short-term success. And they are the most ambitious. Back especially in the 70s, you had corporate executives who were scolded, if you will, for running over people and climbing over people to achieve the corporate ladder and get to the top. We don’t hear about that as much anymore, but you know it goes on. And so they don’t think about anybody else or think about beyond their term of office anymore. or the people that came before them.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. And some of these things, by the way, really quick for some of you listening, it’s everyone defines their own truth, all’s fair in love and war. By the way, they believe in the golden rule, only it’s the golden rule as in the guy with the gold rules, not the actual golden rule, Richard. Every decision is based on self-advancement, every man for himself. I mean, all of us have heard some of these sayings from different individuals.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s exactly right, and their golden rule, the other way to say that is do unto others before they do unto you. And so they’re always looking for that angle and edge, and they’ll take any little crack in something to use to their advantage. And I even had people in business – I won’t name the industry, who would negotiate after a contract to try to renegotiate terms after a contract was fulfilled. They had so little ethical standards.
SPEAKER 11 :
Give us some examples of – let’s go backwards this time. Let’s talk about some of these power folk. Give us some examples of some folks that are on that side, and then we’ll end up on the principled side.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, if you look at Saul Alinsky, who basically was a disciple of Marxism, that was pure power politics and trying to empower people who had not had power and use the establishment’s power against them But the ethics in that situation were basically do whatever it takes to win at any time, and we see a lot of that going on across the country right now.
SPEAKER 11 :
And it’s not on this list, but one that I would add to that because I think they’re very close because one followed the other. George Soros is right along those same lines. If you look at the things that he has done to even make the money that he’s made, he didn’t do it the principled way. Let’s just say it that way.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you’re absolutely correct. And another one that I think is very dangerous, and I may not should say it, but in the Muslim faith, they believe that they can lie and tell people falsehoods if they’re non-Muslims to further the cause of Islam.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, you’re in good company saying that. You’re 100% correct. That’s exactly the way the belief system is, and they will take advantage of that any time they can.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s absolutely correct. And on the other side, we look at people like Harry S. Truman, who drove himself home from the White House with no security, who the buck stops here, who took responsibility because he had lived in the private sector before. and worked, and he understood the everyday American much better than career politicians did, and he took those responsibilities and dealt with people honestly, and the evidence was that people in his own party didn’t like him because he wouldn’t just toe the party line.
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. George Washington, that’s on the list as well, and there’s a guy that could have been king but chose not to be.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, he was the GOAT because he didn’t want to be president. He served the people. He couldn’t wait to get back to Mount Vernon. He did things to set the country up for long-term growth. It wasn’t about him. It was about setting his descendants up for growth. Leaving office after two terms, which that precedent lasted 150 years before that. And the people loved him, which is why they always had those signs, George Washington slept here. They revered him because they knew he was humble and principled. And they talk about the issue about him chopping down the cherry tree and how it may not have been true, but his character was so good, it makes that story plausible.
SPEAKER 11 :
Very good point. Okay. All right. And as we close things out, richardbattle.com is the website, of course. Talk about, Richard, the things that you’ll do for folks if they go there, if they’re looking for presents as we get into this Christmas season, which I know that sounds a long way off, but, Richard, it’s not that far off. I know that sounds odd to a lot of you listening, but we’re not that far off. Talk about that, Richard.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, thank you. Holiday season starts next week, if you want to count Halloween. There you go. At richardbattle.com, all books are signed, all 12 of them. If you’d like one inscribed for a gift, which we’re happy to do, email me, richard at richardbattle.com. We’re happy to do that. We have all 12 at Amazon, including 11 in Kindle version and 8 in audio. as well.
SPEAKER 11 :
Awesome. Richard, as always, I appreciate it. Thank you for all that you do for us. And the website, again, richardbattle.com, folks go there. And I know it sounds like it’s a long way off, but I’ve already started buying a few things for Christmas, Richard. So you know what? It’s not too soon.
SPEAKER 06 :
No, it’s never too soon, and we appreciate you, and God bless America.
SPEAKER 11 :
God bless you, Richard. Appreciate you very much. Have a great evening. Al Smith up next did a great interview of late. Don’t forget his own program here on Wednesdays from 2 to 2.30, but find Al by going to klzradio.com.
SPEAKER 12 :
This is TJ with KLZ Radio. Once again, we’re back with Golden Eagle Financial and the wonderful Al Smith. Al, how are you today? I’m doing great, TJ. How are you? I’m doing well. Hey, we work a lot with estate plans and things like that, and that’s a natural part of retirement plans. I know you’re not an attorney, but what do you do where it’s related to estate plans?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, a large part of estate planning is the simple end of it, which is beneficiary designations on various financial products, such as IRAs or life insurance or investment accounts, because as people name those beneficiaries, There’s a feature called per stirpus for like contingent beneficiaries. And essentially what that means, let’s say if there’s a married couple and one of their children dies before the primary spouse and then the spouse passes on. then when the primary person passes, rather than having it be divided equally between the children, it would go only to the one who didn’t pass on, and then the grandchildren would be disinherited. I hope that’s not too confusing, but essentially the word per stirpus in a beneficiary designation would mean if that person beneficiary died, his or her share would pass down the bloodline to the grandchildren.
SPEAKER 12 :
Sounds like a serious word. So I would also guess that you have a pretty vast network so you can direct folks to the right people to complete those, right?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, that I can do myself. That’s not a document for an attorney or anything like that. That is just a little box to check on a beneficiary designation for an IRA, an annuity, a life insurance contract, an investment account. Those beneficiary forms, they just have a person’s name, and then they have a box to check either per stirpus or per capita. Per capita means the proceeds would go to the other party who hasn’t passed on. Per stirpus means the proceeds, if the primary person who is named is deceased, then his or her share would go down the bloodline to their own children. Not to an ex surviving spouse, but down the bloodline.
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s great. So folks can get in touch with you and really get kind of a total form of all their retirement stuff. Al, how do folks do that? How do they get in touch with you?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, you can reach me at 303-744-1128. If you’re driving when you hear this, get in touch with KLZ. They’ll put you in touch with me so we can arrange either a healthy conversation on the phone or for you to come into the office. We’ll have a cup of coffee and talk about whatever’s on your mind.
SPEAKER 12 :
And as always, klzradio.com slash money will get you there. Al, thanks so much today.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey, you’re welcome. Thanks for having me, TJ.
SPEAKER 10 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, and we are back. Got a little bit of time here before we have Sonny Kutcher on. And Richard and I were just talking about, you know, the whole… attitude, maybe the best way to look at it, principled versus power and all of that, and how all situations, especially in sports, should be handled in certain ways with humbleness. And you guys all know that while Russell Wilson is supposedly a Christian, and I’m not saying he is or isn’t, I don’t know, never met the man, But I’m not his biggest fan either. Wasn’t when he was here as a quarterback and nothing against him personally. But there’s just things about Russell when I look at him and even watch him on the field sidelines and so on. I just don’t feel like he’s a great leader. That’s just me talking. Some of you might be huge Russell Wilson fans. You might want to debate me on that. But I don’t see Russell as a great leader. And I’ll give you an example along these lines. So there’s an Article 9 news today. Russell Wilson calls Sean Payton classless for a post-game swipe at him. Now, I’m going to read to you what actual Sean Payton said, which I don’t see it as a classless swipe. I think Russell has a chip on his shoulder and he’s reading too much into things and, frankly, shouldn’t be firing back at anybody, especially on social media. That’s just my take. But this goes back to the whole conversation, especially on the sports sides of things that Richard Battle and I were just talking about. And I didn’t put this in the notes prior because I get notes from Richard several days in advance. So I just happened to read this story this morning and thought, you know, that’s a good follow-up to what Richard and I are going to talk about. So I did put it here purposely for that. But I didn’t know that Richard was going to bring the whole sports aspect of things into the conversation. So Russell Wilson. fired back at Sean Payton on social media Tuesday, a little under 48 hours since the Denver Broncos coach took a swipe at the New York Giants backup quarterback who lost his starting job to rookie Jackson Dart following a 0-3 start. Classless but not surprised is what Wilson said on ex-formerly Twitter. Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15-plus years later through the media. Again, by the way, that whole comment, Shouldn’t have been made. And Russell really needs a heart check in tweeting that out or posting that out because he is being classless, if you ask me. Wilson took his own jab at Peyton, for whom he played one ill-fated season in 2023 by referencing the Bounty Gate scandal from 2009 to 2011 with the New Orleans Saints. The NFL in 2012 found the team was rewarding players for hits on opponents with intent to injure. Peyton was suspended for a year. So here’s what Peyton said. Peyton said after Denver’s historic 33-32 comeback win on Sunday that the Giants, quote, found a little spark with Dart, unquote, who became the smarter and hinted that part of the conversation he had with the New York owner, John Mara, included wanting to face Wilson instead. Okay, timeout. How is that a jab at Wilson? Any coach is always going to say that we would rather face the loser. In this case, Wilson did not have a good start to the season. So, of course, we would rather face your quarterback that didn’t lead you to victories than to that quarterback that has led you to victories. How is that taking a jab at anyone? That’s just the facts. Those are the facts. That’s not a jab, Russell. You have a huge chip on your shoulder if you think that’s a jab. I mean, if you think that’s a jab, then don’t be 0-3, Russell. I don’t know what else to tell you. If you don’t like having things thrown at you, quote-unquote, then play better. But to me, this is part of Russell’s problem all along. He’s got an entitlement mentality where he feels like he’s owed certain things just because of who he is, whether he performs or not. And unfortunately, the Denver Broncos didn’t help him with that because they paid him a huge boatload of money, millions upon millions upon millions of dollars, to not perform well. Saying it like it is, folks. You can like the guy, not like the guy. I don’t really care one way or the other, but I can tell you that his response… to that particular quote and what Sean Payton said was wrong. Sean went on to say, I was talking to John Murrow not too long ago, and I said, we’re hoping that that change, in other words, changing over to Dart, would have happened long after our game. Okay, again, that’s not a jab. That’s strategy. That’s basically saying that as a team, we would rather face this opponent than that opponent. There’s nothing that Sean Payton said. I’m not defending the guy, but in a way, I guess I am because he didn’t say anything wrong. This is simply a matter of a NFL player, in this case, Russell Wilson, have a chip on his shoulder and getting his panties all in a wad for no reason. And to me, going back to what Richard Battle and I just talked about, this just shows you the caliber of person, by the way, that Russell Wilson is. In my opinion, I don’t have a high favor on him. And this is one of the reasons why. And yeah, that five-year extension that the Broncos awarded him was $245 million. By the way, it was stupid money, far too much money. And we got burned big time. Huge. So, again, at the end of the day, I don’t look at any of that as a jab at anyone. I think Sean Payton was just being very honest about what was going on and just spoke his mind, and it is what it is. And Russell Wilson has a huge chip on his shoulder and needs to get over it because there was nothing said there that he should be concerned about. at all. In fact, the comment should have just been, you know, I know Sean’s got an opinion. I have one as well. I wish I’d have had a better, you know, start to the season here with the Giants. But, you know, given the fact that I didn’t have a great season, I could see why Sean would say that. That is what Russell Wilson should have said, not what he in fact did say. All right, Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning coming up next. Again, $56 tune-up special. It’s not a special, it’s an off special. So there’s three different ways you can actually get that tune-up done. $56 off if you tell them you listen to KLZ Radio and Rush to Reason. Find Cub Creek today. Just go to klzradio.com.
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SPEAKER 11 :
That’s Geno’s with a J. Now back to Rush to Reason on KLZ 560. All right, we are back. Sonny Kutcher joining us now. Young Americans Against Socialism. Sonny, how is your week so far?
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s been great, Busy, as always.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right. Yeah, Busy fighting these Marxists. How else can I say it? That’s exactly what you’re doing.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s a never-ending slew of the left constantly trying to… infiltrate and intercede in every single way possible in order to make life as difficult as possible for us.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s funny, you say that. I was talking on the podcast this morning, we record on Wednesday mornings, and for those of you, maybe they don’t know about that, National Harvard Roundtable, we record that, myself, Neil Boron, and Bob Duco, and we do that on Wednesday mornings, and this morning, I made mention, Sonny, right along those lines, that, you know, there are times where, you know, I think we, we on our side, really have to remember who we’re fighting, and And I say it a lot, and I mean this sincerely. This isn’t just a leftist liberal movement. This is a Marxist movement. They want to take over any way they possibly can. They want all of their ideals to be set in stone. They would throw the Constitution out in a heartbeat and replace it with something that they feel suits them. And at the end of the day, the only buddy in that scenario that wins is the upper echelon of the Marxist movement, because everybody else becomes a peon in a pond. And the sad thing about all that, Sunny, is the people that are pushing for it don’t even realize what I just said.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. I mean, I could not have said it better myself. It is really disheartening when you start to put together all the pieces and when you realize that the left is, you know, in name only, they are the left and, you know, do what you will with their policies. But at its core, there is an agenda that’s so much more sinister and nefarious. And it really, you know, when you put into context of all the different ways that, you know, we are constantly bombarded by their ability to just degrade us to these leftist policies, you know, the trans and the climate and the wokes wokeness and all of these things that we’ve just been plagued with for so long, you realize just how sinister it really is. And you see someone like Zoran Mamdani, who is, you know, just so good at deception. And that is, you know, that is what it always was.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, no, I sent you an article. I’ve got an article you sent me that we’ll go over as well, but, or a post basically, but there’s an article in Wall Street Journal today talking about how Mondani is promising a cheaper New York, the caption here is, but can he afford to pay for it? Of course, we already know the answer to that, but to your point, he’s going to make this seem like oh, yeah, we’ve got plenty of billionaires around and millionaires around that’ll make sure that we get these things paid for because we’re just going to take from the rich to give to the poor, which, by the way, that’s Marxist in and of itself.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. That is literally socialist. And then, you know, of course, it’s so interesting because. they don’t actually ever end up giving to the poor, right? Like that part never actually takes place. Because otherwise you’d see all of the people, you know, some of the poorest in the world live in Cuba, for example. How are they so poor if they are supposed to be given, you know, benefits and help from the government? That’s not, the math isn’t mapping for me there, you know? And so I think it’s just so interesting because people see that and they’re like, oh, $30 minimum wage, which was another topic that this article covered. And, I mean, they just graze over it. I mean, of course, I think the Wall Street Journal was the article that you sent me. But, I mean, they just simply just completely glaze over what, oh, yeah, they want to raise it by 2030. And then in Los Angeles, I think they’re raising it up to $30 by 2028 for tourism workers. And so, like, how can you see that and not even ask in your brain, you know, where are they getting the money for this? And do they not understand that The policies like making regulations and making buildings so hard and permitting and all of these things that force landlords or force property managers or property owners to raise their rents, for example, which is what makes housing and living so unaffordable. We wouldn’t need to be raising our minimum wage to $30. There is a problem here where the baseline has literally skyrocketed. The baseline is now at the ceiling.
SPEAKER 11 :
And what he’ll do in all of that is raise prices across the board so at the end of the day, even those that he thinks he’s going to help, at the end of the day, they won’t be helped, which, by the way, is proven. One thing that – don’t talk about it a lot, and I probably should be talking about it more, all of the different inflation we’ve had after COVID and all of that. Yes, a lot of that was from the printing of money and all the different things that happened along those lines. But let’s not forget, too, Sonny, that there was a lot of minimum wage increases across the country recently. After all of that, and it’s very well known, and I don’t understand why it’s so hard for some on the left, not the mandamis because he understands, but regular people on the left that vote for this, how they don’t understand that by raising these costs, their costs, in fact, also go up. So at the end of the day, it’s a net nothing. You’re not gaining anything. In fact, depending upon what you’re consuming versus what you’re making, you may find yourself not making enough to outrun the consumption side, which is exactly what’s happened over the course of the past four years or so with inflation. So one thing that nobody really talks about, the Fed included, is the fact that inflation is where it’s at today because of the very thing you’re talking about with minimum wage.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. And then you have businesses who, you know, are forced to either… Their profit margin continues to get smaller and smaller. And sometimes they have to either let go of people because they can only have… That’s why you also don’t have workers doing the jobs that they used to.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Like when you go to the airport or when you go somewhere. And you have a computer where you type in what you want. And I literally… go there and i go up to the counter and i’m waiting to order and then the person who’s making the food says oh you have to order at the computer or the you know the kiosk or what whatnot and it’s like really like we can’t even afford to have someone like i have to go to work now to to order my lunch you know and it’s just like that and i think that’s part of the other hand of this entire, you know, grand issue is the cultural aspect of how they’ve brainwashed, you know, my generation and younger, but also there are a lot of older people who support this type of policy, but really the younger generation, because they’re the ones that are carrying this torch forward of not caring that, you know, we don’t have the bodegas anymore, that we don’t have the small business anymore, businesses anymore. We don’t have, you know, all the cutesy little restaurants and the different small businesses that people, the hardware shops and All of these things that simply just go out of business because they get outregulated by the government.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. No, you’re exactly right.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 11 :
The other article that you sent me, which I found this one. I hadn’t seen this one before. So when you sent me this, I haven’t been able to watch the video yet because I’ve been on air since you sent me this. But this particular situation, Nick Sorder, he’s the one that’s got this particular account posted. I took the first known video of the inside of the Antifa safe house located just feet away from ICE Portland, catching leftist militants unmasked. And I didn’t get a chance to watch this video. What all is in this video?
SPEAKER 13 :
So they actually get a video of the inside of the safe house. I’m not sure what type of building it is, but it’s actually like the ground floor. There’s like a stove in there, a fridge. And this is where the Antifa building, militants, that’s where they stay when they’re, you know, taking turns going out on the outskirts and fighting, fighting the ICE agents. I mean, this is like actually crazy. Portland has turned into a complete war zone. And I just think this is, I mean, this footage is just unbelievable. So this is, the safe house is actually located just one block from where the anti-ICE riots are. And the police, don’t care at all. Not only do they not care about this in this particular video, it’s clear they just allow it to take place, and these people are basically just squatting. I don’t know if it’s squatting. I don’t know. I’d have to do more research on the actual details of the safe house. I don’t think it’s very widely known, however, at this point. But the other interesting thing that I saw was another video of somebody talking to the police, and they’re helping Antifa, the Portland police. Wow. They have completely turned on the citizens, and they are actually…
SPEAKER 11 :
like aiding and abetting the Antifa right I mean one side of me says I’m surprised by this the other side of me says it’s Portland Oregon I’m not totally shocked by that I think it’s why Portland was so anti having Trump and any kind of troops come in and actually get things cleaned up because the reality is they know what that would uncover i.e. some of what we’re even finding right now with some of these videos Sonny at the end of the day yeah they don’t want to be uncovered with the dastardly deeds that they’re doing let me put it that way
SPEAKER 13 :
And they know they’re completely funded by these organizations. It’s unbelievable. It says there’s also a storage unit that they use, which is down the street as well, which houses thousands of dollars in goods paid for by unknown sources. And that people just get assaulted. These reporters, Katie Davis Court, she was attacked. And a lot of these people are trying to get investigative journalists. journalism coverage of this, you know, reporting of what’s going on there, they literally get attacked and the police stand by and do nothing. It’s unbelievable.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, and some of the comments, and I can’t disagree with some of the comments on here, Sonny. No, really quick, some of the comments that are on this particular post, I can’t disagree with. Not sure that Portland police are even salvageable at this point. You know, when is the FBI going to investigate all of this? On and on it goes. I mean, I don’t know that I can disagree with any, I can’t disagree with any of these comments. particular post at the end of the day uh and i get it you know cities states they have their own rights i’m all for that that’s part of the way our republic has been set up until you get to the point where the police agencies themselves are lawless now they need to be held accountable and be in check there’s absolutely not there’s zero accountability there’s
SPEAKER 13 :
Just absolutely zero accountability across the board when it comes to leftist leaders who are just sabotaging this country. And that’s what makes this work so important. It really is. We can’t give up in this fight. Just teaching people when possible, sharing information, sharing stories like this where it’s really exposing the deep, dark, radical underbelly of humanity in a lot of ways because this ideology is really… the foundation of it is truly just atheism, it’s truly nihilism, hedonism, feeling like, you know, that man is greater, that we can play God, that we can decide what is authoritarian, what is, you know, oh, we don’t want a king, but we’ll go and, you know, burn down and fight people for what, for illegal immigrants? Like, nothing is making sense, and, you know, we just always have to remember that with this comes the spiritual warfare, and it is good versus evil. So that’s why we have to protect our values, our children, and everything that has made this country great again. Just like the people in Michigan, I saw another video of them, you know, fighting back against the Islamic takeover that’s going on over there. So we have a lot going on, but I really feel people are stepping up to that plate. And hopefully in New York this this can be the thing that will help people step up to the plate because New York desperately needs that.
SPEAKER 11 :
I really hope you’re right. The fascinating thing to me, and I was reading something about this the other day, where not that long ago 9-11 happened. And most of New York came together and started the process of cleanup, rebuilding, all the different things that went on there. And yet they’ve got really short memories on who actually attacked us because Mondami is – I’m not going to say he’s a terrorist, but he sure hangs out with them.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yep. Yes, he does.
SPEAKER 11 :
Bottom line, he does. I mean, there’s pictures of him hanging out with these individuals. So those citizens there, I don’t know how else to say it, Sonny. It drives me crazy because these same citizens that were, in some cases, around for 9-11, it’s almost like, did you guys forget? I mean, do you not understand what happened then? And you’ve just forgotten, and now you’re going to go down this whole Marxist route? It makes no sense to me.
SPEAKER 13 :
Well, I mean, the voter base is all geared to, you know—
SPEAKER 11 :
were babies when 9-11 happened. You bring up a great point. For me, it seems like yesterday, but you’re right. It was 20-plus years ago now, 25 years ago now.
SPEAKER 13 :
I could never imagine it. This is my home state. I have spent so much time in New York City. I am just heartbroken, truly, to see that this could potentially happen. The only silver lining I could see is that Well, A, obviously it activates people to, you know, say, hey, how did we let this happen? Number one. Number two, I think it might be somewhat challenging, which sounds odd to say, but I feel that some of the people in the Democrat Party don’t want him to be like, I feel like there are odds with him between him and, you know, let’s say Kathy Hochul. She was, you know, she’s also up for reelection in 2026. And so I think that presents kind of this opposition where she still wants to hold on to the people who are like left of center, but aren’t quite as radical as who support Donnie. And so she hasn’t, you know, all despite, I guess I think she endorsed him. I’m not actually a hundred percent sure on that one, but I do know that she was like kind of saying some comments about some of his plans because she was like, well, you know, and I, I think people forget that like the state is a business too. The city is a business too, and they have to make money and how, what are the ways that we can actually make money? Like president Trump is doing with tariffs. Like, Different ideas where you could actually bring money into the state and have a surplus. Anyways, I know I’m eating up your time here.
SPEAKER 11 :
No, you’re fine. You’re all good. Take your time. We’re good. Not a problem at all.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think it’s just really interesting that it’s kind of presenting… different lines within the Democratic Party. So we’ll have to see how that all shakes out and whether they just, you know, full force support what he does, whether there will be some challenges along the way. I really hope that he gets met with some pushback because that could really damage New York City. And, you know, again, just to, you know, wrap it up here, I think that that’s why people need to check out resources like the ones that we have, but there are so many organizations that create amazing resources where you can teach kids about socialism and the way that it actually works when it comes to the economic aspects of a socialist society, which is what Mamdani, those are the aspects of of what he wants to implement in New York City. Free buses, free child care, all these things. It’s like free, free, free. How does that actually function? And where do they get that money? And what is the cycle of life for that type of economy? And so that’s why we created Intro to Socialism, which you can get on our website, yes.org. And you can help kids understand what that is and why, you know, capitalism, free market values, really, the free market is so, so important in this country. And we have to continue to fight back to bring that engine back, regardless of, you know, places like California, where it’s become basically totally socialist.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yep, absolutely. Okay, Young Americans Against Socialism. Go there, check it out. The materials are awesome, and I mean that sincerely. You don’t have to be old. You don’t have to be young. They’re material, really, that can fit with anybody. They are designed for young people, but, Sonny, I know enough about them that anybody can read and benefit from having them in hand.
SPEAKER 13 :
Absolutely. Of course, I couldn’t agree more. We are proud of the resources. There’s more on American history, American values and all of those things. So definitely go check it out. Check out our interviews. Yes. Or, you know, also check it out on Twitter and Instagram, of course. So we post content stories and just meaningful stories from survivors and rhetoric in the current news world that shows you how they are.
SPEAKER 11 :
implementing these socialist ideas into uh the mainstream awesome as always sunny appreciate it very much we’ll talk to you next week have a great rest of your day
SPEAKER 13 :
Talk to you soon.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right. Appreciate it very much. Again, Sonny Kutcher, Young Americans Against Socialism. Mile High Coin coming up next. And again, if you’ve got a collection of things you’ve been hanging on to for whatever reason, thinking, yeah, someday I’ll turn it into cash. I’ll do something with it. Well, that day might be now. Find out what its value is first. Free appraisals. Go to Mile High Coin, 720-370-3400.
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
All right, and we are back. Somebody asked me in texting after talking to Sonny about, you know, New York City and Mondami and minimum wage. Yeah, this was a tongue-in-cheek text. This person wasn’t serious, although makes a great point. What’s wrong with $1,000? an hour minimum wage. I mean, if $30 is enough, what’s wrong with $1,000 an hour? And I get the point, by the way, and you’re correct in what you’re saying, being facetious, but in a way, if $25 or $30 or $35 or $50 is good, then why not $1,000? And here’s the answer, by the way. If they could do that, without having the huge shock value that that would bring instantly overnight, believe me, they would. You’re not wrong in what you’re saying. They would do that if they thought for one second they could get by with that. So what they do is they just slowly inch it up. You know, I think I read something that the last time Cuomo was mayor, it was around $7.50 an hour, something along those lines. And it’s now around $20, I want to say, is what it is in New York City. Again, I don’t have the article in front of me. I already closed it, but something along those lines. And Again, as time goes by, they’ll take it from 7 to 9 to 12 to 18 to then 20, then 20. And the reason they do that in increments is because they know that the shock value – I’m surprised he’s even saying 30 because that’s a $10 an hour jump. I’m surprised he’s even going that big because – Typically, they won’t go that big because, again, they understand that there’s a huge shock value there. So they just keep inching away at it, inching away at it, inching away at it. But to the point of this texter, why not $1,000 an hour minimum wage? Believe me. If they could, they would. In their mind, they know because they know exactly what that does to inflation and so on. And trust me when I say this, they know minimum wage raises inflation. They know the ill effects of inflation. They know the ill effects upon the rest of the economy. They know that in a lot of ways, that’s one more way they get their nose under the tent, if you would, how they promote Marxism. And they do that by doing those very things. Trust me when I say that. Any of you out there that think minimum wage is a good thing, the increase of, it’s not. It’s a Marxist ploy, period. It is not a way to get more money in people’s pockets at the end of the day. The way you do that is making the economy better, make it boom, and it is not by raising minimum wage at the end of the day. Every Marxist out there, by the way, knows exactly what I’m talking about. All right, that’s it for hour number two. We’ll be right back. Hour three is next. This is Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 1 :
I’m a rich guy
